Beautiful Kitchens

Yesterday's post was a first course. Today is the entree!

It is always a pleasure of mine to show you Scandinavian kitchens, as you may know. The reason is that I think the Scandinavians have a very, very special gift for combining their modern design point of view, which seems to be in the collective DNA, (always with some exceptions) with historic surroundings or smaller traditional elements. They do it well, very well. 

If you can, go through this slide show slowly. Examine the parts and pieces of each kitchen design. Think about what you like and what you do not like. 

Some of these kitchens speak to me in a strong way, others do not speak to me at all. I do know one thing....I need about 6 houses to express myself in all my kitchen design "moods".

If you click on "notes" you will see my comments. What speaks to you and why?

The Kitchn Cure Is Coming

I'm a huge fan of the kitchn, Apartment Therapy's sister site on all things cooking and many things kitchen related. Apartment Therapy does their 8 Step Home Cure every spring, but the kitchn focuses just on, well, the kitchen, a space certainly worthy of singular introspection and periodic hair pulling sessions!

With the kitchen being ground zero for the need to physically nourish one several times a day in some cases (except for those who use the kitchen counter to place the take out food or pick up keys on their way to eat out) issues such as organization, storage, work habits and so on are worth taking a fresh look at now and then. 

In their effort to go back to basics, as the kitchn often does in a satisfying way, I wanted to give the kitchn cure a special shout out. Ok, the truth is, too, that I adore reading all the colorful comments on kitchen angst!

Sleek Scandinavian Kitchens!

OK, it's Friday, I'm feeling good, and I want to show you some modern kitchens from my latest Scandinavian magazine collection! I've now accumulated maybe 4 or 5 subscriptions of my fave Scandinavian magazines (and don't ask me the cost of a subscription, I don't want to remember, and don't tell my husband!)

I absolutely think there are things to learn by looking outside our normal kitchen bubble, to see what else is happening in kitchen design. Let's see what we can learn, dissect, and have fun with today, and also admire. These images are from the very chic magazine Rum Interior Design.

Below: Love the simplicity, the boldness, the white foundation. I also LOVE the artwork, as many of you may know.

Below: You know, I'm noticing more doors and windows with black trim for some reason, and I like it. Liking the skinny windows here.

Below: Interesting! Sure breaks up the mundane gray everywhere and creates more importance and weight to the upper section of the kitchen. And it's fun, and fun is always good in my book.

Below: I really like this one because there is a great juxtaposition of the profuse green landscape and the modern interior. Not to mention the artfully displayed accessories. Look at that!

Below: Now, this is not normally my style, but I could move into this space! I love white, I love texture, and I love windows. I'm good. 

Below: And, who can't smile at this one?? I sure am! We have white, we have major whimsy going on, and a modern point of view...mostly. Love. 

And you? What do you like/not like??

Want To Sell Your House? Clean The Kitchen!

My new Twitter buddy, Julia, from hooked on houses, has a post today on images that a realtor takes for a home listing. This struck a chord with me, having just bought and sold a house (not in that order!) And, having gone nuts over staging, tweaking images...and cleaning.

In my months of house hunting recently, I cannot tell you how much an unkempt kitchen was a total turnoff. It didn't even have to be a dirty kitchen (that's a definite turnoff.) But, even a slightly messy kitchen was...distracting, yes, that's the word. Distracting in a negative way is a negative thing (oh, how profound.)

Every realtor will tell you that a house, these days, needs an edge to be noticed. The house has to stand out among its competition. The chances of standing out greatly diminish if a home is in disarray, especially if the competition in the same price range shines...literally. The kitchen and bathrooms are viewed as utilitarian spaces, where cleanliness is important. That's sort of an undercurrent in one's mind, I think, when one visualizes oneself cooking and living in the kitchen. Therefore, it should be a clean slate, devoid of clutter and mess. 

In addition to the tips I previously mentioned on getting your kitchen ready for resale, in which I mentioned cleaning, I'd like to go a bit further... 

LIST OF THINGS TO CLEAN IN THE KITCHEN:

• floor
• window glass
• window trim-oftentimes it's just a wipe with a rag. If the trim needs to be painted, paint it!
• baseboard molding - clean or paint it
• cabinets - clean your cabinets and all their cracks and crevices on the outside
• cabinets - clean your cabinets on the inside as well
• joints - such as at the floor and the cabinet toekick molding, the baseboard molding and the floor, anyplace where grime accumulates
• walls - does your kitchen need a fresh coat of paint?
• dust all surfaces, shelving, decorative items, and so on
• clean the garbage pails - take them outside and hose them down/clean them
• clean out toaster/toaster oven
• clean/wipe down all countertop appliances. Move them from their places and clean all around them.

GET OUT YOUR TOOTHBRUSH AND CLEAN THE...

• sink(s)
• refrigerator
• dishwasher
• microwave - there are numerous solutions, but it's a must-do
• backsplash
• cooktop and especially grill
• vent hood

Basically...clean everything. Wipe down everything. Dust everything. Leave time before showings and open houses to do it again and again and again, as the showings present themselves. 

I promise you your house will have much more of an edge than it did before. I know how important this is...I just sold my home in a very tough market. Tough, because my home's price bracket was completely stagnant - lower priced homes were selling to first time home buyers and much higher homes were selling, although a bit less so. But, the middle/upper priced homes were, and are still, simply not moving in my area. Fortunately, ours did! And, every time we had a showing or an open house, we all pitched in and strived for near perfect cleanliness (and not because we enjoyed doing it.)

I think that helped immensely, and I remember how I reacted as I looked at potential homes for our family. Here is a link to eco-friendly cleaning supplies.