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Bring your kitchen out of the dark with layers of light

18.09.11

Lighting is often described as the jewelry of the stamping-ground. But it&#x92;s more critical than that, especially in kitchens, where it&#x92;s all about slicing, dicing and reading recipes. So maybe the new catchphrase should be: &#x93;Lights are the <em>eyes </em>of the adept in.&#x94;</p><p>&#x93;Kitchen lighting is so crucial and should be one of the first things people regard as about when they&#x92;re designing or remodeling a kitchen, but it often gets last priority,&#x94; says lighting counsellor and interior designer Lisa Duncan of Kansas Megalopolis. &#x93;People spend tens of thousands of dollars on their kitchens, but then you can&#x92;t see the new improvements or what you&#x92;re doing if the lighting isn&#x92;t amend. Then I come along, and drywall has to be ripped out.&#x94;</p><p>Instead of doing an service of her decades-old kitchen, Sasha Paulsen of Overland Park updated the lighting in her favorite chamber. </p><p>The foodie mines spice stores, olive oil shops and farmers markets for remarkable ingredients. But her dark kitchen, with only a can light above the sink and another above the prep quarter, was a problem. She couldn&#x92;t always see what she had, especially in the corners under her cabinets.</p><p> With Shirley Allen of the Brighten Shop in Kansas City, Paulsen rethought the types of lighting in her kitchen. </p><p><unswerving>Over the </strong><strong>sink:</strong> She swapped the can for a tumbler and nickel pendant that provides better illumination, which is key for washing hands and cookware (she has three racks of pots and pans). Perk: It&#x92;s much more attractive.</p><p><strong>Above the </strong><strong>table:</assertive> She replaced a 1960s scalloped metal fixture fresh to the house with a &#x93;more inspiring&#x94; metal sculptural one with bloodless shades. The shades eliminate the glare of a bare bulb.</p><p><conclusive>Under the </strong><strong>cabinets:</strong> Lights were installed under the cabinets to shed light on the corners, making them more usable. And Paulsen sees a big contradistinction when she&#x92;s performing prep work, such as slicing vegetables with a biting mandolin.</p><p>&#x93;It&#x92;s changed my whole cooking and dining experience,&#x94; says Paulsen, who works for Johnson County Adulterate District No. 1. &#x93;And the process of kneading dough and baking bread, too.&#x94;</p><p>Not only do under-council fixtures provide proper task lighting, they add appropriate ambience for home entertaining.</p><p>&#x93;Adding under-cabinet lighting is the No. 1 constituent you could do if you want to update your kitchen and make it more functional,&#x94; says architectural and kitchen author Billie Deatherage of Deatherage Home Designs in Kansas Diocese.</p><p>Deatherage always includes dimmer switches in her remodeling and new construction plans.</p><p>&#x93;They are reasonable and can give you the control to make your kitchen go from production mode to entertainment method quickly. And they save energy.&#x94;</p><p>Paulsen loves the metamorphosis a dimmer switch makes in her kitchen. But one of the challenges with kitchen lighting is that it adds warm up excite. Lighting consultant George McMillen of Wilson Lighting in Overland Greensward sees the problem all the time.</p><p>&#x93;People will remodel their kitchen and amity it in the fall and winter, but then spring and summer comes and instantaneously, it&#x92;s too hot,&#x94; McMillen says.</p><p> So McMillen is using more LEDs (shine-emitting diodes) &#x97; particularly under-cabinet lights versus xenon and markedly halogen because LEDs don&#x92;t produce as much heat, and they&#x92;re more energy-competent. Consumer Reports recently tested 60-watt impotent to bulbs and their energy-saving equivalents. The magazine&#x92;s conclusion: You can find a CFL or LED that will give you the brightness and candle quality you like, and it will save you around $50 over the life of each CFL and anywhere from $65 to $400 over the lifetime of each LED. </p><p>&#x93;The confrontation with LED is the color &#x97; it can look too warm or too cool,&#x94; he says. &#x93;But the technology is getting there.&#x94;</p><p> Designers and lighting consultants are steering away from the complementary pendants above an island.</p><p> &#x93;They&#x92;re almost like a gate,&#x94; says Allen of the Flare Shop. &#x93;You want to move them out of the way so you can see what&#x92;s happening in the kitchen.&#x94;</p><p><strong><reach over class="infobox-head">OVER THE Excavate </span></strong><br /> There&#x92;s a new focal point for lighting in the kitchen: the sink. Sasha Paulsen of Overland Reserve replaced a can light with a statement fixture. &#x93;Look how handsome kitchen sinks have become &#x97; and functional with the built-in cutting boards and colanders,&#x94; says inward designer Dianne Boren of Interior Options in Leawood. &#x93;You can in fact see to wash your hands and the dishes.&#x94; Boren has a dimmer steer for her sink light and others in the kitchen. She likes how it glows.</p><p><strong><interval class="infobox-head">UNDER CABINETS </go over></strong><br /> Kitchen and architectural designer Billie Deatherage of Deatherage Impress upon Designs in Kansas City makes sure all her kitchen projects have under-senate lighting. &#x93;It&#x92;s so important for task lighting,&#x94; she says. &#x93;But it&#x92;s also a immense ambient light for entertaining.&#x94; She advises installing under-highboy lighting toward the front of the bottom of a cabinet. If it&#x92;s installed in the back, the light doesn&#x92;t divide up evenly and creates bright spots and shadows.</p><p><prosperous><span class="infobox-head">ALL-IN-ONE </course></strong><br /> Geri Higgins, owner of Portfolio Kitchen & Residence, is seeing more kitchen ceiling fixtures that have integrated exhaust fans &#x97; an alternate to the large range hood. Styles range from coincidental to crystal chandelier. Elica&#x92;s &#x93;Star&#x94; ventilation flare is $4,265 at Portfolio.</p><p><strong><span class="infobox-chair">CAN ALTERNATIVES </span></strong><br /> If you don&#x92;t like the hot spots that recessed can ceiling fixtures cover on countertops, consider frosted glass fixtures. Shirley Allen of the Lamp Shop advised interior designer Dianne Boren to use them in her kitchen. Boren likes the results.</p><p><rotten><span class="infobox-head">ABOVE DOORS </span></emphatic><br /> Shirley Allen, owner of the Light Shop in Kansas Urban district, advises designers and clients to install sconces above kitchen doors departure-sign style. &#x93;They act as night lights for teens getting in at Cimmerian dark or for late-night snackers.&#x94; Interior originator Dianne Boren&#x92;s kitchen has a sconce to the door leading casing and another to a hallway. &#x93;This is an under-the-radar lighting detail, but it&#x92;s functional and pretty.&#x94;</p><p><fragrant><span class="infobox-head">Neighbourhood pub DESIGN </span></strong><br /> On the style side of kitchen lighting, pendants are being reconsidered.</p><p>&#x93;For so hunger, it was three matching little pendants hung at the same length above a kitchen eyot or peninsula,&#x94; says Geri Higgins, proprietor of Portfolio Kitchen & Home, which recently moved into a new showroom across the alley from Union Station. &#x93;It became a look.&#x94;</p><p>Instead, people are using one or two larger pendants above a subside or island. When there are three, they might be varying colors and shapes and hung at unconventional heights. Local designer Barbara Cosgrove, known for tabulation lamps, recently introduced pendants in metal finishes that can be varied and matched. &#x93;Savannah&#x94; and &#x93;Austin&#x94; are convenient in antique copper and polished nickel, $210 each, Portfolio.</p><p><vivid><span class="infobox-head">IN THE Emphasize </span></strong><br /> Interior designer Billie Deatherage likes to inaugurate mini recessed can lights on either side of dramatic range hoods so the details don&#x92;t perish without a trace in a black hole. She did this in the Parkville home of Laura Ozenberger and Keith Cary, featuring an pass-finished zinc hood fabricated by Gieske of Kansas Town. Architecture and art are naturals for spotlighting.</p><p><strong><span elegance="infobox-head">EATING AREAS </time></strong><br /> Sure, you want something pretty to look at when you&#x92;re eating your meals. But you don&#x92;t deficiency to look at bare bulbs.</p><p><strong><span order="infobox-head">EXPECT TO PAY &#x85; </extent></strong><br /> <strong>At-home kitchen lighting plan consultancy fees: </unvarying>$50 per hour</p><p><strong>Installation of under-cabinet lighting by an electrician:</intense> $300 (fixtures not included; might be more for houses built former to 1960)</p><p><strong>Lighting control panel </aromatic>(one button turns on lighting scene for &#x93;entertaining,&#x94; &#x93;daytime,&#x94; etc., eliminating banks of switches): $500</p><p><deep-felt><span class="infobox-head">RESOURCES </reach over></strong><br /> &#x95;<strong>Deatherage Home Designs:</sturdy> Billie Deatherage, 816-444-5466, <a href="http://www.deatheragedesign.com">www.deatheragedesign.com</a></p><p>&#x95;<well-versed>Lisa Duncan, interior designer specializing in lighting and construction consultation:</aggressively> 816-914-5335, <a href="http://www.facebook.com/HomeSenseKC">Facebook.com/HomeSenseKC</a></p><p>&#x95;<resolute>Interior Options: </strong>Dianne Boren, Leawood, 913-269-0317</p><p>&#x95;<defensive>Light Bulbs Etc.:</strong> 14821 W. 99th St., Lenexa, 913-894-9030, <a href="http://www.lightbulbsdirect.com">www.lightbulbsdirect.com</a></p><p>&#x95;<beefy>The Light Shop: </strong>7406 Wornall Technique, 816-444-1820</p><p><strong>&#x95;Portfolio Kitchen & Home:</strong> 215 N. Pershing Approach, 816-363-5300, <a href="http://www.portfolio-core.com">www.portfolio-home.com</a></p><p>&#x95;<strong>Rensen Congress of Lights: </strong>9212 Marshall Drive, Lenexa, 913-999-0888, <a href="http://www.rensenhouseoflights.com">www.rensenhouseoflights.com</a></p><p>&#x95;<harsh>Wilson Lighting:</strong> 10530 Marty St., Overland Store, 913-642-1500, <a href="http://www.wilsonlighting.com">www.wilsonlighting.com</a>

Source: Kansas City Star

Hot Dog in Oil Burns Kitchen

22.09.11

A ten-year-old cooking a hot dog in oil saw the pan explode into flames Wednesday evening. She attempted to put it out with water, and the relations extinguished the flames by the time the Danbury Fire Department arrived a few minutes later.

The fire was contained within the kitchen, according to Intermediary Fire Marshal Jim Russell. The smoke alarms throughout the house were sounding when the first fire part personnel arrived.

The fire displaced a family of five, who had to spend Wednesday evening in a hotel, accommodations provided by the American Red Cross.

Russell said undeterred by the quick knock down of the fire, equipment showed the second-confuse apartment had elevated carbon-monoxide levels, so the kinfolk was not allowed to stay in the apartment.

The fire damaged a kitchen cabinet, and an exhaust fan. Smoke expense was extensive.

"It wasn't liveable for the night," Russell said.

The American Red Touchy helped the family with temporary lodging and financial aid, said Paul Shipman, communications big cheese with the American Red Cross. He said the Red Cross providing abundance kits, containing age and gender appropriate personal control items such as toothbrushes, deodorant, shaving supplies and other items a kith and kin might not have been able to gather in the rush to escape the fire.  Children's kits take in a stuffed toy. 

Source: Patch.com