Parlor Kitchen #5: Where the Party's At
This may be our favorite one yet: This kitchen was designed to be at once functionally and aesthetically pleasing. The house is 22 feet wide hence allowing us to have a rather decent sized room of approximately 16×15. It’s so true that everyone congregates in the kitchen while the living room remains empty during large…
This may be our favorite one yet:
This kitchen was designed to be at once functionally and aesthetically pleasing. The house is 22 feet wide hence allowing us to have a rather decent sized room of approximately 16×15. It’s so true that everyone congregates in the kitchen while the living room remains empty during large gatherings. We had to sacrifice the dining room by about 1 foot to give it to the kitchen and I think the move really paid off. We’ve also tried to maximize storage space by framing an sitting nook with cabinets overhead.
If size was no object, I would have a kitchen island as long and large as possible. There’s something so cozy and functional about being able to carry out tasks on a surface in the middle of the room, be it cooking, eating, working, or simply hanging out. Outside the French doors is a slim balcony that leads to a staircase that goes down to the garden. We attach flower baskets to the balcony rails and put some fruit/herb planters on the deck. I’d highly recommend your friends to add some exterior focal point outside their kitchen as it’s the best way to take advantage of a parlor level kitchen layout.
It’s been about 3 years now and I can’t think of anything else I’d change about the kitchen. And oh yeah, the AGA rocks.
Bootyful.
Update: Check out more pics and description of the project on the jump.
Ideas for the Parlor Floor Kitchen? [Brownstoner]
Parlor Kitchen #1: Architect-Designed in The Slope [Brownstoner]
Parlor Kitchen #2: Contractor’s Own Kitchen [Brownstoner]
Parlor Floor Kitchen #3: Jeffrey’s 35-Footer [Brownstoner]
Parlor Kitchen #4: Spreading Out in a 22-Footer [Brownstoner]
….a couple more photos to help put the kitchen in perspective. The parlor layout (22×50) is living room in front, dining room middle, and kitchen in back, plus hallway, staircase, powder room, the usual suspects.
As for materials – kitchen is rather straightforward and I think can be done to fit a range of budgets. Cabinets are paint grade wood with BM Dove White, floors are black slate from Home Depot, countertop & backsplashes are Carera grey marble, farmhouse sink, etc. The only statement piece is the AGA, but otherwise, the other components are run of the mill and don’t need to be expensive.
Having said that however, it really pays to have good carpentry, good painting, good lighting, and lastly, a good eye.
i wish we could get half as excited about our own government thowing away billions of dollars a year on a war very few people want, as we do about someone treating themself to a nice looking stove.
This almost makes me want to remove our decorative fireplace in the rear parlor to accommodate some of those cabinets and a little breakfast nook. Beautiful. Ignore the haters.
Get a carbon monoxide detector please.
People, stop making assumptions about others based on two pictures of their kitchen! I know that New Yorkers like to voice their opinions about everything but there is such a thing as being too judgmental.
Both.
I don’t cook – but I’m buying an AGA for my newly purchased brownstone – just for show. Am I an idiot or simply vain?
I bet you anything they either order out or cook their food in a little toaster oven -anything but have to turn on the retro boosters of the AGA.
My friends in Britain who have a “real” AGA were almost suffocated in their sleep because a stork made a nest in the chimney and the AGA exhaust backed up in the house. I definetely want one of these.
Doesn’t an AGA cost about the same as a Viking range? They’re not cheap, but they’re certainly not more than most people spend on a car.
AGAs, even Americanized ones, are a little eccentric and take some getting used to, so I doubt this was put in simply as a showpiece. And there is value in choosing high-end appliances. When you make an investment like this you are probably going to stick with it for many years to come. And chances are, when this brownstone changes hands, the new owner won’t feel the need to replace it either. Something more middle of the road might be less offensive to the angry AGA poster, but it’s a lot more likely to be torn out and chucked in a landfill than this stove is.
For the record, GE has outsourced most of its production in recent years. Their ranges have been made in Mexico since 2000.
You take a completely white kitchen and throw a blue Aga into it and the Aga is going to pop… become the centerpiece of the kitchen. Clearly the owner wanted people to notice the Aga. Conspicuous consumption or conspicuous kitchen photo? Almost makes me wonder if the the whole kitchen is an Aga advertisement. If so, it certainly worked as there has been more discussion about the Aga than anything else.