For years, the kitchen was neglected in New York City, and regarded as that room that nobody goes into. More and more people, however, have finally realized that the kitchen is one of the most important rooms in the house - not just to cook, but to feel at home in. Families converge in kitchens, and there's nothing that smells like home more than something great cooking in the oven or on a state-of-the-art stove top.
Here are some of the hottest kitchen trends in interior design and renovation that suit city life, and bring home and hearth for those who eat, as well as for those who cook.
Go with the Flow:
And make your kitchen an integral part of your living area with open spaces. An open kitchen allows everyone to hang out while the pasta sauce is simmering on your stove, while you pay your bills, or while the kids have their after school snack in the kitchen table. When you look out from your kitchen, isn't it nice to see your living area, a glimpse of the dining room, and maybe even a view from your living room window?
Continue your flooring from the kitchen to the living room to create a feeling of space.
An Island Adventure:
Having an island is becoming more and more functional in today's kitchen. There are eating islands with bar stools, there are cooking islands with a stove top, and very often an oven, and there are preparation islands, equipped with a second sink, a garbage disposal, and lots and lots of drawers for easy access. If you can plan your kitchen with an island in mind you will benefit from beautiful design and a convenient work area that will provide your kitchen with extra space.
Clean it Up!
One of the hippest trends in kitchen design is imported from Europe. Long, clean lines, kitchen cabinets all at the same height, lots of stainless steel, clean cabinet doors with simple handles, and long stretches of open counter space. The resulting look is clean, crisp, and modern. You can twist the modern look by curving your angles - make your island half-moon shaped rather than rectangular, or one part of your counter and cabinets flow with a sweeping curve. To complete the look add stainless steel appliances.
Culture Shock:
A recent trend in kitchen design is to apply an ethnic look and feel to the kitchen, emphasizing a specific country style: Santa Fe, Tuscan, French modern, Old English, Mexican, Spanish, and so on. The important thing when doing your kitchen cultural, is to pick one theme and stick to it. Don't mix and match too much - Santa Fe styles have more than enough color on their own without mixing in Provencal. These kitchens are usually more "country," than modern, but certainly are homey, and when well designed, a masterpiece to eat in!
Steel Sharp:
Stainless steel is back, as the lit torch for modern, sleek, new kitchens. High-end kitchens tend to emphasize the shiny (or matte ) steel design in appliances, cabinet fixtures and assorted kitchen accessories.
Stainless steel gives your kitchen an extremely clean feeling. It appears sanitary, and it gives a kitchen that "this is a real cooking place" feeling. Stainless steel countertops and appliances are very popular at restaurants and large kitchens.
Colorful Appliances:
Some of the bolder home decorators are brining color to their kitchen appliances. It started with the rainbow hues of the KitchenAid mixer, and has more recently been seen on refrigerators, ovens, blenders, and even Aga stoves. This unique touch of color on appliances that used to be white, beige, or steel at best, is bringing even more life to the new center of the house. A red refrigerator, a purple Aga, or even a cheerfully yellow KitchenAid can give your kitchen that extra spicy punch!
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Modern Kitchen Designs
In years gone by the kitchen was solely the domain of the mother or female of the house. Over the years that has changed dramatically what with more single males having to cook for themselves, the rise in popularity of cookery programs with celebrity male chefs and it generally being more accepted for a man to do the cooking.
This is wonderful (especially if you're a mother or the female of the house) as it has brought about a complete re-think in the way the modern house is built.
The kitchen used to be the room where the cooking was done the small room at the back of the house with no other real purpose than to prepare meals and maybe to keep the washing machine. Today the kitchen is a focal point of the house. Homes are designed with this in mind, big open plan dining room kitchens that can house grand dining tables, breakfast bars and any amount of seats for guests. It's no surprise that most house parties end up in the kitchen!
Most modern built kitchens are basically built around the user with counter tops, appliances and sink surrounding the user and as open as possible so the whole family are included in the cooking rather than the chef being excluded from the family.
As well as being as open as possible the kitchen is now a very personal work of design, your kitchen makes a statement about you. The materials that you build your kitchen out of reflect your personality, materials such as, stainless steel, glass, solid wood, MDF or even stone area all commonly used in modern day kitchen design.
It isn't always about being modern either. Many people chose to go retro and build in an open fire or AGA type stove to add that country cottage feel to their kitchen.
The kitchen market is massive. In 2004 the kitchen furniture market alone was worth in excess of £500m in Great Britain and Eire, this includes worktops and sinks but not appliances!
With more and more kitchen appliances appliances coming on to the market each year you can begin to understand exactly how big the whole business of kitchens has got over the past five - ten years. Virtually every home now has a fridge and a dish-washer, many have a waste disposal sink and on top of this virtually every home in the land will have a cooker, a toaster, a kettle, a coffee maker and a food processor.
And when you think of all the makes and models that are available of each individual appliance it really can get quite daunting.
All the variation that is available to the kitchen buyer of today can only make it that bit more important to make sure that your kitchen reflects you and your life style and when you start adding up the cost of those decisions it's even more important to get it right first time.
So just remember that whatever your lifestyle, bachelor, family, singleton or young couple, if you only have the money to make one room in your house stand out from the rest make sure it's the kitchen. You won't regret it.
I try to pass on my musings on life and experiences in a way that people may find interesting to read.
This is wonderful (especially if you're a mother or the female of the house) as it has brought about a complete re-think in the way the modern house is built.
The kitchen used to be the room where the cooking was done the small room at the back of the house with no other real purpose than to prepare meals and maybe to keep the washing machine. Today the kitchen is a focal point of the house. Homes are designed with this in mind, big open plan dining room kitchens that can house grand dining tables, breakfast bars and any amount of seats for guests. It's no surprise that most house parties end up in the kitchen!
Most modern built kitchens are basically built around the user with counter tops, appliances and sink surrounding the user and as open as possible so the whole family are included in the cooking rather than the chef being excluded from the family.
As well as being as open as possible the kitchen is now a very personal work of design, your kitchen makes a statement about you. The materials that you build your kitchen out of reflect your personality, materials such as, stainless steel, glass, solid wood, MDF or even stone area all commonly used in modern day kitchen design.
It isn't always about being modern either. Many people chose to go retro and build in an open fire or AGA type stove to add that country cottage feel to their kitchen.
The kitchen market is massive. In 2004 the kitchen furniture market alone was worth in excess of £500m in Great Britain and Eire, this includes worktops and sinks but not appliances!
With more and more kitchen appliances appliances coming on to the market each year you can begin to understand exactly how big the whole business of kitchens has got over the past five - ten years. Virtually every home now has a fridge and a dish-washer, many have a waste disposal sink and on top of this virtually every home in the land will have a cooker, a toaster, a kettle, a coffee maker and a food processor.
And when you think of all the makes and models that are available of each individual appliance it really can get quite daunting.
All the variation that is available to the kitchen buyer of today can only make it that bit more important to make sure that your kitchen reflects you and your life style and when you start adding up the cost of those decisions it's even more important to get it right first time.
So just remember that whatever your lifestyle, bachelor, family, singleton or young couple, if you only have the money to make one room in your house stand out from the rest make sure it's the kitchen. You won't regret it.
I try to pass on my musings on life and experiences in a way that people may find interesting to read.
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