Kitchen Cabinet Guide » kitchens

Tile Trends – A Brief History Of The Kitchen Backsplash

The Kitchen Designer — Wed, 14 Mar 2012 14:50:28 +0000

Everywhere I look, I see small rectangular tile used on backsplashes and upper walls in the kitchen. It’s getting a little bit worrisome to me. It’s worrisome because, having been a kitchen designer since the very late 80s, I have perspective. Perspective helps my clients, and I hope it helps you too.

It started (my professional association with tile) with 4×4 ceramic glazed tiles and pretty fruit and vegetable or flower designs, often seen with corner motifs, sort of that Country Floors look. Definitely gorgeous. Funny, I’m seeing it more and more frequently again and it’s still every bit as beautiful. Like Terracotta flooring, it was very popular, then went away. Now it is returning, at least on the periphery, to fashion again.

Then came 4×4 tumbled marble tile or matte, earthy, or light shades with fancy border tile. Tile was laid on the diagonal as a lower border against the countertop with a thin border tile above with square 4x4s above that (not on the diagonal), all over the backsplash on the diagonal with a square border at the countertop level, or maybe just in the cooktop area.

Later, probably near [...]

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Contemporary gas cooktops by Elleci

The Kitchen Designer — Sun, 23 Oct 2011 17:47:50 +0000

Cromo

The stylish contemporary gas cooktops from Elleci are available in 70cm and 60cm widths, and are ideally suited for today contemporary kitchens. Featuring integrated gas auto shut off and under knob electronic ignition systems, the cookops can be matched with modern built-in ovens and are safe and easy to use. The 70cm gas cooktop has 5 burners including a powerful central triple-crown burner, cast iron supports and black matt ring colours. The 60cm wide contemporary gas cooktops come with 4 burners including front-left triple crown, lamellar supports and black matt ring colours. The 60cm gas cooktops are offered in 5 contemporary finishes – Black, Jada, Cromo, Titanium and White, while 70cm cooktop also comes in White and Black finish. Elleci.

Jada

Black and White

Black

Titanium

White

Black glass E series Wolf ovens

The Kitchen Designer — Mon, 26 Sep 2011 18:47:37 +0000

These beautiful black glass E series Wolf ovens will be available in both single and double configurations in the first quarter of 2012. The key idea behind the new design is to provide another decorative option for the modern kitchens, while maintaining every function of Wolf existing E series ovens.

Equipped with balanced door hinges for smooth door opening and closing, Wolf E series built-in ovens offer dual convection fans and 10 cooking modes including bake, roast, broil, convection bake, convection roast, convection broil, convection, bake stone, dehydrate and proof. Other main features of these self-clean ovens include dual convection logic control system, touch control panel with LCD display, 3 adjustable oven racks, a full-extension easy glide and full-extension door glide, double-pane window, dual interior halogen lighting, hidden bake element and recessed broil, temperature probe and receptacle, delayed start and Sabbath mode. Wolf.

Decorate – A Book by Holly Becker of Decor8 Blog

The Kitchen Designer — Sun, 18 Sep 2011 06:26:27 +0000

BUY THE BOOKBUY THE BOOK!Decorate, a new book by Holly Becker of the iconic blog, Decor8, is an ambitious book (that’s the word that comes to mind). There is an enormous number of images for maximum visual delight, clearly and well written text as well as the ability to quickly drill down to the essence of each chapter and core message via quotes, lists, tips, shaded content boxes and other visual aids.

I love this kind of reference material. Give me the option to read or to look quickly for information. To me, this is a useful format, or mix of formats.

I am privileged to have been quoted in the kitchen section of this book in numerous places. It is an honor to me that Holly Becker sought out my insight on the topic of kitchen design. That said, while Holly Becker is a respected and treasured blogging buddy/colleague/friend since early 2007, I have declined to review books by other design industry peers, some of whom had been colleagues of mine (past tense-unfortunately, declining to review a book costs relationships) for many years. It’s lovely [...]

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Chef’n VeggiChop Hand-Powered Food Chopper

The Kitchen Designer — Thu, 15 Sep 2011 10:32:15 +0000

The Chef’n VeggiChop Hand-Powered Food Chopper is a no electricity required product, and great for small kitchens, RVs, travel and camping. It’s also perfect for nuts, veggies, pesto, hummus, salsa, guacamole and more and includes a convenient storage lid that you can use to keep the guacamole fresh for later. The blades, bowl and storage lid are top-rack dishwasher safe, and store away together in one neat bundle.

Le Tour de France – French Country Kitchens

The Kitchen Designer — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 18:59:08 +0000

I’m engrossed in le Tour de France, the fabulous cycling event which takes place across France each July for 3 weeks, ending in Paris on the last day. I watch it every day it’s on (truthfully, morning and night) and am emotionally transported to the beautiful small villages, the stunning landscape, fields of sunflowers, majestic mountains, and amazing 11th century chateaux…and, the fierce cycling competition too! There are few sights as beautiful as the peleton racing across the French landscape.

Image by Graham Watson

So, what if one were to visit le Tour and rent a Chateau as many do? It’s on my list to do one year. Take a look at some of these wonderful, authentic, French country kitchens found in homes and chateaux scattered across the Loire Valley, in today’s Stage 8. These are beautiful homes to rent (but I’d also like to rent a chef to cook French cuisine, right?) Images from Luxury Retreats.

Below, a classic French style – the hood blends into the architecture in a seamless way, the cabinetry is traditional with mustard color on the island as well and is sort of built into a sort of [...]

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Martha Stewart’s Morning Living Program – 10 Tips To A Great Kitchen Design

The Kitchen Designer — Tue, 24 May 2011 23:40:38 +0000

Well, we covered a lot of territory in the chat on kitchens with Brian Kelsey (Kelsey On The House) host of Martha Stewart’s Morning Living radio show on SiriusXM in which I was the guest. I know, since Brian is a lover of all things “home improvement” we could have kept the conversation going for a long time!

Here is a wrap up of ten tips for a great kitchen design:

1. How long will you be in your home? The answer to this question will guide you toward budget, style and issues of function. If you will be in your home less than 5 years – think in terms of resale and be conservative in your selections. Longer than 5 years, put more of “yourself” into the kitchen design to create a kitchen that works for you.

2. Speaking of personal design, that is surely where we are headed in recent years. Do the hard work up front to determine what is a habit and what is something you really desire in the kitchen. For example – do you want the dishwasher on the adjacent wall of kitchen because you are used to it [...]

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Introducing Kelly to "The Kitchen Designer" Friends

The Kitchen Designer — Fri, 22 Apr 2011 08:14:42 +0000

Hello! For my first official post, I wanted to take a minute to introduce myself to you lovely readers. I’m Kelly Donovan and excited to be joining my mother, Susan, around the proverbial kitchen table to dish about all things related to our favorite room in the home. A bit about me personally… Having a mother who is a long time accomplished kitchen designer, and a father in the construction trade, I’ve grown up surrounded by all types of home renovation, specifically of the kitchen kind. I’ve worked with (ok, for) my mom on and off since I was a teenager – looking to supplement my babysitting income with a little extra to buy that awesome jean jacket that all my friends had – and now as an adult, feeling privileged to join the family business in a bigger way and follow a true innate passion. Living in Manhattan for the past 8 years, it’s been admittedly difficult to fulfill my passion for beautiful and functional kitchens while having my own space to cook in that was barely bigger than a shoe box. I’ve made do, however, and never let the lack of a four-burner [...]

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A Dishwasher for Your Outdoor Kitchen

The Kitchen Designer — Fri, 01 Apr 2011 01:32:03 +0000

Remember when you had your last cookout and afterwards you and all of your guests carried the plates, pots and pans indoors to be put in the dishwasher? Those days are now a thing of the past. Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet has produced the first outdoor dishwasher specifically designed to work outside and withstand the harshness of the elements.

“The introduction of the outdoor dishwasher has created the only truly complete outdoor kitchen equipment line, giving homeowners independence from their indoor kitchens.” said Pantelis A. “Pete” Georgiadis, president of Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet.

The new dishwasher features a unique wash system designed to clean dishes that have been sitting outdoors or pots and pans that have been over the heat of a grill fire. The outdoor dishwasher was designed with an extra large tub to accommodate the special demands that come from cooking and serving meals outdoors. Its adjustable-height dual rack system offers maximum flexibility. Able to be moved up and down to handle some of the biggest pots and serving platters, it features a maximum clearance space of 15 ¼” inches between each rack.

The outdoor dishwasher features technology that doesn’t waste water. It uses as little as 3.8 gallons in [...]

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The 10 Best Compact Modular Kitchens – Free Standing Kitchens

The Kitchen Designer — Tue, 15 Mar 2011 08:44:07 +0000

Compact and modular free standing kitchens (and some not so free standing) are what we believe the modern kitchen should be. Sure it’s nice to have a king size bed in your kitchen, but for most of us we don’t have the space. Shown above the the Mappdaniel compact modular kitchen is a creation of ProductDesignForums for the present-day homes, where space is a major consideration. Hometone has a great list and pictures of 10 more modular kitchens which include below.

Compact Kitchen Unit For Modern Homes Circular revolving kitchen Inoxpiu compact kitchen Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet COMPACT XL kitchen Dime Kitchen Toyo-Japan’s Yin and Yang Compact Kitchen Minimalist modular kitchen by Boxetti O Kitchen

At Hometone