Magic Corner

In laying out a kitchen, the corner cabinets can be tricky.  The most efficient use of base cabinet space in the corner is the "lazy susan".  However, sometimes the layout of the kitchen doesn't allow for the 36" of space necessary on each wall  for a standard lazy susan cabinet.  These great storage pieces do come in 33" wide but the door opening is so small it becomes a much less usable cabinet.  An alternative to the lazy susan is what's known as the "blind base".  This type of cabinet comes in different widths but is typically 24" deep with a door and drawer.  The "blind" section of the cabinet can be difficult to access so people generally store things that they don't use regularly in these corner units.  One solution we've found for this challange is the "Magic Corner 1" from Hafele.  The cabinet door mounts to a pull-out unit and rolling shelves allow easy access to items in the back of the cabinet.  The "Magic Corner 2" is another great option providing total access to the far reaches of the blind cabinet.  The front baskets pull out and swivel to a 90 degree open position while back baskets are simultaneously moved to the cabinet opening. 

Pantry Heaven

In all my years of helping families with kitchen remodeling, one theme continues to pop up: PANTRIES! It seems that most folks wish for a better, bigger, and more organized way to store dry food and other large items. Those who have no pantry at all are often determined to work one into their new kitchen plan. Since we are starting from scratch, my job is to make that dream come true. Sometimes, it is easy. The builder pantry of the 60’s-70’s era was built with typical 2x4 framing, drywall and (now aging) bi-fold doors. I commonly see shelves jam-packed; the floor covered with large items (cases and or liters of soda, Costco paper towels) and yet there is still enough room in front of the shelves to store 3 children. This is wasted space, which when remodeling this important room is unacceptable.

Decorating Dilemma

When I help clients in the showroom with their kitchen and bath selections, I find some have some trouble making hard choices. How will this cabinet look with that floor, and which granite looks best if I use Stainless Steel appliances? What if I like green glass tiles? What color grout should I use in my shower?

My training is primarily in space planning, although I have seen plenty of beautiful kitchens, and am happy to share my opinion of a particular combination. I tell folks that it’ s a lot like getting dressed to impress. (The decorative hardware is the earrings.) I also urge them to buy lots of kitchen/bath magazines and put sticky notes on any page that catches their eye. Maybe it’ s a light fixture, or the bar stools they like. Make notes, as later you might not remember why you liked something. Eventually, you will start to see a pattern develop which should help you to know you will love your final choice and not get tired of it.

The Crowning Glory

In over 30 years of working in the building/remodeling industry, I have seen amazing changes in styles of everything from appliances and flooring to decorative hardware and countertop materials. One thing that has blossomed into particular focus is the assortment of moldings offered by manufacturers to “accessorized” your kitchen cabinetry.

20 years ago when I remodeled my own kitchen, 42” high wall cabinets were getting popular. Elimination of the need for the bulky, boxy bulkhead, and gaining another 12” of dish storage was here to stay. Cabinets were set clear up to the ceiling, which was never exactly level, and some type of molding was required. I used a small but decorative cove type molding, and I thought it looked great. Nowadays, we have many more choices of not only moldings, but even combinations of moldings. Why do we have so many choices to make?? Just look at the yogurt section of the dairy case in your grocery store. We demand variety! 







Another addition to the arsenal for a designer, is the introduction of an idea which beautifully highlights the shapes of crown moldings. We call this “Staggered” moldings. This technique places several taller, deeper cabinets clear to the ceiling only in strategic locations. Often they are the diagonal corner wall cabinet, the refrigerator cabinet, and perhaps an oven or pantry cabinet. I then use somewhat shorter wall cabinets to fill in. The result is more mitering of the crown molding which truly displays their shapes and beauty much more than just running it across in a straight line of cabinets. This creates visual interest and movement and prevents the doors from becoming a “wall of wood”. It’s tricky though, and does take careful planning. 

The Great Divide

When I’m helping clients design a new kitchen, I show them some cool ways I’ve found to manage the storage of some odd shaped items. The baking sheets, pizza pans, roasting pans, cutting boards, and muffin tins can be extremely difficult to extract if they are all stacked on top of each other. Inevitably, the one you want is on the bottom. Thankfully, these items and others can be organized neatly in small spaces with dividers installed in various cabinets. Tray dividers are vertical partitions or metal racks that enable the cook to find an item and easily slide it out for immediate use. These work well in spots that might otherwise be tough to reach. I like to see them above the refrigerator in the deep wall cabinet I place above. Even a shorter cook can usually reach the bottom corner of a pizza pan or cookie sheet. They are standing up like books on a shelf. Easy peasy!

Other types of dividers can be arranged in drawers to corral all those odd-shaped items we seem to collect. I know I don’t use my pastry blender very often,(apple pie maybe twice a year) but when I want it, I have a space designed exactly to fit it. The apple corer fits right under it. The Container Store (I love this place) sells a system to arrange items in drawers which was designed by a woman in California. She realized that with rigid plexi type plastic, the only tool necessary to cut a straigt line was a razor blade. All you have to do is score it along a straight edge and snap the pieces over the edge of your counter or table. In the kit are also some peel and stick u-shaped channels that allow you to keep the rigid dividers in place in the drawer and to each other. I took all those wicked kitchen tools out and arranged them on my counter first. I like having the most often used ones closest, and the weirder ones at the back of the drawer. Now I have a perfect place for even the shish-kebob skewers. That’s power! I got so excited I went back and bought more. I now have a special drawer for the plastic picnic flatware, the special spoons for pho noodle soup and even birthday candles.

Ten Reasons People Remodel

When I meet clients in the showroom, we first sit down and I try to learn something about their family and their home. Depending on the age of the house, and how they would like the new room to function, certain topics almost always come up. I don’t have to ask them why they want to remodel their kitchen, but these are reasons I often hear:

Top Ten reasons you want to Remodel your kitchen:

10) The appliances are dying

9) The floor is shot

8) There is horrible lighting 

7) Not enough storage and what is there is hard to reach

6) The Formica counter top has seen better days

Spice is Nice

Your kitchen may be a very clean and organized space. Perhaps you know exactly where every single item is. Good for you. If not, please know we are used to helping people solve some of their problems with organization in this most often used space.

As we begin the process of designing a kitchen for a client, there are typical questions that help us understand how the current kitchen does or doesn’t work. We then know how to proceed to correct problem areas. One common complaint is storage and retrieval of spices. The bottles are small, and often hard to reach, but most often almost impossible to find. I find the analogy of a library a good starting point for explaining how we can help make this problem go away. Imagine going into a Library to find a specific book. The books are on the shelves, but they are going every which way, and the titles are all turned where we cannot see them. That’s the frustration you feel when you are searching for that tiny container of Cream of Tartar. Some solutions:

Me and my Mud (Room)

Long ago, the mudroom of a house was the area between the outside of the house and the inside. In winter ice and snow, and in spring with constant rain, this room with it’s tile floor was a barrier to keep mud off the finished wood floors of the house proper. In households with animals such as horses, you can imagine the dirt that otherwise would have been tracked inside.

Nowadays, I hear clients referring to their “mudroom” but most often I find it is the laundry room between the garage and the kitchen. We have been referring to this as the “Family Foyer” because guests use the formal front door, but the family goes in and out this informal “mudroom”. For families with children, this room can become a problem as the kids routinely dump the coats, backpacks, shoes and sporting equipment on the floor when they come home. What can be done?

We have been working in some solutions to such an area and making it pull double duty. This can be a place to store out of season outerwear and shoes if we can build up to the ceiling. (mittens/hats/ beach towels/ flip flops) Depending on how large the area is, we can create cubbies, often with coat hooks and a place to sit so that it’s easy to hang up the coats and back packs and put on, take off, and store shoes and boots. It’s also a great place for mom and dad to park some of their gear so it doesn’t wind up on the kitchen counters. A “charging” zone can be created for the various rechargeable devices (phones, cameras, GPS, laptop, I-pods) that could develop into a snake nest of wires in the more public parts of you home.

NARI President's Breakfast

Kleppinger Design Group hosted the NARI President's Breakfast on Sept. 23rd. June Stanish was on hand to snap a few pictures of the casual networking event. The monthly NARI President's Breakfast is an opportunity for NARI members and potential members to talk with the NARI Metro DC President Jerry Levine.

Tupperware Nightmare

Let’s face it. Getting dinner on the table is a big enough chore. There’s the planning, the shopping, the prep work, the retrieval of all the cookware, the actual cooking, and the endless clean up. Can we make this easier please????
I have worked with many families over the years to help them create their perfect dream kitchen. Each project presents me with a unique challenge which needs specific solutions to make life easier. Some areas are a common problem, but we have great ways to address them.
One complaint I almost know I’m going to hear about is the nightmare of the plastic containers we lovingly call Tupperware. There is no question that it is tough to store and retrieve. The lids go missing as they seem to jump off the shelf. Finding the right size container with a matching lid is frustrating at best.