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Kitchen Cabinet Materials: Midrange Wood

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midranged wood

Hickory is a midrange quality wood, so it is a little pricey, but affordable.

Hickory trees produce some of the hardest, densest, heaviest and strongest American wood today. It has bold and elaborate pronounced grain patterns. Its grain patterns range from almost pure white, to reddish, dark brown, and it even sometimes possesses beautiful imperfections known as burls, knots, water stains and streaks of minerals. Its grain and intricacies can be extenuated with finishes and bleaching treatments if you would like to darken or lighten them. Hickory pairs well with an endless number of finish and stain colors.

Be mindful, while very durable and long lasting, Hickory must be taken care of. Use a soft cloth immediately to pick up any spills, moisture, chemicals or hot food, and never scour or scrub the surface. You really only need soap and water or a cleaner intended for wood surfaces.

Hickory is a midrange quality wood, so it is a little pricey, but affordable. Midrange wood is especially affordable if you buy it used or unfinished. You can refinish, refurbish and modify it to your liking yourself. The incentive to choosing Hickory wood for your cabinetry over more expensive hardwoods, is that it is actually tougher and more durable than both oak and maple. If it is coated and sealed with a clear protective sealant it will last for many years. Florida is known for extremely high levels of humidity, but once treated their resistance to moisture, serves as an excellent choice for cabinets all over your home. Oh and don’t forget how magnificent it smells.

This post was written by Thais Sousa. Follow Thais on Google.

JK Cabinetry

Kitchen Cabinet Materials: Inexpensive Woods

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JK Cabinetry

Inexpensive woods that look elegant and contemporary.

When you’re designing your kitchen, there are endless things to spend money on. You’ll have to budget for appliances and flooring; faucets and cookware. When it comes to kitchen cabinets, you can choose inexpensive woods that look elegant and contemporary. There’s no need to spend too much money in order to get cabinets that are as functional as they are appealing. Choose woods that match the rest of the decorating scheme you have planned for your kitchen. Remember to keep it comfortable and inviting, especially if the kitchen is the place where your friends and family gather.

Maple and birch are both good choices when it comes to kitchen cabinets. These hardwoods are on the lighter side, which means you can easily incorporate other colors and patterns into your kitchen décor. These light woods will go well with black or white appliances, as well as stainless steel. They make a great base for paint too. If you’re planning to add some color or detail to your kitchen, both maple and birch will absorb paint easily. The wood is strong, and the uniform grains make them easy to work with. If you’re worried about how they age, you can expect these woods to lighten up a bit the longer you have them.

Maintenance is important when you choose woods like maple and birch. They won’t absorb or deflect stains and spots as well as other surfaces. Still, your kitchen cabinets will look fantastic, and you won’t have to worry about overspending. Unless you’re creating custom cabinets from woods like maple and birch, you’ll be able to design and install these cabinets for less than you expect.

This post was written by Thais Sousa. Follow Thais on Google.

luxury kitchen gourmet

Kitchen Design Styles: Gourmet

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luxury kitchen gourmet

High-end kitchen design with restaurant-quality features are perfect for the person who takes cooking seriously. Professional appliances, durable surfaces and specialty storage make a kitchen fit for a foodie, while sturdy and easy-to-clean surfaces and an organized layout make for a more efficient gourmand experience.

Before you begin your kitchen renovation, you should take into consideration how you want to use your kitchen, whether that means regularly preparing four course meals or casual entertaining. Once you decide the goal for your remodel, you can then make decisions about the floor plan, cabinetry, appliances, and custom features. The following list details the unique needs of a gourmet kitchen to help you begin to itemize your own kitchen remodel.

Easy-clean, sturdy surfaces. Quartz surfaces are man-made, do not require sealing, are less porous than natural stones like granite, and have better stain-resistance and durability.

Task lighting. Under-cabinet lighting and pendants that focus light on specific workspaces illuminates kitchen zones where prepping, cooking and cleanup take place, so that no detail goes unnoticed.

Professional-grade range. No gourmet kitchen is complete without professional level equipment. While cooks generally prefer gas ranges, induction cooktops are also regularly recommended for gourmet kitchen remodels, as they heat up faster and deliver heat directly from the source to the pan. Also, modular thick-burner stoves with pop-in griddles and other “accessories” are also a desirable alternative for the serious recreational chef.

Double oven. Two ovens are always better than one for the gourmet. If you have the space for a double oven set up, one of those ovens should be convection, so food cooks uniformly and efficiently.

Warming drawer. When cooking a meal, a warming drawer saves the day when the timing doesn’t match up perfectly for each course. This heating feature will protect the moisture of food and allow the cook to keep food warm until serving. A warming drawer holds food for extended periods of time, avoiding the need to reheat in a microwave (which breaks down the molecular structure of food).

Microwave drawer. A more gourmet alternative to shelf-mounted microwaves or freestanding units that take up counter space, a microwave drawer is concealed neatly among base cabinets, which allows for more storage space for kitchen accessories.

Kitchen Island. Adding a kitchen island to your layout will provide an extra prep surface for those with larger kitchen spaces. Islands also create more storage space in kitchens, which is perfect for the epicurean to store a variety of tools and cookware.