Kitchen Tips

10 Creative Ways to Use the Space Between Your Kitchen Cabinets & the Ceiling

modern white kitchen with tall cabinets to minimize the space between your kitchen cabinets and the ceiling

Most homeowners consider the space between the kitchen cabinets and the ceiling unattractive and a waste of precious square footage. This design feature is intended to create a more open feel. And standard-dimension cabinets are not installed to reach the ceiling because they’d be too high to reach. So, what are you supposed to do with that awkward gap?  10 Ways to Use the Space Between Your Cabinets and Ceiling We’ve come up with some creative ways you can maximize the space between your kitchen cabinets and the ceiling.  1. Extend the cabinets to the ceiling With custom kitchen cabinets, you can add an open shelf below the cabinets, allowing you to move the standard cabinets up to the ceiling.  Another option is to select taller-than-standard cabinets, creating an extra top shelf inside your cupboards, and completely eliminating the gap. Keep in mind, the top shelf will be difficult to reach, so it’s best used to store items you don’t … Read more

5 Easy Ways Your Kitchen Can Save You Time & Money

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Inflation is a topic we hear about constantly these days. When they reach their limit on financial frugality, some people work more hours to make up the difference. So, Canadians are looking for ways to save both time and money. Surprisingly, your kitchen design can help! 5 Tips for a Kitchen That Saves You Time & Money By incorporating a few strategic kitchen features and practicing a couple of helpful habits, your kitchen can lower your grocery costs and make efficient time management possible.  Here’s how to use your kitchen to help you save time and money.  1. Set up an information center to prevent impulse purchases The rising cost of groceries has significantly reduced the number of unplanned items Canadians buy, a recent study found. Impulse buying has become a luxury since sticking to our budgets is more difficult.  An information center—sometimes called a command center—in your kitchen can minimize the temptation to buy on impulse. Set it up … Read more

14 Effective Techniques to Make Your Small Kitchen Look & Feel Bigger

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You don’t have to choose between cramped or convenient in your small kitchen. Whether you’re planning a kitchen renovation or designing a kitchen for a new home, there are clever ways to make your small kitchen seem more spacious. 14 Ideas to Make Your Small Kitchen Look & Feel Bigger We’ve rounded up 14 of our favourite ways to make your small kitchen roomier. You don’t have to employ them all. Implementing even one or two will make a big difference in your small space.  1. Select Colours & Materials Strategically White is a small kitchen’s best friend. It reflects light and creates the illusion of a larger space. Multiply the effect by using several shades of white throughout your kitchen.  If white doesn’t appeal to you, stick with lighter hues like light yellows or pale grays to create an airy feel. If you’re determined to incorporate darker colours, be sure to keep the darkest shades in the lower third … Read more

3 Helpful Ways to Reset Your Kitchen for the New Year

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The holidays are a busy time of year, and even the most prepared household experiences a disruption in routines. There’s a general sense of disorder when the festivities are over. So, as the new year approaches, we long for a fresh start. Taking some time to reset your kitchen will help you step back into normal (or new) routines with ease.  3 Quick Tips to Help Prepare Your Kitchen for a New Year These three simple tips are all you need to get your kitchen in order and help you set up for a successful start to the new year with less stress. 1. Plan Some Meals You need to eat. Period. After turkey feasts, limitless chocolate, and way too much of our traditional holiday goodies, we’re stuffed to the brim. So we sink into our easy chairs and declare, “I won’t need to eat till next year!”  But the reality is, you’ll wake up tomorrow and your body will … Read more

How to Prepare Your Kitchen for a Busy Holiday Season of Entertaining

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The holiday season is upon us. Your to-do list is growing and your calendar is filling up with events. You look forward to most of it, but there’s also an element of overwhelm. How will you get it all done?  With a bit of forethought and time, you can prepare your kitchen for entertaining during the busy season to reduce stress, streamline your routines, and simplify your role as a holiday host.  7 Ways to Prepare Your Kitchen for the Holiday Season Pull out your calendar and to-do list right now and schedule these tasks. You’ll thank yourself later for the time you took to prepare your kitchen for the holidays! 1. Clean out your fridge  When you host guests over the holidays, you buy more food than usual. This season typically involves more refrigerated goods like specialty cheeses and meats for charcuterie boards or appetizers. And if you have out-of-towners spending the night, you’ll want to stock up on … Read more

Improve Rental ROI With These Top 5 Kitchen Upgrades for Rental Properties

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Kitchen upgrades lead to plenty of valuable benefits for you as a landlord—increased property value, less maintenance, and attracting a better pool of applicants, to name a few. Statistics show that there is always value in a kitchen renovation.  3 Important Considerations Before Upgrading the Kitchen in Your Rental Property Your inclination might be to renovate your rental property kitchen with the lowest possible budget. But it’s important to consider the kind of renters you want to attract and the value of durability. You don’t want to be renovating after every tenant; you want something that can withstand the test of time.  Don’t worry! This doesn’t mean you need to put in a high-end custom kitchen. There is a happy medium that maximizes your investment.  Here are three other things to think about when upgrading your rental property kitchen. 1. Simplicity is key Your tenants want to customize the home as much as possible. They also have a monthly budget. … Read more

15 Easy Kitchen Maintenance Tips to Keep Your Kitchen Looking New + Kitchen Maintenance Checklists

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The usual daily dishwasher cycle and consistent wiping of the countertops can only go so far in maintaining your kitchen. Eventually, this high-use space requires a little extra TLC to keep it in tip-top shape. These easy kitchen maintenance tips will help you keep your kitchen at its best—efficient, clean, and safe.  Daily Kitchen Maintenance Checklist A daily kitchen cleaning routine simplifies the maintenance of your kitchen.  Empty the dishwasher Wash dirty dishes as they happen (after each meal or snack) or put them in the dishwasher Wipe countertops and cooktop Sweep the floors and spot clean Put out a fresh dishcloth and dish towel You can get these tasks done very quickly and easily if you’re consistent. Cooking is simpler when you start with a clean kitchen, and your morning coffee is more enjoyable when you’re not digging through yesterday’s dirty dishes to get to the coffee pot. Shine the Sink A shiny sink automatically freshens up your kitchen … Read more

9 Simple Ways to Design a Timeless Family-Friendly Kitchen

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Traditionally, we consider the kitchen the heart of the home, and for good reason. In the kitchen, you nourish your family with food, meaningful conversation, and homework help. The design of your kitchen should support these connections. So how can you create a family-friendly kitchen? How to Design a Family-Friendly Kitchen Every family is unique, so the kitchen design that works best for someone else might not work best for you. That said, there are a few universal tips to make sure you optimize your kitchen for your family.  1. Evaluate your needs What’s important to your family? How do you want to use your kitchen? Think about your needs and make a list to understand your kitchen design goals. Here are a few things to consider: Do you want your children involved in preparing meals? How many people do you expect to be in the kitchen at the same time? Do you want your children to ‌prepare some foods … Read more

9 Ways to Organize Your Kitchen to Make Eating Healthy Easier

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It’s the first week of a new year, so you fill your fridge with healthy options and the best of intentions. A week later, you’re dutifully preparing a healthy snack and notice an unpleasant smell from the fridge. Your hands wade through the abundant fruits and vegetables, and land on a mushy bunch of rotting spinach. Ew.  Another week goes by and, once again, you open the fridge looking for a snack – healthy or not. You notice the contents are drastically different from two weeks ago. Gone is the colourful cornucopia of good-for-you options. In its place are takeout boxes and plastic packaging.  The purpose of this post is not to beat you up about your slow-but-sure return to old habits. We’ve all been there! In fact, healthy eating in Canadians decreased by nearly 2% every year for the last 5 years of the most recent report. Instead, we want to offer you encouragement. Maybe it’s a simple matter … Read more

15 Easy Ways to Conquer Kitchen Clutter

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Kitchens are notoriously clutter collection zones. As the heart of the home, you use your kitchen for far more than cooking – homework with the kids, socializing with friends, sorting mail, and more. But you can conquer kitchen clutter by implementing just a few handy techniques.  How to Conquer Kitchen Clutter Here are 15 ways to help you keep your kitchen clutter-free. 1. Evaluate necessities Go through your kitchen and be completely honest with yourself about what’s necessary and what’s not. Yes, it’s handy to have a pen or two in the kitchen, but do you really need 30? Or what about your bread maker? Do you actually use it? If not, will you use it within the next 3-6 months? Get rid of any item that’s unnecessary. A helpful trick is to put a piece of tape on any kitchen item you’re unsure about. When you use it, take the tape off. In 6 months, go through your kitchen … Read more

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