I've been meaning to show you this picture of another light floor. I simply love the feel of the light floor and the light cabinetry.

I like the horizontal dark element of the counters and I like the "important" or strong, feeling of the island in wood. 

The island, to my eye, does not overpower the other light colored elements. The reason it looks balanced to me is that there is so much MORE light colored elements in the room, balanced with just a few areas of the dark color. In other words, it makes sense proportionately in regard to color and tone balance. 

I also think this image goes a long way toward being serene, don't you? It has great interest, yet it is easy on the eyes and looks very spacious. The light floor, walls, and cabinetry, and understated backsplash, go a long way to achieve this quiet elegance. 

The floor...I think this type of floor, being quite textured, is fine in terms of being "busy enough" so you don't see every crumb immediately (unless you bake a lot of brownies.) The recent popularity of super dark wood floors is no better for spots, dings, dust, and so on. The best floor is a medium tone. But, to me, something REALLY speaks to me about a light floor. And, yes, for me, it would have to be textured. I'll have one, one day, in some form. This floor is limestone by Walker Zanger. Yes, limestone needs sealing and nervous care. I'm usually a conservative type, so I do not recommend it.

As seen in the June issue of Veranda.

What do you think of this combination of tones?

 

 

Do you think lighting is boring? Do NOT touch that mouse...I promise to totally excite you with these tips, ideas, and whatever, about lighting your kitchen. Here we go... (come on, get ready, settle down!) These are quick, useful, and un-boring ideas, like take-out from the gourmet food store. Maybe not ALL you need to know, but close!

1. Let's talk style! Lighting is jewelry, end of story. Think of it as such. It says something, a big something. Whatever you want it to say, it says it, and says it loudly. Do you want to pick something safe? It will say safe. Do you want style that's "out there"? That's your message. What's the point? Take your fixtures' design SERIOUSLY please...put TIME into choosing your lighting jewelry.

2. Pendants - hang 'em LOW! Low is cozy. Low is dining table-like. Low is cool. If your mother tells you they are too low, you know they're close to perfect, and maybe a little bit lower will do. If your contractor says they're too low, lower them two feet! (I'm joking, no cards and letters please.) :)

And, no, you need not worry as much as you think you need to worry, about the fixtures bumping your head. See? I knew you were thinking that!

3. Pendants - hang 'em HIGH! Some pendants look okay hung high, and they would be wider/bigger/fatter fixtures, please, not the small ones hung high. Please! They will look lost, or worse, insignificant. I can think of lots more adjectives of an unfortunately negative nature for small pendants hung high!

 

 

 

4. Pendants - hang 'em close together! They do not have to be hung 3' apart (yawn) over the island. Put a few close together, especially on a smaller island.  Where you'd normally put 2, put 3 closer together.

5. Does the island have a seating area? Put two different types of fixtures on the island...pendants on the work part, a larger fixture to feature the seated part.

6. Mix your metals, finishes, colors...do it with care, I don't want the lighting police banging on your door, but get creative with complementary styles and color.

7. Don't forget the dimmers!

8. Recessed lighting - Save the planet and use CFL (flourescent fixtures)

9. Recessed Lighting - There are two schools of thought...the recessed lighting plan is either a) equally spaced in a logical grid type pattern (watch the swiss cheese effect-too many lights) or b) positioned over certain elements without a strict grid pattern. Give thought to which you prefer, keeping in mind if a light is off center close to a featured cabinet, it could look like a mistake. Take care in your planning. Me, I usually look to see what features are important in the kitchen, and sometimes use a particular feature as a starting point and then move off from that, like the hood, for example. Then, of course, get ready to do it all over again once the electrician says, "lady, there's a beam in the way!"

10. Under cabinet (not under counter as it is typically called) lighting - LED lighting is PERFECT for this application. Look it up, and again, save the planet. It is crazily energy efficient!

Bonus #11 - Trusty Wendy, from the comments section reminded me about sconces! Yes, sconces are very wonderful in the kitchen. I have two kitchens at the moment where I brought sconces into the design from the beginning, and an interior designer on the project said "Sconces? I like it!" They are flanking the window in each case, but don't stop there... 

There, wasn't that fun? I had a great time! 

 

I've talked about this before. The period of time just before an order is submitted to the factory. It's the time with the most pressure, as once released to the factory, that's it forevermore. The right and left sides of the brain collide but must work together...or else. End of story.

Here's an entry for a kitchen order I'm doing that is going to the factory today, and which is the culmination of months of creative thought and engineering on my part, and later, includes even more detailed collaboration with a designated person at the factory. This entry reflects an effort to provide a chef in a small residential kitchen the absolute maximum in storage and ease of use. This is one cabinet, and I've had two highly detailed kitchen orders I've had to make 100% perfect before I go away...oh, did I slip and say "go away?" I must be referring to the TOP SECRET project! But, I digress...

This level of detail and, really, engineering, when working with custom cabinetry, doesn't make kitchen designers good people or have the ability to create world peace. But, I include this to illustrate the interesting result of both sides of the brain working together. The next time you see your kitchen designer dressed fabulously, and laughing about something or other, remember, he/she may also be delving into the dark side of detail behind the scenes, unbeknownst to most.

I'll also share with you that, again, this particular cabinet happens to reflect a good deal of risk on my part, to absolutely maximize storage for this home chef (but a real chef.) His kitchen is an orchestra pit and he's the conductor. Does that make any sense at all? I can predict what will happen is that I will watch with utter excitement as this cabinet is put into place and the adjacent cabinets and appliances are put into place and i will stand there and AUDIBLY marvel at the symphony of all these fractions of inches working together, each fraction of which I chose.

I tend to get very excited, when I design a risky, expensive (thousands $$$) piece of custom cabinetry, and people around me tend to shrug and look at me strangely when I say "YES!!!!" (IT FITS.) It's really true. That's ok, I can celebrate by myself. :) In the meantime, however, my fingers are CROSSED.  But, if you're the client reading this, don't worry...I can't remember the last time a cabinet didn't fit. Really.

 

Here's the entry for one cabinet:

 

Base
106 1/4" wide x 34 1/2" high x 24.0" deep - YES, THE CABINET IS 106 2/4" WIDE
Front frame extended down .5" for scribe to be 35" high OA - TO SCRIBE NEATLY TO THE FLOOR
Hold both partitions short 10" from top of cabinet - FOR THE SINK
Left and right dust top recessed .5" from top of cabinet
Do not extend dust top past sink apron - DUE TO SINK
Blind base 43.500" wide - left
Combined cabinet charge
17.063" wide opening left - THIS WAS PLANNED TO THE 1/16" OF AN INCH
Omit drawer above
Full height door opening
False panel and door attached together with center rail to open as one - LOOKS LIKE A DOOR/DRAWER
5" backer
Omit shelf and shelf drillings
Install LeMans Corner System Hafele 541.33.445 - A VERY COOL CORNER  CABINET SOLUTION
Right swing
Full height sink base 19.500" wide-center
Combined cabinet charge
Split doors - NON SPLIT DOORS WOULD BE A NIGHTMARE
Aprom to hide sink - NICE TOUCH
8.5" high x 26" wide
1" radiused corners at bottom L&R
Apron will extend into far left and right openings 2.5"
See sketch
Blind Corner Susan 43.250" wide - right
Combined cabinet charge
16.688 wide openings left - PLANNED TO THE 1/16" OF AN INCH
Hold drawer box short an extra 2.5" from left - SO THERE IS ROOM FOR THE SINK
2 ea. 14" BCS Swingouts left
Blocking extends into opening 0.688"
Flush toekick
Special valance cutout - per sketch
1-Arch valance - 3 bottom rail - NICE LOOK, CURVED "VALANCE" AT BOTTOM
4" high
2" high at narrowest point
Held up 2" from bottom  

There's four more lines, but I think this is enough.  

 

Now that kitchen shelving is getting more popular, I also seem to be doing more of it! It adds such warmth and personality to spaces. It is a great look to mix both decorative AND useful items on shelving, that's really the beauty of it. Books, and salt/pepper shakers. Dishes and antique bowls. Vases and oil/vinegar botlles. Of course, closed baskets also look great on shelves, adding texture, but not dust!

I've lived with open shelving for my dishes and glasses now for a few years, and I have to say we love it. The dishes and glasses are used so frequently that there isn't time to accummulate dust. Some glasses which are less used, we'll do a quick rinse under the nearby faucet, and that's it. Open shelving is not for everyone, granted.

I just ordered 14 brackets for a project. The place I mostly go to is Iron Accents. It's a Yahoo store, a very reliable company, and I've used them for years, I can definitely vouch for their product and quality.  

They also have a million different finishes, including colors! Some items are traditional in style, some are modern, and many are inspired by nature. If you use your imagination, you'll see how adaptable they are to many different design themes.

For the project I just purchased these brackets for, I wanted something very simple, especially having 14 of them. Simple, yet interesting, with a hand made sort of look. For me, it's a great go-to source.

Beautiful shelving image found in the beautiful collections of Desire To Inspire! 

 

I went to a serious, very serious (no smile is on my face) art gallery in New York City over last weekend. As I walked around, a thought occurred to me..."I can do this too!" As I walked and gazed (seriously) at the images before me, I knew I had to talk to you, my readers, about this thought.

I took 8 of MY images below and added 3 of the images that were in this gallery show that I attended.

I'd like you to tell me which images, below, you think were done by the artist in the show. That's all. Maybe mine are so bad this will be a simple task, and everyone will guess correctly! Oh, the embarrassment!

What's the point here?

The point, is that you have talent, perhaps unused talent, too. If these images can hang in this prestigious gallery, sometimes two or three next to each other with no space in between the white, simple, frames, a nice look, then you can enlarge your images too (or go out and take some) and hang them in your kitchen and look at them as art (which they are! You don't need to spend bundles on what you perceive to be "real" art. Find the artist inside you, hang your work in your kitchen, be proud of it, and you will feel something special. It's fun and rewarding, and relatively low in cost. 8x10s at mpix are $1.99. The matting and framing can be artfully done as well.

Those who know me know that I am a big proponent of putting art in the kitchen. Whether it is photographs, artfully framed and arranged, or oil paintings purchased from an artist, or other art forms, makes no difference.  I love to see space for art in the kitchen, and this is one way to do it, with meaning, AND, low cost.

OK, so which ones are the artist's images? Put the mouse over each image and its name will pop up at the top left of the small thumbnails.

 

Let's see who's talking about what in the kitchen focused blogosphere...

K+BB Green's Jeff Holloway, CKD, who blogs on green kitchen and bath products, issues, and ideas, also looks at green focused kitchen and bath issues, but look beyond that post, and you will be enlightened in a green way.

Peggy Deras, CKD, from Kitchen-exchange, has a great post on a free service for lighting questions. Let me tell you, planning lighting for any room in your home SHOULD be given first rate attention. It's a small price to pay (in this case none) to get it right the first time and to "see" clearly what you need and want to see!

Ann Porter, CKD, of Kitchann Style has a very interesting post on opening up, or visually enlarging small kitchens. Now, the conventional wisdom says that one must pack in as much storage as is possible in a small kitchen. As Ann says, it's more about finding alternative storage solutions, with the benefit of a much more spacious look to an otherwise small feeling kitchen. I like this way of thinking!

Laurie Burke, from Kitchen Design Notes, talks about the maintenance of soapstone.  Soapstone is a quite misunderstood material. No need to be freaked out by scratches...with a little elbow grease, your countertop is brought back to life and lustre. Explore, there is more on soapstone in the blog.

And for pure style, one of my fave design blogs, Desire to Inspire always manages to sneak in some great kitchens in their posts, which are a joy to see, especially in the context of the whole house, apartment, or whatever the environment! Take a look and get, well, inspired...  

OK, here we go, I've been tagged by the fabulous (and I do mean fabulous) Linda from Surroundings.  Let me take a moment, comply, and totally excite you with details about me...

Four jobs I have had or currently have in my life:
1. demonstrator of cuisinarts
2. chef in a small Italian restaurant, including pizza maker
3. mom of 3
4. designer of cabinetry for kitchens, baths, built-ins, custom furniture

Four countries I have been to:
1. Denmark
2. Spain
3. Sweden
4. Norway

Four places I’d rather be right now:
1. Copenhagen
2. Martha's Vineyard
3. My apartment - Upper West Side, NYC
4. Bornholm, an island in Denmark

Four foods I like to eat:
1. Frikadeller (Danish meatballs)
2. mint chocolate chip ice cream
3. sushi
4. bread from Cassis restaurant

I'm tagging:

Old Friend, Peggy - Kitchen Exchange 

New Colleague, Ann - KitchAnn Style

New Blogging Friend - Patricia Gray

New Dad, Mark - Living Well in Westchester

 

Choosing your cabinetry is a huge decision. It's so permanent, isn't it? So many choices too! Since the cabinetry is often one of the largest parts of the kitchen remodeling budget, I'll be doing a series of informational posts on selecting your cabinetry. Today's post will be a simple explanation of custom cabinetry. Is it right for you? We'll see.

The phrase "custom cabinets," or "custom cabinetry" can be quite confusing. In fact, it means different things to different people! Do you want custom kitchen cabinets? Will they last longer? Will you pay much more? Is it worth the money? Here is some insight, and answers to common questions, to help make your decision making a little bit easier. These questions and more will be addressed in future posts. For now, let's begin at the beginning with a description of custom cabinetry and what makes it appealing to some.

What is this image?? It's an image of custom cabinetry integrating seamlessly with surrounding millwork.

What is custom cabinetry?

Custom cabinetry can be defined as cabinets which are made to order, first and foremost. Whether by an individual at a shop or a factory, the cabinetry is not pre made, taken off a shelf, and delivered. They are not manufactured until an order is placed. This is one definition.

How else is custom cabinetry defined? 

Custom cabinetry can also be defined as cabinetry which allows customizations, such as changes in cabinet sizes, wood species, and finish. True custom factories will also produce anything that can be built! The designer draws it, and the factory builds it, end of story.   

Why should I consider custom cabinetry? 

You should consider custom cabinetry if:

 

• in the course of the kitchen design process, you discover that you want specific, and customized, design solutions that may not be widely available in the less costly, more middle quality cabinet lines

• you want to make the most of every fraction of an inch, engineering your cabinetry to fit as opposed to working with standard sizes
  

• you'd like to create a cabinet finish that is yours alone, or you feel you need to tweak an existing standard finish sample to get the look you want

• you appreciate, desire to own, and can justify the extra expense of a high quality product, the construction and useful features of which will be enjoyable to use and experience every day

• you appreciate the more distinctive wood species and fiishes that come with custom cabinetry, you want something special and/or innovative
  

• you will remain in this home for the very long term and desire a product that has top quality construction and a top quality finish

 

From my experience as a professional kitchen designer, any or all of these points noted above, are the compelling reasons why my clients choose custom cabinetry. My job, as I see it, is to point out the differences among the cabinet lines that I represent, and let the appropriate product "speak to" my clients and then we go from there.

 
In future posts, I will cover middle quality cabinetry, also known as semi-custom, sellers of cabinetry, differences between types of cabientry, cost issues, and much more. Stay tuned! So much more to come.

 

I happened to see that a blog I frequent (A LOT), An Eye for an I:nterior featured this post of mine, an interesting kitchen design, and I immediately noticed the table and chairs that Jen was putting together, and I'd love to chat about it.

As you notice, the table is raw, rustic, natural, and the chairs are modern, smooth, and white. The thread that they have in common are simple lines.

But, the real interest is found in their differences. I really love this look, and I encourage my readers to go beyond their comfort zone and experiment! Pairing together "rustic" and "modern" makes them each POP, a wonderful study of contrasting style and theme.  Another nice contrast is the juxtaposition of straight lines and curved lines. Each element looks strong and important. It also brings to mind my cousin's kitchen in her summer house in Denmark in terms of the rustic/modern combination.

Just thought I'd take a quick opportunity to share this concept.

Thanks, Jen, for the inspiration! 

Yes, I succumbed, followed the crowd, became an iPhone fangirl, and all the rest, I admit it! But, oh, it's soooooooo sweet! Needing a new phone, I researched for a month before the iPhone's release, hardly even considering the iPhone in the equation, discarding it early on as a contender, as I was focused on Blackberrys, the Nokia N95 (with an incredible camera, but alas had some dealbreakers) and other smart phones. I was democratic in my comparisons. That said, I ultimately decided to purchase the iPhone, and it has already made my life and my work easier, and isn't that the test?

Here's why I bought the iPhone, but please note, in general, how important some of these features can be, whether one is a designer or a client. It's a tool!

The large screen

In the end, this was my number one reason for purchasing the iPhone, end of story. I am so done with small screens! The experience of using a large screen (important when having a smart phone) enhances the usefulness of the device by a huge margin in comparison to other devices. I mean, otherwise, what's the point? I want the biggest screen I can get, and this is it (at least from what I researched).

Images - Great for Designers' & Clients' Purposes

The iPhone is ALL about images. Let me clarify that. Kitchen Design is MUCH about images, therefore, how a device handles images, to me, is huge. The camera is 2 megapixels, better quality than most other camera phones (except the Blackberry Curve, also 2 mp), not as good as the N95, with an astonishing 5 mp camera. But, it's definitely good enough.

It's good enough for clients to take quick shots (again, with a large screen as a handy tool) in a showroom (ask permission first!), at a detail from a friend's house, at the granite yard, to remember whatever details you want to remember on the spot.  And, the image can be quickly and easily emailed to anyone, meaning your designer! I don't know how I lived without a camera in my previous smart phones before! A tip when using the camera: hold very still and make sure you have enough light. That's really all you need to know.

Besides the camera capabilities, I quickly loaded nearly 200 images into the iPhone from my computer, of kitchens, built ins, and custom furniture pieces, and it took up a negligible amount of space in the phone's storage capacity. I'll add many more. I've already shown details, and whole kitchens, easily seen on the large screen, to clients at meetings in their home. The iPhone turned sideways, makes the images even larger, if they are horizontal images. AND, to make it even more crazy, the images are organized into albums that I can quickly and eaisly select!  The images are viewable in a meaningful way.  It doesn't get much better than that.

Taking additional images at a client's home that I may have missed with my camera the first time around, taking pictures of images from a book or magazine that they are showing me, of an architect's floorplan before I get my copy of it, is invaluable.  For so many purposes, a quick snapshot tells a story far better than words can.

Appointments

This really makes me happy. There are TWO alerts you can set. I set one alert the day before, the second alert two hours before the appointment. I'm covered! 

Internet

While not super fast, to be able to enlarge text and images, and situate a page sideways, is far more valuable than any other device out there for that reason alone.  

Google Maps

If you don't have gps in your car and you need to get to my design studio, again, you're covered. Google maps has already saved me from being late to an appointment after a detour in the road changed my route.

Email

I have 4 email accounts loaded, and the large text and fast scrolling is delightful to use, mostly, due to the large screen. A vast improvement over my previous pda.

Conclusion

These are just a few of the features that I'm enjoying using. Sure, it's not perfect. There is not one phone that is, that I've found. But, for my profession, where images are so important, it's so much and more! It's an elegant device, and it definitely exceeded my expectations. The images shown are from my design studio and have been (very) quickly enhanced to show the possibilities, as I never NOT tweak an image straight from the camera. All right, they're just ok, but it gets the job (an important job) done.

Oh, please take a look at this absolutely over the top, hysterical video on the iPhone from the New York Times technology critic, the adorable David Pogue. 

I've added a new category, "Kitchen Design Details". Sometimes, I'll come across a useful piece of information, or am reminded by a detail from an image that I feel might be important to pass on, so I thought I'd create this new category.

It's funny how this happens. Today, I saw an image in the hot, new, building and design site, PointClickHome. I immediately honed in on the built in banquette. First, let me say, this is a beautiful image, isn't it? It is a lovely representation of a rectiliniar design.

What I want to highlight in this image is the height of the banquette, nothing else. When planning a banquette, consider the following:

• What is your table height?
• Will you want a cushion on the top of the banquette?
• How comfortable will you want the banquette to be? 
• If you want super comfort, then think in terms of THICK cushions, sofa-like, as much as 4-5" thick, and watch the firmess of the cushions as the cushions dimension will then compress easily or not, changing your seat height.
  
• When planning for thick, comfy, cushions, your banquette may be as low as 14-15" high, which LOOKS very low, but have no fear, this is an acceptable height to plan for, if, for example, your cushions are a medium firmness.
  
• If you do not want a cushion, your banquette height may be 17-18" - measure a chair and compare that height to your table height to determine a comfortable height
  
• Try to experiment in advance with a variety of seat cushions you have on hand from existing furniture, to guage your comfort needs/desires. And, yes, take that sofa cushion off as well and try it out!
  
• Visualize if you will want to linger at the table or even stretch out with a book, or if the purpose is for quick, efficient, meals only. This will also help you focus in on the comfort factor you want designed into your banquette.
  

Me, I don't think this particular cushion would serve my purposes for comfort, being so thin, but that's just me. Know what you want to feel when you sit down at the table!