A Porsche design speeds into the kitchen
It used to be that a man would buy a sports car to help him deal with his midlife crisis. But today’s man can bypass the Vette, Jag, or BMW for his garage and instead buy Porsche-designed cabinets for his kitchen when there is no substitute for coping with the tough times.
German kitchen-design company Poggenpohl has paired with Porsche Design Group on the P’7340 kitchen (shown). This line of custom cabinets, available in the U.S. next summer, features sleek, high-style components made of aluminum, glass, and wood and features a state-of-the-art audio-video system. Miele is to be the supplier of all fitted electric appliances in this modular kitchen.
The Poggenpohl-Porsche pairing is not the only competitor in the auto-inspired kitchen-style race. Italian company Snaidero offers two custom cabinet styles, Ola and Venus, which are designed by Pininfarina, the firm behind many famous Ferraris, including the F40 and the Testarossa.
(Consumer Reports has not tested any of the abovementioned cabinet lines.)
Whether or not these Euro options rev your engine, remember that no matter the style you choose, high-quality construction features are what keep cabinets looking good and working smoothly year after year.—Celia Kuperszmid Lehrman
Essential information: Watch this video to see how we test cabinets in our labs. If you’re considering a kitchen remodel, use our planning guide to help you make wise decisions throughout the project. And get an estimate of the cost of your new space with the RSMeans QuickCost Kitchen Remodeling Estimator. If you subscribe to ConsumerReports.org, you have access a custom version of the calculator.
Posted by: Nathan Harrison | Oct 31, 2007 8:59:00 PM
I wonder if this approach will really work out. Isn't it men that go for the flashy sportscars?
In 90%+ of the kitchen remodels I've been involved with, the women are making the call on cabinets.
As a kitchen installer who was at one time involved with laboratory testing of cabinetry, I'm hoping that Consumer Reports' laboratory testing and consumer advocacy programs make more of a dent in the cabinet market than the certification agency we worked with. The standards were high for the things that were tested, but the standards really didn't concern themselves with the real quality issues, in my opinion.