These ink woodblock aprons from DwellStudio do it for me. Simple patterns & colors. I especially like the black & white Ink Woodblock one (the first in the line above).
100% Linen, toxic free inks. Available at Unica Home. [via the ever awesome KitchenVote]
I can’t decide how I feel about this kitchen. Maybe that is how the designer felt while picking colors for it?
Still, I think I like it. The predominant white in the room eases the chaos of multiple colors. And the colors themselves are nicely harmonic. The wood floor brings in an unpolished element that contrasts well with the clean cabinet design itself.
I’m guessing there are appliances somewhere not shown in this image.
What do you think?
Induction cooktops, microwaves, ice makers, autoclaves
Ok, so maybe not autoclaves. No doubt, all of the above improve how we get things done in a kitchen. They make surface heating more efficient, save time, and free us of multiple steps.
But how far should it really go?
When I was in my 20′s I couldn’t have cared less about cooking, recipes, eating in, or worst of all, figuring out what to have for dinner.
Actually, I spent the least amount of time in the kitchen then. Unless it was to get another beer out of the fridge, or heat up last night’s pizza.
I wished for a food replicator on more than one occasion: simple, quick, done!
Now, when I have the time, I enjoy concocting new things to eat. It makes the kitchen smell great. It has made me try new foods & drinks. Who hasn’t loved walking into the house Thanksgiving Day & smelling dinner for hours before you actually eat?
I’ve long believed in the cathartic benefits of making things. Meals and drinks are no exception. In fact, the fewer ingredients, the more fun it is to come up with something palatable.
We were low on food during our beach trip, & didn’t want to order or go out. So I crushed some pistachios & sprinkled them over a layer of cream cheese on a cracker. I officially named that little experiment Business on a Cracker, by the way. We still make it – even when we’re not short of ingredients!
As I type this, a frozen chicken & cheese burrito is in the microwave. When I don’t have time – or don’t feel like it – I’ll take a shortcut as quickly as the next guy.
Recently there were several blogposts about Ikea’s vision for the kitchen of the future. Researchers polled 1,895 people aged 18 to 65-plus years old in the United Kingdom, including Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland about their opinions of kitchens of the future. Their conclusion? It will be
We’ve been working hard on those first three, especially in the last 5 years. And I can totally see the benefits of nutrition guidance and cleaning assistance.
But I don’t think that user involvement should be reduced in food prep, & I definitely don’t want something thinking for me based on my biorhythms & lingering road rage.
Food is one of the strongest & most important connections we have to the Earth. We watch our garden each year, eagerly looking for that first tomato, waiting for the lettuce to get big enough to pluck a few leaves, cheering on the ladybugs, and cursing the rabbits. We nourish it. Then it nourishes us.
Every spring I watch the calendar for the availability of strawberries & blueberries. In the fall, it’s apples and squash. In winter, the farmer’s market is a treat for eggs and locally raised meats.
All of that comes to the same place: the kitchen. Then, we clean it & store it & plan how to eat it & when.
In times where we feel we have so little control over life, we should always have the ability to choose what/how/when we eat. We shouldn’t relinquish this earth connection to machines – unless we choose to for that situation.
If so, we want to hear about it. Good, bad & ugly. Some of the most difficult things to convey about kitchen remodeling are
Was it easy as pie? Did you get a divorce because of it? Was it worth the effort & time? Did you save a significant amount of money? Most of all, would you do it again?
Or would you rather gouge your eyes out with a rusty spoon before you do another kitchen remodel yourself?
I’ll be the first to say the photos aren’t the best – I need a wide angle to really do it justice. Here we go:
This kitchen had generic crap cabinets with minimal storage & drawers.
We took advantage of the 10′ ceilings in the space & ran a second level of wall cabinets. Also of note:
*Editor’s note: This post was lost when we revamped the site about 3 months ago. Here it is again for those who may not have seen it the first time.*
We designed & installed our own kitchen last November. The old one was 14 years old, and I needed an Ikea kitchen to use & show off. So here it is, with custom wall cabinet doors, a wine cubby, some floating shelves & some really happy owners.
Cramped. Dead end. Dark. Raised panel tiredness. Not inviting. Small. Insanity provoking.
Open circulation. Well lit. Ample storage. Energy Star appliances. Green finishes. Easy to use, even with multiple people, dogs & cats. Great kitchen design for parties.
I can say firsthand that living in & using this kitchen daily for 6 months now has been a pleasure, to say the least. It’s modern, usable, easy on the eyes, and the oven & dishwasher doors no longer hit each other.
If you’re ready for a modern kitchen, we’re ready for you.
Kitchen: Before
Kitchen: After
Chop, chop. That’s what this plan was before we opened it up & made that whole end of the house one flowing social & eating area.
Modernized, updated, lots of natural light & free circulation really makes the kitchen, dining, & living room the hub of the first floor of this house.
I worked with the ever talented Susan Tollefsen (interior color scheme) and Tamara Clark (wall murals), had a great time, & look forward to many more projects with these ladies.
One Whole Kitchen. Assembly Required.Nice post over on IkeaFans on the beginning of the assembly & installation process of an IKEA kitchen.
The average Ikea kitchen for most of our Raleigh area projects arrives in about 110 flat packed boxes. If it’s a large kitchen it can be upwards of 140 boxes.
The beauty of flat packing is reduction of space required to ship. And to store while it awaits assembly. Even our largest kitchens can hang out in a space about equivalent to a small car.
They expand when assembled!
What to do with all that cardboard? We recycle it for our clients as part of our assembly & installation services. Heck, one of our clients kept all of their cardboard packaging to use as weed control on their edible landscaped front yard!
From 1940 to 2009
We’re updating a kitchen in a 1940′s house that currently has solid pine paneling. The room gets fantastic light, as it faces south, but the paneling is quite dark & the room is already fairly tight. So we’re taking most of the paneling out & replacing with wallboard. The flooring is sheet vinyl which has held up amazingly well, but the pattern is dated & we’re going with a modern look & opening up the kitchen to the dining area.
Specs
Demo is in about 2 weeks, & I’ll be collecting pictures. Until then, here’s a rundown of what’s tentatively going in:
The warmth will come from the birch veneer and the cork flooring, lighting, accessories like utensils & towels, the red in the backsplash, dinnerware, and food itself.
Stay tuned for updates!
Pretty self explanatory redesign of an existing kitchen that was extremely cramped, inefficient, and isolated from the living area. This project is in a single story condo, and is currently entering the construction phase.
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