love your kitchen

Homeowners seem to agree that the kitchen is where everyone wants to be these days. The evidence is in the growing number of kitchen designers, home plans with large, open spaces, and kitchen products that suit every taste. There are thousands of design combinations that all yield different results, so take the time to think about the statement you want to make in this living area while keeping a few golden rules in mind.

No matter how hard you try to coax guests to other rooms of the house, they will always end up in the kitchen. Why is that? The kitchen is comfortable and inviting. It is where all the action takes place...cooking, cleaning, tasting, laughing. Guests will happily lean against countertops, prop on bar stools and gather around an island bar to be entertained by their host.

In olden days, the kitchen was actually separate from the main living area. Today it is the center of the home. The place where everyone wants to be and hang out. For this reason, owners are making it more of a living space and giving their kitchens a lot more thought.

Fall in love with your kitchen by carefully designing it to meet your needs while pleasing your appetite for a beautiful, livable space. Here are six key ingredients for mixing up a plan you will love whether you are remodeling or starting from scratch.

find a focal point

There are endless possibilities for designing and decorating a kitchen, but taking the first step can be as simple as determining the space's primary focal point. Each room in your home has an area of emphasis that stands out when you first walk in to it, and the kitchen is no different. The focal point is usually something that is functional, yet eye-pleasing in its intended space. In a family room, it might be an attractive fireplace. In a dining room, it could be a unique table. In the kitchen, it could be an island that casually pulls a family together, a window with a fantastic view, a gleaming, stainless steel pot rack, or a beautifully crafted glass tile backsplash.

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Since the focal point's purpose is to be a visual anchor for the room, it will affect the selection and placement of other items in the room, such as fixtures, furnishings, lighting, paint and upholstery. You should also keep in mind that permanent fixtures and appliances should be balanced and proportionate to the focal point. Variety and contrast as well as repetition are key to balancing the remaining room with your focal point. For example, if you've chosen to emphasize an island with a stainless steel countertop, it would be a good idea to include some other shiny, silver-colored elements throughout the kitchen - perhaps drawer pulls or appliances. Or maybe your focal point is a colorful, hand-painted backsplash set off by architectural elements, in which case you might repeat the color elsewhere in the kitchen. The ultimate idea is to create a room where the focal point grabs your attention when you first walk in and then encourages you to continue appreciating the rest of the room.

gather 'round

For centuries, the kitchen table has been a fixture no kitchen could be without. Not only a place to sit and visit with a cup of coffee, this icon was also used for food preparation, homework projects, canning and preserving, even wrapping Christmas presents. Today, the traditional kitchen table is often replaced by the kitchen island. Serving many of the same functions, the modern island is better suited as a multi-use area. It can still have seating on one side to preserve its use as a conversation and eating area, but the height, storage, and fixture options make the modern island a much smarter choice for the busy family kitchen.

directing traffic

Recent years have seen kitchens transform to larger, more serviceable spaces that cater to a variety of tasks. As a result the basic "kitchen triangle" has become an outdated notion. Still, there is a need to direct the flow of traffic within the room, and there is one basic fact that remains: kitchens are only as good as they are functional. If your kitchen does not have ample room to plan, create and cleanup after a meal, while still allowing room for socialization, then you'll end up wishing you didn't have to spend time there. To combat this issue the best kitchens are divided into zones, each having its own work counter, storage space and appliances. Arranging these zones to work together efficiently is one of the most important elements in the design of a modern kitchen.

There are three basic zones that should be included in every kitchen: a food-storage zone, a food preparation zone and a cleanup zone. If you find that these areas are often doubling up in your kitchen, odds are preparing a meal is a chore at your house. The key is subtle divisionÐbeing able to work in more than one area at any given time.

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The food storage zone contains all of your basic food items, including canned goods, dry goods, perishables, refrigerated foods and bulk storage. In your kitchen layout, it should be placed near the Preparation and Cooking zones, and should be easily accessible for unloading groceries. If you are in the kitchen planning stage, group the pantry and refrigerator together so you can gather ingredients without affecting other zones.

The food preparation zone is the most commonly ignored area, yet the most necessary. This zone should have a large cutting surface, a prep sink, storage areas, a stove and an oven. Today's modern kitchens often incorporate the food preparation area with an island and adjacent counter space. If cooking is a gourmet affair at your house, a food preparation zone can include special task areas like those for making pasta or bread. For each specialty, allow ample counter space as well as storage space for cutting, mixing and cooking tools. Finally, the food preparation zone should have some designated counter space for arranging food on plates before taking them to the table.

The cleanup zone should have a counter for stacking dirty dishes as they come from the table and a large sink for washing, scraping and rinsing any dishes that go into the nearby dishwasher. This zone is also the best place to store dishes, glasses, cups and flatware as they come out of the dishwasher. Any recycling or trash bins should be within this zone area.

If you have an existing kitchen and it seems too congested there is still hope. Sometimes creating zones is as simple as moving small appliances, clearing cluttered countertops, or moving items to different cabinets.

great appliances

While everyone is hanging out in the kitchen enjoying themselves, don't forget that the work going on behind the scenes is largely being done by your appliances. Your kitchen may be the envy of the neighborhood by its looks, but without durable, well-chosen appliances, its just a pretty picture.

When shopping for appliances look for products that meet your energy use and water waste expectations. Initially youÕll need to decide what level of quality you want for your appliances. Appliances are referred to as either "commodity" or "high end". The sticker price is a good indication of which you are looking at. Equipment should last 20 years or longer making a strong argument for high-end, commercial grade items like cooktops and ovens, ranges and refrigerators. These have become popular for use in homes due to their durability, unique look and gourmet-type cooking features, but you'll have to weigh in the cost as they can be quite pricey.

Consumers are also opting for built-in appliances. Refrigerators and dishwashers that are flush with cabinetry and concealed with matching cabinet doors streamline a kitchen. Stainless steel appliances are still popular, too, but there is a new trend for color. Glass-front panels are now available in many designer colors and images.

Other trendy new items include: "dishdrawers" with independent drawers that allow you to use two different cycles at one time; microwaves that cook, grill and bake with oven-quality results; high-tech, high-style range hoods with function and form; and high tech refrigerators with LCD screens and internet connection.

complete the look

Details provide the true essence of any room in the house, and the kitchen is certainly no exception. Nothing says wow! like quality fixtures and finishes, so take advantage of these items to make a beautiful room and express your personality.

Cabinets and countertops are the most noticeable features of a kitchen, so design your room around them. Small touches like crown molding, glaze finishes, glass panels, drawer pulls and knobs go a long way in making the kitchen a room that feels pleasant and comfortable or modern and chic. For an nontraditional look, try mixing cabinet colors, heights and materials. Your kitchen will take on the aspect of a living space put together over time instead of a functional, cooking only space.

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Countertops are now available in all kinds of natural stone and man-made finishes. People are experimenting with a variety of materials like finished concrete inlaid with objects such as broken wine bottles or oyster shell, solid surfaces made of recycled paper and natural resin, and polished metal.

Once you have set the tone with cabinets, countertops and architectural elements, the rest should follow naturally. Light fixtures, decorative items and bar stools should pull the room together bridging the gap between built-in basics and your own flair for living.

light up the room

Before the kitchen became a hub of activity where everyone wanted to congregate, fluorescent lights ruled the room. Now with bigger kitchens that often spill over into seating areas, owners are finding that natural light brings out the best of a kitchen and fixtures with warm lighting are the perfect supplement. Warm tone lights provide a comforting glow that brings out the true hue of any wood finishes, wall colors, or decorative items. Mixing light types and intensities is acceptable and often preferred since some areas of the kitchen are meant to be brighter than others. Xenon lighting is best for under cabinet lighting; warm, incandescent bulbs makes them a good choice for overall, general lighting; and halogen lights are perfect for accenting artwork, treasured items or corner seating areas. The best display of character will be in light fixtures found over eating areas or island bars. A myriad of globes and fixtures are available to express your taste whether funky, elegant, modern or traditional.

With the proper lighting, you'll find the kitchen is the perfect place to show off your favorite collections, artwork or keepsakes and memorabilia. Use shelving, glass front cabinets, or antique furniture to display items that you love. In this conversation-oriented room these treasures will give you plenty of things to talk about.

all in the details

It's the little things that make a kitchen shine. All it takes is one element to change a room from ordinary to fabulous.It is amazing how light fixtures can change a room's looks. The pattern in these fixtures is repeated elsewhere in the dining area providing some consistency in both rooms. Countertops come in a variety of materials. Solid surface has become the most popular due to its durability and beautiful finish. As owners experiment, look for countertops in nontraditional materials like concrete, resin and metal. A tiled backsplash makes an instant focal point. You can create a design or keep it simple with colored glass tiles. Either way makes a work of art that is sure to attract attention.

To really frame a tiled backsplash you need a beautiful range hood. With cooktops getting larger, hoods are taking on a more prominence in the kitchen. By disguising the working parts of the hood, it becomes an extension of the cabinetry.