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• New Samsung refrigerators don't "stand out" (newswire.ca)

Image by g[wiz] via Flickr

One of my favorite things to do is Host an Event in the showroom. We did one for Indian River Education Foundation and brought in a professional chef, did a raffle and a 50 50 auction. Not only did it help to raise awareness of a good cause, but it also let the community at large know we were there for them, and helped to raise the profile of our showroom. We continually ask the Chamber to use our facility, any of a number of charities, and local builders are encouraged to invite their clients to an appreciation "party" here. Huge PR results!

Image by thekitchendesigner.org via Flickr

Love the use of dead space in this photo!

Image via Wikipedia

This is Neff. Miele is another one of European manufactures that offers this time display options as one of many other unique features.

I found the following checklist to be very helpful when working with clients and designers alike. I had my own template when I first started doing this but then found Ellens and have been using it ever since.




This kitchen plan locates the dishwasher in a raised position with a microwave above, making both appliances easy to reach. The refrigerator is a decorative highlight of the room, rather than being hidden behind panels.

By Ellen Cheever

March 2009

An Appliance Checklist

Whenever learning about new appliances, or locating units you are familiar with, if your responsibilities include specifying all mechanicals and other material details, you may want to review the checklist developed for the National Kitchen & Bath Association’s Professional Resource Library volume “Kitchen & Bath Products.” I developed this chart many years ago for my private practice because I found I made too many mistakes around the details of appliance placement or the mechanical requirements in my designs. I hope this information prevents any profit slippage for you.

Many designers may have a bit more time on their hands in this first quarter of 2009. I urge you to take any professional free time you have and begin a new search – narrowly focused on appliance innovations. Search the Web, read trade journals, visit respected appliance stores or distributor showrooms. Then create an appliance idea book. Promise yourself to offer the consumer at least one new approach for the appliances with each design solution you present. You can expand this professional education right at your desk by enjoying “what if” solution-focused discussions with your colleagues at the office as well.

The benefit? Prospective clients will be intrigued with your design abilities…so much so, in fact, they will retain you to design their new kitchen!.

APPLIANCE CHECKLIST

Use this Appliance Checklist as you complete the final specifications for each kitchen project you work on. It will help you estimate and specify all of the planning details of appliance placement.

REFRIGERATOR INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS
1. Required door swing/drawer opening dimension verified. _______
2. Overall appliance depth (including air space and handles) listed on plans. _______
3. Overall width, including air space and countertop overhang dimension,
determined before overhead cabinet width size and height specified. _______
4. Appliance doors drawn in an open position on the plan to verify walkway clearances. _______
5. Ice maker copper water lines/water filter specified. _______
6. Trim kits and/or panels have been ordered. Labor to install has been included in estimate. _______
7. Special handles ordered for integrated units. _______

SINK INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS
1. Number of sink holes and fitting placement has been specified on the plans. _______
2. Dishwasher air gap requirements have been met in design. _______
3. Method of securing sink to counter surface has been determined: _______
Flat rim with stainless steel rim and clip installation. _______
Self-rimming sink, color of caulking to be used between sink and countertop. _______
Under-mount sink. _______
Integral sink. _______

DISHWASHER INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS
1. Trim kits and/or panels have been ordered. Labor to install has been included in estimate. _______
2. Existing water lines and drain location to be reused. _______
New water line to be installed. _______
3. Existing dishwasher circuit to be reused. _______
New dishwasher circuit to be added. _______
4. Appliance door drawn in an open position on the plan to verify
walkway clearances. _______

TRASH COMPACTOR INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS
1. Trim kits and/or panels have been ordered. Labor to install has been included in estimate. _______
2. Existing compactor wiring to be reused. _______
New compactor wiring to be added. _______
3. Appliance door drawn in an open position on the plan to verify walkway clearances. _______

FOOD WASTE DISPOSER INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS
1. Unit to be batch fed _____ or switch operated _____. _______
2. Switch location located after considering primary user’s handedness. _______
3. Waste line no higher than 17" on center off the floor. _______

BACKSPLASH CONVENIENCE APPLIANCE INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS
1. Backsplash appliance does not interfere with wall stud placement. _______
2. Recess required for appliance is not obstructed by vents, ducts or pocket doors. _______
3. Recessed convenience appliances do not interfere with backsplash design or use. _______
4. Convenience outlets along backsplash do not interfere with built-in backsplash appliance location. _______
5. Heat generating backsplash appliances are not specified below task lighting that features a plastic diffuser. _______

DROP-IN OR FREE-STANDING RANGE INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS
1. Gas or electrical requirements:
Gas Size of existing gas line. _______
Existing gas line to be reused in its existing location. _______
Existing gas line to be relocated. _______
Diameter of new gas line required. _______
Electric Electrical amperage of existing line:
30 amp _______ 40 amp _______ 50 amp _______
Electrical amperage requirement of new appliance:
30 amp _______ 40 amp _______ 50 amp _______
Existing electrical line to be reused in its existing location. _______
Existing electrical line to be relocated. _______
New electrical line to be added. _______
2. Ventilation system specified on plans. _______
3. Drop-in range method of support and distance from floor to bottom of range specified on plans. _______
4. Countertop cut-out for drop-in units specified on plans. _______
5. Side clearance for drop-in units that have a flange overlapping adjacent cabinetry has been considered in the planning process. _______
6. Appliance overall depth, including handles, listed on the plans. _______
7. Appliance door drawn in an open position to verify walkway clearances. _______

BUILT-IN OVEN INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS
1. Gas or electrical requirements:
Gas Size of existing gas line. _______
Existing gas line to be reused in its existing location. _______
Existing gas line to be relocated. _______
Diameter of new gas line required. _______
Electric Electrical amperage of existing line:
30 amp _______ 40 amp _______ 50 amp _______
Electrical amperage requirement of new appliance:
30 amp _______ 40 amp _______ 50 amp _______
Existing electrical line to be reused in its existing location. _______
Existing electrical line to be relocated. _______
New electrical line to be added. _______
2. Ventilation requirement for new oven: Ducted _______ Non-ducted _______
3. Countertop overhang treatment against oven cabinet side to be:
Countertop extends past oven case. _______
Countertop ties into side of special depth oven cabinet. _______
Case depth to be ______________________________________.
Toe kick to be ________________________________________.
4. All dimensions are included in specifications and plans.
Overall appliance depth (including handles). _______
Appliance height placement in relationship to primary cook’s height. _______
Cut-out and overall dimensions. _______
5. For undercounter installation, manufacturer’s specifications have been verified for minimum cut-out height from the floor. _______

COOKTOP INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS
1. Gas or electrical requirements:
Gas Size of existing gas line. _______
Existing gas line to be recessed in its present location. _______
Existing gas line to be relocated. _______
Diameter of new gas line required. _______
Electric Electrical amperage of existing line:
30 amp _______ 40 amp _______ 50 amp _______
Electrical amperage requirement of new appliance:
30 amp _______ 40 amp _______ 50 amp _______
Existing electrical line to be reused in its existing location. _______
Existing electrical line to be relocated. _______
New electrical line to be added. _______

2. Ventilation system specified on plans. _______
3. Can cabinet drawers be ordered below the oven? _______
4. Can roll-outs be installed below the cooktop? _______
5. All dimensions (cut-out and overall) are listed on the plan _______

MICROWAVE OVEN INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS
1. Dedicated electrical circuit specified. _______
2. Trim kit ordered with appliance. _______
Labor to install trim kit included in estimate. _______
3. Microwave oven placement is away from other heat generating appliances. _______
4. Microwave oven placement is away from television in the kitchen. _______
5. Appliance height has been determined in relation to the height of
the primary cook for both safety and convenience. _______
6. Cut-out and overall dimensions are listed on the plan. _______

VENTILATION HOOD INSTALLATION CONSIDERATIONS
1. Length of duct path from ventilation system to exterior termination point. _______
2. Number of elbow turns along duct path. _______
3. Ventilating unit’s (free air pressure) CFM rating. _______
Exist (static air pressure) CFM rating estimate. _______
4. Hood depth in relation to adjacent cabinetry. _______
5. Hood distance from cooking surface. _______
6. Hood width in relationship to cooktop width below. _______

Source: “Kitchen & Bath Products: Materials – Equipment – Surfaces” by Ellen Cheever, CMKBD, ASID, for the NKBA’s Professional Resource Library

Reilly...awwwww!

This post is for Reilly

Dog Heaven on Earth

Vermont Artist Stephen Huneck Pays Tender Tribute to Our Canine Companions

Text by Steven M. L. Aronson/Photography by Billy Cunningham Published July 2009

No one who owns a dog—and in America alone more than 70 million of us do—has not at one time or another reflected ruefully on the wildly divergent longevities enjoyed by dogs and people. One day the former are in their sturdy prime; the next, their muzzles have gone frosty and the imminence of valediction wells up in us (this writer, for one, has been predeceased by seven dogs—namely Ego, Pip, Jasper, Magnus, Ned, Rory and James).

We all seek ways to make these bitter bereavements bearable. Artist Stephen Huneck, who has captured the essence of our better halves in his life-size sculptures, best-selling children’s books, whimsical hand-carved furniture and vibrantly original, robustly graphic woodcuts, is possessed of the conviction that dogs have spiritual as well as corporeal identities and that they go on, outside the course of nature, beyond what we can see.
After a near-death experience in the 1990s, Huneck had what he calls a vision. It guided him to build an unearthly, unprecedented and most unexpected thing: a dog chapel. And where else but on his 400-acre northern Vermont farm, an Edenic realm of pastures, forests, ponds and wildflower fields that he had long since christened Dog Mountain.
The chapel, as he came to envision it, would be a place “you could go to communicate with God about your dog”—not only to mourn the actual or impending loss but to contemplate and commemorate the dimensions of the human-canine relationship. And dogs themselves, in their immutable virtue (“incapable of deceit,” all dogs ring true), would be a big part of the congregation. Normally, when one visited a house of worship, one left one’s dog at home; here, however, one would look wanting, and feel almost criminally out of place, if one didn’t have a dog at hand.
Huneck drew up the plans with an air of resilient purpose: He knew exactly what he wanted the building to look like—an early-19th-century white-clapboard-clad Vermont village church. He was further bent on using wood harvested from the property—walnut, tiger maple and first-growth flame birch—plus sassafras, with its inimitable scent, for the floors. But since the project was going to have to be funded by sales of his art, he could work on it only between commissions. “I took any downtime I had and put it into that chapel,” he confesses. It opened in 2000 and now never closes.
Traditional 19th-century churches often had two doors, one for women and one for men, but with his the artist took the tonic liberty of adding a low center portal, with matching raised panels and carved fan above: Lo and behold, a dedicated dog door! And he topped the steeple with one of his “angel dogs”—a full-bodied sculpture, winged and gilded, of his Labrador retriever Sally.

Inside, the chapel consists of a decorous foyer and a 30-by-20-foot main room with a 16-foot vaulted ceiling. The four hand-carved pews are buttressed at either end by life-size carvings of seated golden retrievers, which, according to Huneck, have been mistaken, by the odd dog scudding across the floor, for the real thing. The stained-glass windows he obtained from a friend came adorned with obligatory religious motifs; these he went on to meticulously replace with dog images of his own invention. “They illustrate love, joy, friendship, play, trust, faith and peace—all the things that dogs have taught me,” he explains.

Photographs and written tributes almost beyond number (in places they’re several layers deep)—not to mention a vestigial lock of silken dog hair—grace the walls and will soon ensorcell the ceiling. One note reads: “We brought Silas with us to remember beloved Septimus.” Another: “For Bellamy, our first best hairiest friend.” And another, startlingly: “Dear Gina, that moment when you snapped at Dad, you spoke up for all of us and made us free.” The visiting dogs, Huneck insists, are “totally moved by all the vibrations.”
Though the chapel remains by far his largest work of art, its creator sees it—tenacious champion of canine immortality that he is—as his most incommensurable.

Life Styles and Stages Reflected in Idea Center

Photos: Courtesy Kitchen and Bath Ideas

The Kitchen and Bath Ideas’ space includes a banquette for family gatherings (far left) and a butler’s pantry that doubles as an entertaining space.

A central banquette in the Better Homes and Gardens kitchen doubles as a storage area (above). A message center serves as a catch-all space.

Photos: Courtesy Better Homes and Gardens

By Anita Shaw

June 2008

Anticipating and understanding the needs of clients – sometimes before the clients themselves know what they want – is an art that kitchen and bath designers often need to master before they can taste success. Those needs can be based on lifestyles, habits, age, physical abilities – any number or combination of factors.

The 2008 Design Idea Center, featured at the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show in Chicago in April, examined design options, technology and tastes based on the needs and interests of a wide range of consumers. A joint venture presented by the National Kitchen & Bath Association and Meredith Corporation, this third annual presentation of the DIC was meant to spark the imaginations of kitchen and bath designers and provide options when servicing specific clientele.

Five vignettes, which featured kitchens, baths, laundry areas and mudrooms, were presented by five of Meredith Corporation’s leading publications: Kitchen and Bath Ideas, Better Homes and Gardens, Traditional Home, Midwest Living and Country Home.

Teen Central

The “Hostess Extraordinaire” vignette, presented by Kitchen and Bath Ideas, serves a dual role for today’s busy household. The design serves well the household with teenagers, but also takes on the role of gathering and entertaining space for the adults living there. Created by Janice Pattee, CKD, CMG, along with Greg Kayko, editorial director, and Linda Eggerss, editor, the 600-sq.-ft. space includes a kitchen, mudroom/laundry room and butler’s pantry.

In the kitchen, a central island with 36" gas cooktop with vent hood from Wolf Appliance places mom at the core of the activity. The island, as well as the integrated Sub-Zero refrigerator, features the Courtney door style in cherry with Kaffe finish from KraftMaid Cabinetry. DuPont Corian in Raffia tops the island.

Along the perimeter wall, a 30" Double Wall Oven and warming drawer from Wolf are built into maple cabinetry with Westboro door style in Praline finish from KraftMaid. DuPont Corian in Rice Paper runs the perimeter. Under the window, Undertone stainless steel side-by-side double bowl sinks from Kohler are teamed with HiRise wall-mount bridge faucets. Integrated dishwashers from Asko are located on each side of the sinks.

A banquette with Corian table in Granola serves as both the eating area and gathering space, with wireless Internet access included. A tall cabinet at one end of the banquette that sits on top of a desk acts as a storage spot for electronic games and other gadgets. Around the banquette’s perimeter, glass-front maple cabinets in Putnam door style finished in Canvas from KraftMaid provide additional storage. Clever storage is also incorporated under the banquette seats.

Located just off of the kitchen, the pantry features open shelving and glass-front Courtney cabinets in cherry finished in Kaffe from KraftMaid. A Sub-Zero undercounter wine refrigerator and pair of dishwasher drawers from Asko are included here.

DuPont Zodiaq in Marrone Emperador hosts a Porto Fino sink and HiRise two-handle bar faucet from Kohler.

Organization Central

The “Organizer-in-Chief” space, designed by Mary Jo Peterson, CKD, CBD in conjunction with Better Homes and Gardens staff members Gayle Goodson Butler, editor in chief, Oma Blaise Ford, senior deputy editor and Joseph Boehm, senior interior designer, is a picture of organization. The 500-sq.-ft. space also includes a multitude of eco-friendly products.

Around the perimeter of the kitchen, the Lustra collection with Capri door style from Venicia by KraftMaid in Cherry Satin finish gives the room a contemporary feel. Glass doors with Fresco aluminum frames and Satina glass inserts add to the clean look.

Topping the perimeter, DuPont Zodiaq quartz surfaces in Warm Taupe incorporate recycled glass. Kohler provides the Deerfield Smart Divide sink with Coralais faucet.

A Wolf vent hood, oven and microwave, integrated Sub-Zero refrigerator and Fisher & Paykel dishwasher are also featured.

A Wolf glass induction cooktop contrasts against the recycled glass round backsplash tiles made from reclaimed beer and wine bottles from Bedrock Industries. Marmorette linoleum flooring from Armstrong in Parrot Green and Powder Green stripes provides an eco-friendly covering.

The cherry island cabinets are also from KraftMaid, in the Lyndale door style in Peppercorn, topped with DuPont Zodiaq in Toasted Almond. A Northland prep sink with Evoke faucet from Kohler is included.

The round banquette in the center of the kitchen provides a gathering space for the family. Drawers and cubbies in each end hold files, games and wine bottles.

The mudroom area is a multi-purpose space that incorporates a recycling center and family management items. Venecia by KraftMaid pull-out cleaning closet cabinets from the Lustra collection in the Capri door style in Cherry Satin finish act as mudroom lockers for each member of the family.

In the pantry, KraftMaid maple cabinets in Huntington door style in Canvas are complemented by Corian countertops in Burled Beach. Sub-Zero refrigerator drawers provide beverage and snack storage.

Blackberries!

• 225g blackberries • A little extra sugar for sweetening the blackberries (optional) • 150g butter or margarine • 150g golden caster sugar • 225g self raising flour • 3 eggs • Finely grated rind and juice of 1 large orange Preparation time: 10 minutes Cooking time: 20 minutes Difficulty: Easy 1 Preheat the Miele combi oven to 200ºC. Lightly grease a 20.5cm ovenproof dish. Scatter the blackberries over the base of the dish and sprinkle with a little sugar if desired. 2 Cream the fat and sugar together until pale and fluffy. 3 Add the remaining ingredients to the creamed mixture and beat well until smooth. 4 Carefully pour the mixture on top of the blackberries and level the surface. 5 Stand the dish on the glass tray with the wire rack in place and cook on combination microwave 300 watts (medium low) and fan 200°C for 15-20 mins or until a skewer inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. 6 Leave to stand for 5 minutes, then loosening around the sides of the dish carefully turn out onto a serving dish so that the blackberries are on top of the cake. Serve warm with plenty of double cream or crème fraiche.

Some recipes with shopping lists

• Marinade: • zest and juice of 1 orange • juice of ½ lemon • 2 teaspoons sweet chilli sauce • 1 clove garlic, peeled and crushed • 1 tablespoon clear honey • 1 tablespoon olive oil • freshly chopped parsley and fresh orange zest to garnish • 6 salmon fillets Preparation time: 5 mins (& marinade) Cooking time: 5 minutes Difficulty: Easy 1 Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade and pour into a shallow dish. 2 Place the salmon fillets into the marinade and turn to coat well. Leave to marinate for 2 – 3 hours or overnight. 3 Remove the salmon from the marinade and place in a perforated steam tray. Steam in the Miele steam oven at 90ºC for 5 minutes. Transfer to a warmed serving dish and sprinkle with the chopped fresh parsley and orange zest to garnish. Serve immediately.

I also enjoy cooking so I think I'll add
some recipes to this blog as well. I myself am not very good at following strict recipes and like to improvise a lot, however I am having fun at this blogging thing. So here we go!

With all the talk about induction cooking I'd like to add my 2 Cents. Wolf has it, Viking has it, Miele has it. They all have their own unique spin and take on their own version of it however, Bosch owns the technology that enables it. Therefore their induction cook tops are the least expensive. They only offer 30" and 36" versions as opposed to 15" and 18" versions offered by the others so your design capabilities are somewhat diminished but if you can get past that with the savings then you have a home run!

Another favorite of mine is the Miele steam oven. It can be a little clunky (the non plumbed version, shown here) to use but you get over that quickly when you see and taste the results. The design options are really nice also, they offer a freestanding, built in, pressure steam and the classic combination steam. You can virtually cook anything in these little beauty's and enjoy no flavor transference, the benefits of cooking healthier and beautiful looking food. Your broccoli, when steamed is still the beautiful green as when you put it in There!

No appliance professional worth their salt would leave out this beauty. The Sub-Zero 48" professional food preservation system. Dual zones, dual compressors, refrigerated drawers and freezer drawers. Air purification, water filtration, not to mention the design flexibility when talking about Sub-Zero in general. I love this thing! The last time I was in Madison Wisconsin, ( where these are made) I saw a letter from a woman that was celebrating the 50th birthday of her Sub-z, she had the original chain of custody documents passed down by her Mother to her when she married her husband. What a great story.

This is the Miele whole bean BI coffee system. It grinds the beans to your specifications ie; stronger, weaker, cappuccino etc. You cannot use beans with flavor agents in this machine as it will gunk it up. But very efficient and easy to clean.

This is one of the Miele coffee systems they offer. This model is the one that uses capsules as opposed to the whole bean system. It is shown here without the optional warming drawer for cups and saucers and above their single "Master chef" oven.

Dacor live kitchen

This shot is of the main "live" kitchen, we hosted many functions here! You can't really see it very well, but against the back wall is the 48" dual fuel Dacor pro range and in the island is a 30" gas range top. This is a very functional kitchen for 1 or 2 or even 3 cooks. It feature 2 dishwashers one standard 24" and a 30" (that only Dacor makes). 2 warming drawers, a BI microwave, a 24" wine storage and a 15" UC refrigerator. The BI 48" refrigerator is not pictured here and has full panels that match the cabinets.

Appliance showroom

These photos were taken by Randy Smith, if you wish to contact him. Post a comment and I'll get you his info. Very professional photographer. These were taken for the Dwellings Design Center in Vero Beach. I was their Appliance Sales Specialist and Event coordinator. The appliances featured here are all Dacor, in the first photo you see an millenia single wall oven and underneath it is their microwave drawer. In the far right vignette is the millenia dishwasher, also available in this style are refrigeration, microwave and ranges, 30" and 48".




This second photo shows their coffee system which is unfortunately no longer in production. Miele makes one that is superior anyway. Brew master is the inexpensive version and can be put in (as opposed to built in) after market.





This 3rd photo show the built- in 48" BBQ with side burner, the 30" BI BBQ, both gas, these are not field convertible and have to be ordered specific to gas, Natural or LP. Both have rotisserie features and LED lighting standard. The under counter refrigeration you see is UL rated for outdoor use and the wine storage unit has dual zones.