kitchen

A breakfast bar with an elevated custom curved maple top and stools was added to one end of the island. “I think the wood top makes a nice transitional element, since the kitchen borders the family room,” says designer Mark T. White of Kitchen Encounters.Stools: Lexington Twilight Bay Dalton 30-Inch Bar Stool; flooring: red oak with custom stain

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If having all of that glass to clean seems a bit much, try a simple bank of windows flanked on each side with cabinetry. You can make this a real focal point of the kitchen with a valance between the cabinets that ties everything together.

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1. Take charge. Designer Tracey Stephens was tasked with creating a retro-style kitchen that features vintage furniture and checkerboard floors for a New Jersey family of four. But the requirements of the technology age were not lost on the design. The kitchen includes a drawer with a built-in charger, complete with regular and USB outlets. “It’s so nice not to have all of those devices out and dealing with cords all the time,” homeowner Jody Suden says. Drawer charging station: Docking Drawer 18MoreHow to Refresh Your Kitchen on Any BudgetStash It All: Know the 3 Zones of Kitchen Storage

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2. Finding the right mix. To choose the color of the island, one of the homeowner’s of this kitchen spent many hours on Houzz, sending photos of green, blue and gray cabinets to designer Christine Sheldon until the two finally landed on soft blues. Once they narrowed the choices to three, Sheldon painted those colors on the cabinet surface and then had the colors tinted until she hit on just the right mix. The final paint color is a custom mix from Benjamin Moore. Find kitchen designers in your area

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Combination of countertop and tile work

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Tile work is terrific

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