HI Kaismom, I also enjoyed reading this article. It is interesting how different trends are from country to country, or continent to continent. Just goes to show that to a certain extent, aesthetics is culturally specific. With all the talk about super thick marble and granite islands and counters on GW these days, it was interesting to read that "thin is in" for counters in Europe.

Wonderful article kaismom, thank you. I loved all but one of the kitchens shown, not bad! The one I didn't like was the dark grey kitchen with the low island. It is such a relief to me not to see all the giant appliances that North Americans demand. The pared back style I really appreciate as well.These kitchens seem lighter, breezier than many I see here. I could see me going thin counter as well, although I admit to loving the thick marbles I see on GW.

Interesting to me (as a Canadian) that he grouped Cdn and American kitchen style together. I agree that we have the same kitchen products available to us in North America. That said, at least in TKO homes and design magazines, I do see a difference between the average American and Canadian kitchen. We still love those super large appliances like Americans do (I mean no offence, I have big appliances too, but wish I had the guts to go smaller), but our kitchens do seem a little less ornate and traditional, perhaps a little more willing to dabble into modern and possibly European, design. Maybe I'm wrong, just my impression from GW kitchens and kitchen magazines.

I've been meaning to post a thread on house porn - interior design and kitchen design magazines. I've wondered if European design magazines are more available in Canada. There are two Cdn mags I read regularly, plus about 4 European magazines, so I get my European influence through those magazines I guess. Maybe I'll post that thread now - see if I'm missing some awesome magazine out there! House porn is definitely my guilty pleasure (as is the Houzz site!)

Thanks again for the article, very interesting!

Sochi,
Do post some euro design sites for me to peruse!

I agree that the Canada straddles Europe and USA in design sensibilities. I noticed it when I was in Candian cities like Vancouver and Toronto in the past few years. It also is amazing to me how much more "accepted" and main stream modern design and architecture is in America compared to even 5 years ago. I guess I never really expected Modern design to take off. I have always loved modern design so I have been peripherally following it for years. Perhaps people/buyers are getting a little tired of the Pottery Barn look and moving toward the Crate and Barrel look ;)

Even though I love modern design, my next kitchen/bath remodel that I will do is for a rental house we are currently pursuing. I am competing with myself to put a "fab-talistic" kitchen using Ikea cabinets that will appeal to the average middle class renter out there: white farm sink, white shaker cab, granite/marble counter, SS appliances while spending as little as possible! I have learned alot from this site regarding what is popular and appealing right now....

If it was my house that I will live for a long time, I would do a funky retro remodel that harks the by-gone era but I don't think that is the rental market! Wish me luck.

I read on the livingkitchen-cologne.com site that in the Fall a major German magazine asked questions, and 12000 people sent in returns to declare their intentions. These "self-declared" returns were collated before the "Living Kitchen" event.

The vast majority declared they
are owners
with space "available" of 1-2000 sq ft
with kitchen space averaging 160 sq ft

Here is a link that might be useful: German magazine readers mail-in responses to kitchen survey

Interesting. I was thinking while reading the Tuscan thread from a few days ago that some of the real Tuscan kitchens I saw in Italy, had more in common with these streamlined German kitchens than what we think of as "Tuscan".

He doesn't mention that in some places of Europe the kitchen cabinets don't convey with the house, people move them from house to house just as we often move a W&D or frig - that has to influnece the design and construction of their cabinets.

The floating counter looks cool, but all I could think of was red and purple juice spills running down those beautiful, sleek shiny white cabinet doors!

None of the three kitchens I've lived with in and around Cologne looked much like this. The young people we knew there all had Ikea kitchens, top to bottom, which were a bit sleeker than the average American kitchen. But the older people had what looked, to my eyes, like traditional American style on a 2/3 scale. Maybe a great deal has changed in the five years since I moved back to the US.

In the last ten years, in Italy I also saw kitchens that were modern, streamlined, or minimalist (in every sense of the word). Nothing was Tuscan-pompous in Tuscany. We've idealized the color scheme and a few other aspects and transformed it to our liking.

A lot of German real estate was built in the 50's and 60's, so a generation ago their real estate seemed modern at that time. But it seems Germans like to believe they are different, so they will find ways to claim they have different aspects even today.