Kitchen makeover

Firstly Mr E-worm, it’s good to welcome a

new member from the States and I hope you find our forum useful.

Your post highlights the differences in design that seperates the Atlantic although it does appear that European kitchens are becoming increasingly popular in the USA.

The use of copper plays a minimal role in the kitchen this side of the pond, even in traditional designs, yet as an accompanying material for wood finishes it remains popular in the

USA.

My assumption is that your kitchen is in keeping with the other elements of a traditional nature in your home and that your cabinetry will be an in-frame style.

There does seem to be a danger of over utilising the wood finishes and this may prove to dampen the visual aspects of your design. Contrasting the colours and shades has the purpose

of attracting the eye to the virtues of each of the components that make up your kitchen and although this can be countered with lighting and paint finishes it would, in my humble

opinion, be advisable to consider a greater contrast between flooring, cabinetry and countertops.

An increasingly relevant factor in design is the emphasis on reducing maintenance whilst not compromising on the aesthetics of your kitchen and a number of products now offer the

consumer greater resilience, durability and at the same time offer impressive, eye catching designs in a wide choice of colours and shades.

Practically speaking, materials such as engineered stone countertops and hard wearing vinyl flooring offer greater resistance to the everyday chores and different climate that a

kitchen exposes them to. Vinyl flooring, although a modern material, marries well with traditional designs and offers the resilience that a wood floor may fail to do in the long term.

( I am sending you links to my recommendations for both)

To have the ability to accommodate an island, table and chairs in your kitchen somewhat conveys the size and it is important to point out that the proximity of certain appliances and

your sink and dishwasher locations should be considered close to one another.

Can or recessed lighting works well with both traditional and contemporary finishes and often the importance of adequate ambient light in the kitchen is ignored. As the island in your

own kitchen seems to be the main work and preparation area, task lighting appears to be the correct choice and uniformity of a material, in this instance copper, continues the theme

above your table.

Again, lighting preferrences in the UK are different and centred primarily on a stainless steel finish as they are with appliances but trends come and go and it’s anyone’s guess as

to what material will stoke up the fires again.

I am all in favour of realising our own ambitions in the kitchen regardless of any unwritten design rules and if your choices work for you then that is the only consideration you

should make. Daring to be different is what distinguishes one kitchen from another and this is an ethos to be applauded in any design.

To be bold however I think that you might contemplate practicality and longevity as added criteria of design by researching the components now at your disposal to offer this.

Personally, I think that a green shade brings out the best in maple and you might consider this as a countertop finish.
As for the floor, I would suggest you try out samples once installation is nearing its end to give a better indication of the finish.

Whatever decisions you come to I offer only an opinion and respect the difference in whatever is chosen. After all, you above anyone have to enjoy the social hub of the home and the

place you will ultimately be spending most of your time in.

Hope this helps in your decision making

Tim.

Good choices Mr E-Worm and I hope your project runs smoothly.

Keep us updated.

Tim.