Best Kitchen Storage 2014 Ideas : Packed Cabinets and Drawers

Every room in the house could use a little extra storage. Install these storage-packed shelves, drawers, and cabinets to make the most of your kitchen storage.

Outfit a stand alone dresser for entertaining. Keep bottles for simple drinks on display and hide everything else below. Store ice buckets, napkins, and glassware close by.

Gather linens into groups with large metal clips and stagger so each set is visible. Use small bowls or plates to separate napkin rings and other dining accessories.

Corner cabinets can be awkward and hard to utilize. A trio of pullout drawers creates usable space that may otherwise be wasted.

No more dragging out the toaster and coffee maker every morning add outlets inside a cabinet and group small appliances together. The cabinet doors slide inside to keep the appliances and the rest of the room accessible at the same time.

A deep drawer pulls out from a seating area to reveal art and craft supplies. These items are perfect to keep kids busy until dinner is ready.

Pantry organization is key to knowing what you have and finding what you need. Organize goods by shelf dry goods in clear containers, canned goods and baskets for loose items.

Transfer spices into matching tins to keep your collection organized. See what you have at a glance and never have three jars of cumin again.

Put a pantry at eye-level with pullout drawers to make mealtime easy. Pullout shelves help to see items at the back of the pantry, so nothing ever gets lost.

Spatulas and spoons are easy to find with drawer separators. When every utensil has a place, your drawer will be organized and will close every time.

Add a drawer to your island for storing cooking oils, spices, and more. Since this drawer is double sided, there is no digging to find what you're looking for: Everything is in plain sight.

Wine is easily accessible in cubbies added to the end of an island. Below, a pullout shelf gives access to the most used dishes and platters.

Make use of unused space under cabinets with a toe kick drawer. These shallow drawers are perfect for tablecloths, runners, and napkins. Sort by color or season to reduce search time.

When remodeling your kitchen, customize drawers to fit your needs. In this kitchen, special drawers are just deep enough to hold a wine bottle. These drawers store several bottles of wine on their sides.

A home's junk drawer doesn't have to be a mess. Simple dividers section this drawer and keep everything organized. Use small dishes for loose items like change, keys, and paper clips.

Outfit a narrow pullout cabinet with wood dowels or window treatment hardware. Drape table linens and dish cloths over the dowels for wrinkle-free storage.

Get bread off the counter and within easy reach with a special drawer. The acrylic lid keeps bread fresh and easy to find.

Keep your kitchen knives handy and safe with built-in storage. A knife rack inside of a drawer gives each knife a place and prevents knives from sliding around.

In the past, bottom-of-the-range storage consisted of a single oven drawer stuffed to the brim. But these below cooktop compartments allow ample room beneath the burners for pots, pans, and matching lids. What's even better is that they keep pots and pans close to where they're used most.

Keep table linens at the ready with shallow drawers under a banquette seat. Pullout drawers are easier to access than flipping up the seat, upsetting cushions, pillows, and even diners.

Tight spaces don't come with a lot of swing room, so install narrow pullout cabinets or units with hinged doors. Tall locker style drawers are great for separating each family member's belongings. The system features a perforated metal panel that can hold items on both sides.

Hide trash and recycling receptacles inside a deep cabinet. Retrofit cabinets with a simple pullout system to accommodate multiple bins.

Furniture that performs multiple functions is the key to smart storage solutions. This cabinet has simple shelf storage as well as drawers, maximizing the items that can be stored here.

Limit overhead lifting in your kitchen by storing dishes in low drawers near a sink or dishwasher. Metal racks corral plates and bowls and can easily be lifted out and carried where they are needed.

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American Furniture

Is there is a difference between 'furniture made in America', 'American furniture 'and 'American made furniture'?' First, the term 'America' has to be defined, since strictly the USA, the South American continent and Canada are all 'America!'

While this might seem pedantic, the term 'Made in America' shall henceforth refer to products made in the USA. If you look at the qualification to use this label on furniture or any other manufactured product, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) does not require any prequalification to use the label or the term: any firm can do so for any product, made in the USA or not, and would only be discovered should a challenge be made.

What Does Made in America Mean?

Also, what does the term mean? If an American company imports wood, glass, brackets, hinges and door knobs and then assembles them in the USA, is the piece 'Made in America?' There is no specific definition although the claim generally means that the majority of the raw materials or parts needed to manufacture the product originate in the USA.

An alternative qualification is permitted, namely that that a piece can be "made in the USA of U.S. and imported parts." According to the FTC, the input of foreign material should be negligible at most. Great - now define 'negligible!' Believe it or not, this is a matter of great debate, and with respect to American furniture, a large proportion of furniture labeled as such contains wood and other parts that do not originate from this country.

Many American furniture manufacturers, however, can genuinely use the 'Made in America' label, because it is 100% American - American employees, wood from local forests and American accessories. In these cases, the term really does refer to the USA, and not Canada, Mexico or South or Central America. There is nothing against these other countries, because they can manufacture high quality products, but to use the label it should refer to the USA.

Typical American Furniture Manufacturers

Take Simple Amish. This is not only a specific design of furniture offering an almost unlimited combination of customizations, but is made in America by a network of Amish craftsmen and craftswomen. Simply Amish furniture is traditionally constructed using furniture from sustainable forests no farther than 500 miles from the place of manufacture. Even the offcuts are used for children's toys.

The Custom Shoppe is another American furniture manufacturer that uses American grown wood, such as American cherry, walnut and maple. Not many know that American walnut is genuine walnut, while African walnut is more akin to the mahogany or sapele species of tree and not walnut at all.

L. & J.G. Stickley is another American furniture manufacturer with a long pedigree. This firm is known for its unique use of American oak, particularly the quarter sawn oak utilized by Joseph Stickley. All Stickley furniture is made in America using American materials, craftsmanship and employees.

American furniture can be made in America, but much of it uses imported wood and fittings from Asia or Europe. Some buy in the prefabricated units and simply put them together, like you would construct flat-pack furniture. If you buy furniture from supermarkets or multinationals, then it is unlikely it has been hand made in the USA.

What to Look For in American Furniture

What should you look for if you want to be patriotic and buy American furniture? First check the label: the 'Made in America' label is conspicuous, but even if you don't see it on a beautiful secretaire that you love, you still should ask the question. Ask where it has been made, where the wood comes from and how much might be imported. If it is English or French, and looks good, maybe you should make an exception, but that's your choice!

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Holiday Decor With Black and White 2014 Ideas

Mix things up this holiday season by introducing black and white into your Christmas color palette.

Design Star season 7 contestant Britany Simon and designer Brian Patrick Flynn worked together to add an updated, graphic look to an Atlanta home's traditional holiday decor by including strong, contrasting elements of black and white.

From the over scale fabric poinsettias on the Christmas tree to the mix of black-and-white wrapping paper prints, the color combination makes its way around the living room in both a strong and subtle manner.

Designers often add both graphic appeal and colorful updates to hardback books by covering the books with coordinating fabrics. To incorporate black, white and red into the living room, each book was covered with stripes and gingham. By keeping the palette holiday centric, but using patterns meant for year-round use, this ensures the books can remain out once the holidays have passed.

To add holiday flair to the living room's year-round sofa, pillows and throws are layered on and the end tables are decorated with ornaments for a festive, seasonal touch.

Throw pillows are an instant way to add holiday flair to your furniture. As the holiday season rolls in, this living room's sofa is given a quick and easy Christmas makeover with large metallic silk pillows paired with smaller ones featuring a wintry red, white and black plaid pattern.

Fillable clear glass lamps offer the opportunity to change up the look of your task lighting seasonally. In order to bring black, white, red and metallic flair to this living room's pair of lamps, an off white drum shade with a thin band of black detailing was added. The glass body was filled with a combination of red, gold and silver ornaments. Once the holidays pass, the lamps can instantly take on everyday appeal by switching the ornaments out for something different.

Tree skirts offer another opportunity to play with black and white through pattern. During the weeks leading up to Christmas, it's likely the tree skirt will remain bare and you'll be able to see it more clearly. Once covered up with gifts, the skirt will lose its presence. Consider using black mixed with another holiday accent color, then bringing in accents of white through wrapped gifts. This will ensure that your skirt will still remain part of the overall design.

When updating your holiday palette with black and white, it's not necessary to stick with black and white prints specific to the holidays. To dress up this wingback chair, a red and white check pillow was paired with a graphic black and white throw blanket. This look also works for everyday use.

This fireside gift wrapping area continues the black and white theme from the floor to the fireplace and into the Christmas tree thanks to a graphic rug, handmade stockings and a tree decorated mostly with black and natural-toned ornaments.

When it comes to choosing a holiday tree skirt that's a bit less expected than those featuring reindeer or snowflakes, consider plaid or tartan. Not only do plaids and tartans evoke a wintry feeling, but they also bring in a masculine touch which can keep your overall holiday decor as appealing to men as it is to women.

Since the gift wrapping area was designed to be heavy on black and light on white, the tree is dressed mostly with black and natural toned ornaments. This results in a more subtle aesthetic. The played down approach allows the room's main feature, a lighting installation piece over the mantel, to remain the focal point of the space.

For strong, graphic impact, Britany created a lighting installation from three cardboard letters and industrial globe string lights. Once illuminated, the trio of letters instantly becomes the room's main focal point. To balance the intensity of the bright white, black was used heavily in other areas to keep the color scheme balanced.

A little bit of black and white goes a long way. Britany had four custom stockings made for Mom, Dad, daughter and son each featuring a subtle or strong use of black and white.

In order to add pops of color and black and white on the fireside gift wrapping area's mantel, Britany filled three clear glass apothecary jars with tiny gifts using wrapping paper in shades of red, black and white.

Dress up your fireplace this season with small cypress or juniper trees in bold colored pots. If choosing a black or white pot, consider adding a few metallic or red ornaments to the tree. Use a red or green pot for a big punch of color, and use ornaments in black or white to keep the color scheme flowing throughout the tree.

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