Feathered Nest: La Cucina

Sorry I have not posted in quite some time. Been super busy on different projects and have been neglecting my beloved blog. As an apology to those loyal Feathered Nest followers, I thought I would post about something everyone always seems to be interested in... kitchens.

I LOVE to help design a kitchen because it is truly such a central part of a home. Not a day goes by that you do not spend time in your kitchen (even those moms that don't really cook, the kitchen is still the place to lay out the take in cartons ;-)

Some tips I have if you plan on doing a kitchen makeover:

(1) If at all possible, install two dishwashers. Whether you have children or tend to entertain a lot, having the second dishwasher will make your life a lot easier.

(2) Some kitchen designers recommend installing the microwave in an island, thus giving you more room for upper cabinets. As far as I am concerned, this is a big mistake for two reasons. One is, if you have children that you do not want to have access to this appliance, then why would it make sense to install it at their eye level? Another reason that this is a bad idea is because if you do use the microwave often, you are constantly bending down to work it - not good for you back.

(3) If your sink is far from your stove, a pot filler is a great luxury.

(4) Install "friendly" countertops. When I redid my kitchen, I so badly wanted to do marble countertops. I actually vacillated for quite some time before I finally decided that I did not want the maintenance of worrying that they might stain. Instead I installed caesar stone and I am thrilled! LOVE the caesar stone and highly recommend this NO maintenance alternative to marble.

(5) If you have the space, I highly advise you to put in a banquette. You can see some beautiful images of banquettes on a previous post I did about a month ago.

(6) Pendant lights over an island are a wonderful way to add some style to a kitchen. There are tons of options from as inexpensive as IKEA to phenomenal custom lighting. (Maybe an idea for another post?)

(7) Most important advice.... Make sure that you have a professional help with the actual design. The placement of appliances and the scale of the kitchen is major. You do not want to spend tons of money to realize after the fact that you should have put the dishwasher closer to the sink...

Here are some real beauties that may spark some ideas for you...