Five gorgeous celebrity kitchens to make you green with envy

How do you feel about your kitchen at the moment?

The chances are that there is something about it that just doesn't quite hang together; maybe the paint work is fading, the curtains look dated or the flooring is stained and marked. Well prepare to feel a whole lot worse about it, as we take a look at five celebrity kitchens that are quite simply stunning.

The good news? Not all of them are necessarily unattainable either, as many of these fantastic aesthetics have been achieved in kitchens of a relatively average size, so you may even find a bit of design inspiration in the following list. German kitchen specialists BGO Kitchens give us the low-down...

Courtney Cox's Minimalist Utopia

Simon Upton

Created by award-winning interior designer Trip Haenisch, the former Friends star has opted for the sheer white minimalist touch here, with CaeserStone countertops and ovens, while the built-in refrigerator is by Gaggenau. We really love those vintage barstools though!

Breakfast with a Sea View

FrontDoor.com

From the minimalist to the downright ostentatious, this stunning Malibu beach front property with a sea view from the kitchen belongs to none other than Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.

The countertops are stainless steel - great for keeping clean by the way - while all of the appliances are top of the range, not to mention a huge walk-in refrigerator and freezer!

Swank-y Design

Simon Upton

This celebrity kitchen belonging to Oscar-winner Hilary Swank may look small for one belonging to an acting megastar, but it is also undoubtedly perfectly formed.

Designed by Mark Zeff, this kitchen is complete with quartz countertops and Kohler sink fittings. That very cool floor lamp? That's from New York-based home wares firm West Elm. You can take the full tour around her Manhattan apartment on ElleDecor.com.

Homely Hollywood

Miguel Flores-Vianna

This kitchen belongs to Will and Grace actress Megan Mullally and it certainly doesn't look like a typical celebrity space. The Dacor cooker top was chosen by designer Ames Ingham, as well as the oak cabinets and same CaeserStone worktops as you see in Courtney Cox's kitchen.

Taylor Swift's Functional and Stunning Kitchen

FrontDoor.com

Pop superstar Taylor Swift may not live here anymore, but we think you'll agree the decor in the kitchen of her former Nashville home is a fantastic combination of style and functionality.

From the marble backsplashes and stainless steel appliances, through to the butcher-block countertop on the central island and the gorgeous copper range hood - a true focal point for this terrific space.

What elements of these Hollywood kitchens do you think you could incorporate in your own home? Let us know in the comments below.

This guest blog was written by John Rooney on behalf of BGO Kitchens - a family-run company with years of experience in supplying high quality German kitchens.

Antiques belong in the kitchen too!

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Modern appliances, the latest recipe, seasonal spices… staying current is important when it comes to cuisine and your cooking space. And in 2014, your kitchen is often a place that contains just as much programming and electronics as your car or TV room.  But let’s not forget the comfort and class of tradition - the sturdy, burgeoning design of homewares past, or your love for your great grandmother’s recipes. Incorporating antiques into your kitchen is an easy and effective way to bring time-honored heart and design to your favorite room. The internet boasts opportunities for buying timeless antiques at great value, so here are a few ideas to help get your wheels spinning:

Use antique vases as storage
While vases are traditionally regarded as flower holders, they have countless other uses if you put your mind to it. You can give a new life to a beautiful antique vase by using it to store your favorite utensils and kitchen gadgets. It’s a convenient, unique way to show off your love for old treasures.

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Accent with antique furniture
Accenting with antique and/or mismatching chairs and table sets can benefit the overall ambience of your kitchen. Incorporating different antique chairs or accenting a corner with an old desk or cabinet for a work space gives off a homey, well-rounded feel. This works especially well in rustic-themed kitchens, but can also be complementary to more bold, modern designs.

Install antique fixtures for a dramatic effect
Finding the perfect antique can do wonders for the lighting and overall mood in your kitchen. While there are many great options for antique lighting online as is, sometimes old pieces need a bit of love and refurbishment. Here are some tips for modifying lighting and fixtures on your own.

Dine with antique dishes and ceramics
Mismatched dish sets offer an eccentric, aesthetic way to dine, and antique ceramics are a great window into the cultural values and delicacies of the past. Search for charming antique dishware online, or refurbish some old family heirlooms for a unique and personalized dining collection.

Forget everything you think you know about drop ceilings

When I was doing a lot more retail design than I do these days I loved to work on older homes. There was always something about having to work within the confines of an existing structure that made me think more creatively. Blank slates are easy, but resolving a problem in an older home requires real effort. It's important to honor the structure you're working with and the challenge is always to add function without introducing any extraneous elements. Not breaking the bank is usually in order too.

My older home clients used to reach out to me initially because something had happened that they just couldn't live with.

In a plaster and lath home, it was usually the aging plaster itself or water added to aging plaster that prompted the decision to do something.

However, a water problem like in the office photo above can easily turn into a budget buster. Fixing the underlying problem is step one obviously, but repairing the original ceiling and walls is where the meter really starts running.

For all practical matters, nobody builds plaster and lath ceilings and walls anymore. and it's very difficult to partially rebuild a damaged old wall using drywall. Typically, all of the plaster comes out and gets replaced with drywall. By the time you're at that point, you're over budget and still have a room to finish.

Oh the joy of owning an old home.

There are options you know and they're not the drop ceilings you remember from school and work.

Honestly, if I were in the position where the damaged office shown above were mine, I'd be very inclined to replace all of that damage with something like this.

Yes, that's an Armstrong drop ceiling. It's the Easy Elegance Coffer and you can read about it here. 

Of course you'd repair the damage in the original room but when you're up against a wall (no pun intended) when it comes to a budget, a solution like a new drop ceiling from Armstrong may be the your best option. I know that's what I'd do.

In the meantime, take a look at Armstrong's inspiration gallery. You'll be amazed at the planks, the panels, the drops and the metals they have available. I know I was!

Looking for color advice? Then don't buy this book.

I've been a blogger for over seven years and despite my irregular posting schedule anymore, I get inundated by press releases daily. I look them over of course and a lot of them are interesting.

However, every once in a while one comes through my in bin that really sticks in my craw. Such was the case a couple of days ago when a release showed up that was hawking a new book on the "psychology" of color and how to use said psychology to pick colors for your home.

The press release even went so far as to lead with the tease, "Do you wish you knew the secrets to selecting the best paint for your house like the pros do?" Trust me, any pro who relies on the kind of goobledygook advanced by this book needs to lose his or her license.

Jeanette Chasworth, who calls herself  "the Color Whisperer," managed to cram so much snake oil into a single page release that it boggles my mind. Among her claims are these gems: "It tells you which colors create a mood and how to use that to your advantage to increase your health, lose weight, make your food taste better, and increase energy."

Honestly? The right color walls in my kitchen will help me lose weight? It'll increase my health? It'll make my food taste better?

Let's stop here for a minute and think about this. By what mechanism will I lose weight with the right wall color? Will it burn more calories than I take in? Will it exercise for me?

Will the right wall color season my food just so or thicken my sauces automatically?

And what on earth does a promise to "increase" my health even mean?

There is such a thing as color psychology, let me say that. And there's a place for actual psychology in interior design. However, none of that is absolute.

It's commonly held and never questioned that the color red improves your appetite. Well, what if you were traumatized by the movie "The Shining?" What if "red room" reminds you of "redrum" and you're immediately haunted by images of a deranged Jack Nicholson breaking down your door with an ax? Odds are, the color red is going to put you off the feed.

When I lived in Florida I had a yellow kitchen and I loved it. I loved it because my grandmother Stewart had a yellow kitchen and it reminded me of her every time I walked into the room. My neighbor Kevin hated it and decreed that he was mortified by the very idea of a yellow kitchen. Maybe Kevin was beaten senseless with a car aerial in a yellow room when he was a kid. Whatever the case, it was clear that he had a negative association between kitchen and yellow. On the other hand, I had a positive one.

That's color psychology in a nutshell. Blanket prescriptions of what colors make all people feel or respond in a specific way are nonsense.

The color selection process begins with "what colors do you like?" and it ends with "which of those colors will work in this space?" That, Madame Color Whisperer, is the "secret" to how pros select colors.

This books is hardly the first one to make such nonsensical claims of course. Apparently, making up advice like this is a good way to make a buck but it's a load of crap.

I would love to live in a world where people who proffer such magical advice are held accountable for it. What recourse do I have if I take her advice and fail to lose weight? What if my food tastes the same? What if my health doesn't increase, what ever the hell that means?

If you want to know for real how professionals select colors, just hire one. Honestly, just hire one.

Butcher block surfaces from ButcherBlockCo.com

When I was a kid, we used to buy our meat from a butcher. As in a real, live butcher who worked in an actual butcher shop. This was not by any means a charcuterie and concepts like grass fed and free range weren't even imagined yet. What it was an honest-to-goodness butcher shop and I remember it smelling like a combination of blood and the heavy paper everything came wrapped in.

I was fascinated by the place and what fascinated me most was the table-sized butcher block where just about everything was cut. It looked a lot like this one.

Buy this table here!

Those days are gone of course --killed off by a combination of changing consumer tastes and proliferation of grocery stores.

Though the traditional butcher shop may be well on its way to extinction,  those butcher block tables are still made by the John Boos Company and here's one they call the AB.

Here's the AA

I took those images from the ButcherBlockCo.com's website. ButcherBlockCo.com is a small firm in Phoenix that specializes in butcher block tables and counters from the John Boos Company. John Boos has been making wood tops and counters since 1887 and they are the gold standard of what a butcher block surface ought to be.

I've always known the reputation of John Boos but until recently, ButcherBlockCo.com was unknown to me. That changed with the arrival of this.

That is a scale replica of a John Boos AA and in my photo it's being used as intended. Namely, as a cheeseboard. My Mini Boos Butcher Block came with a rosewood handled cheese hatchet by Boska. Needless to say, I love this thing. It works as advertised, people can't look at it and not comment and it reminds me of that butcher shop a long time ago. That's what we call a win.

But ButcherBlockCo.com is more than just a purveyor of novelty cheese boards. They sell, direct to consumers, the full range of John Boos products and they do something else I've never seen offered on a website before. You can price and order your own John Boos butcher block counters. Seriously, there's a calculator built into the website. Not only that, they offer free shipping on any order over $75.

So if you're in the market for butcher block counters, tables, islands, cutting boards, kitchen carts, work tables or anything else the John Boos Company makes, look no further. ButcherBlockCo.com has you covered. Check out their website, find them on Facebook and follow them on Twitter too.