We publish a lot of beautiful homes in Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, and they always manage to wow me with a superb mix of styles and phenomenal architecture and interior design. But for many of these featured homes—unless found within our January issue, which crowns the kitchen as king—the kitchens can become lost among the flurry of decorated rooms and design schemes that encourage these spaces to seamlessly blend in, rather than stand out. Still, as a common philosophy of top designers—and their fans—goes, the kitchen is “the heart of the home,” where so much of daily life takes place. This special space must not only flow well into the overall design scheme, but be very highly functional, too, making it perhaps the most important room to get right—and so many of our designers have. Though these extraordinary examples may not be easy to overlook, I thought I’d pull my favorite kitchens from the AtlantaHomesMag.com archives to give them their spotlight dues. I think you’ll agree that they’re just as stunning, in their own right, as the homes that contain them.
While my personal style leans a bit toward layered, lived-in, even eclectic interiors with liberal pops of color, my preference for the kitchen is sleek, shining and, most often, white. This gorgeous example, created by Summerour & Associates for a couple in the Peachtree Battle area of Atlanta, is the one place I believe I could become a culinary queen. I would never want to leave!
Another Summerour kitchen, created for the 2008 Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles Designer Showhouse at The Reserve at Lake Keowee, exudes the quiet verve of Flemish style and feels extraordinarily inviting thanks to its delicious symmetry and neutral color scheme.
The feature on this sweet storybook of a home, owned by acclaimed metalsmith Andrew Crawford, was an absolute joy to write. His family's entire Westside cottage radiated with light and laughter which no doubt contributes to this kitchen's cheerful atmosphere.
In a designer model at Buckhead's Sovereign high-rise, Barbara Westbrook's selections for cabinetry, countertops and decorative accents offer the perfect balance of earthiness, depth and lightness.
Interior designer Bill Musso and Bryan Cooke's Alys Beach retreat features a custom kitchen decked out in streamlined walnut cabinetry and the optimal dose of shine, contributed by stainless steel appliances, acrylic bar stools and blown glass. The spacious and efficient space, Musso says, is fantastic for cooking.
Interior designer Alice Cramer delighted her client when she gave her a kitchen in her favorite shade of blue. I fell in love with this room first for how well the ivory, cool blue and stainless steel meld into a lovely color scheme, but once again when I discovered that my favorite retreat in WaterColor, Florida, boasts kitchen cabinetry in the same hue.
When Barbara Howard designed the Buckhead home of Mayer and Beau Buisson, she found that she loved the existing kitchen so much—designed by Lauren DeLoach of Lauren DeLoach Creative Studio—that she left it as-is. The soft taupey-gray and ivory blend seamlessly into the design scheme she conceived for the rest of their charming abode.
The rustic and ravishing kitchen in Mimi Williams' Highlands, North Carolina, mountain retreat is just the sort of place you'd like to kick back and catch up with extended family and friends over a long, leisurely evening.
Suzanne Kasler and William T. Baker conceived an awesome example of a neutral kitchen with open display cabinets, supreme fixtures, a well-placed work triangle and rich, weathered, walnut-stained floors for a showhouse at Lake Oconee's Reynolds Plantation.
Never one to miss the mark, Kasler flips her kitchen style 180 degrees for a colorful, contemporary approach at a second home in a Carillon Beach, Florida. Bolstered by the lovely pattern of Ernest Gaspard & Associates' "China Seas" fabric, the look feels fresh, young and vibrant.
Thankfully, even more exceptional Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles kitchens are on the way! Look for two, in particular, in our April 2010 issue, due on newsstands and in subscriber mailboxes mid-March.
Now that I’ve shared my top picks, I’d love to hear about your own! Feel free to browse AtlantaHomesMag.com and post a link to your favorite kitchen(s) in the comment section below.
Tags: Alice Cramer, Alice M. Cramer Interiors, Andrew Crawford, Barbara Howard, Barbara Westbrook, Bill Baker, Bill Musso, kitchen, Kitchens, Lake Keowee, Lauren DeLoach, Lauren DeLoach Creative Studio, Lu Worrell, Marshall Howard, Mimi Williams, Mimi Williams Interiors, Musso Design Group, Musso Design Group Inc., Sovereign, Summerour, Summerour & Associates, Summerour & Associates Architects, Summerour Interiors, Suzanne Kasler, Suzanne Kasler Interiors, The Reserve at Lake Keowee, Westbrook Interiors, William T. Baker, William T. Baker & Associates
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I am with you, I wouldn’t want to leave! I remember the days (and it wasn’t so long ago) when the kitchen was off limits to guests, and I am so pleased they have become a major gathering place for everyone. I adore the examples shown here, love them. From furniture finish cabinetry to classic white, it is all good.
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Lots of great kitchens. #1 and #2 are my favorites.
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One of the most beautiful kitchens I have seen in a while was a AH&L 2010 winner – the Jo Rabaut/Bill Baker kitchen in creams and blues.
I think that Cynthia Ziegler was the kitchen designer on the blue kitchen that you posted above (working with Alice Cramer) – it is through this article that I first heard about Cynthia, and after I saw another beautiful kitchen that Cynthia designed on Muscogee (it was on the Peachtree Battle Friends tour of homes), I tracked her down and hired her for my project!
Great round up of kitchens, Kate!
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I don’t really know what I would do with a kitchen, were I blessed with all the room in the world in which to put said kitchen. And, yes, I do know that no one really has “all the room in the world,” but lots and lots of people have considerably more room than I have! All I can do, I guess, is just keep surfing the Internet, hoping that I will find designs that I can put to use in my own kitchen. A little here, a little there, that sort of thing. That said, I will say, and I DO say, that you have given me much to think about with your concepts, and I thank you for sharing your ideas. And who knows? Maybe one fine day I will be sharing an absolutely smashing, albeit small, kitchen design!
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#1 is one of my favorite kitchens in Atlanta!
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Pingback from Dreamy Atlanta Kitchens | Guy Gunter Appliances on March 3, 2010 at 9:05 am
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