This is just a quick post about Howdens Joinery who they are and what products they offer.
Howdens Joinery was established in 1995 and has demonstrated strong growth and a turnover of £750 million in 2009. If offers over 40 different kitchen ranges and has supplies 400,000 kitchen ranges every year to local builders and other tradesmen.
CARCASSES
The carcasses are built up and manufactured by Howdens. They are not flat packed they are pre-made, constructed from 18mm thick chipboard and are glued and dowelled together to give a strong, rigid carcass with a 6mm mdf back. At the back of the base carcass there is a 75mm service void for pipe work and you have a choice of white or Beech carcasses with metal shelf pegs for easy adjustment. Adjustable plastic legs.
You have a choice of soft close or standard draws which come with a 15mm chipboard base. Carcasses come with a 5 year guarantee.
DOORS
You have over 40 different ranges to choose from. Solid Oak right down to an MFC slab door with 3mm abs edging for extra protection.
They come with a choice of soft close hinges or standard hinges and have a variety of stylish handles to choose from. A different handle on a kitchen frontal can make all the difference to the look of the overall finish you want to create.
SINKS AND TAPS
There is a variety of sinks you can choose you have a budget sink with 0.7mm of steel to a better quality sink 1mm thick stainless steel and a grade of 18:10. They do a black composite sink thats made of velstra metallix or if your wanting a more traditional look a ceramic sink made of fireclay.
You have a wide range of taps to choose from. You have the modern look taps right down to the more traditional looking ones.
They do offer products like Internal and External Doors, Skirting, Door Frames, Door Furniture, Tools, Flooring, Appliances.
I hope this gives you an insight of the products on offer at Howdens Joinery so go check out the website here and find your local Howdens Branch. http://www.howdens.com/
Over the next few weeks I will be looking into other suppliers and what they have to offer so you have a better idea of the products you are buying for your new kitchen.
Monday 8 November 2010
Friday 5 November 2010
KITCHEN SHOP - planning a kitchen
A well planned kitchen should be easy to use, easy to clean and still be a pleasant place in which to work. Even if you have a small kitchen, careful planning, a little reorganization and a fair amount of improvisation can transform it into an efficient and pleasant place to be.
Studies have shown that in most fitted kitchens, the activity centres around three main areas. The areas are those of food storage (larder and fridge), the sink and the oven. From this information, the idea of an ideal work triangle has evolved: this forms the basis of kitchen planning no matter what the size of your kitchen. The corners of the triangle are ideally linked by work surfaces, providing areas for food preparation and serving. The perfect work triangle keeps distances between the sink, fridge and cooker as short as possible.
The best way of planning a kitchen is to draw up a scale plan of the layout on graph paper. You can use any scale you like. Although 1/25, where each 5mm square of graph paper represents 100mm of kitchen, is normally the most convenient.
Start by during the basic outline. Mark on it all the fixed objects. Such as the radiators, power points, chimney breast, alcoves and also the swing of doors and windows.
Next, on a separate sheet of graph paper and to the same scale as your outline, draw the outlines of your chosen kitchen units and appliances. Having labelled them for easy identification cut out the shapes and transfers them to your outline plan. Move them around on the graph until you have a sensible, practical arrangement.
When positioning appliances, start with the sink, unless you want to be bothered with lengthy and sometimes expensive process of moving it, it is best left where it is. A small sink with only one drainer is best for small fitted kitchens and where space is really limited, consider doing without a drainer altogether. Use a draining rack instead, standing it on the window ledge or screwing it to the wall. If the rack is of the decorative wooden kind, it can act as a display area that also saves on cupboard space elsewhere.
By making a wall plan as well as a floor one, you will have a more comprehensive idea of the space available. Before you make plans for your walls, however, check what they are made of. A partition made of plasterboard, for example, is no place to hang a heavy wall cupboard.
If you have an expanse of wall, measuring around 3 metres, you can have what is considered the ideal kitchen layout of work surface, sink, work surface, oven, work surface, otherwise the three most common kitchen layouts are the gallery, L-shaped and U-shaped. The ideal triangle can be incorporated in each of these layouts.
Studies have shown that in most fitted kitchens, the activity centres around three main areas. The areas are those of food storage (larder and fridge), the sink and the oven. From this information, the idea of an ideal work triangle has evolved: this forms the basis of kitchen planning no matter what the size of your kitchen. The corners of the triangle are ideally linked by work surfaces, providing areas for food preparation and serving. The perfect work triangle keeps distances between the sink, fridge and cooker as short as possible.
The best way of planning a kitchen is to draw up a scale plan of the layout on graph paper. You can use any scale you like. Although 1/25, where each 5mm square of graph paper represents 100mm of kitchen, is normally the most convenient.
Start by during the basic outline. Mark on it all the fixed objects. Such as the radiators, power points, chimney breast, alcoves and also the swing of doors and windows.
Next, on a separate sheet of graph paper and to the same scale as your outline, draw the outlines of your chosen kitchen units and appliances. Having labelled them for easy identification cut out the shapes and transfers them to your outline plan. Move them around on the graph until you have a sensible, practical arrangement.
When positioning appliances, start with the sink, unless you want to be bothered with lengthy and sometimes expensive process of moving it, it is best left where it is. A small sink with only one drainer is best for small fitted kitchens and where space is really limited, consider doing without a drainer altogether. Use a draining rack instead, standing it on the window ledge or screwing it to the wall. If the rack is of the decorative wooden kind, it can act as a display area that also saves on cupboard space elsewhere.
By making a wall plan as well as a floor one, you will have a more comprehensive idea of the space available. Before you make plans for your walls, however, check what they are made of. A partition made of plasterboard, for example, is no place to hang a heavy wall cupboard.
If you have an expanse of wall, measuring around 3 metres, you can have what is considered the ideal kitchen layout of work surface, sink, work surface, oven, work surface, otherwise the three most common kitchen layouts are the gallery, L-shaped and U-shaped. The ideal triangle can be incorporated in each of these layouts.
Thursday 4 November 2010
Essential Kitchen Furniture Items
Your kitchen is one of the most important rooms in your entire house. The kitchen not only provides food storage and preparation surfaces, but it is also a location for storing dishes, silverware, and a number of other necessary household items. Due to the sometimes massive storage requirements of a kitchen, many people will find that their find their kitchens will become cramped or crowded. If this is the case for you, worry no more. There are a few kitchen furniture items that can be used to actually improve the storage potential of your kitchen while making it not only more functional, but also improving your kitchen organization and removing clutter. Best of all, many of these essential kitchen furniture items can be found at reasonable prices so that you can save money while improving the overall functionality of your kitchen.
One of the most essential kitchen furniture items is a storage unit. Storage units are available in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, materials, and capacities, and are designed to be able to give you more storage space in your kitchen, without taking up a large amount of room. You can conveniently find storage units that consist of a number of wicker or wooden drawers that are either stacked vertically in a single-column frame, or in a frame that spreads the drawers out both vertically and horizontally. Pantry units and wood or metal baker's racks also fall into the category of storage units, helping you to keep your kitchen goods organized and clutter free.
Another essential kitchen furniture item is the kitchen island. These islands are available in a number of materials, and often feature a butcher's block top or additional storage space to help you make even better use of the room available in your kitchen. Certain islands feature deep storage areas and contoured tops, while others feature barstools that make them into additional seating and counter space in your kitchen. There are a number of islands that are even on rollers which allow the island to be easily moved out of the way or to another part of the kitchen with ease. These islands also feature locks for the rollers for additional safety.
Cabinets and cars that conveniently and safely store your microwave are another essential kitchen item. These come in handy especially if you have a microwave that is not able to be mounted easily in your kitchen. Many people will end up leaving their microwave on their available, yet limited, counter space resulting in them losing additional space for activities such as food preparation or the placement of smaller appliances. A wooden microwave cabinet, or a rolling microwave cart, will not only give you a place to put your microwave that is not taking up valuable counter space, but most cabinets and carts have the added benefit of offering you even more storage space. Usually there are doors underneath or above where the microwave goes that gives you extra room to store unsightly appliances until they are needed. Certain microwave carts will even feature beautiful and handy baskets which can be used to hold spices, towels, or other small items to keep them close at hand.
Another helpful kitchen furniture item is a butcher's block, or chopping block. A butcher's block is generally made of wood, although a number of different designs are available at a reasonable cost. With your chopping block you will always have a place to cut meats, poultry, vegetables, or any other food products that you might need when fixing food for yourself or your family. Since butcher's blocks are made from a durable wood material, they are easy to clean and can be sterilized using bleach, or other sterilizing agents, without having to worry about damaging the butcher's block. This can make clean-up extremely easy while ensuring that you will always have a safe cutting surface that you can sterilize both before and after use.
Once you pick up the select essential kitchen furniture items discussed above, you will find that your kitchen is much more efficient, and that you have both more storage and counter space than you might have ever thought possible. With items such as storage units, kitchen islands, microwave cabinets and butcher's blocks, you will no longer have to worry about keeping a number of small cutting boards clean or rummaging through all of your cabinets to find what you are looking for. You will soon be the envy of friends and neighbors with your easy to access kitchen.
Arianna Jordan is a freelance writer who writes about home decorating, often focusing on one type of decor such as kitchen furniture.
One of the most essential kitchen furniture items is a storage unit. Storage units are available in a wide variety of sizes, shapes, materials, and capacities, and are designed to be able to give you more storage space in your kitchen, without taking up a large amount of room. You can conveniently find storage units that consist of a number of wicker or wooden drawers that are either stacked vertically in a single-column frame, or in a frame that spreads the drawers out both vertically and horizontally. Pantry units and wood or metal baker's racks also fall into the category of storage units, helping you to keep your kitchen goods organized and clutter free.
Another essential kitchen furniture item is the kitchen island. These islands are available in a number of materials, and often feature a butcher's block top or additional storage space to help you make even better use of the room available in your kitchen. Certain islands feature deep storage areas and contoured tops, while others feature barstools that make them into additional seating and counter space in your kitchen. There are a number of islands that are even on rollers which allow the island to be easily moved out of the way or to another part of the kitchen with ease. These islands also feature locks for the rollers for additional safety.
Cabinets and cars that conveniently and safely store your microwave are another essential kitchen item. These come in handy especially if you have a microwave that is not able to be mounted easily in your kitchen. Many people will end up leaving their microwave on their available, yet limited, counter space resulting in them losing additional space for activities such as food preparation or the placement of smaller appliances. A wooden microwave cabinet, or a rolling microwave cart, will not only give you a place to put your microwave that is not taking up valuable counter space, but most cabinets and carts have the added benefit of offering you even more storage space. Usually there are doors underneath or above where the microwave goes that gives you extra room to store unsightly appliances until they are needed. Certain microwave carts will even feature beautiful and handy baskets which can be used to hold spices, towels, or other small items to keep them close at hand.
Another helpful kitchen furniture item is a butcher's block, or chopping block. A butcher's block is generally made of wood, although a number of different designs are available at a reasonable cost. With your chopping block you will always have a place to cut meats, poultry, vegetables, or any other food products that you might need when fixing food for yourself or your family. Since butcher's blocks are made from a durable wood material, they are easy to clean and can be sterilized using bleach, or other sterilizing agents, without having to worry about damaging the butcher's block. This can make clean-up extremely easy while ensuring that you will always have a safe cutting surface that you can sterilize both before and after use.
Once you pick up the select essential kitchen furniture items discussed above, you will find that your kitchen is much more efficient, and that you have both more storage and counter space than you might have ever thought possible. With items such as storage units, kitchen islands, microwave cabinets and butcher's blocks, you will no longer have to worry about keeping a number of small cutting boards clean or rummaging through all of your cabinets to find what you are looking for. You will soon be the envy of friends and neighbors with your easy to access kitchen.
Arianna Jordan is a freelance writer who writes about home decorating, often focusing on one type of decor such as kitchen furniture.
Sunday 24 October 2010
Kitchen Remodeling - Color Coordination Critical
We would like to write about the importance of ensuring that the colour of the different materials used in a kitchen actually complement each other; in other words, colour coordination is just as important in the kitchen as it is in any part of the home.
Now, it was recommended to us by almost everyone in 'the business' to start both the materials selection and the primary colour for the kitchen with the flooring. So that is what we did. We had previous homes with just a little hardwood flooring which had been a very light shade. With the back of our home facing a forest we wanted to have a dark brown hardwood floor to help bring the forest into our home and to give that richness which only dark hardwood can give.
Next, we needed to decide if we wanted the counter top or the cabinets to be the focal point of the kitchen. Once we saw the pricing of the solid wood cabinetry, we decided on the counter tops. Our kitchen designer suggested we coordinate all three in our decision making......the flooring, cabinets and counters. He recommended that since we had our hearts set on dark hardwood flooring we go with a dark counter top and light cabinetry. This would make the kitchen 'pop'.
We brought into our next meeting with our kitchen designer a sample of the hardwood we had ordered. We also of course brought in colour samples of the paint which would go on the kitchen and family room walls as well as the paint chip sample for that which would also go in the hallways adjacent to the kitchen.
Since our hardwood was a Jatoba Expresso we felt that the matching counter top should also be a very dark brown and settled on the Coffee Brown quartz counter top.
Next, to make the counter top 'pop' we went with an off white, or to be more precise, Tuscan Canvas cabinetry. This is an MDF (Medium Density Fiber board) product which is an engineered wood product formed by breaking down softwood into wood fibers and combining it with wax and resin to form panels by applying very high temperatures and pressure during the manufacturing process.
We felt that this type of cabinetry would be a very nice complement to the flooring and counters which would remain the visual focal point of the kitchen.
For the sinks we had a decision to make based on our choices to date: brushed nickel sink or a type of sink to match the cabinetry. We chose the latter.
The back-splash was selected to be similar in colour to the cabinetry and thereby would also complement, not detract, from the darker colours as can be seen in the above picture.
The same approach was taken for the brushed nickel cabinet handles, in that all of the taps in the kitchen were also brushed nickel. We chose cabinet handles which were sufficiently thin to blend into the background.
Lastly, don't forget that the kitchen does not exist in isolation to the rest of the house. The colours and shades of the paint in the adjacent rooms / hallways should also blend in with the kitchen's colour scheme. For us, we have a earthy tone to the colours in our home, so there was a nice match all around.
We hope you have enjoyed our take on coordinating the colours within the kitchen.
To view the pictures of the different areas of the kitchen discussed above or to read more about our kitchen renovation experiences, simply visit our blog, Daily Home Renovation Tips using the resource link below:
http://DailyHomeRenoTips.com/
Tips For Decorating A Large Kitchen
Everyone loves a big kitchen, but they can also feel cold and impersonal. While there might be plenty of room for more cooks, a warmer, cozy kitchen will be more inviting for family and guests to mingle in. With the right kind of accessories, you can have both a large and cozy kitchen all in one!
One thing you'll want to do is fill in all the extra space with some great furniture and collectibles which will add interest to the room. The kitchen is a great place to show off your collections and they don't have to be comprised of kitchen related stuff either! Having some shelves installed or make special wall displays to show off your collection makes for a unique conversation piece in the kitchen.
It is important to consider the scale of your furniture when decorating a large kitchen. A tiny café table will look out of place so you'll want a large substantial piece for your table set. You can also include some bakers racks or other storage pieces depending on how large your kitchen is. If the kitchen is setup so that you can add a portable island (or even a stationary one), consider doing this, it will add lots more storage space and you can get one with an eating counter and set up some bar stools for informal dinners.
Accessories can help make a large kitchen more homey. I always like to use lots of potted plants (either silk or real) and a large kitchen can take larger plants easily which adds to the coziness of the room. You can also use larger decorative pieces such as urns, wall hangings and perhaps some architectural pieces of it matches with your décor. If you have a theme or a collection of something, you may want to show them off in a lighted glass hutch, or add shelves on the wall.
Lighting is important in any kitchen and special considerations should be made for larger rooms. One mistake that many home owners make is to buy lighting that does not match the scale of the room. If you have a large kitchen, you need to buy lighting fixtures that are of a large scale.
Large pendants, big chandeliers and plenty of recessed lighting is good. Don't forget your task lighting at the counters for cooking and preparing food.
Finally, you can use color and pattern to make the room feel more homey. When decorating a large kitchen, consider soft warm colors that will evoke a feeling of comfort and coziness. Of course, you need to make sure the color matches your overall decorating theme and does not clash with the curtains and flooring.
Lee Dobbins is the owner of A Kitchen Decorating Idea where you can get more ideas on how to decorate your kitchen on a budget.
One thing you'll want to do is fill in all the extra space with some great furniture and collectibles which will add interest to the room. The kitchen is a great place to show off your collections and they don't have to be comprised of kitchen related stuff either! Having some shelves installed or make special wall displays to show off your collection makes for a unique conversation piece in the kitchen.
It is important to consider the scale of your furniture when decorating a large kitchen. A tiny café table will look out of place so you'll want a large substantial piece for your table set. You can also include some bakers racks or other storage pieces depending on how large your kitchen is. If the kitchen is setup so that you can add a portable island (or even a stationary one), consider doing this, it will add lots more storage space and you can get one with an eating counter and set up some bar stools for informal dinners.
Accessories can help make a large kitchen more homey. I always like to use lots of potted plants (either silk or real) and a large kitchen can take larger plants easily which adds to the coziness of the room. You can also use larger decorative pieces such as urns, wall hangings and perhaps some architectural pieces of it matches with your décor. If you have a theme or a collection of something, you may want to show them off in a lighted glass hutch, or add shelves on the wall.
Lighting is important in any kitchen and special considerations should be made for larger rooms. One mistake that many home owners make is to buy lighting that does not match the scale of the room. If you have a large kitchen, you need to buy lighting fixtures that are of a large scale.
Large pendants, big chandeliers and plenty of recessed lighting is good. Don't forget your task lighting at the counters for cooking and preparing food.
Finally, you can use color and pattern to make the room feel more homey. When decorating a large kitchen, consider soft warm colors that will evoke a feeling of comfort and coziness. Of course, you need to make sure the color matches your overall decorating theme and does not clash with the curtains and flooring.
Lee Dobbins is the owner of A Kitchen Decorating Idea where you can get more ideas on how to decorate your kitchen on a budget.
Thursday 21 October 2010
Home interior - Planning Your Kitchen
Planning your kitchen can be a real pain and very stressful, so I'm going to try and ease some of that stress for you by giving you some ideas and some things to consider when planning your kitchen.
I've been a kitchen, bedroom and bathroom designer for 5 years. I have planned and priced many different kitchens from simple kitchen designs to outrageous kitchen designs.
Things to consider when planning your kitchen.
Think about how much workspace you want.
Is it a show kitchen or a working kitchen ?
What room space have you got to work with ?
Use the working triangle.
These are just a few things you have to consider when planning your kitchen I could go on but I haven't enough room on the page !
Think about what you want to get out of your kitchen and how best to use the space you have, remember its your kitchen and we the designer are only there to advise you so don't get put off by pushy sales people its your kitchen you plan it how it works best for you. We will tell you if things won't work and suggest other options.
Types of kitchen designs you could go for.
Think about what you want to get out of your kitchen and how best to use the space you have, remember its your kitchen and we the designer are only there to advise you so don't get put off by pushy sales people its your kitchen you plan it how it works best for you. We will tell you if things won't work and suggest other options.
Types of kitchen designs you could go for.
Retro kitchen designs
Victorian kitchen design
Bespoke kitchen design
Compact kitchen design
Italian kitchen design
Simple kitchen designs
An Open kitchen design
Modern kitchen design
These are just a few types of kitchen designs to consider you should also look at things like the type of lighting in your kitchen which can make a huge difference on the look of the kitchen also look at what flooring your going to have and take samples of the door and worktop you have chosen to help you match it.
If you have a small budget you can turn a budget kitchen door into a luxury kitchen by changing things like the handles and choosing a eye catching worktop and wall tiles. Like I said before the lighting can be a dream maker to your kitchen.
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