Amazing Kitchen Island Ideas!

There are so many fun ways to personalize an island in your kitchen to perfectly fit what goes on in your home.  Check out these FABULOUS ideas!!!

Beautiful way to incorporate an old look in a new kitchen.

A twist on the farm sink look

LOVE THIS!!!  Find an antique piece and let's make it an island.

Your kitchen doesn't have to be large to include an island.

Another great way to incorporate an old antique piece.

LOVE the use of this very old piece as an island.

Old, slim piece that provides great storage.

Use the island as a way to add a pop of color to your kitchen.

Color, butcher block top, seating and storage - such efficiency!

A beautiful piece of furniture with amazing storage.

The island is a great place to also add eating space to the kitchen.

A lower table added to an island can even provide formal eating and is perfect for accessibility.

A nice petite island to provide eating for two.

Another great example of an island for eating and storage along with an extra sink area.

Islands provide a great kitchen space for multiple storage ideas.

A great way to make use of an island column.

Notice that not only does this island provide a great space for storing beautiful glassware, but on the other side of the cabinet is a bench with a drawer under it.  Genius!!!

LOVE all of the storage this simple, little island table provides!

The island provides a great place to store produce.

What a great idea, to use the island as a place to store your cooking sheets - love the doors on both sides!  Also notice the side compartment for garbage.

The island provides a great place to put an under-the-counter microwave - a great universal design feature!

Another great accessibility feature is to store plates and bowls in an under-the-counter drawer.

Not only does this island provide wine storage, but it sports a butcher block top for food prep along with a lidded garbage opening that scraps can just be swept into, to a garage receptacle below.

We LOVE Built-Ins

Built-ins are a great way to capture unused space to create fun, extra storage throughout your home.  Check out this creative way of utilizing the space beneath your stairs:

The beauty of custom-built built-ins is that, well, they can be customized to fit with exactly how you use a room. Notice the ribbon and paper holders to the left of this picture. Love it!                   

A custom-built wall unit around a flat panel TV creates an entire wall as a focal point and not just the TV.

A mud room doesn't have to look muddy. I love everything about this mud room set up - the cubbies, the benchseat/cabinet combo, the hooks, the shelf, the mirrow, the pendant light, the wall pockets - everything!!!

Bench seating and bookshelves are the best! Such an ingenuous idea over just being up against a blank wall.

Perfect built-in cabinet for oils and spices!

These built-ins are a perfect way to customize your office space.  I love the smaller shelf above the windows and the wallpaper at the back of the shelves.  The use of color in this space along with texture (the top shelf baskets and the bamboo shades for one example) really pulls this office space together.

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A Kitchen Facelift that Looks Like a Brand New Kitchen

One of our latest projects was a kitchen/family room facelift that with a few changes, made the whole project look like a completely brand new space.
 

BEFORE:  As you can see, the sliding door opened right up into the fireplace area.  We replaced that door with a double-hung window and put a door going out to the deck and gazebo in the center of the bay window instead.  The tile floors were replaced with hardwood flooring and the kitchen peninsula was removed to create a more open traffic pattern.

AFTER:  A new, beautiful island was installed with pendant lighting above it, opening up the flow of the room.  Notice the new window by the fireplace, creating a space that the homeowner can now create a cozy, comfortable seating area in.

BEFORE

AFTER:  New countertops and a newer model ceiling fan along with pendant lights above the island complete the look of this kitchen, making it look completely brand new.  The existing cabinets are over 10 years old and you would NEVER know it.  Notice how lovely the new flooring looks too.

BEFORE

AFTER

AFTER

AFTER:  Notice the correct distance between the island and the the wall cabinetry.  Using a contractor who is aware of proper clearances and keeping the working triangle intact is imperative when doing a kitchen remodel!  Also notice how well the new island cabinetry blends with the existing cabinetry.  You would never know there is a more than 10 year difference in the age of the cabinets.  A testimony to using cabinetry from a reputable manufacturer and dealer.

The Not So Big House Comes to Libertyville

It's been a busy fall with full-time school being a huge focus of my time. During the semester, we were invited to a field trip to visit Sarah Susanka's Not So Big House contribution to the new School Street Subdivision that is being built in Libertyville, Illinois.  Being that we are huge fans of Sarah's and model our own business after her concepts, we were so excited that one of her homes was being built in our area and that we were given this opportunity to enjoy a private tour. 

The idea of the School Street Subdivision is to have an urban feel to it with the homes being narrow and taking up most of the lot space. The homes feature a large front porch to encourage getting to know the neighbors in your community. The development is right in the downtown area of Libertyville, close to the train station, to encourage a lot of walking and public transportation use. Very cool concept and development.

The following are pictures of our trip to visit the home. Notice that a signature design feature of Sarah's is to use differing ceiling heights in an open floor plan to differentiate the spaces throughout the home. She also likes to use different paint colors to add interest and drama (don't be afraid to use color!) along with using the same trim throughout the home to connect the rooms.

The third floor as seen here contains a secret get away loft space accessible via a hidden door and ships ladder. This room can also double as a meditation room or a writers/artist studio

Sarah was previously invited by Marvin Windows to design a signature window.  How cool is it that she then included that window in the design of her School Street Home?

Reproduction lighting in the stairwell. The combination of natural and artificial lighting bouncing around through the stairwell create a "daylight shaft" to brighten the back of the house.

The modest-sized kitchen has many unique design features that make a small space a fun and interesting space to spend time in.  Beautiful lighting and tile work along with an eating area with a bench seat complete the Not So Big look and feel of the room.

In this sitting room, a Murphy bed is installed to accommodate visitors. The sofa is part of the bed and doesn't need to be moved to a different place.

Taking space out of the walls to create multiple built-ins is another intelligent and interesting design feature.

With the house taking up most of the lot space, an outdoor living and gardening area has been created on the rooftop in the back of the house.  Notice the recreation of Sarah's signature window as a design feature at the end of the outdoor space.

We hope you found the tour interesting and that you gain some inspiration from the pictures for a project you may want to do in your own home.  As you will see if you visit the School Street Subdivision website, you too can visit and tour her house through May 19th of this year. We hope that you do!

Diary of a Dream Kitchen

A customer came to us with the desire to create their dream kitchen.  They specifically wanted someone who could think outside the box and not just give them a cookie-cutter space.  A dream kitchen can mean many different things to many people.  For some it's a kitchen made for serious meal preparation.  For some it's a place to entertain the masses.  And, for this customer, their dream was to make their kitchen much more efficient, including incorporating an area of the current kitchen that in its original life was meant to host a breakfast table, but wasn't being utilized much by the customer.

In the design process it was decided that we would move the main sink from its current location to the under-utilized breakfast area at the front of the house. This area would also now include a 7' wide, triple-casement window allowing for the customer to enjoy the new view out to her beautiful gardens of native plantings. The moving of the main sink will allow for a prep sink to be installed near the old main sink area.



In the initial meeting with the customer, they came up with a wish list and you can see how we tackled each item:

• A lot of drawer space, plate/dish dividers in deep, pot and pan storage drawers that will be included in the island

• Better lighting - we will be using LED ribbon lighting with dimmable drivers for up-lighting above the cabinets and under-cabinet lighting, along with new sloped-can lightsng (allows for more focused lighting)

• Elimination of the soffits to create a larger, more up-to-date feel to the space

• More efficient use of the cabinets with the inclusion of a bookshelf

• Quartz countertops

• Make the refrigerator look more built-in

Along with the kitchen remodel, the laundry room and pantry spaces were swapped to turn the current pantry space into a laundry room/mudroom space by the door with new seating, storage and cabinetry throughout.

 

 The old laundry room was then used to create a nice, organized new pantry.

 

As this customer did, add to the beauty and creativity of your project by choosing fabulous tile, fixtures, knobbery, lighting, etc.  Make your space your own to enjoy for many years to come.

Stay tuned for the next chapter of this dream kitchen remodel.

The Skinny on Countertop Comparisons

Choosing a countertop material can be daunting when there are so many options out there and so many different needs and desires of the homeowner.  We have come up with a pros and cons chart to help you compare the different choices.  Keep in mind that the kitchen countertop choices listed here are primarily categories. Within each category there are numerous other options available to you. For example, there are multiple solid surface manufacturers, each with their own design formulas, styles and innovations. Once you narrow your choice down to a few countertop categories, spend some time exploring the various choices within each option.

Once you have narrowed down your choices, contact us with any questions or concerns you have and to see samples in person.  We can then get you on your way to having the perfect countertops to suit the needs of you and your family.

Click here to see our quick-glance chart on the pros and cons of countertop choices.  Thanks to the folks at HGTV, there are articles written about each choice I am comparing that also include a price range and maintenance instructions for each choice.  Just click on the name of the countertop type and you will be taken directly to the article.  You can also click on this blog title for an article from HGTV on choosing the right kitchen countertops.

Be Courageous About Color in Your Kitchen!

I love this selection of pictures from Better Homes and Garden about using color in your kitchen. Whether it's a subtle touch of color in the background that is complemented with decorative items or your dishes or outright fabulous use of color in the wall, cabinet or tile color, as you can see, using color in your kitchen can be an amazingly outrageous way to personalize your kitchen to reflect exactly who you are. We can be so afraid to creatively individualize our homes for fear of what people will think or the dreaded "resale value" argument, but forget about it. This is YOUR home and you want it to bring a comfort to your soul and a smile to your face. If adding punches or full out color to your kitchen will do just that, GO FOR IT! Enjoy the pictures and let us know what you think. And, if you've used color to express yourself, well, ahem . . . pictures PLEASE!
Find the Perfect Kitchen Color Scheme