Luxury Living Show 2015
While most people living in or around Atlanta scurried home last Wednesday afternoon trying to avoid the impending snowpocalypse 2.0 I headed to the mall. Priorities people, shoes don't buy themselves you know. Just kidding, I did my shoe shopping the weekend before, Wednesday I made my way to Phipps Plaza to watch as the 2015 Atlanta Homes & Lifestyle's Luxury Living Show Kitchen I designed made it's big debut.
It's not every day you get to design a kitchen that will be on display in the middle of the mall. What a cool/random/awesome/terrifying opportunity, right?! For the second year in a row my heart and soul sits in the middle of a mall for all to see and I couldn't be more excited.
For months myself and the Bell Kitchen & Bath Studios team have been working hard dreaming, scheming, designing, drawing, tweaking, building and installing this year's Luxury Living Kitchen. A Kitchen that debuted in front of design bloggers from across the country and will sit on display for 5 weeks in the middle of Phipps Plaza.
For this year's design we wanted to show something a bit more modern. Atlanta is a Traditional market, no doubt about that, but as of late there has been a growing interest in modern design. Last year the President of Bell K&B Studios, Mike Bell dubbed the phrase Southern Modern. An idea that a space could have clean lines and a sleek vibe while maintaining the warmth and elegance associated with the south. For so many, a modern aesthetic is synonymous with cold and sterile features which is sad because modern design really can be warm and layered. So, we decided to showcase what Southern Modern looked like to us.
We kept the overall design sleek and clean with details like acrylic cabinetry, lucite hardware and a waterfall countertop around the perimeter of the kitchen.
Mahogany accents were integrated throughout the space, around the center towers, floating shelves and on the island. Not only does the stained wood add a layer of warmth to the kitchen, but it contrasts nicely with the taupe/gray acrylic cabinetry, allowing one to pop off the other.
We wanted the island to feel very furniture like, so a more detailed drawer style (as opposed to the totally sleek slab drawers used on the perimeter) was selected. In addition I designed an all drawer look for the front of the island which became increasingly visually interesting with the addition of the knobs. The power of hardware never ceases to amaze....
Speaking of amaze, can we please talk about the back of this island?
QUATREFOILS!!!! Nay...MAHOGANY QUATREFOILS!!!!!!! I love the detail they bring without being overpowering. When you see the kitchen as a whole they are definitely there, but more as a whisper than a shout. I have a whole post I want to do on these bad boys, but for now let's just say I have to hold myself back from stopping by the mall to pet them every day.
And finally, no kitchen is complete without the insides of the cabinetry looking just as polished and considered as the outside.
We stocked this space full of cool cabinetry components, like this pullout to the right of the cooktop.
There is a space for wood spoons and utensils at the back and a knife block in the front. The cool part? The knife block is made out of a foam like material so the knifes can be placed anywhere within the area.
How about some pot/pan/lid storage action? I don't know about you and your kitchen, but I could seriously use a drawer like this. Finding a pot with it's matching lid takes WAY longer than it should in my space.
Projects like this are always a giant collaboration as it takes many a layer of beautiful items and finishes to bring these spaces to life! The kitchen was styled by the lovely ladies of Cloth & Kind - Tami Ramsay & Krista Nye Schwartz. The countertops are Cambria, color: Summerhill and they were done by the great folks over at Construction Resources. The appliances are Subzero- Wolf from Westye Group Southeast and the lights are from the Alexa Hampton Collection at Circa Lighting. The tile is from Renaissance Tile & Bath and was installed by Giovanni's Tile Design. All internal cabinetry components are by Rev-A-Shelf and the cabinetry hardware is by Atlas. The sink and faucet are Franke and the kitchen design and cabinetry are by Bell Kitchen & Bath Studios.
The kitchen will be on display for the whole month, stop by and pet it see it if you get a chance!