The 2009 Parade of Homes gives a sneak peek of new designs and trends in the housing industry.
The Capital Region's connoisseurs of beautiful living march from their home to today's homes, examining fresh approaches to every nook and cranny. Local crafters showcase innovative family spaces, novel bathrooms and cutting edge-bedrooms, but the one room that attracts superior attention and contemporary flair is the kitchen.
Whether you cook family meals each day, entertain lively guests on the weekend or keep your sweaters in your stove, your kitchen reflects your lifestyle. Appliances are the method to your madness, cabinets are your personal couture and countertops are the ideal pair of never-painful shoes that support your arch, complete your outfit, and (of course) look good; but no matter the occasion, the look is only right if it enhances your functionality.
What's ideal about the relationship between your attire and your kitchen is that both ensembles symbolize an important aspect of your living - and that's how you move.
Kitchen trends a la 2009 are all about making your kitchen your trend; creating a functional space that celebrates how you eat, cook, entertain, order in (whatever it is that you do), while designing a look that intimately serves your culinary needs.
We've consulted some of the kitchen experts featured in the Parade of Homes to give you a better idea of what's trendy in 2009, and why a kitchen design is only as good as its functionality.
"Everyone is different, a kitchen must answer specific needs, you have to find the right look and make it functional," David Del Zotto, second generation owner of Del Zotto Builders and Son, said.
Del Zotto specializes in "fine homebuilding and exquisite remodeling," and knows first hand why it's crucial for a kitchen design, or redesign, to fit specific needs. "A designer kitchen is custom for one specific family," it's not just a magazine look; a custom kitchen is designer when it's designed specifically for you and how you live in the kitchen.
The "designer" aspect of a designer kitchen is much different than that of name brand shoes. Although Michael Kors makes gorgeous big buckle heels, you're paying for both the name and the look and that's what makes them "designer shoes." But with a kitchen, the "designer" means designed specifically for you. The best example is kitchen appliances.
Everyone relies on different appliances, which is why no two kitchens share the same assortment of culinary gadgets. One of Del Zotto's recent custom kitchens is featured in the Parade of Homes. This kitchen accommodates the needs of a professional chef, and is custom designed with a chef grade Kithchenaid range, convection oven, steam oven, built-in coffee maker, and oven drawers and under counter fridge drawers. While this kitchen's more open plan yields plenty of counter and cabinet space, which makes it an space ideal for a culinary professional, the appliances speak most about functionality. In a chef's kitchen, you can be sure that the convection oven and steam oven will be used to their full potential.
Name brands like Kitchenaid and Viking offer exquisite high quality appliances, but if you are working on a budget and with limited space it might not be practical to go all out and pay for something that either won't fit or won't be used to its full potential.
"Everyone wants the convenience of automatic products," but not every kitchen commands chef-preferred appliances. Especially when dealing with a smaller kitchen space, every appliance must have a specific and pertinent use. "You have to make some trade-offs with a small kitchen," Del Zotto said.
While cabinet style and countertop material aesthetically speak to your individual taste, it is their placement, size, organization and durability that physically cater to your needs. Rich Adams, owner of Builder's Kitchen in Albany, works with every grade of cabinet; he specializes in custom, semi-custom and manufacturer's cabinets. With Adams' clients, the latest trend seems to be kitchen remodeling itself: "sixty percent of my business is kitchen remodeling, whereas three to four years ago 80 percent of my business was kitchen construction in new homes."
"The first area to improve in any home is always the kitchen; it's the most important room in the house," Adams said.
In 2009, the most popular cabinets are maple or cherry, with a lot more glazing than was seen in previous years. Glazing allows a unique look, as every wood picks up color differently; even cabinets in the same kitchen can display nuanced stain saturation, which is why Adams' clients "must know detail upon detail about their kitchen cabinets."
Quality is everything with contemporary design because "cabinets have become more like kitchen furniture," Adams said.
Adams recently designed a family-style kitchen for an Amedore home in Stillwater that will also be in the Parade of Homes. The owner designed the kitchen to fit their tastes and lifestyle, including top grade appliances to satisfy basic cooking needs. The cabinets are maple and cherry, and the countertops are a mix of granite and marble. With plenty of open space, there is room in this gourmet kitchen for a cooking helper or even an audience.
"Most importantly, it's all about giving choices and designing around the customer; their kitchen is tailored for their family," Adams said.
For Mike Bannon, owner of Signature Kitchens in Saratoga, it's all about "sophisticated elegance." As the interior designer for Bonacio Construction's new Park Place Condominiums, Bannon isn't limited by space or price.
The Park Place Condominiums come with a "standard kitchen" that can be improved, redesigned, or demolished and then completely custom built to fit the client's tastes and needs. But the "standard" part of these Park Place kitchens is not their average appeal or commonplace character. Each condo comes with a high-class palette of Viking appliances (professional microwave, dishwasher, fridge and stove), luxury cabinets (top species wood with rich stains), superior stone countertops (granite, cambria, corian) and top notch hardware. Bannon works with custom crown moldings, light rails and corbels to give a more "furniture feel."
"These standard kitchens are redesigned for the client to elevate their lifestyle. Residents are not just picking a design, they are designing their living space," Tony Bonacio said.
At Park Place there is no trendy kitchen; the style is "what you like" and it really depends on how you use the kitchen.
According to Bannon, designing Park Place is a "special project" because his clients raise the standard with architectural elements and opulent flair. Residents can augment the flow of their kitchen, their cabinet space, appliances and finishes. Wine fridges, microwave drawers, built-in coffee makers and televisions are common add-ins for a luxury kitchen, and green gadgets are also in demand. Park Place residents can virtually do whatever they want, and if Bannon doesn't offer a particular element himself, he "will locate it."
In the kitchen, there are no trends -only what Bannon refers to as the "most comfortable direction" for a client. But if he were to name the most popular "direction" it would be "transitional," which is a mix of soft contemporary and traditional that yields a "more simplistic and cleaner look with a furniture feel to it."
Whether 2009 brings you a Park Place kitchen or a smaller kitchen redesign, the trend for modern culinary spaces is keeping it real.
You wouldn't wear stiletto's to the gym or sport a knee-length coat in August, just like it wouldn't make sense to cram a small kitchen with professional grade appliances, or build a family-style kitchen if you only plan on entertaining guests. Today's kitchens are about fashionable practicality, with a dash of luxury and a hint of what's contemporary and fresh, and that means designing a kitchen that fits your needs, fits in your budget and reflects your style.
Whether you cook family meals each day, entertain lively guests on the weekend or keep your sweaters in your stove, your kitchen reflects your lifestyle. Appliances are the method to your madness, cabinets are your personal couture and countertops are the ideal pair of never-painful shoes that support your arch, complete your outfit, and (of course) look good; but no matter the occasion, the look is only right if it enhances your functionality.
What's ideal about the relationship between your attire and your kitchen is that both ensembles symbolize an important aspect of your living - and that's how you move.
Kitchen trends a la 2009 are all about making your kitchen your trend; creating a functional space that celebrates how you eat, cook, entertain, order in (whatever it is that you do), while designing a look that intimately serves your culinary needs.
We've consulted some of the kitchen experts featured in the Parade of Homes to give you a better idea of what's trendy in 2009, and why a kitchen design is only as good as its functionality.
"Everyone is different, a kitchen must answer specific needs, you have to find the right look and make it functional," David Del Zotto, second generation owner of Del Zotto Builders and Son, said.
Del Zotto specializes in "fine homebuilding and exquisite remodeling," and knows first hand why it's crucial for a kitchen design, or redesign, to fit specific needs. "A designer kitchen is custom for one specific family," it's not just a magazine look; a custom kitchen is designer when it's designed specifically for you and how you live in the kitchen.
The "designer" aspect of a designer kitchen is much different than that of name brand shoes. Although Michael Kors makes gorgeous big buckle heels, you're paying for both the name and the look and that's what makes them "designer shoes." But with a kitchen, the "designer" means designed specifically for you. The best example is kitchen appliances.
Everyone relies on different appliances, which is why no two kitchens share the same assortment of culinary gadgets. One of Del Zotto's recent custom kitchens is featured in the Parade of Homes. This kitchen accommodates the needs of a professional chef, and is custom designed with a chef grade Kithchenaid range, convection oven, steam oven, built-in coffee maker, and oven drawers and under counter fridge drawers. While this kitchen's more open plan yields plenty of counter and cabinet space, which makes it an space ideal for a culinary professional, the appliances speak most about functionality. In a chef's kitchen, you can be sure that the convection oven and steam oven will be used to their full potential.
Name brands like Kitchenaid and Viking offer exquisite high quality appliances, but if you are working on a budget and with limited space it might not be practical to go all out and pay for something that either won't fit or won't be used to its full potential.
"Everyone wants the convenience of automatic products," but not every kitchen commands chef-preferred appliances. Especially when dealing with a smaller kitchen space, every appliance must have a specific and pertinent use. "You have to make some trade-offs with a small kitchen," Del Zotto said.
While cabinet style and countertop material aesthetically speak to your individual taste, it is their placement, size, organization and durability that physically cater to your needs. Rich Adams, owner of Builder's Kitchen in Albany, works with every grade of cabinet; he specializes in custom, semi-custom and manufacturer's cabinets. With Adams' clients, the latest trend seems to be kitchen remodeling itself: "sixty percent of my business is kitchen remodeling, whereas three to four years ago 80 percent of my business was kitchen construction in new homes."
"The first area to improve in any home is always the kitchen; it's the most important room in the house," Adams said.
In 2009, the most popular cabinets are maple or cherry, with a lot more glazing than was seen in previous years. Glazing allows a unique look, as every wood picks up color differently; even cabinets in the same kitchen can display nuanced stain saturation, which is why Adams' clients "must know detail upon detail about their kitchen cabinets."
Quality is everything with contemporary design because "cabinets have become more like kitchen furniture," Adams said.
Adams recently designed a family-style kitchen for an Amedore home in Stillwater that will also be in the Parade of Homes. The owner designed the kitchen to fit their tastes and lifestyle, including top grade appliances to satisfy basic cooking needs. The cabinets are maple and cherry, and the countertops are a mix of granite and marble. With plenty of open space, there is room in this gourmet kitchen for a cooking helper or even an audience.
"Most importantly, it's all about giving choices and designing around the customer; their kitchen is tailored for their family," Adams said.
For Mike Bannon, owner of Signature Kitchens in Saratoga, it's all about "sophisticated elegance." As the interior designer for Bonacio Construction's new Park Place Condominiums, Bannon isn't limited by space or price.
The Park Place Condominiums come with a "standard kitchen" that can be improved, redesigned, or demolished and then completely custom built to fit the client's tastes and needs. But the "standard" part of these Park Place kitchens is not their average appeal or commonplace character. Each condo comes with a high-class palette of Viking appliances (professional microwave, dishwasher, fridge and stove), luxury cabinets (top species wood with rich stains), superior stone countertops (granite, cambria, corian) and top notch hardware. Bannon works with custom crown moldings, light rails and corbels to give a more "furniture feel."
"These standard kitchens are redesigned for the client to elevate their lifestyle. Residents are not just picking a design, they are designing their living space," Tony Bonacio said.
At Park Place there is no trendy kitchen; the style is "what you like" and it really depends on how you use the kitchen.
According to Bannon, designing Park Place is a "special project" because his clients raise the standard with architectural elements and opulent flair. Residents can augment the flow of their kitchen, their cabinet space, appliances and finishes. Wine fridges, microwave drawers, built-in coffee makers and televisions are common add-ins for a luxury kitchen, and green gadgets are also in demand. Park Place residents can virtually do whatever they want, and if Bannon doesn't offer a particular element himself, he "will locate it."
In the kitchen, there are no trends -only what Bannon refers to as the "most comfortable direction" for a client. But if he were to name the most popular "direction" it would be "transitional," which is a mix of soft contemporary and traditional that yields a "more simplistic and cleaner look with a furniture feel to it."
Whether 2009 brings you a Park Place kitchen or a smaller kitchen redesign, the trend for modern culinary spaces is keeping it real.
You wouldn't wear stiletto's to the gym or sport a knee-length coat in August, just like it wouldn't make sense to cram a small kitchen with professional grade appliances, or build a family-style kitchen if you only plan on entertaining guests. Today's kitchens are about fashionable practicality, with a dash of luxury and a hint of what's contemporary and fresh, and that means designing a kitchen that fits your needs, fits in your budget and reflects your style.
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