Tradition and Technology Can Make Today’s Best Kitchen Remodels

The Kitchen Master

Some of the best looks in contemporary kitchen design are rooted in the tradition of “Euro style” or warehouse chic. There is something clean, fresh and satisfying about gleaming surfaces with minimal decoration, shiny smooth texture, bold use of color and line, and efficient, modern technology. If it’s juxtaposed with a nod to the past, the effect is even better.

Today’s most popular kitchen design trend is to mix elements of traditional with the sleek shine of “techie” innovation while still providing a “place for everything” and all the time and work-saving tools that today’s homeowners demand.

It matters little whether you view your kitchen as laboratory or gathering spot, as a multi-station workspace or the space where you only reheat take-out food. Your kitchen still occupies a central position in your lifestyle, and in your heart. For most homeowners in the Chicago suburbs, though, the kitchen is indeed the heart of the home, and serves a variety of needs.

How to Keep it Stylish

Kitchens age and sometimes the aging process is less than graceful, requiring a facelift or total reconstruction. If that’s the situation you find yourself facing, know that you have knowledgeable professionals at The Kitchen Master who will guide you through the pitfalls of an often intimidating kitchen remodeling project.

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Bringing your kitchen into the 21st century need not fill you with fear. Nor does it have to empty your pocketbook!

Trendy designs today are all about integrating function with style, and establishing a kitchen “presence” that does not necessarily have to be in tune with the rest of your decor. The move toward open space living, informality and efficiency meshes nicely with the popularity of furniture-style cabinetry, easy-care materials, and coordinated design that incorporates art and comfort with form and function.

There are very few unbreakable rules today in kitchen design. Even the “work triangle” is often abandoned in favor of multiple work stations or one-wall kitchens. Modern kitchens can exude the warmth of “Grandma’s” vintage space or the sleekness of a spaceship, and the size makes little difference.

Efficiency of operation has also advanced kitchen design. Quieter, energy-saving appliances share family space without disrupting normal activity. Heat and cooking odors are easily vented away. Food prep and clean-up is a breeze with specially-designed tools and built-in, point of use convenience. Refrigerators, dishwashers and trash receptacles can be installed under counter, disguised with cabinet panels or fully integrated so that no controls are visible. Even cooking surfaces and cool-operating ovens can be hidden away when not in use.

As you plan your “new” kitchen, think first about individuality. Yes, black is one of the hottest colors on the design palette. But if that sounds too somber, go ahead an install a flamingo pink bar cabinet, or a kiwi green prep sink. Add mood lighting as well as task lighting in appropriate places. Spotlight collections in your space, whether you have specialty cookbooks, antique salt and pepper shakers, or old farmhouse tools.