Restaurants are great places in which to get bursts of inspiration for your own kitchen. You may not necessarily replicate the inventive idea, but maybe it sparks another project that adds a similar functionality or aesthetic to your own kitchen space.
When we saw the cheese grater chandelier featured on The Kitchn, we knew this would go straight into the inspiration file. Located at a new grilled cheese restaurant on NYC's Lower East Side, the chandelier is an architectural marvel. Who knew cheese graters could be so chic? So modern? So eye-catching?
If you're the daring DIY type, you could likely replicate the cheese grater chandelier in your own abode. Your biggest problem would be collecting enough cheese graters, although perhaps a day spent thrifting would yield enough supplies. And your in-home version would likely be smaller than the one featured in the restaurant, meaning you wouldn't need quite as many graters.
During colder months, and especially throughout the holidays, your kitchen will likely see much more traffic and activity as you prepare meals and host guests.
If your kitchen is in need of a little pre-holiday update, don't worry -- you have plenty of time to make changes. We've compiled a list of common updates to help you plan your to-do list and timeline.
1. Replace appliances. If your appliances are outdated, now's the time to replace them. According to a chart published by This Old House, here is the life expectancy of most major kitchen appliances:
Gas ranges (15 yrs)
Range hoods (14 yrs)
Refrigerators and electric ranges (13 yrs)
Garbage disposals (12 yrs)
Freezers (11 yrs)
Dishwashers (9 yrs)
Microwave ovens (9 yrs)
Compactors (6 yrs)
2. Clean. Cleaning isn't high on our list of favorite things to do, but a thorough deep cleaning will help keep your appliances in proper working order. Plus, who doesn't love spending time in a sparkling room? Wipe down your oven, stove and microwave. Unplug your fridge and clean the condenser coils. And while you're working with the fridge, remove old food and leftovers from the fridge and freezer so that you have plenty of space to store new leftovers, groceries and edible gifts.
We love finding creative uses for common household items. Take coffee, for example. It's delicious, and for many of us, it's the fuel that keeps us going throughout a hectic day. And better yet? You can use it to stain wood like kitchen cabinets.
Using coffee as a wood stain will certainly smell better than your conventional options--and you won't have to worry about harsh fumes, either.
Here's How!
1. You'll want to pile your coffee grounds into a large French press or glass jar. Then pour hot water over the coffee and allow it to steep at least a few hours, but preferably overnight. Feel free to tweak your stain color--the more coffee you add, the darker it will be.
And keep this in mind - one gallon of coffee stain will cover about 100 square feet of cabinet or surface area.
2. Once the coffee is ready to apply, strain it so all of the grounds are removed. Remove your cabinets and lay them out on newspaper to protect the floor. You may want to coat the cabinets with a paint stripper to remove the current color. If you want to skip this step, make sure the cabinet surfaces are clean before you apply the stain.
3. Use a lint-free nylon rag soaked in stain to apply it in even strokes on the cabinet. Then you can gently wipe the stained area with a clean rug to remove excess stain. Once the stain has completely dried, apply a clear sealant to protect the cabinet's surface.
What do you think of this project? Will you be whipping up a batch of coffee stain?
Coffee grounds are also great for gardening.
Photo: Flickr.com/ayelie
No matter if you have a galley-style kitchen or an expansive professional one, something every chef or baker of every level is looking for is more storage in the kitchen. Typically, this would involve adding more cabinetry, shelves, containers, or other items that can easily take up precious square footage and aren't always ideal solutions. However, we think we found a genius project to help you create near invisible storage with what you already have under your cabinets.
The idea is simple -- most standard built-in cabinet systems actually sit on a riser of sorts, leaving a good three- to four-inch average gap of unused space under the interior shelves. This project from The Family Handyman helps to actually utilize that space for narrow storage items -- think cutting boards, cookie and muffin pans, or even things such as storage bags, reusable grocery bags, and kitchen linens.
