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Where To Start When Designing Your Kitchen | Part 2: Customize Your Storage

As a designer, one of my greatest delights is designing a perfectly customized kitchen, one that is as beautiful as it is functional. In order to do that, I have to understand how my clients truly live. It’s a process of trust as they choose to open up about what really matters to them so I can help them interpret that into the most functional and inspired space possible. Seemingly odd questions about the kinds of spices you like to cook with or how you like to plate food can lead to really critical design decisions as we lay out your space.

While at KBIS, the Modenus BlogTour crew had the opportunity to visit the fine folks at Wood Mode, and they highlighted the value and possibilities of extremely customized cabinetry. Today, I’m going to show you just some of the ways you can customize the function of your cabinetry with Wood Mode, remembering as I said last week, that it’s often what’s inside that counts the most.

Curate-Your-Kitchen-Utensil-Storage.001

One of the key areas to customize when designing your kitchen is your utensil storage. The images above show you just some of the endless options:

1. A 36″ wide drawer with room for all your daily use cutlery and some of your main cooking utensils. Easy access to everything all in one spot.

2. An 18″ wide drawer belies it’s depth of storage with a tiered cutlery tray. The top layer slides back to reveal space for more utensils underneath. This is the ideal way to maximize a narrower bank of drawers.

3. A dedicated knife drawer with customized built-in knife blocks. This is essential to keeping your kitchen tools organized and on point (pun intended).

4. A 24″ wide metal utensil drawer that is easily wipeable and extremely durable.

5. A Pacific Cloth-lined cutlery drawer for your silver. When wrapped in Pacific Cloth, your silver won’t tarnish, making more elegant affairs truly effortless!

 CURATE-YOUR-KITCHEN-TABLEWARE-STORAGE.001

I find when it comes to storing tableware there are two schools of thought: Either you’re all about the cupboards/open shelves or you love storing in drawers. In our household, we are all about the drawers as the lower storage means easy access for kids, giving them the chance to get involved in emptying the dishwasher and setting the table.

CURATE-YOUR-KITCHEN-COOKWARE-STORAGE.001

When it comes to storing your cookware, organization makes mealtime for busy families a breeze. No more searching for that rogue lid that’s gone missing!

1. Tiered pull-outs for kitchen linens, strainers and mixing bowls are disguised behind one full panel door for a cleaner look to the cabinetry.

2. Pots and lids are separated but associated in this two-tier drawer system for easy access and simple organization.

3. Casserole dishes and Dutch Ovens that often won’t fit in standard drawers are given the perfect home with this customized two-tier system.

4. Custom-sized sections keep pots and pans from rattling around when opening and closing this drawer, and life is just prettier when everything has its place!

HOW TO PLAN FOR YOUR OWN CUSTOM KITCHEN INTERIORS
If you are in the process of designing a kitchen and are inspired by such organized interiors, here are a few things you can do to curate your own storage solutions:

1. Count how many pieces of cutlery you have and measure the approximate width of each bundle (knives, forks, spoons, etc) to ensure the drawer compartments can easily handle your handles.

2. Edit your existing cooking utensils, removing anything you don’t use regularly. Replace anything that is broken and then lay it all out to determine how many drawers you need to keep things organized. Allow for some space to add in fun new gadgets like that cherry pitter you’ll need this summer when making a gorgeous Caflouti.

3. Count all of your kitchen knives to determine how many slots you’ll need in your knife block drawer.

4. Stack all of your plates and bowls and measure the height and diameter to determine the width and depth of drawer required to house everything perfectly.

5. Count all of your pots and pans. Determine which piece can nest inside one another and then measure the height and diameter of each piece or stack to determine the size of individual compartments and/or the overall width and depth of the drawer(s) required.

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6. Edit your spices, ensuring you have everything you use on a regular basis and include all of the less common spices you like to have on hand for those special recipes. Decide where you like to have them in the kitchen – for me it’s in a top drawer right next to the stovetop – and count how many jars you have and what the average size is so they can all be laid out for easy identification and use. My favourite spices are by Simply Organic – the quality is great and the square bottles are really easy to organize.

simply-organic-spices

 

With that, you are well on your way to truly customizing your kitchen storage to suit the way your family likes to cook.

I hope this has inspired you to get into your kitchen and get organized! With everything you need right at your fingertips, you’ll be cooking up a storm in no time.

Stay tuned for some seriously inspiring beauty coming at you this week in the form of a new book I can’t wait to share with you!

xx
s.[/fusion_text]

By |March 7th, 2016|1 Comment

Top Trends In Kitchen & Bath Design | Highlights from KBIS 2016

I’m still fresh off my recent trip to the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show with Modenus a couple of weeks ago and excited to talk with you today about some of my favourite trends.

TEXTURE TOPS THE CHARTS


texture-kbis-2016



One of the strongest trends I saw at the show was texture. Clockwise from top left, we are talking about:

1/ Stunning Ann Sacks tiles inspired by Kelly Wearstler’s iconic string art
2/ Top Knobs‘ newly released faceted Serene Collection, which I’m dying to use on a project. The pulls feel so good in the hand.
3/ Thompson Traders‘ gorgeous hammered brass pedestal sink that simply has to make its way into one of my designs very soon. I thought I’d died and went to hammered heaven when I found this booth!
4/ The new Litze Collection from Brizo which is on my personal Lust List for my Designer Dream House. The perfect brass finish with articulated details and a touch of industrial texture on the valve makes me swoon.

Textural elements were everywhere to be seen, offering designers the opportunity to awaken the senses in fresh ways. While texture is nothing new, we’re seeing unexpected applications in 2016, as with these carved panels on the face of Thermador‘s culinary preservation centre (below).

thermador-textured-refrigeration-panels

More than the texture, it’s the technical details that get me excited with Thermador‘s integrated refrigeration. Sometimes it’s what you don’t see that counts, like the hidden hinges (see below) that make it possible for the panels to be perfectly flush and fully integrated with surrounding cabinetry. Finally. No more working around unsightly hinges in cabinetry design.

(Cue: Designers everywhere rejoicing!)

thermador-hidden-hinge

PRETTY GETS PRACTICAL

Not surprisingly, brass and gold finishes and fixtures were stronger than ever at KBIS this year. Rest assured that brass is still boss. If you’re looking to integrate a metallic finish on custom cabinetry and want it to be as pretty as it is practical, you’ll need to know about Wilsonart‘s new metallic aluminum laminates. Available in sheets as large as 4’x10’ and in several colours and textures, the applications for this line are truly endless. I’m thinking a previously budget-busting custom modern brushed brass range hood becomes a designer’s best kept secret when created using this innovative surface.

Wilsonart-aluminum-sheeting-brass-brushed-brass-corrugated-brushed-brass
From Top To Bottom: Polished Gold Aluminum, Satin Brushed Gold Aluminum, Ribboned Satin Brushed Aged Gold

Also in the pretty and oh-so practical category is Blanco‘s latest introduction. The Ikon sink is made of SilGranit, the hardest composite material available on the market in sinks today. You can literally take a fork to this surface – with elbow grease and evil intentions – and still not leave a mark. My favourite colours in the Ikon are the Anthracite (below) and classic White.

blanco-ikon-sink-anthracite

Another innovative feature of the Ikon sink is the floating grid accessory, which can be used in a number of other sinks in Blanco‘s line up as well. From resting a colander on it (to keep food from sitting in liquids at the bottom of the sink while straining) to using it as a discrete perch for dishes to dry, the floating grid is a genius little accessory.

blanco-floating-grid
Last but not least in the pretty gets practical category, I’d say this is more of a practical gets pretty turnaround story. As a designer, I’ve always specified wool broadloom for both its hypoallergenic properties and its naturally stain-resistant nature. Until recently, most reasonably priced wool broadloom has only been available in very staid colour palettes and patterns, but Karastan‘s selection of wool broadloom makes the thought of creating a custom bound area rug or stair runner a much more enticing prospect. I mean, how gorgeous is the Cosmopolitan dove grey flame stitch pattern below?

karastan-wool-broadloom

Taking in the latest trends can prove daunting for some, leaving you overwhelmed and unsure of where to start. Stay tuned for my upcoming posts on where to begin when designing a new kitchen or bathroom.

xx
s.

By |February 9th, 2016|0 Comments

How To Buy A Home And Have Someone Else Pay The Mortgage | Responsive Homes with Bobby Berk

We all have one – a vision of our very own dream home. A space to host the most fabulous parties, to live a meaningful and connected life, all the while easily entertaining both indoors and out. But paying the mortgage on that dream home can sometimes feel out of reach.

HOW THE RIGHT FLOOR PLAN CAN PAY YOUR MORTGAGE

Enter the brilliant space planning of the Responsive Homes we recently visited as a part of the Modenus BlogTourKBIS in Las Vegas. With interiors designed by Bobby Berk and built by Pardee Homes, these innovative spaces blur the lines between indoor and outdoor living with an apparent simplicity that belies their clever flexibility. But beyond designs that include sliding walls that open to invite the outdoors in, these unique floor plans offer homes that really can pay for themselves.

Targeted at Millennials, the Responsive Homes are uniquely designed with main floor “lock off” suites. The suites include a bedroom, bathroom, sitting area and small kitchenette that allow the homeowner to rent the space out to either a long term renter or – at higher short term rates – via online rental services like Airbnb.

Not only does the rental suite option make a new mortgage payment easier for Millenials in the short term, but it also offers a space that will flex with the needs of the home owner, evolving into a nanny suite, for example, when future kids come along. From bachelor parties to birthday parties, these houses will have no problem growing with their owners through the many seasons of life ahead.

What do you think? Are you inspired by this innovative approach to space planning, either for your own home, for a child’s first home, or for an investment property? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

And stay tuned for all of the many design finds I spotted at the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show. I’ve got lots of great highlights and exciting trends to share with you in the coming weeks!

xx
s.

By |January 26th, 2016|3 Comments