Category Archives: Kitchen

Design Center: Lighting

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Lighting at the Fulton Design Center

Lighting at the Fulton Design Center

Most people pay particular attention to the light over their dining room table. Yes, that’s important, but you don’t want to ignore the power of lighting in every room.

With our hot summers, ceiling fans have a place throughout the house. From a cooling breeze over the family room sofa to a breath of fresh air in the kitchen dining area, fans reduce energy bills over the summer by allowing you to feel comfortable at a higher ambient temperature. Bedrooms also benefit from ceiling fans making the nights feel cooler than they really are.

Some lighting options at the Fulton Design Center

Some lighting options at the Fulton Design Center

Above your kitchen island, pendant lights provide both additional task lighting and an opportunity to showcase your style. The Fulton Design Center provides an inviting collection of styles and colors, including traditional looks that complement your dining chandelier. The photo on the right demonstrates how your chandelier can reflect your island pendants. This approach – having the pendant light mirror the dining chandelier but turned upside down – suits the function of each light while maintaining style consistency.

Perhaps you prefer a delightful contemporary glass shade? Fulton offers those at the Design Center in an inviting range of colors and shapes. Whether you would enjoy a vivid pop of red over your island or soft clear amber – these choices and more can be yours. Check the top photo toward the right for a few of your options.

While you’re exploring your kitchen’s lighting, remember to add ceiling spotlights to provide additional ambient light as well as under-counter task lighting to ease meal preparation.

Lighting has an important and often underrated impact on the look and feel of your home. Enjoy the many options available to you at the Fulton Design Center- helping to create a home that is totally yours and completely lovely.

Design Center: Pot filler

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4 Pot Filler Design Center 016Would you appreciate never having to haul a heavy pot of water between your sink and range again? If you enjoy pastas, soups and stews, you may find that a pot filler reduces back strain, prep time and makes meal preparation that much easier.

Even your largest pasta pot will fit under this faucet. Its hinged design means that you can push it out of the way when you don’t need it and grab it easily when you do. Whether you use it to fill large pots or just add water to your saute pan to slow down the cooking, this pot filler will save steps.

By adding metallic tiles to the backsplash, this pot filler is well integrated into the kitchen’s design. The structure allows you to pour water as needed for any pot or pan on your stove.

Are you not sure how much you would use this? Try an experiment. Put a post-it note above your stove and jot a check for every time you fill a pot, pan or kettle with water from the sink before you bring it to your range. You may be surprised at how often you could save yourself the steps if you could access water right at your stove. Now, multiply that by 52 – and don’t forget to factor in holidays, parties and family gatherings which will only add to the sink-to-stove trips. And don’t forget that all those trips include hauling heavy pots filled with water around!

Well, is it worth it for you? A pot filler may be one of your smartest kitchen features!

Design Center: Using the Kitchen Vignettes

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Design Center 016What do you like about this kitchen vignette from the Fulton Design Center? Let’s take a look at just some of the decisions this vignette can help you with when planning your own kitchen.

Stainless or cabinet doors on some appliances? Would you rather have your refrigerator with doors that match your cabinets like this one, or do you want the pop of stainless? You have a good opportunity to see this look, and can check out other vignettes that have stainless refrigerator doors. Also, this is a built-in refrigerator. Open the doors and see if the space would work for your family. Do you like this look better than a stand-alone?

Matching or contrasting island cabinetry? This island shows the same cabinet style – a good design decision – while demonstrating a darker warmer tone for the stain. Are you drawn to this look or would you rather have an island that matches the rest of your kitchen’s cabinets? Even if these aren’t the cabinets you would choose, you can get a good sense of the approach by walking through this kitchen.

Lower drawers or doors or both? More home cooks today have discovered the joy of large lower cabinet drawers. These can hold pots and pans, table linens, and other kitchen staples without the cook bending over and digging through a cabinet to find something.

Cabinet design characteristics: Do you want this staggered profile for the tops of your cabinets or an even approach? Would you prefer more or less crown molding – or maybe no crown molding?

Whatever decisions you need to make for your kitchen, the Fulton Design Center vignettes can help you when designing your own Fulton Home kitchen. So open doors and drawers, walk around and through, turn knobs and faucets and get a feel for what each vignette offers. This experience will help you make educated choices for yourself and your home.

Design Center: Backsplashes

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Backsplash in a Fulton Design Center kitchen vignette.

Backsplash in a Fulton Design Center kitchen vignette.

This backsplash links the cabinets and countertops, highlights the range through a focal-point approach in the tile design, and increases the easy maintenance of the kitchen. The overall design of the inviting horizontal rectangles takes this kitchen into the range of something special. Your backsplash is the art in your kitchen – one place where you can declare your taste with an eye-catching visual.

Would you like the warmth of stone on your backsplash? Perhaps you lean toward the traditional and might select a high-gloss subway tile. This approach, once considered retro, has developed into a high-style choice for kitchens and baths. Maybe you want something modern to add color. Then you may be inclined to choose glass tile in vivid shades and tones. No matter your choice, how about adding some embossed metal tiles to bring in the bling?

With its inviting and extensive selection of tiles, listelles, which are pre-designed rows of tile or stone, materials, colors and textures, your backsplash is one of the best ways to define yourself and your style in your kitchen.

16 Tile Display Design Center 037Use your cabinet and countertop choices as a starting place. Do you want a backsplash that blends in with your selections or something with a strong contrast? You might want to experiment with the Fulton Homes Kitchen Designer on our website to give you some ideas. Then visit our Fulton Design Center kitchen vignettes to see some of the choices our designers made. Once you see some of the possibilities, you can create a backsplash that suits your style and taste. The relatively small square footage of your backsplash allows you to develop the look of your dreams without a severe hit to your budget.

For insight into your many backsplash options, why don’t you visit the Fulton Design Center on one of our browse nights? We’re open the first and third Thursday evenings of every month to allow you to explore at your own pace.

Design Center: Appliances

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Fulton Design Center kitchen vignette

Fulton Design Center kitchen vignette

Dream of a Viking gas range like the one in the above photo? While you’re looking, check out the Viking 30: Built In Warming Drawer, 24″ Undercounter Beverage Center, 24″ Undercounter Dual Zone Wine Cellar. Viking also has refrigerators and microwaves, not to mention range hoods, dishwashers and this gorgeous range in 15 other colors. Viking can help you create an outstanding kitchen.

Screen Shot 2014-07-07 at 12.29.33 PMOr perhaps the Bertazzoni Heritage Series 36″ Gas Range Package in Burgundy cream or black, like the one on the left, seems like the ideal focal point for your new kitchen. You might also consider the Bertazzoni gas cooktop. Both Viking and Bertazzoni have generations of history for quality and functionality designed for the avid in-home chef.

Have you been thinking along the lines of a set of kitchen appliances that have the value-added capability of GE? Then take a look at our gas and electric appliance packages featuring GE, GE Profile, and GE Monogram.

Screen Shot 2014-07-07 at 12.29.47 PMAvailable in stainless or black, GE appliances have a history ofstyle and quality in ranges, cooktops, ovens, hoods, refrigerators and more.

How about adding in a double wall oven? Holidays and baking eases when you have two ovens to work with in your planning.

GE makes both electric and gas models for their kitchen appliances that use gas. Notice the easy-clean approach of this cooktop’s design. These appliances have been designed to make your life easier in the kitchen.

Visit the Fulton Design Center on one of our browse nights – every first and third Thursday evening of every month – to see the broad selection of appliances and appliance packages available for your new, ideal Fulton Home kitchen.

Design Center: Kitchen Plans

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Kitchen 1 (1)Do you have a vision for your perfect kitchen? Perhaps you’ve visited friends with beautiful kitchens, selected some of your favorites from magazines and Pinterest, or just pictured the kitchen you would love to work in every day.

Well, you can do more than just dream of that kitchen; you can create it at the Fulton Design Center. With literally thousands of combinations of cabinets, countertops, flooring, appliances, faucets, lighting and backsplashes, your kitchen plan can come to life.

Cabinets Design Center 032Start by selecting your cabinets. With your choice of woods, styles and stains or paint, and your other options such as glass doors on upper cabinets, you are only limited by your imagination.

Countertops are a good second Design Center 014selection. Do you want granite or quartz? Light or dark, or maybe a gold with streaks of brown or black? Choose your favorite, using the sample of your cabinet choice to help narrow your decision.

Flooring comes as a natural next step, and you want to make sure the choice meshes well with your other selections. Enjoy the rich selection of tile available, possibly choosing one that reflects the tones of your countertop.

You might also take a look at the exciting new option of tile that patterns itself after wood, providing the warmth of that look while also including the low maintenance advantages of tile.

Consider a backsplash that adds a dash of daring to your kitchen space; one that you will enjoy looking at every time you fix a meal in the dream kitchen you planned for yourself. For more ideas, visit the Fulton Homes Pinterest board “Kitchens”.

A Space all your Own

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Kitchen DSC_0292Yes, this is a lovely kitchen. Pendant lights hang down on an oversized island. You have plenty of room to fix even the most complex of meals. But we’re not talking about the kitchen today. Instead, take a look to the left in this photo – to a small room off the kitchen with a built-in desk and cabinets. That space belongs to you.

What would you do with this piece of real estate all your own with no structured purpose? It could be a spot for organizing the household – keeping the family calendar updated along with lists of responsibilities and plans for upcoming weekends.

It could be used to track and pay bills, check email and visit Facebook or Pinterest. Or how about using the space for scrapbooking or writing holiday cards or thank-you notes? The cabinets above the desk could hold extra notepaper or those holiday cards you bought on sale last January – easy to find when November rolls around again.

What about gift wrapping? It might be the place where you keep extra office and school supplies or even some art supplies for emergency homework projects. You could tuck yourself in here every evening with a nice cup of tea and write up your to-do list for tomorrow – or just read a magazine.

Finally, this space could fuel your dreams. Always wanted to start your own business? You could start it here. It’s your space to do with what you want. Fulton Homes wants to help you make all of your dreams come true, and give you the space for it.

Pinterest on Kitchens

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From Fulton Home's Cascade model

From Fulton Home’s Cascade model

If you’re in the process of choosing finishes for your new Fulton Home, you may be challenged by all of the cabinets, countertops and other options. Pinterest provides a great way to start determining the right kitchen look for you. Check out the Fulton Homes Pinterest site and our board Kitchens. There you’ll find many of the kitchens created at the Fulton Design Center as well as in the various model homes.

Wondering if you want dark cabinets? You’ll see a number of kitchens with that choice. On the other hand, if you want painted cabinets take a look to see whether the look appeals to you. You can also get ideas for just the right backsplash, flooring and appliances.

Are you thinking of some special tile choices to make your island stand out? Fulton’s Pinterest board has some good examples. You’ll also see many of the kitchen lighting options in place.

While you’re looking at the photos, you may also want to read some of our past kitchen blogs to gain insights into the design process for your kitchen. You can access them at this site, or review the kitchen blogs on our Pinterest kitchen board.

Fulton Homes on Pinterest has been custom designed to make your home buying experience easier and provide interesting information for you once you’re settled in your new home. We hope you’ll visit it often.

Kitchen/Family Room with Color

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Kitchen DSC_0324Wood cabinetry, granite countertops and tile floors limit the color options unless you are willing to commit to a strong color choice that you will have to live with for a long time. But color can come into a space like this in so many ways.

This kitchen and family room, from the Fulton Homes Cascade model, demonstrates smart ways to introduce color. Let’s take a look.

Glass cabinet displays: Glass in several upper cabinets opens up a space and adds personality. This kitchen takes advantage of the visual by displaying blue plates. Notice that the tile on the side of the island has a blue cast, and this color is carried throughout the kitchen.

Island chairs: Selecting chairs to match the cabinets would be a safe choice, but lacking in creativity. This blue leather brings the plate colors to the other side of the kitchen while the wipe off finish makes them perfect for coping with after-school snack accidents.

Accessories: Placemats, dishes and flowers pull more colors into the space. Other counter accessories and even the items above the cabinets can carry a colorful theme throughout the room.

Family and Kitchen DSC_0306 outdoor connectionFamily room coordination: The family room provides more opportunities to introduce color, and the sofa, window treatments, accessories and throw pillows echo the kitchen colors. \

These choices keep color front-and-center in this family-friendly space. Blue and rust bring the space to life. What colors would you like to see in your kitchen and family room? Whatever you choose, color will warm your home and add interest while saying welcome to you and your guests.

Linking Kitchen and Dining Spaces

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Kitchen20and20Nook20DSC_0244With an open floor plan it’s easy to connect with friends and family when fixing a meal. The distance to the table is short, making the transfer of food to table and dirty dishes back only a few steps.

If you have lived in a home without this kind of space, an open floor plan is a luxury indeed. But planning the décor requires attention to make the space feel unified. This Fulton Home model demonstrates how to connect the kitchen with the dining space. Let’s take a look at some of the decisions that make this space work so well.

Flooring: By staying with dark wood flooring throughout, everything feels like one room. The island provides the only break between the kitchen and dining table.

Cabinetry & Furniture: The cabinetry in the kitchen and the dining table and chairs coordinate in wood tone. Another connection comes when the chairs at the island sport the same design as the dining chairs. This keeps the one-room feeling intact.

Lighting: Although the pendant lighting above the island has a different function than the chandelier in the dining area, the glass globes are the same shape and both have the same brass finish. They are from the same family of lighting fixtures and they help integrate the space beautifully.

Accessories & Colors: The dishes, flowers and kitchen décor mirror the dining table’s tablescape. This causes your eyes to travel freely around the entire space without a pause. A difference in color or style from kitchen to dining room could create a jarring interruption.

If you are moving to a home with an open floor plan for the first time, be sure to factor the need to integrate several spaces into your design and décor plans.