Chop, Cook & Watch

Peter Lawrence’s newly renovated, high-tech home, nestled against the Hollywood Hills of Los Angeles, boasts a television and surround sound in almost every room. But it’s the 12-inch Sony Trinitron from the 1980s that receives the most use, and it complements the cherry wood cabinetry, sandblasted-glass backsplash and gray-beige limestone floor orchestrated by Los Angeles interior designer Bradley Blair. Moreover, the TV occupies very little space on the black granite countertop.

A separate seating area with a large TV rounds out this kitchen; all appliances are by Sub-Zero. (Click image to enlarge)

Like the owner of every stellar kitchen, Lawrence, who has taken culinary classes in France, spends a lot of time leaning over the stove. Cooking is his passion. Invited guests enjoy wine and hors d’oeuvres while watching Lawrence do his chef thing. But his kitchen isn’t perfect. The technology entrepreneur, who’s working with the local John Kerry for President campaign, dreams about installing a flat-screen TV behind the center island. “It would double as a computer,” he muses. “I could sit, watch and reference. But the old Sony just won’t die.”

Today, the kitchen is Multitasking Central: It’s the new office, the new family room, the new living room. Homeowners are doing it all here—paying bills and opening mail at the built-in desk. They return phone calls, check their portfolios online, download music and watch the news or a favorite cooking show, all while chopping rutabagas for a stew and helping Junior with his homework. They can even check the front door via the security system, which is integrated into the TV, to see if FedEx has arrived.

Beyond everyday use, the kitchen is the home’s social heart. Guests invited to dinner gather around the center island to help with slicing, sautéing and wine selection. Because the kitchen supports so many activities, its design and layout must be warm, functional, aesthetically pleasing and comfortable. And these days, a large plasma TV or an LCD TV must be part of that design equation, allowing family members and guests to keep abreast of the NBA Finals or a favorite show on the Food Network, which finds its way into 82 million homes.

Designed by Bradley Blair Design, the kitchen called for a sleek, modern TV to complement the room’s spare, clean styling. (Click image to enlarge)

“Television provides the ideas and inspiration, and the step-by-step details are spelled out on the website,” says Mike Pardee of Scripps Networks, which owns the Food Network. Coincidentally, the network’s motto, “Watch, click, print, do,” reflects the trend that thousands of people are building TVs, as well as computers, into their kitchens.

Just as there are countless high-end appliances to choose from, there’s also a wide range of TVs on the market—from plasma TVs to clever and affordable LCD options and wireless TVs. Flat-screens are being married to hinged or movable mounts that fit beneath a kitchen cabinet or on the wall; some are even being built right into custom cabinet doors. Sharp’s LCD TVs continue to grow in popularity because of their sleek design and silver, black and white frames. The Icebox by Salton—an Internet-enabled integrated entertainment system and TV designed for the kitchen, with a washable keyboard, remote control and glass touchscreen for easy cleaning—has been available for two years, and sales have risen 400 percent, according to Managing Director Russ Whitman. LG Electronics offers a refrigerator with a built-in cable-ready 13-inch TV, AM/FM radio, two speakers and a TV tuner. The company’s limited-edition Internet refrigerator also has sold well, with its price tag of $8,000.

The ways in which homeowners are integrating TVs into the kitchen are as varied as the homes themselves. Flip-down TVs continue to be a popular way to bring TV into the kitchen, as many models are designed to fit beneath a kitchen cabinet. But they are limited, says custom installer Anson Fogel of ESC in Aspen, Colo. “You can’t flip down a TV much larger than 15 inches, and they’re too small to be viewed from farther than 8 feet away.”

For this kitchen installation designed by Sally Sirkin Lewis, a noted Los Angeles interior designer, the TV had to be as modern as the kitchen’s design, and blend in with the stainless-steel cabinetry and appliances. (Click image to enlarge)

Enter the plasma TV. “The thin plasma TV has changed the entire design direction of how TV is incorporated into the home,” says Katherine Flaherty of LuxeHome, a collaboration of more than 25 luxury kitchen and bath boutiques in the Chicago Merchandise Mart. “Plasmas are good-looking enough to just hang on the wall. They’re status symbols.”

In this SieMatic kitchen, a plasma television blends perfectly into the rich Mesa line of cabinetry. (Click image to enlarge)

George Bliss of Bliss Custom Home Theatres and Automation, a residential systems integrator based in the greater Los Angeles area, says owners of large homes are embedding AMX or Crestron touchscreens in their kitchen walls and are integrating them into the home’s automation system. This enables homeowners to watch TV, a DVD, and satellite TV, or monitor the kids from another room in the house.

If the television isn’t concealed, it must blend seamlessly into the kitchen’s decor, says noted L.A. interior designer Sally Sirkin Lewis, recalling the stainless-steel kitchen shown above. “The TV had to have a state-of-the-art look like the rest of the kitchen,” Lewis says, adding that many of her high-end kitchens include TVs that pop up out of countertops or are built directly into the custom cabinetry.

Sharp’s Aquos flip-down TV looks stunning in any kitchen, and the product is a great space saver. (Click image to enlarge)

Joan DesCombes, a certified kitchen designer and co-owner of Architectural Artworks in Winter Park, Fla., designs a lot of SieMatic kitchens, like the one shown on page 85. In this installation, the plasma TV takes center stage above the range and microwave. Custom built into SieMatic’s Mesa-series cherry cabinetry, the TV is dressed up with a stainless-steel frame. “As TVs become a staple of the kitchen, we do make recommendations to clients about which TV will suit their needs,” DesCombes says. “The product has lent [itself] to so many different choices for the designer to work with. There are so many wonderful options.”

The television in this kitchen installation was incorporated after the entire room was designed and built, says designer Diane Bohstedt of Insignia Kitchen and Bath. The TV’s location in a custom-designed corner cabinet allows family members to comfortably view the set from various vantage points in the kitchen, as well as from the adjacent family room. (Click image to enlarge)

The kitchen shown above right, designed by Diane Bohstedt of Insignia Kitchen and Bath outside Chicago, shows how custom cabinetry can accommodate a television nicely. “The wife wanted it for background noise while she’s cooking,” Bohstedt says, adding that the TV was an afterthought. “By the time the TV request came around, it was the end of the project.” Since the wife wasn’t as concerned about seeing the TV as she was about hearing it, Bohstedt incorporated the 27-inch set into a custom corner cabinet in the breakfast nook area, enabling the TV to be visible from anywhere in the kitchen and from the adjacent family room.

ESC, a custom installation firm based in Aspen, Colo., engineered the swing-out arm that allows the plasma TV to be viewed from anywhere in the kitchen. The mechanism and the TV fit nicely into the custom cabinetry. (Click image to enlarge)

When installing TVs within a wall, interior designers often frame the screen to add a sense of warmth. The De Giulio installation features just such an arrangement: A black wood frame encircles a plasma TV festooned above a fireplace in a kitchen designed by Chicago’s De Giulio Kitchen Design. According to De Giulio owner Mick de Giulio, streamlined kitchens are in, clutter is out. In fact, clients ask him to hide their appliances to make the kitchen feel like more of a living space. For a Chicago bachelor, he installed a 36-inch plasma behind a glass-tile backsplash. “It’s right over the range, so people can watch with him while they sip cocktails and he cooks.”

Some homeowners are happy to show off what they have by placing the TV on the counter, as in the Media Design Associates project. “There are at least 10 TVs in this house,” says President Michael Wohl. “So the TV didn’t need to be big.” The Sharp 15-inch LCD Aquos attaches to a pivoting wall bracket for maximum visibility, and is integrated into the home’s DVD and satellite TV system so the cook can stay tuned to what the family is watching.

A plasma TV above a fireplace in this De Giulio kitchen adds a sense of warmth to the space. (Click image to enlarge)

Many homeowners, however, want to keep countertops bare and prefer that their TVs vanish when not in use. For them, camouflaging sets with cabinetry or stone-work is an attractive option. Sometimes plasma TVs can come right out of the woodwork—literally—so the set is viewable from many perspectives. Fogel worked with an interior designer to custom engineer an articulating arm that allows a 42-inch NEC plasma to rotate 180 degrees from the custom millwork. The display tilts or swivels into various positions, up or down, in or out.

For a computer and TV area in a Midwest kitchen, Jeff Cannata, a certified kitchen and bath designer and president of Designer’s Showcase Kitchens & Baths Inc. in Chicago, suggested installing a TV that doubles as a computer to save space. “The TV works as a computer monitor and can be viewed from the kitchen table,” Cannata says. When not in use, the TV is concealed behind cabinet doors.

Another ingenious TV disguise is Gaggenau Home Appliance’s “concealing door”—a faux microwave door that hides a TV to create better harmony among the kitchen’s sexy Gaggenau appliances. Bettina Walcher, sales and marketing director, says many Gaggenau kitchen owners prefer to mask their TVs behind the company’s clever microwave door because they don’t want their friends to know they watch TV while enjoying dinner.

A wall-mounted Sharp LCD is one of many TVs in this Media Design Associates home. (Click image to enlarge)

Clients ask Ron Patrick, co-owner of Smart Home Systems of Calgary, Canada, to conceal their TV sets in a number of creative ways. While he installs TVs on swivel brackets, he also likes fitting flat-screen TVs on movable bases that can be pushed against a wall or stowed in a cabinet. Many customers spend up to $10,000 to embed an AMX Modero 12-inch touchscreen, which connects to the home’s TV source, into the kitchen wall.

“People love television,” says Anthony Fonzo, director of product planning, Flat-TV and Micro-Display for Philips Electronics. Philips introduced its first LCD FlatTVs in 15-inch, 17-inch and 20-inch sizes two years ago, and is enjoying at least a top-three market share in that category. “With a flat television, there is finally a way to enjoy the medium in a room where most of us spend several hours a day.”

RESOURCES

Architectural Artworks:
www.arch-art.com

Bradley Blair Design:
www.gotolotus.com

De Giulio Kitchen Design:
www.degiuliokitchens.com

Designer’s Showcase Kitchens & Baths:
www.designersshowcase.com

ESC:
www.escusa.com

Gaggenau Home Appliances:
www.gaggenau.com

Icebox:
www.icebox.tv

Insignia Kitchen and Bath:
www.insigniakitchenandbath.com

LG Electronics:
www.lge.com

LuxeHome:
www.luxehome.com

Media Design Associates:
www.mda-usa.com

Philips Electronics:
www.philips.com