As kitchen designers blend varying cabinet heights and finishes, and use different countertop materials throughout the room, the concept of storage takes on new meaning.
No longer are consumers expected to store all their china, glassware and figurines in a neat, tidy row of cabinets. Their collectibles don’t have to be hidden behind closed doors. And, the cookbooks aren’t stuffed into a narrow cabinet or piled on top of the refrigerator.
Instead, storage becomes part of the design of the kitchen, bringing showcase items to the forefront. The cookbooks are neatly arranged on exposed shelves on the end of an island. An arched opening frames the shelves and creates a focal point. The china and crystal is stored in decorative cabinets with etched glass doors and carved crown molding. Soft lighting enhances the view.
These trends typically are seen in semi-custom and custom housing, where consumers often have more disposable income and more space in which to play with design. The cost can range from a few hundred dollars to several thousand, depending upon the level of detail, the materials used and whether the look has to be custom-made.
Consumers are bending the design rules to create more individualized spaces that stress style as much as over function. The idea of always having cabinets with doors is changing, for example. Place a cabinet without doors next to a sink and add a towel bar in the cabinet and it can be used to display decorative towels. The rest of the space can be used for storing other items, but the focus is on the towel bar area.
Take the same cabinet without the towel bar and put a valance at the top of the space and it takes on the furniture look that continues to influence kitchen design, said Sarah Reep, director of design for Starmark, Inc., manufacturer of Fieldstone and Starmark cabinetry.
The valance could be ordered to match the style of cabinetry or the color of finish, for example. “I might put this type of cabinet over a sink where there’s not a window to add some pizzazz to an area,” she said. “I might put it over a desk area.”
Others are taking the concept of glass doors that enclose cabinets with crystal goblets or fine china and taking away the glass. Instead of glass they are using antique brass mesh across part of the front of the door. “It’s just a fun, different look,” said Cheryl Daugvila of Cheryl D. & Co. Ltd., a kitchen design firm in La Grange. “It would be the next best thing to an open look.”
Glass doors remain popular, however, with some consumers who like the more traditional way of highlighting their wares. “I do a lot of glass door cabinets on the end of islands for display,” said Curtis Thorstensen, director of customer relations for the Town of Fort Sheridan, a mixed-use development in Highland Park and Highwood. Houses in that development are priced from $400,000 to $2 million.
Columns also are taking on new meaning, as they can be designed to include storage areas for canned goods and other items. The focus is on the decorative elements of the column. Pull open one area and a soup can appears. “You can put it next to a stove or somewhere where you want a vertical design element,” Thorstensen said. “You usually do two to give it a balanced look. They could be fluted columns or turned columns — (they come) in all different styles.”
The columns often are placed beside base cabinets and cost approximately $600 to $700 per column, he said.
Cabinet shelves also are being shifted to make room for large baking equipment. “If you have a big mixer it may not fit in a regular size cabinet, but it can fit in a cabinet without shelves,” Thorstensen said.
There also are cabinets designed for keeping the mixer close by without using valuable counter space. KraftMaid Cabinetry, along with other manufacturers, has a base cabinet designed for mixers. The cabinet is made in 18-, 21- or 24-inch widths and has a tray on the bottom that rolls out. The base of the mixer would be stored in that tray.
The mixer component is stored at the top of the cabinet on a shelf. “When the cabinet is closed the shelf is down low and your mixer would sit on the shelf,” said Janice Pattee, director of design for KraftMaid, based in Middlefield, Ohio. When the door is opened, the shelf raises up to the appropriate height for working.
“Let’s say you don’t have a lot of counter space and love to bake and use a mixer once a week,” Pattee said. “This is convenient and you still have countertop space around you.”
The desire for decorative storage space takes on a different dimension in downtown Chicago, where home buyers typically pay a premium for that slice of urban life. In most cases, they are buying in multi-family buildings, where storage planning requires some creativity.
In this scenario, storage becomes a more valuable commodity than in the suburbs, where two-car garages and basements that can be used for storage are common. Urban buyers may pick one area of the kitchen for adding a decorative storage nook or create a focal point in an adjacent breakfast area, said Catherine Dowd, design coordinator for The Residences at Riverbend, 323 N. Canal St., a high-rise condominium being developed by Bejco Development Corp. with units priced from $300,000 to $2.5 million.
“We have one area of some of our floor plans we’re calling a tech center, but it’s an area between the family room and kitchen and it sort of leads you into the family room,” she said. “I expect that area to be more of a cookbook and pretty dishes area.”
“While they’re high-end (units), they’re still apartments in the city, so people are always looking for ways to add storage,” Dowd said.
As buyers consider what storage features to include, they should ponder the trade-off. Someone buying a unit with 1,100 square feet, for example, would not consider adding a built-in wine rack in the cabinetry. The 2-by-2-foot racks, which sell for $750 to $2,250, take away space for other types of storage, she said. “Do you want to lose drawers by putting in a wine rack? You’re sort of giving away space with wine racks and cookbook storage.”
There also are conveniences to shy away from. While the idea of having a secret drawer in the front of a sink for stashing sponges and scouring pads sounds efficient, not everyone likes them. They often are not deep enough to be useful. “Everybody buys them and hates them,” said John Curtis, president of New Paradigm Custom Homes in northwest suburban Lake in the Hills, who builds houses priced from $600,000 to $1.5 million.
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Allison E. Beatty is a Chicago-area freelance writer. If you have questions or information to share regarding new home buyers’ product and design choices, write to Choices c/o Chicago Tribune, New Homes Section, 435 N. Michigan Ave., 4th Floor, Chicago, IL 60611.
