A WELL – Designed Kitchen
Now more than ever, we are focused on creating healthy meals for our family. As we’ve been spending more time in the kitchen you’ve probably noticed where your kitchen falls short in helping you do this easily.
Here are 5 suggestions for planning ways to support not only the creation of healthier meals, but a healthier place to create them.
- Plan for less clutter – Seeing clutter actually stimulates the production of cortisol – the stress hormone. Plan for ways to keep counters free of excess clutter by creating a place for everything. Small appliances like toasters and juicers can live in countertop garages that close up when not in use. Consider fewer wall cabinets and more below-counter storage.
- Light it up – Take advantage of as much natural light as you can. Maybe it’s time to consider adding some windows or moving a door to allow more natural light in. It is also important to choose the right artificial lighting, incorporating energy saving LED’s and especially those that have a warm-dim component to them. These allow you to change the color of the light throughout the day to assist our bodies adjust to their natural circadian rhythms.
- Biophilia (What?!) This means bringing more of the outside in. There are many ways to do that, some listed above but you can also consider bringing some plants into the kitchen – a garden windowsill for growing fresh herbs or even a “green wall”.
- Keep it Fresh – with more emphasis on fresh fruits, vegetables, and meatless meals, consider your refrigerator. Do you really need a lot of freezer storage, or are your needs for fresh food storage greater? There are so many options today that can assist you with keeping your fresh ingredients fresh and accessible.
- Materials Matter – Choose the right materials to keep your kitchen healthy. Select cabinetry that is made with low levels of formaldehyde (which occurs in nature so you can’t eliminate it entirely) and FSC certified (good for the environment). Wood countertops and man-made quartz countertops have anti-microbial properties and please, please, make sure your hood vents to the outdoors to keep the air in your kitchen fresh.
These are just a few ways that you can make a healthy difference when you remodel your kitchen. Please join me on Wednesday, May 27 at 2:30 pm for a Facebook Live chat with special guest Alisa Bloom of Live Your Best 365! We’ll be talking about food choices to quell inflammation and how the design of your kitchen can add to your health!
NKBA Event with Ellen Cheever February 2020
It was great attending this educational event hosted by Caesarstone at Café La Cave! Ellen Cheever, one of the very first educators in the kitchen and bath industry, an icon and inspiration to me and many other designers is giving her farewell address to the industry. She will be missed but leaves behind a phenomenal legacy to generations of kitchen and bath designers!
“Best Of Houzz” Badge for Service 2020
I would like to thank my wonderful clients who took the time and effort to post reviews about our work together. You are the reason that we’ve been able to be awarded a “Best of Houzz” badge for Service since 2017!
Visit our Houzz page to take a look and be inspired: https://www.houzz.com/pro/catherineschager/catherine-schager-designs.
2020 Colors of the Year
- At February 04, 2020
- By catherineschager
- In Design Trends
0
The 2020 Colors of the Year were announced in late 2019 and there were a bunch of them. You’ve probably seen them all but we’ve distilled the best-of-the-best to show you with some ideas for how you can use them in your home. This year highlights blues, greens and blush colors found in nature.
Such pretty eye candy! Let’s break them down:
Sherwin-Williams “Naval” SW 6244
Dark blues have been growing in popularity in recent years. We’ve seen more and more kitchen and bath cabinets using beautiful deep blues inspired by the sea. Sherwin-Williams chose this rich navy that they describe as creating a calm grounding environment infused with quiet confidence, paving the way to a new decade of wellness of the mind, body and soul. The company further says the color gives a nod to Art Deco influences, the power of nature, and the importance of our need as humans to interact with nature. Sounds like quite an inspiring color!
Check out our pinterest board for many more examples for incorporating this color in your life.
Pantone “Classic Blue” 19-4052
Pantone Color Institute chose a blue they dubbed “Classic Blue” for it’s solid and dependable feel. They describe it as elegant in its simplicity and suggestive of the sky at dusk, thought provoking, reassuring, and stable. Executive Director Leatrice Eiseman said this of the choice: “Classic Blue provides and anchoring foundation. A boundless blue evocative of the vast and infinite evening sky, Classic blue encourages us to look beyond the obvious to expand our thinking; challenging us to think more deeply, increase our perspective and open the flow of communication.” You can explore their color suggested color pairings on their website here.
Brighter than Naval, this blue is still a solid and popular choice for kitchen and bath cabinetry. See our pinterest board for many examples of this classic color from home décor to fashion.
PPG Paints “Chinese Porcelain” PPG1160-6
Brighter than Naval but darker and more muted than Classic Blue, Chinese Porcelain gets the special nod from PPG Paints. They describe the color as blend of cobalt and moody, ink blue. It evokes natural elements like the sea and the sky, imparting calmness, hopefulness, serenity and sense of long tradition. PPG color specialists see the new decade as leaving behind neutrals like gray for more colorful backdrops. As the most popular favorite color, blue is the “easiest possible entry point” from neutral to color.
Check out our pinterest board for many gorgeous ideas to use this color this year.
Dunn-Edwards “Minty Fresh” DE5687
Dunn-Edwards choose a sweet, nostalgic pastel shade of minty green they call Minty Fresh for it’s fresh, clean feel. The company describes it as a subtle and relaxing pastel that conveys a partnership between technology and nature, bringing both an optimistic, upbeat feel and a tranquil balance. This color finds a home on many a front door and garden gate, but is no stranger in graphic design.
See our pinterest board for all the many places we discovered this shade in current home décor and fashion.
Behr choose a muted, organic green hue that looks to be straight from the forest or a meadow. They describe the color as restorative and revitalizing, fulfilling the need to create a soft landing at home. Behr sees the trend of bringing the outside indoors as continuing into new decade and a need to engage with nature will be ever more important in the hustle-and-bustle of 2020.
See all the ways we found to use this organic green on our pinterest board.
Benjamin Moore “First Light” 2102-70
Benjamin Moore sees this light, rosy pink as the defining shade to a new decade. They describe it as an uplifting, refreshing neutral that is soft, airy, and plays well with other colors. It’s a happy shade without being sticky sweet, luminescent and reflective without being too bright, and just crisp enough to look clean without feeling sterile. The company says it’s a cooler take on the very popular Millennial Pink that they see as continuing throughout this new decade.
See our pinterest board for all the ideas we found to bring this pretty pink into your new year.
All the colors speak to a link between nature and technology and a need to slow down and relax in a rushed and hectic world. (Sounds blissful!) The terms revitalized, optimism, and fresh appear in most of the color descriptions released by the companies. Do you love them?
Tackle Home Design with a Star Lineup
You’re ready to tackle your new home build or remodel your existing home and your trying to decide if you want to be the team manager, coach, and quarterback. Do you have the time and know-how for planning the strategy, writing the playbook, calling the plays, motivating the team players, hiring and overseeing all the players, and pulling all the details together for the win. More likely, you have an idea about what you want the team uniforms to look like, an excitement to watch the games from the sidelines, and vision of a glorious win at the end of the season. If that sounds more like you, you’ll want to recruit pros for the top team positions – in this case an interior designer, a contractor, and likely an architect. Let’s look at who these pros are and why you want them on your home project:
The Interior Designer
My personal favorite team position. Often, choosing an interior designer is the first hire on your roster. Your designer can assist in putting the team together. A good interior designer can help you express your inner vision, asking questions to discover your dreams, needs, and goals, then help you convey your vision to the architect and contractor, acting as your on-the-field guide and go-between. The designer is a mix of detail oriented and artistic, keeping the endless details of your project in play and the overall vision in sight as well. Your designer coordinates with the contractor and often recommends specific professionals in the various trades to see your home design come together perfectly.
You’ll get the benefit of a trained designer’s eye. Your designer can help you see possibilities you might not have envisioned and steer you away from poor design choices. A designer will also keep you realistic about your budget. Often, your designer knows where to find the best prices and has access to resources only available to design professionals.
Your interior designer can suggest color combinations you might not have imagined on your own, as well as textures and lighting effects. Designers can develop 3D renderings to help you see the design and help you shop for the perfect furnishings and accessories at the best prices. Designers stay on top of design trends and have the training, insight, knowledge and artistic vision to bring that WOW factor to your home design.
If you are only looking to redecorate your home, the designer will be the only pro needed for your project (or will be able to bring in pros from various trades to do installations). But if your undertaking a larger remodel or new build, you’ll need to expand the team to include a contractor and possibly an architect.
The Contractor
The contractor guides you in filling your team with star players, they learn the playbook know how to follow it, they can troubleshoot on the field, and they keep the players in line. Your contractor will bring the architect’s vision to life. They are familiar with all the different trades from plumbers to electricians to carpenters to tile experts and beyond. They know which players to call off the bench at what time, who to overlap and who must go in a specific order, and they have a network of working relationships with professionals in all the trades. They are good troubleshooters and can often head off trouble quickly if they see someone veering away from the playbook. They can also help you with specific goals like going green or being energy efficient. They know what works and what doesn’t through experience and who does it best. This can also save your time, money and stress throughout your project and make sure you achieve the home of your dreams.
The Architect
Architects know the league rulebook forward and backward and they write the team playbook. The architect does more than just draw home plans. Architects are well-versed in building codes and zoning laws. They work effectively with contractors to make sure the design is realized. They are creative problem-solvers, often finding ways to help homeowners get most of their wish-list items included in the budget. They guide homeowners away from awkward functional layouts by visualizing what it would be like to live inside the design. They think of all the details from the placement of electrical outlets and molding to energy-efficient heating and cooling to green building options. They also see the big picture, designing total environments rather than walls, floors and roofs. All this expertise can actually save you money in the long run!
Bringing this team together will undoubtedly save you time and stress. You’ll have trained professionals to help you make decisions and keep your project on time and budget. You’ll have others to track the details, make the phone calls, keep the checklists and monitor the work in process. Sweet relief!
Touchdown!
These kitchen transformations represent a culmination of professional knowledge along with thousands of decisions and details that came together in beautiful final designs. Go team!
The “No Furniture” Trend
- At September 20, 2018
- By catherineschager
- In Design Trends
- 2
I recently read a post by a young woman who wanted to experiment with the latest trend of going “furniture-free” to encourage a healthier lifestyle. She gave up most of her furniture for a week to see if she indeed would be healthier for it. You can read the post here: apartmenttherapy.com/furniture-free-living-262281
Kudos to Brentnie! It takes a great deal of courage to go without the daily “comforts of home” that we all take for granted. I couldn’t resist a humorous look at how those of us who are more “mature” might modify the trend (*ahem* those who might not be able to make it all the way down to the floor).
Modification #1
A few chairs, but only ones that promote correct posture as the only way to tolerate them. Let’s face it, you can fall off a yoga ball and break a hip. While you’d have the added benefit of physical therapy to get you moving around, I don’t recommend it as a way to exercise.
Additional added benefit: Not only will you not want to sit a lot, but none of your guests will either. Those kids will be out the door in about 30 minutes tops.
Modification # 2
No table or chairs in the kitchen. Stand and eat at the counter.
Benefits: You’ll eat less, and wash fewer dishes as you’ll be eating from pots, pans and containers! You’ll feel more youthful- like being in college!
Modification # 3
Get rid of the TV! (Brentnie didn’t say she made this sacrifice, and with a toddler, I completely understand why she wouldn’t) Hang some TRX bands in the living room if you want to “hang out”. Pretend you’re in the dungeon in the “Count of Monte Cristo”. Come on, we need to exercise our imaginations to keep our minds healthy!
Ok, so maybe this trend isn’t going to be around for long. I agree that we should all challenge ourselves to get out of the house and move more, but ultimately people want a place they can come to at the end of the day that welcomes them, comforts them, and shelters them. That’s a trend that will never go out of style.
How to Find Your Dream Home
You’ve been dreaming about finding your perfect home for a long time and you’re finally ready. Congrats! Now it’s time to start the search process. If you go into it prepared, you’ll find it less stressful. Here are some tips to help you on your way:
Make Detailed Lists
- Yes, please!
- Absolutely not!
First, make a list of your needs and your wants. (Yes, those are different, so mark each item as to whether it is a WANT or a NEED.) Consider layout, space, style, lot size, neighborhood, and special features (like large windows with a lake view). Scott Rose of Baird & Warner Real Estate told us this: “I always ask buyers what is important to them, i.e. schools, close to work, close to family, community activities, or being close to highways if they go downtown a lot.”
Pro tip: Always consider school districts even if you have no children and no plans to have any. A home in a high-rated school district is likely to sell faster later and more like to increase in property value.
Click here for a more in depth list of questions from Zillow to dig deeper.
Next, make a list of what would make you nuts over time. Be honest. You need to keep those items firmly in mind if you find a house you love that also has items on your “absolutely not” list. Are stairs a deal-breaker? Don’t even look at homes with stairs. Don’t fall in love with a house that has a feature that will ultimately make you unhappy. Same with your budget – don’t torture yourself with beautiful homes you can’t comfortably afford. Don’t even look at homes outside your budget.
Prioritize and Compromise
Prioritize your needs and wants, then prepare to compromise. It’s unlikely you will find a home that meets absolutely all of the items on your list, so go into the search process knowing you will need to make some compromises.
Be sure to consider your most lived-in spaces. If you love to cook, a high-end kitchen should be higher on your priority list. If you spend hours watching movies, the living room will be more important. If you work from home, a fabulous office space will be high on your list.
Outside the Box Viewing
Once you find a home you think could be the one, do some outside-the-box scouting around. Consider what’s next door – but also what could be next door down the road. Really analyze the neighborhood, neighbors, stores, parks, traffic, and changes that might be in the works in the near future. Try this list of questions to consider from Zillow.
View the home at different times of the day. Even if you can’t do another walk-through, it’s worth standing across the street and listening to the noises at night, or making the drive from that home to your office at drive time in the morning. Visit on weekends and during the week. This can cut down on surprises (like super loud neighbors) when it is too late.
Try Houzz
If you haven’t already, sign up for Houzz. You can make ideabooks with images of homes you love from every angle to help your realtor understand your perfect home. Houzz is a wonderful tool to help you organize your needs and wants and to communicate them to the pros.
Happy house hunting!
Easy Breezy Summer Entertaining
- At July 12, 2017
- By catherineschager
- In Tips and Advice
- 0
Who needs a special occasion for a summer get-together? Good friends, good food and good weather are reason enough! No need to stress over the details though. Just relax and let it flow together, easy as a summer breeze. This time it’s all about having fun. Here are some ways to keep is simple and stress-free.
Spread Out
Instead of worrying about table space for everyone, just plan on allowing guests to eat in lawn chairs, lounge chairs, or picnic style. Use area rugs or picnic blankets and cushions to turn the yard into the best seat in the house. Bring out the picnic baskets (or borrow from friends) and tuck special treats inside for guests to find. Doesn’t this make you want to pile on cushions and dig through the basket?
cushions from Hayneedle, basket from Wayfair
Simple Fare
Try to make foods that can be eaten one handed. This allows people to eat while standing or balancing food in their laps from lawn chairs or blankets. Ditch recipes that require cutting food with a knife – save the steaks for smaller, fancier gatherings. Think picnic fare and your guests will find eating to be a breeze.
Party on Wheels
Roll out bar carts, kitchen carts, kids wagons and lawn carts for mobile food and drink stands. They are super easy to roll back into the house to restock and relocate around the yard as needed. Encourage guests to mingle by scattering drinks by one seating area and desserts by another.
bar cart from Pottery Barn, yard cart from Home Depot
Now download a playlist from the summers you were young and carefree and I’ll bet everyone will be singing and dancing to the memories. Check out some more ideas on our pinterest board. Happy summer!
Beyond the Barbecue Grill
The fourth of July is almost here and summer cookout season is in full swing. Outdoor entertaining used to revolve around a barbecue grill, a cooler full of ice for beverages and multiple trips into the house to utilize the kitchen appliances. Outdoor design options were similarly limited to rustic motifs that evoked camping experiences. Oh how times are changing! Today’s homeowners have options abounding for designing beautiful outdoor kitchens that lack only air conditioning in modern conveniences.
Check out this contemporary outdoor kitchen from Viking Range. It looks like it could practically take flight!
Besides fresh air and sunshine, outdoor kitchens can boast another advantage over indoor kitchens – mobility. If you want your outdoor appliances to be built-in features, no problem. If you prefer the ability to move your outdoor kitchen around, perhaps from patio to poolside, that’s no problem either. Here’s a perfect example from Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet. Have your old-world style pizza oven built-in or portable on a pizza oven station.
Most of us are familiar with the amazing new grills on the market today, but the outdoor cooking conveniences don’t stop there. Warming drawers, refrigerators, freezers, beverage stations, keg tappers, sinks, dishwashers, and even vent hoods are all available to create fully functional outdoor kitchens.
(above left: Viking Range, center: Kalamazoo Outdoor Gourmet, right: BBQ Guys)
With kitchen options like these, you might never want to cook inside again. Enjoy your summer cookouts! Check out more cool outdoor kitchen designs and options on our pinterest board.
Northbrook Master Bath
This was a favorite project from last year. We were tasked with changing some but not all of the elements in this bathroom with the goal of updating it and raising the tub. The client’s shower was to stay but they wanted just about everything else new. They wanted to replace their ceramic tile but complement the existing travertine in the shower.
We created a raised tub with a tiled surround which features a decorative inset that continues the feeling of flowing water from the client’s glass artwork. We also added lighted mirrors and custom vanities, each tailored to its user. Her side has a large sink and a generous drawer for makeup, plus space for towel storage, the vanity on his side is a little taller and has minimal drawer storage. We selected a travertine look-alike quartz for the countertops and the tub deck to unify the space. The client also had lighting controls updated so one touch of a button sets the scene from full light to a relaxed ambiance. All in all, we transformed a 1980’s bathroom to one that will carry them through many years looking beautiful and functioning with ease.
For more images of this project, see our pinterest board. For more projects by Catherine Schager Designs, visit our Houzz page.
