Kitchen design
More custom details include the white oak trim on the vent hood, Ryder used a special reactive wood stain that oxidizes wood, called Rusted by WeatherWash. “This stain changes the pigment of the material, which gives it an authentic weathered look,” he says. “It has more gray tones and more variation than other stains.”
Ryder balanced the budget by choosing ready-made cabinets for most of the kitchen. But he snuck in a few special custom cabinets. This is a cost-effective way to get an overall custom look. On this side of the island, there are three deep drawers on the left. But on the right, the sink, dishwasher and trash pullouts left just 12 inches of depth. So he created a false door front that matches the drawers with adjustable shelves behind it. “The homeowners attend all sorts of work-related events and always come home with special cups they want to keep,” he says. “They needed space to store all of them, so this spot was perfect.”
Dedicate a drawer to tech. If your devices and charging cords tend to sprawl over the kitchen counter, consider creating a hidden charging station. You will likely need to hire a pro to get this done. A maintenance worker can do the job if an outlet is already in an accessible spot; hire an electrician if you need to add a new outlet.
Note argh in stove hood
Layered Lighting Different tasks in a kitchen call for different kinds of lighting. Cooking at the stove, chopping vegetables, washing dishes, chatting with friends, doing homework, displaying collectibles — these all require a specific light source. “I recommend layers of lighting and multiple fixtures to cover every area,” designer Debbie Turner of Debbie Cahill Turner Design says. This might include recessed ceiling lights for ambient light, spotlights to illuminate important work areas like the sink and range, pendant lights to light an island or peninsula, and windows to let in natural light during the day. Designer Donna McMahon of KE Interior Solutions used a layered lighting approach in her own kitchen in Denver, shown here. Several recessed ceiling lights provide overall lighting, while undercabinet lights help with cooking tasks. McMahon even installed light strips below the base cabinets to create ambient lighting at night.
Kitchen Design Pros Share 6 Must-Have Kitchen Design Features Design and remodeling pros recommend you focus on these key areas to create a functional and stylish kitchen Mitchell Parker Mitchell Parker8 hours ago Houzz Editorial Staff. Home design journalist writing about cool spaces, innovative trends, breaking news, industry analysis and humor. More SaveComment4Like26 Share Countless decisions go into designing a beautiful and functional kitchen — so many that it’s hard to know what to focus on. We asked several design and remodeling professionals what they consider the must-have features in a kitchen, and the following elements came up again and again. Give these areas adequate attention when planning a kitchen and you’re almost guaranteed to end up with a space that makes you happy. Stonington Cabinetry & Designs 1. The Right Storage Your kitchen cabinets make up the bulk of what you see in your kitchen, so your choice of cabinet color and style is a major, consequential decision. But the components inside your cabinets are equally important, if not more. Your storage solutions determine how functional your kitchen is. When you’re at the peak of cooking a large meal, you...
These days, many sink manufacturers offer designs called workstations, which feature add-ons such as cutting boards, strainers and prep bowls. “I always recommend a sink with gadgets,” designer Brittany Steptoe-Wright of BSW Design says. “For example, the sink in this project [shown here] is a single, large undermount sink, but it has a colander, cutting board and drying rack that sit inside on a small lip and provide so much function. It’s a game changer.”
Note takeaways at end of article
Other special features. Calacatta Gold marble countertops and backsplash. “We searched several stone sources to find these slabs with the beautiful veining,” Tucker says. “They are also 2 inches thick, which is hard to come by, especially in multiple slabs. We used three full slabs for this kitchen.” Designer secret. “I think it’s important to let certain items really stand out,” Tucker says. “In this case, the countertops and the pendants. The cabinet color, while providing context for the rest of the room, is meant to be a backdrop. The scale of everything also works really well. It’s a large room, so the thick countertops really worked with the scale. Same can be said for the size of the pendants.”
If you want to make sure nobody has an excuse for not changing the bin when it’s full, try a drawer that includes a small storage drawer inside, and you can keep garbage bags and related products right by the bins themselves. Studio Dearborn You can also use interior drawers to split compartments into smaller subcompartments or to keep cleaning products or deodorizers on hand.
Another option is to put different types of waste into their own cabinets with appropriately sized bins so that you only have to open the relevant compartment at any particular time. You can devote more space for plastics and less for compost, or vice versa, depending on your needs.
Odor Control One major concern that people often have with waste bins is the odors that can linger in the kitchen. There are several possible ways to combat this issue, and one is by using compartments with individual lids for organic waste. Designs for Living, Inc. Some waste pullout systems even integrate a special bin
This wide drawer places multiple sizable bins side by side, while still leaving room in the back for the sink plumbing. Ultimately, the exact configuration that’s best for you will depend on your layout and your typical food waste, but a system like this that holds freestanding bins can always be reconfigured a bit down the line if your needs change.
Depending on the system you use, you can easily have space for two sizable bins, or many smaller ones, configured with one tucked behind the other in a full-depth cabinet, or side by side, or many other configurations to suit your typical needs.
Here’s another smart take on this idea: a pullout chopping block (in place of a typical drawer) positioned above a waste pullout, with a simple hole to allow for trimmings to be swept directly into the bin. A great option for small kitchens, as the whole chopping station can be closed away when not in use, and the main counter can still be used for other things.
Notice how this kitchen has a discreet waste cabinet below the butcher block section of the counter. Before, you might not have noticed this powerful combo, but now that you know what to look for, you’ll notice it every time.
If you cook often, one of the trickiest and yet most common tasks is sweeping away the remnants from chopping. You can carefully carry a chopping board to the bin, or you can bring the bin to the chopping board. Locating your garbage or compost pullout below a chopping zone means you can sweep waste directly into the bin with ease.
In fact, it’s quite common for a pullout drawer to be faced out with multiple false fronts to help it blend more seamlessly into a cabinet scheme. Here the three-drawer front on the pullout copies the look of the nearby drawers so the look of the Shaker fronts isn’t interrupted by a single massive drawer. Nobody would guess what was inside.
I suppose the better questions (s) to ask regarding certain projects is/are : WHAT are your procedures for tiling, laying floors, installing items etc. EDUCATE yourself on the correct/professional ways these tasks are done. We made the mistake of hiring a licensed contractor after seeing and talking to OTHER clients--his work w us was SHODDY, and several corners were cut. ALSO: FIND OUT WHERE the materials are purchased. Our contractor was from the North and bought his lumber at a company (because that's what they used there) that NO ONE locally would touch. We were OVER CHARGED for crap lumber! Now I insist on examining base materials.
Tile and bead board
The cabinets are a lovely gray-green. “This house gets such good light and it moves across the kitchen — the cabinet color changes throughout the day,” Medina says. He specified polished nickel and oil-rubbed bronze metal finishes as part of the industrial palette. “These finishes add warmth and go with the wine closet doors’ rustic look,” he says. “Brass or chrome would have pulled away from that.” The faucets and hardware are polished nickel and the light fixtures and other elements are oil-rubbed bronze. Cabinet color: Unusual Gray, Sherwin-Williams
Note brick wall. Do we want a little stone on a wall in the kitchen? 2Scale Architects already had the kitchen laid out when Medina joined the project. He tweaked just a few things and helped the couple pick the finishes. “I love collaborating with these architects because they always include thoughtful details like the exposed-brick wall and the ceiling beams,” he says. The beams nod to the exterior’s Craftsman-inspired architecture and work well with the floors of reclaimed red oak. Knowing his clients’ tastes, Medina found a brick that’s a new product but has a rustic vintage look. The white that shows up on that wall coordinates with the white backsplash.
Dishwasher
In this attractive Illinois kitchen, designer Chad Esslinger of Chad Esslinger Design married green cabinets with a knotty alder island that doubles as an eat-in table. One end of the island contains a garbage-and-recycling cabinet,
The end of the island contains two refrigerator drawers for soft drinks and other quick-grab items, keeping kids and noncooking adults out of the main fridge — and the chefs’ way. A second sink near the banquette offers a tucked-away spot for kids and food preppers to wash their hands.
Inadequate room for trash and recycling. Including sufficient trash space to suit a household’s needs is something that’s often overlooked. Often a trash bin is present and fits neatly within a cabinet so that it maintains the kitchen’s clean aesthetic (and conceals smells). But the reality is that the container is too small and fills up too quickly, meaning constant emptying. Or another common problem is that there’s no provision for separating and storing recyclables. As with many of the other design problems covered here, this one usually comes about because the designer hasn’t understood the homeowners’ requirements, dictated by how many people are in the house, how often they cook, their style of cooking, and whether recycling is important to them. Providing a container with a larger capacity, one with separate compartments (as pictured) or a kitchen waste disposal unit are effective solutions to consider.
Uh-oh” moment. “I got a great deal on a Shaws fireclay farm sink,” Fischer says. “It’s a big 36-inch sink, and the savings were too good to pass up. When I got the sink, I saw that it was a light beige color. At first I was heartbroken. I had envisioned a bright white sink. Now I love the softer natural feel that it brings into the space.”
Having things zoned is the best way to go,” Medina says. An appliance garage conceals a coffee station outside of the work triangle. The wife is petite and was concerned she’d have to carry a ladder around the room to reach things. Medina came up with a better solution. The kitchen cabinets have two slim pullouts that contain built-in stepladders.
The backsplash is composed of 5-by-10-inch subway tile that has a beautiful glaze. “I love this tile from Artistic Tile. It looks like it’s hand-glazed, but it’s not, and it costs a lot less,” Hubinsky says. The scale of the rectangles suits the large space. The countertops are Super White quartzite. This is a natural stone that resembles marble but is harder and therefore more durable.
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