Posts tagged Kitchen
Kitchen Design And Storage
Jan 24th
Critical to any kitchen design is the attention given to storage. How much cupboard space is enough? And is enough ever enough?
The minimalist will design his or her kitchen considering only the intended function of a kitchen: to prepare and serve meals. Said kitchens are designed only to store the tools necessary to such function. The minimalist will rue the day he shelved consideration of extra storage space.
A kitchen is unlike any other room in the house. While other rooms change to reflect changes in lifestyle – new couch, new lamps, new curtains — the kitchen grows with its owner, changes little, and brings a history with it. While I started out thirty years ago with a set of borrowed pots and pans and a mismatched set of yard sale cutlery, I have accumulated so much more, both voluntarily and by accident.
Fortunately, the initial owners of my home had the foresight to implement a kitchen design that accommodates these accidents of time. Ceiling high shelves, while rarely poked into, are the perfect spot for Christmas dishes, Grandmother’s set of old china, the children’s first dishes, my collection of college day beer steins, and some rather unique and unusual impulse purchases.
I mean, doesn’t everyone own a set of salt and pepper shakers shaped like a pig’s snout? Then there are the ‘theme’ dishes: apples, sunflowers, roosters. You name it, I’ve got it. Fortunately, I’ve also got a kitchen designed to take it.
Any kitchen design worth its snout in salt has to recognize that the kitchen is the main recipient of birthdays, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day, Valentine’s Day and Christmas. Fondue sets, martini sets, cheese sets, candy making kits, cake decorating kits, all of those “I knew you’d love it,” end up in the kitchen.
Where do you put thirty years of recipe books? How many junk drawers can you fill in a lifetime? Then there are all those nifty little appliances: waffle makers, crock pots, sandwich makers, electric griddles, food processors, bread machines, and so on. And these are the things I don’t use…
Go ahead dig the Internet and you’re bound to find some fresh new designs for your kitchen that will fit your needs. It doesn’t have to be frustrating experience it can also be a lot of fun if you do your homework.
But no matter what remember this… Kitchen design — it has to begin with storage. Lots.
John Layton is the author of Kitchen Design And Storage and can provide additional tips and advise at his website http://www.kitchen-designnow.info he also publishes a daily blog at http://www.internetsighting.info
Creative Kitchen Combines Traditional Styling and Modern Convenience
Jan 24th
Relenda and Larry Blair were determined to create a kitchen that would give them the space and convenience they lacked in their old 60s style confined space. Faced with the design challenge of creating an updated look that would successfully combine modern essentials and their traditional tastes, they turned to Universal Remodeling’s experienced design team.
Working in concert with Universal’s Project Manager Yani, they achieved a unique space and creative blending of styles.
“I wanted a kitchen that was classy but homey and opened the entire space to an easy flow,” Relenda says. “The finishing work looks very high end and custom-made. I can barely tell where the seams are.”
The Blairs’ old 60ish space was updated with traditional maple cabinets deepened and richened with a coffee glaze.
“Henry did a wonderful job, we couldn’t have asked for more. The cabinets are beautiful,” Relenda notes.
The Windsor style cabinets fit with the more traditional furnishings in the Blair home, and yet the space has a clean modern feeling that updates the entire home.
New granite countertops in varying tones of brown lend warmth and compliment the cupboard’s coffee glaze. Finished off with rose toned metal handles, it was exactly the look Relenda sought.
“We searched and when we saw these handles we knew they were just perfect,” she adds.
Tumbled travertine with rich quartz accents dress the backsplash and create an interesting dynamic of textures. A slate earth tone hued floor compliments the space. Area rugs add color and additional warmth while stainless steel appliances give a modern feeling to traditional styling.
Relenda says she is so happy with the way the new kitchen layout creates an easy flow from one room into another. Once confined while cooking, the open design creates a space that moves freely combining the living areas of the home.
“It seems so much larger and more open now,” Relenda says. “The whole area looks complete and unified. Extending the floor into the laundry room and adding designer touches like French doors is a complete and unified look.”
Small touches like a built-in microwave and the new Kitchen Aid oven that features three ways of cooking, convection, auto conversion or full convection have made cooking so much easier and fun. An added pantry eliminates overcrowding and allows easier access.
“Before everything was always filled to the brim and overflowing; now it’s so roomy and there’s a place for everything,” she says. “It feels like a home and a kitchen.”
Relenda praises Yani for his help in creating a design plan and implementing their preconceived vision.
“Yani gave us options that would enhance and fit in with our vision. We had ideas, but he helped us alter and conform these into our space. He also explained things clearly so we could understand why something would or wouldn’t work within the confines of our design.”
Happy with all their design choices, she raves about her new sink that features one much deeper side for easier access and brushed aluminum faucet with the removable sprayer handle. “That was my husband’s choice.”
Recalling hosting a recent Thanksgiving dinner, Relenda was impressed with the wonders of having an abundance of space.
“It wasn’t claustrophobic at all. You can look straight back into the backyard, and the whole property just flows and looks so big now. The back of the house is open and glass and can be seen from the kitchen through to the laundry room. I just love it.”
Although she had heard stories about remodels, Relenda was pleasantly surprised through their process.
“Yani was so forth right, explaining everything so clearly. We did our research and understood the meaning of good ratings and qualifications and he was very honest and trustworthy.”
During the remodel she said they dined out a lot and they barbecued. They also moved out for eleven days to make it easier.
“It wasn’t bad at all. It seemed to go by very quickly.” When Yani said he would send someone out to check something or fix a problem, they were there and there quickly. “I was impressed that they showed up for work every day, always worked on the project and never said they won’t fix something, never once. That was a big plus. When they said they’d take of it, they did. They did their job and were helpful and polite.”
Although they still need to add some finishing touches and accents, they are enjoying their new space.
“The more I’m in the kitchen, the more comfortable I get. Both Larry and I enjoy cooking and entertaining so much more now and we try new recipes.
“He’s my guinea pig,” she laughs. “He has a couple of meals he likes to fix, but basically it’s a team effort. I never imagined I’d have something like this. I took pictures before and after I saw the transformation, I was so pleased.”
Norma Zager is a famous and experience jouNorma Zager is a famous and experience journalist in California and US. Her expertise is about to write interesting articles and amazing stories. – Universal Remodeling
Planning The Perfect Kitchen
Jan 23rd
When Grandpa wanted a chicken dinner, he “ran down” a likely looking young rooster, “wrung” its neck, and brought it in for Grandma to “draw,” to dress, and to roast. Meat used to be killed right on the farm, and all canning was done at home.
This required a kitchen that at best was something less than a show place, especially when it was necessary to use a smoking old coal-burning cook stove, and all water had to be carried from the spring in a wooden bucket, and a kitchen sink was yet in the future.
Yet these old kitchens were very comfortable as the center of family life.
When the neighbors came over to visit, they usually “set” in the kitchen, the parlor being used on very special occasions only.
In many places in the world, even today, a kitchen is not permitted in a house.
As an Englishman said to me in Singapore,
”I want a kitchen to be just as far away from the house as I can get it.”
A glimpse of some of the nearby kitchens explained why. If you cook with charcoal under the kettles, with no flue, and no attempt ever to wash the outside of the kettles, just the inside being kept clean, and if you throw the cabbage leaves and potato peelings to the waiting pigs and chickens, and if you have only an earth floor, and no screens, you can easily see why kitchens are not too desirable in the house.
When I built a modern American kitchen, complete with sink, electric stove and refrigerator, the building inspector said, after looking it over carefully, “Why can’t we do it this way?”
Those of you who have visited George Washington’s home at Mt. Vernon will recall that the kitchen is a long way from the house.
Modern food processing plants and the super-market have taken much of the messiness out of the kitchen, so that now the kitchen can be one of the most beautiful and attractive rooms in the house.
The kitchen is a place to work, but why not make it also a pleasant place to be? Give the best view to the kitchen.
A kitchen would preferably be on a corner, where it can get light from two sides, and where you can see in more than one direction.
Many mothers like to have a kitchen window overlooking the play yard, so they can supervise the children’s activities while continuing with their work. It is also desirable to be able to see who is coming to the door.
The area for the pleasant activity of eating includes not only a place for the table and chairs, but also a place to store and prepare food, and a place to clean up things after meals, and room to store the dishes and utensils.
We often speak of kitchens, pantries, breakfast rooms, and dining rooms.
Why are so many rooms necessary?
The kitchen should be so arranged that the food can be taken to the place where it is to be served without too many steps.
Kitchens are of three general shapes: the “U” shaped kitchen, the “L” shaped kitchen, and the parallel kitchen. Each one has its advantages and dis¬advantages. How many people will be working in the kitchen at one time also has a bearing on its design.
The “U” shaped kitchen is convenient for one person to work in, but two or three young daughters trying to help might be in the way in this type of kitchen, unless the “U” is rather wide and not too deep.
Although the parallel kitchen is perhaps the most efficient, it is subject to the same limitations as the “U” shaped one. This consists of a rather long room, with cabinets and equipment on both sides, and usually a door in each end. This type of kitchen must be at least 8′ wide to give enough working space in the center of the room.
The “L” shape is good when it can be arranged in conjunction with the breakfast nook or the so-called “living kitchen” in which the kitchen is large and doubles for the family room, the dining room, and a general purpose room, with the kitchen really occupying only one corner of it.
This is very good for informal entertaining, as the person preparing the sandwiches, instead of being off in another room, can do her work and still not miss out on any of the fun.
Wherever the kitchen is placed, or whatever shape it may have, certain working areas and pieces of equipment are a necessity.
These might include drain boards, baking area, sink, refrigerator, dish washer, stove top, oven, mixer, blender, toaster, waffle iron, silverware, kitchen hardware, kettles, lids, dishes, paper towels, waxed paper, garbage disposal, storage for package foods and for tin canned goods, and for home canned fruits and vegetables, and per¬haps room for a deep freeze unit.
Although when you drive up with the groceries you should have easy access to the back door of the kitchen, I do not favor the door that opens directly from the garage into the kitchen because of the exhaust fumes that you do not want in your kitchen.
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