This Just In - Cambria & Benjamin Moore Remove the Guesswork

Cambria Quartz Surfacing has teamed up with Benjamin-Moore paints to offer consumers (and designers) a helping hand when it comes to selecting coordinating colours for your kitchen project.  Simply visit the Cambria web site, select your countertop colour, and you are presented with a series of palates from Benjamin-Moore's extensive selection of paints chosen by one of their colour experts.

For more information on Cambia Quartz surfacing or for help coordinating your own kitchen design project,  contact one of our design team for an in showroom consultation.

The Village - Benkei Ramen

Benkei Ramen is within a block of the corner of Broadway and Cambie, so we've decided to make it an honorary member of the Cambie Village.  Part of a group of 5 restaurants, Benkei serves up traditional Ramen, along with other Japanese specialities.

Ramen is a traditional Japanese noodle soup made with a a variety of broths, and garnished with meat and vegetables.  Benkei serves up the traditional Shoyu broth, but for a real treat try the Shio which is made by boiling pork and pork bones to extract all the rich taste. This Fukuoka-born ramen contains collagen and calcium - a source for beatiful skin and strong bones. And its delicious!
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Benkei Ramen
545 West Broadway, Vancouver, B.C.
Phone: 604-568-4861

Remodelling is a Team Sport

Watching the Packers and Jets win their way into this year's Superbowl, you couldn't help but marvel at the incredible amount of teamwork it took to achieve this level of success.  Offensive linemen clearing the way for fullbacks, corners covering receivers, and the myriad of coaches and coordinators all communicating with each other to secure the victory.

Whether you decide to renovate your kitchen on your own, employ a design firm or hire a general contractor, it is imperative that all involved work together and communicate well with each other. Framers, drywallers, plumbers and millworkers all rely on each other to prepare the job site for their section of the job.

If the framers don't follow the architects plans, the kitchen window might end up a couple inches from where it was planned. Not a big deal right? If the window isn't in the right location, the cabinets that were planned for that kitchen won't fit the way they were designed. Now we have a much bigger issue, since the homeowner was expecting the sink to be centred beneath the window

Paradigm Kitchen Design offers both full kitchen remodelling and installed cabinets & countertops only. If we are providing a complete remodel, it's easy to stay in communication with all the trades and make sure everyone's on the same page. But if my client is using their own contractor, it becomes even more important to be sure the design we have planned is communicated to all involved.

Good plans are important. A picture is worth 1000 words. But nothing communicates like a site visit, face to face with the tradespeople. Whether it's the client or the designer (or both!) it's important to make regular site visits throughout the job.  This extra work up front will pay off in 8 weeks when the cabinets are installed. True, lights can be moved and drywall patched and repaired. But if some simple information is communicated to all involved, delays are avoided, and the project is completed sooner.
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This article originally appeared on useful spaces - THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2009

Choices - Backing it Up

The backsplash is the area of wall situated above a countertop and below the upper cabinetry (if any) in a kitchen (or bathroom). The backsplash provides a terrific opportunity to augment the design theme of the kitchen, but because of its associating with a work surface, attention needs to be paid to the functionality of the material used.

The best choices for backsplash material will depend on the design of your kitchen and how you plan on using it.  Here are some of the most common choices we've seen over the past few years:

Tile is easily the most common choice for a kitchen backsplash. Tile is available in an almost infinite array of materials, sizes, shapes and colours. Design choices are only limited by one’s imagination.

Many of our clients express concern over the use of tile because of the grout lines typically associated with it. While a sealant can be applied to grout lines, the roughness of the grout usually means that food particles can still get trapped in the grout. Epoxy based grouts can also be used, but are very difficult to work with. From experience we find that the best solution is to simply wipe up splatters as soon as they happen.

Stone can be used in tile form, or as a slab. Consider covering the backsplash with the same stone you use on the countertop, or even using the same stone, in tile form, as inserts in a tile splash. Natural stone should definitely be sealed.

Glass has become increasingly popular over the past few years. Tempered glass is back-painted to achieve a unified colour for the backsplash creating a stunning almost luminescent effect. In addition to regular "float" glass, textured and etched glass can also be used.  In most glass applications, a seam will be required if the height of the splash changes.  Look closely in the picture on the left and you'll notice a seam on either side of the hood fan opening.

Stainless steel creates a very distinct contemporary look. It can be applied in panels or larger sheets, and is available in many embossed textures as well as simply “brushed”. It's one of the simplest materials to keep clean but is quite unforgiving if it is damaged.  Dents typically cannot be removed. Many of our clients will simply use stainless steel behind a cooktop or range for a more “commercial” appearance.

Beadboard can be used in more traditional kitchens. Attractive, simple to install and economical, beadboard can work with virtually any countertop material because it can be painted any colour you choose.  The vertical grooves in the beadboard can also help add a sense of height to your splash. However, because the beadboard is typically made from painted wood or fibre-board (MDF), special attention needs to be paid to cleaning spatters as soon as they happen.

Many other materials can be (and have been) used for a backsplash.  Be sure to consult with your design professional before finalizing your choice.

Gallery - Kitchen On The Lam

Normally, we don't start a Gallery post with the "Before" picture.  To be honest, it's often because we forget to take any, but more often than not, the  finished project has little resemblance to the original that it's just not a useful comparison.  Such is not the case with this post and beam home.  With a couple small changes, the room is pretty much the same shape as before.  It's just the contents that have changed.

Get the flash player here: http://www.adobe.com/flashplayer

This kitchen features the new Green-Lam doors we were introduced to back in August.  Paired with a light quartz countertop the contrast between the two surfaces allows the kitchen to take centre stage in such a large room.  You'll also notice the addition of hardwood floors  throughout the main floor.  The linear nature of this floor helps the kitchen and the living room (through the door) flow together.  For a fun splash of colour, the backsplash behind the cooktop is glass back-painted a vibrant blue.

Design Tips - Walking Down the Aisle

So far in the Design Tips series, we've addressed working space the relationship between those spaces.  In this instalment we're going to look at Guideline #6 which deals with aisles.

An aisle is created any time there are two work surfaces running parallel to one another.  The most obvious example is a "galley" style kitchen, but there are also aisles to consider when you're considering an island.

NKBA standards state that for a single cook, the aisles should be 42" wide.

If you regularly have more than one cook in the kitchen, then the aisle should increase to 48".  This allows space for people to pass behind each other without interfering with the work at hand.

Remember those dimensions are from the furthest point into the aisle way.  Don't measure from the cabinet face if the countertops or range extend past the cabinet face.

As with all NKBA Guidelines, these dimensions are "best case".  If you have more room, by all means, use it.  Keep in mind that the further apart the work surfaces become, the more difficult it is to move items between them.

As with most of the other guidelines, #6 also has an accessibility component to it.  At each kitchen appliance there should be a clear area of floor space of at least 30” by 48”.  These areas can overlap, but you shouldn't have to step over anything to clean out the dishwasher for example.