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Inspiration
The future of our kitchens
according to The Socialite Family
At The Socialite Family, we’re willing to bet that the kitchen, the most important place in the home, is about to reach the end of an era. And stop opening up to other living spaces. For Constance Gennari, our founder and artistic director, this culinary sanctuary will gradually cease to open onto our living or dining rooms and become even more intimate. It’s already a place for entertaining, reading, thinking and working. She thinks the idea will be to re-compartmentalise to make it more distinct. In the meantime, here’s a focus on those kitchens seen in our reports that have already begun this transition. How can you tell? The very precise way in which they have been envisioned, designed and decorated. It’s the perfect way to break away from the image of a conventional kitchen.
Author
Nolyne Cerda
Photos and videos
Constance Gennari, Jeanne Perrotte, Valerio Geraci
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A mobile kitchen
Imagine a kitchen with a layout you can change to suit your wishes and your guests. Architect couple Kim Haddou and Florent Dufourcq have almost done it. “We didn’t want wall cupboards or fixed kitchen furniture. So we’ve created a ‘mobile’ kitchen, with every element on a plinth that can be moved around.” What’s the other original feature in their living space? Pure white carpet on the floor. A daring gamble that creates a soft, warm contrast with the stainless steel kitchen units.
The Socialite Family touch: our Carlotta Alta table in ash, accompanied by our Classica chairs in leopard jacquard velvet and Libera in yellow corduroy. An interplay of materials that invites endless discussion.
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A wooden kitchen
The wooden doors instantly add warmth to a room. It becomes even more modern and sleek combined with other materials, including brass for the handles and mixer tap, and glazed earthenware for the splashback. The founder of Balzac Paris, Chrysaline de Gastine, has made it her own: “It’s a place where people get together, and for me, that’s synonymous with conviviality! After all, don’t all the best evenings end up in the kitchen? »
The Socialite Family touch: there’s nothing like using our Mara Piccola wall shelf to show off your china cabinet or display your beautiful pepper plant.
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After all, don't all the best evenings end up in the kitchen?
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A stainless steel kitchen
The obsession with stainless steel kitchens is here to stay. While most Italian homes have long welcomed this material, it’s now arriving with a vengeance just about everywhere to give your home a look that’s as professional as it is rock’n’roll. And with its clean lines, it has the power to play with the light. It’s as vibrant as it is minimalist. It’s hardly surprising that Michele Pasini, co-founder of the Storage Associati architectural practice, has chosen this material to dress his sleek, uncluttered apartment in Milan. His kitchen forms a box in the middle of his home.
The Socialite Family touch: push the art of chrome to the limit with our Tubo table lamp or, on the contrary, play on contrasts by opting for the soft light diffused by our Brera floor lamp.
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Home cooking
For Solène Lahitte, a designer specialising in knitwear, and Balthazar Camus, an architect, the kitchen is at the heart of the home. Deliberately open, it is generously filled with the pots, utensils and wooden spoons needed to prepare the finest dishes. The materials chosen are light, bright and natural. They can accommodate all the ingredients for a successful menu: “Functionality is made visible here, so we don’t hide everything in our kitchen, for example”, says Balthazar.
The Socialite Family touch: hijack our Duetto vases or Donna jars to group your biggest spatulas, or make our Tasca pocket tray your own, fruit basket style.
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Functionality is made visible here
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A kitchen designed right down to the door knobs
For designer and graphic artist Sarah Martinon, it was essential to have a kitchen where she could continue to work while enjoying meals with her family. To achieve this, architect Sandrine Sarah Faivre has done away with the corridors in its favour. The rounded pillars have been hollowed out to accommodate niches, the dark marble worktop is at one with the splashback, and the door handles have been scrupulously designed to give coherence to the whole.
The Socialite Family touch: our Marta table lamp with an amber glass base and a brown textured fabric shade.
