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New Discovery: Kitchens.com

The great thing about the internet and blogs is that there is always something new to be learned.  For a passionate lifelong learner, like myself, it becomes a joy when I stumble upon a great new website through the referral of a great blogger.  Truth be told, this is how I usually find all the blogs that I read - through the referrals of other blogs I enjoy, because there is a level of trust I have with them - if they put out great content and I enjoy reading their blog, someone that they refer is getting at least a click-through, if not follow via Google Reader.

This is how I discovered the Kitchens.com website today.  Paul Anater, of Kitchen and Residential Design blog, referenced them in an article that he wrote about one of their new features in helping homeowners research the kitchen process.  In going through the website myself, I found a wealth of information that I believe every homeowner who is researching either a new kitchen or kitchen remodel should look into.  It covers different kitchen products (everything from flooring to appliances to crown moulding), what to expect when remodeling, and why using a kitchen designer is so beneficial.   If you are planning on doing anything in your kitchen, you should definitely check this site out and take the time to read the informative articles that they have available.

What You Can do to Your Kitchen for $1000

A lot of potential customers come to us not wanting to spend a lot of money on their kitchen.  They carry a belief that refacing - or our custom-made product recrafting - is going to get them the kitchen of their dreams on the cheap.  But more often than not, we have to break the bad news to them - their dream kitchen is going to cost money.  And in fact, it is going to cost you somewhere in between $10k to $20k.  Many people don't want to hear that.  They don't like to think that there are real costs associated with re-doing a kitchen well - and that these costs are actually extremely fairly priced in today's market.

BUT....there are things that you can do to update the look of your 30-yr old kitchen that don't have to break the bank.  Check out the before and after pictures and the project description that our VP of cabinetry worked on for her niece.

THE ISSUES:
1 - The kitchen has 30+yr old cabinets with a white dishwasher and range that were 5+years old and a refrigerator and range hood who's age has yet to be discovered.  Needless to say the appliances did not match.
2 - The shelf unit over the peninsula portion of the countertop created a huge division in the sightline and aesthetic flow of the room's space.
3 - The tile countertops were dirty and had missing or broken front edge tiles.
4 - The wall cabinets had an uneven bulkhead above them.

THE SOLUTION:
1 - White appliance paint changed the refrigerator and avocado green range hood to standard white, creating matching appliances throughout the kitchen space.
2 - The dividing shelf unit came down, opening up the space.
3 - The tiles on the front edge of the countertop came off and were replaced with a dark stained 2" wood trim.
4 - Large white crown moulding above the wall cabinets was added to bridge the gap between the ceiling and cabinets and both the trim and ceiling were painted white to match and create a unified sightline.

Water damage had caused the sink base doors to warp and be covered in water stains, while also causing the dishwasher and countertop to be unlevel.

The problems from the water damage were fixed with new birch plywood doors and drawer fronts and a brace that went underneath the cabinets to level the countertop and dishwasher.  New hardware was also added, completing the overall change in the look of the kitchen.

Some elbow grease, Murphy's Oil, clear lacquer, and clear poly finishes helped add polish and panache to the rest of the cabinetry.  Commercial tile and grout cleaner cleaned up the backsplash and counters.  The light fixture, sink, and faucet were all updated as well, creating the finished kitchen.  It goes to show just how much the look of a kitchen can change with the details and some cleaners. 

And meanwhile, you can save some dollars for when you actually want to design and create your dream kitchen :).

If I Was to Have a White Kitchen...

...this is what it would be.

Stone & Tile World : Rockville, MD

Did you know that one of Signature WoodCrafters trade partners is Stone & Tile World?  Not only do they supply solid surface countertops for homeowners, but they also help our sister company, Signature Companies, supply homebuilders in the Mid-Atlantic region with solid surface countertops.  Based out of Rockville, MD, Stone & Tile World just updated their website with more information and images of many jobs that we have collaborated together on.  Stone & Tile also recently helped us update our showroom with new, beautiful granite countertops (pictures to come shortly!).

Thanks to Stone & Tile World for all their help with our showroom and many homeowner projects!

With Kitchens, It's All About Function, Not Size

This post comes to you from our design intern, Molly Holland....Take it away Molly!

Considering I have been with Signature for almost two months, I decided to think about the kitchens I have experienced so far.  I have gone on many clientele adventures with a designer and have looked at various kitchens.  Some were extremely small and some were larger than you would even think an owner would need! It made me wonder if they had a crew of cooks and bakers that came in for dinner every night, but I refrained from asking :).

Going on with this idea of kitchen sizes, I realized that both can be very functional.  The coziness of the placement appliances and the creative ways people think of storing food and dishes makes me giddy with excitement because of the inspirations I can add to my idea file of endless photos and brilliant suggestions for design.

I found on the Houzz website that people agree with me on the functionality of small kitchens.  They offered some great ideas on how to get the most out of your small space:

1 - Tall cabinets that reach to the ceiling increase the storage and add a finished look to the space.

2 - Increasing your countertop depth is another way of increasing storage.  Being able to place cooking utensils or showing off your spices can add character to your kitchen and also free up drawers for other kitchen gadgets to be stored.

3 - Roll-out trays in bottom cabinets were one of the best things invented (at least for right now :)) in the cabinet world.  This not only goes for small kitchens, but for any size area.  Roll-out trays allow for organization and easy access to those hidden food boxes or rarely used cooking trays.  These roll-out trays come from Cardell which Signature carries!

While these are just a few ideas for smaller kitchens, visit the Houzz website for more ideas and let your dream kitchen prosper!

The Roy G. Biv of Kitchen Colors

Today we have a guest post from one of our new design interns, Molly Holland.  Molly is a recent graduate from Virginia Tech from their Bachelor of Science, Apparel, Housing and Resource Management program.

In the kitchen design world, it's not just about what cabinets to place in what area of the room.  I like to think it's designing an area where you can feel comfortable in and plan to keep for (hopefully) a lifetime.  Now with saying this, I don't mean that people are strictly forced to stick to one wall color or even one door style (ahem, Recrafting is done here at Signature WoodCrafters! :)).  People are allowed to change whatever they wish to, but right now, I have recently learned about the new trends in colors for kitchens.

While opening up my browser today at work, MSN.com flashed upon the screen with an article in the lifestyle area about the colors of the modern kitchen.  Since I'm a connoisseur of design and trend literature, I decided, why not give this article a read through?  To my disbelief, I realized that people are using crazy colors!  This plethora extends from bright, grass greens inspired by modern European sensibilities to plain, stark white English country kitchens.  These colors are endless throughout the slideshow of vibrant kitchens (as seen below from the article).

What I found so interesting, though, was the fact that people are now using bright colors for the insides of their cabinets, then placing glass on the doors.  What an intriguing idea...which makes me wonder, why didn't I think of that? Then again, that's how life goes in the design world, but now I am inspired to see that kitchens are no longer just natural wooden picturesque model rooms.  Oh no, they are painted with a never-ending rainbow of colors that obviously are the trend these days.  But before going down this route yourself, do remember one thing...how many coats of paint will it take to cover that grass green in three years?  Or do you want to start saving now for your next kitchen replacement! :)