Of course we know the obvious benefit, that range hoods ventilate odor and smoke from the kitchen. Range hoods also prevent grease deposits from forming all over your kitchen, and suck away the heat that emanates from the stove, which is particularly nice in summer. Best of all, the ventilation prevents that awful chain of events in my apartment where the room gets all misty, the smoke alarm goes off, and the old woman downstairs starts slamming her broom and screaming, shaking the floorboards beneath my feet. Ha! Yes, this is the torment I live with. Fortunately, I have a range hood that can prevent the whole thing.
In many cultures around the world and throughout history, bathing has been a ritualistic act. A bath cleanses impurities and calms the spirit. Immersing oneself in water can feel exhilarating beyond belief. In the twenty-first century, we have the technology to make our bathing experiences transcendent every time. Here is my recipe for a perfect bath that will make you feel rejuvenated, happy, and healthy.
Squeaky Clean Utilities
Yearning for some extra surface area for food prep? If your kitchen table is perpetually covered in mail and sweaters, you might enjoy having a breakfast nook for backup. A
kitchen island provides extra room and storage. You can start a wine cabinet, use the drawers for your more ambiguous utensils, or install a stove top and a
range hood above to add intimacy to the kitchen workspace.
[caption id="attachment_479" align="aligncenter" width="400" caption="Island Complete with Stools, Stove and Range Hood"]
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Have you been splashing water on the floor so much the linoleum is starting to warp? Do you find yourself calling the plumber twice a week and facing his judgmental glare? It's not you. It's the
sink. And don't worry. There's a way out.
[caption id="attachment_500" align="aligncenter" width="225" caption="Mopping Up Kitchen Sink Mess"]
luxury sink faucets come from a manufacturer that ensures supreme quality.
Rohl products are designed for perfection. My aim today is getting into the knitty gritty of what makes Rohl's products so superior to other kitchen sinks. To start, you can rest a little easier knowing that this company only puts out sink faucets that are lead free by CA, VT regulations. The faucets do not allow more than five parts per billion of lead into drinking water. The company makes it their goal to protect our children and the environment from lead poisoning.
[caption id="attachment_656" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Pullout Sink Faucet From The De...
Once you have the right tools, installing
knobs and pulls in the kitchen is a breeze. Drawers and cabinets achieve a brand new look with only a couple hours of work. Its much less expensive than replacing the counter tops or building an island. However, unless you are just replacing old knobs with new ones, you will need a power drill, a ruler and a pencil.
[caption id="attachment_901" align="aligncenter" width="323" caption="Knobs and Pulls Cabinet Hardware"]
steam heads, and although it might feel more intense than a sauna at first, it is actually a little bit cooler.
[caption id="attachment_969" align="aligncenter" width="384" caption="Steam Room in Master Bathroom"]
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Your steam shower at home must be sealed in by vapo...
[caption id="attachment_990" align="aligncenter" width="382" caption="French Country Kitchen"]
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You can capture the beauty of Aix-en-Provence in a single room, feel connected to nature and civility all at once, and sense the nostalgia for the past that still lingers in France. But how can you really know where to begin when remodeling a kitchen to be French Country? I will aim to answer the question with pictures and examples, what is the essence of French Country?
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A good bathroom should be, above all else, comfortable. So while I tend to favor a more modern, minimalist design in other rooms, the bathrooms I like best always have a quaint, country style. The combination of slightly rustic furnishings, light, welcoming colors, and
vintage fixtures alway...
It used to be that kitchens were places reserved solely for food preparation, off limits to guests and family members alike. Food was served at a set time in a separate room; whatever magic went into making it was a mystery to the people eating it. But the modern American kitchen is a very different one. With our busy schedules and a steadily increasing number of homes with both parents working, it can be hard to find time to share at all - let alone produce big multi-course dinners. This shift is reflected in the changing style of kitchens, which are larger and more open, inviting family and friends to participate in food preparation or simply gather everyone together while the cooks do their thing. Maybe the most important key to making the kitchen a hospitable ...
Kitchen remodels have always been the strangest ones for me. You see, I really love to cook, but cooking is
messy, and splattering spaghetti sauce on a kitchen that otherwise looks like it belongs in a magazine doesn't quite sit right with me. A few years back, a relative of mine did a whole
kitchen remodel - Viking appliances, granite counter tops, and beautiful cherry woodwork. It looked so pretty when it was all done that no one wanted to spoil it by using it. That's why I prefer a slightly more rustic farmhouse or cottage style kitchen - a room that focuses on simple elegance and functionality rather than pomp and circumstance.
[caption id="attachment_1626" align="aligncenter" width="30...
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When planning a kitchen remodel, choosing some of the smaller elements - like the kitchen faucet and kitchen sink - can be daunting, if only for the sheer number of options available. Even if you have a specific style in mind, there are so many slight variations, both in price and the fixtures themselves, that it can be difficult even to know where to start. It can be tempting to go with a brand you know - a very common household name like
Delta, or
Kohler - but taking the time to shop smaller, niche manufacturers like
Ar...
When people talk about cooktops, it's typically in binary terms: electric or gas. But there's a third option that's starting to make its way onto that list: induction cooktops. These alternative cooktops are extremely energy efficient, using electromagnetic power to heat your food, which offers a whole range of benefits over traditional electric or gas units. Induction cooking isn't new technology by any means - major manufacturers have been experimenting with induction cooktops for almost a hundred years - but it's only just starting to come to the fore. Advancements in recent years have made induction stoves more affordable to buy and more competitive to use. But what are they exactly, and why are they better?
1. Induction Cooktops Use Magnetic Power To Heat Only What You Want...
With kitchens trending larger and larger and the move toward more open floor plans, the
kitchen is increasingly becoming the center of the home. Large kitchen islands, rather than separate dining areas, allow you to entertain while you cook and clean, enabling your chef to be part of the party... and for the party to offer a helping hand. With that in mind, it only makes sense to show your
kitchen island a little love with an island light. Good
cooking appliances - from your standard ovens and ranges to microwaves, toasters, slow cookers, grills, rotisseries, deep fat friers, steamers, and toaster ovens. For every type of cooking and every kitchen application, there's a unique piece of machinery to do the job.
AGA seeks to consolidate all that functionality into a single appliance. Their kitchen ranges are custom designed to be the right size and produce the right temperature and type of heat for a huge variety of applications, and are made with interchangeable parts so you can get exactly the functionality ...
Having the right
lighting in your kitchen is incredibly important. Especially in a larger kitchen, or one where you do a lot of entertaining, just your standard bank of fluorescent lights probably isn't going to cut it. Good
kitchen lighting comes in layers - that means different types of light different quantities of light, and light in a lot of different areas, not just in the center of your kitchen. Adding more light to your kitchen makes it feel warm, open, and inviting. One of my...
The days of the formal dining room are, for better or for worse, in the rear-view mirror. These days, if you do a lot of entertaining, chances are it's in your
kitchen, not in a separate room. The kitchen is becoming a larger and more open space, not one where one person cooks in isolation but an area where families and friends can talk, eat, and drink together. Of course, this shift means that many of the old stand-by
appliances might not be enough anymore. Most notably, wine coolers and built in wine cellars are quickly becoming a must-have in high end kitchen remodels.
[caption id="attachment_3200" alig...
One of the biggest problems with modern bathroom vanities - and, really, modern bathroom design as a whole - is that the minimal design and industrial palette tend to err a little on the side of stark, cold, and even sterile. That said, if you give your bathroom design a creative eye, it's more than possible to create a modern decor that's
warm and inviting rather than a little alien. The best, most important first step is to choose modern bathroom vanities that are either made from
appliances, granite or concrete counters, and modular MDF cabinetry. But if you like something a little homier, or if you live in an older home where a modern decor just wouldn't jive, it might be time for you to consider investing in vintage kitchen appliances. Done right, a retro kitchen is warm, inviting, and looks and feels just like old fashioned home cooking. The Classic Collection from Heartland Appliance offers a whole range of vintage kitchen appliances designed to do exactly that: to take you back to home cooked meals and Sunday dinner with the family.
[caption id="attachment_3425" align="aligncenter"...
There are plenty of reasons you might want a stainless steel kitchen sink. They're beautiful, durable, and most look better with age. If you're going for a modern kitchen decor, a streamlined culinary-chic, or are just plumb sick of kitchen sinks that stain, chip, or scratch, stainless steel sinks can add sophistication and hardiness to your kitchen in a single unit. Good stainless steel sinks will last for years. If you know what to look for, you can get an incredible, quality product for a fraction of the price.
Replacing your kitchen faucet is the fastest, easiest, and least expensive way to improve the appearance and usability of your kitchen. It's a project even novice DIYers can pull off in anywhere from a few minutes to an hour or so. And with so many kitchen faucets out there, a simple swap can mean a big change in style. Replacing an older or corroded faucet will have an even bigger impact. The best part? How much you spend depends entirely on you: what functionality you want, what style you want, and how important it is for you to shop a major brand name.
Basic, Beautiful, and B...
Kitchen remodels are among the most arduous and invasive (not to mention expensive) projects you can do in your home. You might have a spare bedroom, a second bathroom, or somewhere else to stash your TV while you renovate. But chances are, you don't have a second kitchen to use while yours is out of commission. Short of your kitchen being severely dated, it's often better to opt for smaller facelifts than a full renovation. Doing something simple - like replacing kitchen sinks and kitchen faucets - costs ...
If you spend any amount of time watching home design shows, it probably seems like everyone and their mother is installing a kitchen island right dab in the middle of their huge, open kitchen. And it's not without reason - kitchen islands are a great tool for a larger space, and are a great asset when it comes to bringing guests into your
kitchen. But before you chalk a custom built kitchen island up as a must-have, there are a few things you should consider - from the size of your kitchen to all the various types of kitchen islands - before you take the plunge.
How Big Is Your Kitchen?
[caption id="attachment_3844" align="aligncenter" width="433" caption="A La Carte Kitchen Isla...
A good friend of mine lives in a gorgeous turn of the century house. Stunning woodwork, beautiful architecture, original wrought iron fixtures... and only one bathroom for all three bedrooms. Having too few bathrooms is a problem you can run into no matter how big or small your home, especially as your family grows up to fill (or overfill!) it. But adding an addition to your home or moving into a new one aren't always practical options. Even a reasonably sized master bath can feel crowded if two people need to use it at once. So what's a homeowner to do when the morning waiting line for the bathroom is getting out of hand? My friend's solution was to turn a plumbing-adjacent closet into a water closet. Perhaps not the world's most elegant solution, but effective and relatively inexpensive....
I think that heat+water is possibly the best combination ever devised, excluding the summer in the deep south. Other than that, you name it - hot baths, hot showers, steam baths, saunas, hot springs - and I love it. I'm not alone, either. Most of the rest of the world has and uses public steam baths and saunas, often every day. Even throughout the history of this country, hot springs have been believed to have positive medicinal effects. Truth be told, heat+waters is a pretty magical combination for your health, which is why private steam baths and saunas are starting to become common even in our quick shower in the morning culture. But what do they do for you that's so great?
Good For Your Heart
[caption id="attachment_4294" align="aligncenter" width="275"]
French country kitchens, but they've started making a comeback in a big way in recent years. There are more than a few reasons fireclay sinks have withstood the test of time, and a couple that they're coming back in vogue now specifically, so if you're in the market for a traditional but on-trend
kitchen sink for your next remodel, read on!
...
By and large, kitchen design trends are among the slowest changing trends there are, due in no small part, I'm sure, to the fact that kitchens are awful, expensive, time consuming, and invasive to re-do. But there's been a gradual but major upheaval in kitchen design in the last few years, and a major change in the way that designers look at the kitchen space. So if it's been a while since you've given your kitchen a facelift, 2013 is the perfect year to consider it, and these top ten 2013 kitchen design trends are a great place to start.
Moving Toward Modern
[caption id="attachment_4602" align="aligncenter" width="519"]
![]( "A Modern Kitchen - Like This One From Ikea - Is One That Youre M...<br></DIV><DIV class='blog_reference'>The art and ritual of bathing varies widely the world over. In Japan especially, water is considered to be spiritually as well as physically cleansing - a belief which led to the development of a very different attitude towards bathing, different bathing rituals, and even different bath fixtures. The Japanese bathroom is very different from those you'd find in the US, but many traditionally Japanese fixtures - especially the Japanese soaking tub (the <em>furo </em>or <em>ofuro</em>) - are beginning to become popular in the US as well.
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![]( "Traditional Wooden Japanese Soaking Tub")
Big, beautiful, fully-equipped kitchen islands are probably the single biggest trending item in
2013 kitchen design. They've been gaining in popularity for years, but if you're planning a kitchen remodel for the coming year, a kitchen island is virtually a must-have. But there are all kinds of kitchen islands out there, from big custom builds to tiny island carts. So even if you're anxious to get in on the trend, it's important to consider what kind of
kitchen...
luxury sink faucets come from a manufacturer that ensures supreme quality. Rohl products are designed for perfection. My aim today is getting into the knitty gritty of what makes Rohl's products so superior to other kitchen sinks. To start, you can rest a little easier knowing that this company only puts out sink faucets that are lead free by CA, VT regulations. The faucets do not allow more than five parts per billion of lead into drinking water. The company makes it their goal to protect our children and the environment from lead poisoning.
[caption id="attachment_656" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Pullout Sink Faucet From The De...