apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

Love those first two kitchens and that last picture is so pretty.

I love this style. I think only some people can pull it off, but these are really pretty, especially the final one!

http://www.makemineeclectic.wordpress.com

YES!!! Exactly the type of inspiration I'm looking for. My old-but-charming (well, possibly charming someday...) house begs for a kitchen like one of these. Thanks!

My comment is about the format of some articles, like this one. Using thumbnail pictures is extremely annoying.
Why not put all the pictures for us to see.
With thumbnails - If you like the subject, you have to press each thumbnail in turn and then wait for it to load (slower than other sites), so why do it ?
Please think of your audience when you write.

I love that first picture. I like the bare white walls.

Elizabeth
http://emblemorstain.blogspot.com

Love all of these.

I too, like the first and the last, though they are also about the architecture, not just the decor or decorating.

The last is cool, as are a few of the others. The first? To me the whole sink area looks mouldy and nasty. I've read that the kitchen can get dirtier than the bathroom, and this one looks like it's aiming for the Guinness record in that department. At least clean the place up. Simplicity and natural elements are wonderful, I agree, but lets be sure we don't poison our families for the sake of style.

We studied the wabi-sabi concept at length in a great Psychology & Art class I took in undergrad 12 years ago. It wasn't considered an interior design term, just a general artistic aesthetic. (Nothing wrong with co-oping the term for the home, though, imo!)
These examples seem closer to my impression of wabi-sabi than the previous article (linked above). My prof, at least, liked to contrast the approach with stark or industrial minimalism, in that worn, rugged surfaces (ie, rust, wear) are a wabi-sabi thing, as opposed to clean, minimal lines. So it was interesting that the previous article treated w-s as a sibling of minimalism. I guess the idea is sparseness (minimal belongings?), not minimal as in stark and clean.
Anyway, I love these pics and the aesthetic. I especially love mixing the more organic-feeling items with clean lines-- polished chrome with worn, old wood, etc.

39520expat has it right. That first kitchen looks like a breeding ground for all types of filth. I don't understand what sort of authenticity or soulfulness or originality people are looking for that they go to such unattractive and unsanitary excesses. As or the other photos..A lot of this 'wabi sabi' looks too much like shabby chic for my taste. I mean, wooden spoons? Really?

There's just something so sexy about sleek and pristine paired with worn and natural. I don't think I'll ever get sick of it, and I love that it's do-able in any number of styles.

Wabi-sabi is an Asian (Japanese) aesthetic. Zen Buddhist monks live lives of wabi-sabi, tea houses exemplify wabi-sabi, but rustic country interiors do not fit the description, in my view. The first kitchen has a few elements, but the others are still too cluttered.

http://nobleharbor.com/tea/chado/WhatIsWabi-Sabi.htm

a good article on Wabi-sabi in interiors.

I didn't know the term Wabi-sabi, so thanks for posting the link! I love all of these kitchens....

I'm getting to grasp the wabi-sabi concept. It's new to me. Some of the kitchens are great. The one with the super rusted sink just doesn't do it for me. Given what I know about cleanliness and bacteria, no, that sink doesn't go in the kitchen, under any philosophy. There are some beautiful images here, though.

Thanx SherryBinNH for the article. I now understand the concept of Wabi-Sabi. Although some sections of the design were peaceful and earthy, I am no sure if I could live with the clutter. I learned something new.

Wabi-sabi? I don't think so. I've lived in Japan for 15 years, and studied the culture intensely, and I can tell you that the only kitchen that comes close to the concept is the one depicted in the first image. And it only comes close, mind you -- it doesn't quite make it.

W-S is NOT about nostalgia or shabby chic (which is what your examples seem to embody), but about the essence of nature, about the "perfectness" of what many would consider imperfect, and a bit too complicated to go into at length here. If you want to get a true sense of w-s, check out Leonard Koren's "Wabi-Sabi: for Artists, Designers, Poets & Philosophers." It's available on Amazon for less then $13.00 and worth every penny!

Seems the term has just become the latest yuppie bastardization!