Make the Most of Your Kitchen Redesign

Your family spends considerable time in your kitchen and you want to make the most of that time together. A kitchen redesign can help you do that, but how can you ensure the new layout of your kitchen is one that is functional, inviting and livable? These tips can help you make the most of your kitchen redesign project.

1. Start online with a kitchen cabinet provider that offers a kitchen design tool. This tool will allow you to preplan your kitchen layout and see exactly what the finished room will look like before you shell out major dollars on a design that doesn’t work for you. If something doesn’t appeal to you, try again. Kitchen redesigning is as simple as a few computer mouse clicks.

2. Consider what other activities will take place in your kitchen besides meal preparation and eating? Will your kids be using it to do their homework while you cook? If so, a center island might enhance the bonding experience.

3. Do you need extra kitchen storage space? Then consider a built-in pantry with rollout shelves, a drawer base cabinet, oven cabinets and lazy susans

4. Evaluate your personal style and build it in to your kitchen redesign. Are you a fine china collector? Then opt of glass-paned cabinet doors to show off your collection. Decorative touches like crown mouldings and cabinet finishes also reflect your interior design personality.

A kitchen redesign is an expensive proposition, but it’s also an investment in your home and family togetherness. Make those dollars count. With a little planning and ingenuity, you can make your kitchen redesign project one that you and your family be pleased with and proud of for years to come.

www.LKNcabinets.com

Tomorrow’s Kitchen

Perhaps it is because the kitchen is the room in the home with the most high-tech appliances that people often dream of a futuristic kitchen. From preparing meals to cleaning up to making sure that we eat right, the kitchen of the future will make our lives a lot easier. Though we aren’t there just yet, the next step in the ever-evolving kitchen is right around the corner.

New Technologies

Large consumer appliance companies like GE and KitchenAid have been working on more environmentally friendly kitchens for years now. These new kitchens will not only increase efficiency, but also lower operating costs. They will dispense pure water using ultraviolet light, which will ensure that water is completely free of bacteria and chemicals. To save money, consumers will load dishwasher detergent in large quantities, which will then be dispensed during washings at predetermined levels, which will save money on cleaning agents and wash water. Wash water can then be diverted to other home appliances like the washing machine. And food storage devices will be fully interactive. While they won’t cook for you, they will let you know if you have the necessary ingredients to make beef stroganoff for the family.

Refrigeration

Though many of us can not conceive of a kitchen without a traditional refrigerator, the days when a massive metal box dominated one side of the kitchen may be coming to an end. In fact, companies have already begun to market refrigeration devices called cool drawers. These cool drawers allow for unparalleled versatility and temperature control. They will give you the ability to cool, preserve, store and freshens foods at up to five different temperatures. No longer will you have to throw out the fruits and vegetables because they were kept at inadequate temperatures. The cool drawer will help you keep all of your food fresher for longer, which will preserve the vitamins, nutrients and taste.

But the best part about cool drawers is their versatility. Any number of cool drawers can be installed at different locations in the kitchen and set at different temperatures. You can install a fruit drawer in one area, a vegetable drawer in another and a meat drawer in yet another. It is always a good idea to put fresh food close to your food preparation area. You can also install drawers with drinks and fruits nearest to the entertainment area. Food drawers are not only better than refrigerators at storing and keeping food, but they are also more convenient and they save space.

If, however, you are a person who loves your refrigerator and refuses to part with it, there are a number of exciting advances right around the corner. For example, smart refrigerators will keep track of everything you are eating and will let you know when it’s time to go to the store and pick us some more broccoli.

Dishes

In the future plates will be made from carbon nano tubes, which are extremely thin and sturdy. These materials will take up less space, be easier to clean and will even sanitize themselves after use. They will also be inexpensive and environmentally friendly.

Communication

Although this is a possibility right now, most people love the idea of having internet access in the kitchen. Whether it is to check their email, the news, or to find a great recipe for beef stew, in the future most kitchens will undoubtedly have some form of internet access.

The kitchen of the future will also be equipped with more computer touch screens, which may be used to operate individual appliances or possibly even run the entire kitchen. They will be easy to uses and highly interactive. They may even provide internet access.

The author, Susan Pitters, co-ordinates a team of designers who have created a website to pass on many tried and tested ideas and techniques for the home enthusiast. Many years combined experience and many remodelings later, the team had amassed invaluable knowledge which they pass on for those wanting to either design a new, or renovate an out-dated kitchen.

See http://www.clever-kitchen-designs.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Susan_Pitters

www.LKNcabinets.com        delivers quality affordable cabinets to the greater Charlotte, NC area

Design Ideas for Small Kitchens

If you don’t like your kitchen you are not going to want to spend time in it. Open kitchens are popular and help homes sell faster.
So what do you do when your number one complaint is that your kitchen feels closed?

LKN cabinets is prepared to tackle this problem in several common ways. We have pictures available showing Before and Afters of past  kitchen remodeling jobs we have done around Lake Norman. Projects fall in two 2 categories:

1.      Elimination of walls. This requires often drywall and framing to take place off non-load bearing walls. From openings to complete removal this will be the common choice to “open” the kitchen.

2.      Removal of overhead cabinets. Many older homes have overhead cabinets above a bar area. These can be removed and the ceiling repaired. From this point new cabinets can be put in that often include glass mullion doors to give a more open feel. Mirrors can also be used as a design tactic for “openess”.

Both scenarios require drywall repair/install which is one of the many services LKN cabinets manages for its clients as a fully licensed and insured general contractor.

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www.LKNcabinets.com