The opposite of what you said about "Organic Bins" works better. Not larger bins to dry out, but Small bins that need to be emptied once a day. This reduces stench of decaying organic waste by not accumulating too much before having to be emptied. Also, Having a separate composting setup, where you can empty the small bin every day is the best solution that works.
Agree totally. Recycle/compost/get it out of the kitchen asap. Keeping it longer creates odors, pollutes air, draws bugs- yuck! Smaller bins encourage frequent emptying, minimizing of kitchen waste, mindfulness in general.
Absolutely. My cousin has a special organic bin, but even with the filter it smells. We just fold newspaper into a cone and stand it up in an old cup. Not pretty, but it gets full and gets thrown out everyday after dinner.
Agree. We never sleep with organic waste in the kitchen. We always empty it outside before closing the doors for the night (same with the rest of the trash in the housr tbh), of course more trash like paper waste can be accumulated throughout the night, but then we will empty it again the next day and those won't attract pests
in my country we always put our trash bins under the sink. you can go to any apartment in my city and find trash bin in a second - in the kitchen cabinet under the sink.
I've a tiny kitchen (UK) and that's where I put mine, they're not even bins, they're ikea kuggis with no lids. I no longer see the need for a large bin (haven't had one for nearly 20 years), just take the bins out either when you go out, or set a day for emptying (i do both). I don't even have to take the kuggis with me if I;m going to the car and need the boot space, i decant the contents into an old bag-for-life and then stick it in the boot once i've emptied it (no bin bags allowed in recycling communal bins), and for general waste everything is rinsed off anyway so no need for a bag there either. We don't have compost bins in the flats - genius move by the council there.
@@owieprone: my kitchens have got progressively smaller with every move, but I still have a lot of things to put in the cabinetry. There is no room for an in-cupboard bin.
He’s forgotten to put the word carpets in the slides- kitchen cupboards feature twice instead, though he talks about carpets! But I agree, carpets have their use. Also on staircases they can be useful to prevent falls.
As someone with a physical disability who falls a lot, I regret taking carpet out of my home... not only does it help with falls but I also find it makes it easier to get back up; more grip for the feet/toes.
I really appreciate the points you've given as I am a stickler for common sense function and then joined with esthetics. One of your examples, though, I will challenge: The microwave oven placed above the cook top is unervingly senseless. The microwave's venting fan merely circulates the air within the home instead of venting to the outside. It's what lazy builders do to save money and take advantage of what they may believe to be ignorant home buyers not realizing this. We've retrofitted a few kitchens to solve this issue. We got a very strong vent, placed the vent high enough above the cooktop so we don't hit our heads on it, custom built cabinets around the flue for more useable storage, and the cooktop has added venting. We then we got an in-cabinet microwave which looks great and is more functional. I often believe too many builders do not actually cook in their own kitchens to fully understand the actual function that is needed!
I found your take on the over range microwave interesting. I'm currently designing my retirement home. I'm taking meticulous notes on every minor detail. The house will be 764 Sq ft. I want light easy to keep clean and easy function. I'm planning on living in this house when I'm in my 90s. I've never used the exhaust fan. I won't have a lot of counter space. I'm thinking over range will be the most convenient. So in this house it's not about laziness but function and space
It’s not laziness, it’s simply another option that saves counter space, and that’s probably used more frequently than it should be. Also, OTR microwaves can vent out OR recirculate, you install it according to your needs. Venting out is not always an option for some home situations, so a charcoal filter is the alternate solution. I was a kitchen designer for 20 years, it is absolutely NOT my favorite thing: it’s too high, it’s combining 2 work stations, and almost being hit in the face when someone opens the door while you’re cooking… don’t do it if you have the space. Best spot for the microwave is generally near the fridge as most use the microwave for reheating.
@@angella7576 Just take into account how often it will be used and what for - if it's usually just the odd leftovers being reheated etc, but the idea of not having a small space in front to put hot dishes onto, especially as you will be older and your mobility etc will be reduced
@14:20 - Carpet: I think a lot of people would dismiss out-of-hand installing an "industrial grade" carpet in their home (the sort made for commercial settings like shops and restaurants), but we did just that and have no regrets. It has a canvas-like surface, which is comfortable enough underfoot (and subjectively "warmer" than most other flooring options). Liquid spills tend to pool on the surface rather than absorbing into the pile. We've had ours for almost twenty years, we chose a neutral colour, and it looks as good now as it did the day it was installed.
I bought a similar type carpet when I was selling my last house, I really liked it and was sorry I had not bought it earlier. I am planning to buy something like it (but better quality) when I finish working on my current house. 👍
My 90 year old aunt had the no nap commercial carpet replaced with a plush carpet. Then she hated it because the wheelchair left wheel tracks everywhere she went. She had me rake the carpet several times a day to get rid of the tracks.
Although I agree with your thoughts about range hoods, the performance of the range hood is one of the most important parts. Extraction efficiency has a lot to do with the area of the range hood and trying to cover the range or cooktop completely. The other thing that increases capture efficiency is the depth of the range hood, i.e. making a big bowl or funnel above the range. There are range hoods that fit in an upper cabinet and have a pullout feature that increases the surface area, i.e. the capture efficiency. I have used these in some projects, but they aren't as good at removing pollutants as a true larger range hood. Cooking can be one of the most significant factors for indoor air quality in a home if not dealt with properly.
The power of the fan also helps, I've always seen hoods sold with a specification of how big a space they can clear. Our hood is fairly small, but powerful, it can clear a large amount of space. We have one that is angled away from the stove at a 45 degree angle, so the front points up quite a bit. This prevents bumping your head into it too.
The microwave over the range is the worst possible arrangement. The fan is never powerful enough and doesn't provide coverage to the front two burners. As far as grease/dust build-up...clean it...every week. You need to do the inside of any "regular" hood and the cabinet doors above it.
Engineer here. You're right. Most domestic hoods don't work very well because they're more about aesthetics than efficacy. Commercial hoods usually work because they're properly designed but they're very big and would look terrible in a domestic kitchen
I agree. I love a beautiful design as much as anyone, but real functionality (and safety) is even more of a priority in a kitchen. Real vented hoods are important to a good, healthy kitchen environment and need to match the range in power and size. Aesthetics are very secondary in this case.
Yea I disagree with the guy entirely about the hoods having had a microwave hood and now having a proper hood with a strong fan makes a huge difference. And. The top of the hood doesn’t actually get dirty. We just have to clean the grates once a week.
Carpets have one massive advantage over hard floors, and that's noise. Not only does a semi decent carpet (& underlay) reduce noise echo in the room, it also massively reduces noise transfer to the room(s) below. Yes, a decent rug atop a hard floor can reduce the sound issue, but with how much of the floor needs to be covered to achieve this, you might as well just fully carpet the bedroom.
Agreed. It's strange how he talks about the acoustic advantages of curtains but then has hard floors throughout which creates an acoustically poor (lots of reflections) environment
This sounds strange. My urban apartment has composite wooden floors over wooden beams, and it's completely silent. The underlying floor structure is over a meter thick and cancels out any noise from below and above (1930s design). Twice a year, when turning city heat on and off causes rapid changes in humidity, floor may buckle and creak for a while, but always returns to flat and quiet state.
@@angela2726 It's more like 1.5 meters, in between commercial ground floor and the first (mine) residential floor. Steel girders + wood beams + ash infill. 1930s design built immediately after WW2. I know what's inside because 20 years ago I had to rebuild it after a fire. Did I mention that the exterior walls are also 1.5 meters thick? well, the load-bearing columns are 1.5x1.5 meters, the infill wall between them probably 80 cm.
I agree with all buy one: draining rack in your upper cabinet is a really BAD idea. I will show you my experience, that led me to uninstall the expensive item with pleasure. First of all, when you're lifting up wet cup and dishes water flows down to your elbows. Second, it's impossible to pour out drained water from the tray underneath the draining rack without spilling it. And the last one, if you think that drained water will dry up, you are so mistaken - the dishes are wet, there is constantly water in the tray and the whole cupboard is wet so can't even close the doors, because they are swollen. I hope it will help
Hi from Finland. We have used draining cabinets since the 1940s and still do. I’m sorry for your bad design that led to swollen doors but it’s not an issue here.
@@joonanyman1738 It may have nothing to do with design and everything to do with environment. I live in Asia with 90-110% humidity year round (average annual temp is 25°). There are some things that simply do not work here. That's one of them. We have electric dish driers that blow hot air at the dishes. Here, your dishes will mold before they dry without one so they are standard in every home.
@@joonanyman1738same in Italy, they are the norm. Never experienced any of those issues, except perhaps for the dripping tray scenario - I agree that if you don't empty often enough it can be tricky to do without spilling
I am from the USA. the easiest way to dry the dishes is in the dishwasher and the most convenient place to store them is in the middle drawer next to or across from the dishwasher.
Yes to the lower cabinet drawers! 100% agree. I still rent but my sister did exactly that when she bought her home and it's soooooo much more practical!
If I thought it worth it to renovate my kitchen, I’d do this in a heartbeat. I simply hate lower cabinets. At least in one, I’ve put storage bins and can pull them out and look inside. In another, I divided it into three instead of the two shelves with easy access to pots at the top, a pull out interior drawer for all of the plastic storage, and a pull out box on the bottom that’s my junk drawer (I can pull it out and put it on top of the counter or into the room where various supplies might be needed in the moment). I really need to put in the slide out drawers in the last cabinet.
It's always worth it to renovate your kitchen. It adds value to your property. People pay so much more for a house with modern kitchens. And even if you never intended to sell it adds equity to the home allowing you more borrowing power.
@@IExpectedBSJustNotThisMuchBS You can retrofit with pullout shelves - either the metal ones he showed or made-to-measure from Lowes or Home Depot. Not expensive and the usability is worth it.
My Mother had a porcelain enamel sink/drain board attached to a painted steel base, typical of kitchens up to the 1950’s. My daughter-in-law really liked it. When we were going through Mom&Dad’s house after their passing, we paid a plumber to disconnect the plumbing and install the replacement base cabinet/countertop/sink. Son&DIL cleaned and repainted the base a light Royal blue, and installed the unit into their house. It looks so good there.
That sounds beautiful! I thought about a drainboard sink myself, but for an English style farmhouse sink instead. Drainboard sinks are called farmhouse sinks by some. Kitchens are work spaces and I see nothing wrong if they look like work spaces.
I would love one. No dishwasher. Hate the plastic drain boards that shift around and those drain pads are soaked in no time. I cook everything from scratch, including things like mayo, crackers, etc. Food allergies. A great big built in drainboard would be lovely.
Rough surface stone in kitchen as backslash is the most bizarre thing, have seen many of renovation shows. It looks nice, but ideal for kitchen where no cooking is done.
I don't like that either. I notice a lot or gas station bathrooms use that as there flooring. It is impossible to get clean. When you walk in it looks like somebody dragged something or somebody arcoss the floor.
@@Person-mh6xq Backslash is what happens to your hands every time you have to clean the rough stone tile unless, of course, you never use your kitchen.
I have seen few kitchen designs which work of if people never cooked in them. Epoxy coating to mimic soapstone. That epoxy would probably melt if a hot pot is placed on it.
Drawers! My number one favorite kitchen hack. I lived in a house about 40 years ago where the previous owner had remodeled her kitchen this way. It made the house hard to sell because it was "strange" to most people but I loved it even tho I was still young and agile. Now that I'm old and less agile, I live with standard cupboards and it's miserable although she did put in a couple of drawers and one cupboard has roll out basket drawers concealed inside. Also, being short, I detest upper cabinets. I can usually only reach the first shelf without a step stool.
Range hoods actually function differently than vent hoods! The bulkier vent hoods that take up precious storage space are actually extracting the smelly/greasy cooking air and expelling it outside. Range hoods are redistributing that smelly gross cooking air in your kitchen. As vent hoods are more costly, there might be some fake range hoods masquerading as vent hoods! But if a client has the funds, I would strongly recommend a proper vent hood!!
Why would you ever use plastic bags in your compost bin except as a second liner? You cannot throw those into municipal composting, and you certainly can’t throw them into home composting
Plastic, no! ❌. Biodegradable no!. ❌ .... Compostible Yes. ✅ 👏👏 Where I live in Australia my , Council provides us with a free little bin and free compostible bags.
@@designunlimited6215: when my borough introduced food waste collection, it provided 10 biodegradable bags for free and then nothing. I stopped buying my own when I discovered that the council will accept waste wrapped in newspaper.
The apartment I recently moved in (in Stockholm), has an organic bin in a cabinet under the sink. Whoever designed this apartment building had the great idea of putting the dishwasher next to it. So whenever I wash dishes, the organic bin is getting really warm and "sweaty"...
Bins in cabinet, very often under the sink are common in many European countries. Honestly when I was watching part about bins, especially organic bins left outside in plain sight... Like what? Why? Super gross...
We redid our kitchen last year and ticked off every bit of advice you gave in this video. I adore not having bins on display, our heavy duty lower drawers, the luxury vinyl floors, the hidden hood, the stone top dining table and the gorgeous sheer curtains that make the room airy and soft. I think my favourite part is the big but hidden bins.
I had to translate "sheer curtains" to make sure I understood it correctly even though I speak english fluently. I now FINALLY understand why american/whatever else english speaking countries' homes look so empty and cold, I didn't even knew the word bc it's so rare that it's an interior tip lmaoooo
@@RomanticPopPunk of you empty them regularly their no smell .justhe same as a stand alone bin.having smaller bins also forces regular emptying of bins .
This channel helped me design a small but very functional kitchen that can fit 3 people working at the same time. I am forever grateful for the principles, tips and ideas shared by Daniel. 6 months living in this new space, I don't see anything that could have been done better and it is all thanks to this channel! Keep up the great work!
While I do agree that the trash can is not really a pleasant thing to look at, putting them in a drawer doesn't really go well with my flow when preparing food. I really need them to be easily accessible all the time with hand wet and full of trash 😂
I had the same issue, but fixed it by just adding a cheap clear IKEA food storage container on the countertop with a biodegradable bag in it while I cook. Once we are done with prep work for the meal, it goes into the proper trash bin, the serface is free and the cupboard doors are clean.
I live in a house built in 1910; it has large cast iron radiators. You're right about them taking up space but, after living with it for the past 11 years, I will always prefer radiator heated homes.
@@biankabbbb Yes, they are! We had them in our old Craftsman house built over 100 years ago and frankly I thought they were lovely! I remember my 6th grade teacher sitting on the radiators in the classroom. It's a good way to warm up!
Radiant heat is much better than forced air. After living for 40 years with radiators I recently moved to a part of the country where forced air is the standard. Now I long for those radiators every time the heat kicks in and I get a blast of heated (or cooled) air in my face. I recently remodeled my bathroom and had a heated floor installed. No one puts radiators in new construction but if I had the funds I’d retrofit my whole house with heated floors. Radiant heat rules.
I recommend a fridge or freezer bin for organics. It greatly slows (fridge) or completely stops (freezer) any decomposition. I love my freezer bin. organic waste tends to ‘shrivel up’ as it freezes and so falls neatly out when I’m dumping the contents into the main bin before emptying that.
It's common in hot climates to have a small bin in the freezer to stash the "organics" because a bin with week-old chicken that's been at 100F is going to stink up the whole neighborhood.
@@hundredfireify If it's frozen, what is the added hygiene needed? Just put the chicken skins or fish waste in there to freeze until the next trash pickup day.
Never thought people would keep rubbish at home for a week, summer or not. I was under the assumption that people can dispose of rubbish on a daily basis if you live in a populated area
@@Xiroi87: you can put out rubbish everyday, but it will still stink while waiting for the bin men. Freezing food waste until the day of collection is something that I learnt when relatives from Canada visited me here in the UK.
I think drainboards are highly functional and underrated. Sure, they might not be the best looking of kit but they are truly a good solution for drying out dishes
Also easy sanitation after preparing large roasts like a turkey. Excellent for washing/draining/prepping fruits and vegetables. Better than spreading out terricloth towels when washing large pots, baking- and roasting-pans. Very convenient when watering small potted herbs and plants that need time to drain (e.g., orchids).
It depends on how much of what kind of cooking you do the most. I freed a lot of counter space when I got rid of a microwave and toaster that I almost never used. I miss having a drain board, but I put in a large sink with modular grates, bowl, colander and cutting board. The grates make it possible to clean and dress a turkey without raw juice running all over the counter and onto the floor. The components can go into the dishwasher and the cutting board adds countertop space when needed. I do a lot of hand-laundry at the kitchen sink, and the grates are useful for dripping and hand- wringing. The modular components move around a little, so I feel I am trading the stability of a sturdy drain board for the aesthetics of a modular system. The modular components are less useful for drying large pans; I still spread towels on the counter for thorough drying. Some things coming out of the dishwasher need to finish drying on the counter before putting them into a cabinet or drawer. Things like muffin tins and wooden spoons or knife handles can sneak unwanted humidity into closed spaces if not thoroughly dry before being put away. Sometimes I can leave the dishwasher door open with the racks pulled out for thorough drying. During the day it's a tradeoff between losing counter space or losing floor space in front of the dishwasher. When the kitchen is not in use and everything is put away, no drain board definitely looks better. But in my house, the kitchen is usually in use.
As to extractor vent hoods, while yes, having them built in is a lovely aesthetic choice, I would only recommend having one the same size of the cabinets _if you don't actually cook._ For an extractor hood to do its job properly, it should extend to cover the same area as the range. You can still add shelving inside the area taken up by the vent of the extractor in a cabinet surround built for it. Turn on the extractor just prior to cooking and it will help to minimize cleanup by removing aerosolized oil and food particles from the air.
Totally agree with you 💯. I live in Northern Portugal and traditional homes are made of granite slabs or of slate, but that's because it's the materials that are readily available in the region. And usually the whole house is made out of the same material. Not fake cladding. I remodelled our kitchen 2 years ago and we installed a concealed extractor hood, we bought the largest and most powerful version on the market to insure proper ventilation, but I think that people forget that opening a window will really help with getting rid of cooking smells and moisture 😊. And besides if you don't want to smell your own cooking maybe you should improve your cooking skills 😂😂😂😂😂😂.
If you live somewhere with very cold winters or where air conditioning is an absolute summer necessity, opening a window can really screw up your home's internal temperature and humidity. Active ventilation (ideally with heat exchangers) is much better under those circumstances. Note: traditional housing is often adapted to the climate the house is being constructed in. Modern American house construction really doesn't take climate into account which is how you end up needing AC in places that did fine without it before it was invented. And that's even without climate change.
I replaced the glass top with a clear acrylic insert. It kept the same look but increased safety. I also didn't have to replace the coffee table itself. I like natural wood also, which framed and supported the clear top. Sometimes there are alternatives.
I agree with everything except Drainboards…I think I am getting one of those with a minimalistic drainboard. I am currently having a simple sink and using those textile mats to dry my handwashed dishes. However, I find it not as practical because if I have a lot of handwashing to do (I don’t have a dishwasher yet), those mats barely get dry ever and I feel that they might be a hygene hazard if you don’t change them often and wash them properly. The mats also get cluttered… I’d rather have a surface that is getting dry easily and I can sanitize easily with a substance without worrying about potential bacteria. Anyway…this is debatable… but so far, I’ve prefered the drainboards whenever I had one in an Airbnb or at someone else’s house. I also don’t like the drying racks in closet because I don’t like the idea of enclosed humidity and I also think they are harder to clean.
In case it's helpful: those "matte black quartz composite" ones are not hard to clean and look amazing and sleek. I love mine and I usually wipe it down with a swedish dishcloth when there's water on it - never left a mark. I do put a kitchentowel underneath the drying dish though so it sucks up somenof the dripping water.
@@nikolamladenoff3516 what is wrong with y’all’s water that so many of you have calcium build up? Maybe get an under the sink filter? Even my tap water unfiltered never leaves stains.
The acoustic dampening, thermal and light regulating properties of curtains can't be beaten. I've gradually been upgrading my window treatments with fully lined and weighted curtains, and the whole house feels quieter and less echoey. I also endorse updating the hardware for power outlets, light switches and door furniture - it is not cheap - but what a difference they have made to the feel of solidity and durability of the entire house.
Glass tables are also so loud! Anything hitting them even lightly, like putting down your glass or cutlery, makes far more noise than on a regular table. I have a relative who always hosts a big Christmas get-together around their’s and I always have to escape part way through the meal because I can’t take how loud that room gets with the sound bouncing off the walls and that hard glass table 😣
This Christmas, give her a beautiful table cloth as a present. That will dampen the sound considerably and at the end of dinner, she can uncover a clean table.
I am in Canada. We have the metal compost on the counter. The other bins are in the hallway. Only space for them. We are in a small, easy to heat retirement home.
Good list. I especially like the notes about the stone cladding... that is a pet peeve of mine: the floating stone or brick! I try to be sure clients don't fall prey to contractors doing this even when the design clearly shows the material going to grade. And for the record, I refuse to use compost bins in the house! They either have to go in the garage, or the material goes directly into the laneway bin. Underfloor heating is still somewhat prohibitively expensive for the average homeowner, but it certainly has advantages. In hotter climates, the need for air-conditioning can subvert the tidiness of the system, as it still requires ducting and a central system for generating the cooling, thus the use of conventional forced air tends to be the default. Over-the-range microwaves are sleek, but from a practical point, they tend to be higher maintenance due to the proximity to steam and grease build-up, plus they often do not have adequate exhaust to keep up with the demands of the cooktop. I cook a lot and I have had one for many years, in several houses, and I am still not sold on them. I totally agree on having large drawers rather than lower cupboards! Even pull out shelves can be cumbersome, with the swinging door always being an issue. If you get a say in your hardware, be sure to get the best you can afford and get full-extension, soft-close glides. You can thank me later!
We put organic waste in a recyclable bag in the freezer compartment of the fridge. A big plus is no smell. A full bag, or newsprint 'boat', is frozen solid so walking it outside to the big green bin or the compost pile is done without leaking stinky stuff onto hands or floor.
Having built in cooker hood in the cupboard above just means that you end up with all that sticky oil etc. on the doors and under the other cupboards. I think having a separate cooker hood makes sense just for this reason alone.
Yes, agree, and they have slimmer versions that are only 5 inches, I have one with a mid power fan motor. Not the quietest thing, but sure pulls all the odor and grease outside.
It's really difficult to find a drain board sink in Canada. It is easy to find stone veneer cladding. Those Finnish drainage cabinets are amazing if you have a wall but don't have a window above the sink. Underfloor heating makes your feet feel warm but don't make the space warm. Floor coverings reduce their efficacy. I need my body to be warm, my fingers to not be stuff with cold.
Oh my god I love how you called out the quartz matte black drainboard sink. My flat in Germany has one and it's the bane of my existence. As in, I've literally considered finding a new flat and cancelling my rental contract because I hate it so much. Having said that, how does a cupboard drainage rack improve of things? Doesn't that just give you a damp, dark environment for mould to breed?
how could it be damp when there is so much ventilation with a whole bottom open? also most of water drops down instead of evaporating. i have it and ofc theres no mold on the cabinet, but it annoys me when i have hands in the sink (like to open the tap) and water drops on them from above. i assume most of ppl wouldnt mind it as much as i do so overall its a practical solution for small space.
I have the garbage under the sink, very common here in Sweden, however, I heard that some have it in a drawer not under the sink, which is much more ergonomic, as you usually use the trash in when using the sink for dishes etc. I want that in the future!
I think Daniel doesn't do much cooking 😄 Being a cook and also artist, fan of architecture, this is a pet peeve of mine with designers and architects. They somehow think a home kitchen is just another room to decorate. It's not. It's a workroom, a studio if you like. It can be attractive but first and foremost it HAS to be functional. Really, the best thing on the list is the drawer bases for the cabinets instead of cupboards, and the bins.
@@tinalettieri listened to his list. Ah doesnt cook, does not have children, and maybe doesn't live with a significant other. All of that taken from his bin and vent hood.
Agree that he prob does v little cooking or cleaning himself ! I have architects in my family and they repeatedly fail to address the importance of both ‘form & function’ when it comes to efficient bathroom and kitchen designs.
Engineered flooring with thin wood veneer is my most hated home product because the veneers are too thin to repair and they are often improperly installed so they click when you walk on them and slide around leaving little gaps. If you look at the manufacturers' warranties, these floors are not warranted for sanding and refinishing whereas solid wood floors are. Also, pet spills or other liquids that seep between the cracks cannot be removed without removing the flooring. Water leaks can also cause unrepairable warp damage. The cost of replacing sections regularly outweighs the cost of investing in solid wood flooring in the first place.
Many people don't have the money for solid wood flooring but as with everything, you get what you pay for, so don't choose the cheapest. All the laminate flooring I have put into my houses over the last 15 years have lasted well because they were properly laid and maintained.
@@davinasquirrel7672 A good quality vinyl engineered floor, installed well, with no animal accidents could last 20 plus years. In a condo or apartment, the advantage of an acoustical layer. Solid wood may last 75 years including two standings/refinishing, but no acoustical layer.
Drawers in the kitchen are a wonderful thing. When I redid my kitchen, a friend of mine suggested it. It was a great idea and I very much I'm glad I did it.
I’m with you generally; however, I’m not so precious that seeing my compost container will bother me. Many of us in the UK live in older homes where space is limited. My non-recyclables and recyclables under the sink (single sink and no room for a double unless I renovate the kitchen). Glass is a separate collection and has it’s own bin on the bottom shelf of a cabinet. Yep, that compost container is going to sit on the counter. One thing one can do is find the most attractive one that goes with the kitchen and practice not looking at it. In my last home I had a double sink and the dish rack was in the 2nd sink. If I renovated, the drainboard would be gone in a second. I loved having a double sink.
I have a kitchen island with an induction stove (ceramic plate). I have no extraction hood but a lowered ceiling with a ceiling extractor. The lowered ceiling has the same measurements as the kitchen island, just like in the photo at 11:58. It is a very nice solution instead of an ugly hood. Also my kitchen has only handleless heavy duty drawers of 1200mm width, so so handy and neat. On the whole ground floor of my house I have under floor heating with ceramic parquet from Porcelanosa Smart Starwood. It looks like a hardwood floor or parquet floor, but they are tiles. You’ll have to knock on the floor to know it isn’t wood. I really like it. So easy to clean and efficient in radiating and transmitting heat of the under floor heating. For the vertical blinds I have another solution we call in my country top-down bottom-up plisse (pleated?) blinds, they are a fantastic invention. Don’t know the English or American name for them or even if they’re sold over there. You have the ones which only filter the light (I use on the north side of my house) or the variant which blocks all the light and sun (I use on the south side of my house). You can blind the whole window, only the bottom part, the top part or just a stripe in the middle, it is an ideal solution in my opinion.
On door handles: value involves more than initial price. We used Schlage door hardware, which was pricier than many, but high quality, and a virtual lifetime guarantee (not precisely spelled out, but you know). We were there decades, got hit by major hurricane, and door hardware deteriorated big and fast, though not immediately. I contacted Schlage, and “lifetime guarantee” was indeed a big stretch, but they replaced every single piece. No argument, no charge. Saved us thousands, I’m sure, which meant a lot with all other repair costs. That higher initial price was absolutely worth it, and I will praise this company forever. Not many businesses operate like that any more.
I agree with (almost) everything, your videos are always so refreshing. About the drainboards though.. I moved out less than three months ago and finally got to use one. I'll never ever go back! At my parents house I had that rack over the sink and it was fine, but my current kitchen (a thrifted Quadrante by Ferruccio Laviani - Dada) didn't allow me to have a decent sized one, due to the cooker hood. Going from a squared super cool sink with no drainboard to a super normal one with rounded angles and a drainboard made my life easier. That being said, I have a dishwasher too and I only wash non stick pans in the sick. For me, this time, functionality wins!
Same, I love drainboards. I have a black one and I really don't have to clean it that often. I have a dishwasher but since I am single mainly handwash so I really need a place where to put plates and other stuff. Also I use this place to cut vegetables with a wood piece, so it can have multille uses.
I really appreciate that besides listing the things that are unfavorable, you offer solutions to replace the idea with the same or better fuctionality. Thank you!
With drainage boards inside a cabinet you can easily get mold to form (in time) on the drain board/drip tray if you consistently close the cabinet before things are dry…the board is likely to stay damp, regardless of its material and in a closed, dark cabinet without air circulating you eventually can see mold form. If you clean and dry the drain board/drip tray regularly, it may not ever happen. But from my experience (renting places while on vacation, for example) I’d avoid that approach like the plague. Drain mats are probably the best option offered here.
The integrated dish drying rack over the sink has been standard practice in Finland for ages - the whole cupboard above the sink is dedicated to this (although becoming less used as dishwasher use increases). It’s amazing,especially for a busy, high-volume kitchen. You can pile away a huge amount of dishes, including pots etc, close the doors and all your things drip dry straight into the sink and out of view. Empty sink and counter, no clutter, no water outside of the sink, and you can even hang your brush or cloth to drip dry over the sink as well. Plus if you don’t have the time/energy/desire later to nicely stack and sort all your dry dishes into different cupboards, just leave them where they are in drying cupboard until you need them. Drying AND storage, and all hidden from view! It was one of many common-sense design features that floored my dad when he first visited Finland in the 80s, and 40 years later the UK is still plodding on with our same old sink-and-draining board conundrum, wondering how to make the heavily-used sink area neat and tidy and clutter-free…🤦♀️
Those over the sink draining racks are quite normal in Italy and i would say that they have them in nearly every home. I just bought a new place and need to add some cabinets and was thinking of doing this
Re: underfloor heating: yes, it is brilliant. We have it in all our bathrooms (you really appreciate it on cold Canadian winter mornings). But - it is expensive to purchase the components. It requires a competent, experienced, ie expensive installer who is certified to do the job. If it ever requires repairs / replacement, up comes the floor which is not only time consuming, messy and a hassle but again - expensive. So definitely consider it, check what type of flooring you lay above (in a bathroom you really don’t have a lot of options…) and if you can, go for it. We’ve had radiant floor heat in the bathrooms for 8 years now and it has been worthwhile, but we decided against installing it throughout the entire house.
Your videos have really helped me to think about multi-function and well designed furniture to save space and reduce waste. Also Bellroy are great, been using their slim wallet for years since they started
Watched bc I saw the table on the thumbnail my niece wants 😂 Some of these suggestions are for ppl who are building their homes. Such pricey stuff too, like the heated floors. Thought suggestions would be somewhat affordable. I have the same light switches and I never thought to change them bc of how they look. They do what they’re meant to do, turn lights on and off. I would love the draining sink tho. I find putting something on the counter for the dishes to go on looks cluttered. Having a nice drying dish rack would look better.
I love my glass table and clear acrylic chairs that I bought at IKEA a dozen years ago. Before Covid we basically only used it for eating. We wipe it down at night. I love it because we don’t have a dining room, but a small dining area. Being able to see through my table and chairs makes our living area less claustrophobic. And no one has ever hurt themselves with it nor has it ever come close to breaking (and yes I have children). Glass cocktail tables are also great for small spaces. If we’re going to complain about having to clean it, then you should throw out your bathroom mirrors and glass enclosed showers. They also get dirty every time we use them. Interior designers are not infalible.
i LOVED mine (i had 2 in the house) never had issues with anyone getting hurt, i raised 2 kids around them, and super easy to clean. they were not "always dirty" and my kitchen nook would haven been waaaaay to cramped feeling with a wood table
Thank you Daniel! In the home I bought I removed the blinds, and hung drapes and sheers, I removed the carpet and installed lock/click luxury vinyl wood look flooring, took out the cheap kitchen cabinets and had IKEA install cabinets, the bottom are drawers with 2 pull out lazy susan near the sink, and a sink without a drainboard...did not know I was a design genius! Now to work on a hidden trash can (bin).... Thank you!
I installed a drainage rack above the sink. The problem I get is that whenever I put the plates, water drips along my arm sometimes reaching even my armpits ;)) I would still opt for this solution though. But I would probably find a place somewhere lower :)
Cuff your dishwashing gloves. The cuff stops the drips from running down your arm. If you wont wear gloves, wear a stretchy cuff of terry cloth around your forearms, such as athletes sometimes wear. I learned this as a pro cleaner
If you thought that was the smallest kitchen you've ever lived with, I've got to tell you that i know a shoebox in london my friend lived in for *years* - including a 3 month lockdown during the pandemic, and that kitchen was a dual hotplate over a microwave beside a sink in her bedroom/study/living area. She paid the same rent for this shoebox that my flatmates and i paid for a 2 bedroom apartment in inner-west Sydney (Australia)... and we had our own bathroom & laundry area inside the apartment, as well as an actual kitchen, and a separate dining and living space.
I agree with all of your recommendations but one. The over the cook top microwave is an awful design for people who really cook. You are obstructing the view of your cooking surface; The microwave will get super-hot from the heat below and they NEVER have the level of power to pull away the smoke and fumes in the combined fans to work for a kitchen where you actually cook. A very impractical design option. Maybe for folk who microwave their food more than cook.
The mudroom in my house is across the hall from the kitchen, so we keep the waste bin there. it started because we had a kitty who loved to be a dumpster diver, and even after we upgraded the bin to have a better lid, we liked the location. Recycling goes in a larger bin near the back door, where it can be emptied frequently into a much larger mixed use recycling bin that has a weekly pick up.
Yes, yes, yes to everything you've named! I've lived all my life in NA (now live in Victoria bc). North Americans (particularly Americans) engage in what we called in art school, "arbitrary change of design". Exterior siding changes that make no sense, massive range vents that visually dominate a kitchen, unsightly compost bins left out to be "sightly" and so on. We could really step up our game here!
My pet peeves are open shelves in the kitchen that end up being a place to display attractive ceramic pots, but nothing else. These open shelves reduce the valuable amount of storage space in the kitchen. Other pet peeves include vessel sinks in bathrooms, toilets that are impracticably low, shiplap, accent walls, barn doors, chalk board walls, hanging pots, Tuscan-style kitchen cabinetry and silk flower arrangements.
I have watched hundreds of NA makeover shows (until recently) and I am continually amazed at the lack of drawers in the kitchen - all bottom units are cupboards with maybe a drawer at the top. Here in little ol' NZ we have been putting drawers from small to large for many years now.
We had an inset sink under an oak worktop. Never ever again. Every rubber draining board made the wood rot, go black, water always splashed around. We now have white porcelain over a white worktop. So much cleaner 😊
Agreed with the drainage board. We just use a regular old kitchen towel to leave dishes to dry. Used a drying mat for my first apartment and my cat got up on the counter and peed on it 😂 Don't know why he doesn't on the kitchen towel
well...i raised two children with 2 glass tables in my house. (one was rectangular and necessary in the tiny nook of windows and the other a small oval coffee table) yes, the corners had bumpers when they were toddlers but other than that absolutely no issues with banging against them, injuries or that "alway being dirty" you talked about. i didn't have scratches as easily as wood and a quick spritz with Windex and the dust was gone. i LOVED mine and miss them since they didn't make the move with me...but i gave my nook table to a friend and she loves it. curious you feel this way.
We thought the over-the-range microwave was a good idea, but now that we've had two supposedly pretty high-end ones fail far too soon, we've decided they're not such a good idea after all.
Was here to comment that have heard they are not that efficient and underperform compared to a dedicated extractor glad to find a comment with first hand experience
Yeah, and the exhaust fan on the bottom of a microwave will never perform as well as a proper hood, whether it's inside or outside of the cabinet. Remember when they told us that microwaves posed zero danger? Now the experts are recommending that you never stand in front of one while it's running, especially at face-level, because it can raise brain temperature and may even damage your brain.......and over-the-stove microwaves are right at face level.
@@JamieM470 well depending on how tall you are 🤣 mine is definitely not at face level, maybe forehead level. Sadly mine has died the last week so I have been crafting a plan to move it to the closet and replace with a proper vent fan vs another OTR range. Stinks to have to replace but also good timing to reevaluate design
I have never had a microwave hood fail. I won’t buy the ‘supposedly high end’ appliances. All my friends that have it seems like they are always breaking and expensive and difficult to repair.
@@Dbb27 do you have just a basic range microwave? I have the same, but I think it’s been in the house since it was built. Likely 13 years old and just part of the deal with buying a home. It isn’t anything fancy but looks like the original? I agree with you, no high end stuff lasts any longer than the cheaper options from my experience. Appliances aren’t made to last like they were in the 80s and 90s
I designed the remodel of our kitchen here in the U.S. about 15 years ago, and I specified as many drawers below the counters as I could. The kitchen is tiny, and I wanted no upper cabinets,as I believe they’re just not efficient. The drawers though! 😍 I can see into all of them, all at once if I want. Nothing is ever lost in them. They’re lined with white melamine, which helps see into them. 👍 I have enough storage space in the kitchen. P.S. I also specified the garbage can in front, and the recycling bin in back, of another below-the-counter (and tall) drawer. It’s perfectly hidden, and perfectly accessible. A bonus is that I can just wipe the prep counter and let the crumbs fall into the bin! 😄
Daniel, thank you! Looks like I found my next bag :) I was just looking for one, as old one is worn out. I absolutely agree with the point on switches and handles. I moved in this year to new building and I just hate these switches - they are square and look so rigid. And handles are silver and one can see fingerprints on it, which is just doesn't make any sense for a handle.
I have used over the stove microwaves at least 20 years. I"ve never had one fall or even become loose, and nobody has ever walked into an open door. Mine have always vented to the outside so I've found them to be an adequate replacement for a vent. Mounting the unit frees up so much counter space, and it's actually safer too, because little hands cannot reach up to play with it. If you follow the directions, the microwave will likely be installed more securely than your other cabinets. The best kept secret with kitchen cabinets is that you can add pull-out drawers into the area UNDER your base cabinet (where the kick plate is). I added two for storing large items like trays, cookie sheets and my electric griddle. The drawers are recessed, so they are in line with the rest of the kick plate. It is a perfect use of what is normally a dead space.
Agree with everything except the dislike of fitted carpets. Here in northern UK in a 300 year old house full carpets are often the most practical and comfortable floor covering. They are warm, soft and quiet underfoot and help to keep draughts down, especially when a really good underlay is also used. In my opinion rugs, of any size, are quite simply trip hazards.
"Cooker hoods" are used in high-end kitchens simply because the kitchen is larger. If you have a cabinet over it, it looks low-end. Even better is a wooden range hood cabinet - but they don't have much space to store anything because the vent is HUGE. Radiant heat in the floor is still expensive here in the States. And you cannot use them with real hardwood floors.
I'm in a furnished rental, and I HATE the glass tables. Dust shows in a day, and smudges galore. I'd rather have something with storage, so I don't need something dedicated to hiding things AND side and coffee tables!
You are SO correct regarding lower cabinets being awkward. We have 3 large lower drawers, which we use constantly. We will gradually retrofit the other lower cabinets with pull-out hardware. We also have a Lomi composter, which we use daily to turn our nasty organic waste into compost. No smell. Expensive, but convenient. We also have a metal dish rack over a washable pad. Works well and launders to keep clean. Subscribed to your channel.
This video is absolutely great. I loved all the explanations and I added these tips to my plan for future flat refurbishment. Please do more videos like these. ❤
I totally agree with you. In my country, we always keep the bin under the sink. Recently, I renewed my house, and this is exactly what I did. I eliminated (hid) everything that bothered my eyes. Thank you for this video. 😊
As an American that just did a major addition and renovation to my 100yr old home I agree 👍 with just about everything you listed. But also add to it hate the open shelf concept in the kitchen that replaces all or some of the closed upper cabinets with open shelves. Started out as a "Farmhouse esthetic" but then included a Modern Minimalist version for modern design lovers. Some also go all out to create that "Commercial kitchen or professional chef" look with stainless steel and all of your kitchen tools and equipment out on open shelves, hanging on racks & walls, all on open display. Unless you use evey single item hanging up or stacked on those shelves every single day (like a busy restaurant would!) so that everything gets washed every day, ALL areas and items attract cooking vapors and steam leaving oily residue on everything. The open shelves where they stack the dish, glass and decorative wares will need to be washed down every week, item by item to get the oily film off. I compromised by glass-fronting my upper cabinets in the work triangle over working countertop so all that the dish and glassware are visible for easy access but behind a door. Thats only 4 glass doors that get a quick window cleaning and wipe down when I do the stainless steel polishing. All of my other storage & lower cabinets are solid doors. All lower cabinets have pull out extention drawers. I have a walk in butlers pantry for food & small appliance storage with the main counter built at waist height specifically for my heavy Kitchenaid stand mixer. I can slide it out, throw in the attachments I'll be using, carry it to the kitchen island and I'm good to go. Returing it to store is such a game changer. No lifting or bending such a heavy item. Have to disagree on the floor heating. Once lived in an apartment that had floor heating. It had a problem & it was old. No one knew the system well. Maintenence would have to tear out the flooring to investigate, repair or replace it. They opted to put in baseboard heating instead.
Compost bin on the work surface are muuch more practical if you do a lot of cooking! Just change it regularly, get one with a charcoal filter and that is good looking.
yes the light switches! the coolest thing in my house is having fun light switches. it adds mood, whimsy, texture, and recalling where on the wall the switch is in the dark.
Can't believe you didn't mention cooktop extractor systems as an alternative to cooker hoods. An example would be the BORA system, they're quite the hype in The Netherlands rn
He actually does mention integrated extractors as a far better option at the end of that segment. Or did you mean the fancy and very expensive downdraft extractors? Nice, but those particular Bora models look very expensive here in Australia and might be harder to retrofit. I redesigned my kitchen 10 years ago and chose an integrated, slimline, slide out extractor hood and it's awesome. Hardly see it. As for microwaves over the ra😮nge top, what an incredibly dumb idea is that. 🙈
@@designunlimited6215 no the Bora is exactly what he meant. i have a integrated slide out extractor as well. and it's terrible for cupboard space. got these pissy little cupboards doing little more than hiding the extractor. The downdraft extractors are a far better option from what I can see.
@@kenichi1132 ... Re the slide out, that's the point, I think. It's not to create cupboard space but to hide the alternative, i.e. large open hood which due to its shape attracts a greasy film that is is so horrible to clean. Cleaning a vertical panel or door is a breeze by comparison. It doesn't seem to attract grease at all. And even the small amount of storage it provides is better than none. I store egg cups, my spice grinder, candle sticks and some bud vases in mine. Downdraft extractors sound good if you have the bench space. Bear in mind that they are not necessarily vented unless you have an exterior wall conveniently behind the range. Retrofitting would be difficult in most homes as it requires about 300mm (12") of bench space behind the cook top! Would be impossible in an apartment I'm thinking. Not even allowed, I guess, due to strata title laws (Aus) or body corporate I think you call it in North America? In UK maybe 'leasehold'? Daniel would know the term as he lived in London. I grew up there but then travelled overseas. I've also heard that downdraft extractors are not as effective as overhead ventilators especially if you use large (high) steamer or pots. By the way, Daniel, thank you for your videos. I subscribed 'yonks' ago, and love your space saving and space improving using affordable flatpacks etc So helpful. Well done ♥️🙏👏👏👏
@@kenichi1132 btw, Bora make both downdraft extractor and the overhead extractor. Daniel mentions the overhead type. Bora is just a brand, not a "type". My overhead integrated, ventilated extractor slide out is by Miele. The overhead filters are easily removable and pop in the dishwasher for cleaning.
I really want a kitchen with a drainage board! Both of my kitchens so far didn’t have one so when doing the dishes water spills everywhere, in my first flat it took a year to damage the countertop. A drainage board would have prevented that. I also like that it’s a designated area in the kitchen like the spot for cutting ingredients and so on. Btw I have the exact mat you showed, it gets soaked through pretty fast so I have to hang it to dry after every use. That in my opinion isn’t less work than wiping down my sink and drainage board with a cleaner after use.
Right on each item! Though I'd add 2 other options: First, instead of an vent or extractor in the cupboard over the cook top you can install down draft extractors that are either part of your cook top or that pop up during use and retract when not in use. They're sleeker, take up less space, and (if it's a reliable brand) are closer to the cooking source and necessarily vent better. Second, living in a cold climate (Alaska) I agree that radiators aren't great. But in-floor heating has serious issues too. First, it's the most expensive option for heating a home. But worse, it's incredibly slow to respond. It takes hours to get a room to temperature if you turn off the heat during the night. We've had both base board heating and in-floor heating and while my feet love the heat underneath we're not going that route in our new home. Instead, forced air is proving to be the best option, especially in a 1 or 2 story home where the air ducts can be incorporated easily. It's also nice because with forced air you can have humidifiers incorporated with your heating units to make the warm, dry winter air more humid.
I disagree with the cooker hood points. We brought an apartment recently, which had a very ugly built-in extractor hood, with a cabinet that was practically unusable (maybe we could fill it if we had 140 small containers for spices, but the top shelves would have been impossible to reach). So we took out the entire cabinet and the ugly built-in, and got a new, elegant and slim, non built-in version. The space looks so much better now! Instead of having a full wall of cabinets of the same "birch" color, there's now a pop of black metal and white wall in the middle, which allows the kitchen to "breathe". We also incorporated some other black elements in other points of the kitchen: handles, shelves, lights and a kitchen island. We lost an unfunctional storage, but gained a lot visually.
Plus, if you really use your stove you suppose to know that regular, large hood surves its main purpose much better than built-in-cabinet one, 50% smaller then the stove itself..
I have a bucket under my sink as a bin, it stops the bread bag we use as a bin falling over. Next to that is the council standard issue indoor food waste caddy - which gets emptied into the large compost bin every few days. We keep a washing up bowl under the sink too - it helps catch leaks under the sink and is useful on occasion. It currently also has a bread bag in it which we put the soft plastics in to take to the supermarket for recycling. Everything else is recycled too- a box for cardboard and a box for the rest as our area mixes glass, plastic & foil. These both live in the bottom of our boiler cupboard. I never have understood the need for a large bin in the house, we rarely put our curbside bin out more than once a month! Surely a large bin would just end up getting stinky, even if you separate types of rubbish.
In Poland we already install not only floor heating but recently also wall heating instead of conventional wall attached heaters. 😉 It is very practical especially if paired with photovoltaic installation.
@@globalfamily8172 We use woodpanels for floors, these are click system but for floor heating (so called floating floor) - no staples, some people put ceramic terracota tiles.
Under sink bin drawers, integrated dish drying racks and integrated extractor hoods are standards in Finland, where I live. Agreed that they work well! Got to say about storage space above extractor hoods though: holding spices there, as was shown in one of the pictures, is not really a good solution (no matter that it's still common). It seems to make sense as these shelves are shallow and within the arm's reach from where you need spices. However the fumes from the stove cause moisture to get into the spice containers, which can cause the spices to clot up and ultimately to get spoiled prematurely. Nowadays it's usually advised to hold spices in one of the top under counter drawers next to the stove.
If you’re speccing a new house, sure, go for underfloor heating. Retrofitting it to an existing house without it goes to middle five figures at the smallest, which is hard to swallow.
Agreed that they should only be used in new builds. I also don’t think that radiant heat flooring should be installed in an apartment because these systems tends to be difficult to repair if they are damaged and would cause major disruption to the tenant. You also typically can’t/shouldn’t use radiant heated floors under solid hardwood, so you likely sacrifice the the style and investment value of the floor surface for the value of the heating system instead. I like a radiant floor, but in my opinion they should be for very specific applications.
Thank God I saw this video! 😮 I was about to put wall cladding on the facade of my brand new home, and now I feel powerful knowing where I should put them intentionally! 😃 Thanks!
I had been keeping mine under the sink but I pulled it out one day and left it out for some reason. I noticed there is less odor with AErobic decomposition than with the ANArobic decompose that happens in a closed space. Same with the bathroom. We can't flush paper because of old infrastructure so we have to use a bin. I spray it with a nice smelling disinfecting product. For the really gross stuff, I use a disposable glove on that hand, wad the paper up and pull the glove off over the wad then tie it off. That contains the odor and bacteria until I can empty the bin, which I do every day.
We put a new kitchen in about 5 yrs ago and put drawers for all base cabinets. I will never go with regular base cabinets again some are deep enough to hold all my pots and pans and shallow enough for silver ware. Even under the sink is a drawer. No more on hands and knees looking for a lid
Agree wholeheartedly with hiding bins. In the late 90s huge bins were marketed as a sexy addition to the kitchen, with adverts showing yuppy couples eyeing each other seductively across the gleaming brushed steel bin which presumably was full of 100 litres of decaying detritus. The public are easily led, and bought these disgusting items in droves, bizarrely trying to outdo their friends by vying to have the largest receptacle for putrefying rubbish.
Yes on the stone cladding!! I would add to that the partial brick cladding that I see so often. Just do the whole thing in vinyl or whatever the siding is.
My kitchen is for cooking, not for show. I take issue with your disdain for trash cans, cooker hoods, and drainboards. My kitchen has a centrally located trash can in plain view under a stainless steel prep table. The trash can is right up there with ALWAYS having a place for a person to wash their hands at the start of and repeatedly during prep. I have a single handwashing/prep sink and a double cooking/cleaning sink. Both have built in drainboards on either side. They make clean-up much easier and they get wiped down like very countertop. I've had cooker hoods with storage above. It's a crappy place to store anything. Nobody in their right mind wants to reach over a cooktop to get to anything. Cabinets over the cooktop are also bigger grease magnet than hoods. BTW, they're harder to clean. It's also an idiotic place for a microwave. Combination appliances such as a cooker hood/microwave are also a bad idea. When (notice I didn't say if) the microwave fails, the unit is expensive to repair or replace. My microwave is on a shelf at a convenient height. When it fails, I'll unplug it and replace it with another.
Pro-tip for Green Bin Waste-Leave space in your freezer for a paper waste bag.Once your kitchen green bin fills up (it’s typically tiny so it fills up every day), throw the waste into the paper bag you keep in the freezer. This will ensure you don’t have the smell of rotting food in your kitchen. Then take it our when it’s green bin garbage day.
To heating - Grondheating also works better with heatpumps as the entrance temperature is way lower. Other thing is that it is more eficient to heat with an AC, wich is a kind of heatpump. Sits on top of the wall and 1 kW electric energy gives about 3 kW heat .
Growing up, we had an over the range oven that had a built in fan, no hood required. My parents invested in a glass coffee table. They had three kids and were brave with that decision. My mom found my toddler brother riding his bike around on top. Didn't break it though it does have a few scratches that need polishing out by a pro. I never knew that could be done until recently.
Not very much I disagree with here. We upgraded all the hardware and switches in our home as soon as we moved in. Vertical blinds covering windows and closets [!!] were immediately torn out. We think that a drainboard is a necessity, but it is NOT built in, as shown in the video. We can put it out of sight if we have company. In that regard, I think having a sink in a kitchen island is a logistical disaster, but we see it all the time in new homes. When you have company, an open floor plan means all the pots, pans, and dirty dishes are all there for everyone's viewing pleasure. No thanks. Our kitchen is open to the dining room, but not to the 'living/entertainment' areas.
your advice and education is so welcomed.! everything you have mentioned is what i do not like in a home either. Carpet may be the worst. you gave me insight on the trash can because i dislike seeing a trash can out in the kitchen. i had it is a cabinet but it was too small so i am looking for a bigger cabinet. low cabinetry. i hate them. i use a pantry for all my dishes. thank you for this video. i love it
The opposite of what you said about "Organic Bins" works better. Not larger bins to dry out, but Small bins that need to be emptied once a day. This reduces stench of decaying organic waste by not accumulating too much before having to be emptied. Also, Having a separate composting setup, where you can empty the small bin every day is the best solution that works.
Agree totally. Recycle/compost/get it out of the kitchen asap. Keeping it longer creates odors, pollutes air, draws bugs- yuck! Smaller bins encourage frequent emptying, minimizing of kitchen waste, mindfulness in general.
Absolutely. My cousin has a special organic bin, but even with the filter it smells. We just fold newspaper into a cone and stand it up in an old cup. Not pretty, but it gets full and gets thrown out everyday after dinner.
Exactly. I bet this guy doesn’t cook or he heats up frozen food
Agree. We never sleep with organic waste in the kitchen. We always empty it outside before closing the doors for the night (same with the rest of the trash in the housr tbh), of course more trash like paper waste can be accumulated throughout the night, but then we will empty it again the next day and those won't attract pests
I have a little bucket on my counter which gets emptied into a bigger bucket which gets taken to my garden where it feeds the soil.
1 0:22 Glass Tables
2 1:42 Kitchen Bins
3 4:21 Stone Veneer Cladding
4 6:22 Cooker Hoods
5 8:12 Drainboards
6 9:59 Cheap Handles & Switches
7 11:30 Radiators & Baseboard Heaters
8 12:44 Kitchen Cupboards
9 14:19 Carpets (Says Kitchen Cupboards again lol)
10 15:34 Vertical Blinds
God bless your soul
@@Keeicel Why? It's simply a list.
Daniel, maybe consider adding these as chapters to the video?
Thank you. it should have been done by the video creator himself.
Oh my goodness, a microwave above waist or chest height is a daft and unsafe idea. Don’t do it.
in my country we always put our trash bins under the sink. you can go to any apartment in my city and find trash bin in a second - in the kitchen cabinet under the sink.
ganz genau :)
I've a tiny kitchen (UK) and that's where I put mine, they're not even bins, they're ikea kuggis with no lids. I no longer see the need for a large bin (haven't had one for nearly 20 years), just take the bins out either when you go out, or set a day for emptying (i do both). I don't even have to take the kuggis with me if I;m going to the car and need the boot space, i decant the contents into an old bag-for-life and then stick it in the boot once i've emptied it (no bin bags allowed in recycling communal bins), and for general waste everything is rinsed off anyway so no need for a bag there either. We don't have compost bins in the flats - genius move by the council there.
Thank you for commenting on the tacky and obviously fake stone facades here in Canada,
Yeh anytime the bins in the cupboard, its under the sink.
@@owieprone: my kitchens have got progressively smaller with every move, but I still have a lot of things to put in the cabinetry. There is no room for an in-cupboard bin.
Being 82 years old, I appreciate the carpet in my home because of falls. I agree with your other recommendations, though.
He’s forgotten to put the word carpets in the slides- kitchen cupboards feature twice instead, though he talks about carpets! But I agree, carpets have their use. Also on staircases they can be useful to prevent falls.
As someone with a physical disability who falls a lot, I regret taking carpet out of my home... not only does it help with falls but I also find it makes it easier to get back up; more grip for the feet/toes.
@@JacobBanman It also makes getting down on knees to look under a bed or some such much less painful.
@653j521 Yes, that too! I truly do miss carpet in my home
@@singha6❤❤❤❤❤❤
I really appreciate the points you've given as I am a stickler for common sense function and then joined with esthetics. One of your examples, though, I will challenge: The microwave oven placed above the cook top is unervingly senseless. The microwave's venting fan merely circulates the air within the home instead of venting to the outside. It's what lazy builders do to save money and take advantage of what they may believe to be ignorant home buyers not realizing this. We've retrofitted a few kitchens to solve this issue. We got a very strong vent, placed the vent high enough above the cooktop so we don't hit our heads on it, custom built cabinets around the flue for more useable storage, and the cooktop has added venting. We then we got an in-cabinet microwave which looks great and is more functional. I often believe too many builders do not actually cook in their own kitchens to fully understand the actual function that is needed!
I found your take on the over range microwave interesting. I'm currently designing my retirement home. I'm taking meticulous notes on every minor detail. The house will be 764 Sq ft. I want light easy to keep clean and easy function. I'm planning on living in this house when I'm in my 90s. I've never used the exhaust fan. I won't have a lot of counter space. I'm thinking over range will be the most convenient. So in this house it's not about laziness but function and space
It’s not laziness, it’s simply another option that saves counter space, and that’s probably used more frequently than it should be.
Also, OTR microwaves can vent out OR recirculate, you install it according to your needs. Venting out is not always an option for some home situations, so a charcoal filter is the alternate solution.
I was a kitchen designer for 20 years, it is absolutely NOT my favorite thing: it’s too high, it’s combining 2 work stations, and almost being hit in the face when someone opens the door while you’re cooking… don’t do it if you have the space.
Best spot for the microwave is generally near the fridge as most use the microwave for reheating.
@angella7576 my microwave is in an opening in my lower cabinets. I can reach it from a wheelchair.
@@angella7576 Just take into account how often it will be used and what for - if it's usually just the odd leftovers being reheated etc, but the idea of not having a small space in front to put hot dishes onto, especially as you will be older and your mobility etc will be reduced
@14:20 - Carpet: I think a lot of people would dismiss out-of-hand installing an "industrial grade" carpet in their home (the sort made for commercial settings like shops and restaurants), but we did just that and have no regrets. It has a canvas-like surface, which is comfortable enough underfoot (and subjectively "warmer" than most other flooring options). Liquid spills tend to pool on the surface rather than absorbing into the pile. We've had ours for almost twenty years, we chose a neutral colour, and it looks as good now as it did the day it was installed.
I bought a similar type carpet when I was selling my last house, I really liked it and was sorry I had not bought it earlier. I am planning to buy something like it (but better quality) when I finish working on my current house. 👍
oh yea and a lot of the time you can just peel up and stick new carpet squares depending on the type you get. it's the best of both worlds
My 90 year old aunt had the no nap commercial carpet replaced with a plush carpet. Then she hated it because the wheelchair left wheel tracks everywhere she went. She had me rake the carpet several times a day to get rid of the tracks.
Although I agree with your thoughts about range hoods, the performance of the range hood is one of the most important parts. Extraction efficiency has a lot to do with the area of the range hood and trying to cover the range or cooktop completely. The other thing that increases capture efficiency is the depth of the range hood, i.e. making a big bowl or funnel above the range. There are range hoods that fit in an upper cabinet and have a pullout feature that increases the surface area, i.e. the capture efficiency. I have used these in some projects, but they aren't as good at removing pollutants as a true larger range hood. Cooking can be one of the most significant factors for indoor air quality in a home if not dealt with properly.
The power of the fan also helps, I've always seen hoods sold with a specification of how big a space they can clear. Our hood is fairly small, but powerful, it can clear a large amount of space.
We have one that is angled away from the stove at a 45 degree angle, so the front points up quite a bit. This prevents bumping your head into it too.
The microwave over the range is the worst possible arrangement. The fan is never powerful enough and doesn't provide coverage to the front two burners. As far as grease/dust build-up...clean it...every week. You need to do the inside of any "regular" hood and the cabinet doors above it.
Engineer here. You're right. Most domestic hoods don't work very well because they're more about aesthetics than efficacy. Commercial hoods usually work because they're properly designed but they're very big and would look terrible in a domestic kitchen
I agree. I love a beautiful design as much as anyone, but real functionality (and safety) is even more of a priority in a kitchen. Real vented hoods are important to a good, healthy kitchen environment and need to match the range in power and size. Aesthetics are very secondary in this case.
Yea I disagree with the guy entirely about the hoods having had a microwave hood and now having a proper hood with a strong fan makes a huge difference. And. The top of the hood doesn’t actually get dirty. We just have to clean the grates once a week.
Carpets have one massive advantage over hard floors, and that's noise. Not only does a semi decent carpet (& underlay) reduce noise echo in the room, it also massively reduces noise transfer to the room(s) below. Yes, a decent rug atop a hard floor can reduce the sound issue, but with how much of the floor needs to be covered to achieve this, you might as well just fully carpet the bedroom.
Agreed. It's strange how he talks about the acoustic advantages of curtains but then has hard floors throughout which creates an acoustically poor (lots of reflections) environment
This sounds strange. My urban apartment has composite wooden floors over wooden beams, and it's completely silent. The underlying floor structure is over a meter thick and cancels out any noise from below and above (1930s design). Twice a year, when turning city heat on and off causes rapid changes in humidity, floor may buckle and creak for a while, but always returns to flat and quiet state.
Hardwood floors are so easy to clean and vacuum. Also carpets are full of dust mites, and allergens.
@@jmi5969I don't think the underlying floor can be 1m thick !
@@angela2726 It's more like 1.5 meters, in between commercial ground floor and the first (mine) residential floor. Steel girders + wood beams + ash infill. 1930s design built immediately after WW2. I know what's inside because 20 years ago I had to rebuild it after a fire.
Did I mention that the exterior walls are also 1.5 meters thick? well, the load-bearing columns are 1.5x1.5 meters, the infill wall between them probably 80 cm.
I agree with all buy one: draining rack in your upper cabinet is a really BAD idea. I will show you my experience, that led me to uninstall the expensive item with pleasure. First of all, when you're lifting up wet cup and dishes water flows down to your elbows. Second, it's impossible to pour out drained water from the tray underneath the draining rack without spilling it. And the last one, if you think that drained water will dry up, you are so mistaken - the dishes are wet, there is constantly water in the tray and the whole cupboard is wet so can't even close the doors, because they are swollen. I hope it will help
I am very short, so on that basis alone, it would be unacceptable. I always wondered about the cabinet's ability to cope with the water.
Hi from Finland. We have used draining cabinets since the 1940s and still do. I’m sorry for your bad design that led to swollen doors but it’s not an issue here.
@@joonanyman1738 It may have nothing to do with design and everything to do with environment. I live in Asia with 90-110% humidity year round (average annual temp is 25°). There are some things that simply do not work here. That's one of them. We have electric dish driers that blow hot air at the dishes. Here, your dishes will mold before they dry without one so they are standard in every home.
@@joonanyman1738same in Italy, they are the norm. Never experienced any of those issues, except perhaps for the dripping tray scenario - I agree that if you don't empty often enough it can be tricky to do without spilling
I am from the USA. the easiest way to dry the dishes is in the dishwasher and the most convenient place to store them is in the middle drawer next to or across from the dishwasher.
Yes to the lower cabinet drawers! 100% agree. I still rent but my sister did exactly that when she bought her home and it's soooooo much more practical!
If I thought it worth it to renovate my kitchen, I’d do this in a heartbeat. I simply hate lower cabinets. At least in one, I’ve put storage bins and can pull them out and look inside. In another, I divided it into three instead of the two shelves with easy access to pots at the top, a pull out interior drawer for all of the plastic storage, and a pull out box on the bottom that’s my junk drawer (I can pull it out and put it on top of the counter or into the room where various supplies might be needed in the moment). I really need to put in the slide out drawers in the last cabinet.
It's always worth it to renovate your kitchen. It adds value to your property. People pay so much more for a house with modern kitchens. And even if you never intended to sell it adds equity to the home allowing you more borrowing power.
@@IExpectedBSJustNotThisMuchBS You can retrofit with pullout shelves - either the metal ones he showed or made-to-measure from Lowes or Home Depot.
Not expensive and the usability is worth it.
The older I get the more I appreciate the ways we can get our homes to be more efficient in how much they can continue to be used
Also, for someone disabled (or with poor eyesight) drawers are so much more practical!
My Mother had a porcelain enamel sink/drain board attached to a painted steel base, typical of kitchens up to the 1950’s. My daughter-in-law really liked it. When we were going through Mom&Dad’s house after their passing, we paid a plumber to disconnect the plumbing and install the replacement base cabinet/countertop/sink.
Son&DIL cleaned and repainted the base a light Royal blue, and installed the unit into their house. It looks so good there.
That sounds beautiful! I thought about a drainboard sink myself, but for an English style farmhouse sink instead. Drainboard sinks are called farmhouse sinks by some. Kitchens are work spaces and I see nothing wrong if they look like work spaces.
@@teaeyedoubleguhur I agree with you about kitchens actually looking like work spaces.
I would love one. No dishwasher. Hate the plastic drain boards that shift around and those drain pads are soaked in no time. I cook everything from scratch, including things like mayo, crackers, etc. Food allergies.
A great big built in drainboard would be lovely.
Rough surface stone in kitchen as backslash is the most bizarre thing, have seen many of renovation shows. It looks nice, but ideal for kitchen where no cooking is done.
It’s “backsplash”
Never understood it - no way it cleans well.
I don't like that either. I notice a lot or gas station bathrooms use that as there flooring. It is impossible to get clean. When you walk in it looks like somebody dragged something or somebody arcoss the floor.
@@Person-mh6xq Backslash is what happens to your hands every time you have to clean the rough stone tile unless, of course, you never use your kitchen.
I have seen few kitchen designs which work of if people never cooked in them.
Epoxy coating to mimic soapstone.
That epoxy would probably melt if a hot pot is placed on it.
Drawers! My number one favorite kitchen hack. I lived in a house about 40 years ago where the previous owner had remodeled her kitchen this way. It made the house hard to sell because it was "strange" to most people but I loved it even tho I was still young and agile. Now that I'm old and less agile, I live with standard cupboards and it's miserable although she did put in a couple of drawers and one cupboard has roll out basket drawers concealed inside. Also, being short, I detest upper cabinets. I can usually only reach the first shelf without a step stool.
Range hoods actually function differently than vent hoods! The bulkier vent hoods that take up precious storage space are actually extracting the smelly/greasy cooking air and expelling it outside. Range hoods are redistributing that smelly gross cooking air in your kitchen. As vent hoods are more costly, there might be some fake range hoods masquerading as vent hoods! But if a client has the funds, I would strongly recommend a proper vent hood!!
I found that out the hard way in my last townhouse.
Why would you ever use plastic bags in your compost bin except as a second liner? You cannot throw those into municipal composting, and you certainly can’t throw them into home composting
Plastic, no! ❌. Biodegradable no!. ❌ .... Compostible Yes. ✅ 👏👏 Where I live in Australia my , Council provides us with a free little bin and free compostible bags.
'Range hoods actually function differently than vent hoods!' Er, vented range hoods.
@@designunlimited6215: when my borough introduced food waste collection, it provided 10 biodegradable bags for free and then nothing. I stopped buying my own when I discovered that the council will accept waste wrapped in newspaper.
The apartment I recently moved in (in Stockholm), has an organic bin in a cabinet under the sink. Whoever designed this apartment building had the great idea of putting the dishwasher next to it. So whenever I wash dishes, the organic bin is getting really warm and "sweaty"...
Bins in cabinet, very often under the sink are common in many European countries. Honestly when I was watching part about bins, especially organic bins left outside in plain sight... Like what? Why? Super gross...
We redid our kitchen last year and ticked off every bit of advice you gave in this video. I adore not having bins on display, our heavy duty lower drawers, the luxury vinyl floors, the hidden hood, the stone top dining table and the gorgeous sheer curtains that make the room airy and soft. I think my favourite part is the big but hidden bins.
I couldn’t stand hidden trash bin because it smells pungently every time you pull it out.
I had to translate "sheer curtains" to make sure I understood it correctly even though I speak english fluently. I now FINALLY understand why american/whatever else english speaking countries' homes look so empty and cold, I didn't even knew the word bc it's so rare that it's an interior tip lmaoooo
@@RomanticPopPunk of you empty them regularly their no smell .justhe same as a stand alone bin.having smaller bins also forces regular emptying of bins .
This channel helped me design a small but very functional kitchen that can fit 3 people working at the same time. I am forever grateful for the principles, tips and ideas shared by Daniel. 6 months living in this new space, I don't see anything that could have been done better and it is all thanks to this channel!
Keep up the great work!
I love D's designs and ideas - so practical, streamlined and efficient. He has helped me hone my own musings! G Ire
While I do agree that the trash can is not really a pleasant thing to look at, putting them in a drawer doesn't really go well with my flow when preparing food. I really need them to be easily accessible all the time with hand wet and full of trash 😂
I had the same issue, but fixed it by just adding a cheap clear IKEA food storage container on the countertop with a biodegradable bag in it while I cook. Once we are done with prep work for the meal, it goes into the proper trash bin, the serface is free and the cupboard doors are clean.
Absolutely true but as for me IKEA Knockla looks pretty fine.
Agree, a counter bin means that I can throw waste away right in front of me. I empty it at the end of the day so I don’t tend to have lingering smells
Modern countertops sometimes have a hole with a bin attached under the counter, so you "sweep" the garbage into the hole and it falls inside the bin.
You can also purchase a simple gadget on the drawer that makes it open with a knee nudge.
I live in a house built in 1910; it has large cast iron radiators. You're right about them taking up space but, after living with it for the past 11 years, I will always prefer radiator heated homes.
older radiators are the best!
@@biankabbbb Yes, they are! We had them in our old Craftsman house built over 100 years ago and frankly I thought they were lovely! I remember my 6th grade teacher sitting on the radiators in the classroom. It's a good way to warm up!
Great for drying gloves and socks at the end of the day too!
I'm getting a new home built with radiators throughout.
I grew up with them. They are the best.
Radiant heat is much better than forced air. After living for 40 years with radiators I recently moved to a part of the country where forced air is the standard. Now I long for those radiators every time the heat kicks in and I get a blast of heated (or cooled) air in my face. I recently remodeled my bathroom and had a heated floor installed. No one puts radiators in new construction but if I had the funds I’d retrofit my whole house with heated floors. Radiant heat rules.
I recommend a fridge or freezer bin for organics. It greatly slows (fridge) or completely stops (freezer) any decomposition. I love my freezer bin. organic waste tends to ‘shrivel up’ as it freezes and so falls neatly out when I’m dumping the contents into the main bin before emptying that.
My fridge/freezer is far too full of food to have any room for a bin.
It's common in hot climates to have a small bin in the freezer to stash the "organics" because a bin with week-old chicken that's been at 100F is going to stink up the whole neighborhood.
@@hundredfireify If it's frozen, what is the added hygiene needed?
Just put the chicken skins or fish waste in there to freeze until the next trash pickup day.
Never thought people would keep rubbish at home for a week, summer or not. I was under the assumption that people can dispose of rubbish on a daily basis if you live in a populated area
@@Xiroi87: you can put out rubbish everyday, but it will still stink while waiting for the bin men. Freezing food waste until the day of collection is something that I learnt when relatives from Canada visited me here in the UK.
I think drainboards are highly functional and underrated. Sure, they might not be the best looking of kit but they are truly a good solution for drying out dishes
Also easy sanitation after preparing large roasts like a turkey. Excellent for washing/draining/prepping fruits and vegetables. Better than spreading out terricloth towels when washing large pots, baking- and roasting-pans. Very convenient when watering small potted herbs and plants that need time to drain (e.g., orchids).
Yes, I strongly prefer it over a separate dripping mat or rack which looks way more cluttered to me!
You guys have to be kidding
You all make good points, but I have to agree with your man that it limits the usability of your counter space.
It depends on how much of what kind of cooking you do the most. I freed a lot of counter space when I got rid of a microwave and toaster that I almost never used. I miss having a drain board, but I put in a large sink with modular grates, bowl, colander and cutting board. The grates make it possible to clean and dress a turkey without raw juice running all over the counter and onto the floor. The components can go into the dishwasher and the cutting board adds countertop space when needed.
I do a lot of hand-laundry at the kitchen sink, and the grates are useful for dripping and hand- wringing. The modular components move around a little, so I feel I am trading the stability of a sturdy drain board for the aesthetics of a modular system.
The modular components are less useful for drying large pans; I still spread towels on the counter for thorough drying. Some things coming out of the dishwasher need to finish drying on the counter before putting them into a cabinet or drawer. Things like muffin tins and wooden spoons or knife handles can sneak unwanted humidity into closed spaces if not thoroughly dry before being put away. Sometimes I can leave the dishwasher door open with the racks pulled out for thorough drying. During the day it's a tradeoff between losing counter space or losing floor space in front of the dishwasher.
When the kitchen is not in use and everything is put away, no drain board definitely looks better. But in my house, the kitchen is usually in use.
As to extractor vent hoods, while yes, having them built in is a lovely aesthetic choice, I would only recommend having one the same size of the cabinets _if you don't actually cook._ For an extractor hood to do its job properly, it should extend to cover the same area as the range. You can still add shelving inside the area taken up by the vent of the extractor in a cabinet surround built for it. Turn on the extractor just prior to cooking and it will help to minimize cleanup by removing aerosolized oil and food particles from the air.
Totally agree with you 💯. I live in Northern Portugal and traditional homes are made of granite slabs or of slate, but that's because it's the materials that are readily available in the region. And usually the whole house is made out of the same material. Not fake cladding. I remodelled our kitchen 2 years ago and we installed a concealed extractor hood, we bought the largest and most powerful version on the market to insure proper ventilation, but I think that people forget that opening a window will really help with getting rid of cooking smells and moisture 😊. And besides if you don't want to smell your own cooking maybe you should improve your cooking skills 😂😂😂😂😂😂.
If you live somewhere with very cold winters or where air conditioning is an absolute summer necessity, opening a window can really screw up your home's internal temperature and humidity. Active ventilation (ideally with heat exchangers) is much better under those circumstances. Note: traditional housing is often adapted to the climate the house is being constructed in. Modern American house construction really doesn't take climate into account which is how you end up needing AC in places that did fine without it before it was invented. And that's even without climate change.
I’m so glad you started with glass tables! I hate glass tables/surfaces. The worst is glass shelves. So bad. Wood tables are the best
I replaced the glass top with a clear acrylic insert. It kept the same look but increased safety. I also didn't have to replace the coffee table itself.
I like natural wood also, which framed and supported the clear top. Sometimes there are alternatives.
I agree with everything except Drainboards…I think I am getting one of those with a minimalistic drainboard. I am currently having a simple sink and using those textile mats to dry my handwashed dishes. However, I find it not as practical because if I have a lot of handwashing to do (I don’t have a dishwasher yet), those mats barely get dry ever and I feel that they might be a hygene hazard if you don’t change them often and wash them properly. The mats also get cluttered… I’d rather have a surface that is getting dry easily and I can sanitize easily with a substance without worrying about potential bacteria. Anyway…this is debatable… but so far, I’ve prefered the drainboards whenever I had one in an Airbnb or at someone else’s house.
I also don’t like the drying racks in closet because I don’t like the idea of enclosed humidity and I also think they are harder to clean.
You're absolutely right about the hygiene. I do like the above sink racks in small kitchens. I've used them in Europe.
They are an especially big PITAS in places where the water is hard with a lot of calcium build-up over time.
@@nikolamladenoff3516 A little white vinegar will fix that.
In case it's helpful: those "matte black quartz composite" ones are not hard to clean and look amazing and sleek. I love mine and I usually wipe it down with a swedish dishcloth when there's water on it - never left a mark. I do put a kitchentowel underneath the drying dish though so it sucks up somenof the dripping water.
@@nikolamladenoff3516 what is wrong with y’all’s water that so many of you have calcium build up? Maybe get an under the sink filter? Even my tap water unfiltered never leaves stains.
The acoustic dampening, thermal and light regulating properties of curtains can't be beaten. I've gradually been upgrading my window treatments with fully lined and weighted curtains, and the whole house feels quieter and less echoey. I also endorse updating the hardware for power outlets, light switches and door furniture - it is not cheap - but what a difference they have made to the feel of solidity and durability of the entire house.
Great hardware does make your home feel more grounded and are good for resale.
Yeah, also I hate slatted blinds because when I try to look outside through them they my eyes go funny.
Glass tables are also so loud! Anything hitting them even lightly, like putting down your glass or cutlery, makes far more noise than on a regular table. I have a relative who always hosts a big Christmas get-together around their’s and I always have to escape part way through the meal because I can’t take how loud that room gets with the sound bouncing off the walls and that hard glass table 😣
This Christmas, give her a beautiful table cloth as a present. That will dampen the sound considerably and at the end of dinner, she can uncover a clean table.
Here in the uk our kitchens are small, no pantry, not all properties have space for a utility. Bins often have to sit on biew
I am in Canada. We have the metal compost on the counter. The other bins are in the hallway. Only space for them. We are in a small, easy to heat retirement home.
Good list. I especially like the notes about the stone cladding... that is a pet peeve of mine: the floating stone or brick! I try to be sure clients don't fall prey to contractors doing this even when the design clearly shows the material going to grade. And for the record, I refuse to use compost bins in the house! They either have to go in the garage, or the material goes directly into the laneway bin. Underfloor heating is still somewhat prohibitively expensive for the average homeowner, but it certainly has advantages. In hotter climates, the need for air-conditioning can subvert the tidiness of the system, as it still requires ducting and a central system for generating the cooling, thus the use of conventional forced air tends to be the default. Over-the-range microwaves are sleek, but from a practical point, they tend to be higher maintenance due to the proximity to steam and grease build-up, plus they often do not have adequate exhaust to keep up with the demands of the cooktop. I cook a lot and I have had one for many years, in several houses, and I am still not sold on them. I totally agree on having large drawers rather than lower cupboards! Even pull out shelves can be cumbersome, with the swinging door always being an issue. If you get a say in your hardware, be sure to get the best you can afford and get full-extension, soft-close glides. You can thank me later!
I have floor heating in Germany and vastly prefer forced air. It's more accurate and more responsive to temperature changes.
Great suggestions!
We put organic waste in a recyclable bag in the freezer compartment of the fridge. A big plus is no smell. A full bag, or newsprint 'boat', is frozen solid so walking it outside to the big green bin or the compost pile is done without leaking stinky stuff onto hands or floor.
Having built in cooker hood in the cupboard above just means that you end up with all that sticky oil etc. on the doors and under the other cupboards. I think having a separate cooker hood makes sense just for this reason alone.
Yes, much easier to clean. I just wish they made them smaller.
Yes, agree, and they have slimmer versions that are only 5 inches, I have one with a mid power fan motor. Not the quietest thing, but sure pulls all the odor and grease outside.
It's really difficult to find a drain board sink in Canada. It is easy to find stone veneer cladding.
Those Finnish drainage cabinets are amazing if you have a wall but don't have a window above the sink.
Underfloor heating makes your feet feel warm but don't make the space warm. Floor coverings reduce their efficacy. I need my body to be warm, my fingers to not be stuff with cold.
Oh my god I love how you called out the quartz matte black drainboard sink. My flat in Germany has one and it's the bane of my existence. As in, I've literally considered finding a new flat and cancelling my rental contract because I hate it so much. Having said that, how does a cupboard drainage rack improve of things? Doesn't that just give you a damp, dark environment for mould to breed?
how could it be damp when there is so much ventilation with a whole bottom open? also most of water drops down instead of evaporating. i have it and ofc theres no mold on the cabinet, but it annoys me when i have hands in the sink (like to open the tap) and water drops on them from above. i assume most of ppl wouldnt mind it as much as i do so overall its a practical solution for small space.
I have the garbage under the sink, very common here in Sweden, however, I heard that some have it in a drawer not under the sink, which is much more ergonomic, as you usually use the trash in when using the sink for dishes etc. I want that in the future!
Drainboards next to sinks are routinely used for hot pots, e.g. when you cook pasta, apart from being for, you know, the drying of dishes.
I think Daniel doesn't do much cooking 😄 Being a cook and also artist, fan of architecture, this is a pet peeve of mine with designers and architects. They somehow think a home kitchen is just another room to decorate. It's not. It's a workroom, a studio if you like. It can be attractive but first and foremost it HAS to be functional. Really, the best thing on the list is the drawer bases for the cabinets instead of cupboards, and the bins.
@@tinalettieri listened to his list. Ah doesnt cook, does not have children, and maybe doesn't live with a significant other. All of that taken from his bin and vent hood.
Agree that he prob does v little cooking or cleaning himself ! I have architects in my family and they repeatedly fail to address the importance of both ‘form & function’ when it comes to efficient bathroom and kitchen designs.
Engineered flooring with thin wood veneer is my most hated home product because the veneers are too thin to repair and they are often improperly installed so they click when you walk on them and slide around leaving little gaps. If you look at the manufacturers' warranties, these floors are not warranted for sanding and refinishing whereas solid wood floors are. Also, pet spills or other liquids that seep between the cracks cannot be removed without removing the flooring. Water leaks can also cause unrepairable warp damage. The cost of replacing sections regularly outweighs the cost of investing in solid wood flooring in the first place.
Many people don't have the money for solid wood flooring but as with everything, you get what you pay for, so don't choose the cheapest. All the laminate flooring I have put into my houses over the last 15 years have lasted well because they were properly laid and maintained.
I agree. I know people who have engineered flooring over floorboards. What a waste, and it is not durable, as they are noticing.
It depends on the state of the floorboards. Good quality engineered wood can look good for years with minimum care.
Modern vinyls can overcome most of the problems you outlined. Around the same price or cheaper. It's come a long way.
@@davinasquirrel7672 A good quality vinyl engineered floor, installed well, with no animal accidents could last 20 plus years. In a condo or apartment, the advantage of an acoustical layer. Solid wood may last 75 years including two standings/refinishing, but no acoustical layer.
We have had a glass table for over twenty years. It looks georgeous and we have had not problems whatsoever. Very easily cleaned and very chique.
I guess you don't have kids at home
Personally if your cooker hood doesn't actualyl vent anywhere it's a complete waste.
I know that from trying to sneak a cigarette under the vent.
Drawers in the kitchen are a wonderful thing. When I redid my kitchen, a friend of mine suggested it. It was a great idea and I very much I'm glad I did it.
My dad did that for my mom ... sixty years ago!
I’m with you generally; however, I’m not so precious that seeing my compost container will bother me. Many of us in the UK live in older homes where space is limited. My non-recyclables and recyclables under the sink (single sink and no room for a double unless I renovate the kitchen). Glass is a separate collection and has it’s own bin on the bottom shelf of a cabinet. Yep, that compost container is going to sit on the counter. One thing one can do is find the most attractive one that goes with the kitchen and practice not looking at it.
In my last home I had a double sink and the dish rack was in the 2nd sink. If I renovated, the drainboard would be gone in a second. I loved having a double sink.
I have a kitchen island with an induction stove (ceramic plate). I have no extraction hood but a lowered ceiling with a ceiling extractor. The lowered ceiling has the same measurements as the kitchen island, just like in the photo at 11:58. It is a very nice solution instead of an ugly hood. Also my kitchen has only handleless heavy duty drawers of 1200mm width, so so handy and neat. On the whole ground floor of my house I have under floor heating with ceramic parquet from Porcelanosa Smart Starwood. It looks like a hardwood floor or parquet floor, but they are tiles. You’ll have to knock on the floor to know it isn’t wood. I really like it. So easy to clean and efficient in radiating and transmitting heat of the under floor heating. For the vertical blinds I have another solution we call in my country top-down bottom-up plisse (pleated?) blinds, they are a fantastic invention. Don’t know the English or American name for them or even if they’re sold over there. You have the ones which only filter the light (I use on the north side of my house) or the variant which blocks all the light and sun (I use on the south side of my house). You can blind the whole window, only the bottom part, the top part or just a stripe in the middle, it is an ideal solution in my opinion.
On door handles: value involves more than initial price. We used Schlage door hardware, which was pricier than many, but high quality, and a virtual lifetime guarantee (not precisely spelled out, but you know).
We were there decades, got hit by major hurricane, and door hardware deteriorated big and fast, though not immediately.
I contacted Schlage, and “lifetime guarantee” was indeed a big stretch, but they replaced every single piece. No argument, no charge. Saved us thousands, I’m sure, which meant a lot with all other repair costs.
That higher initial price was absolutely worth it, and I will praise this company forever. Not many businesses operate like that any more.
You're so correct. Businesses that stand behind their promises are rare indeed.
I agree with (almost) everything, your videos are always so refreshing.
About the drainboards though.. I moved out less than three months ago and finally got to use one. I'll never ever go back! At my parents house I had that rack over the sink and it was fine, but my current kitchen (a thrifted Quadrante by Ferruccio Laviani - Dada) didn't allow me to have a decent sized one, due to the cooker hood. Going from a squared super cool sink with no drainboard to a super normal one with rounded angles and a drainboard made my life easier. That being said, I have a dishwasher too and I only wash non stick pans in the sick.
For me, this time, functionality wins!
Same, I love drainboards. I have a black one and I really don't have to clean it that often. I have a dishwasher but since I am single mainly handwash so I really need a place where to put plates and other stuff. Also I use this place to cut vegetables with a wood piece, so it can have multille uses.
I really appreciate that besides listing the things that are unfavorable, you offer solutions to replace the idea with the same or better fuctionality. Thank you!
With drainage boards inside a cabinet you can easily get mold to form (in time) on the drain board/drip tray if you consistently close the cabinet before things are dry…the board is likely to stay damp, regardless of its material and in a closed, dark cabinet without air circulating you eventually can see mold form. If you clean and dry the drain board/drip tray regularly, it may not ever happen. But from my experience (renting places while on vacation, for example) I’d avoid that approach like the plague. Drain mats are probably the best option offered here.
From what I understood, they are best installed directly over the sink, so they don't need a drip board at all.
A draining rack in the cupboard above the sink would be fine as it has no floor and plates drip directly onto the sink. This is thus open to dry out.
The integrated dish drying rack over the sink has been standard practice in Finland for ages - the whole cupboard above the sink is dedicated to this (although becoming less used as dishwasher use increases). It’s amazing,especially for a busy, high-volume kitchen. You can pile away a huge amount of dishes, including pots etc, close the doors and all your things drip dry straight into the sink and out of view. Empty sink and counter, no clutter, no water outside of the sink, and you can even hang your brush or cloth to drip dry over the sink as well. Plus if you don’t have the time/energy/desire later to nicely stack and sort all your dry dishes into different cupboards, just leave them where they are in drying cupboard until you need them. Drying AND storage, and all hidden from view! It was one of many common-sense design features that floored my dad when he first visited Finland in the 80s, and 40 years later the UK is still plodding on with our same old sink-and-draining board conundrum, wondering how to make the heavily-used sink area neat and tidy and clutter-free…🤦♀️
Same here in Italy.
I’m really interested to see a photo of this kind of dish dryer above the sink cupboard. Please could you include one? Thanks
Ne’er seen one, but would love to. Sounds like wisdom to me!
Those over the sink draining racks are quite normal in Italy and i would say that they have them in nearly every home. I just bought a new place and need to add some cabinets and was thinking of doing this
I do however think that keeping my food scrap bin on the counter makes it easier to use as I am cooking.
You could make a trap door in the counter top so you can just brush them in.
Re: underfloor heating: yes, it is brilliant. We have it in all our bathrooms (you really appreciate it on cold Canadian winter mornings). But - it is expensive to purchase the components. It requires a competent, experienced, ie expensive installer who is certified to do the job. If it ever requires repairs / replacement, up comes the floor which is not only time consuming, messy and a hassle but again - expensive. So definitely consider it, check what type of flooring you lay above (in a bathroom you really don’t have a lot of options…) and if you can, go for it. We’ve had radiant floor heat in the bathrooms for 8 years now and it has been worthwhile, but we decided against installing it throughout the entire house.
Your videos have really helped me to think about multi-function and well designed furniture to save space and reduce waste.
Also Bellroy are great, been using their slim wallet for years since they started
Watched bc I saw the table on the thumbnail my niece wants 😂
Some of these suggestions are for ppl who are building their homes. Such pricey stuff too, like the heated floors. Thought suggestions would be somewhat affordable. I have the same light switches and I never thought to change them bc of how they look. They do what they’re meant to do, turn lights on and off. I would love the draining sink tho. I find putting something on the counter for the dishes to go on looks cluttered. Having a nice drying dish rack would look better.
I love my glass table and clear acrylic chairs that I bought at IKEA a dozen years ago. Before Covid we basically only used it for eating. We wipe it down at night. I love it because we don’t have a dining room, but a small dining area. Being able to see through my table and chairs makes our living area less claustrophobic. And no one has ever hurt themselves with it nor has it ever come close to breaking (and yes I have children). Glass cocktail tables are also great for small spaces. If we’re going to complain about having to clean it, then you should throw out your bathroom mirrors and glass enclosed showers. They also get dirty every time we use them. Interior designers are not infalible.
i LOVED mine (i had 2 in the house) never had issues with anyone getting hurt, i raised 2 kids around them, and super easy to clean. they were not "always dirty" and my kitchen nook would haven been waaaaay to cramped feeling with a wood table
Love, well-built, sturdy, acrylic, chairs. Husband doesn’t, though. I want them, anyway. Lol.
Thank you Daniel! In the home I bought I removed the blinds, and hung drapes and sheers, I removed the carpet and installed lock/click luxury vinyl wood look flooring, took out the cheap kitchen cabinets and had IKEA install cabinets, the bottom are drawers with 2 pull out lazy susan near the sink, and a sink without a drainboard...did not know I was a design genius! Now to work on a hidden trash can (bin).... Thank you!
I installed a drainage rack above the sink. The problem I get is that whenever I put the plates, water drips along my arm sometimes reaching even my armpits ;))
I would still opt for this solution though. But I would probably find a place somewhere lower :)
Why not use a dishwasher instead? It’s more economical in water, power and more importantly time than washing by hand, plus it sanitizes dishes.
Cuff your dishwashing gloves. The cuff stops the drips from running down your arm. If you wont wear gloves, wear a stretchy cuff of terry cloth around your forearms, such as athletes sometimes wear. I learned this as a pro cleaner
If you thought that was the smallest kitchen you've ever lived with, I've got to tell you that i know a shoebox in london my friend lived in for *years* - including a 3 month lockdown during the pandemic, and that kitchen was a dual hotplate over a microwave beside a sink in her bedroom/study/living area. She paid the same rent for this shoebox that my flatmates and i paid for a 2 bedroom apartment in inner-west Sydney (Australia)... and we had our own bathroom & laundry area inside the apartment, as well as an actual kitchen, and a separate dining and living space.
I agree with all of your recommendations but one. The over the cook top microwave is an awful design for people who really cook. You are obstructing the view of your cooking surface; The microwave will get super-hot from the heat below and they NEVER have the level of power to pull away the smoke and fumes in the combined fans to work for a kitchen where you actually cook. A very impractical design option. Maybe for folk who microwave their food more than cook.
The mudroom in my house is across the hall from the kitchen, so we keep the waste bin there. it started because we had a kitty who loved to be a dumpster diver, and even after we upgraded the bin to have a better lid, we liked the location. Recycling goes in a larger bin near the back door, where it can be emptied frequently into a much larger mixed use recycling bin that has a weekly pick up.
Yes, yes, yes to everything you've named! I've lived all my life in NA (now live in Victoria bc). North Americans (particularly Americans) engage in what we called in art school, "arbitrary change of design". Exterior siding changes that make no sense, massive range vents that visually dominate a kitchen, unsightly compost bins left out to be "sightly" and so on. We could really step up our game here!
My pet peeves are open shelves in the kitchen that end up being a place to display attractive ceramic pots, but nothing else. These open shelves reduce the valuable amount of storage space in the kitchen. Other pet peeves include vessel sinks in bathrooms, toilets that are impracticably low, shiplap, accent walls, barn doors, chalk board walls, hanging pots, Tuscan-style kitchen cabinetry and silk flower arrangements.
I have watched hundreds of NA makeover shows (until recently) and I am continually amazed at the lack of drawers in the kitchen - all bottom units are cupboards with maybe a drawer at the top. Here in little ol' NZ we have been putting drawers from small to large for many years now.
A massive vent WORKS. Most tiny pretty ones don't.
@@anthonytroisi6682agree with everything you said except hanging pots. I love my pot rack.😁
We had an inset sink under an oak worktop. Never ever again. Every rubber draining board made the wood rot, go black, water always splashed around. We now have white porcelain over a white worktop. So much cleaner 😊
Agreed with the drainage board. We just use a regular old kitchen towel to leave dishes to dry. Used a drying mat for my first apartment and my cat got up on the counter and peed on it 😂 Don't know why he doesn't on the kitchen towel
The mat probably had a smell that attracted him.
well...i raised two children with 2 glass tables in my house. (one was rectangular and necessary in the tiny nook of windows and the other a small oval coffee table) yes, the corners had bumpers when they were toddlers but other than that absolutely no issues with banging against them, injuries or that "alway being dirty" you talked about. i didn't have scratches as easily as wood and a quick spritz with Windex and the dust was gone. i LOVED mine and miss them since they didn't make the move with me...but i gave my nook table to a friend and she loves it. curious you feel this way.
We thought the over-the-range microwave was a good idea, but now that we've had two supposedly pretty high-end ones fail far too soon, we've decided they're not such a good idea after all.
Was here to comment that have heard they are not that efficient and underperform compared to a dedicated extractor glad to find a comment with first hand experience
Yeah, and the exhaust fan on the bottom of a microwave will never perform as well as a proper hood, whether it's inside or outside of the cabinet.
Remember when they told us that microwaves posed zero danger? Now the experts are recommending that you never stand in front of one while it's running, especially at face-level, because it can raise brain temperature and may even damage your brain.......and over-the-stove microwaves are right at face level.
@@JamieM470 well depending on how tall you are 🤣 mine is definitely not at face level, maybe forehead level.
Sadly mine has died the last week so I have been crafting a plan to move it to the closet and replace with a proper vent fan vs another OTR range. Stinks to have to replace but also good timing to reevaluate design
I have never had a microwave hood fail. I won’t buy the ‘supposedly high end’ appliances. All my friends that have it seems like they are always breaking and expensive and difficult to repair.
@@Dbb27 do you have just a basic range microwave? I have the same, but I think it’s been in the house since it was built. Likely 13 years old and just part of the deal with buying a home. It isn’t anything fancy but looks like the original? I agree with you, no high end stuff lasts any longer than the cheaper options from my experience. Appliances aren’t made to last like they were in the 80s and 90s
I designed the remodel of our kitchen here in the U.S. about 15 years ago, and I specified as many drawers below the counters as I could. The kitchen is tiny, and I wanted no upper cabinets,as I believe they’re just not efficient. The drawers though! 😍 I can see into all of them, all at once if I want. Nothing is ever lost in them. They’re lined with white melamine, which helps see into them. 👍 I have enough storage space in the kitchen. P.S. I also specified the garbage can in front, and the recycling bin in back, of another below-the-counter (and tall) drawer. It’s perfectly hidden, and perfectly accessible. A bonus is that I can just wipe the prep counter and let the crumbs fall into the bin! 😄
Daniel, thank you! Looks like I found my next bag :) I was just looking for one, as old one is worn out.
I absolutely agree with the point on switches and handles. I moved in this year to new building and I just hate these switches - they are square and look so rigid. And handles are silver and one can see fingerprints on it, which is just doesn't make any sense for a handle.
I have used over the stove microwaves at least 20 years. I"ve never had one fall or even become loose, and nobody has ever walked into an open door. Mine have always vented to the outside so I've found them to be an adequate replacement for a vent. Mounting the unit frees up so much counter space, and it's actually safer too, because little hands cannot reach up to play with it. If you follow the directions, the microwave will likely be installed more securely than your other cabinets.
The best kept secret with kitchen cabinets is that you can add pull-out drawers into the area UNDER your base cabinet (where the kick plate is). I added two for storing large items like trays, cookie sheets and my electric griddle. The drawers are recessed, so they are in line with the rest of the kick plate. It is a perfect use of what is normally a dead space.
Agree with everything except the dislike of fitted carpets. Here in northern UK in a 300 year old house full carpets are often the most practical and comfortable floor covering. They are warm, soft and quiet underfoot and help to keep draughts down, especially when a really good underlay is also used. In my opinion rugs, of any size, are quite simply trip hazards.
"Cooker hoods" are used in high-end kitchens simply because the kitchen is larger. If you have a cabinet over it, it looks low-end. Even better is a wooden range hood cabinet - but they don't have much space to store anything because the vent is HUGE.
Radiant heat in the floor is still expensive here in the States. And you cannot use them with real hardwood floors.
I'm in a furnished rental, and I HATE the glass tables. Dust shows in a day, and smudges galore. I'd rather have something with storage, so I don't need something dedicated to hiding things AND side and coffee tables!
You are SO correct regarding lower cabinets being awkward. We have 3 large lower drawers, which we use constantly. We will gradually retrofit the other lower cabinets with pull-out hardware. We also have a Lomi composter, which we use daily to turn our nasty organic waste into compost. No smell. Expensive, but convenient. We also have a metal dish rack over a washable pad. Works well and launders to keep clean. Subscribed to your channel.
As a single person glass tables are great for smaller and darker spaces. My glass top dining table was a cost effective move.
Breaking ground on my new house this fall, thanks for the tips. Gave me a few things to think about before finalizing my interior design.
This video is absolutely great. I loved all the explanations and I added these tips to my plan for future flat refurbishment. Please do more videos like these. ❤
I totally agree with you. In my country, we always keep the bin under the sink. Recently, I renewed my house, and this is exactly what I did. I eliminated (hid) everything that bothered my eyes. Thank you for this video. 😊
Storing a small compost bin in the freezer means you avoid fruit flies and smells.
Yes! I also put denied cat food or wrapping for Meat there, until I go Take the garbage out the next time.
Such a good idea :D
And its really energy-efficient + eco friendly to open your freezer every time you wanna throw something into the bin..
That’s what I do. No smells ever.
Life hack
As an American that just did a major addition and renovation to my 100yr old home I agree 👍 with just about everything you listed. But also add to it hate the open shelf concept in the kitchen that replaces all or some of the closed upper cabinets with open shelves. Started out as a "Farmhouse esthetic" but then included a Modern Minimalist version for modern design lovers. Some also go all out to create that "Commercial kitchen or professional chef" look with stainless steel and all of your kitchen tools and equipment out on open shelves, hanging on racks & walls, all on open display. Unless you use evey single item hanging up or stacked on those shelves every single day (like a busy restaurant would!) so that everything gets washed every day, ALL areas and items attract cooking vapors and steam leaving oily residue on everything. The open shelves where they stack the dish, glass and decorative wares will need to be washed down every week, item by item to get the oily film off. I compromised by glass-fronting my upper cabinets in the work triangle over working countertop so all that the dish and glassware are visible for easy access but behind a door. Thats only 4 glass doors that get a quick window cleaning and wipe down when I do the stainless steel polishing. All of my other storage & lower cabinets are solid doors. All lower cabinets have pull out extention drawers. I have a walk in butlers pantry for food & small appliance storage with the main counter built at waist height specifically for my heavy Kitchenaid stand mixer. I can slide it out, throw in the attachments I'll be using, carry it to the kitchen island and I'm good to go. Returing it to store is such a game changer. No lifting or bending such a heavy item. Have to disagree on the floor heating. Once lived in an apartment that had floor heating. It had a problem & it was old. No one knew the system well. Maintenence would have to tear out the flooring to investigate, repair or replace it. They opted to put in baseboard heating instead.
Compost bin on the work surface are muuch more practical if you do a lot of cooking! Just change it regularly, get one with a charcoal filter and that is good looking.
I store mine under the sink and bring it out while I'm cooking.
yes the light switches! the coolest thing in my house is having fun light switches. it adds mood, whimsy, texture, and recalling where on the wall the switch is in the dark.
😂🤔
Can't believe you didn't mention cooktop extractor systems as an alternative to cooker hoods. An example would be the BORA system, they're quite the hype in The Netherlands rn
Thank you. Thats awesome. found a store near me that supplies BORA
He actually does mention integrated extractors as a far better option at the end of that segment. Or did you mean the fancy and very expensive downdraft extractors? Nice, but those particular Bora models look very expensive here in Australia and might be harder to retrofit.
I redesigned my kitchen 10 years ago and chose an integrated, slimline, slide out extractor hood and it's awesome. Hardly see it.
As for microwaves over the ra😮nge top, what an incredibly dumb idea is that. 🙈
@@designunlimited6215 no the Bora is exactly what he meant. i have a integrated slide out extractor as well. and it's terrible for cupboard space. got these pissy little cupboards doing little more than hiding the extractor. The downdraft extractors are a far better option from what I can see.
@@kenichi1132 ... Re the slide out, that's the point, I think. It's not to create cupboard space but to hide the alternative, i.e. large open hood which due to its shape attracts a greasy film that is is so horrible to clean. Cleaning a vertical panel or door is a breeze by comparison. It doesn't seem to attract grease at all. And even the small amount of storage it provides is better than none. I store egg cups, my spice grinder, candle sticks and some bud vases in mine.
Downdraft extractors sound good if you have the bench space. Bear in mind that they are not necessarily vented unless you have an exterior wall conveniently behind the range. Retrofitting would be difficult in most homes as it requires about 300mm (12") of bench space behind the cook top! Would be impossible in an apartment I'm thinking. Not even allowed, I guess, due to strata title laws (Aus) or body corporate I think you call it in North America? In UK maybe 'leasehold'? Daniel would know the term as he lived in London. I grew up there but then travelled overseas. I've also heard that downdraft extractors are not as effective as overhead ventilators especially if you use large (high) steamer or pots.
By the way, Daniel, thank you for your videos. I subscribed 'yonks' ago, and love your space saving and space improving using affordable flatpacks etc So helpful. Well done ♥️🙏👏👏👏
@@kenichi1132 btw, Bora make both downdraft extractor and the overhead extractor. Daniel mentions the overhead type. Bora is just a brand, not a "type". My overhead integrated, ventilated extractor slide out is by Miele. The overhead filters are easily removable and pop in the dishwasher for cleaning.
I really want a kitchen with a drainage board! Both of my kitchens so far didn’t have one so when doing the dishes water spills everywhere, in my first flat it took a year to damage the countertop. A drainage board would have prevented that.
I also like that it’s a designated area in the kitchen like the spot for cutting ingredients and so on.
Btw I have the exact mat you showed, it gets soaked through pretty fast so I have to hang it to dry after every use. That in my opinion isn’t less work than wiping down my sink and drainage board with a cleaner after use.
Most architects like to decorate houses for magazines. Never for real life.
But your solutions are fantastic!!!
Right on each item! Though I'd add 2 other options:
First, instead of an vent or extractor in the cupboard over the cook top you can install down draft extractors that are either part of your cook top or that pop up during use and retract when not in use. They're sleeker, take up less space, and (if it's a reliable brand) are closer to the cooking source and necessarily vent better.
Second, living in a cold climate (Alaska) I agree that radiators aren't great. But in-floor heating has serious issues too. First, it's the most expensive option for heating a home. But worse, it's incredibly slow to respond. It takes hours to get a room to temperature if you turn off the heat during the night. We've had both base board heating and in-floor heating and while my feet love the heat underneath we're not going that route in our new home. Instead, forced air is proving to be the best option, especially in a 1 or 2 story home where the air ducts can be incorporated easily. It's also nice because with forced air you can have humidifiers incorporated with your heating units to make the warm, dry winter air more humid.
I disagree with the cooker hood points. We brought an apartment recently, which had a very ugly built-in extractor hood, with a cabinet that was practically unusable (maybe we could fill it if we had 140 small containers for spices, but the top shelves would have been impossible to reach). So we took out the entire cabinet and the ugly built-in, and got a new, elegant and slim, non built-in version. The space looks so much better now! Instead of having a full wall of cabinets of the same "birch" color, there's now a pop of black metal and white wall in the middle, which allows the kitchen to "breathe". We also incorporated some other black elements in other points of the kitchen: handles, shelves, lights and a kitchen island. We lost an unfunctional storage, but gained a lot visually.
I think it's also a huge game changer that non built in cooker hoods can be vented outside
I agree - the cabinet gets hot and very messy
Plus, if you really use your stove you suppose to know that regular, large hood surves its main purpose much better than built-in-cabinet one, 50% smaller then the stove itself..
I have a bucket under my sink as a bin, it stops the bread bag we use as a bin falling over.
Next to that is the council standard issue indoor food waste caddy - which gets emptied into the large compost bin every few days.
We keep a washing up bowl under the sink too - it helps catch leaks under the sink and is useful on occasion. It currently also has a bread bag in it which we put the soft plastics in to take to the supermarket for recycling.
Everything else is recycled too- a box for cardboard and a box for the rest as our area mixes glass, plastic & foil. These both live in the bottom of our boiler cupboard.
I never have understood the need for a large bin in the house, we rarely put our curbside bin out more than once a month! Surely a large bin would just end up getting stinky, even if you separate types of rubbish.
In Poland we already install not only floor heating but recently also wall heating instead of conventional wall attached heaters. 😉 It is very practical especially if paired with photovoltaic installation.
What do you use for flooring? You cannot use hardwood, which is a staple here in the USA on nicer homes.
@@globalfamily8172 We use woodpanels for floors, these are click system but for floor heating (so called floating floor) - no staples, some people put ceramic terracota tiles.
Under sink bin drawers, integrated dish drying racks and integrated extractor hoods are standards in Finland, where I live. Agreed that they work well! Got to say about storage space above extractor hoods though: holding spices there, as was shown in one of the pictures, is not really a good solution (no matter that it's still common). It seems to make sense as these shelves are shallow and within the arm's reach from where you need spices. However the fumes from the stove cause moisture to get into the spice containers, which can cause the spices to clot up and ultimately to get spoiled prematurely. Nowadays it's usually advised to hold spices in one of the top under counter drawers next to the stove.
If you’re speccing a new house, sure, go for underfloor heating. Retrofitting it to an existing house without it goes to middle five figures at the smallest, which is hard to swallow.
Agreed that they should only be used in new builds. I also don’t think that radiant heat flooring should be installed in an apartment because these systems tends to be difficult to repair if they are damaged and would cause major disruption to the tenant. You also typically can’t/shouldn’t use radiant heated floors under solid hardwood, so you likely sacrifice the the style and investment value of the floor surface for the value of the heating system instead. I like a radiant floor, but in my opinion they should be for very specific applications.
Thank God I saw this video! 😮 I was about to put wall cladding on the facade of my brand new home, and now I feel powerful knowing where I should put them intentionally! 😃 Thanks!
Totally agree regarding garbage, compost and recycling bins. I've always kept mine out of sight. They're just too ugly.
Same.
I had been keeping mine under the sink but I pulled it out one day and left it out for some reason. I noticed there is less odor with AErobic decomposition than with the ANArobic decompose that happens in a closed space. Same with the bathroom. We can't flush paper because of old infrastructure so we have to use a bin. I spray it with a nice smelling disinfecting product. For the really gross stuff, I use a disposable glove on that hand, wad the paper up and pull the glove off over the wad then tie it off. That contains the odor and bacteria until I can empty the bin, which I do every day.
We put a new kitchen in about 5 yrs ago and put drawers for all base cabinets. I will never go with regular base cabinets again some are deep enough to hold all my pots and pans and shallow enough for silver ware. Even under the sink is a drawer. No more on hands and knees looking for a lid
Agree wholeheartedly with hiding bins. In the late 90s huge bins were marketed as a sexy addition to the kitchen, with adverts showing yuppy couples eyeing each other seductively across the gleaming brushed steel bin which presumably was full of 100 litres of decaying detritus. The public are easily led, and bought these disgusting items in droves, bizarrely trying to outdo their friends by vying to have the largest receptacle for putrefying rubbish.
😂🤣😁
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😂🤣😂
Yes on the stone cladding!! I would add to that the partial brick cladding that I see so often. Just do the whole thing in vinyl or whatever the siding is.
Drawers instead of cabinets is easily the best change/upgrade any kitchen can have.
Aside from each item's function, you can already imagine the design if it will fit on your home style. This is great! Thank you, Daniel! 👏🏼👏🏼
My kitchen is for cooking, not for show. I take issue with your disdain for trash cans, cooker hoods, and drainboards. My kitchen has a centrally located trash can in plain view under a stainless steel prep table. The trash can is right up there with ALWAYS having a place for a person to wash their hands at the start of and repeatedly during prep. I have a single handwashing/prep sink and a double cooking/cleaning sink. Both have built in drainboards on either side. They make clean-up much easier and they get wiped down like very countertop.
I've had cooker hoods with storage above. It's a crappy place to store anything. Nobody in their right mind wants to reach over a cooktop to get to anything. Cabinets over the cooktop are also bigger grease magnet than hoods. BTW, they're harder to clean. It's also an idiotic place for a microwave. Combination appliances such as a cooker hood/microwave are also a bad idea. When (notice I didn't say if) the microwave fails, the unit is expensive to repair or replace. My microwave is on a shelf at a convenient height. When it fails, I'll unplug it and replace it with another.
Pro-tip for Green Bin Waste-Leave space in your freezer for a paper waste bag.Once your kitchen green bin fills up (it’s typically tiny so it fills up every day), throw the waste into the paper bag you keep in the freezer. This will ensure you don’t have the smell of rotting food in your kitchen. Then take it our when it’s green bin garbage day.
Stone Veneer Cladding - In worst cases, it's texture that hasn't loaded yet.
To heating - Grondheating also works better with heatpumps as the entrance temperature is way lower. Other thing is that it is more eficient to heat with an AC, wich is a kind of heatpump. Sits on top of the wall and 1 kW electric energy gives about 3 kW heat .
With under floor heating, you just leave the wet laundry on the floor to dry.😉
Great video, however @14:19 - Wrong text used, should say "Carpets"
Growing up, we had an over the range oven that had a built in fan, no hood required.
My parents invested in a glass coffee table. They had three kids and were brave with that decision. My mom found my toddler brother riding his bike around on top. Didn't break it though it does have a few scratches that need polishing out by a pro. I never knew that could be done until recently.
Not very much I disagree with here. We upgraded all the hardware and switches in our home as soon as we moved in. Vertical blinds covering windows and closets [!!] were immediately torn out. We think that a drainboard is a necessity, but it is NOT built in, as shown in the video. We can put it out of sight if we have company. In that regard, I think having a sink in a kitchen island is a logistical disaster, but we see it all the time in new homes. When you have company, an open floor plan means all the pots, pans, and dirty dishes are all there for everyone's viewing pleasure. No thanks. Our kitchen is open to the dining room, but not to the 'living/entertainment' areas.
your advice and education is so welcomed.! everything you have mentioned is what i do not like in a home either. Carpet may be the worst. you gave me insight on the trash can because i dislike seeing a trash can out in the kitchen. i had it is a cabinet but it was too small so i am looking for a bigger cabinet. low cabinetry. i hate them. i use a pantry for all my dishes. thank you for this video. i love it