My Modern Kitchen Design Plan

Well, the time has finally come. Or has it? Kitchen renovation is so overwhelming and stressful that I've been putting it off for as long as I can. Our home kitchen is perfectly functional, not aesthetically pleasing or current, but functional. When we moved into our house 10 years ago, we chose the-then popularity theme: dark solid maple cabinet doors in shaker style, natural granite counter and a whole lot of stainless steel appliances. My love for this kitchen quickly dried up as my design style evolves. I know I am probably only going to renovate this kitchen once, a gut job, so I am thinking something more nature-inspired, more modern and clean-lined, and can stand the test of time. 

Below is my home kitchen design board. I haven't decided yet whether I should hire a designer to help me along the way. White cabinetry is a must-have. Adding some blonde wood cabinetry in the island wrapped around by waterfall counter, or in the pantry, would create visual interest and enhance the modern aesthetics. 

Below is our kitchen's current layout. 

And this is the new layout I am thinking: extending the pantry (no-brainer!) and moving the orientation of the island sink to face the stove. With that, I can get a much longer island (more seating) out of the space. I will probably have to go for a narrower island than 48" so there's more room away from the pantry wall. 

The picture below pretty much summed up my dream kitchen must-haves. Most of the appliances, especially fridge, would be hidden behind cabinetry doors. 

And below is the design board for our kitchen diner. 

As you could see from the layouts above, kitchen and diner are essentially one big open space, so I combine the design boards below to show you how they look together. 

If you remember back in December we just gave our kitchen diner a mini makeover. I am keeping most of the stuff except for the round dining table. 

This Ikea Fjalkinge shelving unit will definitely stay. 

I don't know when I can work up the courage for this project yet - it surely going to be very disruptive to our daily routine, and routine is very important to me. I am hoping early fall before it gets cold, so we can still do some cooking and eating in our backyard. Stay tuned! I will share a source list in my future posts. For now, here are the two items I already ordered: 

Emmett 6-Light Chandelier from Wayfair. 

Edessa Tribal Medallion runner rug from RugsUSA. 

Environmentally Friendly Home Designs

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For many, a home is a safe haven and a way to escape from the world. It’s your personal space, and for this reason, you want it to be as comfortable as possible. In this day and age of promoting green practices, people are looking for ways to make their homes green, and one approach is to infuse this need it into your home designs. If you aren’t familiar with the ways you can design your home in a way that benefits the environment, you may not know where to start. Keep reading to find out how you can make your home design environmentally friendly.

Use Indoor Plants 

When designing your interior, include indoor plants in your plan. These can do wonders for your home as well as for the environment, too. If you didn’t know, one of the benefits of indoor plants is that they breathe in carbon dioxide and breathe out oxygen. They’re also capable of absorbing other harmful chemicals like benzene or formaldehyde which are typically found in household products. A few examples of indoor plants to buy are asparagus fern, fiddle leaf fig, or the Chinese money plant.

Use Solar Energy 

Another method for designing an environmentally friendly home is using solar energy. Solar energy is so beneficial to the environment because it’s energy that’s renewable. It also has low maintenance costs and can help reduce your electricity bill, which is often an incentive for many.

If you don’t know much about home solar systems, it’s advisable that you soak in as much information as possible using platforms like Going Solar. The first step would typically be to get solar panels installed so that the energy from the sunlight can be converted into electricity.

Choose Durable Materials 

For those who happen to be reconstructing any part of their home or building it for the first time, use durable materials. Bamboo, for instance, is one of the best eco-friendly materials that you can find. It is said to be exceptionally durable, lightweight, as well as less energy-incentive,  to transport.  Other materials to try are cork, which is another fast-growing resource, or recycled wood and metal.

Compost 

If you have the luxury of having a garden in your home, you should explore the idea of composting. You can leave a space in your garden for this as it’s a fantastic way of managing your kitchen scraps and improving the environment too, as compostable materials cannot degrade effectively when sent to landfill.

Here are a few steps regarding how to compost if you’ve never done so before.

• Combine Materials: Make a pile at least three feet deep of green and brown materials. If you find your compost pile is too wet and smells, add more brown. On the other hand, if you find it’s brown and dry, add green and a little bit of water to make it more moist.
• Water the Pile: Your compost pile should have the same consistency as a wet sponge, so watering it regularly is a must. However, don’t add too much water as it could result in your pile drowning.
• Stir the Pile: In order to give your pile oxygen, resolve to use a garden fork to turn it once a week. This should help it cool faster and prevent a smell from developing.
• Feed Your Pile: Once your pile is dry, brown and crumbly, it’s fully cooked and you can use it to feed your garden.

Budget Bathroom Makeover Checklist

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With the new year here, it might be about time to consider giving your bathroom a quick makeover. Doing a full remodel is expensive, time consuming, and ultimately unrealistic for the average person. However, there are quick, cheap, and easy ways to breathe new life into your bathroom, even if you’re renting!

If you go through this easy bathroom makeover checklist, you’ll find plenty of ideas that are budget friendly and relatively simple to utilize in your bathroom. Throughout this checklist, we tried to follow some of the most popular bathroom design trends of 2019 so that you’re not wasting your time with anything that's out of style.

Walls

The bathroom walls are a great place to start when it comes to upgrading your bathroom on a budget. There are some different options based on the amount of money you want to spend, how much work you want to put in, and if you own your place or not.

Painting your walls is an amazing tactic to upgrading your bathroom. Paint is relatively cheap, and you don’t need to paint every wall. Having a fun pop of color on one wall acts as a great focal point for your bathroom. A trendy new design choice is to paint one wall black if you’re feeling especially adventurous.

Of course, not everyone has the luxury of being able to paint their walls whenever they feel like it. Landlords can be strict and you might want to pick your battles. Instead, you can go with a fun wallpaper that’s easy to put up and then remove when you decide to leave. Modern prints are popular right now. Wallpaper on one wall, like paint, is a great way to add an interesting focal point to any bathroom.

Finally, if you want the least amount of work or you have a small bathroom, you can hang and additional mirror. Adding in a mirror has a way of making small bathrooms feel more spacious. They trick your eye into making your bathroom feel bigger than it is, which is always a plus!

New Fixtures

You’ll often see people who want to give their kitchen a quick update switch out their cabinet handles/knobs. The same idea works well in bathrooms! If you’re dealing with old or outdated bathroom fixtures, they’re relatively cheap and easy to replace with something new. A popular trend right now is going with matte black fixtures. They are fun, bold, and definitely more interesting than the standard chrome you’ve been seeing in bathrooms for years. If you don’t want to deal with the sink or shower head, you can always go for switching out cabinet handles for your bathroom vanity.

Backsplash

The area between your sink and your mirror is often neglected. It’s an uninteresting space that people will forget about because they have no idea what do with it. This is where you have a chance to shine! Purchasing a simple stick on backsplash will do wonders for your bathroom. Although it’s a small area, your eyes will immediately be drawn to that spot if there is something interesting to look at.

You could always tile that area, but we’re on a budget! Stick on backsplashes are less than $20 and if you go with a high quality option, it’s hard to tell the difference between a stick on and real tile.

Storage

Storage and shelving are two aspects of your bathroom that might not be the most interesting, but can make the biggest difference. Having a cluttered bathroom is going to lead to stress and unhappiness. The last thing you want to see when you go to the bathroom in the morning is the mess that’s been lingering for days. An easy way to get better about keeping your vanity area clean and maximizing space is by installing floating shelves.

Floating shelves look amazing and don’t have to be expensive. Since they’re often not supporting too much weight, they’re cheaper than other shelving options. Another great feature about floating shelves, they’re easy to make yourself!

Another upgrade that’s worth thinking about is switching to a floating vanity. Floating vanities are the absolute best option if you’re dealing with a small bathroom. A large, bulky bathroom vanity is going to make your bathroom feel even smaller than it already is. A floating vanity allows you to utilize the space under the sink for additional storage.

These are just a few of the options when it comes to a budget bathroom makeover. You can also add art, buy a new bathroom mat, upgrade your towels and towel rack, you name it. Creating and maintaining a beautiful bathroom doesn’t need to be hard or expensive, just start small!

About the Author:

Thomas is a lead content producer for Trade Winds Imports, a company that has 10 years of experience in bathroom design and an unbeatable knowledge of bathroom vanities.