Forget the Open Floor Plan--It's Time to Bring Back Walls

1. Think About What You Need in Your Kitchen Remodel This step is all about figuring out how you use your kitchen, and finding the layout and features that fit your household’s lifestyle. Think about your priorities and ask yourself some questions. How many people will be cooking and gathering here? How will they need to move around? Do you need an addition, or can you work with your existing kitchen footprint? If you haven’t done so already, start saving photos of kitchens with features that suit your style. Your collection can be organized and beautiful like a scrapbook might be, or it can be filled with unorganized images. I like to randomly stuff images into my folders and ideabooks and go back to them later for edits. CRD Design Build 2. Research and Plan Ready to green-light that project and take the plunge? The best place to start is by formulating what’s commonly referred to as the scope of work and figuring out your preliminary budget. Both of these ma...

1. Light the Counters One of the most common mistakes in kitchen lighting is to add overhead lights over floors rather than above workspaces like countertops, sinks and ranges. Recessed downlights, the workhorse of most kitchens, are too often placed in front of or behind countertops. This can create harsh shadows right where you might be working with sharp knives. Instead, consider locating recessed downlights directly above the center of countertops, as  CTA Design Builders  did over the perimeter countertops in this kitchen. Don’t worry about lighting up those floors; enough light still will be present to see those spills. Mosaic Architects Boulder The correct placement of recessed downlights does more than just light countertops — upper cabinets and open shelves are also better illuminated. Avoid awkward scallops of light by aligning the downlights with cabinet doors, as seen in this kitchen designed by  Mosaic Architects Boulder . Poss Archit...

1. Choose a Door Style With Minimal Detail Raised-panel door styles have nooks and crannies that are magnets for dust and dirt. Shaker-style and slab door fronts don’t, so you won’t have to spend time scrubbing every recess of your door fronts. If you’re designing a traditional kitchen and want a more decorative door style, select a stain or paint that has a glaze. The glaze will fill the doors’ cracks and corners and better hide the dust and dirt that your cabinet doors will collect. Amato Design LLC 2. Opt for Flush Cabinet Ends You normally have two options for finishing the ends of your cabinets: flush ends or matching ends. Flush ends (above) are plywood ends that match the color of your cabinets. They are smooth and sleek, which means you can run a cloth over it with a few swipes. They can certainly speed up cleaning. Matching ends feature a panel with the same style as the door fronts, and while they can bring elegance and character to your kitchen, you face...

Though parents might think that talking with their kids about a family disaster plan would create worry, child psychology and emergency preparedness experts say it can have the opposite effect. Knowing that their family has an emergency plan increases children’s confidence and gives them a sense of control, experts say. Knowing what to do also can help kids stay safe if disaster strikes. But how do you raise the subject without scaring them? Your approach should vary with the age of the child, but, in general, the nonprofit Save the Children group and other emergency responders say you should: Listen.  Find out what children know about disasters and let them express their feelings. Be honest . Tell the truth in an age-appropriate way. Don’t overwhelm them with too much information. If you don’t know something, let them know you’ll find the answer. Be reassuring.  Acknowledge that disasters can be scary. Let them know you’re taking safety precautions and that you’ll show ...