Wednesday, March 26, 2008

Floor designs - an important aspect of kitchen

Floor designs are an important aspect of kitchen modeling that has to be given its due importance when planning. It is the area that is used roughly on a regular basis as it takes the brunt of the walking and moving around. It is advisable to give some forethought to the floor designing before implementing it, as any future alterations and modifications prove to be more difficult and expensive.

It has been noted that although buyers feel an attraction towards Italian tiles and other hard floorings, they are happier walking on softer surfaces. Floors that have padded carpeting and laminating offer softer surfaces to walk on. It is also advisable to choose neutral and light colors for floor surfaces, as they generally don't clash with any furnishings. It is beneficial to weigh the cost against the benefit ratio when going in for particular flooring. It is also advisable to install kitchen flooring, before installing any of the appliances and equipment.

The modern theory is to install earth-friendly flooring. This is flooring that is eco friendly and do not involve any artificial products. It is noted that upscale market buyers who have the money and the inclination for environment friendly floorings are known to go in for cork and bamboo flooring. This flooring is nature friendly as also easily renewable.

Cork is made from the bark of oak trees and are available for flooring. They are very soft under the feet and also acts as a good sound barrier. Bamboo looks very appealing, with its natural colors of brown to tans, and adds beauty and grace to the kitchen floor. Its distinct grain patterns are also noticed to give visual depth and help the room look larger.

Design psychology is a field that is used to help customers choose the right design for them through certain parameters. The strategy ensures that the customers choose the floor of their choice whether it is simple or elaborately elegant.

Potential kitchen designs

When you're trying think of potential kitchen designs it can be a long and difficult process. After all there are so many colour schemes and cabinet designs and appliances and a hundred other things to choose from, that getting the right combination is incredibly difficult.

The best way to sort through everything is to come up with a few designs based on one central theme for your kitchen. For example, many people like the kitchen styles that are synonymous with a certain country or region, hence why Italian and Spanish kitchen design are so popular. By choosing a theme you can narrow down your search and look for much more specific things to build up your kitchen design.

or some others, their designs will be dictated by the shape and size of their kitchen. For instance if you have to plan a small kitchen, then your choices will be much more limited and your designs will have to be built around coming up with clever storage solutions and fitting things in.

A great way of finding focus when things get confusing is to think about exactly what you want from your kitchen and what you're trying to achieve. You can then write a list of all the essential things you need and go from there. The style and look can come much later and you can find ideas from showrooms and looking online.

Also get hold of some software to play around with. This can be incredibly beneficial because you can input the exact dimensions of your kitchen into the system and then play around with different colour schemes and styles. This can prove an excellent source of inspiration if you're struggling to come up with kitchen designs you like.

The basic rule of kitchen design is very simple - plan. By planning ahead and thinking about every tiny detail, you'll leave yourself less open to things going wrong. The problem with kitchen design is that one small thing can trigger and domino effect and send your whole vision tumbling down. Don't get caught out like this and plan for everything well in advance.

Tuesday, March 11, 2008

Kitchen Cabinet Lighting - Todays Kitchen Design Ideas

A well-lit cooking area can make the difference between great dinners and questionable cuisine. However, many of today’s kitchen decorating ideas involves dark-colored counter tops and cabinets stained in deep, rich colors. While these features are quite attractive, they can leave your cooking are a little dark. Kitchen cabinet lighting can be the answer to shedding some light on you cooking space.

The common color for rooms in which cooking takes place used to be white, or white. The standard light-colored rooms required relatively little lighting due to the reflective quality of the white appliances and light-colored cabinets. Even the floors were white. There was little use for kitchen cabinet lighting because one light usually produced enough illumination.

During the 1970’s white was replaced with browns, oranges and mustard-yellow colors that gave the room a little character but did little for illuminating the cooking space. This darker lighting scheme paved the way to kitchen cabinet lighting in a round-about way. You can’t cook well if you can’t see well.

The necessity for proper lighting in the cooking space did not immediately lead to kitchen cabinet lighting. Many homeowners in the 1970’s chose to add fluorescent lights to their kitchens and baths to shed some more light into these rooms. Kitchen cabinet lighting became mainstreamed a little later in kitchen decorating ideas.

Many people have difficulty staying in rooms that have fluorescent lights because this type of illumination “moves” or vibrates on the onlookers’ eyes. Most people are not bothered by this but others wind up with awful headaches when exposed to this type of lighting for an extended period of time.

It is unknown whether or not the person who invented kitchen cabinet lighting was bother by fluorescents or not but I would wager to guess that this inventor was not a big fan. Kitchen cabinet lighting serves basically the same function as fluorescent lights. It simply makes the area brighter and lighter without irritating sensitive eyes.

Kitchen cabinet lighting has become a mainstay in today’s kitchen. You can choose from a variety of styles and from an array of innovative designs that will make your cooking area attractive as well as functional.

The combination of form and function is an integral part of today’s kitchen design ideas and among those ideas is kitchen cabinet lighting. After all, what is the point of having attractive kitchen decorating ideas put into action if you can’t see them?

Vareity And Styles Of Kitchen Wallpaper

Choosing wallpaper for your kitchen is something that needs to be ordered with care. It’s not that papering in this important room of your house shouldn’t be done, but it’s a room that has a lot of stuff going on in it. No other room expect your bathroom, has as much temperature change as this room. Check out what you need to consider if you want to paper in this room with your kitchen wallpaper.

You’ve got to live with the design, and if you don’t choose wisely you might tear it down. Worse yet, you might just dread going into the kitchen area, and a few meals might be skipped too. Remember, before you wallpaper that it will be the most noticeable thing you can do to that area of the house. The walls in your kitchen are the pallet for decorating because it defines the style and entire look of the kitchen area. Kitchen wallpaper is a great idea, and you shouldn’t be limited with other ideas like border too.

It comes in a variety of different styles, and the cost of it ranges from high to low priced. If you’re concerned about price, look around for sales. Be wary though, when sale prices are at rock bottom, you might not find enough paper to cover the area you want in your kitchen. Usually, a medium priced paper is the best way to go, but before you stick it to your walls; you’ll need to read how to clean it. For an easy to clean wallpaper, use washable wallpaper for your kitchen wallpaper.

Cleaning it is only half the battle. If you don’t want a type that is paper thin, and easily absorbs dirt and grime, then pick one that is heavy and with a plastic coating on the outside. Believe it or not, certain wallpapers come with a plastic coating on the outside. You can wash the walls down without tearing the paper, but always use the recommended cleaning solution on it. The goal is not to destroy the plastic poly covering on your kitchen wallpaper.

Style considerations are the color of your counter tops, and the pattern on your floor. If you’ve got a busy floor, pick kitchen wallpaper that is neutral in color and one that enhances your floor pattern. The color of your cabinets and draperies in the area are important too. Don’t ever paper and then change them. You could tear it, but it could certainly clash with the colors. It would be heartbreaking to plan and work on the walls, and then have to change the kitchen wallpaper.

Finally, there are all kinds to choose from, but make sure it’s what you like, and that it makes you feel great about preparing meals. It might be a good idea to just put a border up, or only wallpaper one side of the room for the right effect of kitchen wallpaper in that hard working area of your house.