Digging Into Design Details
This past weekend while giving a tour of the Starter Home 2.0 Pleasant Ridge house to a friend of the family that just happens to be a professional Kitchen and Bath Designer, I got some helpful feedback on some details for improving the aesthetics and functionality of the Oakley Home 2.0 project kitchen and half bath.
The kitchen advice has to do with the reality that most residential stainless steel appliances are only stainless steel on the front with sides and tops being a cheap looking black plastic/metal composite material. Most of the time this isn't a big deal because appliances like ranges, dishwashers and microwaves are typically enclosed by cabinetry that conceals the plastic sides, but for refrigerators that is often not the case. The original Oakley Home 2.0 kitchen design was a victim of the over exposed fridge problem, but has since been updated to enclose the refrigerator with cabinetry and matching side panels to conceal the black plastic/metal sides to the maximum extent possible. This also makes the cabinet above the fridge a lot more user friendly to access at 24" deep than when it was only 12" like the other wall cabinets. Below is a quick rendering showing this cabinetry update.
The half bath tip was to swap the pedestal sink out for a vanity base cabinet and counter top as a way to provide storage for toilet paper, hand towels and other items without having to add a clunky shelf or bin for such toiletries. By adding a 3" filler piece between the wall and the vanity base, the cabinet doors can swing open unimpeded of the casing around the bathroom doors. Below is another quick rendering of what this vanity update looks like.
The kitchen advice has to do with the reality that most residential stainless steel appliances are only stainless steel on the front with sides and tops being a cheap looking black plastic/metal composite material. Most of the time this isn't a big deal because appliances like ranges, dishwashers and microwaves are typically enclosed by cabinetry that conceals the plastic sides, but for refrigerators that is often not the case. The original Oakley Home 2.0 kitchen design was a victim of the over exposed fridge problem, but has since been updated to enclose the refrigerator with cabinetry and matching side panels to conceal the black plastic/metal sides to the maximum extent possible. This also makes the cabinet above the fridge a lot more user friendly to access at 24" deep than when it was only 12" like the other wall cabinets. Below is a quick rendering showing this cabinetry update.
