Kitchen Stool

My mother made this awesome stool for son's birthday present this year. You may think "why a stool for a 3 year olds birthday present", but what you don't know is that my son loves being in the kitchen with me and he isn't quite tall enough to help out without a stool. This stool gives him an extra boost to reach the countertop and help with cooking preparation and washing dishes. We love this stool and it has become part of the kitchen.
Since this stool has come into our lives, there have been some great memories made and also some not so good. Like yesterday, when I was flying around the kitchen trying to get dinner made before the "big" storm came and I rammed my shin into the side of the stool. But don't get me wrong, I would much rather have the stool then not.

During my "ouch" dance and holding my shin, I thought to myself, I need a storage solution for this stool. I haven't found the perfect spot yet, but I did come across this wonderful system for a kitchen stool as I was browsing the catalog.

This stool is stored in the toe kick of kitchen cabinetry. I would recommend this system to anyone with small children. A stool in the kitchen can bring a family a lifetime of memories.

Remodeling Just Got Easier

Dan Luck introduces the new Bella Boxes and how we can help make remodeling a bit easier for our clients.

Creating an Outdoor Kitchen

In the last post I talked about dreams of an outdoor living space. I asked "how do you enjoy your outdoor area?" Did you come up with an answer, or did you start dreaming like I did? It is time to make that dream come true with the wonderful cabinetry and appliances designed for the outdoors. Take your party outside!

Outdoor cabinetry is a beauty in itself, with the crisp clean look of stainless steel. Add some stone around the stainless cabinets and you can create a warm and inviting kitchen area.

Danver Stainless Steel Cabinetry has created a wide range of cabinetry for the outdoors with industrial grade 20-gauge stainless steel. You can choose from 8 different door styles to achieve the ultimate look of your outdoor kitchen. Danver also provides mobile kitchen carts, floating shelves and pullout recycle/trash bins. Another great feature; these cabinets can stand up to the cold Wisconsin winters.

Don't just entertain outside, take the whole kitchen with you. Subzero/Wolf appliances launched an outdor design guide to help with all your planning needs. They offer an under counter refrigerator, ice maker, gas grills, warming drawer, burner module, side burner and accessories to outfit any size kitchen.
Visit http://www.subzero.com/outdoorkitchen/ to get started.
After hearing the exciting news of an outdoor refrigerator and ice maker, I did have one question. Can we use it in Wisconsin? Rick Simler from Grand Appliance and TV was kind enough to answer this question for me. He states "During the winter months, the appliance should go into storage mode (either turn off or turn on low). Once the temperatures outside drop below the refrigeration temperature, the appliance will start to warm up the inside instead of keep cool." Rick also mentions that items should be emptied from the appliance over the winter months, but the appliance can be stored outside in its original place. The refrigerator and ice maker can not be free standing and must be built-in to cabinetry.

Knowing my guests do not have to go in and out of the house for beverages, has me wanting to entertain a lot more. Take the entire party (guest and cooking) all the way outside!

Outdoor Living

6 years ago this May, my husband and I received our first grill as a wedding present. This past weekend, the grill had its final cooking and the task of finding a new one began. It didn't take long to find a replacement and while we were at the store my son and I found ourselves lounging on the outdoor furniture.

Oh how I love outdoor furniture and everything that goes with it. The ambiance of the outdoors, the sun shining down on you or relaxing under an umbrella, I get lost in a world of calm when I am in the backyard. I have dreams of screening in our porch or making a four season's room to extend the enjoyment of summer a few more months out of the year. How do you enjoy the outdoors? Do you have a deck, patio, screened in porch or four season's room? How have you extended your living area to the outdoors?

Photo courtesy of TZ of Madison