A Fabulous Piece of Decor

Even though I knew it from the very deep bottom of my heart that the chance of me taking full advantage of a kitchen is as slim as G.W. Bush getting through a public speech without any mispronunciation, I was still dying for a glittering food making (or massing) stage fully equipped with top-chef class appliances. So here it is, the dazzling center piece of my home decoration - kitchen.

The entire cabinetry is from IKEA. I am mixing two series from IKEA's kitchen collection: Linjar and Abstrakt. This combination is interesting in a sense that Abstrakt is one of the best selling series in US market while Linjar is probably the worst. In fact, IKEA has decided to discontinue Linjar and sell all its current stock for half of the original price. It really surprised me. Linjar is the only IKEA cabinetry with integrated handle, its glossy surface, minimal design and vivid color compose the typical European style that has been the hottest trend in today's home renovation market. I found it hard to believe that the sales don't perform well. The only thing I can think of is the bold color which can be hard to accommodate. But to my design, Linjar is a perfect fit and I certainly didn't have any complaint about IKEA's 50% off sale (^^)v

One good thing about buying IKEA kitchen is that you can download its kitchen design program and have a visual perception of how the kitchen will look like. You can do all your design at home and upload your plan to IKEA's server and place your order at any store. It is a great tool for control freaks like me who want to be completely in charge of every detail. Here are a few images from my IKEA kitchen plan.






The back splash is my favorite. I am using 1" glass mosaic to cover the entire wall. The gradient pattern has a zippy name "Disco", perfect for its dancy rhythm and invigorating luster.

For the countertop, I spent quite some time shopping around, but eventually I decided to go with IKEA's Numerar birch. I really like the warm feeling of butchers block and IKEA's low price is just impossible to resist. The floor tile is 18" square porcelain. The light gray color echoes Linjar's handle while the matte surface keeps the glossy blue from overpowering the space.

During the renovation, I had such a hard time convincing my contractor that I would prefer appliances smaller than standard size even if that means spending more money. I don't blame him for looking at me as if my brain is flood-damaged. In a country that believes "the bigger the better", the philosophy "small is smart" doesn't fly. But to me, big means inefficient space, wasted resource, and clumsy looking. My kitchen is only about 70 sq ft, any standard American size will make the space look crampy and awkward. Instead, all my appliances are cabinet fitting. I asked my contractor to "fake" a build-in looking for the LG refrigerator to coordinate the 24" wall oven.