Essential Kitchen Bathroom Bedroom Magazine October 2013 Back Issue

When setting about choosing a new look for any part of our homes we immediately gain a heightened sense, appreciation and awareness of what makes good design. Little decorative touches or a particular shade of paint get filed away in a subconscious moodboard. These style snippets whet our appetites for pushing the boundaries and finding a new way to create a space that marries our ideal way to live with a style that reflects our individual personalities and taste. We often ponder on the differences between form and function here at eKBB, regularly quizzing top designers on what drives them forward in their work (see Hanna Francis p80 and Oki Sato p150). Finding the balance between beauty and a highly workable and practical function fuses into the epitome of what we’re all striving for, doesn’t it? On a larger scale, entire room design also needs to measure up to this ideal. And so, this month we have picked out our favourite places around the country where we can physically visit to breathe in a wonderful array of the latest design, style and technical gadgetry available to us (see p83). A few moments in any of these destinations and your real moodboard is certain to take shape and your project, whatever the scale, can begin to emerge. We start our quest in London where in cafés, galleries, showrooms and emporiums the collective creativity of some of the best minds in the world have displayed their vision. Kitchen showrooms are meant to show off what we can purchase - and many do this with remarkable success, but some of the best ideas can be found in unexpected places. Restaurants can be one of the richest sources of design inspiration for a new kitchen - after all what we are now trying to achieve in our own homes and what top chefs are striving to realise for their customers is the same thing. We all want a truly relaxing space that works for modern living. Enjoy the issue.