Thursday, April 30, 2015
Remodeling 101: The Ins and Outs of French-Door Wall Ovens
Meet the latest development in the trend to bring the professional kitchen home. We predict the French-door wall oven is the next must-have design.
Above: In an LA kitchen, architect Jeff Troyer of JWT Associates installed the American Range Legacy Series 30-Inch AROFFE230 double French-door oven; it's $7,999 at AJ Madison.
Troyer tells us, "We chose the French door model because my client loves to cook but has a serious shoulder injury, which limits raising her arms. She wanted double ovens but thought it would be impossible for her to open the upper oven if it had a conventional door." The French door style also helped to maximize space: There's only 36 inches from oven wall to kitchen island, and the French doors allow room for users to stand in front of the oven with the doors open.
What is a French-door wall oven?
Relatively rare in private homes but common in commercial kitchens, French-door wall ovens have two doors that open outward simultaneously: Pull on one handle and both doors open, which means your other hand is free to hold whatever's going inside.
Above: A Viking VDOF730SS 30-Inch Double Oven with French doors on top and conventional doors below is $6,849 from Amazon.
What are the advantages of a French-door wall oven?
- A French-door oven can be safer to use than an oven with a conventional fold-down door since you don't have to reach over a hot oven door to get to the oven's interior.
- The opening action of the French doors helps people with back or shoulder problems avoid the awkward motion of opening a conventional pull-down door.
- As with all wall ovens, you never have to bend down into the oven to put in or take out something heavy.
- You can stand closer to the oven when the doors are open, making it easier to keep an eye on what you're cooking and test for doneness.
- For kitchens in which every inch counts, the French-door style requires less space in front of the oven than the conventional pull-down door. For example, the American Range French-door oven is 39.5 inches deep when the doors are open, while the pull-down version is 45.25 inches deep. It's a modest savings, but don't forget that you also have to fit yourself in front of the oven.
- Because most of these ovens are new to the market—the exception is the BlueStar range, which came out in 2008—they're likely to feature the latest oven technologies. The GE Monogram version, for example, can be controlled remotely from a smartphone. (We featured the BlueStar ranges when they arrived in 2008; see Appliances: BlueStar Wall Ovens.)
Above: The 30-inch BlueStar Electric Wall Oven is available in 190 colors and is $4,099 from AJ Madison.
How much do French-door wall ovens cost?
On the whole, ovens with French doors are more expensive than their conventional counterparts. The GE Monogram Professional French-door oven retails at $4,699, while its equal with a pull-down door is $3,799. The American Range Legacy Series French door oven is $3,899 at AJ Madison, while its standard-door counterpart is $3,499.
BlueStar's pricing is equal opportunity. Both the French door and pull-down versions of its Electric Wall Oven (above) are $4,099 at AJ Madison.
Viking's version isn't easy to compare because its French-door offering comes only as a double oven with French doors on top and a standard door on bottom. It starts at $6,849 on Amazon.
Any drawbacks to be aware of (other than price)?
- The space-saving pros of French-door wall ovens need careful consideration based on your space. While the French doors may not require as much room in front of them, they do require room on both sides in order to open. For example, the Viking French doors require a minimum of 18 inches of clearance on both sides.
- If you're after a flush-mount European look to your kitchen appliances, you're out of luck: French door ovens can't be flush—again because the doors need room to open.
- Though French-door wall ovens save users from having to reach over hot oven doors, we wonder if two hot oven doors open at waist or shoulder height is equally risky.
- Note that the Viking model doesn't offer the same space savings as the others, because its French-door oven is stacked on top of a conventional-door oven. When the top French doors are open, the unit's total depth is 39 5/8 inches. But when the bottom door is open, the total depth is 46 inches (and you'll also need room to stand in front of the open oven door).
Above: The GE Monogram 30-Inch Professional French Door Convection Oven was released in February 2015 and is $4,699.
The verdict?
Base your decision on your space and needs. Because of the room required to open the doors on both sides of the oven, French-door wall ovens aren't exactly small-space appliances, but they can offer real space savings in some layouts. And for people with physical restrictions, they can be a godsend.
Keep in mind that many manufacturers, including Bosch, also make wall ovens with single side-opening doors: a development we reported on back in 2008. These swing-door ovens require more opening space in front than French-door models but only need room on one side for the door to open. And they offer the same one-handed ease of use as French doors.
Have experience with any of these ovens? Fill us in in the Comments section below.
Designing a new kitchen or upgrading? See more of our Remodeling 101 appliance primers:
- Remodeling 101: The Viking vs. Wolf Range
- Beyond the Microwave: Speed Ovens
- Remodeling 101: How to Choose Your Refrigerator
- Remodeling 101: How to Select a Dishwasher
Considering classic French doors? See Remodeling 101: The Ins and Outs of French Doors.
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Editors' Picks: 5 Spring Favorites from the May 9 Remodelista Market
We're holding our first Remodelista & Gardenista Market of the year on May 9 at the Marin Country Mart in Larkspur, California, a 30-minute drive from San Francisco over the Golden Gate Bridge. (Or take the Golden Gate Ferry for a scenic trip past Alcatraz Island.)
More than 40 of our favorite local designers and creators will be there, and in anticipation, we've started making our shopping lists. Here's what each of us hopes to come away with.
Go to our Markets page for more details, and find the full list of vendors below. Hope to see you on May 9!
Above: Dalilah is set on an Adrien Shirt from children's wear line Les Petits Carreaux for her nephew's fourth birthday; $50. See the apartment of the company's co-founder in A Grand but Understated Flat in Paris.
For her daughter's birthday, Michelle has her eye on Pink Light Botanicals skin-care range from Homestead Apothecary of Oakland. Above L: Crystal Rose Toner combines rosewater and aloe vera to freshen the skin; $24. Above R: Floral Facial Scrub gently exfoliates with oatmeal and the dried petals of four kinds of flowers; $32. See more in Shopper's Diary: Homestead Apothecary in SF's East Bay.
Above: Julie is planning to pick up an exotic arrangement from The Petaler. Read about the homegrown floral venture in Trend Alert: San Francisco's Favorite Flower Truck on Gardenista.
Above: Margot could use an apron update and loves Studiopatró's new ocean-blue linen Kitchen Apron, cut and sewn in California; $68. For more on Studiopatró, see Domestic Science: Studiopatró Tea Towels.
Above: I've been a longtime fan of SF jewelry designer Julia Turner's eight-foot-long Sweep Necklace; this one, made of Japanese glass beads in pumpkin, is $160.
At the May 9 Market, shop from these Remodelista and Gardenista sellers:
Browse our market picks for Mother's Day from Remodelista and Gardenista. (And if you can't make it to the May 9 Marin market, note that most gifts are available for purchase online.)
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6 Stylish Wood Knife Racks for the Kitchen
Are knives from obscure sources (or handmade by bearded artisans) the new status symbols of the kitchen? It's starting to seem like that. Here are six ideas for putting your kitchen arsenal on full display.
Above: Heidi Swanson of 101 Cookbooks commissioned the 20-inch-long Jacob May Knife Strip in bleached maple for her SF offices; it's $180 from her online shop, Quitokeeto. The boxwood-handled, carbon-steel knives are the Pallarès Solsona Kitchen Knives; $44 each at Quitokeeto (and also available at March in SF and Le Marché St. George in Vancouver).
Above: The 450-millimeter-long IF4000 Knife Rack, manufactured by Sheffield company Taylor's Eye Witness, is made from a simple strip of solid oak wood embedded with eight high-strength magnets; £35 ($53.94) from Retail Facility.
Above: Designed by Geoffrey Lilge for On Our Table, the 24-inch-long 9.2.2 Box Knife Rack XL is made in Canada of solid American black walnut; $85 from Lumens.
Above: The 17.5-inch-long Walnut Knife Rack is made in Western Montana; $60. The similar Schmidt Brothers Acacia 18-Inch Magnet Wall Bar is $49.95, and the Schmidt Brothers Acacia 24-Inch Magnet Wall Bar is $59.95; both from Crate & Barrel.
Above: The 18-inch-long Puukko Knife Rack from Uusi is made from reclaimed old-growth cypress or redwood; $135.
Make your own knife display: See DIY: A Wall-Mounted Leather Knife Rack.
For more ideas, take a look at:
- Expert Advice: 7 Ways to Corral Your Kitchen Knives
- Mise en Place: Kitchen Tool Drawer Organizers
- Expert Advice: 15 Things to Know About Knives
- 10 Easy Pieces: Editors' Favorite Chef's Knives
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Kitchen of the Week: A Scandi Design in Brooklyn
Commissioned to remodel an 1840s Brooklyn brownstone for a Swedish-American family of four—Jakob Trollbäck and Lisa Smith Trollbäck and their children, August and Stina—architects Solveig Fernlund and Neil Logan transformed the first floor into the beating heart of the house. Wanting to create an open, loft-like space that contrasts with the rest of the structure's hallways and rooms, the architects took inspiration from Mies van der Rohe's use of built-in storage cabinets as an alternative to walls. Fernlund and Logan also solved the trickiest riddle of the room—where to place the staircase—by turning tradition on its head and building an open-tread stair at the back end of the space; their stair design like the first floor itself is at once low key and undeniably grand.
N.B.: The architects ran the firm Fernlund Logan when they worked on the remodel in close collaboration with Jakob Trollbäck—it was their fourth residential project for him. They have since opened their own offices: Solveig Fernlund Design and Neil Logan Architect.
Photographs by Matthew Williams for Remodelista.
Above: The wide-open kitchen revolves around a modernist picnic table and mobile-like Ingo Maurer light, the Zettel'z 5 Chandelier, clipped with pieces of paper decorated with drawings and notes. The combination of white walls, modernist wood furniture, and pale floors lend the design a Scandinavian feel.
For another indoor picnic table we're coveting, see Architect David Chipperfield's New Designs for e15.
Above: The table's bench seating is inset with shaggy seating cushions. It was purchased at ABC Carpet and Home in New York.
Above: The kitchen work area features cabinets of Douglas fir laminated to multi birch plywood and an elegant, wafer-thin stainless-steel counter that's also laminated to the ply. The range and hood are both Viking designs. The sink is from Italian company Alpes Inox—see our post Race-Car-Style Appliances for Compact Kitchens—and the faucet is by Bulthaup.
Above: A detail of the stainless countertop. A signature of the architects is to leave the striped edges of the plywood exposed.
Above: A large custom cabinet of Douglas fir laminated onto birch multi ply sections off the kitchen from a small living room area by the entry. The kitchen side of the cabinet conceals the refrigerator and freezer as well as storage shelves behind closed doors.
Above: The cabinet knobs are custom made of Douglas fir.
Above: A Sub Zero refrigerator is tucked into the end closest to the sink.
Above: Shallow shelving designed for glassware.
Above: The other side of the cabinet is divided into open shelves that section off the living area, which functions as a casual parlor.
Above: The front entry presents another built-in divider, a coat closet made of Douglas fir. The armchair is Han Wegner's 1951 classic Papa Bear Chair.
Above: The living area is used for practicing and playing music.
Above: The staircase has open risers that are made from old floor joists removed from the house and glued together to get the desired width. The open riser design allows the whole space to be light filled and oriented to the French doors. The down staircase, meanwhile, connects the first floor with the garden level of the house. The floor itself is newly installed oak that's painted in Benjamin Moore Platinum Gray enamel. It has radiant heat and is made from best-grade wood to prevent it from warping due to the heat. For more on the subject, see Remodeling 101: Things to Know About Radiant Floor Heating.
Above: The picnic dining table is used for kids' art projects as well as for family meals and dinner parties. French doors open the kitchen to a terrace and ground floor garden.
Above: Rising from the back of the kitchen, the stair presents a dramatic V-shaped profile.
Above: The stair has a rail that's wrapped in Spinneybeck leather. It's stitched in place and the seam runs on the underside where fingers are placed. It took two tries for the fabricators to get the design right.
Above: A new kitchen terrace extends over a ground floor garden patio. The long weathered table is surrounded by French Tolix chairs.
Above: A floorplan of the newly opened-up first floor shows the use of built-in cabinets as room dividers. The brownstone is 24.5 feet wide and the first floor is 980 square feet.
To see the brownstone's attic bathroom, turn to pages 238-241 of the Remodelista book. Also check out another Fernlund + Logan project at Architect Visit: Fernlund + Logan in New York. And for more inspiration, browse our photo gallery of Scandinavian design.
Looking for kitchen ideas? Go to Kitchen of the Week.
This post is an update. It originally ran on November 21, 2013, as part of our Crowd Control issue.
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Wednesday, April 29, 2015
A Kitchen Inspired by Seaside Living
Spanish designer Patricia Urquiola's first modular kitchen system is called Salinas, named for a beach town in Spain where her grandfather had a summer house. "We would go there on the weekend and there would be lots of aunts, uncles, cousins," she told Icon magazine, "with someone always cooking and my father out fishing for dinner.”
Urquiola recalls a busy kitchen full of chopping blocks, stone and copper surfaces, and open shelving. That is the inspiration for her Salinas kitchen for Italian manufacturer Boffi, which was revealed at Salone del Mobile in 2014. This year Boffi updated the collection with new surface materials and a series of full-height storage cabinets. Unlike Boffi's usual made-to-measure approach—perfectly custom to any space but a costly way to manufacture—Salinas is compiled of a few modular pieces, requiring far less energy in manufacturing and in tailoring the design to any one space.
Photographs via Boffi, except where noted.
Above: Urquiola's finishes allow customers to create several different looks: a monochromatic kitchen, a kitchen made of a single material, or a whimsical collection of many materials, like the one shown here.
Above: Urquiola set out to design a kitchen for small spaces, but in the end her more expansive design was a better fit with the rest of the Boffi catalog.
Above: One or more solid wood "peninsula" slabs available in ash or walnut can be fixed to the countertop or configured to slide in and out. The peninsula functions as an additional workspace, or—with a set of stools—as a dining table. For Urquiola, the wood's rounded edges suggest having been worn away by time.
Above: The standard apron-front sink is available in natural stone, absolute black granite, or quartzite silver. The kitchen is held together by black matte tubular steel frames, with LED lights integrated into the shelving. Photograph via H+K.
Above: To achieve the look of tile countertops without the additional expense of tile installation, Urquiola used large sheets of ceramic or Sicilian lava and designed a geometric pattern of inlaid recycled glass. Photograph via Le Fil Rouge.
Above: Options for cabinet door facings include wood, lacquer, brass, copper, zinc, and more. Countertops can be made of ceramic, marble, lava stone, or recycled PaperStone.
Above: A glimpse at the finishes available for countertops and cabinet fronts. Photograph via H+K.
For more Italian kitchens, see:
- Bella Cucina: 8 Italian Kitchen Systems
- 11 Italian Kitchens, Dolce Vita Edition
- A Movable Feast: A Modular Kitchen by an Italian Architect
- 16 Made-in-Italy Kitchen Essentials
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Tablescapes: A Mother's Day Setting with Bash Studio
Boston-based event planner and designer Kathryn Yee has always appreciated the beauty, feel, and eco-friendliness of cloth napkins. But she noticed that, for daily use at least, most people still reached for disposable paper products. Then, for one of her events, Kathryn designed a series of square serviettes made from recycled cloth. Somewhere in size between a cocktail and dinner napkin, these linens were small enough to lay out in a compact stack but generous enough for meals. Casual, yet elegant, they seemed ideal for daily use. Thus The Everyday Napkin was born.
Recently, I teamed up with Kathryn and several other Boston-area shops to create a springtime tablescape, perfect for Mother's Day or any special occasion.
Photography and styling by Justine Hand and Kathryn Yee of Bash Studio.
Above: For our setting, we paired Kathryn's Everyday Napkins with a selection of earthy ceramics in soft grays and springtime pastels. For a bit of festive sparkle, we added brushed gold Due Ice Oro flatware from Lekker Home; $115 for a five-piece set. Also from Lekker Home, the charcoal dinner plates are from the Ripple Collection by Urban Oasis; $58. The mint tea cup; ($82 with saucer), white carafe ($76), and gray jug ($26) are all by MUD Australia.
Above: Everyday Napkins are not only convenient and stylish, they're eco-friendly. Each reusable napkin is hand made by Kathryn and her mother from recycled designer fabrics. Because they are made from found textiles, the Everyday Napkin collections are always changing and can be mixed and matched; $28 for a set of seven.
Above: Measuring 6.5 inches square, the stackable Everyday Napkins are good for weddings and buffets. You can even leave a collection on the counter for on-the-go meals and snacks. Here we used selects from Kathryn's Spring Collection, made from prewashed white cotton linen with contrast herringbone stitching, as well as the Everyday Napkin Chambray Collection (both $28 for a set of seven).
Above: Our informal yet elegant table setting includes my set of vintage cordial glasses and an ironstone compote. In the corner, a tall vase by Morandi ($140 at Greentail Table) holds pink and white cherry blossoms.
Above: Originally designed for Höst restaurant in Copenhagen, Norm lunch plates provide another touch of pastel. We used Norm Lunch plates in nude (pink), gray, and yellow, all available at Greentail Table; $26.
Above: Oji Masanori's brass sun trivet ($110) is paired with MUD's tiny, petal pink bowl, and a chambray Everyday Napkin with aqua trim. Other available trim colors include: citron, aqua, coral, black, tomato red, pink, gray and even limited edition pom pom.
Above: Also from Greentail Table, Oslo Cake Server in Matte Gold; $26.
N.B. Looking for more causally elegant table inspirations? Visit:
- Fabrics and Linens: MyDrap Napkins, disposed cotton napkins on a roll
- 10 Easy Pieces: Handmade Dinnerware from Ceramic Studios
- 10 Easy Pieces: Basic Drinking Glass
- Steal This Look: Parisian Oyster Party
- A Season Celebration, Creatives Included
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10 Easy Pieces: Kitchen Countertop Appliances, Small-Space Living Edition
To begin my investigation into the world of compact countertop appliances, I thought I'd first measure my own countertop. The verdict: 18 inches wide with a depth of 15 inches. My kitchen is small—not suburbia small, but city small—with a tiny refrigerator, an oven that barely fits a small cooking sheet, and flatware drawers of odd dimensions. Since I need every inch of the countertop as prep space, my kitchen cannot afford a single stationary countertop appliance; they all go back into cupboards and drawers and anywhere I can shove them.
To begin the discussion, here is our selection of countertop appliances, where no single dimension breaches my own 18-inch requirement. Have a favorite small countertop appliance to share? We want to hear your suggestions in the comments section below.
Toasters & Toaster Ovens
Above: In a size as thick as an average cookbook, Japanese company Plus Minus Zero's 1-Slice Toaster in white is 6.6 by 8.8 by 3.1 inches; $67.79 at Amazon.
Above: The Breville Bit More 2-Slice Toaster is one of the smallest among two-slice toasters, measuring 7.75 by 11.25 by 8 inches. The electrical cord stores up inside the toaster from below, which could prove useful if it can't live on the counter full time; $79.95 at Williams-Sonoma.
Above: While difficult to source, the Plus Minus Zero Vertical Toaster Oven, from Naoto Fukasawa, is as slim as they come (8.8 by 9.5 by 11.7 inches). They can be found in both black and white (shown) through various dealers on eBay, somewhere in the range of $275 to $320.
Above: A great two-for-one appliance, especially for kitchens lacking a proper or functional oven, is Cuisinart's Compact Toaster Oven Broiler; it's 8 by 15 by 13 inches and is $49.99 at Amazon.
Blenders & Juicers
Above: Available in as many colors as a Birkin handbag, the Cuisinart Mini-Prep Plus Food Processor has a 3-cup capacity and measures 5.9 by 10.2 by 8.4 inches; $35.99 at Amazon.
Above: As someone whose large Vitamix is dissected into parts and stored in various cupboards (in the interest of space), I wish I had purchased the Vitamix S55 Personal Blender instead. It measures 6 by 9 by 16 inches and includes two containers (both a 20- and 40-fluid-ounce size); $449.95 at Williams-Sonoma.
Above: The L'Equip Mini Pulp Ejection Juicer has a funny, nostalgic look—like the juicer your great aunt passed down to your mother or the sort of kitchen appliance you'd see in a 1970s-era French film. Nonetheless, it measures 7.5 by 13.5 by 11.5 inches; small proportions for a decent juicer with a 480-watt motor; $109.99 at Sears. For more, see our post 10 Easy Pieces: Juicers.
Microwave Ovens
Above: The smallest microwave we're able to source is the iWavecube Personal Desktop Microwave Oven (10 by 10.5 by 12 inches) for $129.99 at Amazon.
Above: Whirlpool's 0.5 Cu. Ft. Countertop Microwave is a compact cube of 13.75 by 15.38 by 14.13 inches and is available in black, silver, and white (shown) for $139 at Home Depot.
Above: LG's 0.7 Cu. Ft. Compact Microwave is a little wider than the largest MacBook Pro; it's 10.13 by 17.9 by 12.25 inches and costs $99.99 at Syn Mart.
Other Appliances
Above: The Zojirushi Micom Rice Warmer and Cooker has compact proportions of 9.88 by 13.25 by 8.5 inches; $99.99 at Bed Bath & Beyond.
Above: For the avid tea drinker, an electric kettle is a countertop essential. The Universal Expert Electric Kettle is an appealing option at 7.8 by 6.6 by 10.3 inches for $90 at West Elm.
Looking for larger appliances for small spaces? See 10 Easy Pieces: Favorite Appliances for Small Kitchens for a set of ranges, refrigerators, and more. For more functional inspiration, sift through all our Small-Space Living posts.
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