Kitchens: Make Your Space Work Harder!
"Lifestyle is the ultimate driving force behind any remodeling project. How you live, or really, want to live, drives the remodeling process. Each home owner will have unique requirements based on THEIR personal lifestyle. For example, your kitchen, a focal point of most homes, can be oriented toward a cooking enthusiast with food prep and baking areas integrated in a unique way or can be designed for entertaining, using accessible surfaces for serving. And, even if cooking isn’t your passion, your kitchen can still reflect the look and feel of a pro.
Marina Blokhin, Kitchen Designer
Silver Leaf Design Gallery
Doing It With Distinction
“When you are working with an existing home, there are many ways to create a change that is both beautiful and extremely functional, helping the homeowners attain the change they want,” adds Blokhin. There are very simple things that can have a huge impact on how a kitchen is used or perceived. Consider the following:
- Change a doorway location, making the flow of the room different
- Alter, move or remove a wall and you will change the entire feel of the room and create space to make changes that hadn’t existed before (It’s easier to do than you think)
- Bigger window(s) can open up a room, giving it light and style that can change the way the room is used
- Archways leading into other, connected areas of your home will result in a more expansive feel and add style to both rooms
Personal Preferences
The wonderful thing about re-creating your living space is that it will more closely match your lifestyle. How you organize your kitchen with shelving, racks and special cabinets will expand your space and fit your needs. Distinctive, or signature fixtures can be part of your design, be it a back splash, a unique hood over your stove or accent and task lighting integrated into your cabinets. It’s all in the details. Sustainable materials can also be added to your design to fit a ‘green’ lifestyle and/or protect against adverse reactions to formaldehyde or other off gassing allergens.
