Style: House Beautiful’s 2012 Kitchen of the Year

On Wednesday morning I had breakfast here.

Hosted by Kravet and House Beautiful magazine, breakfast guests were given an amazing tour of “the pop-up” by HB’s Editor-in-Chief Newell Turner. The pop-up of course is House Beautiful’s 2012 Kitchen of the Year, it’s fifth annual week-long free-standing kitchen design extravaganza in the center of midtown Manhattan.

The designer behind this year’s masterpiece?

None other than Chicago-based Interior Designer, Mick De Giulio, pictured above, during his introduction at the Wednesday breakfast.  Yes, he talks with his hands, and he spoke very gracefully about his aesthetic for this year’s #KOTY.  The designer explained that his mindset for kitchen design is, ”I want to be a rich man who lives like a poor man,” to paraphrase Picasso’s well known quotation. What he’s talking about is “the simple life,” that we all perhaps dream of living. Mick crafts each detail of his design from the perspective of an individual able to savor and relish every flourish that De Giulio can dream up.  In this kitchen no meal, no task, and no celebration can go unmade, undone, or unheralded.

Let’s take a look.

I’ll start with the heart of the space – where the cook would be working – between the Whirlpool Electric Induction Cooktop and the Kallista sink with Caesarstone Fair Lady Supremo countertop.  Here pictured from left to right are Newell Turner, EIC of House Beautiful, Kate Kelly Smith, Senior Vice President and Publishing Director of Hearst, Ann Feldstein, Senior Marketing Director of Kravet, and Mick De Giulo.

Zooming out,  here is a wider view of the cooking area and breakfast seating.  The counter is Grotshouse wenge, and underneath there are nailhead-trimmed Hickory Chair leather stools.

Zooming back in, below see a view of the left side of the kitchen, which I hope will give you a better sense of the floor plan. The ceiling fixtures are Circa Lighting’s Andover Pendants designed by Ralph Lauren.

The stainless steel and walnut metal boy (an armoire for pots) is a custom design by De Giulio to allow easy and glamorous access to pots, pans, and lids.

Now turning further to the left, my favorite area of the kitchen comes into view: the side counter with floating stainless steel and glass open shelving and Ann Sacks silver-leaf glass tiles.

A closer look.

And my confession: I just couldn’t get enough of this area.  The shine of the Michael Aram New Molten bowls mixed with the warmth of the Frances Palmer ceramics against the glass tiles were magical.

Here I am, happily photographing away.

One last one of this counter.

Now we are looking into the very pretty butler’s pantry, with its hammered metal and wood counter tops. The image on the left shows how smoothly the two materials sit side by side and work together.

We move now to the Dining Area.  The chandelier is another Ralph Lauren design for Circa Lighting and the limed-oak Parsons table is Kravet custom.  Both dining chair styles, the woven and the curvy little white number, are Frontgate:

Here we are standing behind the dining table with a wide view of almost the entire space at once.

Transitioning to the right we have a seating area with a Kravet settee and pair of slipper chairs in white Belgian linen.  The coffee table, also by Kravet, is from their Modern Dining Collection.  Have I mentioned yet in this post how much I love all people and things Kravet?  I do.

A view of the seating area showing the travertine fireplace behind.

And pictured in front of the fireplace, from left to right: me, Woody Tony, Architectural Drafter at Young Huh Interior Design, Sabine Rothman, Style Director of House Beautiful, and Young Huh, Principal Interior Designer of Young Huh Interior Design.

A view of the entry.  Kravet chair and Hickory Chair console table.

Now walking to the left,  on our right is a view of the gorgeous wall of appliances as we exit outside to the back terrace.

The back terrace!  Perfect for warm weather entertaining, right?

A closer look. I’m ready to settle onto a stool with a cold drink.

And a parting shot on the terrace of my Blogfest buddy, Young Huh, and myself.

#KOTY 2012 = fantastic.

Images /1-3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 21 / Sarah Sarna / 4, 11, 13, 16, 19, 20 / House Beautiful /5, 14, 18 / inspired.talk by Kravet / 7/  Quintessence /8 / Quintessence  /10, 17 / Jennifer Powell of Kravet /22 / Sarah Sarna on instagram /