May 2011 ~ Gallery Interior Design

Kitchen Cabinets

The following questions are aimed at clarifying your goals for how you want your kitchen to look and function so that you'll ultimately be satisfied with the end result. Here are some things to consider:

What don't you like about your current kitchen cabinets?
Pin down exactly what it is you dislike about your current cabinet situation so that you'll be specific when looking for solutions in your new cabinets.
Do you not have enough space or maybe it's poorly allocated space (like the 3-ft deep upper cabinet that you can only reach the first 12 inches of)? Maybe your current kitchen cabinets are just the wrong style or perhaps they don't have good organizational features.
The more specific you can be about what it is you want to have or change, the more focused you'll be about targeting the right options from the myriad that are available with new kitchen cabinets.

Use Lighting Appropriate

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Think about how you're going to use the space and whether there are any specific tasks that you'll be doing there that require special attention from a lighting perspective.
The kitchen is a good example of a space that serves several roles and can benefit from different kinds of lighting. Task lighting is used for meal preparation while ambient and accent lighting sets a mood for dining and entertaining.Task lighting illuminates dark walkways while accent lighting that washes the exterior of the house provides attractive evening curb appeal.
Using the various layers of ambient, task, accent and decorative lighting in coordination with how the space is used will provide an effective lighting plan with attractive results.

lightining home

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Task lighting is used in areas where specific tasks are performed with the main purpose of providing illumination for those functions. Examples include lighting over the sink for doing dishes, under the cabinets for preparing meals on the countertop and next to an easy chair for the purpose of reading.
Accent lighting is used to highlight certain features or elements within a space. Examples include using a downlight to highlight framed portraits on the wall or to accentuate the texture of a stone hearth.
Decorative lighting refers to the lighting fixtures themselves rather than the what the light is being used for. In this case, the light fixture is the focus of attention and not necessarily what it's intended to illuminate. One example is a chandelier that's designed with aesthetic qualities that make it part of the decorative landscape of a room.

The key point about layers of light is that most successful home lighting plans use more than one layer. Lighting designers advocate using several because they enhance the feel of the room, offer flexibility in setting mood and generally make for better illumination for how the space is used.

Door home stay

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Chalkboard paint is available from several sources, two products being Rust-Oleum's Specialty Chalk Board Paint and Plaid® FolkArt® Chalkboard Paint. You're not limited to the traditional black and green chalkboard colors either as both products are available in various hues.
Another alternative is to make your own chalkboard paint using latex or acrylic paint mixed with sandless tile grout. Just search the web for "make chalkboard paint" to find several websites that detail how do this.
You can even go as far as making your own magnetic chalkboard using, what else... magnetic chalkboard paint. MagnaMagic and Magprime are two products that offer this capability. The effectiveness may vary however, with some users reporting variability in the paint's "magnetic hold" depending on the number of coats applied.

Regardless of whether you choose to go with new interior doors or try to turn your existing door(s) into a chalkboard, the concept offers a unique and alternative location for your home's message center. This is especially true in smaller kitchens that don't have a small desk or the countertop space for this purpose.