The Modern Kitchen Layout

May 20, 2010 Leave a Comment

The Maxie Moderne townhomes kitchens are designed for the avid cook and great for entertaining wide open layout.   The kitchen layout places great attention on the location of the three main features of the kitchen; stovetop, sink and refrigerator.  The work triangle has always been the very essence of good kitchen design. The sum of the work triangle’s three sides should not exceed 26 feet, and each leg should measure between 4 and 9 feet.

In addition to the optimized work flow layout, the kitchens are designed with an environmental sustainable focus from floor to ceiling.  Main components of the kitchen include:

  • Bamboo flooring a strong fast growing grass species which is suitable for wet locations in the house such as kitchens and baths.
  • Modern style soft-close cabinets are built within 500 miles of project site
  • Integrated recyling bin system within the cabinets
  • KitchenAid Architects Series dishwasher is Energy Star compliant using less than 4 gallons per cycle
  • Quartz Countertops by MSI Stone are not only more durable/harder than granite, they offer the following benefits which make quartz a safer surface:
    • No need to seal quartz countertops
    • Quartz countertops are less porous than granite
    • Quartz countertops are more resistant to bacteria
    • Quartz countertops are more resistant to staining
  • Kitchen Faucet uses the ToucH2O technolgy by Delta, which allows you to turn on the water flow with a touch of your skin anywhere on the faucet or handle.  The handle stays clean when your hands aren’t
  • Clean air circulation with a 750 cubic feet per minute exhaust fan above the stove
  • LED and Compact Fluorescent lighting in the ceiling and under-cabinet lights.

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Save energy and fill your kitchen with light

January 11, 2008 Leave a Comment

Today’s kitchens not only serve up meals, but serve as the gathering place in the heart of the home. The modern kitchen is much more than just a food prep area. It can be a quiet area where you relax by yourself, a space where two people casually talk and get to know one another, a desk space where children work on their homework, or it can be an anteroom that is used to support activities in an adjacent living space.kitchen-unitc2.jpg

Designing lighting to serve so many needs requires independently operating light fixtures. The modern kitchen styling with clean cabinet lines and smooth finish appliances provides large reflecting surfaces for accent light.

The lighting plan in Cityview on Ridgewood town home kitchens was designed to fulfill all these tasks and allow the home owner to use only the light they need.


dsc_2560.jpgTask Lighting

Compact fluorescent (CFLs) under cabinet puck lights were installed to provide task lighting and accent the glass backsplash. CFLs provide a soft white light that is an energy conserving alternative to conventional incandescent bulbs. The blizzard Caesarstone countertops white surface provides creates a bright airy feel to the workspaces.

Day lighting

The above cabinet windows bring in a large amount of daylight to light up the kitchen throughout the day.

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General Purpose Lighting

Recessed ceiling mount light fixtures provide large amount of light for general light to fill the kitchen. Recessed ceiling lights can be equipped with CFL’s for even greater savings.
Mood lighting

The kitchen island serves as a focal point and is equipped with dimmable pendant lights above to allow the home owner to create the ambiance they want for that space and the adjoining living area. With a dimmer switch, less is more—more money, that is.

  • Dim lights by 25%, increase energy savings by 20%
  • Dim lights by 50%, increase energy savings by 40%

You also extend bulb life up to 20 times when you dim a bulb halfway. lutron_logo.jpgLutron dimmers are used throughout the Cityview on Ridgewood town homes. Calculate how much you would save by dimming your lights on Lutron’s dimming calculator.

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CaesarStone Quartz Countertops

November 9, 2007 Leave a Comment

With the array of counter top surface choices available on the market, it can be difficult to decide which one to go with. With over 80 square feet of counter top space in each of these town homes, they required a light neutral colored surface to complement the modern cabinetry.

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In this development we opted to use CaesarStone Quartz for the kitchen counters, which was based on the following qualities of this engineered Quartz:

  • It is stronger, more durable, cleaner, safer, and has a more consistent surface grain
  • It is Polished to enduring shine
  • Available in several color options – Blizzard was chosen for this development
  • CaesarStone’s commitment to the environment:
    • The company has implemented procedures/compliance in an effort to prevent pollution and recycle waste. The products are made from 93 percent natural quartz, one of nature’s most abundant minerals, and are non-porous and stain resistant, all of which eliminate the need of chemical sealers, prevent breeding of harmful bacteria, and require less detergent for maintaining and cleaning the surface.

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Kitchen and Bath with Blum soft close cabinets

October 21, 2007 Leave a Comment

The custom built kitchen cabinets and bath vanities are taking form at our Ridgewood development. This cabinetry is equipped with the hydraulic soft-close drawers and doors. This tiny feature minimizes that thud sound every time you hear a traditional cabinet door or drawer close.

See how it works at our development or online at Blum.com. The European design Blumotion soft-close system for cabinet doors with self-closing hinges has an innovative design that senses how hard the cabinet door is being closed, then adjusts resistance to keep it from slamming shut. This perfect movement provides more comfort and convenience with its silent and effortless operation.

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