A Cultivated Look

Hovering about in the vegetable garden, anxiously watching the broccoli, I'm seeing a lot of green and brown interaction. This detail, from the Newlyn kitchen by Mark Wilkinson, takes a rich variant of that organic color combo and applies it to churning patterns of wood grain and granite veining. Pairing walnut cabinets—accented with what Wilkinson calls a 'flashline' of polished nickel—with Sequoia Brown [brown?!?] stone is a sign of a fertile imagination, indeed. mwf.com

A [Very] Minor Appliance

Dropping in on the ever-inventive world of small electrics, we find the Snack Master. A mini-griddle flips down from the side of the two-slice toaster in a space-saving design. It's a cute idea, but suitable for only the most-petit déjeuner. unold.de

Open House

Usually the baths and kitchens I show on KBCULTURE are in private homes, but this sweet alfresco setting is an exception. Architects Markus Wespi and Jerome de Meuron renovated a villa in Treia, Italy, that's available as a vacation rental. Casa Olivi does have an indoor kitchen, but with a vista like this, I'd spend my time tending the grill outside. wespidemeuron.ch

Mr. Fix-It, I Presume?

Despite the sexual equality movement in the 1970s, some gender-based stereotypes persisted. Blueprints are for boys and Avocado Green is for girls in this polarized view of an appliance. But in real life, things aren't so cut and dried. Undoubtedly, some dads are tinkerers par excellence, while others aren't so mechanically inclined. On this Father's Day, let's not take sides, and show appreciation to all dads—regardless of their handymanliness.

Fizzy + Filtered

Of course there's more to this handsome tap than meets the eye—that's why I'm featuring it today. With a twist of the knob on the left of the Grohe Blue Chilled & Sparkling faucet you can control the amount of carbonic acid that's added to the filtered and chilled water. So if you like your H20 on the effervescent side and your partner prefers a more subdued bubbly treatment, you can each quench your thirsts without compromise. grohe.com

Classic Commode

For the traditional-minded crowd, this toilet might set you [more correctly, your bathroom] apart from the generic school of design. To my mind, the Archive is possessed of good proportions and just the right amount of fluted details to complement interiors of a classic bent. Its elongated profile and comfort height appeal to body as well as eye. porcher-us.com

Horizontal Thinking

I'm impressed with the organizational system underlying the new b3 kitchen; it's simultaneously logical and lovely. Orienting the compartments lengthwise eliminates the dreaded migration of smaller items to the back of the drawer. Small, weighty metal wedges [manufacturer bulthaup calls them 'prisms'] can be placed—and replaced—along the angled troughs to create open storage spaces; lidded containers are also available, as are faceted glass jars. It's a far more flexible approach than the typical rectangular bin design. bulthaup.com