Creating the Perfect Small Kitchen

Creating the Perfect Small Kitchen - Ian Grainger

When it comes to a small kitchen then performance is key. Using some serious planning, clever fittings and a design that suits your way of life and how you cook - rustic, modern or a mixture - your new kitchen can be incredibly useful and attractive. In addition, your small kitchen will not need many units, so you can spend more on high quality finishes to make it look even better.
For even greater utility, look out for scaled down, smaller versions of full-size appliances. These will provide you with the same level of performance and save you space for more storage. Slimline dishwashers are a prime example of the kind of appliances you'll want to have in your kitchen interior design.

Adding Space To Your Space
Before you get started looking at breathtaking designs in brochures and showrooms, take a look at the kitchen you have now and decide what you can change immediately. Consider things like ditching or moving bulky items to another room, replacing your washing machine and tumble dryer with a washer dryer, moving the sink to a better position. Would it be possible to expand your kitchen into a different room or build an extension to increase your available space? Even think about freeing up space by binning everything you simply never use - old blenders and other kitchen appliances are commonly found tucked at the back of a cupboard!

Create A Layout Based On How You Work
Now you're ready to start planning your kitchen interior design, grab a piece paper (check out the back of Ikea's kitchen brochure for the ideal one!) and mark windows, doors, power points and pipes so you can plan out your units.

You'll need work surfaces for food preparation, a unit for your sink, space for your hob, oven, microwave and fridge (freezer) - and bear in mind you're likely to have your kettle, bread bin and some utensils on your worktops so plan spare space for those too.

Keep the oven and sink 40cm from the corners, and away from doorways. If you're including tall units, put them at the end of a run, again to maximise worktop space. A corner sink looks good and frees up worktop space elsewhere. It's easy to mark out units on a plan, but always bear in mind that the people using the room are just as important - the cook not only takes up quite a bit of space but also needs room to manoeuvre and to open doors and drawers.

A Good Look For Your Kitchen
Keep your unit fronts the same - same design AND same type. A row of all-doors or all-drawers will look best in the small kitchen, while unit widths should be of a standard size and where this isn't possible, the other size should be at the end of a row - this looks far better than a mix.

You can't do without wall units in a small kitchen, they are a must for storage, but that doesn't mean they have to be on every wall. Pick one or two walls at the most and, if you can, consider using shelving instead as this can be even more attractive and certainly less obtrusive. As far as the doors on your units go, carousels and doors that lift up rather than out will take up less space and look better to boot.

Getting It Done
You're now ready to head out and get your kitchen interior design properly planned and implemented. Unless you fancy tackling the job yourself, use a reputable kitchen designer and fitter as this is one room you won't get a second chance with!

Feng Shui Colour for your Kitchen

Feng Shui Colour for your Kitchen

In Feng Shui the colours and tones you use and blend together can create a serene calm place to cook and socialise in or a fiery hot and exciting place to work. Understanding this can help to create the perfectr kitchen for the mood and ambiance you seek to create. Ignorance of this could lead to creating a kitchen that may look beautiful but feel uncomfortable to cook and entertain in.

Feng Shui Colours

Red colour signifies richness and luxury. Used sparcely and carefully in your decor with accessories and details in offers that spice which your kitchen might need. However, too much red will create a kitchen which is hotter than raw chillis creating restlessness and irritation.

Yellow color signifies the energy of the Fire in a much subtler way than red; it can be used in much larger quantities as it helps to strengthen well being and confidence thus it is an all round pleasant colour to use in your kitchen.

Green color is calming for your nerves and good for your well being. It helps to create healing feng shui vibrations from Mother Nature. In order to maximise the effect of green use various shades as you would find in a peaceful forest of woodland.

Black color reperesents the feminine. passive energy that moves like the deep ocean waters which it also represents. Black signifies strength and grounding and can be used sparingley to emphasize other colours in your kitchen.

The colour white signifies cleanliness, freshness and crispness. It calms the psyche and spreads healing feng shui vibrations with your kitchen.

The colour blue signifies healing, refreshing waters and clear skies. Light blue is color of harmony and gentle growth, while darker blue represents deep calm and serenity. Blue works well with white.
 

The colour orange creates the feng shui energy to promote lively conversations and good times in your kitchen. This is an excellent colour for kitchens where family and friends can sit down and socialise as it is a socialising colour. On cloudy days or during winter it is a warm colour.

The colour purple represents spirituality and is very strong colour which like black shoud be used with moderation. 

The colour brown is a feng shui color choice for the main entry of the kitchen, or as a feature wall. It is natural and nourishing colour.



 

Kitchen Remodeling: Diy Or Professional?

By Carrol Wagner

Are you a homeowner?  More importantly, are you a homeowner who would like to have your kitchen remodeled? Whether you are looking for a change or looking to redo a poor quality kitchen, you may seriously be thinking about kitchen remodeling. Once you have officially decided that you would like to have your kitchen remodeled, you will need to decide how that remodeling will occur.  When it comes to kitchen remodeling, you can remodel your own kitchen or hire a professional to do it for you.

With kitchen remodeling, one of the most popular remodeling methods is self remodeling.  Self remodeling is when a homeowner decides to do their own remodeling themselves, without professional assistance.  If you are tying to decide whether or not you should do you own kitchen remodeling, it may be a good idea to examine the advantages and disadvantages of doing so. You will find that there are a number of advantages to doing your own kitchen remodeling, but you will also find that there are a number of disadvantages as well.

One of the most common reasons why homeowners choose to do their own kitchen remodeling is because of the cost. When it comes to hiring a professional contractor, the cost will vary, but it is sometimes quite high. That cost often does not include the cost of supplies and materials; however, if it does you will easily be able to notice because the overall cost will be high.  If you are able perform your own kitchen remodeling repairs, you may be able to save yourself a fairly large amount of money.  One of the reasons for that is the fact that you only have to pay for your supplies and materials.  If you are looking for a low-cost way to remodel your kitchen, self remodeling may be the way to go.

In addition to saving money, self remodeling is also preferred by homeowners because it enables them repair or remodel their kitchen anyway that they see fit. If you hire a professional contractor to remodel your kitchen for you, they will be using your ideas and suggestions; however, last minute changes are sometimes frowned upon and they may even cost you money.  If you are doing your own kitchen remodeling, you will not have this problem. You can change your mind about any aspect of your remodeling project at anytime, rarely with any consequences.

As previously mentioned, there are a number of advantages and disadvantages to doing your own kitchen repairs.   Although it is nice to save money and be able to have complete control over your kitchen remodeling project, you will find that it often takes a lot of time to do your own kitchen remodeling.  Professional contractors are not only good at what they do, but they are also experienced. That is one of the reasons why they are able to complete most of their jobs in no time at all.  If you do not have any home improvement or remodeling experience, the job could take you twice as long, if not longer, to complete.  If you are limited on the amount of time that you have available or if you have a deadline, you may find it difficult or impossible to do your own kitchen repairs.

In addition to the time it takes, when deciding whether or not you should do your own remodeling, it is important to consider the damage that can be done.  It is no secret that it isn\'t always easy to remodel anything, let alone a kitchen. The difficultly will all depend on which areas of your kitchen you plan on remodeling.  If you do not have home improvement or remodeling experience, you need to be careful with how you approach the situation. A quality remodeling project is likely to increase the value of your home, but a poor one may reduce the value of it. That is something many homeowners do not realize or even think about it.

As you can see, there are a number of advantages and disadvantages to doing your own kitchen remodeling.  In addition to the above mentioned factors, it is also important to take the size of your project into consideration. If you are only doing a small project, such as replacing your kitchen sink, it may be a good idea to take the time to familiarize yourself with the process instead of automatically making the decision to pay a professional.



Kitchen Remodeling Books: Worth The Money?

Kitchen Remodeling Books: Worth The Money?

by Jorge

Each year, thousands, if not millions, of Americans make the decision to remodel their kitchens.  Kitchen remodeling can include something as simple as replacing your kitchen sink, but it can also include something extravagant, such as changing around your whole kitchen, from the lights all the way down to your flooring.  As nice as it is to have your kitchen remodeled, it can get fairly expensive.  That is why a large number of homeowners make the decision to do their own remodeling.  When doing so, many turn to kitchen remodeling books for assistance, but are they really worth the money?
Before you can begin to determine whether or not kitchen remodeling books are really worht the money, it is important to examine exactly what they are.  Kitchen remodeling books, also commonly reffered to as kitchen remodeling how-to guides, are books that are designed to help readers know as much as they can about remodeling their kitchens.  It is not uncommon for a kitchen remodeling book to be filled with directions, including step-by-step pictures, lists of materials needed, as well as safety tips.  Kitchen remodeling books also come in a number of different formats.  it is not uncommon to finda kitchen remodelling book that focuses on a number of kitchen remodeling projects or a book that just focuses on one project.

Now that you know what kitchen remodeling books or kitchen remodeling how-to guides are, you can begin to examine whether or not they are really worth the money.  Perhaps, the easies way to do this is to determine what you need to learn how to do.  For instance, if you would only like to remodel your kitchen by replacing your kitchen countertops, it may be worthless to purchase a big kitchen remodeling book, one that focuses on a number of different remodeling projects.  Your money may be better spent purchasing a kitchen remodeling book that has a specific focus on kitchen countertop installations.  When installing your new counters, or just about anything else for that matter, you will often find that there is more than one way to do something.  A detailed kitchen remodeling book, one that focuses on one project in particular, may help to give you more options.

When determining whether or not kitchen remodeling books are worth the money, it is also important to focus on what can be found inside them.  Many times, you will find tha most kitchen remodeling books come with wrriten directions, as well as step-by-step pictures.  Although step-by-step pictures are nice, not all books have them.  If you need to see pictures of what you are doing, you will not want to waste your money on a kitchen remodeling how-to guide that does not include pictures.  Also if you are looking for directions on how to do a certain project, such as replacing your sink, you will want to make sure that the book you are about to purchase has exactly what you need. 

Unfortunately, too many homeowners mistakenly believe that a kitchen remodeling book has exactly what they need inside of it.  That is why it is important that you know what you are buying.

The cost of a kitchen remodeling book will also have an impact on whether or not is worth it.  Depending on where you shop, you should be able to find a collection of low-cost and affordable kitchen how-to guides.  Kitchen remodeling how-to guides can be purchased online, from most book stores and home improvement stores.  You can easily find kitchen remodeling books that sell for as low as ten dollars and some that sell for as high as fifty.  What is nice about purchasing kitchen remodeling books is that you can decide what you want to buy, as well as how much you are willing to pay for it.
Since there are a number of advantages and disadvantages to using kitchen remodeling books, you will need to make your own decision.  If you have little or no kitchen remodeling experience, you may find that a kitchen remodeling how-to guide is more than worth the money.

About the Author
Jorge Ribeiro writes product reviews,you could see some of his reviews at the following sites:
Presto Pressure Cooker
Presto Deep Fryer

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