Home Decoration

The term designer kitchen is often perceived differently by different people. For some, it is the privilege of the elite class, who can hire the services of the experts from the interior decorating world. The second category of people consider a designer kitchen to be nothing original but a replica of the kitchens that have been adorning the houses of celebrities. For others, designer kitchen means a kitchen that you design for your own sweet home, beginning from the scratch level.

Well, the concept of designer kitchen is not just about creating a kitchen, the designing of which is line with the trend, but it is also about a kitchen that reflects your personality, a kitchen in the decoration of which you’ve virtually put your heart and soul. Planning a designer kitchen is indeed a daunting task and requires everything to be planned very carefully. You need to lay emphasis on each and every small detail. Designer kitchen is one that aims at achieving perfection in almost every aspect of kitchen décor.

There can be various designer kitchen ideas, but the best idea is the one that creates a kitchen, the look of which is welcoming. If your kitchen resembles a museum or an art gallery, where one can find a fabulous collection of all the magnificent creations, then it won’t give you that comfort feeling. Decorate your kitchen in a manner that depicts your style statement as well as your personal taste. So, go ahead and design the kitchen of your dreams that exhibits your creativity and talent.

If you want to lend a warm pleasant feeling to your kitchen, it is best to decorate your kitchen in the country style. Based on the concept of simplicity, the country kitchen is great to look and easy to maintain. In the contemporary times, more and more people are resorting to country style kitchen design, as the feeling associated with it is very welcoming. There is an element of warmth attached to it. Read on to know more about the country kitchen décor.

Click the image to enlarge

Here are given some tips for decorating the kitchen as per country style:

• The most apt colors for adorning the country kitchen are the subtle shades of green, blue, pink, brown and white.
• To get the feel and look of a country kitchen, add some accents. To name a few, we have the gorgeous flowers, lush green plants, fresh fruits and vegetables.
• Incorporate wicker furniture as in the furniture made from natural wood or fiber in your country style kitchen and upholster them. If you don’t want to replace your existing furniture, then check out some new slip covers in floral motifs.
• As far as the flooring of country style kitchen is concerned, the best options are natural wood, flagstone and tiles. You can also go in for laminate flooring.
• When it comes to country kitchen décor, accessories help a great deal in enhancing the charm of your kitchen. A great idea to add a personal touch to your kitchen is to put some family pictures in the wooden photo frame and place it on the kitchen cabinet. Embellish your kitchen windows with the silky lace curtains.

Planning, remodeling and designing a kitchen includes taking a few decisions that will help you to get a better deal where you can be comfortable while cooking in the future. Here are the things that you must decide beforehand:

• You may choose from fitted kitchens that occupy less space and have more storage space or a freestanding kitchen that can be moved easily and taken to any place with you.
• Lifestyle of the family - A single person that cooks rarely will prefer a minimalist’s kitchen while a kitchen for a large family that is used quite often throughout the day needs a lot of storage space, groceries, cutlery and crockery and all the kitchen tools, equipments and appliances along with the sitting area for the family dinner gatherings
• .

  

• Seating area - A small kitchen may accommodate a small breakfast table while a big kitchen may have the dinner table set to cater to the whole family. You may also use a part of your dining/living room as the kitchen to make more space for the seating arrangement.
• Placing of refrigerator - Fridge should never be placed near the cooking hob as the appliances may not work properly. The ideal placement of refrigerator is between the entrance of the kitchen and the cooking area where all the members of the house can easily access it.
• Kitchen Shapes - Efficient kitchen is one that allows easy movement and enough space for sink; counter for food preparation, cutting and chopping; and cooking area. The most popular shapes are galley kitchens, two-way galley kitchens, L-shaped kitchens and U-shaped kitchens.
• Galley kitchens are the ones where all working areas are next to each other, have less storage space and require lot of movement.
• Two-way galley kitchens provides for storage space below the worktop, cupboards are placed on the opposite wall for easy access to minimize walking movements, is more compact and must have enough between the two galleys to avoid bumping.

  

• L-shaped kitchens provide more workspace and storage area, walking distance is minimized and corners of the kitchen can serve as the dining area.
• U-shaped kitchens have the most workspace and storage area, has less floor area and are not for claustrophobics. In case, your kitchen seems too small, you may use one of the legs as a breakfast bar or provide for an island counter instead.
• Decide on the kitchen layout, starting with the placement of sink, preparation area and hob, the placement of fridge and the service points for water, electricity and gas.
  Ventilation points and daylight should be kept in mind too.

  

Right accessories and furniture can entirely transform your kitchen into the most pleasurable area of your home. The quantity, size and theme of the kitchen accessories must match with you overall home décor theme and space available. Here are some tips for you:

• Once you have decided on the color of your walls, placing of your refrigerator, counters and cabinets, categorize all your accessories by color, size or style and then choose them according the scale and visual balance.
• Install the largest accessories first, keeping the aesthetic balance, right eye level, distance to the cooking area and then move on to the smaller ones.
• Wall clock is a must in the kitchen, whether you are a student, working person or a housewife, so that you can get done with cooking on time. It also helps to monitor your cooking better.
  Designer range hoods do not only look trendy but are also quite functional when it comes to get rid of smoke and vapors.
• Kitchen carts & worktables come in quite handy for a variety of things and can be moved or folded and slipped under the counter after use.
• Pot racks and baker’s racks are for those with advanced culinary skills.
• Covered trashcans are a must in the kitchen to discard all those soda bottles and boxes.
• Cabinet accessories, designer sinks, faucets, knobs and pulls lend a sophisticated look to the kitchen.
• Stools and chairs that can be stacked on top of the other can be used and then stacked in the corner in a small kitchen.
• Chopping blocks and countertops are a must but you may also opt for wine racks.
• Decorate your appliances too with beautiful decorative panels.
• Stainless steel wall shelves and backsplash accessories are the latest trend in kitchen décor.

Creative use of colors can result in a budget-friendly kitchen décor that can stimulate your hunger and funk-up your surroundings. Here are some hit tips for you:

• Painting the kitchen cabinet in most innovative ways can add splash of colors to the kitchen.
• Installing new tiles in trendy designs and deep tones all over the kitchen or above the kitchen counters can make cleaning and wiping the area easier and make kitchen look quite beautiful too.
• A monochromatic color scheme with matching cabinet, countertop and wall colors can be funked up by creating a focal point in the kitchen in bold contrasting colors and stenciled motifs.
• Installing curtains that easily washable in decorative patterns and colors can also make your kitchen look much prettier.
• Do not overlook the fact that colors look different in different lighting systems and fluorescent or incandescent lighting may affect the hue of your kitchen entirely in a different fashion.
• These days, recessed and cabinet lighting plan in the kitchen rather than the uniform lighting plan.
• You may add a dramatic touch to your kitchen décor by using light and shadows to compliment the kitchen colors and a spotlight above your cooking area and dining area may actually look like a studio kitchen.
• Besides the cabinetry, ceiling, floor and window coverings, moldings and trim, there are other design elements too such as chandeliers and designer lights, knobs and pulls, hanging plates and pot racks.
• Hand painted furnishings and accessories can also be used for the kitchen décor.

If your house predates the Depression, your kitchen probably looks something like this: It’s cut up by multiple doorways, has a freestanding range pushed against one wall, no real place for the fridge, and a wee patch of counter on each side of the sink.

But don’t blame the architect for these shortcomings. When these kitchens were designed, cooktops, wall ovens and dishwashers—let alone Cuisinarts and yogurt makers—were still years in the future. All an architect really had to accommodate was a freestanding range, a sink with a few feet of drainboard, an icebox and a dishwasher—the two-legged kind.

Planning ideals were also different back then, and kitchen functions were often segregated into several small rooms. A kitchen of the era might be adjoined by a tiny laundry, scullery, mud porch, or breakfast room, or any combination of these. The resulting clutter of walls and doorways usually left very little space for long stretches of countertop.

Today, with the need to include all the foregoing appliances and then some, many of these old kitchens have just about reached their functional limits. But how can they be made more efficient without drastic reconstruction?

The key to making an old kitchen more functional lies in eliminating cross traffic from the “work triangle”—the area bounded by the sink, stove and refrigerator. Take a close look at your kitchen’s traffic pattern. Often, you’ll find a door leading to the dining room, another into the laundry or other ancillary room and yet another opening onto the hall, all creating a hopelessly crisscrossed traffic path. Often, at least one of these doors is redundant and can be filled in to eliminate one source of cross traffic while allowing for longer stretches of uninterrupted countertop.

Removing walls between the kitchen and other ancillary rooms can also help simplify circulation and free up space for uninterrupted counters. Better yet, if those rooms are at the rear of the house, annexing them to the kitchen may allow you to open up a dramatic view of the back garden—a subtle but effective way to visually expand the room. Space for laundry machines, cabinets or other items displaced by this change can usually be found in a less obtrusive spot.

Once you’ve eliminated unnecessary traffic routes through the kitchen, you can usually reconfigure the counters in a more practical continuous U- or L-shape. If the remaining doors are unavoidably located at opposite ends of the room, two separate counters can face each other in Pullman fashion.

The sink is usually a good starting point for your layout, since it will almost invariably go along an outside wall, either in front of the existing window or a relocated one. Once the sink’s location is fixed, place the refrigerator at one end of the counter or the other. Lastly, you can put the stove anywhere that suits your preferences and the space available. However, always bear in mind the cardinal rule for tuning up cranky old kitchens: Keep cross traffic out of the work triangle.

After the demolition phase, there is usually some preparatory work to be done before you can install your new kitchen. If extensive structural, electrical, plumbing, drywall or paneling work is included in your plans it should take place at this time as well.

Walls
Gouges or holes in the walls must be repaired with wall board compound, spackle, or patching plaster. Stuff larger holes with newspaper or fine wire mesh to hold the compound. If you have gaping holes or many gouges it may be necessary to replace the surface with dry wall.

Usually, installing new cabinets will call or some changes in the position of the cabinets, requiring that the walls be painted. If drywall or large patches of filler are being used to prepare the walls, a coat of sealer or primer should be applied before the color coat.

Locate and mark the wall studs on the floor and ceiling as a reference for attaching the new cabinetry.

Floors
If you plan to replace your floor, the time to prepare for it is Before installing the cabinets and permanent appliances. Ceramic tile floors are usually placed before the installation of cabinets while vinyl flooring can be laid either before or after the cabinets are in place. If the new floor will go directly on top of the existing one, it is very important to fill any areas that may have dipped, buckled or bulged, as well as any holes or gouges, and nail down protruding boards. Remove glue or paint that may have spilled. Countersink nail and screw heads that are sticking up above the surface. If the old floor is embossed or has dips and/or hollows in it, these should be filled in with cement filler using a 5 to 10-inch wide putty knife.

Water damaged floors must be repaired before laying down a new floor. You will need to remove the existing flooring to expose the damaged subfloor. Damaged portions of sub-flooring must be replaced. Should you find the entire sub floor to be too badly damaged for salvage, it will be best to lay new one. This can be laid directly on top of the existing floor.

The Order of Installation
These instructions are to be used as a guide but you should always follow the specific manufacturer’s instructions where there are deviations. Putting the kitchen together should occur in a logical sequence.

1. Primer and paint
2. Ceramic tile, vinyl or hardwood flooring
3. Wall cabinets
4. Base cabinets and islands
5. Cabinet doors, drawers and hardware
6. Plywood base for tile countertops
7. Recessed sink
8. Counter tops - wood, marble, tile
9. Surface mounted sink & fittings
10. Disposal
11. Dishwasher
12. Ice-maker connection
13. Over the range hood/vent
14. Cook top
15. Wall oven and microwave
16. Vinyl Flooring
17. Range
18. Refrigerator, freezer, trash compactor & icemaker
19. Lighting fixtures
20. Finishing touches - trim

    Note: Hardwood flooring and ceramic tile are always laid before cabinets are installed while vinyl flooring can be placed after the cabinetry is in place.