We've been designing kitchens for years and our clients love us! Light and bright kitchens, that are functional and practical; rule today. However when we arrive home at night, we encounter our own drab and dreary kitchen. The designer who created this kitchen had unknowingly, selected competing undertones - orange floor, burgundy cabinets, black and PINK countertops and Tuscan gold backsplash. This is definitely not my style and I think it's time for a change! Don't you? I know - it's bad, right? When designing kitchens for our clients, we start with choosing 2 items first. The counter top and the kitchen sink! As I use Caesarstone almost exclusively (they have the best range of colours and patterns of quartz - in my opinion), I knew which counter top I wanted almost immediately. Frosty Carrina! It's a warm white, with subtle flecks and veining of light warm gray. Giving almost a marble look, but without the hassle, upkeep, staining and etching of real marble. Their quartz has antibacterial properties meaning there is no need to seal the counters - eliminating the maintenance that is needed every few years. Have a look at all the beautiful options from Caesarstone here! The next item I choose is the Kitchen sink. Of course the size is dictated by any existing cabinetry, if you are starting from scratch, the world's your Oyster. A favourite manufacture of mine is Blanco. They sell amazing sinks of all different shapes and sizes. Silgranit, Stainless steel, FireClay and more! Here's a cheat sheet on the great points. Silgranit:
Stainless Steel:
Fireclay sinks: Apron sink - who doesn't love apron sinks? Centre drain location 3 1/2'' (90mm) stainless steel strainer included Stay tuned! Sneak peek photos coming up - we've just installed the gorgeous Caesarstone counter top and we are absolutely thrilled with it!
Stay tuned for more updates and tips and tricks!
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There are an amazing amount of beautiful range hoods available now. Glass, steel and custom wood are all options. But, you need to know the SIZE of range hood you need, not necessarily the dimensions (for this topic), but the amount of CFM (cubic feet per minute) needed for your hood. Here's the rule of thumb, remember to double check with your contractor and local building code. First you need to select your stove, or cook top. Then you need 100 CFM for every 12" of stove width. For example a 30" stove (2.5') x 100 CFM= Approx. 250 CFM needed, as a minimum. But we can't just stop there... We need to keep the room size in mind. Larger rooms need more CFM to clear the cooking odors away. A range hood should exchange the air in the kitchen 15 x per hour. Here's a helpful example. If your kitchen is 12' x 15' and 10' high, that equals 1,800 cubic feet. To find the size of fan needed, multiply the cubic feet x the # of air exchanges (15) then divide by 60 (minutes in an hour). In our example that would be: 1,800 x 15 = 27,000 divided by 60 = 450. You need 450 CFM minimum for this size of kitchen. Are we finished? Not yet. Gas ranges deliver a lot more heat than electric ranges. So we need to take this into consideration. Most gas burners put out approx. 10,000 BTUs per burner. Multiply that by the number of burners, 5 shown here = 50,000 BTU Then divide by 100 to find the minimum CFMs needed. In this case 500 CFM. Now we still aren't quite finished. What about the size of the duct work, number of turns, etc.? Most HVAC suppliers recommend smooth 8" metal pipe. Add 1 CFM per foot of pipe and add 25 CFM for each bend and 40 CFM for the roof cap. Let's estimate this example as being 100 CFM needed. Now, we ARE finished. Take the rating for the stove width (250 CFM in our example), room size (450 CFM minimum), burner type (500 CFM minimum). The highest number is 500, then add your ductwork CFM calculations (100) and you would need a total of 600 CFM for this range size, kitchen size, range burner and ductwork. Please remember to double check if you need a licensed mechanical contractor to install a make up damper to switch on simultaneously with the kitchen range hood to bring in fresh air to prevent a negative pressure in the home. There are many varying factors at play - location of your home, gas or electric range, differing building codes, etc. In BC, Canada our municipality states: makeup air is only required if the displacement of air exceeds .5 air changes per hour and is used with a fueled appliance (i.e. gas stove). I hope this helps. Be sure to always discuss this with your contractor HVAC installers and appliance providers. Check out our 15 Steps to designing your Dream Home below. Also you might like our popular post on: Recessed Lighting Spacing: How many recessed lights do I need? How far apart do I place my lights? Click below to read the article Any other Design questions, just let me know, we offer Paint selection advice, one room Interior Design and Whole Home Interior Design Thanks for stopping in! I am happy to announce, my 12 page spread (6 double pages) in the Prestigious Canadian Home Trends Magazine....... Yippee! I was over the moon happy to receive a letter from Canadian Home Trends magazine, mentioning that they saw my profile on Houzz and that they'd love to feature me in their Spring 2014 print and online magazine! This prestigious magazine is the most helpful and innovative magazine I've ever seen. If you subscribe to their online magazine (which offers 168 pages!), you will see they've added special effects to the photos - such as the fireplace has a crackling sound, the photos change from the before to after right in front of your eyes. Amazing! Otherwise their print magazine is gorgeous as well. Who doesn't like to curl up with a nice glass of wine and a great magazine? My client, was an absolute dream to work with. She completely trusted me to lead the way to make her dreams a reality. Here's a photo of her kitchen before... ...and below, the after. We removed 2 and a 1/2 walls to open up this floor plan and allow more light to spread through the home. I simply can't believe the difference. I always, always, always start with my counter top selection. My go to source is Caesarstone, they have such a lovely, well priced selection. We selected this gorgeous white and gray mixed engineered quartz, called London Gray. This was the inspiration for the whole kitchen renovation. Our Client is an avid cook and I wanted to create a beautiful kitchen where she could work away to her hearts content - yet be able to clean up easily and quickly. One of my favorite things about this magazine, is that the interview questions were very detailed, it took me three hours to fill out the forms as I wanted to share everything, I find people are so interested in tips and tricks to make their own home more beautiful. I made a special point of mentioning and thanking my suppliers whom did an amazing job! One of the top reasons client's hire me, is that I know the best suppliers and tradespeople to work with. I'd like to make special mention to Warline Painting and Julie Bolton (window treatments) for their attention to detail and professional work. To top it all off, I loved the stunning Robert Allen fabric that I used. It helped tie the whole room together! Thanks so much for allowing me to share this exciting post. I don't know of too many interior designers who get a 12 page spread and I'm truly grateful! |
Author:Jil Sonia McDonald - Interior Designer of Jil Sonia Interior Designs. Archives
April 2023
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Kimberley Seldon Design Linda Holt Interiors The Decorologist Warline painting Savour Partnership Ina Goetz Photography |