Water-saving kitchen faucet

One simple and easy way to reduce the amount of water that goes down your kitchen sink is to invest in a water-saving kitchen faucet.  There are many, many models on the market to choose from, and most of them feature a “low flow” of around 1.5 gallons per minute while retaining around 60 psi of pressure.  Factor those two statistics together, and you’ve got a faucet for your green kitchen that reduces the amount of water you use by around one-third.

Food disposer

Did you ever wonder what happens to the food scraps that you toss into the trash? Bits of leftover food and unwanted food from your trash ends up in the already overburdened landfill, where it begins the decomposition process.

Food that is disposed of using a food disposer is carried instead into the wastewater treatment facility in your area, and in many areas, food waste is converted to clean energy to power homes and communities. Taking those food scraps out of the garbage and disposing of them with a disposer means that your trash can is more sanitary – and smells better!

Water filtration system

Tired of the expense of bottled water from questionable sources? Then you should know that Planet Earth is equally tired of your plastic water bottles littering its streams and rivers and stacking up in its landfills.

An easy solution for the both of you is a water filtration system. This system can be as simple as a filtration pitcher with an attached carbon filter or as complex as a whole-house system that filters water for the entire house, including the bathrooms and laundry room.

Filtered water is just as tasty as the bottled variety, and costs just pennies on the gallon. This is one green kitchen upgrade that will literally pay for itself over time when you’re no longer doling out two bucks a bottle for water.

Buy Energy Star appliances

Although it makes no sense from an environmental standpoint (since the old appliance would have to go somewhere) for you to replace your kitchen appliances merely because you want to go green, it does make sense (when you’re ready for a replacement because they are no longer usable) to replace them with Energy Star certified appliances.

The EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) only awards the Energy Star to energy-efficient appliances that save energy.

These are just the top upgrades to consider for a green kitchen.  From green flooring choices like bamboo, to using reclaimed countertops and natural cleaning products, there are dozens of ways to reduce your “carbon footprint” in the kitchen.

Author bio:

Green is my favorite colour. Actually, I plan to switch my primary site, Find People for Free – FinderMind on a green host! Just still researching a good one, if you have a recommendation let me know. Anyway, I hope you found this article to be useful.

• Cooking as an activity performed by experts, by true artists that use their imagination and creativity in order to create special dishes and exotic combinations.

• Cooking as a basic activity that everyone engages in. It is mostly a ‘family thing’: preparing meals for you and your family on a daily basis takes time and patience and if you don’t enjoy it everything might seem very hard and exhausting. But if you make sure that you have all the necessary tools and kitchen accessories, things will seem easier.

Given these two ways in which we can talk about cooking, let’s stay focused on the kitchen accessories that you must have in order to enjoy preparing all kinds of dishes for you and for your loved ones. This cookware analysis will explore every aspect of cooking, in other words, everything you need to do in order to come up with the best meals every time.

1. Knives

Having good knives is a crucial thing that you have to keep in mind regarding cookware. It’s necessary to be able to slice vegetables and to chop off meat just the way you are supposed to. Low quality knives make this more difficult and it can be extremely annoying to try to cut tomatoes or onions with knives whose blade is not as sharp as it should be.

There are a lot of extremely cheap knives or knife sets, but a sincere piece of advice would be to try to avoid them, because even if you save money at first by paying less for them, they usually last for only a few weeks. A more qualitative set of knives is designed to last for at least a few years, so it’s best to put things in perspective and to buy something that seems more expensive, but that will allow you to save money over a longer period of time.

2. Pan

Let’s say you want to prepare a sauce, or maybe to fry some fish fillet. Imagine an ordinary pan: it might ruin the entire dinner for you, by burning the fish or making the sauce taste funny (due to the fact that it gets stuck on the pan’s surface because of the heat). Now, if you make sure that the pan’s ok, things will go smooth and everything will turn out just like planned. It would be ideal to have a pan set that contains a few different pans from smaller ones (to be used for preparing pancakes, for example) to large size pans (for preparing pasta sauce, for example).

3. Pot

The object that you’ll surely get to use many times in your kitchen is the pot. It is suited for preparing all kinds of soups or simply for boiling water (if you think of preparing pasta, for starters).  It is very important to get yourself pots that have perfectly fitting tops, especially if you plan to use them for more sophisticated recipes than boiling water for pasta.

4. Bowls

The bowls, as well as the knives and the cutting board, are to be seen as belonging to the ‘pre-cooking accessories’ category. It is crucial to have the right bowls (the right sizes) in order to be able to store your sliced ingredients or to mix them without having to worry about spilling the contents of the bowl.

5. Cutting board

Even though it might sound a bit weird, the cutting board is a very important piece of cookware that you must have in your kitchen. It is a simple instrument, but it is very helpful when it comes to protecting the knives and making them last longer (it is wrong to use the knives directly on plates. When cutting and slicing different ingredients, you have to make sure that you use a perfectly flat surface; this is why the cutting board is the best option).

As you’ve noticed from the categories mentioned above, cooking doesn’t begin when you put the pan on the stove. It all starts by choosing a certain recipe; then, you start searching for the right ingredients and only after you make sure that you have everything you need to start to chop and cut them into small pieces, following the recipe’s instructions. Only after you’re done with these stages, you put different ingredients into the pan or pot and you set them on the stove. This is precisely why we should all think about cooking as an extended process, and if we manage to stick to this vision we’ll see why cookware doesn’t only refer to pans and pots, but to everything that we have to use, starting with cutting the ingredients.

When talking about this ‘kitchen stuff’, we have to mention the way the kitchen looks. If things are messy, it will be very hard to enjoy cooking. If you keep things in order (if you wash the bowls, the knives and other cooking accessories immediately after you use them, you’ll avoid having the kitchen sink filled with dirty dishes), you’ll avoid spending time on finding the things that you need and you’ll stay more focused on the cooking than on any other external element.

Remember that having a clean kitchen is very important; also, having good quality knives, at least one cutting board and a few different sized bowls are the prerequisites of a great meal.

Author’s Bio

Article provided courtesy of Best Cookware- a consumer guide to cookware, stainless steel cookware and more.

The Right Kind of Wood

There are quite a few types of wood that cover a wide range of prices. Starting with particle board that is laminated and moving up the ladder to solid wood. If you can afford it, solid wood is the most durable and attractive of the wood options. Of course you can get some very attractive laminated, paneled particle board cabinets that look very nice, too. If possible go with a solid wood like cherry, maple, or oak. These are attractive woods and having solid wood cabinets will make your kitchen look like a dream come true.

Cabinets Need To Be Functional

Keep your storage needs in mind when picking out new cabinets. You’ll want deep cabinets and drawers with plenty of storage space. Not only does this make a kitchen easier to use, it keeps the room from becoming cluttered. Plenty of organized storage space means room for food, dishes, and all your other kitchen accessories. By picking plenty of storage space, you will be able to keep your kitchen neat and tidy.

The Right Hardware

A nice finishing touch that you should be chosen at the beginning is your cabinet hardware. Knobs, handles, and hinges should all be complementary to your overall kitchen design. Don’t be afraid to have a little fun. The great thing about hardware is if it does get boring in the near future, you can easily and quickly switch it out to drastically change the appearance of the room. You may even want to have a back-up set of a totally different style to change to when you want a quick way to alter your kitchen’s design.

New kitchen cabinets can be a big intimidating project. Take it one step at a time, and don’t be afraid to get a little bit of professional help. You definitely don’t want this feature of your kitchen’s style to fall apart or be installed incorrectly. Even if your current cabinets are doing a fine job, they may not look that great. Choosing new kitchen cabinets can drastically improve the design of your kitchen. In the process you will be making your kitchen much more functional as well.

Since the odds are that you will spend a lot of time in your kitchen over the years, it helps to have some quick and easy ideas to change the room and give it a little variety. Here are a few tips that can be done quickly, without spending a lot of money.

Add a New Sink and Faucet. While this can be expensive, it doesn’t have to be. There are so many new designs available that you can pick a new sink and build an entire kitchen theme around it. There are old style, rustic-looking sinks that can give your kitchen a retro appeal. There are also a lot of ultra-modern sinks that can make your kitchen into the kitchen of the future. Take a look around and do some bargain shopping; a new sink can go a long way in adding some life to your kitchen.

Sponge paint to add some style. If you have painted walls in your kitchen, grab a sea sponge from the local store and a small can of paint and add some accents to your walls that really change up the look. Find colours that are complementary, unless you really want to go for a livelier approach. Granted you won’t want to take this project lightly, it can be done in less than a day and doesn’t require a huge investment.

New rugs, curtains and towels. Spend a day shopping for a new colour scheme for rugs, curtains and towels. Changing up these small details can give your kitchen a whole new dynamic. Some people like to buy a set of each of these things for every season. When summer rolls around why not go for the orange and yellow to bring out the brightness of your kitchen? The colours and styles are up to you, but by switching every two or three months, you are guaranteed to keep things interesting.

These are just three quick tips for giving your kitchen a quick, painless face lift. Look around at the small details of your kitchen to see what small steps you can take to change things up and add some spice to the kitchen.

Personality

Don’t make your kitchen all about productivity, there’s another P you should add to the mix – Personality! Your kitchen design should be a reflection of who you are. You don’t have to keep family photos relegated to the living room or family room, add some family photos to the kitchen as well. You can pick up some nice, light-coloured picture frames that are very inexpensive to frame your kitchen photos. Then, add some customization to the frames with floral designs or hand painted highlights. Let your personality shine through in your kitchen.

Playfulness

All work and no play makes your kitchen a dull place. Have some fun with your kitchen decoration. Bring in some cute knickknacks to display on your spice rack. Then put up a simple shelf for knickknacks, but put some spices or old kitchen utensils on it as well. Mix things up and have a little fun in your kitchen.

Pizazz

Too many kitchens are stuck being forever painted white. Throw on a new coat of paint, but add some actual colour. If the thought of doing all your walls is too much, think about doing just one wall or a section of wall over cabinets for a nice contrasting colour. Complement your new paint with some fresh-cut floral arrangements as a centerpiece and you will have a kitchen teeming with new life.

Add these three P’s to your kitchen’s design. Make the hub of your home a reflection of your style that is fun and exciting to spend time in. Don’t let your kitchen get stuck in the past; take some chances and liven things up. It may be a shock to your family’s senses to come down for breakfast to a fun, colourful, expressive room, but they will soon come to love it.

That being said, designing and building a house is the most creative thing I have ever done.  Since I am a closeted architect, who studied Finance, I hand drew all the plans in such detail that I even included the furniture.

The heart of every house is without a doubt the kitchen, even if your man is trying to tell you otherwise.  After all, you have to keep up his strength with food.  Not to mention the kids.

So, I spent one year thinking about exactly how to set up the kitchen.  What bugs me most is that in some kitchens, even large ones, two people can’t cook and clean at the same time.  For me that is vital, having two areas that can be worked in simultaneously, without tripping over each other and possibly spilling the wine!  That way when you are finished cooking, say for a dinner party, your kitchen is clean.

Now you don’t have to have a large kitchen to accomplish this goal.  It just depends on how you set it up.  There are of course professional kitchen designers, but I enjoyed doing it myself, and who knows my cooking and entertaining habits better than I do?

So this is how I did it.  I measured the size of the kitchen and drew it in edging tape on the floor of my Manhattan apartment, and then I decided where the plumbing was going to be placed.  Of course if it’s a reno, you may be restricted by existing plumbing.

Then I laid out the stove, sinks, dishwasher etc., of course to scale.   I stood in my pretend kitchen and I pretended to cook, just to test and see if my setup would work.  You know when the stove is just out of reaching range from the prep area, or when dishwasher is open and you can’t open the fridge?

The most annoying for me is actually at my dad’s house where at 5’5” I can’t reach the cupboards where the dishes are kept when the dishwasher is open.  In order to get to them I have to take all the dishes out, put them on the counter, close the dishwasher and then put the plates, cups and glasses away.   That takes twice as long!  At my mom’s former home, before I got her into a great condo, the kitchen design was down right dangerous.  If the dishwasher is open, and you didn’t realize it, you would literally fall right over it.  Thankfully my mom was good at long jump in her school days because it saved her possible broken bones.

So if you play in your pretend Betty Crocker kitchen for a while, you will find these glaring problems before you spend a year’s salary on a new kitchen.  Plus it’s a lot of fun!

Olga Alexandra Viteznikova

Second, you want to make sure that wherever you plan to put your appliances, there is no place for clean lines to show, which brings me to my third point. To avoid clean lines, invest in built-n appliances; this also gives you more space without any bulky objects sticking out.The fourth element is to not position your appliances in any awkward corners that would draw the human eye. Finally, coordinating your colours is very important. If you decide to go with a stainless steel appliance, it is important that the rest of your appliances follow that pattern.

Cabinetry – To give a different look to your kitchen you can put in different types of cabinetry in it, so not all of the cabinets will solely be solid wood. If you want a more contemporary chic look; mix your cabinets with glass, wood, or frosted glass. This will give your cabinets a different look and add texture to your room by providing variety within. Also, when it comes to cabinets, you are better off purchasing cabinets that pull out to allow for more storage space. Types of wood to choose for your kitchen can be oak, maple, cherry, pine etc. Oak is said to be the strongest and toughest type of wood, however the most popular choices when it comes to wood and cabinets are cherry and maple. Pine wood is not as popular because it is known to be a soft type of wood that is more inclined to leave scratches or dents.

Counter tops – Counter tops are very important because they are the most dominant part of your kitchen. They are also important because each type of countertop has a varying life expectancy due to its surroundings. The main types of countertops are Soapstone, Laminate, and Granite. Laminate is the least expensive route to go, it comes in different colours and is easy to maintain. However, if it is exposed to any type of heat, the laminate material will ruin and it is also prone to get scratched and stained. So, yes, it is affordable but very hard to maintain. Soapstone is the next cost efficient suggestion. It has a rich smooth look, however, if the soapstone does get a crack in it, it is impossible to fix. Finally, the most expensive type of counter top is Granite. Granite has a sophisticated look to it and it comes in different colours. It is a tough type of material that cannot easily be scratched or cracked. However, using such chemicals like cleaning products on granite can ruin the surface.

Colour – Colour in a kitchen is very important, however it is always hard to choose which colour is best suited for a kitchen as opposed to picking out a colour for another room. You don’t want to mismatch your colour schemes because it can ruin the décor of your whole house. It has been said that painting a kitchen a certain colour will have a specific meaning. For example, painting your kitchen yellow tends to make people feel happier, whereas a shade of red can increase your appetite. The most popular kitchen colours of 2009 were the shades of beige, peach, yellow, and brown. White has always been a popular colour and still remains to be one, but with white comes problems with keeping it that colour.

Back Splash – A back splash is not mandatory but can be used to add a special touch to your kitchen. There are different types of styles and methods for creating a back splash. You can use large tiles to give it a bold statement, or you can use tiny metallic tiles to give it an extra sparkle. Also, another type of back splash you can do is by using the same type of counter top material. So, if you are using granite for you counter top you can consolidate the granite for your back splash as well.

- Theresa Sebastiano

Kitchen Island – A kitchen island is very rewarding because it’s multipurpose. Not only does it contain storage, but you can use it to prepare your meals or as a bar area. Pull up some stools in the morning and use the island as a breakfast eating area.

Kitchen Canopy – Create a kitchen canopy that will divide the room from every other room around there. Use pillars to provide a different look to the kitchen. This idea works specifically for a high ceiling kitchen.

Lighting under the cabinets – There is no such thing as too much light. So go all out and include lights under your cabinets that will shine right on your spectacular countertop. This will give you more of an option if you wanted to turn on just the cabinet lights on as opposed to using your main ceiling lights.

Pantry – Having a pantry is the ultimate storage space. It is convenient and is normally hidden away which is great because it isn’t visible to your guests.

Glass Backsplashes – The newest trend in kitchen fashion is creating a glass backsplash that creates a more modern look for your kitchen. The glass should be placed from the countertop all the way to the top cabinet. To give it a more sophisticated look you can also add an LED light to the backsplash.

-Theresa Sebastiano