RENOVATONS: Cook up a luxurious kitchen

When lucky homeowners with gourmet tastes and champagne budgets update their kitchens, they are cooking up some innovative features and designs.

"Coffee bars and wine bars are really a big trend now," says Beverley Binns, designer at Toronto's Binns Kitchen and Bath Design. "Usually within the kitchen or in a transitional area between the living space and the kitchen, people are setting up a wine or coffee bar in a specialized area fitted with its own dishwasher, sink and fridge."

Introducing these areas within the kitchen sets the tone for stylish in-home entertaining -- and even affluent homeowners are choosing to stay in rather than indulge in a night on the town.

"A lot of people are not necessarily going out as much, so they are entertaining and providing those simple luxuries in their homes that you would get going out," says Binns. Some homeowners are also sparing nothing when it comes to creating ambience within their kitchen -- installing high-tech lighting controls, for instance, suitable for romance or more mundane pursuits.

"Lighting control on the luxury side is very important," says Binns. "Often when you have different kinds of fixtures, you end up with a wall full of switches and you spend 20 minutes trying to figure out what switch controls what light." However, new computer-controlled systems allow homeowners to set scenes within the space to achieve ideal lighting. For instance, people entertaining might want a dim, romantic setting so they press the No. 1 and the pendant lights will dim as will the pot lights for a softer glow. Whereas for after-party cleanup, press the No. 2 and every single light will come on for optimal vision.

In addition to creating stylish set-ups and scenes, crafting architectural elements in the kitchen brings warmth into the room often described as the heart of the home. For instance, Binns says homeowners are opting to frame two side-by-side fridges with wood doors to give the illusion of kitchen furniture.

"It makes them look like an armoire in the space rather than just plunking a fridge in the design," says Binns. "It's about creating architectural elements that feature appliances and highlights them, whether or not you can tell they're appliances. It almost looks like a reclaimed piece of furniture but when you open it up, it's a fridge."

In addition to hiding such major appliances as the fridge and the freezer, splitting them up and showcasing them as two separate appliances is also a luxurious trend. Being able to break up the often monstrous and monochromatic appliance with a tall skinny wine rack or cabinet gives the space a refreshing makeover.

"From a design perspective, it's interesting to explore the idea of breaking it up a little bit so you have some breathing space between the fridge and the freezer," says Tommy Smythe, designer Sarah Richardson's indispensable sidekick on HGTV's Sarah's Cottage, Sarah's House and design inc. In addition to fancy fridges, a variety of oven options are also available. Binns says speed and steam ovens are being installed in luxury kitchens to give the space a makeover with purpose. Speed ovens are two-in-one contraptions that combine the speediness of microwave cooking with all the benefits of a convection oven. This small appliance, which can be built in, allows users to switch from microwave defrosting right over to cooking in a conventional manner.

Steam ovens are appealing to health-conscious homeowners who would rather steam their food in a heart-healthy way as opposed to frying and baking.

(prepared by Rachel Naud/Vancouver Sun)