Hinges you cannot see, know as “concealed hinges, or European hinges” don’t just give cabinet faces a smooth, uninterrupted look. They offer a surprising range in adjustability. Occasionally, the “travel” range of a cabinet door needs to be limited so it will not cause damage to adjacent walls or cabinets. In this case, a “low-angle” hinge which opens 90-100 degrees will be best. Normally, the standard angle hinge of 105-120 degrees will be chosen. However, when a wide opening is needed, a “wide-angle” hinge beyond 120 degrees is the one to use. And if you are choosing a cabinet with rollout shelves, you will need a hinge that opens to 170 degrees to open without interference. So here are all the angles: a closed cabinet door is zero degrees, and when opened, they will range anywhere from 90-170 degrees, depending on the need.
If you are attracted to the restful, meditative soak, consider outfitting your new or renovated bathroom with a soaking tub. These deep tubs are reflective of Japanese culture and are often equipped with a seat. While some are actually large enough to accommodate entire families, most are single-person tubs that are perfect for smaller bathrooms. The emphasis is on sculptured beauty and they are available in materials that range from coopered-wood slats, stone, composites and metals. Those made of fiberglass are sometimes designed to be installed over existing shower drains, which helps in reducing the cost and complexity of installing a new floor drain. If space is limited in a small bathroom, consider shoehorning a corner tub into an unused corner.
What would be more desirable than including a luxury item in your bathroom remodel that also has a great practical purpose? We are talking about towel warmers that double as a heat sources like a radiator does. Who won’t love reaching for a clean warm towel when their shower is done! In the meantime, it has been keeping the bathroom toasty warm too. The heated towel warmers are available in either hot-water models that are plumbed in place, or electric models that are easily wired into place. These towel warmers are often artfully designed, adding an element of beauty too. These “multi-functional” accessories look and perform at a level that far exceeds their cost. The towel warmers are even available in programmable models, if you want to make sure your early morning shower is a “warm” experience!
Do you consider yourself to be a serious cook? Let’s compare your wish list to what the professionals demand in their kitchens. To begin with, the “work triangles” need to be tight and out of the way of the general foot traffic. This means the sink, range and refrigerator should be close to each other, keeping everything within easy reach. Secondly, there should be enough space carved out for “prep”, where ingredients are assembled, prepared and plated. Then the storage issue is best solved by designing in a “butler’s pantry” if enough space is available. In modern homes, butler’s pantries are usually located in transitional spaces between kitchens and dining rooms, and used as staging areas for serving meals. They commonly contain countertops, and storage for tableware, serving pieces, table linens, candles, wine, and other dining-room articles.
And finally, a clean-up area with a secondary sink and countertop and even an extra dishwasher gives the kitchen the ultimate in efficiency!
Enthusiastic wine lovers will find that refrigerated wine cabinets incorporated into the design of their kitchens will provide all the benefits of a wine cellar at a fraction of the cost and space. Ideally, a unit will have an accurate temperature setting, an anti-UV glass front, and a humidity control –so it will meet the demands of the most discriminating wine drinkers. A true connoisseur will insist on not one but two temperature zones, which is ideal for storing both red and white wines. The refrigerated, under counter wine cabinets are compact, convenient, and generally have enough space for storing about forty bottles. Wider racks may be needed to store larger Champagne bottles! For kitchens with open floor plans, models with noise ratings below 40 dB are best.
HINT: Modestly sized refrigerated wine cabinets are well-suited even in the kitchens of casual drinkers and provide a nice visual feature.
A warming drawer is a kitchen appliance that you never realized was so handy until you used one. After all, how did you keep main dishes warm while you cooked the side dishes before you had a warming drawer? These drawers really expand cooking/baking capacity and they eliminate the need to cook multiple dishes in one oven. When that happens, the flavor of one dish can carry over to another. In the summertime, a warming drawer will do the job without heating up the kitchen. And a child with a late practice or a working parent that finally makes it home will always find a perfectly warmed meal waiting. Of course at Thanksgiving, the drawers will be a life saver!
HINT: Warming drawers located in the kitchen island provide good space utilization away from the main kitchen work triangle.
White kitchen cabinetry has a timeless and classical appeal, but it is important to add some personal touches to white high-gloss cabinetry that will keep it from looking too clinical. If you have adequate space to outfit the kitchen entirely with base cabinets, you can use windows and decorative pieces to break up an otherwise full wall of white cabinets. Or if there is an island in an all-white kitchen, it can be designed with a different colors or textures that draws the eye to this central focal point. It also helps to install soft ambient lighting with brighter, focused task lighting over work surfaces. Finally, white cabinets can be offset with interesting backsplash materials, colors and designs. Remember to accentuate the backsplash with under-cabinet lights and even table lamps.
HINT: Kitchens with white cabinetry can be warmed with wood floors.
First, it was the dishwasher that seemed to disappear into the rest of the kitchen’s base cabinets, with panels that matched the rest of the cabinet doors. Then, the refrigerator was transformed from a hulking white monolith into something more of a counter-depth, full-length cabinet. Now, warming drawers and drawer refrigerators are getting the same treatment, along with compact auxiliary dishwashers placed in the prep area. Neatly tucked away in kitchen islands or at the end of long runs of base cabinets, these “hidden appliances” improve the functionality of small kitchens and make them look larger by providing uninterrupted lengths of homogeneous cabinetry. Along with simpler styling, hidden appliances help “open” kitchens blend with the rest of the home’s décor.
HINT: Under-counter freezer drawers are fast gaining in popularity for accessing smaller, frequently needed items.
As far as kitchen islands are concerned, bigger is not always better. In fact, while an island countertop that is 26-48 inches deep and 36-120 inches wide provides ample work space and sufficient room for overhang seating, an island with deeper dimensions will be more difficult to use and harder to clean. When planning their kitchens with the help of a kitchen designer, homeowners may want to think outside the box, as well. The fact is that not every kitchen island must assume a boxy rectangular shape. There are also L-shaped, wing-shaped, and semi-circular kitchen islands. Many of these unusual designs stem from limitations imposed by the size and/or shape of the kitchen footprint that inspire custom solutions.
HINT: A multi-tiered kitchen island that utilizes more than one countertop material projects less visual heft than a boxy design.
