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SPEC

A Miscellany of Great Kitchen (and Bath) Products

Take a look at the latest innovations in appliances and other kitchen features.

By Rob Wotzak Issue 271 - Kitchens & Baths 2017

Cooking Outside the Box

Designed by a passionate Dutchman who longed for a more functional kitchen, PITT Cooking’s independent gas burners take the kitchen layout to a whole new level. Unlike the fixed grid of burners in a typical cooktop, PITT burners sit in individual holes in a countertop in a custom layout of your choosing (as long as they are at least 3-3⁄16 in. apart). This lets you match the burner spacing precisely to the way you cook. Plus, you get the striking combination of a professional-grade kitchen with a minimalist modern aesthetic.

Intimate Kitchen Workstation

Move the sink to the corner of a kitchen island and you instantly double the workspace around it. This seems like a simple solution, but it’s one that designer Matthew Quinn has executed elegantly in the SocialCorner sink by Home Refinements. More than just for modern good looks, the flat sides take advantage of every available cubic inch, and the subtle creases in the bottom of the sink allow for ideal drainage. As with all Home Refinements collections, optional hardwood and stainless-steel accessories—such as colanders, cutting boards, and drying racks—easily attach to the SocialCorner, making it even more of a kitchen space saver.

Change Pots and Pans on the Fly

Orchestrating a multicourse meal is a snap with Thermador’s Freedom Induction Cooktop. With an array of 48 induction elements replacing the static zones on a typical cooktop, you are free to add or change the position of up to four pots anywhere on the cooking surface at any time. The heating elements “follow” your pots as you move them around, while sensors in the cooktop turn down the heat if a pot boils over or any stray objects contact the surface.

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This Pendant Rises to the Occasion

Whether you’re eating breakfast, baking cookies, doing homework, or hosting a game night, the kitchen island is often the right spot for the job. But a single lamp would be hard-pressed to cover all of those tasks well. Enter the Counter Weight pendant light from George Kovacs. Raise the lamp with a gentle push, and the beam of light spreads from a cozy spot (just right for a solo task) to a wide flood (perfect for social gatherings). There are plenty of other adjustable-height lamps on the market, but with its satin stainless-steel finish and unadorned fabric shade, this pendant makes a great focal point for any space without stealing the show.

A Holistic Design/Build Experience

It’s tough to describe what the talented people at Henrybuilt do because nobody else works quite like them. Yes, they build gorgeous modern cabinets with perfectly matched design details and purposeful components. Yes, they get deeply involved in every stage of every project (whether it’s a small dressing room or an entire house) to ensure that the spaces they help to envision and create match their clients’ needs and desires. And, yes, they even have their own modular, returnable shipping containers to make sure that everything they build gets to your home safe and sound. But to really understand Henrybuilt, you need to head on over to their website or get in touch with them directly. No matter what your expectations are, you will be pleasantly surprised.

Settle Down in the Shower

Maybe you find sitting while showering to be more practical, or perhaps you just want to take some time to relax in the shower. Whatever your reasons for wanting a comfy spot to sit, ARB Teak’s Fiji corner shower bench should fit the bill. The compact, three-legged bench tucks neatly into the corner of all but the smallest showers, and it would be tough to find a room that wouldn’t welcome its natural wood finish and clean lines. ARB Teak also sells larger benches and other teak bathroom accessories if you’re looking to create a more spa-like space.

Secret Faucet Feature

Add a mix of whimsy and convenience to your bathroom sink with this lighthearted design from American Standard. The Green Tea Widespread faucet has a not-so-obvious bonus—a pullout spout. With it, you can do all sorts of things that you can’t do with a regular faucet, from grabbing a sip of water while brushing your teeth, to rinsing your hair, to filling a wash bucket.

Bulletproof and Beautiful Metal Shower Pans

Maybe it won’t actually stop a bullet, but a seamless copper or stainless-steel shower floor will stay leak-free and handsome for years to come. And because Diamond Spas build every shower pan by hand, they can tailor size, shape, drain style, niches, and a number of other custom details to meet your needs.

Prefab Pizza Oven

In the Mugnaini workshop in California’s Sonoma Valley, the artisans marry their own custom-made steel frames with precast components from renowned Italian oven maker Valoriani before wrapping the assembly in stucco, sheet metal, or a custom material of your choice. The combination of time-tested European materials and modern American technology produces ovens that are easy to install and use. Mugnaini’s masonry kits allow for completely custom ovens. With the numerous sizes, shapes, and finish materials available, it’s best to contact the folks at Mugnaini and perhaps even take one of their introductory classes to figure out which oven suits you best.

Beautifully Textured Basins

As pleasing to the touch as they are to the eye, the sinks in Kohler’s Sartorial collection have delicate raised patterns inspired by classic 19th-century fabrics. The faintly embossed surfaces catch just enough light to be noticeable without upstaging the graceful curves of the sinks themselves. Use the angular herringbone and sinuous paisley patterns together in the same bathroom for a playful contrast, or pick the one that best matches the rest of the design elements in your room.

Modern Tiles Keep Morocco’s ­Artisanal Culture Alive

Popham Design got its start nearly 10 years ago when founders Caitlin and Samuel Dowe-Sandes set off on a sabbatical to Morocco, where they became enamored by the country’s lively craft culture. They set up a shop, assembled a team of skilled tile makers, and never looked back. Handmade in an eco-conscious factory just outside of Marrakesh, Popham Design’s encaustic cement tiles blend modern design with motifs borrowed from ancient Moroccan art and architecture, with shapes and colors inspired by nature. Because the pigmented face of each tile is several millimeters thick, the rich, colorful patterns should hold up as long as the centuries-old tiles they are modeled after.

 

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