Welcome to Kitchen Design Notes. Whether in the middle of a kitchen or bath remodel, planning one or just dreaming, stop in and browse. Follow one Kitchen Designer's journey though trends, hot topics and remodeling advice. This blog is your remodeling source for the latest news in cabinetry, kitchen and bath fixtures, appliances, tile, lighting and more.
The quest for the most efficiently built cabinets never ends. Here is a Merillat ad from the sixties, (maybe someone from Merillat can confirm the year of this ad for us), that shows modern convenience back then, to the new video from Blum showing us the latest technology and convenience today.
Ok, so a little more news on base cabinets today. Yesterday we looked at corners in action, today we are going to look at a real cute guy in action. (Grin). This video deserves a post all on it's own. A man who dances and cooks. I LOVE THIS! Servo drive has been around for a few years, but this video was just created in May '09. Think of the uses, even if you limit the Servo drive to just one of your hardest working drawers, imagine the convenience! With a tap from a knee or a push from the hip, no more water drips on the cabinets near the sink. No more chicken hands on your drawers or cabinet pulls.
The product is showing the new Blum Servo Drive for drawers. Drawers open automatically using an electrical drive. Sorry, cute guy not included.
If you are having trouble viewing the U Tube Video, click here:
The Kitchen Designer: Hello, this is Laurie. How may I help you?
Client: Oh Hello, before you come out to my house to take measurements, I have one other request for my kitchen design. At our first meeting you asked us if there was one primary cook or two and if we had any special needs we want you to take into consideration.
The Kitchen Designer: Yes?
Client: Well, yes, we thought about your question and realize we do have a family member that uses the kitchen quite frequently and we think we need to take his special needs into consideration.
The Kitchen Designer: Oh?
Client: Yes, you see we have a cat that won't drink from his bowl. He drinks from the kitchen faucet. Actually, our cat is very fond of water. The only problem we have with this is that he can't turn the faucet off when he's finished. We need you to help us with this. Can you specify a sensor into the faucet that will turn off when there is no motion?
The Kitchen Designer: Well... sensor faucets are on the market and they are becoming more popular...I would have to check specs to see how we could make this work...I suppose...can I get back to you with an answer?
Client: Sure, that would be fine. Here is a video we took of our cat, perhaps it would be easier if we could just show you what we mean. If you can just review this, and maybe if you can also show this around to your vendors to get the best deal, we want the faucet to be triggered by a sensor...our water bill is getting pretty high with the faucet on all day. Can you show us all the best possible options to help us out?
This is a hypothetical story, of course, using a very funny cat video submitted on line by Kim Tasky at You Tube. (She is neither a client nor the person in the above scenario.) I use this very amusing cat story to make a "tongue in cheek" point about a universal problem regarding the client-designer relationship.
The point is this: There are some clients working under the impression that Kitchen Designers should spend time on your project researching, sourcing, evaluating, planning the best possible options to incorporate a client's every last desire on the wish list before paying for services. There are no professions that work for free. So why do people expect to be dazzled with a design before paying for it? You can call a plumber for a service call and he will charge you $75.00 just for the trip charge before he pulls out his plumber's wrench.
You wouldn't call your attorney and ask him to review your lease agreement
without expecting a bill would you?
And you wouldn't tell your attorney "I want to see what ideas you can come up with first and then I will let you know if I will hire you."
Perry Mason
Kitchen Designers receive a myriad of special requests for a remodel project. Some details more complex then the next to specify and execute. And most every time, the client is on a deadline because they did not budget the time to allow for the design details to be fleshed out. All projects, no matter the size, require thought and research before recommendations can be made. Here in lies the problem. How do you value your designer's time?
How much free design do you think you are owed before paying a retainer?
Solving Design Problems: What is this service worth to you? There is a perception problem about what a design is worth to the client. Here is the issue Designers are continually facing: a prospective client has a design problem they want their Kitchen Designer to solve for them. Designers expect a prospective client to interview with two or three designers before making a final selection. Qualified designers expect to be interviewed and are able and ready to prove their qualifications to prospective clients. But ask a Designer to pull out the "dog and pony show" for you and you may get a polite response declining your request. Internally the dialogue going through that Designer's head may be something to the effect of "I have been doing this for 30 years, I don't need any more practice to prove I can design."
Ask a Kitchen Designer their opinion about "HGTV" type shows where three designers are trotted out for the client to compare three fully detailed designs and you will get very opinionated answers.
"Ideas are free but designs must be paid for." Laurie Burke
Home improvement shows have done a disservice to the design community and have built up unrealistic expectations for clients. You would be surprised to know that a majority of potential clients expect that several design options be presented in detail before paying a retainer to contract for design services. It happens at all ends of the spectrum from the high end client to the budget minded client.
A fully detailed dimensioned design plan with elevations and renderings, before a retainer is paid is just not a workable business model for designers as it involves time without money, and giving ideas away with the ‘hope’ of getting the business is just bad business.
Charles Schulz
Hiring your Kitchen Designer should be based on several factors, creativity being one if them. Secondly, the ability to complete projects in a timely manner and within budget. Third, the ability to communicate with you, your architect, your engineer, your GC or subs throughout the job as needed. Fourth, the ability to manage obstacles as they arise, and lastly the ability to see a project to it's completion.
Cute holiday story. Click on Title to link to the video. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year everyone!
For the adults, this joke below may be an oldy but a goody, but I just got this in an email, so it's new to me and and I began to read it earnestly until I realized the humor ensuing. It's good to let loose and laugh when we can. Happy Christmas!
Christmas Cookie Recipe
In case you need to make Christmas Cookies:
1 cup of water
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup of brown sugar lemon juice
4 large eggs
1 cup nuts
2 cups of dried fruit
1 bottle Jose Cuervo Tequila
Sample the Cuervo to check quality. Take a large bowl, check the Cuervo again to be sure it is of the highest quality, pour one level cup and drink. Turn on the electric mixer...Beat one cup of butter in a large fluffy bowl. Add one teaspoon of sugar...Beat again.
At this point it's best to make sure the Cuervo is still OK, try another cup. Just in case. Turn off the mixerer thingy. Break 2 leggs and add to the bowl and chuck in the cup of dried fruit. Pick the frigging fruit off floor... Mix on the turner. If the fried druit gets stuck in the beaterers just pry it loose with a drewscriver. Sample the Cuervo to check for tonsisticity.
Next, sift two cups of salt, or something. Who giveshz a sheet. Check the Jose Cuervo. Now shift the lemon juice and strain your nuts. Add one table. Add a spoon of sugar, or somefink. Whatever you can find. Greash the oven. Turn the cake tin 360 degrees and try not to fall over. Don't forget to beat off the turner. Finally, throw the bowl through the window, finish the Cose Juervo and make sure to put the stove in the dishwasher.
I have to tell you, I cracked up and giggled most of the way as Isaac gives us a tour of his kitchen. His frenetic energy is the equivalent to a double shot of espresso. Check out the video link at the side bar on the left or visit http://video.epicurious.com/.
Lessons learned from Isaac: We can all learn to live with a little dirt. Secrets kept: The contents of his refrigerator. Favorite features in his kitchen: His commercial faucet, his enamel white cabinets, the prep sink, his white Le Creuset cookware and home made mint chip ice cream.
Really a fun and creative man, definitely one you would want at a dinner party. Isaac shows that style does not mean we have to break the bank. Splurge where it's worth the investment, (the appliances and cabinets), and spend a little less in easy care changeable dinner ware and accessories that can change easily as the mood or holiday dictates.
I came across the product that can have some kitchen applications too. Cover a pantry door panel. Cover the side of a wall cabinet, add to a plain painted backsplash.
Write a grocery list, write a message, let your kids draw their art.
Each kit contains 4, 19”x24½” chalkboard panels that can be used separately or combined for a large 38”x38” chalkboard writing surface.
April is my one month Blog anniversary. This has been a fun experience blogging, sharing my passion for design and getting to know many people in the process, world wide.
What started as an experiment to log my resources and remodel tips for clients has turned into an enjoyable writing experience.
You will notice some tweaks and tune-ups as I take "baby-steps" learning to teach myself the basics of "HTML" and formatting my blog. Some attempts have not been good, losing some of my favorite links. Hopefully, I will be able to master this crazy HTML thing as time progresses.
Amana has introduced a new refrigerator with a Dry Erase surface. From jotting down a grocery list to family reminders, the Jot Dry-Erase Refrigerator lets you express yourself anyway you like, as often as you want. Just jot it down. Erase and repeat.
These book shelves are made from real books and salvaged lumber. So clever and humorous!
This is hands down my favorite quirkiest bookshelf ever. In design, as in life, no one should take themselves too seriously. This bookshelf does it for me.
Great gift idea for a loved one too. Do you have a bookshelf idea? Artist Jim Rosenau, will make custom shelves on any theme. You can begin with just one book or simply an idea you provide. For more information please visit the website This Into That.com
"Your crew was working here today with the doors open and my cat got out!"
Many of the homes we work in are in areas that abut to open space hills and canyons.
I am an animal lover myself and would be devastated if my pet wound up as lunch for some hungry coyote.
So it pains me to have to remind customers that we need you to work with us to protect your cherished pets. We are in your homes to remodel. While we are there, the area we are working in is a construction zone. We section it off with Visqueen zipper walls in many instances. In other cases, when our plastic barriers come down as we near completion, caution is still required on your part to protect your pets.
In today's instance, the dry waller had to have open doors and windows for circulation. Once it was determined that "kitty" made her escape, all hell broke loose. We worked faster than a Southern California Wildfire to get that darn cat. The Homeowners were both set to leave for work and panicked at knowing Kitty was outside and vulnerable for a coyote on the prowl. I got the call from the startled homeowners. I called my contractor and yelled at him for not letting the dry waller know about the cat in the house. He called the dry waller and yelled at him and made him start searching for Dear Kitty. The dry waller called me and said the cat walked back into the kitchen! I drove over to the house to make sure Kitty was safe and sound in an upstairs bedroom.
The moral of the story: Please make sure your pets are safe and away from the construction zone! Post signs all over your doors to make sure construction crews are aware that animals might escape from the house.
PET ALERT
A Friendly Reminder to our Clients with Pets
Pets are a cherished part of your family and we want them to be safe during remodeling. Please remember to keep pets in a separate room away from construction where they will be safe and protected during the remodel.
Although we will do our part to keep doors closed, we kindly remind our clients that a portion of your home is a construction zone and must be treated with caution. There are tools, and nails, and heavy equipment. Many times the construction crew will be opening and closing doors while working. This is a necessary part of the job and cannot be avoided.
Knowing that pets get anxious with loud sounds and new people in their home, during this stressful time you may want to pre-plan a place for your pet with food and water and bedding. Work with us by placing notices on exteriors doors reminding our crews of your little “escape artists” cats and dogs. Let’s work together and make sure that your pets are safe during a stressful time for them.
Thank you for your patience,
Management
West Coast Kitchen and Bath
Plaza Kitchens
Pancho looked at me this day when I took this picture of him, as if he was saying, "I don't know where my water bowl is....uh, uh, uh, excuse me, don't forget to make a place for my water bowl, I am so stressed with you in my house!"
Color Me Retro! Studying kitchens from previous eras is fascinating to me. You are going to love this! To know where we are going, we need to look back from where we came. Thank you KBB for bringing out photos from your archives documenting trends from past eras. I have been saving my comments on the latest trends I spotted at the Kitchen and Bath Show 2007. And what a better way to comment on trends for 2007, juxtaposed with trends of the 1950's. Have we come that far? When does a trend stop being trendy and become a classic? How can we embrace trends without dating a kitchen?
What is trendy today really has it's roots linked to our past. Take a look. Enjoy!
Pink and Blue, Oh Boy!After WWII, many bright colors were popular, as shown by this all-pink kitchen on the June 1956 cover.
Circa 2007: Pink has a new connotation. Pink is no longer a feminine color. It's in men's ties and shirts. Pink has graduated to a color for a cause. A sign of solidarity. A color that shows you are "in the pink" to support a cause. "Cook for a Cure". Caring cooks can show their support for the breast cancer movement in style. This pink mixer is called "Komen Pink". When you purchase this pink Artisan mixer, KitchenAid will donate $50 to the Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation as part of their Cook for the Cure® initiative.
For the color committed: A Pink Modern Day Kitchen featured in Martha Stewart Magazine. Trendy? Most decidedly so. For those who are a little color shy: keep the color in a drawer: pink spatulas. Trends that are allowed to wear out, allowing us not to feel bad at replacing them.
Consumers have a need for color in their kitchen. We respond to colors. Why else would Kitchen Aid produce 6 different shades of Mixers? Target (Or as it has been nicknamed "Tar-jay") allows internet shoppers to shop by color. We are color obsessed. But can we take our love of color to large ticket appliances and cabinets?Target internet ad: "Shop By Color".
Are you ready for blue? Dacor introduces Blue in its line up for 2007. Also available from Dacor: I wonder why Blue is the color appliance manufacturers are moving towards? Blue is a calming color and generally not a color to get your appetite charged. But it's everywhere in appliances. It's in the Blue Knob of Thermador ovens, inside ovens, appliances in all shades of blue. Blue is our country's favorite color. Blue is timeless.
Modern Day equivalent: Mix and match gives a nod to the 50's. This is a happy lunch room, isn't it? Makes me wanna be-bop around the kitchen, dancin' in my socks while blending a banana shake. Cool surfboard shape table. Popsicle shades of lime and cherry on the barstools. Surf Green Walls. Horizon Blue Appliances. The mix and match colors are the epitome of Pop Art. Appliances from Big Chill. Check out Fresh Produce Sportswear's headquarters! www.fpcolor.comBigchillfridge
1955 Chevrolet Bel-Air in Horizon Blue. Did the appliance industry get their cue form the auto industry? Hmm.
This RCA Whirlpool ad demonstrates mixing and matching cabinetry has long been a design element in kitchens.
Modern Day Equivalent: Mix and Match: ah-hem. Not for the faint of heart! Thank God the counters are white. I would need to hold on them to get my equilibrium back after staring at that psychedelic wall. This Designer Showhouse Kitchen, 2005, designed by Alison Spear is a mix and match of vivid lemon and lime colors shown for cabinets matching tile. Where else but in Miami. Mix and Match still a trend.
Hats off to Valcucine for mix and match with an eco-friendly twist. Valcucine exhibits red, white and blue in fashion and forward thinking design with respect to using environmentally friendly design. The 100% aluminum frame can be completely recycled. Hey! Where did the appliances go? Who wants to see them if you can hide them!
On the other hand, emphasizing just one color was also very common. Modern Day Equivalent: Blue Kitchen by Snaidero. Even if you are not ready for a blue kitchen, blue is ready for you, or aubergine, or heather...
BOLD BLUE Lapis Blue Range by Bertazzoni
For every Action there is a Reaction.
Some people think color only means BRIGHT color. But it doesn’t necessarily have to be bright. One of my eight palettes for 2007 is going to have very soft colors, which are coming back into play. Consumers say, ’All right, I have my red toaster, now I have to do something quieter.’ Lee Eiseman, internationally renowned color and design expert, executive director of the Pantone Color Institute and director of the Eiseman Center for Color Information and Training. Full article at 2007 Color Trends for the Home
SUBTLE BLUE La Cornue CornuFé range in Lavender Blue.
An AGA Cooker in Wedgewood Blue. If you would rather color your cooker Aubergine or Pistachio or Jade or Heatherand so on. AGA provides a rainbow of color options.
Also not to be outdone with new softer colors: Caesarstone has introduced new rich colors that have been muted down a bit. I love the new color: Mulberry Mist. And Espresso and Pebble. Only four percent of households had a dishwasher, at the time the ultimate luxury item, in 1956.
Modern day equivalent: It is not uncommon for kitchens to have two dishwashers.
Also not such a new idea: the higher dishwasher placement reduces bending and lifting and is a key feature in a universal design kitchen.
The Big Chill refrigerator in Classic White. The absence of color in appliances and cabinets, lets the room become a neutral backdrop for colorful collections and artwork to become the prime focus. Color comes to life in bowls, plates, kitchen accessories, small appliances, flooring, counters. A good argument for white is that it is neutral and looks absolutely fabulous with any color scheme. While a bright cherry red refrigerator becomes the rock star of this blend of wood and stainless. Eclectic Pop!
The kitchen is the destination place. After work, after school, after a night on the town. What ever your take on color for your kitchen, make color in your kitchen work for you.
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