Kitchen Nuggets

I pondered the thought of what to blog about on my way to and from Michigan. Lest me remind you it was a 15 + hour travel time in the car with my Dad and two-year-old son. They both did remarkably well. My son, who has never been in the car that long and my dad, who hasn't had that much alone time with me in about 16 years. We are all survivors.

So, I bought a small business magazine that included an interesting article about blogging. Before my SAHM days, I designed Kitchens and Bathrooms. I'm not going to discuss why I'm no longer designing, however, my love for design still exists. I will now add Kitchen Nuggets and I'll try to do it weekly. The kitchen is the heart of the home and always will be. It is the room that sells the house. It is the room where people will gather. It is the room that makes the meal. 

This kitchen from Cottage Living has great working design. The working area of the kitchen: cooktop, fridge, double ovens, and sink are separated by the island. This means that kitchen visitors won't be in your way while you are still preparing the evening's meal. The designer also makes great use of the back of the working island by adding display. I love love love the drawers on base cabinets. Once you have all drawers on your base cabinets it is hard to not have that convenience in your new kitchen.

Although the space is efficiently spaced, there are some things that I would have done differently. Look at the beautiful glass tile. Love me some glass tile and this tile coordinates nicely with the wall paint and the cabinetry, which is a juxtaposition of pastel and earth tones. However, I'm not quite sure why it doesn't go all the way over to the corner. I think they were trying to line it up with the corner of the base cabinets. I know the tile is pricey, but finish the run. Once my eyes fixated on the tile abnormality, I realized that the cabinet doesn't extend to the corner either. Most people want ample storage, so I'm a bit confused by this one area of the kitchen.

I would also urge the designer to switch the positions of the refrigerator and the double ovens for a couple of reasons. I'm not a triangle designer. I design in zones: cooking zone, cleaning zone, and food storage zone. Moving the fridge keeps people out of your working areas and makes it more accessible to those who should remain out of the working areas makes sense to me. Having the double ovens closer to the range keeps the cooking zone closer. Most kitchens would have a pantry of some sort, so moving the fridge may also position the food storage together.

I really like the full overlay Shaker door style of the cabinets. The Shaker door is not overly ornate and has clean lines, so it is a good choice for a cottage styled kitchen and can fit in a modern kitchen also.

It may be the way it is photographed, but the stain looks really bad. If you are considering a less expensive wood like maple or birch, sometimes the darker stains do not stain evenly. You can really see it on the working island where the electrical outlet is. More than likely, this is a poorly stained wood veneer. Cherry would have been a better choice, but more expensive and looking at the tile, well...