via The Continental, Saturday Night Live

As I finalize getting ready for KBIS this year, I could not help but spend a few moments here and there looking at the Eurocucina website.  Eurocucina is a major biennial kitchen trade show that takes place in Milano, this year the very same week as KBIS. 

Among the companies that exhibit at Eurocucina (this year some 145 according to the organizers, most of them cabinet companies and almost all Italian!) are the trendsetters in modern kitchen design. During my casual review of the listed participating companies, I found a few companies and products that stood out, even though my review was somewhat quick.

Here they are in alphabetical order. When I’m back from KBIS I will do a second pass and add any I may have missed. 

Bordignon Camillo
This was a pleasent surprise.  Bordigon Camillo is quite traditional, so it’s refreshing to see them partcipating in a design show associated with contemporary design. 

via Bordignon Camillo

Bravo
A new classic in minimalistic design. 

via Bravo srl

Castagna Cucine
This company just celebrated its 50th anniversary.  May we all look as cool and collected in our 50s. 

via Castagna Cucine

Muebles Pico
Muebles Pico has achieved success combining both traditional and contemporary styles. 

via Muebles Pico, Spain

via Muebles Pico, Spain

Rossana
Rossana has a very rich and amazing product portfolio. With these new collections, the company has graduated to a new echelon, clearly a couple of notches up. 

Many homeowners were surprised by how much time they spent planning their renovation, but the more you can visualize at the beginning, the fewer holdups there are later.

Your kitchen might have outdated appliances, tattered wallpaper, and worn flooring and you and your partner might have clear ideas of what you want to do, but completely different visions.

Spreadsheet Solves Problems
Create a spreadsheet to store ideas. Separately, you and your partner can rank each on a scale of 1 to 5; projects marked with a 5 were definites—anything with a lower number was territory for compromise.

Know what you want before you get bids
Early planning is critical when shopping for bids from contractors. Without a detailed plan, it’s hard to make apples-to-apples comparisons.

Choose contractors carefully
The first architect might not secure a building permit, another one might be able to do the structural work but not have an eye for design details:

Surface materials should be practical and pretty

Is it durable and easy to clean? ( e.g. concrete countertops are gorgeous, but spill anything on them and it’s like oil on a garage floor—if you don’t clean up a spill right away, it’ll stain)

Prepare to be displaced

Whether it’s 5 days or 15 months, a kitchen renovation is a complete gut and clean.

Design a good workflow

Kitchen designers often spend time with clients discussing their “work triangle,” the area defined by the sink, refrigerator, and range. A good designer will help you place these items in positions that make sense for your cooking habits.

Spend the most on items that can’t be easily replaced

If budget is a major concern, consider investing in projects that can’t be changed easily and saving money on pieces that can be upgraded later

Your most important choice might be your refrigerator

When talking about appliances, homeowners are often most passionate about their refrigerators—for better or worse.

• Wine cellars with tasting areas and temperature controls
• Laundry rooms on the second or third floor instead of in the basement
• Slate roofs, which last at least 50 years, instead of less-expensive shingles, which often need replacing after 20 years
• Open showers with lots of light
• Safe rooms where families can go in an emergency
• Built-in cabinets instead of freestanding armoires, dressers, and bookcases
• Single-floor house plans with wider hallways and fewer steps

Tip #2. Get a firm that has its own employees doing the installation. The trend is to use subcontractors. The kitchen company sells you the design, cabinetry, and countertops, maybe even the appliances, but often it then turns you over to a different company to do the installation. That’s great for the renovation company, since it ducks out of responsibility for the installation, but it makes it harder for the customer to end up with a happy kitchen experience.

Tip #3. Spend lots of time on your first appointment. Describe in detail what you want in your kitchen. The contractor should listen hard and take notes. Do you want to remodel the kitchen in order to sell the home soon? Or do you plan to live in it for years? Tell him your family’s habits. How many people in your household? Do they generally eat at the table or on the run? Do you entertain?

The entire discussion should take two or three hours. The contractor should take down every dimension of the room, then return to the office to have the kitchen designed around this family’s likes and dislikes, based on the way they live.

If the contractor doesn’t ask the right questions, he can’t design the kitchen that’s best for that family. The best thing a customer tells us is “This kitchen feels right. It’s exactly what we wanted.”

Ask for an isometric sketch, a perspective drawing, which can be done by hand or with kitchen design software, and walk through it. Make sure your contractor can explain what will be inside every cabinet, how every inch of kitchen space will be used. This cuts down on, even eliminates, surprises.