Asta Collection from Gloster featuring colorful sling seats offering the freedom to change seat colors to suit your taste or mood.

Despite the blast of cold descending upon us this weekend, spring will be here before we know it and it’s not too early to start planning for summer.  Over the course of the past decade we have seen an abundance of outdoor furniture, fabric and even decorative trimmings hit the market, each new collection closing the gap even further between the styles of outdoor versus indoor furnishings. Say goodbye to limiting sling seats and puffy tufted cushions. Today’s outdoor furniture has sophistication and formality suitable for your living room.

Kravet Soleil: Caneel Bay by Echo Design and Tahitian Holiday by Windsor Smith

KDR houses an extensive library of performance fabrics including Kravet Soleil, an indoor/outdoor collection that is as beautiful as it is durable. The 100% solution-dyed acrylics resist the effects of mildew, chemicals, sunlight, wind and rain. Cowtan & Tout offers a more subdued, traditional option for outdoors featuring stripes, plains and animal prints in their Performance collection.

You can find several outdoor furniture collections on display at KDR, and countless others available to order of course. From the very traditional Andalusia Collection by Richard Frinier for Century Leisure to the wide range of styles available from Gloster, a brand with a 50-year history of outdoor furniture design, KDR Designer Showrooms is your one-stop outdoor furnishing shop.

Visit KDR Designer Showrooms Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Saturday between 9 a.m. and1 p.m.or contact Karen Thiele, showroom director at 314.993.5020, ext. 3500, or by e-mail at  karent@kdrshowrooms.com.

BL 253 Lift Oven from Gaggenau

The Gaggenau brand has a history of innovation that stretches back 300 years. From the opening of the Gaggenau factory in 1683 manufacturing their first product, iron-headed hammers, through the Industrial Revolution, the Gaggenau product line expanded into coal and gas ovens by 1908. An emphasis on cutting-edge design and innovation are at the forefront of the Gaggenau mission, two dominant traits of their Lift Oven recently praised in Feast Magazine’s three-part series on space-saving and organizing tips for kitchens.

Safety, efficiency and versatility best describe this impressive cooking component designed for built-in placement in top cabinet locations or in a kitchen wall. With eleven cooking methods (including convection), it’s obvious that functionality was not spared in exchange for its space saving capability. Don’t let the  quiet, sleek design fool you, behind its demure facade lies an abundance of innovation delivering more than one “Aha!” moment. With the push of a button, the LiftMatic function lowers the ceramic base from the oven to the countertop. We’ve all had blast of hot air hit us in the face from opening a hot oven. Not a chance of that here. Heat rises, so when you push that button, the oven base descends and the heat stays right where it should; in the oven. A self-cleaning program makes sure to keep any sticky situations at bay and this little workhorse will even suggest a recommended cooking temperature.

For more information on the Lift Oven from Gaggenau, visit AUTCOhome Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Saturday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. or call 314.373.2000.

Photo from Gaggenau.com.

Their Beck/Allen designer set to work creating a kitchen that met these functional needs while complimenting the spectacular views of the water using a variety of natural materials. Knotty alder wood cabinets were enhanced with Van Dyke brown highlighting adding to their aged, rustic appearance. Stacked stone was used for the backsplash and brushed granite with a chiseled edge for the countertops. The same countertop can be seen in one of our showroom displays. The custom-made hammered copper hood is anchored with a hand-hewn wooden beam reminiscent of beams in a nearby vaulted ceiling and a walnut top on the center island adds yet another natural element to the space.

Concealed from view behind inset cabinetry are a warming drawer, two dishwashers, a coffee center and a Sub-Zero refrigerator with freezer drawers leaving the focus on innovative display areas. Above the range, an impressive, yet understated hammered copper hood sits beneath a large arched soffit flanked on either side by decorative niches designed to house the homeowner’s antique instrument collection. Another impressive use of space for display is housed in the end of the island where lit glass shelves serve a sense of purpose while adding an element of drama.

To view additional Beck/Allen kitchen designs, click here or stop by the showroom Monday through Friday between 9 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Saturdays between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. or call 314.677.6713 to make an appointment with a member of our design team.

The apron front sink is reminiscent of an era when the kitchen sink was a primary workspace used for canning, cooking and even bathing children. Today, the broad size of an apron front sink is appreciated for its classic design as much as its functionality. And leave it to the company synonymous with innovative kitchen products, Kohler, to improve this time-tested design.  The new Whitehaven Self-Trimming Single Basin Sink (available with a tall or short apron) allows not only for simplified installation, but more importantly, it is sized to fit the industry standard 30” base cabinet—so no need for costly renovations associated with traditional-depth apron front sinks. An offset drain with a 2” sloped basin minimizes pooling and the apron acts as a drip-edge to prevent cabinetry below from water damage.  Kohler’s enameled cast iron is guaranteed not to chip, crack or burn, is made from 80% recycled materials and is available in 20 colors. Watch a video demonstration of The Whitehaven Sink or view the Whitehaven display at Premier Plumbing Studio. Stop by the showroom Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Saturdays between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. or call 314.872.9339 for more information.

Within this growing trend, variations exist. Initial benching systems having been designed with a collaborative workplace experience in mind allow for limited flexibility and provide limited barriers between employees. In 2010 a newer approach to benching included the implementation of height-adjustable tables for use with additional partitions and mobile storage components. The introduction of hybrid-based benching systems, echoing the design of a traditional cubicle, has been reinvented to include lower panels and additional mobile storage options with an overall smaller footprint.

Not only can more recent benching designs provide cost saving solutions, they typically use 20% to 50% less space than typical panel-based cubicle systems. According to Kimball’s research, “The primary business drivers of alternative workplace have shifted toward ‘hard’ economic issues—cost savings and real estate flexibility—and away from ‘soft’ employee-centric ones—greater work/life balance, increased employee productivity, and improved employee attraction/retention.”

Beyond cost and real estate are the workplace experience and its impact on a company’s success. An interesting workplace survey cited in Kimball’s whitepaper found that “average companies are centered on focus work, while top companies focus on collaboration. Average companies spend half their week in focus mode—21 percent more than top companies. Top companies on the other hand, spend 23 percent more time collaborating than average companies.”

Ideal for a range of workplace situations, from teams who collaborate frequently to sales people who spend more time away from the office and simply need occasional access to workstations, benching serves a multitude of functions and offers attractive variety of design solutions. If you are interested in reading more on this growing design trend, click here to download Kimball’s whitepaper. Call or stop by the Working Spaces showroom Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. or call 314.918.8778 to learn more about how benching can work for your company.  

Photos and benching information provided by www.kimballoffice.com.

From the sunny shores of California, Los Angeles to be exact, Noir home furnishings have just arrived at KDR Designer Showrooms. If classic, yet fresh best describes your personal style, add this unique collection of home furnishings to your list of must-haves.  

Noir has been building and importing furniture and accessories for over ten years, all the while maintaining an old-fashioned approach to craftsmanship. Doing their best by the environment, Noir strives to be as “green” as possible in their manufacturing methods. Noir holds their furniture to the highest standards of quality and production and is extremely selective when choosing their lumber suppliers, using only those who guarantee their drying process specifically for export and applying all finishes by hand.

The line includes casegoods, upholstery, accessories, lighting and artwork and a small collection has just arrived on the showroom floor at KDR. For more information on Noir and to see the collection in person, visit KDR Designer Showrooms Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Saturday between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. or contact Karen Thiele, showroom director at 314.993.5020, ext. 3500, or by e-mail at karent@kdrshowrooms.com.

Considered the World’s top performing residential cooking equipment by most chefs, BlueStar cooking products are now available at AUTCOhome. Boasting 22,000 BTU’s, BlueStar is a name synonymous with the serious home cook and the legendary line is handcrafted in the USA in Reading, Pennsylvania. Discerning home cooks and chefs alike love BlueStar not only for the power, but the extra large capacity—large enough to accommodate a commercial size baking sheet in all ovens 30” and over. When tested for everything from boiling, simmering, deep frying and stir frying to searing, BlueStar outperforms the competition. Custom capabilities include a rainbow of colors from which to choose (190 to be exact) and the ability to configure burners as you wish.

It’s no surprise that when L’École Culinaire was in search of appliances to outfit the kitchen at their new L’École Academy for Culinary Development, they turned to AUTCOhome for BlueStar products. The kitchen at L’École Academy serves as a classroom for amateurs as well as seasoned professionals looking to brush up on specialized skills. Check out their course listing here. Offerings range from cake decorating to fresh sausage production as well as a special selection of courses designed for Valentine’s Day.

To see BlueStar products on display and learn more about this extraordinary line, or to request a catalog, visit AUTCOhome Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m., Saturday between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. or call 314.373.2000.

Stop by Monday through Friday between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. or call 314.918.8778 for more information.  

Photos provided by Shiloh Cabinetry.

For over a century, Grange, which is still largely produced in France, has carried on the French cabinet making tradition, crafting furniture inspired by traditional pieces that have been reinterpreted for modern lifestyles—or as they explain, creating “furniture for the family home.” Several new designs display innovative and playful combinations of color, materials and periods like the Jacob coffee table that is now on display at KDR Designer Showrooms and pictured above. The Jacob Collection also includes a console, side table and bar and is an excellent example of how combing unique color and pattern to a traditional design results in a piece that is as mellow as it is contemporary.

Grange prides themselves in the art of finishing and are distinguished by their wide range of exclusive colors.  Currently, 80 finishes are available, each requiring three degrees of aging, a process that involves 15 manual operations for what Grange describes as “giving the furniture its soul.” The options are limitless when considering a custom piece from Grange and the unique result of your personal taste applied to any one their exquisitely crafted forms is certain to impress and inspire.  

To view the Jacob cocktail table and others pieces from Grange, visit KDR Designer Showrooms Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. or Saturdays between 9 a.m. and 1 p.m. or contact Karen Thiele, showroom director at 314.993.5020, ext. 3500, or by e-mail at karent@kdrshowrooms.com.