I have just seen what can only be described as the ugliest kitchen I have ever seen in my life. I know everyone's taste is different but the colours clash everywhere in this kitchen. It really is an assault on the senses. I have posted a picture of this kitchen below, so you can see for yourself but please, if you plan to design a kitchen, learn from this designers mistakes.
Kitchen Design Mania
Monday 5 January 2015
Thursday 12 September 2013
Kitchen Cabinet Case Parts
The front frames usually are made of hardwood, 1 to 1.9 cm
thick. Rails, stiles, and mullions are doweled (or mortise-and-tenoned), as
well as glued and stapled for rigidity Lap joints and screw joints are also
used. End or side panels typically consist of 0.3 or 0.6 cm plywood or
hardboard, glued to 1.9 cm thick frames, or 1 cm and thicker plywood or
particleboard without frames. The end panels frequently are tongue-and-grooved
or dovetailed into the front frames. The mortise-and-tenon, butt joints, rabbet,
dado, and dowel are also used to affix the end panels to the front frames.
Furniture-grade plywood and particleboard with veneer facings are the most
common materials for end panels.
The backs of cabinets range in thickness from 0.3 cm to 0.6
cm and are of plywood or hardboard construction. The backs are fastened to the side
panels by insertion and with glue blocks that are pinned with staples. The
ledger at the back of the cabinet provides a solid surface through which screws
are driven to anchor the unit to the wall. The tops and bottoms of cabinets
also vary from 0.3 to 1 cm in thickness, and they are thinner on the sides and
fastened with glue blocks. Base cabinets generally do not incorporate tops;
however, some manufacturers still use the dust caps as cabinet tops on the base
units. Shelving in both base and wall units vary in material composition from
plywood to particleboard with or without wood or plastic-banded edges.
Thickness varies from 0.95 to 1.9 cm. Shelving in wall cabinets is either fixed
or adjustable with the trend toward adjustability, using either plastic or metal
adjusting hardware.
There are many elements of case parts not discussed in this
article that will be addressed in later publications. This article is aimed at
beginners but there is enough information included to intrigue experienced
kitchen fitters.
Friday 2 August 2013
Cabinet Manufacturing Options
The type of cabinets your customers choose
affects the cost, overall appearance, and workability of their kitchen.
Cabinets are manufactured and sold in the following different ways in Belfast but this is also true for other parts of the UK.
Stock Units
Stock cabinets are literally in stock
wherever they are sold. They are made in quantity, in advance, to go into
distributor warehouses for quick delivery. They are made in a wide variety of
standard sizes that can be assembled to suit the kitchen space. The quality of
standard cabinets may be fair, good, or excellent, depending on the
manufacturer and price, with a limited number of styles and colours. Most stock
systems do have cabinets that can be ordered for peninsulas or islands, with
doors or drawers on both sides and appropriate toe-spaces, trim, and finishes.
Stock cabinets are sold mainly to distributors and to builders. But if your want the best kitchen Design Belfast can possibly give, then this type of unit should be avoided.
Custom Units
The word custom can be used to describe any
cabinetry or manufacturer that builds product to the measurements of a specific
project. Custom cabinet manufacturers make cabinets kitchen by kitchen after a kitchen
has been designed and sold. Generally, they are made in the same 3-inch (8-cm)
modules as stock cabinets, but special sizes are also made for a perfect fit in
the destination kitchen. Custom producers offer a wide range of wood species,
finishes, and special units.
Because custom cabinets are made to order,
delivery may take from 4 to 16 weeks. Place the order well in advance of the
date you have scheduled to install the cabinets. Custom cabinets almost always
are delivered completely finished, like fine furniture. Prices run from
moderate to very expensive. Though it is generally a more expensive approach,
custom shops can match old cabinets, build to odd configurations, and
accommodate details that can’t be handled by stock cabinets.
Semi-custom\Built-to-order Units
Semi-custom cabinets are produced by both
stock custom manufacturers. These cabinets are usually produced on a stock basis
but with many more standard interior fittings and accessories than regular
cabinets although not as many as are available on custom units. They are available
in a variety of standard sizes, finishes, and styles. Each kitchen is built to
order based on the kitchen design and preference. Custom offers many more
choices, special shapes, special sizes and, usually, better joinery and
finishes.
Speciality cabinets
Speciality cabinet manufacturers are those
that are set up to supply specific housing tracts where hundreds of houses
might have only three or four kitchen floor plans, and they make cabinets only
to fit those floor plans. For example, the speciality manufacturer might take
100 identical single cabinets to fit a wall 96 inches (244 cm) wide that would
be the same in 100 houses. A similar wall with stock or custom cabinets would
have combinations of cabinets in different sizes.
Saturday 27 July 2013
Kitchen Cabinet Construction Methods
Cabinets come in a variety of styles, from
classic, country, or contemporary, and in a variety of colours and finishes to
suit any decorative scheme. Different styles of doors, drawer fronts, and
hardware give cabinets their individual character and personality. Although
cabinets are available in a wide array of shapes and finishes, their overall
basic construction is similar. As is the case in the purchase of all furniture,
good design coupled with expert workmanship and a durable finish should be the
first criteria in selecting kitchen cabinets. Styles and colours should be ones
that can be lived with for many years. The colours that are “in” today can and
should be used in the kitchen but should be limited to wall areas and
decorative accessories that can be replaced easily and relatively inexpensively
tomorrow.
Framed construction
Framed cabinets provide kitchens with a
traditional look. With framed cabinets, the doors are mounted on a frame, which
is then mounted to the front of the cabinet box. They have openings that are completely
surrounded by face frames made of stiles (vertical side members) and rails
(cross pieces). Better cabinets have adjustable hinges that allow door realignment.
With the exception of full overlay doors, the frame is visible from the front
of the cabinet and can be seen as edges around doors and drawers. Full overlay
cabinetry features oversized doors and drawer fronts built around the frame. The frame takes up space; it reduces the size
of the door opening, so drawers or slide-out accessories must be significantly
smaller than the width of the cabinet. The interior size of drawers or roll-out
accessories is usually 2 to 3 inches (5 to 8 cm) smaller than the overall width
of the cabinet.
Although some hung cabinets may not have
quite the interior storage space of frameless design they are much easier to
install, therefore saving you time and your customer installation costs. Unlike
frameless cabinets, framed cabinets have some base cabinet units that are only
cabinet fronts. These are most commonly used as sink base where the back of the
cabinet would interfere with plumbing rough-ins at the back wall. They offer
somewhat more flexibility in irregular spaces frameless; the outer edges of the
frame can be planed and shaped, which is called scribing, to conform to unique
discrepancies.
Frameless construction.
Frameless cabinets, sometimes referred to
as European style, provide a more sleek, contemporary styling. With frameless cabinets
the doors are mounted directly to the sides of the cabinet box. Core material
sides to 3/4 inch (1.5 to 1.9 cm) thick
are connected with either mechanical fastening system or a dowel method of
construction. Because of their thickness, these case parts form a box that does
not need a front frame for stability or to be flush. The hinges on frameless
cabinets are screwed directly to the inside of the cabinet, eliminating the
need for face frames (hinges are hidden, providing a cleaner look). Because
they have no face frames, frameless cabinets offer slightly more storage space
than framed cabinets—for example, they permit easier access for storing larger
items, such as platters—and feature a continuous surface of drawers and door
fronts. A simple narrow trim strip covers raw edges; doors and drawers usually
fit to within an inch (0.6 cm) of each other, revealing a thin sliver of the
trim. Interior components, such as drawers, can be sized larger, practically to
the full dimension of the box.
Door hinges are mortised into the sides and
the doors usually fit over the entire front of the case flush with each other
and with drawer fronts. This method dictates a very tight reveal, usually 0.5
inch (.3 cm) or less. Frameless cabinets typically have a separate toe space
pedestal, or plinth, which allows counter heights to be set specifically to the
home owner’s liking, stacking base units, or making use of space at floor level.
Because of absolute standardization, every component (shelf supports and
connecting hardware) is inserted into standard 32-mm (1.4-inch) on-centre
pre-drilled holes. The terms System 32 and 32-millimetres refer to the basic
matrix of all these cabinets: all the holes, hinge fittings, cabinet joints,
and mountings are set 32 millimetres apart. The sizes of European styles differ
slightly from those of standard cabinets. The depth of the wall cabinet may
vary from the 12 to 13 inches (30 to 33 cm) of the standard units.
Wednesday 24 July 2013
Kitchen Cabinet Regulations
Regardless of the kitchen’s size, the
arrangement of its work centres, and the variety of its equipment, it won’t
function properly unless it has an adequate amount of storage space. Depending
on the kind of kitchen being built or remodelled and the location of the work centres,
there are various standards and recommendations for the amount and kind of
kitchen storage required.
Kitchen cabinets
Now it is time to actually decide on the
element that sets the kitchen’s tone more than anything—the cabinets. Before
the clients or home owners select cabinetry, they should determine how they will
use the kitchen and what their daily and special storage needs are (these
considerations should have been addressed on other websites). This article
provides the knowledge necessary for assisting your clients in choosing their
cabinets. Cabinets are the key element in kitchen storage, as well, as one of
the most visible features in the kitchen—they determine how a kitchen looks and
functions. Because they come in many sizes or can be made to order, they provide
the flexibility that enables the designer to fit a kitchen to their customer’s
needs.
Pre-assembled and pre-finished cabinets are
the quickest way to finish kitchen cabinets; however, they are also the most
expensive way to go. Although there are some well-made cabinets available,
beware of budget cabinets held together partly with wire staples in knock down
pieces to be assembled, shelves supported on pins instead of being securely
recessed into little holes, and a cover-up coating of thick stain in place of a
lasting finish.
Regaulations
Since the number of skilled cabinetmakers
is decreasing, and because it is difficult to get a fine finish on job-built
cabinets, most builders, designers, and home owners are relying on prefabricated
wood kitchen cabinets. Prefabricated cabinets are manufactured to standard
sizes and dimensions, most cabinet manufacturers do not offer special sizes or
shapes. There cabinet components designed for use with each of the kitchen’s
work centre and for special requirements. It is important when using ready-made
cabinets to look for the round blue white certification seal of the Kitchen
Cabinet Manufacturers Association Certification Program. This seal assures the
user of kitchen cabinets that the cabinet complies with the rigorous standards
set by the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) and sponsored by the
Kitchen Cabinet Manufacturers Association (KCMA). It ensures that the cabinet
adheres to certain national standards for quality, including structural testing
and finished laboratory tests to determine durability under stress.
Welcome Everyone
I am so exited about my venture into the world of online blogging. When deciding on what to blog about, there was only one natural choice and that was kitchen design and installation. This might seem like a strange subject for a girl to like but I don't care, as I absolutely love it.
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