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Get The Professional Chef Look In Your Kitchen!

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If you love cooking and are always whipping up recipes designed by your favorite chefs, or concoctions of your own design, then chances are you have high standards when it comes to your kitchen at home. Whether it is having the very best in knives and other cooking tools, the freshest ingredients or the latest and best gadgets, cooking enthusiasts relish the chance to fit out their kitchens with the best in professional quality gear. But, when it comes to the layout of the kitchen itself, you may find yourself working with something that is a little more cluttered and homely than your Michelin starred heroes might have to use. If you are a serious cook in your own home and are thinking about remodeling your kitchen, why not take some kitchen design ideas from the professionals and get that pristine, efficient top chef look?

Maximum Room to Work

In a professional kitchen, one of the most vital concerns is keeping everything extremely clean and avoiding cross contamination. While in your own kitchen you will usually not be preparing as diverse a menu on a given day as a restaurant, cross contamination between different types of food and raw and cooked food is still an issue, so one thing to make sure of is that you have plenty of work space. Don’t waste counter space on things that are purely decorative or which can go somewhere else, like wine racks or bread bins, and give yourself as much room to work with when it comes to cutting, mixing and preparing as your kitchen can afford you.

Counter Tops

When it comes to counter tops and other work surfaces, in a professional kitchen stainless steel is normally used because it is very easy to keep clean and is resilient and long lasting. If you want this look in your own home then go for it, however most people prefer the more domestic look or granite or marble. These can take a bit more work to clean, however they do look good and also offer a strong surface to work on – just make sure you are always using clean cutting boards rather than putting food directly on the counter.

A stainless steel sink is always the best sort to have in a kitchen, however, and even if you use a dishwasher for the main washing up work, it is good to have a large one where you can quickly rinse off knives and other tools between uses for the same meal. A large sink is also a good place to defrost things and do various other food prep tasks, and will also give your kitchen more of the professional look you want.

Storing Equipment

Storing all your pots and pans in cupboards is the obvious way to keep the kitchen looking tidy, but you can create a cool ‘chef’ look by having some of your most used things out in the open, hanging on hooks over your oven for pots and pans or standing, ready to be used in a nice knife block for some of your other utensils. This not only makes the kitchen look like it belongs to a serious cook, but also makes it easier for you to grab the things you need as you prepare food.

Featured images:

Richard Maxwell works for AB Restaurant Equipment, a restaurant supply store. He enjoys interacting with people and helping them out with his useful tips and suggestions.

Top Tips That Will Make Your Kitchen Easier To Work In

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Day 180 - Bloody washing up

How many times has someone said to you ‘the trick is to wash up your dishes right after you’ve eaten?’. It sounds like good advice sure, but what these smug friends don’t seem to take into account is that it’s not always quite that simple. For instance, it might be that you often watch TV while you eat and that you want to watch the rest of the program before you do the washing up. Alternatively it might be that once you’ve sat down, you suddenly feel too tired to get up and do the washing up after your long day of work and cooking.

Finally though, it might just be that you don’t enjoy washing up because your kitchen is too crowded to make it easy. If you have a small or badly designed kitchen, then what’s already a tough and unpleasant job can become unbearable. Here we will look at some of the ways you can make your kitchen more conducive to work, including washing up.

Work Zones

No matter the work you are doing in the kitchen you will find you need work zones. Work zones are areas that you can stand to work and ideally you should be able to reach more than one surface as well as some kind of appliance. In other words a good work zone might enable you to reach two or three bare surfaces and the hob. This way you can chop vegetables, stir a broth and drop things into a bowl all at once. When you first come up with your kitchen design you should try to think about where the work zones are going to be and how you can include more if possible. Using a kitchen island is one great way to add reachable surfaces at multiple points around the kitchen.

Organize Your Small Appliances

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Blenders, toasty makers and coffee machines are all great things to add to your kitchen that can help you to get more from it and provide better for guests. However they also have a downside which is to clutter your surfaces and make it harder to keep things clean. Keep them organized by providing storage for them, and make sure that there aren’t too many wires draped across your surfaces.

Have a Good Draining Rack

For washing up specifically a good draining rack is important and you should make sure that this provides enough space to keep all of your items on easily without it becoming overcrowded. A bowl in your sink can also help with the washing up.

Make Everything Accessible

While you should try to keep things out of the way and off the surfaces you should also ensure that you can quickly access anything you need to from the appliances to crockery and utensils. If you have to root around for ages to find a knife or climb up onto a step ladder to get the tinned beans then you’ll find that more often than not you end up just making ready meals instead…

Attached Images:

Gary Mint ia an interior designer. His area of interest is the kitchen. He loves to come up with new ideas for kitchen remodelling and is a firm believer in the concept of a spacious kitchen. His other interests include cycling and swimming.

The Ins and Outs of Hiring a Kitchen Designer

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According to recent trends, more people are deciding to stay in their homes and explore kitchen-remodeling options. Often do-it-yourselfers undertake this project, but many folks are interested in learning about using the services of kitchen designers for professional results.


Scope of the Project

Homeowners that are handy with tools and have the skills and time for remodeling may decide to tackle smaller jobs for themselves. However, if the remodeling job requires major modifications to the kitchen, you may need the services of a professional kitchen designer with the necessary skills.

Large kitchen projects are often benefitted by using designers that know how to utilize every square foot of kitchen space efficiently. Experienced designers specialize in kitchen remodeling and stay current on new trends while offering their experience and services.

Benefits of Hiring Kitchen Designers

Professional kitchen designers are trained and ready to take on the smallest to the most complicated of kitchen remodeling jobs. Often homeowners create a vivid picture of the features they want without understanding the physical space requirements in addition to the plumbing and electrical needs involved in the remodeling process. Kitchen designers take in all aspects of the job.

Kitchen designers can spot problem areas and alert homeowners of new options for resolving problems. They can also discuss improvements and enhancements while recommending energy saving products and desirable kitchen concepts.

The Role of Kitchen Designers

The role of a kitchen designer is to listen to the homeowners wishes for remodeling their kitchen. The designer may discuss specific types of hardware, cabinetry, trendy new flooring, designer stoves, lighting alternatives and other enhancements that could be included in the remodeling job.

After discussing remodeling ideas, the kitchen designer takes detailed measurements and draws up plans. It is common for homeowners and designers to visit showrooms and view catalogs for the final selection of cabinetry, tile, countertops and appliances.

Finalized plans are then submitted for bids to several contractors to perform the work. Some designers may continue to act as a project manager during the installation phase with contractors.

Hiring Designers

Check the qualifications of kitchen designers before hiring. Ask each designer you are considering about his or her experience, education, qualifications and skills.

Ask kitchen designers for references. References from previous customers can offer a wealth of information about the qualifications and services provided by the designer.

When interviewing designers, you should obtain a price quote in addition to an estimate for completing the kitchen design plan.

Before hiring kitchen designers, you should confirm whether they are creating the design plans in addition to overseeing the contractors as well. Some designers take responsibility for designing kitchen plans, while others stay involved through the entire project.

Cost of Designer Services

In some cases, people may shy away from working with kitchen designers fearing the costs associated with their services. However, in reality there are many reputable kitchen designers with affordable prices ranging from five to 10 percent of the total project cost.

Each designer may set his or her own prices accordingly. Some kitchen designers may charge a minimum fee based on the project size or others charge hourly. High-end designers may charge $150/hour and the low-end of the spectrum could be $40 to $50 an hour.

Hiring a talented kitchen designer and paying for services, may far outweigh the costs you incur with poor planning, mistakes and poor quality construction. Save time, money and frustration by consulting with a kitchen designer to receive expert services.

Image by Arizona Prestige, and licensed through Creative Commons.

Bath & Kitchen Studio stocks beautiful vitreous china sinks and other kitchen fixtures at some of the lowest prices you will find anywhere. Visit www.bathandkitchenstudio.com and start saving on your kitchen remodel.

Kitchen cupboards and fridge need a good cleaning

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Sometime in the near future- probably this month, my kitchen is going to get a thorough cleaning out.

By this I mean, not only scrubbing the floors, the oven and counters, but I plan on emptying out the fridge and all of the cupboards.

Unless you have a bare fridge, I think most of us can say that we all have a jar or two or ten that has been sitting in the back of the fridge or in the fridge door for God only knows how long. Did you know that most items such as jams, mayonnaise and relishes are only good for three or four months once they’re opened? If you’re like us and you don’t us them up that fast they could be in the fridge a heck of a lot longer than that, right? Not good.

So between the fridge and all the stuff I find in the back of our cupboards I’m sure there will be a lot of stuff thrown out. I know there are things in my cupboards that I haven’t used in years. That includes foods like muffin mixes and small appliances.

Once I do get around to clearing out my cupboards I might take a serious look at my pots and pans. I have Lagostina pots and I love them, but they’re getting old or at least some of the ones that I use most often are getting a little worn out. Maybe I could add one or two new pieces of enamel cookware to my collection? I know I’ll have more room for them once the cupboards get cleared out.

Whens the last time you totally cleaned out your fridge and or cupboards? Big job, isn’t it?

We just can’t seem to get motivated to finish our home renovations

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I vowed earlier this year that this would be the year that we’d finish our renovations. So far that hasn’t happened!

We’ve actually been putting off finishing our renovations for 6 or more years! Can you believe that I’ve been living in a house that has two by one strapping spaced about a two feet apart all across the living room and dining room ceiling for 6 years or so? All that’s left to be done to finish the ceiling is for us to put up the tin ceiling tiles that we purchased about 8 years ago.

My husband and I both ended up having some bad health problems about 6 years ago so it made sense to put a hold on our reno. We also had some bad family tragedies happen around that time too .. but now, even though I’m still sick with Crohn’s we should be able to slowly start finishing the renovations that we started.

I mean .. all we have to do is put those tin ceiling tiles up, cut and apply baseboards, quarter round and maybe some molding around the top of the walls where it meets the ceiling and we’ll pretty much be done our living room dining room renovation.

Then we can either start on the kitchen or the basement. We just have to get motivated to get started!

I’ve been trying to motivate myself by looking at decor websites and magazines …I’m really interested in the look of a stone sink for our kitchen .. but I’m not sure it’s quite as easy to care for as a stainless steel sink … it also might cost more … so we’ll see.

Have you ever done renovations on your home? If so did you kind of stall at some point? If you did, what did you do to get yourself motivated again to start working on your renovation projects again?

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