Project Glam Kitchen: Appliances

Before finalizing any layouts and millwork drawings for my kitchen, I was busy researching appliances. Selecting appliances well in advance allows you to plan your kitchen efficiently, knowing all the factors you need to accommodate beforehand.

When it came to selecting brands for my kitchen, I started with companies that had an excellent reputation for quality and service with a professional restaurant look. A lot of appliances these days aren’t made the way they used to be, and I wasn’t interested in anything that would need replacing 5-10 years down the road. This reno was all about longevity and investing in long-term reliability so I was prepared to set aside a big chunk of the budget for them.

Another reason I started looking at higher-end brands, was because they afforded the most options for built-in and panels for a truly seamless look. I knew my colour scheme was going to be white and brass based, and wanted to minimize the amount of stainless steel in the kitchen so panelling was a great solution.

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Project Glam Kitchen: The Layout

After determining the confines of space I had to work with, I did tons of research, pouring over back issues of Style At Home and revisiting my interior decorating course notes on kitchen planning so I could map out the kitchen of my dreams. I love to cook and entertain so it had to be extremely functional and not just stylish.

When I looked at the shell of the kitchen, the given elements to work with were: two corners, an island, and a nice large window to place the sink under. After some helpful advice from my former boss, architect Dee Dee Taylor Eustace, I was convinced to remove cabinetry I had initially placed on the shorter wall right by the entrance to the addition so the kitchen would be an L shape and not a U shape. This was great advice because in kitchen planning, corners are the most inefficient use of space, so losing that shorter wall was not a big storage loss. As a result my island could be increased by two feet- valuable square footage when spreading out a buffet for 20!

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