Kitchen Appliances

For a long time, I thought the kitchen appliance lineup was settled:

• 30" Range
• Microwave/Fan above range
• Refrigerator
• Dishwasher

That's fine, but there are other possibilities for the cooking appliances, thanks to my visit this morning with Jeff Blum of Albert Lee (Jeff.Blum@albertlee.biz, 206-282-2110 x5082). I think he expects color to come back. Everything is stainless steel these days due to supply chain issues, he said. Miele has some nice matte white and white glass finishes.

Jeff was very strong on induction cooktops--gas is a 19th-century fuel, you're either waiting for electric to heat up or to cool down. He likes a cooktop, oven rather than a range. Drawers and cabinets conveniently under the cooktop, oven at a more workable height. He doesn't think French door ovens are worth the premium; a regular door keeps you a better distance from the hot stuff.

• 30" Induction Cooktop
• Hood and Fan
• Oven/Microwave

Cooktop

I liked a Wolf Transitional 30" Stainless Steel Induction Cooktop (CI304TF/S) for $2840. It's 21" x 2" x 30". Samsung had an unusual burner pattern for $2600. I think my favorite was the KitchenAid Architect Series II 30" Black Induction Cooktop (KICU509XBL).

KitchenAid $2250 (21.31" x 3.13" x 30.75"

Hood and Fan

Well, sure. The microwave-over-the-range thing I've got now basically does nothing except make it too noisy to converse. Something simple like this, perhaps:

ZLINE 623-36 36", 4-speed ducted hood. ($900, Lowes)

KitchenAid has a much cleaner design (the fan hides in the cabinet above).

KitchenAid KXU2836 ($1300, Lowes)

Oven and Microwave

Do they make such combinations? They do.

GE Profile 30" JT3800SHSS ($4560, Albert Lee; $3400, Home Depot)

A microwave could sit on an open cabinet shelf just about anywhere. Peggy recommends the Sharp Microwave Drawer, which is designed for either a base cabinet or under a wall oven. You place food in and lift it out. Like a CD player, it opens and closes the drawer for you. Stirring is trivial and they say that liquids won't spill. The specs are only 1.2 cu ft (if that) and 1000 watts.

Sharp 1.2 cu ft Microwave Drawer ($1300, Lowes)

Compare and contrast the GE JES1657SMSS: 1.6 cu ft, 1150 watts. $186 at Lowes. The GE controls match what I'm used to (current model is a GE) and I could sprinkle six around the house for what the Sharp drawer costs and still save money.

Your basic oven. KOSE507ESS (MSRP $3100) The handle will become significant.

 

Refrigerator

I like a French door over freezer arrangement (cold air falls, so it makes the most sense thermodynamically). I like this extra drawer model in particular.

KitchenAid KRMF706ESS ($4050 on sale at Albert Lee).

With this KitchenAid model, the drawer on the left can be set for a number of functions, and the one on the right is the produce drawer. 70.125" H, 36" W, 36.25" D. MSRP $4500, $4015 at Home Depot.

Fetishize your appliances much? Wolf and Viking do it, why can't we?

I like the pulls. They are knurled stainless steel with distinctive red ends. One could pull a kitchen design together just using KitchenAid refrigerator, dishwasher, and wall oven. Let the cooktop be black and the microwave drawer be Sharp.

Dishwasher

Matchey-matchey.

KitchenAid KDTM404KPS MSRP $1350.  44dBA, FreeFlex third rack. $1214, Home Depot

Quick Costs

Scheme A - $7200

Cooktop, Oven, Microwave Drawer, Hood

Scheme B - $4909

Cooktop, Oven, Microwave w/Hood

Scheme C - $6000

Range, Microwave Drawer, Hood

Scheme D - $3709

Range, Microwave w/Hood

Cooktop - KitchenAid KICU509XBL ($2250 at Lowes)

Oven - KitchenAid KOST107ESS ($2350 at Lowes)

Range - KitchenAid KSIB900ESS ($3400 at Lowes)

Microwave Drawer - Sharp ($1300 at Lowes)

Hood - KitchenAid KXU2836  ($1300 at Lowes) - many are cheaper

Microwave w/Hood - Samsung ME19R7041FS ($309 at Lowes)

 

Past blog posts

• Storage-based Kitchen Design
• Kitchen Deja Vu
• The Ikea Kitchen

Living Room Sketches

The plan has shown two door-sized window units flanking the TV, but the one in the northeast conflicts with the existing brick veneer. So I moved the TV north and added back the French doors.

I like my ultra-low-profile crown molding, but Sarah Susanka suggests that running a headband all around the room and painting the upper wall to match the ceiling makes a room feel taller, so I thought I'd check it out. I kind of like it.

A frameless mirror, unlike the current one, really expands the room

Susanka also likes the idea of frameless mirrors to expand a room. 

By the way, moving the TV north seems to make it easier to see from the desk in the office and from the kitchen.

The Dining Room that wanted to be an Office

Sarah Susanka (on looking for her second husband: "Not So Big") likes soffits for defining activity spaces. This caused me to rethink the coffer grid I had been proposing. Maybe something like this:

Pretend the chairs in the office are Brno. The painting is Kathy Beal's, let's say.

New glass front cabinet at far right

I'd like chrome/rattan Brno chairs, but Chief doesn't have them 

Wouldn't that be a riot?

Sarah "Not So Big" Susanka touts the benefits of "visual layering, created by framing the view between spaces, helps the whole interior to feel larger than its actual square footage would suggest." Then she describes shaping space with color. The examples show the value of more punchy, intense colors in the distance, so I thought I'd mockup a deep green on the kitchen cabinets and an intermediate blue in the office, along with the white/gray living room.

Just doodling.

Color layering, created by framing the view between spaces

Coffee station on left; not sure what goes on right counter

What's everyone else doing for interiors?

I checked Zillow and found 8 houses currently for sale in my zip code, ranging in price from $1.1 to $6.7 million.

Every one had stainless steel appliances in the kitchen. Many had marble countertops.

$6.2M

$1.45M, note wood floor, laminate?

$1.35M wood floor; cool oven

$1.1M

$1.4M, marble floor and counter

$2.5M 2022 construction

Living rooms are all Coastal, if coastal means plain white walls and ceiling and cheap sisal rugs. There's a lot of white gloss woodwork out there, too. Light blue throws on white leather couches.

$6.7M

$1.9M, same house as next

$1.9M, same house as previous

$1.35M, not the same as the other pale green

$1.4M

$2.5M 2022 construction

In addition to these critical rooms, I got three more takeaways from the active listings:

• Gloss white woodwork is attractive to me and is not rare around here
• A room with clean white walls and ceiling and redone wood floors needs no moldings or accent walls to stage an open house, at least as far as realtors are concerned
• Carpeting in bedrooms has a cozy, quiet appeal that comes through in photos

$6.7M bath

$6.7M gloss white woodwork, that's the ticket

Finally, here's what Trees House looked like on the market in 2014:

White appliances. How 2010s.

Reference

• $1.1M - 11897 9th
• $1.35M - 11414 8th
• $1.4M - 12021 12th
• $1.45M - 797 Culbertson Dr
• $1.9M - 10036 Valmay
• $2.5M - 13755 1st; new 2022 construction
• $6.2M - 190 Madrona
• $6.7M - 645 137th
• 
  

Home office--further design development

 Flat crown molding...

But we could use it less in the living room...

Instead of two working desks, maybe we have a single desk, wall-mounted monitor, guest chair and a table. An architect or tarot card reader could entertain clients in such a room.

Kitchen to Living Room via Den/Office

 

Peggy's July 10 Plan

There's a lot to unpack in Peggy's Chief Architect plan of July 10. She leaves the footprint as is--tilted garage, breezeway extended to the north. She does away with the transverse hall at the garage and moves the stairs to the 2nd floor apartment from the west to the east side, landing in the breezeway.

Circulation: Instead of a dead-end bedroom hall, create circular path including the newly-enlarged Breezeway.  Positives: Living has nice through-view into breezeway, Kitchen is out of circulation path (except for isolated refrigerator). Laundry and refrigerator spaces work well. Negatives: Groceries in from garage have to circumnavigate the breezeway furniture. Refrigerator has no counter nearby.  

Living: Symmetrical windows, no access to side yard (but windows could be swinging doors). Very large flat screen visible from kitchen. 8' x 14' shaggy white rug under seating group. Gray/driftwood stain proposed for red oak floor.  Mirror over fireplace is unresolved.

Dining: Built-in hutch, smaller table off-center, counter-height bar stools. I like the idea of using the breezeway as the formal dining room and re-purposing this room as his/her office space. The hutch space might be files/books and a small desk. Another desk at the window for a laptop. Not a fan of stools.

Kitchen: Sink, Stove work well. Tall storage next to refrigerator. Negatives: No counter at refrigerator. No window at sink--overhead cab is somewhat awkward. Alternative: Maybe move door to Dining north--center opening on ceiling pattern, add counter at refrigerator.

 

I think Peggy says brushed stainless steel is better than white for appliances. She also recommends a single manufacturer, so that the finishes match.

Bedroom, Bath 1: Rearranged with 3 smaller closets, each with swinging, not sliding doors. Bed faces south on newly smoothed wall. Door to BA1 moves south. New door from hallway. Move east side window north. Widen sliding glass door from 6' to 8'. Add stall shower as well as tub in BA1. Problems: Wider door requires bigger header, misses existing deck. Shower is generous, but door is only 24" wide.

Bedroom 2: Closet removed. Move both windows to corner. Problem: Room has no closet. New corner window requires new structural.

Bedroom 3: Add Closet/Laundry, kitchenette. Bed becomes a convertible sofa on west wall. Sliding glass door to deck replaces dutch door. Problem: Laundry and kitchen sink are on concrete slab and have no way to drain (other than the sewage pump the BA3 uses).

Garage: Add door to the west, a tool bench/counter and a shallow closet.

Corner Kitchen Cabinets

For every problem, there is a simple, elegant solution that is also...horrendously expensive!

Not So Big Principles

I'm reading not so big remodeling by Sarah Susanka and Marc Vassallo (2009). Turns out Susanka has developed a set of principles, extremely similar to design patterns, for her "not so big" series. The original book was published in 1998. The pattern language, I mean the principles, are online: Not So Big House: Not So Big Principles - Sarah Susanka

The 34 concepts are grouped into Space, Light, and Order, but they can be strung together to form "sentences," just as with A Pattern Language.

Headbands and Beltlines

Space is home to 20 of the concepts. The ones that seem to apply to Trees House are:

• Entering - she approves of the dry, covered stoop
• Doing Double Duty - "For example, if you have two dining spaces, consider turning the more formal one into something else--an in-home office, an extra sitting space, or a hobby room--and make the more informal eating area more inviting..."
• Connecting Views - one should view rooms from one another
• Framed Openings - create the illusion of more space to indicate that you are entering a new area
• Headbands and Beltlines - let the ceiling finish extend to the headband above the doors, like the lid of a box. Beltlines (chair rails and wainscoting) separate the shirt from the pants.
• Wall Insets - she doesn't use the word niche for some reason.

View and Nonview

Light is just 7 patterns. I like:

• Reflecting Surfaces - light walls bounce light deeper inside; mirrors are literal reflectors
• Window Positioning - from the outside, "the arrangement of windows gives a home much of its personality as well as a sense of integrity." Place windows to maximize the amount of light and view for the space it opens into.
• View and Nonview - Use translucent screens appropriately

Grilles and Lattices

Of the 7 patterns of Order, I like:

• Pattern and Geometry - think Frank Lloyd Wright
• Grilles and Lattices - "can add a beautiful and delicate quality to a room."
• Alignments - "When two...elements are lined up with one another, there's a sense of order and quality to the space they are part of."
• Point of Focus - "Every room benefits...from the creation of a focal point to attract attention and give significance to a particular area.