This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
This empty-nest couple disliked a lot about their kitchen. A peninsula divided it from the family room. An eat-in area with a desk wasted square footage. And boring finishes in similar tones ran together — honey maple cabinets, mottled, hand-scraped wood flooring and brown granite for the countertops and backsplash.
The couple hired designer Lori Ramsay to help them sort out the issues, maximize storage and add fresh style. Ramsay removed the peninsula and expanded the kitchen into the former eat-in area. A new large island improves workflow and includes seating. Ample cabinets add tons of storage. A dashing two-tone cabinet approach combines dark blue with light-stained maple. Patterned backsplash tile nods to the home’s Mediterranean style.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
Appliance garages conceal countertop appliances such as blenders, coffee makers and toasters while keeping them easily accessible and organized. While they’ve been around for decades, they’re enjoying a resurgence in popularity as homeowners incorporate more gadgets into their kitchens — and as pros design better-looking and harder-working options.
We scoured recent uploads to the Houzz photo feed for examples of smart and attractive appliance garages in a variety of kitchen styles and sizes. Keep scrolling to get some ideas and tips for integrating one into your own kitchen design.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
While expecting their first child, these two busy physicians found a house exactly where they wanted to live in Ripon, California. The house had the right amount of space for their growing family, but they needed professional help to make it suit their needs and style. They searched Houzz for interior designers, contacted three local professionals whose work they admired and ultimately chose Wendy Glaister.
“Their work is very stressful and they were having their first baby. The goal here was zen,” Glaister says. This meant an uncluttered, clean-lined look, an organic feel and warm contemporary style. It also meant laying out the house for the way they lived. The importance of the kitchen to the couple was the biggest influence on the way Glaister reconfigured the first floor. It would truly serve as the heart of their new home.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
6. Place Your Dishwasher for Easy Access to Storage
In most kitchens, the dishwasher is conveniently located next to the sink to simplify loading. When laying out your space, also think about the ease of unloading clean dishes and flatware. Consider where you’ll be standing when the dishwasher door is open and how easily you’ll be able to access drawers and storage.
Since emptying the dishwasher is a frequent task, convenient access to storage should be a priority. I have seen several kitchens where an open dishwasher door blocks access to storage for dinnerware and flatware. Other kitchen layouts require walking across the room to put away dishes. Also make sure there’s plenty of space to stand at the sink when loading the dishwasher.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
The homeowners found Laura Irion and Laura Peacock of Laura Design Co. through Houzz, and the team collaborated with kitchen designer Wendy Franz of Studio 912 to create the cabinetry layout and design. Using Houzz Pro throughout the process for proposals and invoices, Irion and Peacock selected the kitchen’s materials and furnishings. Irion says the homeowners’ taste leans toward contemporary and midcentury modern design, but their home’s architecture is more classic. So the team blended the styles to arrive at a timeless look.
The designers chose the Evaro inset cabinet door style from StarMark, a semicustom cabinet line carried by Studio 912. The clients were willing to embrace color and loved green and blue, so the designers paired green bottom cabinets with white uppers and a wood-tone island (all prefinished StarMark colors).
“I think that was just a really neat way to have a hit of color and some colored cabinetry without feeling like it was scary,” Irion says. “It’s hard to commit to a whole room of color cabinetry.”
To the left of the sink is one of the clients’ wish list items: a pullout for trash and recycling.
StarMark cabinet colors: maple in Marshmallow Cream (wall cabinets), maple in Moon Bay (base cabinets), alder with Oregano stain (island base cabinets)
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
The homeowners found Laura Irion and Laura Peacock of Laura Design Co. through Houzz, and the team collaborated with kitchen designer Wendy Franz of Studio 912 to create the cabinetry layout and design. Using Houzz Pro throughout the process for proposals and invoices, Irion and Peacock selected the kitchen’s materials and furnishings. Irion says the homeowners’ taste leans toward contemporary and midcentury modern design, but their home’s architecture is more classic. So the team blended the styles to arrive at a timeless look.
The designers chose the Evaro inset cabinet door style from StarMark, a semicustom cabinet line carried by Studio 912. The clients were willing to embrace color and loved green and blue, so the designers paired green bottom cabinets with white uppers and a wood-tone island (all prefinished StarMark colors).
“I think that was just a really neat way to have a hit of color and some colored cabinetry without feeling like it was scary,” Irion says. “It’s hard to commit to a whole room of color cabinetry.”
To the left of the sink is one of the clients’ wish list items: a pullout for trash and recycling.
StarMark cabinet colors: maple in Marshmallow Cream (wall cabinets), maple in Moon Bay (base cabinets), alder with Oregano stain (island base cabinets)
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
Algozzini often uses seamless bluestone or granite for outdoor counters. “They can be honed, polished or, in the case of granite, even have a leather finish,” he says. “We also use some newer synthetics, which generally provide a lower profile with a crisper, slightly more contemporary look.” The counters seen here are outdoor-grade engineered quartz.
Douglass also recommends granite. “It’s durable, looks great and cleans easily,” he says. For outdoor installations, he suggests a 3-centimeter-thick granite counter instead of a thinner one. “The extra thickness will help with laminated seams,” he says. He also advises against using a full, laminated bullnose, saying that “extreme weather will cause problems in the long run.”
Work with a landscape contractor in your area
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
1. The Refrigerator Center
The refrigerator center serves as a receiving and initial food-preparation point in the kitchen layout. It is best positioned near the entrance from the direction of grocery arrival. Even if this arrangement is not the case in your kitchen, considering this function can help you determine how to begin organizing your kitchen storage space.
A countertop next to or across from your refrigerator is the ideal spot for setting down grocery bags. This position allows immediate transfer of cold items to the fridge and freezer, and storage of staples, canned goods, condiments, cereal boxes and other dry food items in nearby cabinets or a nearby pantry.
Easy access to your staples for initial food preparation helps make the job go faster and easier. Since your staples are placed here, plan to have this same area hold mixers and mixing bowls and their preparation utensils, such as measuring spoons and cups along with sifters, graters, salad molds, cake tins, pie plates and
muffin tins.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
Tierney Conner Architecture
Compose the Shots
Designers create a mix of materials, interior architecture and palette in their work, Livingston says, and he tries to compose photographs that capture this “collage of elements.” It’s an intentional way of photographing, very different from taking a snapshot.
Before shooting a single photograph, or even styling a room and adding props, Livingston will spend 30 minutes just looking at the space and trying to understand its design. He will look at it from different angles to think about how each photo should be composed. “When I walk through a space, I see what the compositions could be,” he says.
Only then does he start styling the space and adding props. As he’s doing that, he continues to walk through the room to see how all the styling and props would look in each of his photo compositions, as well as how all the elements relate to one another. Because once you’ve started shooting, you don’t want to change your styling or move your props around.
“You need to think all that through and make sure there’s continuity from one shot to another,” he says. “Sometimes you’ll get yourself in a trap where you’ll have styled something in some position that in another shot isn’t working well for you.” After he’s double-checked the angles, he will then start shooting.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple
Location: Woodland, Minnesota
Size: 348 square feet (32 square meters)
Designer: Colleen Slack of Fox Interiors
Before: The forest setting in Woodland, Minnesota, was a big influence on the design. “Even though it’s located just outside the Twin Cities, it feels like you are way out in the deep woods somewhere,” Slack says. “This area is heavily wooded and trees are sacred here.”
The house had lots of large windows that brought the woodsy feeling indoors. “We all loved the up-in-the-trees feel,” Slack says. “But a large vent hood over the island was a headbanger and it blocked all the sightlines across the kitchen.” The left side of this photo offers a glimpse of this 90-by-36-inch vent hood, which hung over the entire kitchen island. The kitchen also felt enclosed and cut off from adjacent rooms, Slack says.
Most of the finishes in the room dated back to 1978, so they showed the wear and tear of almost half a century of use. “The floor tiles had humps to them, which made it so uncomfortable to walk around or stand in here,” Slack says. “They had so many grout lines. No matter how much my clients tried to get the grout looking clean, it was a huge job and it was impossible.”
The designer used Houzz photos to communicate ideas to her clients. “I create an ideabook for all my clients to fill up with ideas,” Slack says. “Or if they already have an ideabook, I ask them to add us to it. I find this helps them think about the details, and I love to use them for sharing specific storage ideas. Some things I show clients they have never seen before.” For example, she showed these clients a Houzz photo of corner-shaped drawers that are a good alternative to a lazy Susan. They wound up installing them in a corner of their kitchen.
Find a local kitchen designer on Houzz