kitchen

The idea for Simon Pillard and Philippe Rossetti’s Lego kitchen island in Paris sprouted when Pillard put 500 blocks and a day’s worth of work into building a Lego-legged chair. They covered their kitchen island—a simple wooden block—with 20,000 Lego pieces.

Jean-Christophe Aumas’ multihued Paris apartment houses both the highly sought artistic director and the stunning assemblage of furniture he’s brought back from his travels. Aumas designed the kitchen island, which is covered in marble tiles from Carrelages du Marais—the geometric floor tiles are from the same place—and strung the matrix of lights up above it. The barstools by Charlotte Perriand were discovered in a vintage store in Antwerp, Belgium. The green wall is covered in paint from Emery & Cie.

The simple and stylish dining set complements the dark kitchen.

Choosing a kitchen or bathroom countertop can be nerve-wracking, and we understand why—they can be one of the most expensive aspects of a renovation, with the added responsibility of impacting the aesthetics of a space. Read on as we work our way through the pros and cons of seven of the most common countertop materials.

All of the plywood, concrete, and steel surfaces inside the house were left unfinished. “We like to use natural materials in their raw state and minimize the use of synthetic surfaces and drywall,” says Mihalyo.

This house in Carmel by the Sea is enlivened by its very red kitchen cabinetry. By knocking down a dividing wall, the architects opened the kitchen up to the rest of the living space. Ikea red lacquer cabinetry and Caesarstone countertops replace dingy cupboards and old-fashioned finishes. Stainless steel appliances help ground the airy, open space.

A double bowl sink is also quite self-explanatory, created either out of one large sink with a divider or from two distinct bowls framed into a single sink.

Kitchen for one-bedroom unit

In the kitchen, the architects contrasted the oak floor, bamboo cabinetry, and birch walls and ceiling with what architect Jonathan Knowles calls “a family of grays”: granite floor tiles, limestone countertops, and the steel stairway. The birch wall behind Yvette is actually the sliding door to the pantry closet.

Wardle’s firm designed the end-grain butcher’s block (left), which serves as an end-of-day gathering point where their kitchen meets the dining area. “We were happy to let John go free and see what he came up with,” the wife says. “He thought of things we would never have thought of, like the chopping board. He knew what we wanted.”