Kitchen Ideas
Homeowners’ request. Replace dark cherry cabinets, an island with a bar and other elements to create a brighter, more open-feeling kitchen. Wood cabinets. Natural maple. “They were never interested in painted cabinetry, preferring the beauty of wood grain,” designer Julie Deuble says of her clients. “It keeps the kitchen bright and airy without having to choose white cabinetry.” Other special features. Fantasy Brown quartzite countertops, Italian porcelain floor tile with a gray-washed wood look set in a herringbone pattern, steel-gray beveled mini-subway backsplash tile. A covered radiator box on the left with a soapstone top acts as a window bench. Designer tip. “Trim color does not have to be the same in every room,” says Deuble, who used Houzz extensively with her clients during the whole-house renovation project. “We selected a gray here because white, though used elsewhere in the home, would have been too stark. Wood trim would not have made sense unless it matched the cabinetry, which we didn’t prefer. We didn’t want to introduce another wood species or color into the space.” “Uh-oh” moment. “We wanted to reuse the beautiful old piece of soapstone that was on top of the...
The cabinet next to the ovens opens via slim bifold doors, and it has a solid walnut interior that’s rich in color. “It’s a breakfast pantry you can close up to hide the mess,” David says. The homeowners also store glassware and china in here. Lights that come on as the door opens, and switch off when it closes, create a sparkling effect.
Mee helped the couple choose the transitional-style cabinets with Shaker-style doors and vintage round brass knobs that Becca found at a local antiques store. The cabinets as well as the full-extension, soft-close drawers with brass cup pulls were painted a blue-green-gray (Oil Cloth by Benjamin Moore) that offers contrast to the white walls.
Kitsos says they were initially puzzled by what to do with the large wall in this space. They considered built-in shelving but lucked out and found, in her words, a “really tall, massive cabinet” that’s only about 12 inches deep, has plenty of storage and fits perfectly. The unique sconce next to it is an antique Italian candle fixture from the Randolph Street Market in Chicago.
Because the kitchen and dining rooms flow together so well, the family uses the new dining room daily. And the table is a good spot for the food blogger to open up the new kitchen product packages that she receives for testing. Transitional Dining Room by Fluidesign Studio Fluidesign Studio The calm, neutral color palette continues into the dining room. The chandelier’s metal ties in nicely with the kitchen’s metal pendants.
The new layout creates strong connections between the spaces, as does consistent millwork and material and color palettes. Lindstrom was able to save much of the home’s original red oak floors, lacing in new pieces where needed and then sanding and staining the floorboards to match. She created visual separation with stained wood posts and beams.
Hardware 1. Brushed nickel. This finish has what it takes to survive in a kitchen. It’s easy to clean and has a long-lasting finish. Its matte finish hides water spots and fingerprints well. Unless you want to constantly scrub water spots, steer clear of similar options with shinier surfaces, such as chrome.
1. Ceramic and porcelain. Like their flooring counterparts, ceramic and porcelain tile backsplashes are virtually maintenance-free. Most options feature a protective glaze that resists stains and doesn’t require any sealing (there are exceptions, of course). These two nonporous materials excel at water resistance, too.
Quartz Countertops This engineered product is one tough cookie. It isn’t foolproof, but it’s about as resistant to scratches and stains as countertops get. You only need a soft cloth and warm water for post-meal cleanup. If you have dried-on stains, quartz will hold up well to common cleaning products like Windex, Clorox and Lysol. The things to avoid? Corrosive chemicals and setting hot pans directly on its surface.
. Vinyl. Whether it’s planks or traditional sheets, vinyl is well-equipped to handle your kitchen’s worst. Unlike laminate and hardwood, vinyl can handle moisture with relative ease. Its PVC veneer and backing protect against spills and leaks. It’s tough to scratch and stain, and like tile, vinyl cleanup is quick and easy. Water and a mop will remedy the majority of messes. No grout lines is a huge perk, too.
Give your kitchen an element of surprise by contrasting standard cabinets with a vintage piece of storage furniture. Just one unusual cabinet can be enough to give the whole room a different look. The cabinets in this kitchen from Sigmar are a traditional Shaker design, but the glass display cabinet brings an eclectic feel to the space.
Containers for Leftovers Over time, it’s easy to amass random food storage containers. If this is the case for you, I recommend paring down and investing in a set that nests nicely and takes up less space in your cabinet. The containers will look good and be easier to keep organized. To maintain your tidy kitchen, become more selective about what food containers you keep. For example, you might want to toss or recycle takeout containers from restaurants or, better yet, bring your own when you eat out so that you don’t collect more.
Other special features. Typhoon Green granite countertops. Handmade green tile on the backsplash helps tie in the green cabinetry to the rest of the kitchen. Solid butcher block forms an eating counter on the island and tops the cabinets below the hutches. This mix of materials helps “break up the overall length of the kitchen so no run felt like it was too far,” Vanderhovel says. “And because the kitchen was pushing 24 feet in length, changing the color of the end [cabinets] and making them deeper helped make [the cabinetry] feel like a piece of furniture integrated in at the end of the kitchen. The cute little feet and glass display area also make the area look even more like furniture and helped it to not look so heavy.”
Island. Table-style island made of mahogany, stained in a custom color and sealed with a low-sheen lacquer. “Whenever possible we try to avoid built-in islands,” says designer Summer Thornton, who used Houzz images for inspiration. “They look bulky, heavy and boxy, and our work is more focused on creating lighter-feeling spaces. So instead of cabinet-base islands, we’re often designing islands that look more like a table with open space beneath to allow light to pass through and a more open appearance. Yes, we still have built-in drawers, and we often will use baskets or a bottom rack to store pots and pans or meet other functional storage needs, but we can create something with a much lighter feel.”
The dining room opens to the kitchen, but the rooms’ differing color palettes make them feel distinct. Bush removed the kitchen cabinets that the builder had installed and replaced them with taupe-stained oak with integrated pulls. He custom-designed the bronze light fixture over the island.
When Bush joined the project, the kitchen had upper cabinetry on the range hood wall. He replaced it with open shelving that has integrated black steel utensil hooks. Bush also added the backsplash, handmade tiles from Heath Ceramics, and the perimeter countertop, which is thick honed basalt. “All these things will patina well over time and age properly,” he says.
If you want to load your U-shaped kitchen with storage but don’t want wall cabinets on all three sides, this design from TLA Studio offers an alternative. Leave one of the longest walls free and fill the one opposite with floor-to-ceiling cabinetry. On the third, narrowest wall in this design, a half-and-half approach comfortably bridges the gap between the two cabinetry layouts. The result? A kitchen with tons of storage that still feels spacious.
Habitar Design Other special features. Dark gray quartz countertops that mimic the look of stone. Bright white triangular backsplash tile. A mix of matte black cabinet pulls on the lower cabinets and glass-and-brass knobs on the uppers. Designer tip. “The most effective decision to make this kitchen design successful was addressing every open and usable potential space,” Cain says. “We went with slim appliances to allow for more cabinet storage. We talked about every drawer and door, adding inserts for spices, pots and pans, Tupperware, silverware, cooking utensils, etc. Everything had a specific place before moving forward in construction, which ultimately made the space that much more functional in the end.” “Uh-oh” moment. “Since the kitchen style was a bit more eclectic and we were adding a handful of different finishes, colors and materials, there [was] a worry or hesitation that it may [have been] too many different materials and become too busy,” Cain says. “We looked at a lot of options and discussed many possibilities as well as had 3D modeling of the design to help with visualization. In the end, the homeowner decided they wanted something more unique and pushed past t...
Size: 64 square feet (6 square meters); 8 by 8 feet Homeowners’ request. Update a small galley-style kitchen to include more countertop and storage space. “We ended up deciding to wrap the cabinetry around along the unused wall and create a U-shape-style kitchen,” says designer MacKenzie Cain, whose client found her through the Houzz professional directory. “This allowed for more cabinet storage and workable counter space. We also addressed every single drawer, cabinet and floating shelf to make sure everything had a specific place and function.” Cabinet colors. High Park on the upper cabinets and Bone Black (both by Benjamin Moore) on the lower ones. “The homeowner loved the color green and wanted to implement it into the kitchen in some way,” Cain says. “Selecting two colors in the kitchen allowed for an easy transition and natural contrast between the upper and lower cabinets. Staying with neutral colors for the rest of the materials allows for the green to be the focal point.”
The couple’s many collections dictated a design that maximizes storage space. These corner drawers with small compartments show how every square inch is optimized.
Traditional by Designs By Gia Interior Design and Renovation Designs By Gia Interior Design and Renovation Smith had window treatments custom-made in a zesty pattern that incorporates royal blue, teal, yellow and green. This window looks out over the driveway, and the homeowners wanted to be able to see people pulling up. Keeping the top half of the window bare also lets in more light. On the left side of the refrigerator, which is surrounded by cabinetry paneling, Smith mounted two bright blue pot racks that echo the cobalt of the cabinets in the butler’s pantry.
It can be a challenge to talk clients into using mostly lower cabinets, but we always outfit them with lots of useful features like pullout drawers and inserts to maximize them,” Rountree says. She also included a cookbook shelf in the peninsula and two open shelves on the wall. “Another wedding gift our clients were excited to display was the set of test tubes full of spices,” she says. To make the most of prep and food storage space while cutting down on countertop clutter, she repurposed the old pantry closet, left. The center portion houses the microwave and coffee maker. The other doors open to deep pullout drawers for food storage.
For a more cohesive look, try coordinating accessories or a piece of furniture with your statement light fixture. In this wood-and-white kitchen from Allison Crawford, the gold legs of the bar stools nicely coordinate with the glamorous gold chandelier.
note pebbled glass hides unattractive view and lit up highlights pottery collection
colour and chairs
Parisi Images A collection of small wall-mounted clipboards from a craft store displays family images near the kitchen. Both the dressing table and plant stand are vintage finds from estate-sale marketplace Everything But The House.
The architects chose natural wood flooring. They thought that a parquet finish would be too expensive for an experimental project and that it should be installed by experts. So they went for tongue-and-groove larch boards instead. Larch is a durable wood with a beautiful texture. They treated it with oil and hard wax. The 20-foot-long boards were installed wall-to-wall. They put a layer of Ruberoid, a bitumen-based roofing material, between the framing and the boards so that the floor wouldn’t creak. They filled the spaces within the framework with slabs of stone wool, which provides sound insulation and thermal insulation. Find a flooring specialist near you
Traditional farmhouse two-over-two windows wrap the breakfast nook corner. The built-in banquette is upholstered in vinyl that looks like leather, making it easy to wipe up spills. “Their dog also loves to jump up on the banquette, and this vinyl can handle it,” Cooney says. Blue appears on the chairs and the Roman shades. like counter shelf
The antique scale that hangs from the ceiling adds some soft curves and age.
On cost: “Islands, for all of the function and structure they bring to a kitchen, are immovable and provide limited flexibility,” Nichols says. “They must have electric and, potentially, plumbing added if there’s a sink. Islands add a layer of cost to a project, which, depending on the clients’ needs, isn’t always necessary.”
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Frankfurt Kitchen The Haus am Horn’s kitchen, with wall-mounted cabinets over a continuous countertop, was rather radical for its time and helped inspire Margarete Schütte-Lihotzky’s Frankfurt kitchen three years later. Schütte-Lihotzky, Austria’s first female architect, was hired by Frankfurt architect and city planner Ernst May, who was overseeing the construction of compact but well-appointed developments to alleviate the city’s postwar housing shortage. Based on a railroad car galley, the Frankfurt kitchen had an efficient, integrated layout of built-in cabinets, labeled food bins, stain-resistant beech cutting surfaces, gas stove, swivel stool, fold-down ironing board, removable garbage drawer and adjustable ceiling light. With its small footprint and factory-fabricated components, it was inexpensive to build. This photo is of the Frankfurt kitchen acquired by the Museum of Modern Art in New York.
he designers made the pot racks from hammered black iron with an oil-rubbed bronze patina to complement the cookware. The stepped detail on the valances over the sink and the pass-through is another nod to Art Deco.
Rachel Sa and Bruce Kirkland, the owners of a 1923 Toronto home, ordered a chimney-style hood for their remodeled kitchen so they would have room to hang their collection of Mauviel cookware on either side of the stove — but the stainless steel model left something to be desired. When Francesco Giampietro and Cassandra Brandow of Chestnut Grove Design Studio suggested embellishing it with a motif from the Madison Belmont Building, it felt like destiny: Kirkland loved the building and knew the exact detail he wanted to replicate. Fabricated from medium-density fiberboard, the hood cover has an epoxy coating color-matched to the copper cookware with automotive paint.
Patio Pleaser This rooftop garden in London, designed by Town and Country Gardens, features a built-in sectional that hugs a wall of planter boxes. The tall grass and grapevine pruned to resemble a tree make the urban garden that’s mostly hardscape seem greener and softer.
Folkway Design & Wares Co. Upper cabinets would have felt oppressive in the compact space. Instead they opted for a tall backsplash and artwork over the countertops. The couple’s art collection plays a big role throughout the home and reflects their personalities.
You Dream of Cozy English Country Style Colorful square tiles add cozy country cottage charm to this home in Surrey, England. The light aqua hue of the cabinetry complements the eye-catching tiles. And the choice of wood countertops rather than something with a busier pattern allows the backsplash to be the star.
What Addressing Aging-Related Needs in the Kitchen Might Look Like Compared with baby boomers not addressing aging needs, baby boomers who report addressing aging-related needs are more likely to: Choose an open floor plan. An open floor plan can be easier to navigate than one with closed-off rooms, particularly for people who use wheelchairs or walkers. Include robust lighting systems such as in-cabinet lighting. As people age they need more light to see well compared with when they were younger. Upgrade wall ovens and cooktops. Choosing a wall oven can eliminate the need to bend over to reach into the oven, an activity that can lead to or aggravate back pain. Choose touch-only or touch-free faucets. Turning a faucet knob with hands that have arthritis can be challenging, and touch-only or touch-free faucets can eliminate this challenge.
More baby boomers who report addressing aging-related needs open their kitchens to adjacent rooms compared with those who report not addressing aging-related needs.
Here’s the same wall with the cabinet doors open to show the wine refrigerator on the right, the coffee and tea station above it. “You can keep guests away from the main prep area and have that bar completely open,” Browne says.
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