Karen Williams joins Jonathan Waxman on Architectural Digest Kitchen Panel

On Thursday, March 22 Karen Williams joins celebrity chef Jonathan Waxman of Barbuto and Anne Puricelli, Director La Cornue North America, for a stimulating panel discussion on “The Evolving Kitchen.”  It takes place at 10:30  at the Architectural Digest Home Design Show, Pier 94, 55th St. and 11th Avenue.

They will talk about changing trends in kitchen design and equipment, and offer advice on ways to make kitchens truly personalized culinary spaces. Williams, a knowledgeable and enthusiastic home cook, and Waxman, a professional chef, will both offer their insights on what makes a kitchen a delight to work in.

The panel will be moderated by John (Doc) Willoughby, cookbook author and executive editor at America’s Test Kitchen.

Visitors to the show can also see a glamourous kitchen designed by Williams in the La Cornue booth 475. For more information go to www.archdigesthomeshow.com.

Celebrity chef Jonathan Waxman of Barbuto shares the panel with Karen Williams Thursday March 22 for a discussion of today's important kitchen trends at the Architectural Digest Home Show.

Anne Puricelli, director North America, for La Cornue adds her observations on deluxe cooking equipment at the Architectural Digest Home Show kitchen panel.

Karen Williams creates a custom cooking center in a softly contemporary kitchen

Working in a small 20′x30′ Manhattan kitchen, Karen Williams wanted to keep the look clean and simple, yet interesting. So she created a softly contemporary space with warm overtones by playing off the lovely texture of cerused oak cabinetry against the beautiful sheen of white lacquer cabinets and the deep luminosity of white glass countertops. The stainless toe kicks keep it light as well. And to further ensure an uncluttered design,  there is no decorative hardware except for the refrigerator.

In a small Manhattan kitchen Karen Williams created a softly contemporary kitchen with cerused oak cabinetry and white glass countertops.

Because it’s a small room, Williams wanted the island to feel like a piece of furniture. A traditional island would have been too heavy, like an anchor in the middle of the space. This one feels lighter thanks in part to the sculpted table-like legs finished with stainless feet. The island is open on the bottom with room for storage, and has a drop down panel for electrical outlets, plus a breadbox and cutlery drawers. And there is convenient seating for two.

She also created a special custom cooking center, one of her Signature Elements, developed over more than 30 years of design experience.  Here Williams used a six-burner cooktop and added a steamer on the left and a stainless counter on the right, all with the same profile for one unified piece. She believes there is no need to settle for an out-of-the-box solution when it comes to appliances.

For the built-in ovens, Williams borrowed a look she first saw in Europe and loves because it’s so clean. She recessed the panel that holds the ovens resulting in a very smooth architectural line.

Karen Williams’ Blue Ribbon Color Palette Featured in Beautiful Kitchens & Baths magazine

Beautiful Kitchens & Baths magazine writes in its Winter 2011 issue about Karen Williams’ quiet and serene Blue Ribbon color palette, created for a 1,000-sq.-ft. showhouse kitchen. French blue and soft white cabinetry are set off with satin nickel hardware, all underlaid with elegant circles of glimmering glass tile.

Featured in Beautiful Kitchens & Baths magazine, this quiet palette of blue and white by Karen Williams is enlivened with a glass mosaic tile floor.

“For this large space, we wanted a delicate, slow-moving palette,” Williams said. “Your eye goes softly from one element to another, and it’s all tied together with white marble countertops with gray striations. The glass tile on the floor is unexpected and entertaining.”

A soft blue and white palette unites a large showhouse kitchen designed by Karen Williams.

Rustic Meets Industrial: Beautiful Kitchens & Baths Showcases a Karen Williams Color Palette

Beautiful Kitchens & Baths magazine in its Winter issue highlights a fresh new color palette Karen Williams created for a kitchen in a converted barn home. No cliched country looks here. Instead, Williams combined blackened stainless steel and rustic barn wood cabinetry, topped with pewter and lavastone counters.

Beautiful Kitchens & Baths magazine featured this rustic/industrial look as one of Karen Williams' four "no-fail" color palettes.

“We used colors and surfaces that look like materials a blacksmith might have left in the barn,” Williams told the magazine. “Each surface has its own distinct feel, and taken together, they make the kitchen look as if it’s always been there. But this palette also could be used in a loft or mountain home.”

Barn board and blackened stainless cabinetry are right at home in a rustic barn, but would work just as well in an urban loft.

Classic French: Beautiful Kitchens & Baths Features a Karen Williams Color Palette

One of four “no-fail” color palettes featured in the Winter issue of Beautiful Kitchens & Baths magazine is this Classic French concept created by Karen Williams for a new Chateau-style home in Florida. Inspired by a paneled room in Versailles, she brought the cabinetry to life in the color of French butter, then enhanced it with antique-inspired gold hardware. The unexpected dazzle comes from petrified-wood quartz countertops.

Karen Williams' updated French palette was featured in Beautiful Kitchens & Baths magazine.

“The cabinetry offers soft striations and gentle curves,” Williams explained, “and the paint color is neutral and calming. It was when we added the exotic wood countertop that the glamour factor went off the map. It’s like nothing you’ve seen before — simply stunning.”

A paneled room in Versailles inspired Karen Williams to create the soft striations and gentle curves of this buttery door.

Antique-style hardware pieces like this one further inspired her classic French palette.

When Williams added this exotic wood countertop to a classic French kitchen, the glamour factor went off the map.

Retro Urban: Beautiful Kitchens & Baths Features a Karen Williams Palette

Beautiful Kitchens & Baths magazine featured four “no-fail” color palettes from Karen Williams in its Winter issue including this Retro Urban palette she devised for her own compact Manhattan kitchen. The designer combined powder-coated steel mint green cabinets with fumed oak cabinets, polished chrome hardware, and satin and glossy white mosaic tile.

Beautiful Kitchens & Baths magazine featured the Retro Urban palette Karen Williams created for her own kitchen.

“The metal cabinetry gives it a retro vibe, and the fumed oak adds the look of mink that blends with the wood herringbone floor,” Williams told the magazine. “The mixed colors are muted and work in a relatively small space, and we kept the hardware intentionally simple. The backsplash adds sparkle. It’s fun, young, urban and very tactile.”

Fumed oak and mint green cabinetry with satin and glossy white mosaic tile create a fun, urban, tactile vibe in Karen Williams' Manhattan kitchen.

Karen Williams shares her color tips with Beautiful Kitchens & Baths magazine

A kitchen’s color palette is 100 percent project-specific, Karen Williams told Beautiful Kitchens & Baths magazine in a  recent Color by Design feature headlined “The Beauty of Subtle Color.”  A home’s architectural style and location are two key elements she first considers.

Beautiful Kitchens & Baths magazine published four "no-fail" color palettes from Karen Williams.

For example, a white kitchen might work perfectly in a classic Hamptons cottage. But for an historic Baton Rouge home where many materials are natural or reclaimed, she recently recommended a classic French palette with Mediterranean influences.

With a color-shy client, Williams suggests considering a shade that appears in other rooms of the home, one they are already comfortable with, to inspire their kitchen palette.

Beautiful Kitchens & Baths cited Karen Williams' "dreamy color palettes" in a recent article.

Room size matters, too.  ”Most people think a large kitchen can accommodate a lot of color, but I feel that too much color in a large space can be overwhelming,” Williams told the magazine. “In such a setting the space itself provides plenty of drama, so I often use a more delicate palette to keep the overall impression in scale.”

“In smaller kitchens, you can have more fun with color because the space functions much like a piece of art that’s viewed singly and in its totality.”

Overall today she sees more combinations of color. “Homeowners are open to lacquered cabinets and grayer shades of oak. They’re experimenting far more now than in the past,” Williams told the magazine.

Elle Decor talks to Karen Williams about counter surfaces

Elle Decor magazine in its November “Punch List” feature interviewed Karen Williams and other leading designers including Steven Gambrel, Carl D’Aquino, Amy Lau, James Biber and Laura Kirar for a piece on surfaces. In the article titled “What the pros know,” Karen noted that while white marble is classic, some people are looking for what they feel are more durable options. She suggested three of her other favorite materials, pewter, lavastone and semiprecious stone.

She told Elle Decor she likes pewter tops, which are handmade in France, because they develop a soft patina as they age.

Karen Williams chose a pewter countertop for this bar, knowing it will develop a beautiful patina as it ages.

Semiprecious stone tops are a go-to for their brilliant colors and striking patterns.

For a new home in Florida, Karen Williams selected this petrified wood semiprecious stone for the countertop in the butler's pantry. She loves how it brings color and pattern into the room, which will have French-style cabinetry doors like this one.

And she loves lavastone because it’s heat, stain and scratch resistant, as well as having a subtle crackled texture. Plus she can create a custom color in it.

Karen Williams specified a custom blue lavastone countertop for a Florida highrise, picking up the color of the ocean outside the kitchen window.

Kitchen & Bath Ideas magazine talks to Karen Williams about ranges

Kitchen & Bath Ideas magazine sought expert advice from Karen Williams for an article in its December issue on choosing a range. In “Chef’s Choice,” Williams told readers they should think about “who cooks, how they cook and their skill level” when shopping for cooking equipment.

“If you’re an avid cook and the only person using it, a professional range may be the right fit, but if the babysitter is heating up chicken nuggets for the kids every day, a less complex model might be better,” she advised.

She also recommended taking into account all the new options now. “How much you need to learn in order to get the full benefits of the product should be a deciding factor when choosing a range,” she pointed out. Some people love learning a new technology like induction, others don’t want the hassle.

Larger or more complicated ranges aren’t always the best solution. Instead, it might make sense to combine your range with a drop-in component such as a steamer or fryer. Williams did that in her own kitchen, creating a custom cooking center with a teppanyaki grill and deep fryer.

With all the individual elements now available (deep fryers, wok units, induction units, grills, griddles), a custom range can be created to suit anyone’s needs.

And in  some kitchens the range may become the design focal point. In that case, you may want to splurge on a custom range where you select the color, the trim, and the cooking elements.

With all the choices now on the market, there is a great range for every cooking need.

Decorati Cites St. Charles of New York as a Showstopper

Decorati, the trendy interior design website, just selected a St. Charles of New York design for its blog entitled Look Up! 15 Showstopping Ceilings.

The website featured a dramatic ceiling treatment by Karen Williams and her partner Robert Schwartz for the 2003 Kips Bay Decorator Show House kitchen, proving that good design stands the test of time.You can check it out at www.decorati.com or  http://bit.ly/oJCkVa.

Decorati cited the stunning hand-antiqued pressed tin ceiling in a St. Charles of New York Kips Bay Show House as one of its 15 Showstopping Ceilings.

Decorti commented, “An often-ignored area of the home left to fade into the obscurity of prosaic white paint, ceilings can present a unique opportunity for unexpected drama. From Sistine Chapel-esque murals to elaborate baroque panelling, out-of-the ordinary ceilings can add richness and interest to entire rooms.”

The designers at St. Charles of New York couldn’t agree more.  Here are a few more of their own show stoppers.

For their 2006 Kips Bay Decorator Show House kitchen, Karen Williams and Robert Schwartz, St. Charles of New York, chose a glamorous antiqued brass ceiling treatment with rich coved molding. It was perfect for the Beaux Arts building.

By adding elaborate medallions and luscious layers of molding, and then faux painting the ceiling, St. Charles of New York set a dramatic yet elegant note for the Scarsdale ASID Show House. St. Charles of New York regularly works with talented artisans to create special one-of-a-kind statements like this for its clients.