Get sharp in the kitchen

Shopfront: Last week in Milan the German company Bulthaup launched a few new kitchen designs - its first since 1986 - during a week of furniture shows that are like fashion week, but with tables and chairs instead of frocks.

Bulthaup say it has made an evolutionary leap in kitchen construction with this new "b3" line. And they're right-ish. A kitchen is still essentially a kitchen, but what's new is that where before most kitchen design was created by looking down on a floor plan and seeing how units could be configured flush to the ground, this stuff looks to the walls instead and asks what can be hung from them.

This means units are run, say, in a long horizontal strip along a wall, cantilevered with space above and below. The same goes for ovens and fridges.

It's about engineering then, as units have to hold decent weights. Another thing that's new is the narrowness of the countertops and doors (again, an engineering thing) and Bulthaup's combination of steel and oak and ever-so-slightly 1950s meets space age styling.

What this gives to the look of the kitchen is a generally sharper appearance.

Bulthaup kitchens are known for their great expense - they can cost €100,000 plus - so what astounded us most was learning that it's possible to get a decent one for about €15,000. It's all about the finishes apparently. Bulthaup at Kitchen Haus, 01 6770101