Futuro shock

More fun hoods from my pals over at Futuro Futuro. Check these beautiful things out!

Notice how artfully Futuro Futuro's hoods utilize light. Even the models that glow, from their Murano collection, use halogen light.

It's election day

Yes it's election day. Go do your duty, exercise your privilege, claim your right and vote. As important as the national elections are, the local contests being decided today are every bit as important. Forget the political ads and review what's happened since the last election then vote accordingly.

I can predict the Futuro Futuro

Futuro Futuro is an Italian manufacturer of really slick kitchen ventilation systems. They appeared on my radar about four years ago when I was first mastering the art of Italian-inspired minimalist design. This is their Jupiter hood that was the beginning of my great and enduring love for Italian range hoods.

It doesn't get more minimal than this. I can't vouch for how well they work, but man-oh-geez is this thing gorgeous. It's on sale right now for around $1700 and while that's in no way inexpensive, compared to their competitors that price is a bargain to end all bargains. Here it is in a room setting:

Well, I'm thinking about range hoods again because my terrific sister-in-law's terrific sister asked me to design a kitchen renovation for her last weekend and I've spent the better part of this week hatching a plan. I need an island hood to replace an ill-advised pot rack and my mind went immediately to Futuro Futuro's Europe Station which I'm showing below.

That thing's 72" wide and at $3500, it's priced to sell. I don't know how successful I'll be with that sale, but doubts never stop me. But really, isn't that a lot more attractive than a pot rack? For the life of me, I'll never understand the appeal of a pot rack.

In the meantime, take a stroll through Futuro Futuro's website. They are one of the few businesses who will sell directly to homeowners when it comes to this sort of thing and their site is chock full of pretty pictures and jargon-free technical information. I recommend them as often as I can.

An apolitical political video

This made me laugh with haughty abandon.

Get the latest news satire and funny videos at 236.com.

I added another design blog to my blogroll

I found Susan Palmer Designs by way of Kelly Morriseau's Kitchen Sync. Susan Palmer Designs has a great website and she maintains a design blog there. Check it out. Susan's blog is another great site for design ideas and advice that's specific to kitchens and baths. Her blogs are good-natured and informative. Her passion is palpable and her design sense is impeccable.

So between Kelly at Kitchen Sync, Richard Edic at Richard Edic Designs, Ann Porter at KitchAnn Style, Susan Palmer and me, there are five resources run by designers who blog and maintain a web presence as a public service. This is a pretty cool development. Feel like doing some research? All five of us maintain pretty extensive archives. Want to ask a specific question? Ask!

Between the five of us too, there's a wide diversity of opinion and experience. Each of us works different ends of the market and in locations from Honolulu to Naples, from Northern California to Upstate New York. Imagine, five great minds at your disposal. Ain't the Internet cool?