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.
One kitchen project currently gaining widespread popularity among aging baby boomers and multi-generational households is the concept of the “morning kitchen.” These customized living areas are often incorporated into master suites as a means of helping aging family members avoid stair-climbing and/or long trips to the kitchen. Often a feature of in-law apartments, morning kitchens vary in size and amenities on the basis of homeowner preference, budget, and access to electrical and plumbing lines. The smallest of such spaces may contain no more than a mini-refrigerator and limited storage cabinetry, while larger morning kitchens may have all the features of a small standard kitchen. Whatever the size, morning kitchens provide convenience and a certain degree of luxury.
HINT: A morning kitchen in an open area should reflect the design elements of the surrounding architecture.
The vessel sinks that grace today’s updated bathrooms may have a link with the nightstand washbasins that predate indoor plumbing, but there’s nothing at all dated about these beautiful bathroom fixtures. Vessel sinks made of porcelain, stone, copper, marble, travertine, glass, and even wood sitting regally atop bathroom counters look more like pieces of sculpted art than sinks. With the addition of any of a number of eye-catching faucets, a vessel sink may appear to be more a “water feature” than a practical plumbing fixture. It also helps to know that the traditional “rule” that says that all bathroom fixtures should match does not apply to vessel sinks. Vessel sinks stand apart in their ability to create an eclectic mix.
HINT: Vessel sinks are the perfect choice as a powder room fixture that helps set the tone for the rest of the home.
It’s not only the number of linear feet of kitchen cabinetry that’s important, it’s also important where it’s located. Thus, while 48 to 72 inches of wall cabinets may go toward glass, plate, and bowl storage above the kitchen sink and dishwasher, an equal number of inches of storage is also needed for cooking dishes and supplies near the oven. Similarly, there should be at least 48 to 72 inches of base cabinets for pots and pans near the cooktop. Designers are also careful to take into account that trash and recyclables each require a minimum of a 30-quart container, located inside a base cabinet on the side of the sink, opposite the dishwasher. Storage must be adequate and accessible.
HINT: If the space available for storage is limited, optimize what is available with the selection of features that increase storage efficiency.
Dishwashers are becoming more efficient, with a new Energy Star standard (as of July 2011) of five gallons per dishwasher cycle. This efficiency figure is for normal cycles. Heavy-duty wash cycles can use significantly more water and energy. The most technologically advanced dishwashers use “clean-sensing” technology to improve efficiency and performance. This involves using an allotted amount of water during each segment of a wash cycle, after which collected water in the sump at the bottom of the washer is analyzed using a light beam to measure turbidity (the amount of particles in the water). Using this information, the dishwasher adjusts the length of the wash segment.
HINT: A dishwasher typically accounts for 1.4 percent of a home’s indoor water use, while toilets represent 27 percent and washing machines use 22 percent.
There are times when all it takes to make a kitchen renovation work are a few extra feet of floor space. If so, the most economical way to add a few feet to a home’s footprint involves the construction of a self-supporting addition known as a “bump out.” Such structures usually extend a room by four feet or less (without significant ground contact). Foundation-free additions of this type may be cantilevered, in which case the kitchen floor joists must be “sistered” (doubled up) with additional joists. Otherwise, a bump out may be supported by brackets that are notched into place and held secure with carriage bolts at a 45-degree angle. Every situation has its own set of circumstances.
HINT: A bump-out addition may be used to circumvent setback restrictions, which would otherwise require a variance.
