Kelly's Kitchen Sync

Caesarstone brings us more taupe/gray...

Caesarstone has finally come out with a grey/taupe-inspired color called, “Atlantic Salt”:

Atlantic Salt 6270

Given the color ranges that I’ve been specifying, I could have used it a full two years ago, but since I have a wonderful project coming up where the entire house will be painted in some form of red-based gray, this will help tie in colors like this: 

 Benjamin Moore Graytint 1611

They might be a bit off on the computer, but the counter has a nice range of colors between haze and platinum with enough pattern to be forgiving for hair in the bathroom or glare from the kitchen window reflection. (I find that continuous sun provides a different viewpoint on sheens and glare than living in a place with days and days of clouds and rain.)

Which probably tells you a bit about my priorities as a designer, doesn’t it?

High-end is tricksy, my friends.

A few of you emailed me with tales of plumbing woe about the higher-priced faucets and terrible installation challenges. There were those who mentioned that some of their plumbers simply didn't have a clue.

I don’t know why this is never stated on television or online, but you have to, have to know. High-end isn’t just about the materials – it’s also entirely about the installation and skill set. 

Expecting all plumbers to be able to install high-end plumbing fixtures is like expecting the average designer to decorate a palace. (Haven’t a clue.) Or an ordinary cook to sharpen his first Japanese knives perfectly. (Ha!)  Or a JC Penny seamstress to suddenly sew all things couture. 

I have two stories:

#1) A few years back, the client and I had specified a beautiful glass lavatory counter and sink on fancy stainless legs. European, and, yes, expensive. Our plumber we hired wasn’t cheap but he also wasn’t the most expensive. He’d installed a lot of our project before, but--

--he’d never installed this one. He spent almost half a day assembling it and dropped a handful of nuts and bolts into my hand. “I don’t know where these go,” he confessed.

Did it leak? Yes. Did I lose face with the client? Oh, yes, and yes. Trying to find someone who knew how to install this unit was almost impossible. But we finally got it done and learned a painful lesson.

#2) I like to talk about the high-end custom refrigerator where the installation takes on average, 6-8 hours. The doors come separately and it takes real skill and knowledge to balance them properly so that there is zero clearance between the doors and the cabinets.

Unless you’ve done it before, the chances of blowing it are huge. Or someone is going to spend huge hours studying the manuals...with no guarantee they can do it.

High-end doesn’t mean just materials. In some cases, it means extra hours to install, which is why the bathroom with the vessel sink and wall-hung toilets cost more than the ones with basic fixtures. Tricksy. Like one of my reader's plumbers said, “I like (basic plumbing) A. You can't go wrong with it. This other stuff is complicated.”

Hmmm. 

Do yourself a favor. When you’re planning your kitchen with the fancy gadgets, or the silk wallpaper and double-stacked molding on the pitched ceiling in the bedroom, hire the most knowledgeable and the best. Ask if they’ve done it before, and if they say so, ask them how it’s different from other materials. The ones who truly know will be able to tell you…and the professionals who don’t know will say so first. And, finally, expect to pay for their skill. The ones who've done it the most know the tricks to take the least time.

Sure, they’re not going to be the cheapest in the short run. But they won’t go through two faucets because they can’t get the hang of it.*

In the meantime, I’ll keep studying period furniture and how to regilt molding for that day I get asked to decorate that palace. ;)

 

*And yes, like everything, it depends. Some materials can just defy installation. European fixtures, if you're not used to them, or their measurements, or anything European are going to give some challenges. Can the items be installed without difficulty?  Sure - it just helps to know the tricks of them. And some plumbers who have never installed your special rain shower but do a stellar job anyway because they spent half the night studying to understand it are still out there. 

Faucets - how much is too much?

Okay, there’s something I have to dispute in this article from last week’s Chicago Tribune, “Kitchen Design with Resale in Mind”:

Q: What did they say about what not to overspend on, in terms of resale value?

A: One thing was faucets. They said if you go crazy on the cost of a faucet, you'll never recoup that.

In prior issues, we actually did go out and buy a range of faucets, from $80 to $480, and we found they really didn't perform any differently in terms of scratching or leaking or other problems.

Of course, when you first go out and buy a faucet, they all work. The first couple of years are great. But how they perform in the long term varies widely (and no, buying a top-of-the-line faucet isn’t always a guarantee that it will outperform). But placing the cheapest faucet in isn’t always the answer either.

If you’re selling the home in a couple of years, put the faucet in that matches the quality of the home. Now I feel better, because that’s what the agents do say:

“But the agents did caution that at resale, you don't want to cheap out on the overall kitchen. Countertops and sinks and faucets do draw a lot of attention from homebuyers. But there's no reason to spend $600 on a faucet when $150 will do just fine.”

Perhaps some contractors or plumbers could weigh in on this with some insights on long-term plumbing issues. Also, how does one know what the quality should be?

Your thoughts?

To store or to downsize?

Since the last post about the history of kitchen design, I've been thinking about how much our livestyles have changed, and how all the toys in the kitchen we suddenly can’t live without, the appliances, the extra goodies at the sink, have swelled. Really, it’s no wonder kitchen design has become such a challenge.

We’re taking kitchens that are 20, 30, 60 years old – kitchens that didn’t have large-scale refrigerators, secondary sinks, beverage coolers, large ranges, two ovens…

Yes, yes, I’ve talked about that before – tell you something you didn’t know?

Now add the small appliances that weren’t around in 1950s – not just the mixers, but the electric hand-mixers, the processors, the stand mixers, the coffee pot (sure, been around for awhile now, but it used to be a perk kettle one put on the stove), waffle-makers, etc., etc.,

And then add all the stemware, the crystal, the cheap glasses, the cups, the mugs, the four sizes of plates, the extra sets of cutlery, the extra items for the bbq.

Our grandparents and great-grandparents didn’t have all of this. That’s what hope chests were for, so you could collect bedding, linens, and kitchenware to set up a home after marriage because goods weren’t always within reach for many. Yet we’re still using the same sized kitchens to store everything we suddenly can’t do without.

So no wonder you might be having a struggle making everything fit. It's a home equivalent of fitting a family of 6 into your Mini from high school. (Okay, not the best analogy, but work with me here. *grin*)

 It’s challenging enough to design a kitchen and most of the time, we can fit everything in. So, here's a question to ask yourself:

How often are you really using all of it?

I’m not knocking Grandma’s crystal platter that you serve the turkey on, but if it’s only used once a year, might there be another place to store it? And do you really need 14 mismatched coffee mugs when 6 will do? *cough*6isfinewhoknew?*cough* If the kids have been at college for five years, might we let go of the plastic popsicle maker?

Just a thought. Now I'm going to look over my crystal stemware again...

A Brief History of Kitchen Design

Designer Anthony Binns, CKD, CBD of Binns pointed out a fascinating series of articles on Core77 Magazine’s called “A Brief History of Kitchen Design” that, in turn, I wanted to share with you (if you haven’t seen it already, that is):

 

See? Open shelves have been around for a long time…but then the kitchen was tiny and enclosed.

 

This first section talks about Catharine Beecher, who I discussed in my “Kill the Work Triangle” post. She was an avant-garde thinker of her day.

Best part of all, there are (so far) 5 parts to this series. Thanks, Anthony!

The link is here.

Spot the kitchen errors #5

Thanks to the magic of pre-posting, I’m away on vacation this week and back again next week. In the meantime, since you all seem to love "spot the errors”, I figured this might be a good one.

The label for this kitchen was, “Stylish Kitchen Interior Rich With Color and Texture”. Okay.

Here’s something that probably looked fine on paper, but lost what could have been a “wow” factor because there was a lack of understanding about scale and proportion, color and balance. I suspect there is a lovely partial circle transom over that window which they covered (and hence the arch) – at least I hope so because the alternative that it was done for no reason is a bit…er, overwhelming, to say the least.

So…tell me not only what you find wrong, but what you’d do to fix it. Approach it from two ways:

• function – what isn’t working and why?
• appearance – what could be done to return this back to a stunner – keeping in mind that we’re going to keep some design details that are integral to this look but could have been bumped up. It looks a bit like British Colonial meets Mediterranean American. What would you do to steer it away from middle-of-the-road indecision?

Have fun!

Drawers and doors and sizes, oh my!

There are a lot of times where I’m working away and think of something that could be relevant to you. This is one of them.

When you’re designing with a framed cabinet door, you should be aware of the size of the rails and stiles which form the out picture frame, if you will, of the door.

The horizontal pieces are rails and the vertical pieces are stiles.

                    Rail   

                       

                         

 

 

 

 

<—Stile

 

 

Why is this important? Because on really small widths, the panel becomes nonexistent and if you haven’t taken the size of each door and drawer into consideration, you could be in for a bit of a shock.

Let’s take an example. In the panel above, let’s say the stiles and rails are 2-1/2” wide – or, in other words, they each take up 5” of any drawer and door.

So what’s left in the middle?

• If your door is only 12” wide, the center section will be 7”.
• If your door is 6” wide, the center section…might not be. With only 1” of space left in the center section for a door, it looks odd. If it’s in a drawer panel, which I’ve seen, it can be very challenging to find a knob or handle to fit and almost impossible not to scratch your nails against the rails as you open the drawer.

Now imagine if the stiles and rails are 3” or 4”? 

Depending on the size of the door, that door or drawer front isn't mades with stiles and rails - it's made flat. We call it a slab door or drawer front. That’s what I meant about you experiencing some shock if you were expecting a 6" wide tray divider to look like the rest of the cabinets - it might not.

Of course, some door styles have drawers that are all slab, but if you’ve selected a door that has a center panel, have one last look at your cabinet design before you sign off. 

Drawer fronts suffer particularly over a built-in refrigerator in an 8’ ceiling, but here’s an example of smaller  drawer and door fronts. While technically correct, it looks a little forced here on either side of the cooking space. Plus how does someone reach around that hood detailing to reach inside those wall cabinets without gouging his or her hand on the trim?

 ***

In other news, this is just a quick note to thank those of you who took the time to leave a book review. I'm also grateful to have such great readers like you  – have a great weekend!

Book update: I need you (and your reviews)!

So here's the latest on my book, for those of you who are interested:

I’d figured when it first came out that it would do all right for the first week, then teeter off into oblivion for about 6-9 months before word of mouth brought a few online reviews. Then in a year or so, it'd start getting some reviews and picking up some steam.

My launch date was one short month ago, if you can believe it.

What I hadn't expected was how well it did right off the gate, thanks in large part by so many wonderful reviews, and then by acceptance from construction pros (My hardest market: if I'd screwed up, they'd let me know!) It stayed there for awhile and is now slowly coming down off the launch highs.

What I didn’t expect was to start receiving enthusiastic emails from some of you…and so soon. I’m touched that those of you who took the time to let me know, so thank you.

All of that blew my projections right out of the water.

So now I have a favor to ask you:

If you have a copy and liked it, could you spread the word?  The book needs reviews on Amazon or Barnes and Noble or wherever you purchased it. I don’t expect sparkly, unicorns-and-rainbow reviews (eww), but if you had a line or two on either how it helped you or what you didn’t know or that I’m mildly amusing in spite of being a designer – it would help.*

That way, those who don’t know me or my website from a plumber’s wrench might see the benefits. Oddly enough, not everyone reads my posts. End result is they don’t trust me, or the back cover copy. *grin* They want to hear from you – someone who isn’t in our trade and is planning a kitchen remodel.

 

 *If you’re the type who doesn’t like to leave reviews there, could you drop a line here? It’s not that I need the reassurance; I’m simply hoping to get the word out, and the only way I know to do it well is to ask for your help.

Leaving your mark on your kitchen

At one time, kitchens used to be designed to fit the house, not the owner. Today, there is so much personalization that for some, the kitchen selection is a cause for anxiety instead of joy.

Relax. One of the things we forget is that there was once very real dangers in kitchens from fire or poor plumbing or food poisoning because food without refrigeration didn’t last long. We don’t have that today. Anything that you choose is going to be 1000 times better than what your great-grandparents had. You win already.

I’m digressing, aren’t I?

So where I was going with this still has to do with history, of leaving your print on your kitchen, even if this isn’t your forever home.

My grandfather used to work on new homes in the 30s and 40s. One of the traits of the time that had been left over from previous generations was to leave your name on the inside of the walls before the plaster went up, sort of a “I worked on this home and I’m proud to leave my signature.” If you have an old home and have done any home repair, you might have found these signatures.

While I’m not advocating signing your name inside the wall (we’re talking interior design, but not that interior although feel free), I like to suggest to my clients to leave a little mark somewhere – a specialized tile, or a detail in the floor, or some small design detail that might be hidden or not.

Here are two:

• One of my clients had rabbits (very well-trained – had no idea they’d react to commands but these did). The home was a 1920s beauty where the kitchen window was set high. We did a trio of stylized rabbits in terracotta as a mini-focal point. They had no color, just texture and you almost didn’t see them until you’re at the sink. Just one element that means something to you and your family can be fun. Like seashells? Have a favorite city? Find a tile that fits, just one, and leave your mark.

Custom-made Alice in Wonderland tile (Credit: B.A. Schmidt Arts)

 

• For our showroom, my mother once designed a small niche in a raised bar behind the island. Do you know what shadow boxes or miniature vignettes are? We used the niches as such. We placed little characters inside, using miniature doll house decor. No one could see it until they walked around to that side of the islands, but it was always great fun to see people’s delight when they spotted it. And it was fun to change out to match the seasons…

Quillwork shadow box, ca. 1817 (credit: The Met)

 

What’s your personalized touch?

A Reader Asks: Do I need wall cabinets?

 

Hi Kelly, I just started reading your blog.  Just ordered your book as we are redoing our kitchen because of water damage.  I have a question for you.  I know you get a ton of emails/questions so I won't be offended if you don't answer but would still be interested in your opinion ;).

I am very interested in the concept of not replacing upper cabinets in the kitchen.  The pictures on the internet and elsewhere of kitchens without uppers are gorgeous but I wonder how this would work for us.  We are solidly middle class and our kitchen will never look like the showcase kitchens shown online, but I would like to give it a try.

My reasons for wanting to go without:
1) Husband is 5 ft7 and I am 5 ft so we can barely reach the second shelf in an upper, let alone the 3rd. 
2) I love the openness and the look of no uppers. 
3) Our kitchen is a place that we do a lot of "living" so having no uppers will help the kitchen seem more home-y and less kitchen-y. 
4) We will have plenty of storage space without having the uppers.
5) We plan on being in this home a long time so we are not thinking of resale value. 

My question is: Is this a good idea for an average family and is there something that I'm not considering in this decision?  What are the pros and cons? 
Thank you,

 

Contemporary kitchen without wall cabinets is saved with pantry storage.

 

(Modified from original email)

Hi Alice,

Sorry about the water damage. That's always painful but the end result will be good, right? Also, thank you for purchasing my book - I sincerely hope it helps you.

I fully understand about the upper cabinets, and you're not alone; it's a good question. Contemporary kitchens have certainly led the way on eliminating wall cabinets, preferring storage in nearby tall pantry or storage units.

 

PROS & CONS

The pros of eliminating the wall cabinets is it makes the kitchen look larger and more spacious. The cons are that wall cabinets really do provide a great deal of cabinet space which is lost when they’re removed.

For you, the "everyday storage" is usually the bottom shelf of all the wall cabinets; the rest of the wall cabinet becomes secondary storage for lesser-used items. (Me too. I'm 5'4".)

So what we're really looking at is now recapturing the storage for drinking glasses or other dish storage. Most of us grew up reaching up to get a glass for water, or a coffee cup for mornings, or butter by the stove, or any number of items that now will go in a base cabinet and/or result in us bending down rather than reaching up.

I like to say that they train us in ergonomics where the best space for our movement is from hip to shoulder...the exact place where we take all the storage away for counter space.

Since you're going to be staying in your home, and like having no uppers, don't let anyone stop you. This is your house and besides, even if you won the lottery tomorrow and moved, you could add wall cabinets pretty quickly...

 

GROWING OLDER IN YOUR HOME

However, you also have something to consider (that I didn’t write in response to your original email), and that’s to do with growing older in your home. My mother as she ages is facing a slight loss of balance when she leans over. Others might find joints don’t bend as well as they use to -- which means easily accessible base cabinets might prove vital, if not now, then certainly down the road.

I used to design kitchens for homes that were ocean-view homes (not overly fancy, but perhaps an upper middle-class as it were) and there were no upper cabinets. What I used to discuss with clients were:

• 12" or 15" deep base cabinets (perhaps on the back or side of an island)
• 15" deep by 60" h x 21" wide pantry at the end of a cabinet run (usually the sink wall), that gave us our dishes and glasses at elbow height and could be adjusted to fit. Lower shelves were perfect for once-a-month waffle makers or cook books.I've even designed them at the end of an island, but made them 48" high.
• rollouts or drawers.

By all means, you don't *have* to add these items; I've just found that a full-depth (24") base cabinets as rollouts don’t  always work for glasses or cups because you can’t rush opening and closing the shelf without everything tipping over. There are peg options to separate items, but they're only as good as the person who has that organizational bent (and dishes that are not mismatched). There are also dividers which can be added to the deep drawers. But seriously consider what will happen in the long term as well as the short.

Hope this helps - best of luck with your kitchen. :)