Posts Tagged ‘Kitchen Renovations’

The beauty of renovations is that you can fashion for yourself the kitchen you have been wishing you had since you moved into your home. You can have that extra bench space, those drawers you covet in your friends kitchen, that stove top with the industrial wok burner. However the process of designing your new kitchen comes down to more than a wish list and requires the consideration of several factors. We will try and outline some points here that you will need to address.

• Budget, Budget, Budget – So much of your design is going to be determined by the amount of money you are willing to spend.
  

  what to consider in design

• The most important part of kitchen cupboard design is to consider how food moves through the kitchen from storage to preparation to cooking and washing, etc.  As part of the plan you also want to minimise the movement triangle – fridge to sink to oven.
• The kitchen sink is usually located under the window (so you can look at things whilst washing the dishes)  The sink size being dependent on wether you are having a dishwasher or not.
• Now is the perfect time for you to vent the range hood outside, so this might put restrictions on your plan.
• Give the flooring consideration as different materials are more prone to slips and falls.
• Don’t Forget Lighting! There is nothing more frustrating than trying to cook or prepare food while you cast a shadow over your area of work
• Design a Safe kitchen, especially if there are children in the house
• If the kitchen’s sink features prominently then your bench top is King. Make sure it is large enough to accommodate your needs and situated such a focal point. It will also consist of a large amount of material, so If you are splashing out on granite pay close attention to its size and design.  Incorporate a breakfast bar?

For all enquires please contact Rosemary on 99 675 675

your chance to be unique

to produce "your" kitchen

Kitchen tiles are one of the little accents that you may apply to your kitchen to really individualise your kitchen and have it speak for you. A careful co-ordination of floors and splashbacks can draw the eye and soothe the mind, not to mention stop you from slipping and protect your walls from hot oil.

Here is where boldness pays off, a contrasting of colours or a prominent line is called for rather than uniform beige. A successful coordination means a contrast of the tiles and your cupboards/bench top. You can even use different materials and textures to effect this contrast, a healthy mix of matt, silk, gloss, natural stone, porcelain, metal and glass and don’t forget to pay attention to grout colour.

Tiles are among the best choice for your kitchen floors. If Ceramic floor tiles strike you as cold and hazardous then stone or  terracotta awaits you. The downside to these is that they are naturally porous and so naturally attract more dirt, this can be combated with the application of a sealant. And on the subject of avoiding the caking of dirt, it is best to opt for a darker grout for floor tiles so that it may show less. However, this may not fit with your design if you have opted for lighter tiles, this just means that you will be rolling up your sleeves and applying grout cleaner more often

For all enquires please contact Rosemary on 99 675 675

Cupboards, more crucial than you may have realised

When starting to plan your kitchen renovation you may get quickly waylaid by the glitz and the glamour of appliances. However a kitchen is not built around your oven, rather it is your preference for cupboards that dictates a kitchens design. This is not simply because they provide the façade for your kitchen but more because they compose the bulk of your kitchen. So let’s look at three sections of cabinets; materials, Design and functionality/features.

Materials:

Wood is the most common option as the range that it affords is staggering. It also allows for a range of budgets from cheap and nasty birch to bourgeois ebony. Metal is another viable choice which is not given to the aging/warping of wood, however it does not come with such a range of colours and styles. They are exceedingly durable but at a raise in price above wood. The cheapest option is laminate, but they come in a myriad of colours!

Design:

The design is largely constituted by the type of door panel. The most common categories are slab, raised or recessed. A Slab look makes for a clean modern look for your kitchen whereas a raised or recessed panel can give it a more traditional/country feel.

Functionality/Features:

The options here are endless but so we will just make mention of a few items to wet your appetite.

• The walk in pantry – If you have the space they are invaluable
• Soft Closing Drawers – So your pubescent offspring will never be able to close a kitchen cupboard in anger again
• Deep drawers – To store deep things, great for that ever increasing collection of canned vegetables
• Spice racks – Because nothing says OCD better than a meticulously organised spice rack
• Roll out trays in base cabinets – so that you never have to forage the dark recesses of your cupboards again
• Rubbish Bin in base cabinets – Hide them away so they don’t sully your kitchens appearance

For any and all queries about your kitchen renovation, please do not hesitate to call Rosemary on 99 675 675

If you were to wiki Mosaic (and if you are reading blogs then you are no doubt wont to) it would tell you that it “is the art of creating images with an assemblage of small pieces of colored glass, stone, or other materials”. Whilst this form of art has historically found expression in cathedrals and Roman public baths it can now be effectively used to brighten up and truly individualize your own bathroom or kitchen. Does this fall into the “trends of 2010” category? No, it is actively distancing yourself from a trend and making your own unique voice heard… or rather seen.

• Stone Mosaics are smooth and non-slippery so they are perfect for bathroom floors. A natural cascading zen flow can be fostered from pebble wash or slate, marble or travertine may be used to give the impression of natural stone
• Glass and Metal Mosaics find their place on bathroom walls and kitchen backsplashes, the pair of them (glass and metal) always conspiring to bring more space, light and colour to whatever room they grace. Common materials used here are vitreous glass and smalti (Byzantine glass).

So when you are considering your dream bathroom or kitchen renovation remember that there is the accent of mosaics available to you, truly making your dream a unique one. For any and all queries regarding mosaics and bathroom and kitchen renovations please do not hesitate to call Linda on 99 675 675

An Essential Part of any kitchen

Range hoods are essential to any kitchen. Without them you are left with a thin film of grease covering all exposed surfaces and the sound of the smoke alarm resonating in your ears. Your choice of range hood becomes more important depending on what you intend to be cooking. If lots of stir fry’s are on the menu then you will need a range hood of some force in order to remove all the airborne oils. There are essentially three types of range hood ducting options to consider when renovating your kitchen.

In ceiling

The gasses will be vented into the ceiling space. You will need to ensure sufficient airflow exists in the attic space so that the gases can get away.

Carbon filter

This will filter the gasses, oils, smoke etc and eject clean air but the filter must be changed at regular intervals.

Outer wall

Send it straight outside for mother nature to worry about, she loves it.

The ducted option (in ceiling, outer wall) is always preferable and a renovation is the perfect time to knock a hole in the wall and not have to replace a carbon filter ever again.  Hollywood Bathrooms and Kitchens have all the trades to ensure that the work will occur without hassles and all under one project manager.

For any and all enquiries about range hood installation call Linda on 99 675 675

only the pan acts as a heating element

A current may not immediately conjure up an image of safety in a kitchen. Those that have ever dabbled in physics may well be familiar Eddy and any of you who have ever braved a roller coaster have most likely been in his safe hands.

In short, by varying an electromagnetic field we induce a current in an inductor whose field opposes our electromagnetic field. To the layman, it heats your saucepan and only your saucepan, the plate does not get hot. The saucepan itself is now the cooking element.

No more leaving the plate on, itching for some innocent to rest their elbow upon it, your stove now simply wills water into boiling. So, yes, you can put rubber stops on all your corners and child lock the cupboards below the sink but here is an element of kitchen safety that is a hell of a lot cooler. Add to this that the surface is not as hot as electric or gas  and so a spillage will not remain baked on for further generations to discern your eating habits.

Besides the safety element here are some pros and cons of induction cook tops

Pros

• Change heat instantly and precisely
• No wasted heat (for those who are green minded)

Cons

• Your cooking saucepans etc have to be made of conductive material
• They are pricier than your average gas or electric cooker

For any and all enquiries regarding the installation of an induction cook top into your new kitchen renovation please do not hesitate to call Linda on 99 675 675

When you’re thinking about redesigning your kitchen the most important consideration is the layout of the main work areas in connection to each other. This is known as the ‘work triangle’.

Making sure that you have the most efficient use of space between your sink, fridge and cooktop is the best starting point when you’re looking at a new design. Think about how often you move between each of these spaces in your kitchen, and what practical considerations you need to take account of, for instance, draining cooked pasta – travelling from one side of the kitchen to the other with a pot of boiling hot water may not be the idea solution. Realestate.com.au has a comprehensive article on how to work out your kitchen layout efficiently and effectively, taking natural flow into consideration.

Sometimes you are dictated by existing services such as plumbing and electricity supplies which may be too costly to relocate. However, if you can factor this into your kitchen renovation budget without exceeding what you’re comfortable with, it is a good idea to start from scratch so that you can get the most efficient, as well as aesthetically pleasing end result. Remember, your kitchen is a significant investment in your home, and it’s a space you use most often. Getting it right can dictate how you feel about being in your home.

You need to be sensible about your new kitchen design in terms of budget, finishes and, especially layout. But, don’t be in a hurry to simply change everything about your existing kitchen. Even if you don’t like the way your kitchen looks, the original designer may have already taken all the practical use issues into consideration and reinventing the wheel may not give you a better solution.

It’s important to really think about how the existing kitchen works or doesn’t work, and practical usage of the kitchen is the only way to find out. This is especially true if you have just moved into your house. If you’re not replacing the kitchen before you move in, take the time to use it as you plan to in the future, at different times of the day. This will give you an indication of where the light falls, both natural and electric, as well as knowing whether the existing layout is functional and practical.

If you have any concerns or questions about the practical considerations for your kitchen, just call Andre on 9967 5675

Linda
Hollywood Bathrooms & Kitchens

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