Kitchen Detail

Aga ... Bosch ... Dacor ... Sub-Zero ... Viking ... Wolf ... an aura of luxury clings to the names, as enticing and elusive as the smell of baking bread wafting from the oven.

Honed granite ... tumbled stone ... hammered copper ... hand-painted tiles ... double-drawer dishwashers ... roll-outs, tilt-outs, pull-outs ... these are the ingredients of dream kitchens, confections of money and design that make the rich different than you and me.

They can afford--and are willing--to layer one expensive component upon another, without regard to cost, to create kitchens most can only imagine. Above all, they are kitchens that can't be easily duplicated. They are the physical expression of individual wealth and (it is hoped) highly refined taste.

Last year, Americans spent approximately $47 billion on kitchen remodeling, up 11 percent from the previous year, according to the National Kitchen and Bath Association. At the high end, kitchens have become a symbol of achievement and a form of self-expression--to the point that one manufacturer of countertop materials uses the slogan, "Bring your inner self to the surface."

That's true in St. Louis, say designers here.

"There's this desire to have a kitchen that really looks amazing regardless of its use," says Kris Keller, president of The Design Source in Chesterfield.

"Nothing is held back--the kitchen has become the trapping to show off, like having the right car in the driveway," says Chris Berry, owner of brooksBerry Kitchens in Frontenac. From hand-painted tiles to hand-made French stoves, clients are seeking a sense of artisanship. "They want fab, fab, fab, unique, unique, unique," says Berry.

The cost of "fab, fab, fab" starts around $80,000 and lofts easily to $300,000 and beyond. Even the wealthy might balk; to overcome their hesitation, advises a columnist in Kitchen & Bath Business magazine, "help your customers justify the value of custom cabinets the same way you might justify spending $160 on a pair of blue jeans ... "

And why should the rest of us care? Because, of course, many of us aspire to the same things--kitchens that reflect our personality, values and achievements. Psychiatrist Carl Jung wrote that he never felt so alive as when he was in the house he designed for himself and that the heart of his house was the kitchen (in his case, literally, the hearth).

It has only been in the last several decades that the wealthier segments of society have bought into this notion--after all, kitchens were the domains of servants until the middle of the last century, so wealthy homeowners concentrated on their public rooms, their art and furniture collections. Now that kitchens are public rooms, too, the rich are busy furnishing them with luxury goods

In St. Louis, the look of old European kitchens-- seemingly furnished with an eclectic mix of cabinetry resembling antique furniture--is still the most popular. This "unfitted" furniture look, coming on strong for several years, shows no sign of waning, says Donna Easton, certified kitchen designer, of Karr-Bick Kitchens and Baths in Brentwood. She adds that pediments, corbels, rustic beams, tumbled stone backsplashes, stucco hoods and stone floors excavated from European estates--the less "matchy" the better-- are all at home in these kitchens. The look is enhanced by multilayer, multicolor custom paint treatments that create an aura of age. Double-thick granite is still the choice for counter surfaces, though the preferred finish is now honed, rather than polished.

"They want it to look like it's been in Europe for 300 years, that we went over there, packed it up and put it on a boat to America, then put it in," Easton says. "But they want it to look clean."

One look pretty much dead or dying is the oh-so-recently iconic stainless steel appliance, particularly the stainless refrigerator. Old Europe didn't have stainless steel and, besides, it smudges. Not to mention the exclusivity factor.

What everyone has, cutting edge clients don't want and, one designer points out, "you can get stainless steel at Sears." Metallic accents with an Old World feel--hammered copper oven hoods, accent tiles in the backsplash or floor and faucets in oil-rubbed-bronze--are popular. "Even rust," says Jim Howard of Glen Alspaugh Co. "You can pay extra to make it look really used."

The epitome of the furniture look? It may be an armoire that is actually a refrigerator on one side and pantry on the other, rather than a refrigerator paneled to resemble furniture. Disguising refrigerators and, to a lesser extent, dishwashers has never been easier. One of the hottest trends in high-end kitchen design is the use of refrigerator and dishwasher drawers that look like ordinary kitchen drawers. They make it easy to scatter the functions of appliances around the kitchen--to put a refrigerated vegetable drawer next to a prep sink, or a dishwasher drawer on either side of the clean-up sink. Warming drawers next to the stove are popular, too.

Someone, somewhere--the exact moment is lost, but it was probably in the 1970s--first began deconstructing the traditional work triangle of sink, stove and refrigerator by adding a second sink. Dishwasher and refrigerator drawers are the logical extension of that trend, which gained momentum as the number of families with more than one cook multiplied and everyone got a workstation with specialized functions. Now, one of anything in the kitchen, most especially one microwave, is not enough. On that, the experts are unanimous.

"If you sneak off to Gourmet to Go for dinner, you want to be able to nuke two dinners at one time, not have one getting cold while the other is warming up," says Berry.

The other must-have in the high-end kitchen is the beverage station. Miele's $2,000 built-into-the-wall espresso unit is selling faster than half-caff soy lattes at a Los Angeles Starbucks. The Design Source recently created a coffee bar--brewing station, sink and mini-fridge--between a client's kitchen and breakfast room. (Supplemental small refrigerators are very popular, especially as beverage centers for children.) Taking it a step further, many people are putting "morning kitchens" within reach of the bedroom. USA Today reports that 11 percent of homes valued at $2.5 million or more have mini-kitchens in the master suites. They may be as simple as a coffee pot and small refrigerator or they can be much more elaborate.

"The master suite has become a real refuge," says Keller, who installed one "over-the-moon gorgeous" morning kitchen that included a brewing station, dishwasher drawer, sink and small refrigerator. "It's really wonderful to have a few amenities."

The look of the European kitchen also lends itself to the concept of the "gathering" or hearth room, which is cozier than the great room. Essentially, the kitchen is divided into a wet zone and a dry zone, or a working side and a living side. The dry side is likely to include seating for informal eating, a media center, a couch or comfortable chairs and, probably, a fireplace.

On the cooking side of a luxury kitchen, the stove is the design focal point nestled into custom niches that offer prime opportunity for design individuality. A luxury client, according to Kitchen & Bath Business magazine, is one willing to layer expensive products to achieve a look the general public can't go out and copy.

The look starts with the stove. A professional-style Aga ($13,570 at Expo) is available in a variety of configurations and colors. The enamel finish of the stove can be complemented or perfectly matched with lava-stone countertops (twice the cost of granite, but more durable). Hand-painted tiles, tumbled stone and hand-hammered copper are popular choices for the wall behind the stove. A stucco hood, fading with a graceful curve to the ceiling, gives the edifice the character of a fireplace. A popular touch, says Berry, is the pot-filling faucet.

When the layering is complete, the cost of a luxury kitchen easily reaches six figures. Remodeling magazine reports in its 2004 annual survey that the average cost of a major upscale kitchen remodel in St. Louis costs $78,865. But Easton says it's not uncommon to spend $150,000 on appliances and cabinets, never mind the cost of construction.

"Honestly, a kitchen can be $300,000," says Keller. "If you think of some of the really vast kitchens in these houses and the number of cabinets to fill that space and the stone countertops, it gets very expensive. When you add the Wolf double ovens and the Sub-Zeros, it really does add up."

While Remodeling magazine says a $78,865 remodeling job will pay for itself at resale, Keller, Easton and Berry say resale value is irrelevant. All three say high-end kitchens are remodeled, on average, every six to eight years--or shortly after a house is sold.

"Kitchens and baths have become so disposable in high-end homes that resale is not even an issue," Berry says. "The stuff is built to last forever, but new owners want to personalize their space."

Regardless of income, most families today are overscheduled and don't have time to cook, yet want the contact and connection represented by a comfortable kitchen. Beyond a symbol of wealth and status, the kitchen symbolizes an idealized way of life--one that may exist more in the owner's mind than in reality.

"These people are starved for time; they're stopping off at Gourmet to Go and nuking dinner," Berry says. "They're not cooking. But it's psychological. They want it to look like they cook."