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What's New:
The new 42-inch French Door fully flush refrigerator from Jenn-Air belongs to the recently introduced collection of high performance built-in refrigerators that marries seamless design with thoughtful functionality. Other flush refrigerator models include 36-inch bottom-freezer and popular 42- and 48-inch side-by-side door refrigerators. The new JF42NXFXDW is the industry-first 42-inch French door bottom-freezer refrigerator offering the widest interior space available in any fully flush refrigerator currently on the market and bringing the clean, seamless and refined look to your kitchen. One of the important design features is the hidden articulated hinges that allow for minimal gaps, no larger than that of surrounding cabinetry, making the refrigerator virtually disappear in its environment. The completely integrated look of the Jenn-Air refrigerator is all about aesthetics, yet functionality and performance are not sacrificed but further enhanced. Thus, the thinner exterior door provides a flush fit with custom cabinetry for a seamless exterior, while the interior offers even greater usable cubic space than similar flush refrigerators and a faster temperature recovery time after the doors are opened. High performance vacuum insulation panels help maintain energy and keep food fresher, longer. The articulated hinge is equipped with [...]
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DCS by Fisher & Paykel has once again scaled new heights of design and innovation with the announcement of its new DishDrawer Tall. Think of it as where DCS design meets Fisher & Paykel innovation. The company has reinvented its revolutionary DishDrawer, the world first dishwasher in a drawer, with the introduction of the DCS DishDrawer Tall featuring a more spacious design and new sleek modern styling that loses none of brand compact charm. Continuing to innovate and improve on its uniquely designed industry leading appliances has never been a tall order for Fisher & Paykel Appliances.
DishDrawer dishwasher is a signature product line for the company with its distinctive ergonomic design that doesn’t take up a lot space and cost-saving and environmental features that minimizes water, energy and detergent usage. Since launching the DishDrawer in 1997 after years of testing and research, Fisher & Paykel has continued to redefine the dishwasher of the future and to date has sold more than a million DishDrawers.
DishDrawer Tall has been designed specifically for the North American market and will be manufactured in the company new facility located in Reynosa, Mexico. DCS expects to release its DishDrawer [...]
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The latest Miele convection warming drawers are the 60cm wide ESW 4082 and the 70cm wide ESW 4722. Both drawers are excellent choice for keeping food warm for hours, at the perfect temperature and moisture levels until you are ready to serve. Miele incorporated a small convection fan which allows faster food warming when compared to many competing drawers, reaching a 160°F temperature in under 10 minutes instead of typical 30 minutes. Both models are full extension drawers, giving you complete access for the smallest items in the rear of the drawer and are durable enough to carry over 30 lbs of food. And their unique, open-sided design permits easy access to the warming area without contact with potentially hot metal areas.
Miele also equipped the warming drawers with the 4-hour timer that activates the heating elements and circulation fan. To warm food, turn the timer to your desired appropriate time setting – from 1 to 4 hours or you can select Continuous setting which keeps food warm until the warming drawer is turned off – an ideal way for Sabbath observing consumers.
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The stunning De Dietrich DKP837B looks impressive and is cleverly designed. This 60cm wide black refrigerator with bottom freezer offers 315 litre capacity and weighs just 74kg, so you can move it around your kitchen with ease while considering where exactly its sleek black mirror finish gives the best light and shadow play. Or put it in your living room. We seriously think that the only problem you ever have with this ‘A+’ rated bottom freezer refrigerator is how to fit it in your existing decor. You may be forced to get the whole new appliance set, in black that is. The freestanding refrigerator has anti-bacterial interior and brings No Frost technology to avoid the build up of ice inside. Its refrigerator section offers 249 litre net volume, open-door alarm, multilevel neon lighting system, 4 glass shelves, 4 door bins, a door shelf and auto defrost. The 66 litre, 4-star freezer bottom freezer maintains freezing temperature for up to 13 hours in case of power failure. It comes with temperature alarm, SuperFreeze function, 3 drawers and ice tray. And this black refrigerator also has LCD touch control screen, reversible door and is extremely [...]
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The CVA 2662 is the latest Miele coffee maker for the U.S. market. Finished in scratch resistant, anti fingerprint stainless steel with concealed handle, this coffee machine offers sleek built-in design and perfectly blends with Miele built-in ovens, steamers and drawers. It uses Nespresso capsule coffee system with 20 individual capsules sitting in 5 individual chambers of the removable capsule carousel. As the result, you can enjoy all 5 different blends with the push of a button. And large used capsule container can hold up to 25 capsules.
The Miele navitronic control panel of is state-of-the-art yet simple to use, menu driven interface which engages the coffee maker via touch screen controls, enabling you to adjust settings to your liking and brew your favorite blend of coffee. Machine can take 4 custom profiles in order to accommodate different preferences and serving sizes of family members. 4 programmable cup sizes include espresso, double espresso, coffee and double coffee.
For cappuccino lovers, Miele designed a unique cappuccinatore jug for frothing milk, which can either deliver froth straight into [...]
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Someone sent me an email and asked if I thought there was a design flaw in a section of her cabinet design. I had to write back that, yes, I agreed with her that part of the design was flawed. Unfortunately, it was a finished picture of the kitchen that they had sent me, which made it even more uncomfortable for me to give my opinion. The kitchen was installed, and it looked like it cost a pretty penny. Here are words of wisdom:
“Lesson Learned
I learned a big lesson the hard way and wish I had gone with my instinct to hire a kitchen designer during my kitchen design process.
My contractor convinced me that it would make more sense for him to design the kitchen layout because he was also working on the electrical, plumbing etc. so there would be a cost savings to me if he designed it and worked with his preferred cabinet company.
We decided to go ahead and in the end I thought the kitchen looked great until I noticed some design elements that look flawed to me.
I believe that a good kitchen designer would have done a much [...]
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I follow so many great people on Twitter, but cannot stay on Twitter constantly, so I’m sure I miss many great tweets. Oftentimes, I’ll catch tweets that really relate to something I’m thinking about or bring me great new information, as I’m quickly scanning, and I’m delighted. This morning is one such occasion. I happened to catch House Beautiful’s tweet, in part, on a case made for refrigerator drawers in a small kitchen.
 This REALLY spoke to me because I have thought about this issue a LOT. The issue is if one should substitute refrigerator drawers in place of a traditional tall refrigerator in a small kitchen.
This is a personal issue for me as well as being a basic kitchen design issue that I am interested in.
We own our own little piece of New York City. At the moment, our apartment is used full time, as our son, attending college, is living here for perhaps one more year. He and his girlfriend cook up a storm most nights a week. The tall, old, 33″ refrigerator is packed.
As my husband and I talk about the future, we’d love to be in this apartment on a part time [...]
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Now I know why someone associated with House Beautiful yesterday said to me “We love bloggers!” This post will have taken me about 6 hours to produce by the time I’m finished. Why? It’s the images! I’m not even going to tell you how how many I took…but maybe I’m the worst editor, or maybe there are just WAY too many inspiring vignettes in this beauitful kitchen/living space. In either case, maybe I was a little obsessive. That’s ok, I surrender to it and you benefit.
Ok, let’s talk about the kitchen. There’s A LOT going on in this kitchen, a lot to talk about. I think I’ll be organized about it. Yes, Susan, that’s a good concept.
OVERALL DESIGN
The kitchen design, by Robert Stilin in close collaboration with Ina Garten, was meant to replicate Ina’s East Hampton kitchen for House Beautiful’s Kitchen Of The Year 2009. The kitchen of the year can be viewed at Rockefeller Center (you can’t miss it) until July 24.
 You’re hearing it more and more…the kitchen is the new living room. The drum beat is getting louder. I think we were shocked by the financial crisis into rediscovering the [...]
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A fridge is one of the most important appliances in your home, influencing your eating habits and ensuring food hygiene and taste.
Refrigerators are available with different door configurations, with either the doors side-by-side, or with one door on top of the other, or as drawers.
In a top/bottom unit the freezer can be on either the top or the bottom. In a side-by-side configuration the freezer is on one side.
Some are available as built-ins, which can be disguised to look like just another cabinet. Others are the same depth as the countertop to mimic the built-in look.
Prices start at around $300 and can go up to $7000 or more for commercial or built-ins.
Top/Bottom Layout
Capacity (about 25 cubic feet) is not as much as a side-by-side
With the freezer on top you may find yourself bending down a lot to get to items on the lower refrigerator shelves.
A bottom freezer style is becoming more popular as the most accessed area (the fridge at the top) is also the most accessible.
Side-by-Side Layout
Capacity is more than a top/bottom, about 30 cubic feet.
These have narrower double doors, which is important if opening [...]
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Your budget will normally dictate your choice of products but there are other considerations you need to take into account when working out how much your new kitchen is going to cost.
Prices vary quite a lot, so the figures given below are just a guideline and, as always, shopping around is the best bet.
But work out roughly how much money you want to spend and use this figure when talking to designers and contractors.
Below are some guidelines for establishing a realistic budget.
Budget Guidelines
First of all, if you limit your spending to 15% of your home’s value you should recoup 90% of the costs when you sell. Try to keep your investment relative to your homes worth, but at the same time make it worth your while by spending on the items that you really want.
Second, figure your product costs to be 1/2 to 2/3 of the total remodel. Choose your appliances, cabinets, countertops, flooring and all other fixtures first. The remaining money will go towards installation and design.
Third, if you become overwhelmed with selection choices hire a design consultant to help you. A designer can save you money in the long run by helping to prevent [...]
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The next step in planning your new kitchen is to plan enough storage to suit your needs.
As already explained in Kitchen Shapes, different shapes of kitchens automatically provide different amounts of storage space.
Although most of us think of plain cabinets when we think of storage, there are a lot more options these days.
In this section you will find solutions to various storage problems and useful tips to make the most of even the smallest of spaces. Cabinets will be discussed in the ‘Cabinets’ section.
Below The Countertop
It is obvious that the bigger the countertop, the more you can store below it. After you have planned the position of your sink, fridge and cooktop/oven, the rest of the space below the countertop is yours to play with, because plain cabinets are not the only option.
Storage below the countertop is especially convenient for heavy items such as electrical equipment and heavy pots, pans and oven dishes. Think about how many of those items you have and how much storage space you have to give to those items. Remember to leave enough room for expansion as in the future you will buy more utensils and the items you already have [...]
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