ECLIPSE STAINLESS OUT OF BUSINESS DECEMBER 2017

Design trends are more opinion than fact but opinions count.

Here are some ideas  to spice up your kitchen

1. Accessibility; Often called ageing in place adding more accessibility features such as lower cabinets, wider isles, lever handle faucets and more can make a house more comfortable for senior citizens with less mobility.
2. Pet Friendly; Creating areas in the kitchen for pets such as self filling water bowls and even built in shelves for dog beds.
3. Brighter Kitchens; Whites and grays instead of dark colors.
4. Pull Outs and Roll Outs in Cabinets
5. Built ins for multiple small appliances and smaller cooking appliances like steam oven and small built in oven,
6. Floating vanities: modern look and easier to clan floors.
7. No threshold shower: Part of the aging in place trend but popular among other age groups as it provides clean design line.
8. With the popularity of granite, quartz and other hard surface countertops under mount sinks particularly vanity bowls are on a rise.

Source: 10 kitchen and bath design trends for 2015 | Building Design + Construction

Bathrooms can be remodeled dramatically so it is hard to recognize them as the same room. Below is link to and article with some very dramatic changes in a small room.

Eclipse Stainless soap dispensers are a long lasting and reliable but like all appliances with

Standard Soap

moving parts must be maintained to stay at peak performance.  They have long lasting stainless steel wicks (the part that sticks down into the reservoir) instead of plastic like most dispensers.

Dish soaps are usually very thick and if exposed to the air can thicken even more particularly in small spaces like the tube and pump of a soap dispenser.

Many times this hardened soap can be removed by soaking the pump in hot water and pumping hot water through the unit.

Here are more instructions on how to maintain you soap dispenser pump.

Articles often refer to kitchen designs by style. What is the difference between and modern kitchen and a contemporary kitchen. The article linked below tries to sort out these styles with pictures instead 0f words.

Source: 12 Great Kitchen Styles — Which One’s for You?

These pictures show how to make an end table with a piece of scrap or granite left over fro making a granite top.

Source: Youths News Network – Daily Top Links: There’s a granite counter top fabricator near me that throws out…

Ughghghghgh. That Pinterest beet salad seemed like such a good idea at the time…and now your beautiful granite countertop is a bloody shade of purple. But fear not. We’ve got a sneaky trick for cleaning up easy.

What do I need? Flour, hydrogen peroxide and plastic wrap.

What do I do? Mix the ingredients to the consistency of peanut butter, spread on the stain and cover with plastic overnight. Scrape the whole thing off in the morning.

What if I’m worried about slopping hydrogen peroxide all over my beautiful Caesarstone? Do a test first, on a small area in hidden spot that nobody will see.

Read more: How to Get Gnarly Stains Out of Stone Countertops | Home | PureWow National

Using stuff you already have in your house

Source: How to Get Gnarly Stains Out of Stone Countertops 

A kitchen Island or at least a peninsula that works like an island has become a standard for upscale kitchen designs.

A well design island provides added work space, storage space, and even a place to put built in appliances such as oven, microwave, wine cabinet, under-counter refrigerator or a vegetable sink. A poorly designed island with very little circulations space or poorly placed features can become a major impediment rather than a centerpiece of the kitchen.

You should consider the following when considering an island.

• Size of room: obviously the size of the room will limit the size of the island but also consider making the island proportional to the room. Too small can be as bad as too big. You also need to consider the surrounding space. If you follow all the recommendations included herein and the island extends into and limits other spaces – family room, dining area – then it will not be successful.
• Size of island:  If only a small island will fit consider custom or undersized cabinets. Islands with wheels are also an option if the island fits for everyday use but is in the way on days when major meals are prepared; think Thanksgiving and Christmas. Usually forty inches square is the smallest usable size for and island.
• Clearance required between cabinets and other work areas and island: The rule of thumb is three feet but if more than one person will be using the kitchen regularly at one time or the kitchen is used for a lot of entertaining this may need to be increased.
• The work triangle which is the triangle formed by your cook top, sink and refrigerator. If you are adding an island to an existing kitchen do not block the triangle or make it uncomfortable or awkward.
• What work spaces or appliances will you want to place in the island.
• Dining space: do you want a breakfast bar on the island. Is there room and if so what height. I did a kitchen for a customer with a peninsula which a lower second row of cabinets with knee space on the side away from the work space so the children could use it as a desk and do their homework while Mom made dinner.

• Can you convert the kitchen into a single row galley kitchen and use the space created by removing a second line of cabinets or dining space to accommodate and island with cabinets or even dining space.
• If you are creating a large island make sure the top will through the doors for installation.
• Look at alternative islands such as table with open shelves. A table is also a great way to try and island in your kitchen it see if it works before tearing up your kitchen to install and island. You may even consider using a dresser as an island with a granite or other kitchen type countertop installed – see here.
• All the same considerations can be applied to a peninsula which may be easier to fit into your kitchen design.

Source: How Much Room Don You Need for a Kitchen Island?

Kitchen Designs must be more than just about looks. Kitchens need to be functional. One of the critical elements is what is referred to as the Kitchen Work Triangle.

The “work triangle” is defined by the National Kitchen and Bath Association as an imaginary straight line drawn from the center of the sink, to the center of the cooktop, to the center of the refrigerator and finally back to the sink. The NKBA suggests these guidelines for work triangles:

• The sum of the work triangle’s three sides should not exceed 26 feet, and each leg should measure between 4 and 9 feet.
• The work triangle should not cut through an island or peninsula by more than 12 inches.
• If the kitchen has only one sink, it should be placed between or across from the cooking surface, preparation area, or refrigerator.
• No major traffic patterns should cross through the triangle.

The goal of the work triangle is to keep the major workstations close enough for efficiency without being too close and crowded. The triangle assumes a single person doing the cooking which in modern homes is not always the case. It also assumes that only four stations are in use: sink, cook top and refrigerator. Today’s kitchens have ovens that increasingly are not co-located with the cook top. There are also many other appliances such as microwave, steam oven, toaster oven, bread oven, spaghetti maker and many others.

The appliances you have and how often you use each item should determine the layout of and individualized kitchen.

Source: The Work Triangle – The Work Triangle – Layouts – Design – Kitchens.com ; https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kitchen_work_triangle