The Center of the Home Universe

Santa Monica Kitchen
The Center of the Home Universe

by Abeer Sweis
March 28, 2019
The kitchen. Intended to be a place to prepare food, the kitchen has metamorphosed into a place for many activities, in addition to preparing food, and sometimes not even used for food prep at all (some of my New York City friends store sweaters in their kitchen cabinets and shoes in the oven!). As a place to cook, bake, eat, entertain (and store items), the kitchen is the room that all others in the house seem to revolve around spiritually and in the case of an open plan home, physically.

We thought we would list a few of the design elements that we really like in our kitchens.
  1. The sink in front of a window to take in the outdoors
  2. Radiant floor heating at that sink!
  3. A desk. A bookshelf.
  4. A pull-out trash drawer next to the sink. Or a shallow drawer above the trash for a cutting board, with a hole leading directly into the trash
  5. Counterspace, counterspace, counterspace
  6. A dishwasher in close proximity to a sink (see our blogpost from December 12, 2019 and reposted last week, “Conserving Water by Using Your Dishwasher?” for how to best use this time saving appliance!)
  7. Counter depth refrigerator. Items don’t get lost in the way back of the fridge when there is no “way back.” Or, refrigerator drawers. Look down to find items instead of looking in.
  8. “Appliance garage” to hide appliances on the countertop
  9. Few glass cabinet faces to show off the few show pieces we have. Solid cabinet faces to hide the many non-show pieces we use.
  10. Drawers instead of cabinets for pans and dishes
  11. Lots of light. Natural, task, including light under cabinets
  12. An island with seating
  13. A prep sink in the island so your back isn’t to guests while preparing food
  14. Appropriate counter slab that doesn’t stain easily by citrus, oils and wine
  15. Dishwasher and fridge panels that match the cabinets doors
  16. A downdraft or a concealed hood, each are hidden when not in use
  17. Instead of a microwave above the stove, try a microwave drawer or built-in Microwave/Oven combo and a beautiful hood over the stove instead!

If this list is not exhaustive enough to get you excited about a kitchen remodel, we can certainly provide more inspiration for your home, and kitchen, renovation. Reach to us anytime.
 
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