Chic City Kitchen
by habituallychic
01 . 29 . 08
I was going to call this post, Chic Country Kitchen but then I remembered that the husband and wife owner’s Robin Standefer and Stephen Alesch don’t care for the connotation that the phrase “country kitchen” infers, especially since theirs is in a loft in downtown New York. Regardless of what they call it, it’s one of my favorite kitchen designs. The forced cherry blossoms add to the beautiful ambiance and have me drooling as well. I also thought that Decorno might need a little inspiration after her “home of never ending projects” post today. You can read the entire article about this chic kitchen here.
1) The island: The marble top comes from a lithographer’s studio in Indiana and had to be craned in through the window. Standefer found the tree stump in a forest, and uses it as a cheese platter or fruit stand.2) The Garland stove: A well-used workhorse that was inherited from the loft’s previous owner, an urban pioneer who’d been there since 1968 and also kept a giant loom on the premises. She’d cloistered her kitchen in a dark corner of the loft. They moved the stove—and everything else—out into the open.
I’m going to have to do another post about the owners and their design firm Roman & Williams because they have a really interesting back story. They started out as set designers for movies and then started to get interior design jobs after a few celebs who admired their work started to hire them. There also came a point where they couldn’t stand to watch all their hard work destroyed at the end of a shoot. They recently finished the lobby renovation of the Royalton Hotel in New York and word is that they have quite a few more celebrity clients. Now, I just wish they would post some photos online so we can see what else they have been up to!
30 Comments
Oh man – that kitchen is gorgeous. And this was just the inspiration I needed to get me through my home renovation woes. Thanks HC.
Standefer and Alesch are the most extraordinary designers I’ve ever seen, true masters of mood and atmosphere. Did you see their extraordinary apartment, published a few years ago in The New York Times? Amazing, utterly amazing.
Is that not the perfect kitchen!?
I’m drooling over that sink! The whole kitchen is gorgeous. I could move right in!
You are very welcome Decorno! I think a little white paint can go a long way!
An Aesthete’s Lament, I did see the Times article but there weren’t that many photos online to include. It’s weird how they haven’t been published much, unless of course they like being under the radar.
Love this type of kitchen – classic.
Suzy, it’s a close race for me between this kitchen and the one from Something’s Gotta Give. I have them both in my file for future reference!
Mrs. Plain Jane, It’s a surprisingly homey kitchen for being in a downtown NYC loft. I’d move right in too!
HOBAC, glad you approve!
I love this type of kitchen – classic and functional. So New York of the 1930s.
Oh my goodness, that is the ultimate kitchen sink!! (No puns intended!) How sleek and fabulous. It’s definitely sleek city chic.
Alice, I love how although it does lean more toward country, it’s not too country and not too modern. It really is the most perfect kitchen!
love that sink
Picturess of the house they did for Ben Stiller are in the Elle Decor book “So Chic” that came out last year. Their kitchen (with a list of their industry sources) was in Food & Wine magazine a few years back.
That kitchen is my all-time favourite. Oh, Lithographer’s marble (insert Homer Simpson happy noise here).
Thanks Anonymous! I have that Elle Decor book but I must have missed the Stiller home. I will definitely look again tonight.
There were a few photos of their office in Wallpaper too but not much else. I want to see more!
Oh, and the house for Kate Hudson was in W magazine a couple years back. I love them and wish i hadn’t spilled coffee on the tearsheets I had of the Food & Wine story or I’d scan them for you (only the story is available online. No pics).
Love your blog. You have great taste.
Mitsouko in Toronto (formerly Anon.)
Yeah! An anonymous person who has a name! Thanks for stopping by Mitsouko!
I remember that W story but I don’t think I kept those tear sheets. Too bad. There was also a nice story in the March 2005 issue of Interior Design magazine but alas, the images are not posted online. Drives me crazy that they post the captions though. Very strange.
I’m in the midst of planning my own white kitchen. Thanks for the added inspiration.
Nice kitchen HC! Classic. I love a white kitchen. Nice post. Pssst…I seem to remember a brief post with this picture awhile back;).
Love their work!
Katie
Wonderful kitchen. I love the fact that they decided NOT to go with a white sink…that would have been the most obvious, predictable choice.
Love the info about the island’s marble top – and the stove. Keep it coming, HC!
Wanderluster, glad I could help. It certainly is chock full of inspriation!
Katie, I was hoping no one would remember 😉
Me, Myself and I, the dark sink is such a lovely focal point. If it were all white, there would be no place for your eye to stop. I love it!
Diana, I’ll try! Glad you like it!
WOW I want that black sink!! Stunning!!
Their house for the actor Ben Stiller was in ELLE DECOR a few years ago.
This is everything that I should have done with our kitchen… of course, I’d never leave it then. Elegant, simple, nice work spaces … perfect. Ah well, live and learn.
I just did a post on white kitchens a couple of week’s ago. This kitchen is a dream! I would have used different lighting, but it is just perfect.