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Editor's Notepad

Kitchen & Bath Design Resources

By Official Fine Homebuilding Post
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Browse through this collection of ingenious details and those in the articles below to find inspiration for your own kitchen and bathroom projects.

The Fine Homebuilding archives are full of design tips and material reviews that could help you to plan your dream project. To make things easier for you, we’ve created this collection of some of the best kitchen and bath articles from our magazine departments.

Ideas for making kitchens more functional, comfortable, and attractive

 

Add a booth

Drop-in Dining

 

To accommodate visits from grown children and many grandchildren in his parents’ relatively small kitchen, architect Tom Catalano designed this booth for their Maine home. A semicircular nook with a drop-leaf table was the perfect answer to maximizing both seating space and water views…

Read more about this and other booths, nooks, and banquettes

 Bookshelf divider

Bookshelf Divider Unites House

 

The rear portion of the clients’ house was split in half by a wall that created two too-small areas: one a back entry/mudroom, the other a breakfast alcove.

Read more about this breakfast-alcove transformation

 
A Window Seat with a Garden View

A Window Seat with a Garden View

 

When Bill Mastin started working with Michael and Lianne, they expressed a fondness for the cozy quarters in their vintage 1920s bungalow. They needed to enlarge the house a bit to accommodate the whole family as the kids got older, but they didn’t want to lose the sense of coziness. They also love books, and they prize reading as a shared family activity. That’s just one of the ways that the 3-ft. by 7-ft. window seat at the south end of the kitchen gets used…

Read more about this window seat

 
baking on the go

Baking On the Go

 

My clients asked me to design a multipurpose kitchen/family room flexible enough to accommodate many tasks, including baking. However, they didn’t want a dedicated baking area that would interfere with other activities or overwhelm the rest of the kitchen.

Read more about this roll-out baking station

Find ways to make your bathroom more efficient and more fun

 

Slide to Hide the Mirror

Slide to Hide the Mirror

Bathroom space always comes at a premium, so during the renovation of our upstairs bathroom, I designed a sliding privacy door for the toilet alcove. But instead of a typical pocket-door setup, I indulged in a bit of whimsy and bought exposed sliding-door hardware from Barn Door Hardware (www.barndoorhardware.com). Later in the project, a problem arose when it came time to balance views, light, and the need for a mirror over the sink…

Read more about this hideaway mirror

Wake Up to a Hot Shower

Wake Up to a Hot Shower

Most of us need a good jolt in the morning. The question is, does your shower deliver? If your daily vertical immersion is a yawner, consider the lessons to be learned from the following bathroom designs. In each, the inventive use of materials, space, and style provides an eye-opening start to the day.

Read more about these inventive shower designs

Better Bathroom Storage

Better Bathroom Storage

The house I grew up in had only one full bathroom, which my parents, sister, brother, and I shared. Somehow, we made it work, as do millions of families today. But almost any bathroom will work better if a little more storage is added to the mix

Read more about these great bathroom-storage ideas

Foot-Pedal Powered Faucet

Foot-Pedal Powered Faucet

The foot-pedal faucet in our bathroom is really a new application of an existing technology used mostly in the medical field. For us, it was a great way to reduce our water usage, to reinforce the clean modern lines of the bathroom, and to make the sink more fun to use…

Read more about these custom faucet controls

One-Step Storage

One-Step Storage

We’re not a short family, so when we renovated a first-floor half-bath, I wanted to raise the vanity height to 36 in. But we also have a 4-year-old, Max. Rather than rely on one of those little step stools that floats around the bathroom, we collaborated with our cabinetmaker…

Read more about this custom drawer-step combo

Fine Homebuilding Recommended Products

Fine Homebuilding receives a commission for items purchased through links on this site, including Amazon Associates and other affiliate advertising programs.

Graphic Guide to Frame Construction

Now in it’s 5th edition, Rob Thallon’s book for builders has been a go-to resource for decades. This book features clear graphics that will help you understand how nearly all American houses are — or should be — built.
Buy at Amazon

All New Kitchen Ideas that Work

Kitchens are one of the most important rooms in the house. It's where we pack in the most function and spend the most money, so you want something that's convenient and inspiring — this book will help you get there.
Buy at Amazon

All New Bathroom Ideas that Work

Everyone wants their bathrooms to be beautiful, but few know the challenge of arranging all the fixtures, storage, and convenience of a great bathroom into one of the smallest space in our homes. This book has hundreds of ideas to inspire you.
Buy at Amazon

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  1. Edward1234 | May 15, 2013 04:06am | #1

    Thanks for this post.you might be interested in checking out fine luxury homes by Brejnik Fine Homes (www.brejnik.ca). They build fine luxury houses. Brejnik team consists of qualified and trusted: Architects, Interior Designers, Appraisers / Lenders, Trades & Suppliers, Geo-technical engineers, Structural Engineers, Arborists, Landscape Architects, Pool & Water Feature.

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