Famous TV kitchens with Problems.

Why are most kitchens so terribly designed?  And why do architects, interior designers, contractors, and even some kitchen designers place so little value on good and even safe kitchen design?  One of the reasons may be that we are bombarded with bad kitchen designs from almost every TV show and movie we watch.  Seeing these problem designs thousands of times  may legitimize bad kitchen design and make it seem more acceptable.

Below are some of the most famous TV kitchens and why they are poor designs.  And what’s wrong with the I love Lucy Lucy kitchen seen above?  There is a window over the range with curtains, a fire hazard, and no countertop on either side of the range which is also dangerous.

The Brady Bunch home needs to have at least 9 inches of countertop in back of the cooktop to be considered safe.  Shame on Mike Brady he was an architect!

The Huxtables on The Cosby Show have the same problem as well as no countertop on the side of the cooktop. With the cooktop burners right next to the phone and the refrigerator it is a good thing Cliff Huxtable was a doctor.

Both Paul and Jamie on Mad About You, and Francis and Claire Underwood on House of Cards have ranges without countertops on either side making them unsafe, especially right next to a doorway. The Secret Service is overlooking one possible danger to their charge.

The Partridge Family has no countertop on the right side of their cooktop.  Again the wall phone is right next to the flames.  If the Partridges catch on fire they won’t be able to “get happy” as their theme song implores.

Seinfeld and How I Met Your Mother have the same problems mentioned above.  And Friends which followed Seinfeld on TV Thursday nights had Monica and Rachel with no hood and wood only a few inches over their powerful professional range.

The low hanging cabinets left of the refrigerator in Dexter’s kitchen below are dangerous to anyone over 6 feet 4 inches.  But should we really be surprised that a mass murderer has a dangerous kitchen?

I guess  all these TV characters should just be happy they didn’t have the ugliest TV kitchen of all time.

That would be poor Alice Kramden’s kitchen on The Honeymooners.

Does your favorite TV show’s kitchen have any of the problems we saw above?   Chances are better than not that it does.

Hoping your real life kitchen is safe.  And as Julia said…..

Bon Appetit!

Paul

Crazy Construction Mistakes.

The Knotthink family has several members who are in design or building. Guy Knotthink, the family patriarch, is now retired but his son Will Knotthink is a general contractor and Will’s sister May Knotthink is an interior designer.  Will’s other sister Ivana Knotthink is an architect.  I’ve selected several photo’s of actual projects from the family’s portfolio.

 

Some of the Knotthink family’s most distinctive work is evidenced in bathrooms:

         

Kitchens are common project’s as well:

 But the most dramatic work of all of comes from architect Ivana Knotthink’s portfolio:

Here’s one of Ivana’s projects as seen from Google Earth:

Although the Knotthink family has traced their ancestry back over 500 years it still remains only speculation that this famous building was constructed by a Knotthink ancestor:

At Main Line Kitchen Design we make sure your kitchen project has all the planning required to make it a success.  Have a wonderful summer …… and of course as Julia said…..  “Bon Appetit!”

Paul, Ray, Tom and Julie

Main Line Kitchen Design

Ten step recipe for a kitchen design disaster.

Below is a list of the 10 worst ways to go about designing your new kitchen.  The list was compiled from a LinkedIn dialog among professional kitchen designers.  Thanks to all the kitchen designers that contributed their expertise and years of experience to come up with these top answers.  Some of the anecdotes they told were hilarious, but that’s another blog all together.  Hope you gain some insight from our list…and of course …….Bon Appetit!   -Paul

1) Design your kitchen yourself and then price out that unprofessional design many places.

2) Pay an architect to design your kitchen.

3) Purchase the appliances you are getting first and design around them.

4) Keep your existing floor plan exactly as it is now.

5) Hire the cheapest contractor.

6) Get your permits then layout the cabinets.

7) Don’t use fillers or flat stock  in your design to allow for the ceiling and walls being out of square or out of level.

8) Make plans dependent on your kitchen being completed in an unrealistic time frame.

9) Rely on kitchen cabinetry information from Consumer Reports.

10) Design and buy your kitchen from IKEA

Appliance demonstration dinners.

The best part of shopping for your new kitchen is a little known secret.   Once a month, most major high end appliance manufacturers hold free cooking demonstrations to showcase their products.  The evenings include wine, h’orderves, sometimes even a six or seven course meal, and watching Master Chefs prepare food using the latest, state of the art cooking innovations.  Imagine seeing the likes of George Perrier of Le Bec Fin prepare a seven course meal right in front of you,  something rarely experienced even at his own restaurants.

These demonstrations are held in design centers so there is no pressure from salespeople – appliances actually aren’t even sold at these locations.  The Fretz Corporation on Woodhaven Road in Philadelphia first held what became the gold standard of these events.

I can’t recommend this experience enough, particularly if you or your customer has an appliance budget of more than ten thousand dollars.  Deciding on which appliances to splurge on can become difficult when you see and taste dishes prepared in built in steamers or speed ovens, or sample espresso from Miele coffee makers.

I’m getting hungry just thinking about these evenings and so I think it must be time to go once again. The beautiful new Fretz Showroom at the Philadelphia Navy Yard or the Miele showroom in Princeton, New Jersey have particularly enjoyable programs. Here is the contact information to make a reservation:

FRETZ Showroom – Philadelphia Navy Yard 4050South 26th St, Philadelphia, PA 19112  886-987-2122 www.fretz.com

Miele Princeton Showroom  – 9 Independence Way, Princeton, New Jersey 08540        800-843-7231 x 1002  www.miele.usa

Hope to see you there,

……….. and as Julia said “bon appétit!”

Paul McAlary

With kitchen cabinet conveniences – simpler is usually better.

Over the past twenty years, kitchen cabinet storage solutions have become increasingly diverse and popular. Chef’s Pantries, Tall Pantry Pull Outs, Spice Pull Outs, Corner Drawers, Mixer Lifts and Blind Corner Solutions like the Lemans and Magic Corner  are very popular. But usually, as the “cool” factor increases on these cabinet interior devices their practicality decreases. Let’s look at some examples:

 

The above Chef’s Pantry, and Spice Pull Out at first glance all seem like great conveniences. However, think about each this way: First, having all the shelves pull out together means that the shelves above obscure what’s on the shelves below. You may need to crouch and look at each shelf from the side to see what’s on it. What if each shelf just pulled out individually? Well then, you could simply examine each shelf and pick up what was on it without needing to turn cans and bottle sideways to get them over the metal side runners on each shelf. Not to mention the stress cabinets are put under when the cabinet’s contents cantilever out of the cabinet or the weight of heavy canned goods is put on hinges.

The Chef’s Pantry, although seemingly convenient, actually diminishes usable storage space. While less convenient, simple shelves use up 10% of the space inside a cabinet. The more convenient roll out shelves give the easiest access to the cabinet while only using up 25% of it’s space. The Chef’s pantry eats up almost 50% of the usable space inside the cabinet to allow for moving parts and the gaps needed for them to operate.

 

Above is a pantry with simple roll outs. It will cost, on average, $1000 less than a Chef’s Pantry and provide for 50% more usable space. The cabinetry will also last longer without the added stress of the mechanisms.

 

The corner drawers above are a favorite with many kitchen designers who don’t realize how much storage space they eat up. The drawers only make available 40% of the space of the cabinet. The Easy Reach cabinet or Easy Reach Lazy Susan make available 90% or 75% respectively. See the example below:

Mixer bases are another example of sacrificing storage space for “cool”. As the photo below shows, mixer bases take up close to an entire medium size cabinet.

And if you thought lifting the mixer up would save a step – think again. You probably won’t want to be operating the mixer anywhere but on a stable countertop where splashes don’t land on the floor and where you can work effectively. So you will find yourself moving the mixer onto the countertop most of the time, anyway.

Finally, the three very popular corner devices pictured below are equally flawed. Kitchen designers should use these storage solutions as a last resort when Super Susans, Easy Reaches or Corner Lazy Susans aren’t possible.

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As with many things, the simple solution is often the best. However, if you have a large kitchen and aren’t concerned about storage space, then all these storage solutions do add a WOW factor.

After understanding the limits of “cool,” below is a link to just some of the storage solutions Main Line Kitchen Design can incorporate:

Link to Storage Solutions

We look forward to helping you to get the kitchen of your dreams …

and of course…

Bon Appetit!

2016 Kitchen and Bath Industry Show in Las Vegas

KBIS – The National Kitchen and Bath Industry Show was held last week in Las Vegas. This year’s changes included an increased presence of Asian made cabinetry often sold by US companies and a decrease of American cabinet manufacturers. The quality of the Asian cabinetry and countertops also dramatically improved.

The Fabuwood display particularly stood out. Close to 50 salespeople were on site answering questions and providing product demonstrations. Their extensive displays of custom finishes, hoods, and other features showcased Fabuwood’s move into the higher end cabinetry market.

Display of New Fabuwood Doorstyle

Appliance manufacturers were in higher attendance than I have ever seen. Below are photos from a tiny sampling of their displays:

The Rev-a-shelf display was also a standout and included new and unusual cabinet interior conveniences.

Coffee Drawer

Multi-use Drawer

Top cabinet swing out

Wall cabinet pull down shelves

And faucets, showers, and tubs were everywhere. Several convention goers could be seen taking a break in an empty tub. Some of the water displays were fun to watch:

Kohler waterworks

But nothing seemed to impress this shower occupant.

 

 

The Main Line Kitchen Design team wishes you a warm and safe winter and of course a hearty …

Bon Appetite!

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