Kitchen Insider: Designing for the heart of your home

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March-April 2014

AtHomeNJ.com

7

Wood counters by Grothouse Lumber/photos Christian Garibaldi

A hand-crafted island, topped with an 11-foot cut of cherry wood, adds warmth and contrast to custom cabinetry in a kitchen by Heidi Piron. The permanent waterproof finish resists scars.

Kitchen Insider: Designing for the heart of your home The choices one has to make for a kitchen can Finding your kitchen designer be nothing short of overwhelming. An avid cook I always think word-of-mouth is best. Ask your wants a wood countertop, for example. Cherry, friends, builder, architect or interior designer for walnut, tiger wood or mahogany? What cut do referrals. Friends who have recently gone through you select? Flat grain, edge grain or an end grain a remodel are often happy to walk you through and cut? What edge profile? Which discuss the critical decisions. finish is most durable and easiest to Before meeting a kitchen designer, maintain? become familiar with his or her work A kitchen designer has the experonline. There should be a good variety tise to help with all those details. I of styles — traditional, contemporary, like to use a medical analogy to extransitional. You’ll want to get the plain my role as a kitchen designer. sense that you won’t be railroaded If you broke your leg, you wouldn’t into a cookie-cutter kitchen. If you go to a heart surgeon to set the bone. are wowed by the design, which is That’s the orthopedist’s specialty; it’s what I aim for, there’s a good chance what he does day in, day out. you’ll be pleased with the options that While architects and interior kitchen designer would present. designers are knowledgeable about The design fee for a kitchen is kitchen design, the kitchen designer relatively small, and my clients often HEIDI PIRON is the expert. Kitchens are complex, tell me it’s the best investment they’ve and the design landscape is conmade. Even with luxury kitchens, clients want to be stantly changing. As specialists, it is our job to smart in spending what they’ve budgeted. Applianckeep up with innovations in materials and appli- es are a large percentage of the budget, and I believe ances to offer our clients the best choices. the best investment is a high-end refrigerator, since In effect, a kitchen designer’s skills combine it runs 24/7. I may then suggest less expensive, those of an architect and an interior designer. high-quality options in other areas. We create scaled drawings, translate them into It’s my aim to create a kitchen that reflects a climechanical details for builders, and manage the ent’s personality and lifestyle. It’s about listening, installation of countertops, appliances, custom respecting my client’s ideas and budget, and transcabinetry and interior design elements. lating that into a kitchen that exceeds their desires. A kitchen designer helps you define your style Heidi Piron is an award-winning kitchen designer. and narrow your options. Our expertise guides See her work at HeidiPiron.com. Visit Heidi Piron you in making the best design decisions for how Design & Cabinetry by appointment at 44 Maple St., you live and how you use your kitchen. 2nd Floor, Summit. (908) 598-0035.

For another island, espresso-colored wenge wood tops European applewood.