Industry's Kitchen of the Year 2014 is cutting-edge yet classic
The best kitchen is a white kitchen, apparently.
The winners of Kitchen and Bath Business' annual Kitchen of the Year competition celebrate the pristine white kitchen, blending contemporary with traditional design elements to create something both cutting edge and classically beautiful.
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"The white kitchen is really trendy these days and probably will be forever," says Chelsie Butler, editor-in-chief of trade magazine Kitchen + Bath Business. "It's important to have some contrast, whether that be with a different color countertop or different color cabinet. Here you see a lot of white contrasting with some gray, or you'll see a warm wood island."
Scott Dresner of Chicago-based Dresner Design took the top honor with his gleaming white and marble kitchen in a Chicago condo.
"What the judges really noticed about that space was the architectural detail of the ceiling, the smart use of storage, the open shelving and the thickness of the island," Butler says.
These elements, which combined to bring life and extra utility to a small open kitchen, brought Dresner top honors.
Designer Amy Yin of Amy Yin Interiors was named a runner-up for her own New Jersey kitchen. Lauren Levant Bland of Lauren Levant Interior was also a runner-up.
The kitchens have a few key elements in common besides their color schemes: They made smart use of the space and found creative storage solutions, utilizing pull-out drawers that provide depth of storage space without using too much wall space, and utilizing cabinets that hide utilities and appliances.
Ilyce Glink is an award-winning, nationally syndicated real estate columnist, blogger and radio talk show host, and managing editor of the Equifax Finance Blog. Follow her on Twitter @Glink.
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