I have kitchen envy! If you have a spectacular kitchen you may want to enter Thermador's Kitchen Challenge deadline is March 1, 2014

Admit it, 
we all get a little 
envious of other people's kitchens 
once in a while...

all photos in this post are winners of the 

2012 Thermador kitchen contest winners

heading into the weekend, I have busy plans -- Saturday evening I'll be preparing dinner for a large group.  You may say I am "kitchen dreaming" this morning as I plan a roast and all the trimmings.  So, my dreaming has got me wandering over to Thermador.  

If you have a dream kitchen, think about entering in the 

 Thermador Kitchen Design Challenge, offering the chance to be one of 16 finalists who take home a piece of the $100,000 prize purse, and win a trip for two to the Thermador Experience & Design Center in Southern California for the awards gala. With only a few weeks left all entries need to be in by March 1, and have Thermador products in their kitchen. There are no limits to the number of kitchens you may enter, and no entry fee either.  To read more about the details, here are the official rules of the contest.

check out the 2012 winners

·         Morgan Keister—Southwest

·         Tamie Glass—Central South

·         Derek Byler—New York

·         Jennifer Rowe—Southeast

·         Jeff Brown—Mid-Atlantic

·         Aimee Nemeckay—Central North

·         Jamie Nicholas—New England

·     Justin Parker

This is my favorite kitchen from the 2012 winner list-- 
this kitchen by
Jennifer Rowe, CKD is traditional with a twist.  

I love the white and grey combined and it's soothing, plus it makes sense from a cook's perspective as well.  It is expansive enough but not too large because with all the over sized kitchens these days it seems some forget about the cook who has to manage that large space while preparing food.  To me, a well thought out kitchen has a floor material that may hide a little mess, and maybe a little easy on the feet isn't bad either.  This layout helps to easily navigate, and it's always great to have ample counter space to chop, dice and serve our food.  I personally love open plate racks  as the one pictures shows, and it can be a nice way to display dishes and makes it easy to grab them when plating food.  I also like a bit of (not too much) of open glass cabinets and it is another place to display vintage or quality pieces and collections.  A pot rack is my dream -- I'm tired of opening that cabinet and a pile of pots come tumbling out.  And, finally, I am a fan of a small office/work area in a kitchen, a place to place notes, bills, take calls and keep your files because more and more we spend almost all out time in our kitchens.  The phone may ring while we are preparing dinner and a quick walk over to the work area allows you easy access to check your notes while taking a phone call.

I like the natural stone and tile in this kitchen, and the custom paneling on the appliances 
softens the aesthetic helping to create a soothing, elegant room to spend your time whipping up your favorite recipes!  

Happy Nesting
XO Tamara