Luxury Housing Trends & Home Improvement Ideas

Cooking is not everyone’s forte, and if you’re single with a busy career life, the kitchen might be the least used room of your home. Instead of abandoning the kitchen all together, at least create a space where you can eat your Chinese take out.

A pullout table is a simple way to have a dining table for one, especially if you just purchased your home and don’t have the money for a proper kitchen table yet. You can pay about $200 now and save up for the $700 or more table. Plus, if you take you’re work home with you, now you have a quiet spot to complete it.

The Presto Pull-out Table is a rolled out tabletop, which is housed in a cabinet. For a sturdier design, the leg assembly is sold separately but required. Once you get a better table, you can use this pull-out table as a serving table.

Planning the storage for your kitchen can be overwhelming. If you have drawers of spices, containers and hand towels, slide-out cabinets can make your cooking area more organized.

The adjustable wood pull-out organizer shown below for spices can make finding your basil easier. If you’re spices were readily accessible, you would most likely not end up buying extras of what you already own. This model is designed for full-height base cabinets, but it has adjustable shelves and chrome rails to keep everything in its place.

Slide-out options for trash cans are ideal if you have a large family, because you can store more than one garbage container under the counter. This will reduce your need to take the trash out so much. There are also slide-out cabinets for hand towel storage, which makes taking baking sheets out of the stove and washing your hands more convenient. Or you can designate a cabinet for plastic and glass containers, which always seem to lose their lids.

Creating a workspace in your kitchen or off of the kitchen is a way to ensure that your finances are taken care of. When you lack an organized and ready to use workstation, you’re likely to forget important dates and lose bills.

In order for a workstation to be acceptable in the kitchen area, it has to be organized and functional. Reusing a vintage desk is a way to save money and create your finance station. Office supplies can be stored in the drawers, or if the desk doesn’t have drawers, you can hang holders on the wall above the desk.

Another way to keep your desk neat is to install basic wall-mounted shelving, because a variety of items can be stored here. For example, stylish file boxes can be placed on the top shelf then books and a holder for due bills can be on the lower shelf where they are readily accessible.

Extra refrigerator drawers in the kitchen are a convenient touch so you have more storage space and the opportunity to keep certain foods extra chilly. These Sub-Zero refrigerator drawers can make your life easier when preparing meals at your kitchen island.

Since the drawers are built into the counter, you barely know they are there. Model options include custom panels and classic, platinum or carbon stainless steel hardware. Here is where you can store your bottled beverages for easy accessibility. Also, if you want to make sure you and your children are getting two servings of fruit every day, this is the perfect place to keep them.

Sub-Zero has variations of these drawers too. For instance, you can have a built-in wine cooler or refrigerator doors that are more transparent. These refrigerators can go into any room such as your theater, gym, family room, etc., so don’t assume that you’re limited to the kitchen.

Early in the morning before work, wouldn’t it be nice to sip your cup of coffee or tea and read a book or the newspaper on a cushioned seat near the window? You could roll out of bed and walk downstairs to the miniature café that is your breakfast nook.

A small table and comfortable chairs with juice and eggs waiting is a relaxing way to wake up. A soft color like sage green, a simple hanging light fixture and a vase of fresh cut flowers creates a warm, inviting space.

Your nook can have other purposes too. For example, padded benches as seats can offer a couple extra-deep storage spaces. The storage can be used for crafts or silverware that is used only for special occasions.

If you have a small family, the booth can provide for a sociable dining area, which is a great way to start your day.

When in the process of installing your kitchen, you need to decide between a downdraft ventilation and a large range hood. Although both of these units can cost anywhere from $300 to $3,000, the question lies in what design is best for your kitchen.

A downdraft ventilation is similar to a hood, but it takes up less space and therefore is not the focal point of the kitchen. This unit is more appropriate for smaller kitchens. In addition, downdrafts have a remote blower, which you can put on the exterior wall of the kitchen to reduce noise. Hoods are often loud and sound like airplanes taking off. The downside is that remote blowers can be more expensive and challenging to install on your own.

Another difference is how the ductwork is installed. Hoods have ductwork running through the ceiling and out the soffitt, but for downdrafts, the ductwork needs to go through the floor and out the exterior wall or through the interior wall and ceiling and out the roof.

The Viking is a discontinued model sold for a moderate price, which has remote mounted controls. The Broan AP1 Series AP130 is an under the cabinet range hood that is less expensive.

The window trim in your kitchen can have a significant effect on the room’s overall design. The trim provides a transition between the walls and cabinets, but it can also serve as an accent. Doing a makeover on your kitchen’s window trim is a simple way to change the look of the entire room.

If you want to create the new look on your own, you will need a hammer, pry bar, stiff-blade putty knife, nail set, foam brush and miter box and saw. In the case that your trim is in good condition, all you need to do is mask off the wall and glass then paint it the same or new color. Don’t forget to paint the sash the same color to match the trim.

To attach new trim, you will need it miter-cut to fit around the window jamb. Then 3” casing nails can attach the trim to the studs and header around the window. Nail “locks” can keep the miters in place.

Those magnetic dry erase boards that you can stick onto your refrigerator sometimes look tacky, and if you have a wood paneled fridge, you probably need to find a new place for it.

Thomasville Cabinetry has a Wall Message Center, which is built into the side of a kitchen cabinet. When you open the cabinet’s side panel, there is a space for your board, markers, erasers, notepads, keys, planners and any other small items you might need to grab on your way out of the house. Since it has a key rack, it might prevent the loss of car keys, and it might also encourage your children to leave a message before they leave for a party, soccer game or date that you forgot about.

This is a discreet way of storing your message board, because not all of your guests want to know when your next doctor appointment is or where you teenager went.

Having an outdoor refrigerator next to your backyard grilling unit can be a lifesaver during the summer when friends unexpectedly drop by. Plus, you can store food and beverages in it to have on hand when your family has time to sit down and eat together.

Cal Flame’s Pull Out Refrigerator Drawer has three deep drawers perfect for storing meat, vegetables, marinades, condiments, beverages, etc. The dimensions of this refrigerator unit are 25 5/8” x 23 5/8” x 32”. The chrome finish can accent most outdoor kitchens, and you don’t have to worry about running in and out of the house or carrying supplies outside from the main refrigerator.

If you prefer an outdoor refrigerator that has a similar design to your indoor fridge, Cal Flame also has a an Outdoor Beverage Cooler, which can store food and drinks. In addition, the glass doors enable you to see your groceries, and it’s a high-efficiency model too.

Mops, brooms, dustpans and other various cleaning supplies don’t usually stay organized in an open hall closet. So if you’re fed up with getting hit in the head with a mop every time you open the door, consider updated storage units for your kitchen.

Kraftmaid has a couple of options that can make your housekeeping easier and your supplies more organized. The Tall Cleaning Supply Pull-Out has an area for you to hang scrub brushes and brooms as well as divided sections for those bulky spray bottles, containers and buckets. This unit slides in and out of the wall, so it conceals those unsightly supplies from your guest’s eyes.

If you have too many products underneath the sink, the Sink Base Door Storage Unit is a simple way to increase your space. Plus, it can make those multi-purpose cleaners and sponges easier to find in an emergency when milk has been spilled all over the table.