Thursday, November 26, 2009

Traditional Kitchens - The Center Of Your Home

By Matthew Kerridge

The centerpiece of all homes are their kitchens. Families come together in this room to eat together, the children use it for a place to do homework and create wonderful artwork and friends gather here to sip coffee and have a nice chat.

If one room is this important for all of these aspects, doesn't it only seem logical that you should carefully consider any furniture and appliances that you place in to it. For traditional kitchens, wooden cabinets and furniture work the best as compared to things made from other alternative materials.

The lightening in your kitchen is also important. In tradition kitchens, extra lights are typically installed over the sink and other areas you perform work in. It is also good to add additional listening underneath the cabinets in order to reduce shadows. In some cases, even a reading lamp can be placed in the room for when you need to read recipes. For a small kitchen, natural lightening from a nearby window will open the room up and make it appear larger.

Another must have a traditional kitchen is a pantry. Storing shelf stable foods at room temperature is best done in cabinets or closets, making it easy to locate what you need. Additional shelving can be added to increase the amount of storage space you have. A crisper in the refrigerator that works well and a freezer are also great extensions of a pantry.

The right utensils and a place to store them is another essential when it comes to a well working kitchen. Knife blocks fit in to the traditional theme and offer a safe alternative to kitchen drawers. Pots and pans can be stored in cabinets that get good ventilation so that they don't rust, but are protected from dust. Counter top containers and hooks work well for storing kitchen utensils.

Keeping all work surfaces clean and sanitized is vital for not just a traditional kitchen, but any kitchen in fact. Without these steps the place can turn in to nothing but a health risk for you and your family. A deep sink and good water pressure are needed to clean all sizes of dishes and cookware. Make sure you never chop vegetables and meat in the same location and always use a cutting board that has been disinfected. Compost items should be kept away from all other food sources.

When it comes to counter tops, they are usually the first thing noticed in a kitchen. Durable and easy to clean counters are an absolute must in any kitchen. Choose a nonporous surface so that bacteria doesn't have as many places it can hide and grow. Some suggestions include tile, concrete, stone, laminate and resin.

After all, like we stated before, your kitchen is the centerpiece of your home. You can use gas or electric stoves, a single unit or a counter installed one. Either way, you will have what you need to keep your kitchen running efficiently.

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