Another note on trends...

Because we know that any kind of trends visible in modern products are only physical manifestations of the public's perception of the times, I wonder if our modern product aestetics can be translated into other things of the time... what other parts of kitchen life are DIY, open, simple, warm???

Online recipe sites could be DIY, but aren't so simple...
Cookbooks, though, have moved to graph-based layouts, where cooks can use a basic recipe and alter as necessary... fonts are crisp and simple- from the Pepsi logo to that package of Pumpkin seeds, to the canvas bag we brought it in on that has already begun to mock itself like a trendy t-shirt.

Pictures in the kitchen are simple photos with only one or two focal points- often in black and white....

But not just simple. We are searching for that character... that focus on the details. We want to look worldly yet dignified. Able to resist the craziness and secretly tuck it away... like Flemish nobility of the 1400's: First world citizens are both pious yet wealthy....


These things, I'm sure, cross many boundaries, and don't begin or end with anything in the kitchen... but the study of one thing allows us to see the needs of many. Just as one can follow science fiction films throughout history to find the fears of the society that creates them, my study of kitchen life has only led me to a hairline focus on humanity in August 2009.

Same 'ol Same 'ol

Why buy a whole new kitchen, when you can over restore your current one to look older than it really is? Current kitchen trend number zillion? Back-dating your update.

Keeping up with the Jones' now means looking like you live next door to their grandparents.

Go figure.

The Great (Big) Outdoor(Kitchen)s

For those who can afford it, the Arts and Crafts style of blending the indoor with the out, and using local materials is ever so chic.
The outdoor kitchen is coming home, and bringing all of the good stuff: no longer are those giant shiney grills the coveted product, but the outdoor kitchen.... with fridge, table, and sink included.
I even saw an outdoor flat screen TV at Smith and Hawkin last week.

Kitchen life isn't just about cooking or quick meals... it's about reconnecting with nature.... and electronics.

Here we go again....

The 1950's are making a comeback! So, dust off your old Rummer house dreams, and get out some of that pastel blue. Here we go again. (Blue and white kitchen: $30 dollar makeover from Sunset).

Core77 covered kitchens of the past vs. kitchens of the future in a three video comparison.... it was hard to tell the difference!

The fifties style has been adopted by smaller sub-groups of the DIY movement (try getting through one page of Etsy without seeing one of those coupled cherry prints), and by empowered women's groups, like roller-derbyists (tight-laced lawyers by day and rolling hell on wheels by night).... both are groups that mingle with the indie rockers that are friends with the starving artists who used to go to college with a designer that's currently working for some giant corporation, who has this idea he hands to his boss- who likes it.... and happens to play roller derby.
maybe that's where all this is coming from.

Mis Matched Beauty

Another new trend in kitchen life is embracing the mis-matched.

This trend makes absolute sense in the modern design climate. Not only has the recession eased the way to more sustainable concepts (that were once just the way people lived), but a mis-matched kitchen fits into the DIY trend that has crossed into every design category.

Apartment Therapy suggests you do something with your chairs (as above)... if you've got matching chairs, paint them different colors, and if you don't, well paint them all the same color. Easy as pie.

Other mixes? Old and Modern worlds, like industrial shelving and re-purposed antique furniture.

It's like we're in the Italian Renaissance again and people want to seem traveled and full of experience... we all want to have been an explorer, settling into home once more.

Breakable Dinner Plate

Alexander Hume has designed a breakable Dinner plate-why?

Hume's plate breaks into 2 smaller plates if dropped- not merely for novelty, but because he acknowledged a design trend: design for the environment.
Simply put, Hume, is giving his materials second lives.
Genius!