An open kitchen starts with an open mind

By Gale

We all agree that the kitchen is the most important room in the house. It is the best reflection of you and your family’s lifestyle.  Do not be swayed by the opinions of others. However, while that is easy to say, it's not so easy to do.

Recently I helped a friend who had fallen in love with the image of an open plan kitchen, and she was trying hard to fit that idea into her older closed kitchen. The clip she had saved from a magazine was really gorgeous, but like a jigsaw puzzle, the piece has to fit into the space allotted. And that is where her plans for the dream kitchen fell apart.  Here are some things to consider if you are pondering opening up your kitchen:

• What walls are you planning to eliminate to create the open plan kitchen? Are they load-bearing walls or can they be safely removed without affecting the structural integrity of your house? A good contractor or designer can help you determine that.

• If you are knocking down a wall, how much cabinet space are you losing as a result? Where are you planning to relocate what is stored inside those cabinets?

• Do you have to move plumbing or electric outlets to achieve your goal? Check on the cost of doing so before moving ahead.

• Will your cooking or cleanup space be visible from the adjoining room? If you are a messy cook, think about creating a visual barrier such as a raised counter so your guests cannot see the clutter.

• Does the new color scheme work with the existing colors in the spaces beyond? You should coordinate the colors from one room to another; they do not have to match but should be in the same family. This applies to countertop selections as well as cabinets.

Obviously, this doesn't cover all of the considerations you should take into account when opening up your kitchen, but this should serve as the starting point to getting you the dream kitchen that you want.

The Urban Pioneer: My Place In the Heart of Minneapolis

By Andrea, The Urban Pioneer

My little corner in the city was the first place I looked at during the house hunt. I fell in love with the character, the location and the fact that it has a garage...tough to come by and much needed in Minneapolis. This little urban condo has original craftsman style doors, a dining room built-in cabinet, high ceilings, crown molding, hard-wood floors and an awesome screened in front porch. I'm looking for a way to combine the old character charm and a new urban feel, like this place.

I put an offer in after one quick walk through never thinking they would take my bid. I was told I was 4th on the list. Well, two days later I find out I am now the proud owner of a 1911 condo in the heart of Minneapolis!

With keys in hand, I opened the door to my new home and realized I was looking through what I'll call 'light pink, not rose, colored glasses' during my initial visit. While the place still has it charm...and garage, it also has a major list of fix ups. With a little elbow grease, a lot of idea hunting and the help of family and friends, I know I can take this urban condos potential and turn it into reality. Now it's time to get to work!

The Urban Pioneer

By Andrea, The Urban Pioneer

Hello, and welcome to my journey as the Urban Pioneer! Over the next few months you’ll get to know me, my Minneapolis condo and the journey of my urban life.

Let's start with who I am. I’m new (again) to the Twin Cities; I grew in Minnesota but took what I call a brief tour of the upper-Midwest before making it back 15 years later. It is great to be back in Minneapolis…even with the winters…and they are bad. I love to volunteer, play a little tennis and drink a great wine with friends on a fabulous roof-top deck.

I love to dream up projects around the house, and boy have I found the right place for that! (more on 'the project list' later) I am fortunate to have a very talented and supportive family who are all handy around the house; a dad who can replicate most any wooden furniture and a mom who can sew a curtain in no time flat. With their help, a lot of time, and some blogging along the way, I’m hoping I can whip my ‘new to me’ urban condo into a place I’m proud to call home.

Young mom asks for design help

by Gale Steves

Seldom do I meet the perfect demographic, but then I became acquainted with Barbara, a young, stay-at-home mother with two kids under the age of six. She apologizes that she is not working full-time, (Hers, in my book, is a full-time job of mothering). However, she volunteers for at least community charity and is an active member of her church.

Some might categorize her as "Gen Y," but I see her as a Frugal Mom. As the family budget shrank, so did her travel and entertainment outside of the house. In fact, her home has become even more important as a gathering place for family and friends. Barbara admits to being an online coupon clipper as well as often refers friends to internet sites and deals. Most of this happens when the kiddies are tucked in bed, after 8 PM.

Since the home has become her focus, she is making a good pennywise step in replacing her countertops in her kitchen as a baby step for making a larger color change in the kitchen. She calls it her "everything" room.

I met her because she wanted help making a selection. She has ruled out granite and stone as too costly, but I pointed her to the new laminate alternatives that mimic travertine and natural stone, an upscale look she fancied from design blogs she follows.  We settled on Golden Travertine premium laminate from Wilsonart because it was a mid-range color, which would not show as much dirt as a very light color or as a very dark one. That was the easy part. . . now she faces which edge treatment is the most kid-friendly.  Barbara will do her online research and read reviews before making up her mind.

I have full confidence that she has made a good decision, and the downtime in her kitchen is really a few hours of inconvenience and disruption when the new counter surface is installed for a dramatic transformation. The Frugal Mom wins again!