Open up your

NO longer considered a work-
space with four walls where the
cooking mess is hidden while
eating in the dining room,
kitchens are designed to be
open to other rooms.

In secking warmth and comfort dur-
Ing the Winter montis, we tend te spend
mare ume in the kitchen--reating a
cozy feeling, with food, drink, niusic and
triends.

“Most of our renovation work,” says
kitchen designer Paul Bryant, “focuses
on getting rid of walls in’ kitchens.
People are secing kitchens as the sociable
part of the house and are designing them
with room for guests and a good work-
ing space, so the host can still be part of
the action.”

An island with a counter overhang,
allowing guests to pull up a stool and
indulge in a little taste-testing and good
conversation, provides a social centre for
the kitchen. The real bonus is the large
workspace and cflicient storage for pots
and pans. There’s nothing worse than a
pot cupboard threatening an avalanche
cach time it is opened.

To make better use of cupboard space
Bryant recommends a pantry with wire
mesh drawers installed in the seven foot
high space. The drawers make items casy
to see and organize and with a two foot
depth there is ample storage space.
Finished off with a single or double
bifold in wood or custom painted, a
pantry can be a beautiful and practical
addition to the kitchen.

Both designers and appliance manu-
facturers are looking for better ways to
incorporate microwaves into kitchen
design.

“The best unit Pve seen,” says
Bryant, “is a combination
microwave /fan that is installed over the
stove where the range hood normally is.”
Costing about one third more than a
good fan, this unit gets the microwave

ss

Photo Neoz Lighting

THE kitchen is one of the best rooms in the house in which to invest
your renovation dollars — by creating a bright, epen room with iots of
work space you'll turn it into the heart of you. home.

off the counter and saves repeated trips
between the microwave and stove during
cooking.

Akhough a warm stove and spicy
smells are part of the recipe that makes a
cozy kitchen, colour is the foundation
ingredient that provides the texture and
the feel of the room.

“Paint is one of the least expensive
ways to change a room, so [ encourage
people to experiment when it comes to
kitchen colours,” says Bryant.

The recent trend in colours is to use
your favorites but choose hues with
depth—ones that are mixed with a medi-
um or dark base rather that a light one.
The fear is that these colours will be too
bright, but the reality is that they are
vibrant and bring a room to life. To get
an idea of colours that will work togeth-
et look for paint chip palettes, or portfo-

358 E 24TH ST., N. VANCOUV

fios, from a particular paint line, rather
than the old paint chip strips.

Whether to look fora cool or a warm
colour is dependent on the atmesphere
you want to create — warm colours will
make a room cozy, cool colours open up
a room and make it airy. Use a cool
colour with dark cupboards or floors to
avoid a closed-in feeling.

Like many interior decorators, Bea
O'Driscoll advises, “Select colours
according to what vou like and never
mind what is in vogue. It has to fit in —
to fit into your style and your colour
scheme.”

More and more, kitchens are the
heart of a home with comfort and effi-
ciency being the main ingredients that
combine to make it a cozy place that
family and friends will want to spend
time in.

{3 yA

ER

FOR THE FAMILY AND "THE FOLKS"

This spacious, updated, well maintained, 2 level home offers 2,400 sq.ft., 5
bdrms, hardwood floors, wrap around balcony and a double garage off lane

Friday. October 16, 19968 — North Shore News - 73

Cooking

gadgets

spark creativity

WHEN thoughts turn
to hearty soups and
intimate dinner parties
during the fall and
winter spark creativity
with some new kitchen
toys.

For cmtertaining. says
Carol MeQuatd of Eelecne
Kitchen. there are beautitul
lines of handpainted pottery
for serving, and: tunky hand-
painted linens Chat are as art
tul as thev are useful. Stainless
steel martini shakers continue
to be popular, but are not
complete without a lemon
zester thar will not only peel
beautiful swirls of lemon but
also fashion a perfect Jemon
twist for carefully concocted
martinis

Throw away the tea ball.
The ritual of tea is fast becom-
ing more popular than coftce,
with a French press style of
teapot to brew soothing infu-
sions of herbs from your gar-
den or the many quality loose
teas now available.

As the apple harvest literal-
ly falls vpon us, an casy way to
clean up the vard or take
advantage of lower prices at
the super market is to get a
Fox Run Craftsman metal
apple machine (around $40).
Apples are skewered onto the
centre tines and with a turn of
the handle are peeled, sliced
and cored; ready to be made
into applesauce, apple butter
or spiced and frozen in one or
two cup amounts fur fresh-
baked pies at your conve-

Tie Ae

imagine a spray on salad
dressimg. Phe Donvier.
Stainless Steel non acrosal
mister (S25) as pret, enough
reserve at the rable tilled with
vour fvaurite of and cinegar
for salads and works great
seth oils for non suck cook
ing. gniling and baking.

As far as new small appli
ance Hems go, savs MeQuaid,
wthe line of stainless steel
apphances like blenders, toast-
ers and coffee makers trom
Cuisinart are the coolest: and
fastest selling items we've
seen.” They also tie in nicely
with the latest staintess stect
refrigerators, stoves and dish-
washers that have been mak-
ing in-roads into the modern
kitchen.

NEW toys, like this juicer,
will turn winter cooking
into an adventure.

ee

2679 PANORAMA DRIVE

OPEN SAT 2-4
#865-160 W. KEITH AD.
CENTRAL LONSDALE

Magnificent panoramic ocean, city & mountain
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and see for yourself

OPEN SUN 2-4
1649 STRATHAVEN DR., N.V.
AS SWEET AS IT GETS!

This Northlands rancher shows like new!
Virtualty rebuilt from the ground up with supeti-
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bdrms., 2 full baths, family rm., skylights, vault-
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iaruels a ee
AMBLES/DE
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LOCATION! VIEWS! VALUE!

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Only 3 units per fioor. Lots of storage and best
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NOW $259,900 §

§ Charming character view home. First time

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1 NEED LISTINGS!

CALL FOR A FREE,
NO OBLIGATION
MARKET
EVALUATION
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512-3451