Kitchen Ideas, Tips & Guides

Kitchen renovations are a serious commitment of time, money, and patience. If you’re considering upgrading your outdated, inefficient kitchen or are in the midst of a down-to-the-stud renovation, now is the time to decide what design features will make your life easier. After all, you don’t want or get a re-do anytime soon.  Would an appliance garage clear a cluttered countertop, or would a beverage station come in handy? To narrow down the top features you should consider adding to your kitchen, we tapped Ami McKay, president and principal designer of Vancouver-based PURE Design: Interior Design, Build, & Shoppe Read on for her seven smart suggestions.

ILOVE TO COOK FROM MY GARDEN, but it never occurred to me that any *real* cooks would be stopping by. Sara Kate Gillingham-Ryan, cookbook author and proprietor of The Kitchn blog on the giant Apartment Therapy network, and her husband, AT founder Maxwell, were the first bloggers to wish me well online when I left my career to live in my garden in 2008, and I’d said “come by sometime if you’re in the area.” And guess what? The result was a visit filled with great conversation and some of my simple-but-fresh food, including a pizza (my specialty), and now a lovely story and slideshow on Sara Kate’s blog.

I first met Deb Perelman in my former life, when I worked for Martha Stewart. It was late 2007 or early 2008—a millennium ago in internet years—and we’d invited in a group of bloggers we admired to get better acquainted.  Deb sat to my left (and beyond her was Heidi Swanson of 101Cookbooks.com, with the founders of Apartment Therapy and theKitchn.com across the table, and more). I think that gathering is what crystallized my intention to start a website: such an inspiring group.But I digress. If you haven’t visited Smitten Kitchen, prepare to be entertained, educated, and called to action.DEB PERELMAN is a self-taught home cook, and is funny in that self-deprecating way I love (often using the cross-out strikethrough key on her editing dashboard to good effect). On the blog, and in the new cookbook, Deb invites you into her kitchen, and family, teaching you (her Tips section online alone is worth a visit, let alone all her recipes) while tempting you. You always come away hungry…until you get out the ingredients

Each of her 150 recipes is delightfully prefaced with what amounts to its provenance: a juicy and sometimes hilarious back story that Clark tells in as simple yet deft a fashion as the style of the dish that follows. I sat right down to chapters like “Better Fried” and “It Tastes Like Chicken” and “My Mother’s Sandwich Theory of Life,” the perfect mix of a good read and a good meal.For me—a flavor-fearing kid who rinsed most of her entrees off at the sink conveniently positioned halfway between the Garland range and the family dinner table—Clark’s childhood tales are positively hair-raising: Summer vacations were spent touring France with her psychiatrist parents, gourmands determined to eat at every Michelin-starred restaurant there. Worse yet (or to Clark, more thrilling): Th

I almost went for Nigel Slater‘s baked onions with Parmesan and cream, and oh, the chickpea and sweet potato curry called out, too (it calls for pumpkin and onions both).“The Kitchen Diaries” is a book about “right food, right place, right time,” in Slater’s words, and though the precise diary days he fills in this delicious year may not match mine, exactly—Slater is in England—they unfold in similar order.  “Learning to eat with the ebb and flow of the seasons is the single thing that has made my eating more enjoyable,” he writes, eschewing the modern-day supermarket’s all-possibilities-all-the-time approach.Slater’s kitchen doors open onto a small urban London garden, and as I read the recipes and other musings on the weeks and months in the year, I can imagine him moving in and o

In canning and freezing season, it’s having just the right funnel to fill the jars, the one that really fits. Year round, it’s having reusable bee’s-wax wraps that allow me to sharply reduce my use of plastic wrap (have you tried them yet?). Or a glass teapot so I can see how the brew is shaping up.In my tiny kitchen, I don’t have room for many gadgets, so the ones I have really have to work, like the immersion blender that has all but retired my actual counter-hogging blender, or the super-durable electric kettle that signals the

If you’re tossing your food scraps in the waste bin, then you are losing plenty of important stuff that could otherwise be very beneficial for plants. Surprised? Here’s how you can use them with the help of these DIY Fertilizer Recipes from Food Scraps & Kitchen Leftovers!

Overtime, kitchen aesthetics have evolved, and the standard has become simple, sleek, and stainless steel. While stainless steel appliances are sophisticated, retro kitchens have an unmatched charm. If you're in favor of curvaceous figures and lively colors matched with antique details and modern technology, consider adding retro charm to your kitchen with these nine vintage-inspired appliances.

Your boring kitchen walls can become more animated with the use of greenery and DIY wall arts and if you are looking for such ideas, scroll down to observe these kitchen wall decor ideas with plants.

Utilize the open space of a window in your cooking place and add greenery with the help of these awesome Pictures of Houseplants on Kitchen Windowsill!

This spring, many of us are busy in our kitchen gardens. But whether you are an experienced gardener who has been growing your own for many years, or a new gardener making your first forays into food production, there are some common mistakes you might be making. 

These Beautiful Colorful Kitchen Ideas with Plants are for you if you love little blingy interiors with a touch of nature!

If you’re looking for some out-of-the-box DIY planter ideas to grow your houseplants, these Indoor Planter Ideas from Kitchen Items will inspire you to do some cool experiments.

The transitional days from winter to spring and summer to autumn are visually the most inspiring to me. Trying to spot the very first subtle changes that signal the arrival of a new season brings a quiet feeling of rejuvenation and mentally kick-starts my motivation for fresh projects, both indoors and out. Summer, however, is the season when I slow down – or at least try to – to observe and relish the completed projects of seasons past as well as a garden in lush, fresh bloom.

Do you Love Plants in your Home? Your pantry can be a great place to flaunt greenery! Then Follow these 56 Garden in Kitchen Ideas!

Do you want to cultivate eatables in your pantry? Here’s a detailed insight on the Kitchen Plants that Grow in Water that you can have easily.

Have unused items in your kitchen? How about using them to grow plants? Here are 21 DIYs that will teach you to reuse kitchen items for indoor gardening.

A kitchen garden is perfect way to grow your own fresh, healthy and tastiest vegetables, sweet and juicy fruits and aromatic herbs. A kitchen garden is a gardening space nearer to your kitchen where you grow food. If you’re an urban gardener and you don’t have much space or you have a balcony, patio or terrace– you can still make a kitchen garden in pots. For this, you need to acquire a space that is for maximum yield receives at least 6 hours of sun. However, you can also grow a few vegetables in shade. See our guide on vegetables you can grow in shade.

Check out the most Genius Ways to Use Space Above Your Kitchen Cabinets and use it creatively to make the best use of the available room!

Want to enjoy cooking food outdoors, but don’t have space? Don’t worry, Balcony Garden Web is here for you! Check out our 8 exclusive outdoor balcony kitchen ideas. Copy one of them to start preparing and enjoying your meals outside in the open air with your family and friends!

Check out these DIY Rose Fertilizer and Remedies available right in your kitchen! These are pocket friendly and the best ways to grow healthy and productive rose bushes.

The ancient principles of Feng shui say the kitchen is the ‘heart of the home.’ It represents prosperity, nourishment, and health. Apart from being a vital part of our life, it can also usher abundance and good health if you grow these Lucky Indoor Plants For Kitchen!

Whether you have a green thumb or are just starting to explore the wonders of gardening, we’ve got you covered with Great Tips For Starting A Kitchen Garden Every Beginner Should Know! Don’t know how to build a kitchen garden or how to start a kitchen garden? Do not worry! Join us as we unveil the ultimate guide for beginners venturing into the delightful realm of Starting A Kitchen Garden.

The Spruce / Illustration by Kailey Whitman / Lowe's

If you’ve got a balcony, you can use it to create a Balcony Kitchen Garden to produce homegrown, fresh vegetables and flavorful herbs, and even manageable fruit plants.

Instead of having a dull and deserted balcony where you usually keep your trash or old, unused items; chairs with faded color, brooms, or vacuum cleaner–you can use it to create a tiny balcony KITCHEN garden. Which, when the time comes will reward you with the HARVEST of aromatic herbs, fresh and organic vegetables, and juicy plump fruits with great flavor that you can never get from store-bought edibles!

You may feel surprised to know that there are several Fruits You Can Grow from Seeds and Leftovers from Kitchen easily! It can be fun to cultivate them while you enjoy the delicious taste of the homegrown harvest.

We have some useful DIY Kitchen Hacks and Projects that will make your work a lot easier in your home and garden!

Instead of trashing old kitchen items or utensils like; tea cups, saucepan, forks, and teapots make a smart use of these things in your garden. For inspiration check this post on Best DIY Garden Ideas Using Kitchen Item & Utensils.

The next time you work in the cookroom, be careful about what you throw away as there are some Kitchen Scraps that can Become Future Houseplants! Read ahead to find out more!

Here’s a detailed list of theKitchen Residues & Leftovers That You Can Use in Your Garden to keep your green friends happy!

It's no secret that greenery helps to brighten your mood and elevate a space. Houseplants are a great way to add a pop of color to your home, especially if you opt for a stylish pot or planter — and even if you're no gardening expert, there are so many great indoor plants that are almost impossible to kill. Plants can add a relaxing element to your bedroom, energize your office space or even enhance your kitchen with the calming power of nature.

Mentioned in Egyptian papyrus writings from as early as 1500 B.C., Fenugreek (Trigonella foenum-graecum) is one of the oldest cultivated medicinal plants known. This ancient herb has strongly aromatic and flavorful seeds and leaves which are universally popular for their well-recognized culinary, as well as medicinal properties.Fenugreek belon

Wouldn’t it be convenient if you could regrow all of your veggies from scraps? It’s an intriguing idea, which might explain why it is discussed so much in various corners of the internet.It is true that growing some leafy veggies

I can’t tell you how much fun it is to create beauty from kitchen waste. I also really love free plants.With pineapple (Ananas comosus), you can

The kitchen is the heart of the home, and as a result, it's natural for it to attract a lot of stuff. From kitchen appliances and gadgets to dinnerware, pantry items, food, and even personal belongings, it’s easy to overwhelm the space and fill it with things you don’t really need.