The Emotional Kitchen #KDChat 5PM ET 12/17

In response to last Friday's tragic events, which I, for one, am having difficulty moving on from, I think it's a good opportunity to give deeper thought to how we can TRULY personalize our kitchens not just for our sense of style or function, but to encompass feelings of warmth, connectedness, closeness for all family members or for a single inhabitant. Questions are meant to be deep and thought provoking and emotions, stories and thoughts on the meaning of the kitchen to the family or other loved ones are welcome.

1. How can a kitchen be designed to touch the emotional needs of those who live in the home, given different ages/gender? 

2. What is the right balance that a designer or homeowner should have between addressing style and function vs. a third piece: emotion?

3. How can comfort be incorporated into a kitchen design to encourage socializing?

4. Is a deeper emotional connection to the kitchen design something that designers and homeowners SHOULD look at and talk about?

5. Does style matter too much at the expense of an emotional connection to the kitchen?

Take this conversation in any direction within the general topic of the emotional kitchen.

Image from At Home in France

26 angels on a hillside in Newton, CT. 

Photographing Your Kitchen - Nov. 12 5pm ET #KDChat

Without images of our work, how else can we effectively communicate the quality of our work, details, our overall professionalism?

"Images" is the new "text" in websites, social media channels and in publications, both in print and online. Image use has simply exploded, especially in the past 2 years. Keeping up with the demand for images from others as well as the opportunities to distribute our images increases the pressure to have those images available, and available on short notice.

Interestingly, we have seen the quality of photography get better and better on design blogs as design bloggers, most of whom have an intrinsically creative streak, experiment with photography and even create their own photographic "look." And how does that translate to photographing kitchens?

This topic is so broad that if there is interest, this will be a two-part chat, with the second part taking place in two weeks.

This is NOT a chat about copyright issues or ownership issues. It's about how we can raise the quality level of our own images, the ones we take ourselves and how we can accumulate a library of images to suit various needs.

As a serious amateur photographer for several decades, previous owner of a darkroom, obsessive photographer and photographic software aficionado, I will be a voice to lend insight on this topic. Here is a bit more on my photographic life in this little site I made just for fun. All others with photographic experience are warmly welcomed to share their knowledge in this chat!

QUESTIONS:

1. Do you (always) use a professional photographer or do you (always) take your own images of your work, or both? Is "good enough" good enough?

2. How can kitchens be most effectively photographed? What are your tricks and tips?

3. What are your favorite online web album storage sites for storage as well as for distribution sites for new clients/editors, etc?

4. Do you "post process" your images, i.e., fix your images for exposure, crop, contrast, white balance etc? Which program do you use?

5. What is your favorite camera equipment, products, general tips for making your photography "good enough?"

BRANDS - Please provide YOUR insight on acceptable imagery for your social media channels and other use.

First image is right out of the camera and the second image is...tweaked (it is not styled so please disregard that element of the image.)

High Point Market Kitchen Finds - Fall 2012

NOTE NEW TIME JUST FOR TOMORROW: 5:30 PM ET

Great furnishings for the kitchen can be found at interior design shows. Our guest host for #KDChat on Monday, October 22 at 5:30PM is tastemaker and interior designer, Tamara Stephenson, author of Nest.

BIO: Tamara Matthews-Stephenson is a NYC residential interior designer, freelance writer and lifestyle expert. She earned a BA in English from Castleton State College in Vermont. Tamara received an interior design certificate from Parsons School of Design in New York City. 

 In 1999 Tamara launched her own interior design firm. In addition to running her design business, she now merges her former writing experience with her design training by penning her popular lifestyle blog Nest by Tamara. She also writes for websites and magazines, including a weekly column called East End Nest for East Hampton magazine, Dan’s Papers. Over the years Tamara has become adept as the consummate hostess, regularly throwing both small and large soirees in her home, as well as for public and private events. She has also organized many sit down gala events for friends and charity events.

We will be chatting about how to discover home furnishings at interior design shows that are appropriate for the kitchen and Tamara will share her fabulous finds with us. Besides traditional kitchen furnishings, alternative storage-those pieces that may be used for other rooms in the home-can be fun and useful to integrate into the kitchen and can be found in design shows such as High Point. Were you at High Point too? Share your kitchen centered finds with us!

Questions:

As an overview, what trends did you see emerging from High Point?

How can the kitchen and surrounding living areas be linked visually from what you saw at High Point?

Did you see examples of alternative storage-pieces meant other rooms but great for the kitchen?

Speaking of trends, what are the best ways to incorporate trends, for a fresh look, into the kitchen without a long term commitment?

What were the dining table and chair looks that you liked best? Any exciting new looks in dining?

Join us Monday at 5:30PM ET!!

We're A Community

As we get together at various chats, events, shows, read one another's blogs and get to know each other in so many ways, it is clear that we are a wonderful community of design professionals and lovers of design (whether one is a professional or not.) 

And that's the point. We come to the design space, whether via Twitter, Facebook, blogs, google+, instagram or via other avenues, with our own unique perspective based on our experiences. We also come together with unique knowledge and skills.

Some of us are specialists in interior design, kitchen design, fabrics, lighting, contemporary design, window treatments, historical/theme design and so on and on and on. Others have had experiences in the design world worthy of providing great insight and advice while not working in the design industry.

Members could seek out specialists in certain areas to get the right answers to targeted questions. Specialties could be categorized.

How can we bottle that? How can find out who know's what? It ends with a question, but here's where the questions start for today's #KDChat:

1. Is there interest in creating a database to capture one's design expertise/advice for others to use?

2. What form could that database take?

3. Should advice be offered for hire (e.g. hourly) AND/OR at no charge (depending on the member's choice/workload, etc.)

4. Would you be willing to answer quick questions? Some may not have the time. Benefits include building relationships in an entirely new and wonderful way.

5. Is anyone interested in taking on this project?

Join us at 5pm ET TODAY!!!

Fashion and Decor on #KDChat

As we wrap up New York's Fashion Week for spring '13 and move quickly into the fall season, we're looking at both our wardrobe and our homes in a different way, transitioning from summer styles. Is there a connection between fashion and decor? Really? Can we get inspiration from fashion and take our interiors to a higher level and vice versa? What do you think?

We are thrilled to welcome Carmen Natschke, prolific editor of The Decorating Diva.

Carmen Natschke is the founding editor and creative director at  The Decorating Diva.com a digital publication about living an inspired life surrounded by all things beautiful. You can connect with Carmen on Twitter: @decoratingdiva Pinterest and Facebook

Ruth Staiman, Co-Founder and President of The Fashion Office, specializing in targeted, creative brand consulting, spent seven years at Hearst Corporation in marketing and sales positions. Ruth has broad experience in brand development at Bloomingdale's and within the fashion community in the US and in Europe. Connect with Ruth on Twitter @FashionOffice

We have questions!

1. What IS the connection between fashion and decor...really? Does one influence the other? How?

2. Should one look at particular fashion pieces (or designers) or the whole ensemble to find inspiration for interior design ideas?

3. Does/should fashion trends which change frequently influence seasonal (or longer) interior design decisions? 

4. The pivotal question: SHOULD an interior designer be acutely aware of fashion trends? why?

5. Moving beyond fashion, design trends are seen in architecture, graphic design, product design, store merchandising and more-both old and new (older trends are also easily identifiable and often mix with new) Are other design disciplines interrelated? 

Join us Monday, September 24, at 5pm ET for a provocative chat on this very popular topic!

inspired by fashion?

The Fall Kitchen on #KDChat

Summer doesn't officially end for a few weeks, and for some areas of the country, it ends in every (psychological) way but the weather, but many of us think of, and work in, the kitchen much differently in the fall than how we work in the kitchen in the summer. My mind is already plotting and planning what needs to be changed in the kitchen in various ways sooner than later.

But, first! It's a Monday of a long holiday weekend, with vacations ending and kids to get ready for school, so this chat can easily evolve, morph into other kitcheny areas and just ebb and flow organically. Just come to hang out and share your thoughts about the kitchen, and whatever comes from that will be insightful for all. Easy-breezy. Here are a few ideas of how we might think of the fall kitchen and please feel free to go off on a tangent!

How do your needs change in the kitchen from summer to fall? 

Scanning the countertop, do you feel it's a good idea to reevaluate your "countertop dashboard?"

How can you make the kitchen function best for fall needs (kids? other cooking obligations/rituals?) in terms of accessible equipment - small appliances, cookware, usage of certain appliances?

Do your pantry (food) needs change in the fall and will you take the time to rethink pantry storage, i.e., moving/eliminating items?

Will your kitchen change aesthetically? Do you need an aesthetic "refresh for the fall?"

What do you like best about working in (and being surrounded by, aesthetically) the fall kitchen? :D

Personally, I'm excited about the fall kitchen...and I inherited my kitchen so it's very much not my dream kitchen, but there is still much to ponder as summer moves into fall.

Please join us at #kdchat on tweetchat.com or any other way you follow a tweet chat! Let's share our kitchen strategies so we can capture new ways of living in our kitchens! Please spread the word about #kdchat! Thank you!! 

The image below was captured from a Jenn Air display at KBIS

#KDChat: Your Favorite Resources! Topic For Monday, August 20 5PM EDT

The topic for the first #KDChat was awesome - it was all about how you see your personal kitchen which also included dreaming about what our ideal kitchen looks like.  Thank you for attending this inaugural chat. If you didn't attend, please join us next time - #KDChat promises to provide smart, thought provoking and sometimes provocative topics on kitchen design.

This next chat will be just as fun, probably more so. The topic is: "My Favorite Things!"

What are your favorite resources? Your secret sauce? The recipe may be your own, but sharing the ingredients is fun and easy!

As designers and other design/build allied pros participating in this chat, we have MANY product and material resources that make our projects stand out from the crowd. Share 3 of your favorite product and/or material resources and watch for an abundance of many wonderful new product resources in return! This transcript will be awesome!

In the kitchen, as in every room of the home, we are drawn to living with, designing with, or dreaming about using particular products and materials. If you are a designer, you know that special feeling when a product or material "speaks" to you - it's an emotional feeling!

Here are questions, again, which pertain to the kitchen, although we know that materials used elsewhere in the home are perfect for the kitchen, so look beyond the for inspiration!

1. What are your FAVORITE products and materials?

2. What are the pros and cons of using the same materials repeatedly? 

3. If you were to bring a product to market or change the specs of an existing product, what would it be/how would you change it?

4. What are products, new to you, that you hope to use?

More questions are in the hopper as the conversation ebbs and flows!

THERMADOR IS SPONSORING THE AUGUST 20 #KDCHAT - WIN AN IPAD!!!!

Thermador's Design Guide app for iPad is a free tool to assist in designing your own Thermador kitchen. The Design Guide can be used to view current products and connect with Thermador on Facebook, Twitter,  YouTube and Pinterest..

The Twitter giveaway will take place on Thursday, August 23. Users will have to follow @ThermadorHome on Twitter. @ThermadorHome will ask a question at 6:00 am PST, and users have until 11:59 pm PST that night to answer the question. Users MUST include the hashtag #ThermadorDesign to be entered. Winner will be randomly selected on August 24.

We will all get the chance to talk to Thermador directly as a group for the last 5 minutes of the chat - a great opportunity to get up close and personal with a great brand.

See you there!!!!

A lace covered building for Fashion Week last week in Copenhagen, from where I write this post - I can see that wall covering in a smaller scale on a wall in the kitchen breakfast room!

Inaugural #KDChat Today at 5PM ET!

What should the topic be in this inaugural chat on kitchens? I've been grappling with that yet I also immediately knew that this first topic would be conceptual rather than practical - to sort of take a global look at the kitchen.

Thinking about the kitchen in a global context means that we will also be able to hear and learn points of view from a fabulous collection of interesting people with disparate lifestyles and life experiences - a melting pot of "kitchenisms" so to speak. I really look forward to hearing the mix of views.

THE TOPIC:

The main topic for this first twice-a-month chat is: YOUR KITCHEN

If your kitchen could talk, what would it say about you?

What can you learn about yourself from the design and function of your kitchen?

These are both similar questions, asked a slightly different way. There are other questions along these lines that will be brought up.

It is my thought, as a long time (read about me in the link if you don't know me very well) kitchen designer that it is useful to have heightened awareness in your own kitchen whether you are a designer, a client of a designer, a tradesperson, or homeowner outside of the design/build trades, and whether a kitchen remodel is planned or not. Changes in function and aesthetics do not only apply to full-on kitchen renovations. Changes can be made now...today! 

This heightened awareness, if one is honest with oneself, will reveal both personal preferences and needs, ideally, in a variety of situations but if extended to observing others under different situations...in your own kitchen and in other kitchens you visit, it will reveal an abundance of information - again, whether one is a designer or not. 

I inherited my own kitchen 3+ years ago, but it still says a lot about me. I can't wait to hear about yours and what you have learned as you live in it today or think back to how you lived in it this morning or over the weekend.

One of my favorite challenges to clients is to help them differentiate between a habit and  a preference? This can be a real tough question - watch out for knee-jerk reactions; chances are it's a habit talking!

I'd be honored by your presence and I look forward to learning so many new things too!

Here's a part of my Uncle Thorvald's kitchen in Denmark - he's 98 and it's barely changed in a whole bunch of decades! See you later!!!

Welcome to #KDChat, A Twitter Chat on Kitchen Design

WELCOME to a brand new chat via Twitter for the residential design community, product manufacturers, industry observers, and anyone who simply loves kitchens.

The first chat begins on Monday, August 6, at 5PM EST

I'm the moderator, Susan Serra, and I've thought about doing this chat for nearly a year. Now seems like a good, actually the right time to begin this new chat on kitchens. That said, I would be remiss not to acknowledge with thanks, the support from my colleague Stacy Garcia, who runs #kbtribechat on Wednesdays at 2pm EST. Our focus is similar but different. Thanks, too, to Shelley Holmes and others who gave me a nudge.

We'll include Q&As with brand officials on what makes their brands unique and "must have." We'll feature interior designers, kitchen designers and architects, editors of your favorite kitchen/design blogs and magazines, showroom owners, social media specialists and anyone else of interest to the kitchen design community, and I am happy to take topic suggestions. We'll take it nice and easy, begin the chat, take suggestions and see what interests the community. 

Some pieces are not fully in place and a facebook page has just been started and is wholly unfinished at this moment. The Twitter account is ready: @KDChat_ (with an underscore). All the supporting pieces will fall into place.

As our lifestyles within the kitchen have evolved especially in recent years, there is much to talk about, share, and explore. Technology continues to change our lives and habits. Finances play a role in our product and design choices. Healthy/sustainable kitchen design and cooking is also top of mind. The desire for comfort and socializing in the kitchen have never been more connected to how we live in surrounding rooms...and many of us want that feeling in the kitchen. So much to process, learn and share. Come 1 or 2, or come all!

I would be honored by your presence at #KDChat. Thank you!