by Alden Smith
When you plan to remodel, the top priority in your budget will often be new kitchen appliances. A lot of homeowners wish for high tech top end appliances, and when they have them installed, never use most of the features they have. Some want the convenience of having 2 dishwashers, yet find that when the time comes to do the dishes, they find that both dishwashers are only half full, causing extra time needed to put them all together in one. Other people like the thoughts of a double oven, yet find that they rarely use the second. It's nice to have these features in a kitchen if really needed. Always let your budget be your guide.
Examine Your Priorities
First, look at your lifestyle. Many couples focus on the family, and the kitchen is often a gathering place for them. Other, older couples, or couples without young children under foot, may entertain a great deal with dinner parties and social gatherings, necessitating fixing party foods. Whatever the case, you should design a kitchen and appliances around your lifestyle.
What's Out There?
There are currently two hot trends in the kitchen - appliances that integrate into the overall kitchen design, and appliances that stand out and are highly visible. Because the design life of appliances is about 12 years, people looking for them are either planning to remodel, or looking to update their current units. Either way, there are a lot of excellent choices.
Refrigerators have taken on a new look. Instead of the boring old almond colored box, we see everything from double door refrigerators to ones that are shallower, to allow the homeowner to keep them flush with the countertops. There is even a retro 1950's Coke machine in various sizes on the market.
Ovens come in many styles and design. Jenn Air makes a range with a gas stove top and an electric oven for the best in temperature and cooking control.
Stainless steel appliances are now falling out of fashion, with floating glass panels and oil rubbed bronze becoming very popular. The Italian maker Scavolini has several designs appropriate for anything from a contemporary or retro kitchen. These beautiful components can change how kitchen appliances look very quickly.
Hints On Installation
A lot of installation tips are merely good common sense. When installing a wall oven, and there are small children in the home, be sure to mount it at countertop level to avoid burns. Because wall ovens do not have to comply with the same temperature standards a regular stove does, this is a good idea for installation.
If you install an electric stove, and have been cooking with gas, be aware that these units run on 220 volts. A line must be run from the source to the unit to comply with electrical standards, and the gas pipe must be capped off.
If you install a refrigerator and have it built in, be sure the appliance you buy has a forced air condenser. Models with a static condenser cannot dissipate the heat and can cause appliance failure. Talk to your appliance dealer when you decide to buy, and tell him that you are going to enclose the unit.
If you are installing new kitchen tile, be sure to install the tile under a new or existing dishwasher. Not doing so will cause the appliance to sit down below the level of the flooring, and maintenance will be extremely hard. Remember, a repairman works by the hour.
If you are hooking up gas appliances, always insure that the flexible gas line is long enough so that when the unit needs to be moved out for repair, it won't kink and possibly break the gas connection. The same holds true with cords that have electrical installations. An appliance needs to be able to be moved out to be serviced.
New Things
Appliance makers are continually coming up with innovative ways to allow your to be both a better chef and more efficient in the process. Samsung has on the market a microwave that reads the barcode on frozen food items, adjusts the time of defrosting from this code, and cooks a meal perfectly.
On the market are ranges that have two ovens, each with its own temperature and timing controls. There is never a problem with trying to coordinate cooking times and temperatures.
The internet is full of resources to help you design almost any kitchen built around appliances. Now it is no longer necessary to build around large appliances - you can design a kitchen as a whole. Check them out today.
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