Monogram Innovative Refrigeration in a Size Perfect for City Living



GE Monogram offering of fully integrated refigeration
with glass, stainless, or panel ready fronts.



Here in New York we design "largely" using appliances much smaller than what you will find in a typical suburban kitchen. It's rare to use a refrigerator that is larger than 36", although I did use two 48" ranges in 2011 and come to think of the Sub Zero towers as well, it's not called for every day and they take up a combined 54" + cladding. Four and a half feet wide by 7 feet tall  is a lot of food storage even for a 5 bedroom house in the burbs!

For everyday designing we find ourselves looking for the best refrigeration solution between 24" and 30", the Liebherr at 24" offers a lot for the price of approximately $2,300.00 although the freezer is comprised of little drawer compartments, if you can work with them they are functional, but certainly not luxurious as they have no real hardware system. One very nice feature they do offer is an icemaker.

The ever popular Sub Zero at 27" has a couple of design flaws in my opinion, the freezer is only one small drawer with ice maker, you accept the size before you buy it, so that is a decision. But more importantly you can't pull the crisper drawers out when the refrigerator door is open 90 degrees. It is locked in by a permanently affixed shelf on the door. This is a real problem here in the city when we are living in tight spaces and this is a fridge that doesn't easily pop out to make drawer cleaning possible.

Convertible freezer/refrigerator drawer in GE Monogram

For about the same price as the Sub Zero, perhaps even a little less, GE Monogram offers a very thoughtfully designed refrigerator, that is not only capable of being fully integrated, it has a much roomier freezer drawer and a "tween" drawer in the mid-section that can instantly convert at any time from refrigerator to freezer and back again. It's ingenious if you ask me, and the ice maker in the tween drawer makes it a great energy saver in a busy household where people are regularly just opening the freezer compartment for ice.

The interior fresh food compartment reminds me of the pricey but beautiful Miele fridge, known for its bright well organized appearance and sturdy moving components. The Ge Monogram has heavy duty Glass shelves with aluminum trim and side lighting, and is a very well priced option for someone looking for the best in design and function.

If you are in the New York City area and want to preview the GE Monogram line, contact Paula Cecere or Corinne at the A&D Building GE Monogram Design Center located at 150 East 58th Street, 10th Floor; New York, NY 10155 (212) 223-1699

Designing My Year--2011



Calcutta Gold Sofa courtesy of Stone Master Craftsman
Ilia De Ploti of New York Stone



 2011 was a great year in kitchens in many ways, I had the opportunity to design using some of the most fun creative materials from Brooks Verdicrete to Ceasarstone Concetto, from Stainless Steel Irpinia cabinets in an earthy brick Chelsea loft  to a serene sophisticated uptown penthouse Rutt Kitchen, with clients who really cared about the aesthetic result, and with a fellow staff that is fun to be with, professional, clean and responsive. My clients affirm this to me daily in emails, phone calls, and referrals.

When someone comes in to do their dream kitchen and they have the checkbook to back it up, you know  the raw potential to be great, after all in New York City we are fortunate to be dazzled by the newest, best, latest and the greatest, presented in such a way we want to have it all. For a good designer this has the potential to be a playground of epic proportions. This was my year for such fun and good hard work. I found myself bouncing between Park Avenue in the 80's, Manhattan's Gold Coast, and Brownstone renovations in Cobble Hill and the Promenade areas in Brooklyn, where my own parents started their life together 50 years ago this year.

With so much going on around us each day of the bustling year,  it feels good to look back at times and take notice of things and people that made us smile or jobs that gave us satisfaction or others who shared their beautiful work to inspire us. It may have been a needed laugh, a sunset captured,  a job well done, a hug, or simply thoughts of the kids at home growing smarter and more independant each day but still not too grown up to goof around, but all in all 2011 was a year of personal and professional growth and "taking New York".

The job I do wouldn't be possible without so many people who make my days bright and help me get my  designs off paper and into the home. Here is a glimpse of 2011 at MCK+B and at home.



Cheers to Meryl Dourmashkin, the finest, brightest most organized and thorough project manager
I have ever worked with, who can communicate volumes in a two
word email, she gets it done!







Eamon, Malachy, and Giovanny who run the cleanest

 jobsites I have ever seen for

MCK+B where we call this "under construction"



Kitchen Designed for West 20th Street, NYC project run by

Marthe Rowen AIA of Virginia. Celophane still

on the steel cabinets almost ready to unveil. Installation

By Manhattan Center for Kitchen + Bath.





Steve Naphtali of Kitchen Expressions and fellow MCK+B
designer Hany Gerges Steve talks me through it and Hany is
never to busy to answer a question or weigh in an opinion.







The girls in my life who constantly amaze me,
growing by leaps and bounds more beautiful every day.
Thanks for keeping me young at heart xoxo.

 



This stunning little bathroom will be the first page in my book
"101 Uses for Semi-Precious Stone"



2011 Saw the opening of the World Trade Center Memorial and the
Freedom Tower climbs to a height where it is dominating skyline of lower Manhattan.
Photo by Laura Candler

Kendall DeLisa and Clare Hernon taking in "Occupy Wall Street"
with Laura Candler on a warm November day.



With Sky Views of all of lower Manhattan and
Brooklyn from the 30th floor, this kitchen
and client will be a lasting  favorite.











Eric Williams, the man who photo-chronicles every family

outing I can't make it to, it's as close to being there
as a working mom could get. Thank you!

 



People watching in NYC, never dull, is it part panda,
 not really but it was almost 100 degrees with not a breath of air,
and they were big and wooley.





A quiet simple view of a kitchen that is a perfect fit in every way, can you find the laundry room?
You are looking right at it.



And the sun goes down on another year, I am looking forward to the fun and excitement of 2012.
 Photo by Eric Williams

Special thanks to Andie Day, Fran Asaro, Allan Linder, Sol Kassorla, Leah Primamore Pavlovich, Ahuva Ginden, Jamie Goldberg, Eric and our girls, Laura Fancy Pants Candler, Paul and Lena, Paula Cecere, General Electric, Monogram, NJ Transit, Trader Joe's, Blogger19 and my mom.

New Appliances Offerings as Scholtes Launches in the U.S.



Kitchen with appliance by Scholtès,



As of October 4th, designers and homeowners in North America have a new entry level luxury appliance line to choose from. Scholtès, a European line from Indesit, has entered the market and is looking to go head to head with Kitchen Aid, Bosch and other appliances that already do battle for the high end remodeling client.



I have to say at first glance the line has very good appeal, certainly not fussy, it has clean simple lines with a very interesting bar pull handle that is sure to catch your eye. It is a nearly full line, with a couple of apparent exceptions: the microwave and full size refrigeration. Yes we have to talk about it, almost every kitchen gets a microwave, but more important is a freezer. That said, I think what they do offer in refrigeration has the potential to become extremely popular, as in time it proves to be reliable and appeals to clients looking for something a little less expensive than SubZero for under counter fridge drawers.

 

It’s simple enough that if someone wants to use the majority of the line for it’s attractive styling, they can easily panel a refrigerator from another line, and specify a GE Monogram microwave to round out the kitchen.

What they do have are gas and electric cook tops, dishwasher, built-in oven, hoods, dishwashers, and an array of refrigeration options including well priced 2 zone 36” wide refrigerated drawers, and smartly designed single and dual temperature zone wine storage that fits perfectly into tall storage cabinets . I expect we'll be trying these out very soon at MCK+B.

The line has been designed in Imperial sizes, so there is no problem swapping new appliances into an existing kitchen. The logo is prominent on each appliance, but not intrusive as I find Liebherr who has their logo embossed in 1” high letters on some of their models. Side note to Viking, I personally think their appliances can carry the bulky nameplate they label with, and it’s actually a selling feature at this point!

I want to welcome Scholtès to the marketplace and suggest you check out their European website for a glimpse at what we hope is to come.