Natural Wood Kitchen Cart with Breakfast Bar

Natural Wood Kitchen Cart with Breakfast Bar

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Shopping for Kitchen Islands

Kitchen islands are a great way to add counter space, storage space, and a very open feel to any kitchen. Often these islands are used to create a very open living space where the kitchen opens right into the family or living room. Kitchen islands have been colse to for many years, and they furnish many new features that make them even more versatile than they were in the past. Here's a look at some of the most base types of kitchen islands.

Granite Countertop

Island Table

One of the most base types of islands is the granite countertop. This is basically someone else kitchen workspace that matches the other counters in the kitchen. Granite is very beloved because it adds a distinct level of elegance that cannot be found in any place else. It is leading to find out the essential steps that you will need to take to care for a granite island. Some of them do wish a granite sealer to be reapplied from time to time, so ask the retailer or installer what the best way to care for your granite island is. Care instructions may vary from island to island.

Shopping for Kitchen Islands

Butcher Block or Wood

Many kitchens are now looking the facility of butcher block or wood kitchen islands. Kitchen islands with a butcher block top are meant to furnish a cutting outside without a cutting board. Butcher blocks are probably the best cutting surfaces available on the market these days. A wood-topped island is also a good option if you do not want to go with a butcher block. However, remember that some woods are not meant to serve as cutting boards. If you are looking for a cutting outside that does not quite go to the lengths of a butcher block, then make sure that the wood you take is safe to cut foods on. Caring for both butcher block kitchen islands and wood-topped islands is about the same. Both should be cleaned immediately after use because these materials will soak up everything. Most manufacturers recommend a mild dish soap and warm water for quarterly cleaning. Mild bleach and water can also serve to disinfect the surface. Also most manufacturers will recommend a special oil to be applied to the outside every so often. The oil should be food-safe and non-toxic.

Stainless Steel

Another very base type of kitchen island that is in use today is the stainless steel island. Of course many of us photo industrial kitchens when mental about a stainless steel island, but more and more homeowners now prefer a very professional type of kitchen. Stainless steel islands are a big part of that. Just remember that stainless steel is not good for knives, so all the time use a cutting board on top of your stainless steel island. Cleaning stainless steel is also very simple. Just use a toady and a mild cleaner. Remember that stainless steel can be scratched rather easily, so avoid anyone that could scratch it.

Match the Style of Your Kitchen

No matter what kind of kitchen island you choose, just remember that the style should all the time match the rest of your kitchen. For example, a very contemporary kitchen with professional-grade appliances would probably work best with either a butcher block island or a stainless steel island. A suitable home kitchen that already has granite countertops would certainly work best with a granite island. Wood-topped islands can be a solution for homeowners who like the look of a butcher block but may not be willing to pay the extra cash for a true butcher block.

Shopping for Kitchen Islands

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Saturday, July 9, 2011

French Cafe Chair vs French cafeteria Chair - Vive La Difference!

Even if you've never been to Paris, you've probably seen them in movies or magazines: those colorful minuscule French café chairs and tables that have been the hallmark of the Parisian cafe for over a hundred years.

And you're probably aware of the part they played in the history and culture of the last century, when the likes of Hemingway and Sartre, Fitzgerald and Picasso sat in these very chairs at these very tables, defining the art and literature and religious doctrine of the Twentieth Century.

Island Table

Serious stuff.

French Cafe Chair vs French cafeteria Chair - Vive La Difference!

But there was a lot more going on in Paris a century ago than just philosophical discussion.

A lot more. And a lot wilder!

And it was happening right there amid the chairs and tables of the French bistro!

Oh, to be sure, to the untrained eye (or mind), café chairs and tables positively look exactly like bistro chairs and tables.

However, French café chairs and tables signify coffee, croissants and philosophical debate; French bistro chairs and tables are more about wine, music and romance. That magical La Vie En Rose.

For rather like werewolves of French furniture, the cerebral café chair is transformed into the exotic bistro chair when the Parisian sun goes down.

And the names that come to mind are less Hemingway and Sartre, more Josephine Baker and Bricktop.

Which is not to say that never the twain shall meet.

For if Hemingway eschewed the bistro for the café, he apparently took a peek every now and then. He is purported to have said of Josephine Baker that he carefully her to be "the most beautiful woman there is, there ever was, or ever will be."

And Josephine Baker said, "I wasn't naked. I simply didn't have any clothes on."

But she also said, "Surely the day will come when color means nothing more than the skin tone, when religion is seen uniquely as a way to speak one's soul; when birth places have the weight of a throw of the dice and all men are born free, when comprehension breeds love and brotherhood."

Hmmmm. Could it be that the legendary Josephine Baker, toast of the Parisian bistro, was, at heart, positively a café philosopher?

French Cafe Chair vs French cafeteria Chair - Vive La Difference!

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