Extreme Kitchens

To hear them tell it in home renovation programs and publications, every kitchen should look like it’s starring in a cooking show or else be dismissed as subpar, even when the existing older components are still perfectly functional. The critics are harsh. There is no room for an avocado laminate countertop. 

This kitchen-shaming has proven most beneficial to contractors, to makers of granite and marble countertops, and to manufacturers of stainless steel appliances. Yet, as much as the tastemakers tout the latest “classic” or “neutral” ideal, one day these, too, shall look dated.

So homeowners can either plan to periodically overhaul their kitchens to reflect what’s in vogue, or they can flout the conventions, go with personal taste and choose a look that no one else has.

Many homeowners, builders and designers have done the latter. In the spectrum of unusual kitchens, there are automated kitchen islands with adjustable heights and motorized panels, there are appliances that come in vibrant colors and retro styles, and fridges can be printed with custom designs and images. There are many fetching modern modular kitchens on the market, and kitchens from designers and brands such as Fendi, Armani, Ferrari and Philippe Starck.

We’re also used to kitchens being made from a mix of materials such as tile, wood, steel and marble. Some of the kitchens in the following collection are made primarily from one material. One is high concept, one uses a common material uncommonly, and others showcase unique looks. 

Wherever your tastes lie, though, it’s practically guaranteed that at least one of the following 10 kitchens will not be your cup of tea.

By Colleen KanePosted 2 March 2012 

Who says a kitchen island must be monolithic rectangle topped with a slab of stone? Certainly not the industrial designer Karim Rashid who designed this for Amr Helmy Designs. The sculptural multi-purpose island features asymmetrical triangular Glacier White Corian surfaces styled to look like a folded paper object.

The Origami Island debuted in 2011 as a companion to the Origami Kitchen Rashid designed for the Egyptian kitchen company, whose tagline is “7 years ahead.”

At first glance, this assemblage of odd furnishings might look like the result of an artist’s steampunk whimsy, but in actuality this is a project designed by the Dutch electronics company Philips aiming to address ecological issues of the post-industrial world.

“We need to go back to nature in order to move forward,” the project’s web page says.

As such, the new take on the larder, pictured at far left, is designed to store fresh “living” food without refrigeration. The island at the center is a methane digester, which converts bathroom and kitchen waste into gas to power the home. The hand-cranked machine at right uses fungi to break down household plastics. The final stages of the plastic breakdown cycle produce edible mushrooms. 

Throughout history, many items have been “blinged” with Swarovski crystals: pianos, swimming pools, cars, fingernails, cellphones and toilets. Covering items in Swarovski crystals is a sparkling way of announcing that you are attracted to shiny objects.

The INO Meuble Crystal kitchen from Japanese kitchen designers Toyo features handles studded with Swarovski Crystal rhinestones. It was made in a limited edition of 20.

For urban dwellers who are short on space, this is the most apartment-ready kitchen look in this collection. Urban life can mean spending lots of time surrounded by the dirty tile of subways. In happy contrast, this tile kitchen looks fresh and clean, particularly the ultra-minimal countertop cooker.

The sunken-tile sink is another striking option available from the Dutch company DTILE. Its website says, “We love tiles so much that we want to tile the world,” and so in addition to rounded-corner tiles, the company makes tiles in the shape of hooks, vents, bud vases, drawers — anything to not disturb the grid of tiles.

If this scene doesn’t transport you back to the Jell-O desserts and canned-food casseroles of youth, it is certain to evoke uncomfortable cigarette-clouded TV scenes set in Betty Draper’s kitchen — or both. This time capsule home went on the market recently after the original owner/builder died and it soon came to the attention of the Retro Renovation blog.

“The pictures of that kitchen sure have sparked a surprising amount of interest and comments — all positive,” said William Livingston, who represents the property, which is on the market for $149,900.

There are so many aspects of this kitchen sure to send the contemporary home renovation proponents a-hemorrhaging: the flower-print and plaid wallpaper double-whammy, the orange laminate countertops (as seen in “The Brady Bunch”) and all that harvest gold — on the appliances, no less. 

However, that mid-century magic that is what makes this kitchen amazing, it still exists! As evidenced on Retro Renovation, many midcentury enthusiasts are retro-fitting their homes to look this way, albeit none quite like this.

With this minimalist setup from the Italian line GED Cucine, orange makes a bold and much more modern kitchen statement. The Argento Vivo (“quicksilver”) kitchen sprung from the mind of the award-winning industrial designer Roberto Pezzetta.

The counter ends in a futuristic breakfast bar, a light-up circular element evoking the Starship Enterprise. The Argento Vivo also comes in white, silver, yellow, royal blue and green.

Many kitchens have motifs found throughout the room: vibrant fruit, saucy roosters, a favorite material such as copper or a basic color scheme. But some homeowners take a theme and run with it so hard they crash though the wall like the Kool-Aid Man. On the other side of that wall is this coffin-themed kitchen.

A Las Vegas homeowner wanted a rustic-feeling coffin kitchen made from solid maple, so she hired the builders at Coffin it Up, a company that has also provided custom decorative mahogany coffins to Jeff Hanneman of Slayer.

The resulting trapezoidal cupboards are not the most practical storage spaces, but they are the most coffin-like storage spaces this side of an actual coffin. The breakfast bar, countertops, backsplashes and window sill are made from black galaxy granite, and there are spiderweb corbels for the doorways to the room.

This kitchen from the German firm Steininger is made of sturdy, heat-resistant 8-millimeter concrete and is available in gray beige, nature gray and anthracite. The fresh herb drawer livens up the design that might otherwise feel cold. 

If you like the all-one-material kitchen style but prefer something more organic, modular wood kitchens are available from designers including the Danish firm We Do Wood.

With the Argento Vivo, we already saw one island that was semi-illuminated from within.

But with this light-up marble kitchen island, made by the Australian high-end kitchen and bathroom designers Impala, everything is illuminated. Lest the cook get distracted by the glow, it’s topped with an onyx bar.

You knew this was coming: an all-stainless steel kitchen. This kitchen is in a circa- 2006 architectural home in San Francisco that’s on the market for just under $9 million. The residence is made from concrete steel and glass, and has an oversized anodized aluminum door and a 66-foot stainless steel counter running from the living room to the kitchen. 

For those living on a smaller scale, the Dutch company Vipp, known for its dustbins, also makes a line of industrial stainless modular kitchens.