Archive for the ‘Kitchen’ Category
July 29th, 2004 | 
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How do you create an attention-grabbing, designer kitchen on a reasonable budget? How do builders and remodelers design kitchens that sizzle? They’ve figured out the secret to creating kitchens that sell. They hire a kitchen designer! So, if builders think kitchen design is a smart idea, do you think it might be worth the investment?
Today’s remodeled kitchen can easily cost $25,000 – $50,000 or more. If you are going make a sizeable investment upgrading your kitchen, you may want to allocate a portion of your budget to kitchen design. Why? Because a good designer comes up with great ideas. You pay for a trained eye to see what you can’t see. A good designer suggests design elements that won’t blow the budget. They know which details are relatively inexpensive, but add significant “punch” to your project.
Once you’ve budgeted money for design (generally 3-5%), now what do you do? Well, before looking for a kitchen designer, start thinking about what want in your kitchen. A kitchen designer will ask you what you have in mind so they can narrow the focus of your design. Is there a specific appliance that you want to make the focal point of your kitchen? Do you like exotic wood cabinets? Or do you just want a kitchen where everything coordinates and flows together?
Before you contact a kitchen designer, you may also want to visit a kitchen appliance dealer. A designer vent hood or an oversized range can serve as a great focal point for your new kitchen. Then you may want to start looking in design magazines, a great source for design ideas. Find the kitchen or the design elements you like in a magazine and simply replicate those ideas that appeal to you. Finally, after you’ve gathered some general ideas of what you want in your kitchen, start looking for a kitchen designer.
Where do you find a good kitchen designer? And once you’ve settled on a designer and come up with a design, how do you know what your design will cost to build? How do you avoid designing a kitchen you can’t afford? Wouldn’t it be helpful if you had some guidance throughout the design process to determine construction costs?
That’s where a “design-build” firm can help. Design-build remodelers offer both design and construction services. When working with a design-build contractor, the designer creates the beauty (the floor plan, the cabinet elevations, the finished material selections, etc.) and the contractor creates the estimate. There’s no more guesswork. When you hire a design-build contractor you know exactly what the design will cost.
Today, there are number of professional remodelers offering design services. Some design-build remodelers provide in-house design services. Other contractors outsource design to kitchen-designer, business partners. The best design-build contractors couple top design talent with professional construction services.
So how do you create a designer kitchen? Since they appreciate the value of good design, you may want to start by looking for a good design-build contractor. Check their work, check their trade associations, look at their project pictures and talk to their designers. A reputable design-build remodeler can be a valuable partner for creating your new designer kitchen!
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Your kitchen is probably your most used room in the house. It’s a central place at meal time. Guests tend to gather there when parties are thrown. If walls could talk, your kitchen walls would probably have a lot to say. That’s why the way your kitchen looks, and the kitchen cabinet design is so important.
Although cabinets can be made from many materials, they usually are made from wood. The stain that is used on them is applied in such a way as to best show off the grain of that particular wood. Some cabinets are very light golden yellow while others are dark – almost black – brown. Just about all of the woods that cabinets can be made out of can be stained light or dark, but each will take the stain color a little differently. A dark jacobean brown stain will look much different on an oak cabinet than it will on a maple cabinet.
Many people today are choosing kitchen cabinet design that has lots of color. Many people like a brightly colored kitchen and choose the cabinets to match. You can get cabinets in candy apple red or silver gray to match your desire. Even older cabinets are getting an update these days with a splash of color. A new paint job can totally transform even the worst of cabinets.
When thinking about your cabinets, don’t forget about the hardware. Not only will you be look at them when you are in the kitchen, you will be using them to open your cabinets. You can get knobs and pulls in many styles. Handles and pulls might require you to put two screws into the cabinets. Long pulls and large cabinets work good Smaller cabinets might go great with smaller pulls or knobs. Pulls and handles are typically installed in the center of the drawer and the lower side of the door on the opening edge. Knobs are sometimes used instead of pulls. Knobs are attached to the cabinet with only 1 screw. They are small and usually mounted in the center of drawers and the upper opening side of cabinets on the ground, and lower opening side of cabinets above the countertops.
Cabinet hardware comes in all different styles and colors. When you think of cabinet hardware, you might think of black, pewter or bright gold colored knobs. Newer options are also available. With todays modern kitchens, stainless steel is a popular choice. For those with particular tastes in say, roosters, there are even manufactures that will make hardware in the shapes of popular items to compliment the decorating that you have done in your kitchen.
Having a good feeling in your kitchen is key. Your kitchen should be comfortable and appealing. And your kitchen cabinet design will add to that comfort when you’ve put your own finishing touches on them.
I like decorating my kitchen with a cozy, warm, inviting, homey feeling to it. Usually I’m fighting for all the space I can get in my kitchen too. If you’d like to try this style yourself, you need additional space, or if you simply want to create a different look and feel to your current kitchen decorating style: here are a few tips for you to try.I like decorating my kitchen with a cozy, warm, inviting, homey feeling to it. Usually I’m fighting for all the space I can get in my kitchen too. If you’d like to try this style yourself, you need additional space, or if you simply want to create a different look and feel to your current kitchen decorating style: here are a few tips for you to try.
1. Hang your pots and pans on the wall. This works whether you have a matching set of pots and pans, or whether it’s an eclectic collection gathered over the years. Simply put hooks in the wall, then hang the pots by their handles with the bottom facing outwards. This is particularly useful for space saving and organization too. My favorite location to hang the pots and pans is on the wall right above the stove. If you have the room, this puts the pots on display nicely while keeping them right on hand for cooking.
2. Hang your potholders and hotpads on the wall. If your pans are too heavy to hang safely, or you simply don’t want them on display, or you’d like to add other embellishments to your hanging pots arrangement – potholders work quite well as kitchen wall decorations too!
3. Hang your trivets on the wall. Another great way to decorate while saving space and keeping useful kitchen essentials right on hand, is to hang your trivets on the wall. A collection of antique trivets makes an especially nice kitchen wall arrangement, but modern ones work really well too. Use solid colors or patterns to match the rest of your kitchen decor, or choose trivets that have pictures on them so your kitchen wall will have pictures on it when the trivets aren’t in use.
Other things I like to hang in the kitchen for both space saving purposes, decorative accents, and to have on easy hand at all times include: a manual can opener, measuring cups and spoons, serving utensils, and coffee mugs. These items usualy hang under my cabinets because they don’t work well on the walls.
So there you have it. Use what you already have hidden away in the kitchen to create a cozy, warm, inviting and decorative kitchen atmosphere!