Who Says You Can’t Get That in NZ?

Stylish Range Cookers

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traditional kitchen, la cornue stove, white cabinets, tile backsplash

A true classic from France, La Cornue has been making high end, fabulous cookers for over 100 years. One of the most sought ofter, luxury stoves in Europe and the US, FL Bone of Auckland has added this to their amazing line of beautiful and hard working stoves from the UK, such as AGA, the standard in olde English homes for centuries

AGA stove, traditional kitchenIn New Zealand, AGA is sold under the name of the parent company, Falcon, along with the Falcon, Rangemaster, Mercury and Rayburn brands of more affordable, while still hard working, great performers. Available in a dozen finishes, including stainless steel, black, white, ivory, and a range of bright colours for the more daring, these range cookers are a great starting point for a unique kitchen design while offering excellent cooking performance.

And I speak from personal experience. Last year I needed to buy a new cooker. The top end US brands, Viking and Wolf, while available here, are prohibitively expensive. And although I have specified them dozens of times for clients, the heavy duty commercial stainless look is not to my personal taste. So I did a massive amount of research to familiarise myself with locally available brands, like Ilve, Smeg, Award and others. I looked at performance and reliability, compared that to cost – value for the dollar – and the look of the appliance. I am very particular about the performance of my gadgets, big and small, and I cook a lot. I also wanted this to be a lifetime purchase, so I needed to get it right.

My research took me to online user review sites, mostly Australian and UK based, mixed in Consumer’s NZ product testing, with manufacturer claims of performance. And I talked to loads of people, including salespeople, kitchen designers and end users of different brands.

All of my research led to one clear conclusion and I became the proud owner of a Falcon Rangemaster Professional+FX in Ivory. And I love it! It will be the starting point for my new kitchen design and I am sure there will be a lot more said about it in future blog posts. For now, if you are thinking of a new range cooker, get yourself down to FL Bone and check them out. My stove cost less than the mid-line Smeg, much less than any model Ilve and I am very confident from all of my research that it performs better and will last longer.

 

 

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Resin panels

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resin panels, bathroom design, 3-formWho could not love the look of these panels? These are by a company called 3-Form out of the US, and part of their Varia Ecoresin line. Distributed in New Zealand by Carter Holt Harvey, these are translucent resin panels in a variety of design choices. With a huge range, my personal favorite is the Organics collection, which offers not just a natural look, but is truly natural! They suspend real materials in the resin, things like Bear Grass and twigs with names like Thatch and Ting Ting! The one in the photo above is called “Hydrangea Thatch” and yes, those are real flower petals and twigs suspended in clear resin!

this one is Criss Cross,3-form, bathroom design, door panel

and here’s Green Tea:3-form, resin panel, closet design

There are so many uses for these amazing panels! They add interest while letting the light in. And they can create a look and feel that textured glass cannot. I have used some of the organics as inserts into cabinet doors to create a Japanese style in a couple of bathrooms. For closets and entry doors, there is privacy, but still the light comes through, and these are so much more interesting than frosted glass. For a kitchen, so many different and interesting looks can be achieved with 3-Form inserts in cabinet doors. For a bathroom design, I used Fossil Leaf  as a shower door panel in place of glass. The subtle, clear leaf design echoed the leaf imprint in the floor tiles. One of my favorite San Francisco restaurants uses Bamboo Rings as the back wall for their line up of drinks bottles. Back lit, and a perfect compliment to the bamboo floors and panels used throughout, they look so incredibly cool!

Can you tell that I just love these panels? They are so beautiful, so interesting, so unique! With these, we can create a truly individual accent. Add to that, they are so environmentally friendly! These panels are made from a minimum of 40% pre-consumer recycled resin.

And yes, we can get them in New Zealand!

 

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Lighting, Lighting and more Lighting!

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Lighting is one of my passions. Okay, I do have a few of them, in design that is. I get weak in the knees over beautiful tiles, can get unseemly over shiny taps, and turn to jelly over fabulous, well built joinery. But lighting! Now there’s a really special world. Well, until I moved to New Zealand that is. One lighting store after another had white pendant lights, white ceiling fixtures, plain sconces, with barely a blown glass shade in sight. Even the really high end stores, with European imports, seemed devoid of anything that didn’t look like it belonged in a Woody Allen fantasy of the future. All stark. All plain. All the same.

Until now! Finally, some of my favorite light fixtures are being imported into New Zealand! Hinkley, with their beautiful outdoor lighting and the glamorous Frederick Ramond Collection. Kichler Lighting, voted #1 in 2011, and including a full line of fans with built in lighting. And my true love, Hubbardton Forge Lighting! Here are just a few examples of sconces used in bathrooms:

lighting, wall sconces, modern sink basin, tile design, white tiles

vanity and lightingJapanese bath with lighting

Hubbardton Forge was one of my go-to companies on so many projects, in rooms throughout the house, because of their versatility. They have collections that allow you to have the same, or very similar, look throughout the house. Perfect for our open plan style homes, as you look from one room through to another, there is a consistent design feel throughout. Since they offer all of their models in multiple finishes and multiple design options, this means that rather than all being the same, they can be unique while still maintaining a cohesive design.

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