Kitchen ideas: what’s hot and what’s not
By Jim Lawrence
Kitchens, they are the most important room in the house.
Over 100 years ago they were quite small and for the more wealthy people they were just a back room for hired help or servants. Today, kitchens are truly the heart and soul of the home, a place where friends an family gather to socialize and where the host can entertain. Kitchens have changed so much even in the last 25 years. Gone are the days when the cook was banished to the kitchen to get the meals ready. Now the cook, or increasing more common cooks, are all integrated into a kitchen where all can gather around together.
If you are thinking of building new, doing a complete kitchen renovation or maybe just improving your kitchen just a few upgrades, check out the four top ideas that make a kitchen “HOT”.
No. 1 NOT — Closed in or separate kitchens
HOT — Larger open layout kitchens. How do you make a room much bigger without the expense of adding on? Simple, take two rooms and make them into one. In small homes, the kitchen and dining rooms are typically separate. Remove the wall between them and now you have one huge room. Take that one step further and make the dining room open to the living room as well and now you have three rooms as one. Not only is the final result much larger, it is also much brighter, because the new open concept room now has all of the windows that were formally for each room.
No. 2 NOT — Dark kitchens
HOT — Lots of light, particularly lots of natural light. An easy way to get more natural light is to bring the kitchen window right down to the kitchen counter. If using a Granite, Corian or an Avondale Seamless Counter, you can actually have the counter running right into the window frame. A fantastic look for small cost.
On the subject of interior lighting, for so many years kitchens had one light in the center of the room, so no matter where you worked you are standing in your light. For ceiling lights, pot lights and lots of them are the norm in the kitchen today. They are positioned so when you are working on your counter the light is shining down on the counter just in front of you. Over islands hanging pendants typically add a lot of quality design, and they help spread the light over a large area.
No. 3 NOT — Basic counter tops
HOT — Interesting shaped counters that are seamless. Seamless counters and interesting shapes are very easy with the Granite, Quartz and Corion counters. If these $4000 to $7000 counters are out of your budget, check out one of the latest and little know specials in the seamless counter market. The “Avondale Seamless Counters TM” is a combination of Formica & Corian, giving you the look and quality of Granite at Formica prices. For more info you can check it out on www.AvondaleKitchens.com.
No. 4 NOT — Above mounted sinks.
HOT — Under mounted sinks. An under mounted sink does not only make for easy cleaning and maintenance, but is a true sign of kitchen quality. Again this is normally achieved by purchasing the Granites and Corian counters. The good news is that you do not need to spend large amount to achieve the look. The under mounted sink is a standard option with the “Avondale Seamless Sinks and Counters”. For an affordable way to do this check with www.AvondaleKitchens.com
This article was written by Jim Lawrence of Avondale Kitchens. Their firm designs, manufactures and installs three kitchens per week. For your project contact them directly at www.AvondaleKitchens.com 800-561-4112 or book them through your favorite decorator or contractor.
