US luxury homes increasingly favor peekaboo kitchens, where the Holy Grail is to banish them from sight via custom millwork, technology, and whiz-bang hardware, so sinks and appliances (big or small) can disappear without a trace!
While this concept is currently touted as a novel idea, I’ve been covering this European kitchen trend since 2010. Its end game is to stylishly transform the kitchen into finely integrated cabinetry and furniture. Here’s a look at how these ‘new, new things’ stack up against the kitchens of our European counterparts.
The American market leans toward a more decorative approach. Here, the spacious central island serves as the ideal location for invisible cooktops, allowing full-height stained-glass doors across the aisle to gracefully enclose the sink alcove.
In this kitchen, appliances are discreetly tucked away behind sandblasted glass doors above the counter.
With characteristic Teutonic restraint, high-end German cabinet manufacturer allmilmö introduced track-mounted, book-matched teak veneer doors that seamlessly cover an entire wall of cabinets and appliances as far back as 2010.
New York-based company Nero Cucine elevated culinary concealment to a high art by fusing minimalist styling with sophisticated engineering.
This model’s cabinet doors open to show a sink and counter. When kitchen duty calls, the retractable stone backsplash slides upward to expose the faucet and neatly stowed kitchen accessories.
While less elaborate than the Nero Cucine kitchens, German manufacturer Warendorf’s Hidden Kitchen in 2013 featured a 7-meter (23 ft) rust-finished panel that folds back to disclose a full kitchen at the push of a button, earning it the Interior Innovation Award from the German Design Council.
The generous counter with ample sink and prep space is augmented by a vent hood, shelving, storage, appliances, as well as integrated lighting.
The fiore di pesco marble island and terra oak columns provide elegant camouflage for the heart of this kitchen.
The mechanized sliding countertop and tower doors glide open to showcase hidden kitchen workspace, storage, and an array of appliances.
Top view of the island reveals an induction cooktop flanked by food prep areas. Add-ons like cutting boards and sink covers provide flexibility and help expand the work surface.
When it comes to kitchen furniture and appliances, Italy still has the edge on what is hot and trendy. This is one of my favorites. Unveiled in 2010, this ‘Transformer’ of a kitchen from Boxetti, at the touch of a switch, magically unfurls into a full-featured cooking island that holds a sink, knife block with cutting board, tableware, shelving, storage, an undercounter fridge, and even bar seating for two!
Aster Cucine‘s Contempura line, which debuted in 2010, took a different direction. The kitchen island expands sideways to provide a 2-sided work station when fully extended.
In 2014, Giorgio Armani’s home division, Armani/Casa, teamed up with Dada, an Italian luxury kitchen brand, to create a spacious, minimalist kitchen collection with a sophisticated yet laid back vibe.
Similar to the Monolith in Stanley Kubrick’s iconic movie, which represents a bridge to the unknown, this column in gunmetal metallic lacquer can be construed as an evolutionary catalyst in culinary storage.
The internally illuminated storage unit opens up in different directions to accommodate anything from wine and stemware to pantry staples.
However Philippe Starck, the ‘enfant terrible’ of interior design, came out with a neo-Baroque storage tower as early as 2011. The 37 x 37 x 91” h cabinet with 340-degree rotation provides omni-directional access, offering open shelves as well as hidden storage with powered and plumbed major kitchen appliances behind closed doors.
Plain English, an upscale British cabinetry manufacturer, makes an oversized larder fridge cabinet designed to resemble a traditional hutch.
The jury is still out on whether these concealments will trickle down into mainstream kitchen design. At the very least, for now, there appears to be a continued appetite for camouflaged appliance housing!
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