kitchen

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Let's face it, whether you fancy yourself an efficiency expert or simply hate to waste time looking for something-today's kitchens are downright ingenious. Modern cabinetry offers more convenience than ever-and style, too!

To make the most of every inch once required going the custom cabinet route. Now, organizational tools available with semi-custom cabinetry will thrill even the pickiest home chef. Consider the following:

• Removable, pull-out recycling bins that disappear under the counter-no more hoofing it to the garage with cans and bottles.
• Utility organizers that store brooms and cleaning materials where the mess gets created, not down the hall.
• Narrow pull-out pantries that stockpile a family's worth of food in a space the width of your car tire.
• Back door "Drop Zones" that organize everything from keys, coats and messages to a cell phone charging station.

Today's computer design tools make it possible for your in-store design associate to help you personally fashion a kitchen, bath or built-ins to precisely suit your needs-even rescue leftover inches for a slender pull-out pantry or utility closet. Areas previously considered dead space have been reclaimed, re-imagined, and re-configured for maximum utility.

And all this convenience doesn't mean a sacrifice of great looks-to the contrary. An increasing emphasis on designing cabinetry with distinctive furniture-like styling results in highly functional spaces where you'll be eager to host guests and that segue seamlessly from kitchen or bath to adjacent rooms.

Furniture-inspired details transform utilitarian cabinetry into natural extensions of the rest of your home. Carved brackets and mouldings, for example, turn a stove into a hearth-like focal point, echoing design elements from an adjacent room or establishing their own appealing style theme to play off of elsewhere. Decorative base, column, foot or leg treatments add a personalized, eclectic feel-as if you've mixed in a flattering piece of furniture.

Wood, paint and glaze finishes, too, are ever more specialized, with the depth and variety of tonal effects you'd expect in high-end furniture. A mix of wood and painted finishes in the same room or a single painted accent makes a room feel spontaneous and welcoming.

Another creative tool is to place furniture-like units-perhaps a glass-fronted display cabinet or interesting desk, serving counter or storage bench-where the kitchen segues into an adjoining space. Smoothing such transitions makes a home appear larger and allows rooms to flow naturally from one to the other.

So, whether you simply want to add a little convenience and organization to an existing kitchen or create a stylish vintage, modern or continental look from scratch, today's options help you think outside the traditional cabinet box for a kitchen that's a joy to live with.