Nora is an architect fond of interior design. She loves to share ideas and tips on her blog Design Outfit, a name that suggests that each space has its own ideal furniture, which can enhance it and which fits it perfectly! She told us what she loves about Bertazzoni and gave us some precious tips to highlight the kitchen…

How did you start collaborating with Bertazzoni?

I tell stories about design and architecture on my blog. I believe that because of that, there was a common need. Also Bertazzoni tells a story: about kitchens, family, and tradition. Our collaboration tells all these stories under a new light, open for sharing and to the audience of social media.  They are influenced by suggestions from other sectors other than design and make them open to new elements. I started to talk about Bertazzoni, a few weeks ago, through Valentina’s voice, the company’s Brand and Style Manager, who told me about her yellow cooker and how it is possible to bring on the story of the company, a story which has very deep and antique roots in its land. I will continue to tell this story by combining the words of “real” people and the emotions they feel at home, my favorite place to design, at first as an architect, and than as a design blogger.

What struck you about Bertazzoni?

Certainly the way the company passed the baton from generation to generation. It’s as if each time the company preserved the technical and cultural know-how as a treasure, and at the same time it was ready to take new challenges and suggestions.

Bertazzoni’s tradition is solid and very ancient, as I was told during my first visit to Guastalla last May. The showroom, however, in addition to the collection of the first kitchens, the sisters of railroad stoves on display to help visitors discover the company’s origins, shows new products. The latter are very modern and prove that they were created through a careful study of everyday needs from the Italian reality and the international context. It’s the perfect balance between old and new which fascinates me the most.

Why are Bertazzoni products so unique?

For the robustness of the materials and their functionality, which is attentive towards customer’s specific cultural and geographic needs. In addition to that, the intimate and domestic features, between the folds of steel, tell stories about cooking, traditional recipes, and family life.

What’s the style of your ideal kitchen? Minimal, rustic or traditional?

As an architect, I certainly appreciate a modern kitchen with minimalist surfaces, furniture and accessories, better if heated through natural materials such as wood and stone. I'm talking about Scandinavian design, which - leaving my architectural studies aside for a moment - I would love to contaminate with made in Italy elements, even better if vintage. Old family cabinets find a perfect companion in a cooker of the Prima series, available in pastel colors that I love!

Do you have any tips on which colors to match with our brighter kitchens, such as orange and yellow ones?

You can follow two paths for matching the colors. The first way is to play it safe by choosing the shades of grey: from the lighter and dusty pearl to the finest anthracite. It’s important, in this case, to leave some space for light and keep some of the surfaces in white. The second way is for those who aren’t afraid to go for colors. Yellow is perfect to be matched with burgundy and metal colors such as brass with a satin / matt finish. Orange, I admit, isn’t among my favorite colors: I instinctively would match it with blue and light blue, for an immediate reference to Mediterranean elements.

What’s your favorite color from those proposed by Bertazzoni?

Yellow! By the way, when I interviewed Valentina Bertazzoni, I found out that yellow is the color of her Bertazzoni Professional Series cooker of her home in Parma. The kitchen, in all the houses I have lived in, has always been of the color of the sun. Even in the apartment where I live in Rome today with my two children and my partner, the kitchen, made with bleached oak parts, has yellow elements on the upholstery on the wall, as well as on the floor. Yellow is linked to the Mediterranean Sea, citrus fruits, Italian cuisine, and the morning light.

Photo credit: Davide Buscaglia