B4 • Friday, May 13, 2022
thegardenisland.com
THE GARDEN ISLAND
COLOR, CUBBIES, CONNECTIVITY The heart of the home gets new design, outfitting Kim Cook ASSOCIATED PRESS As French chef and restaurateur Daniel Boulud puts it, “Kitchens should be designed around what’s truly important — fun, food, and life.” Kitchens now might not play the center-of-everything roles that they did during the early days of the pandemic. But even if you’re spending more time away, you’ll likely have become a little more attached and invested in the kitchen than AIMEE MAZZENGA / FRESH TWIST STUDIO VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS you were in 2019. Some of what’s new in A kitchen design with woven Palecek kitchen stools and a striking midnight blue kitchen design and outfitstone island to balance the extensive Shaker-style white and glass cabinetry. ting: ier, less cool. You’ll see hurst, Illinois, sees a similar of statement lighting, too: a Cooking with color row of pendants or a superwoods, vegan leather and move toward color. “White For a few years now, the rattan as textural elements isn’t out, but we are implesize fixture over an island, monotone, all-white kitchen to warm things up. for example. menting painted or natural has been popular, with Insta“The classic all-white While subway tile still wood islands as opposed to dominates backsplashes, an all-white kitchen,” she gram feeds full of white-and- kitchen is as relevant as it ever was, but there’s a new some are tweaking how it’s says. cream cabinetry and pale need and demand for color,” used. “For example, applying woods. It looked clean, and them in unexpected patterns like it meant business – a cu- says Bob Bakes, co-founder Kitchens with such as vertically instead of linary clinic, if you will, and a and head of design for Bakes personality & Kropp, a kitchen design horizontally, and stacked in“I’m excited to see that far cry from the mid-2000s and custom cabinetry firm people are becoming more combo of cherry cabinets stead of staggered,” Erin Dain New York City. experimental in their design vis, a designer in Portland, and granite counters. He’s recently used sky choices, from mixing metals Oregon, noted on the real esBut there’s a shift. The to integrating a variety of standard, nickel-plated hard- blue, stone gray and a red tate platform Homelight, called geranium on kitchen textures,” Bakes says. Big sections of ceramic ware in a white kitchen Lighting is one way to tile are also popular. New might now be replaced with projects, and a glossy black in a butler’s pantry. bring personality and motech has allowed makers to matte black and brass, or Betty Brandolino, founder dernity to kitchens. Remake large but thinner, knobs and faucets in bright and creative director of lighter slabs that are easier hues. cessed can lights are still Whites are getting cream- Fresh Twist Studio in Elmwith us, but there’s now a lot to work with. And fewer
grout lines mean they’re easier to clean. Bring personality to the backsplash with patterned and textured tile; there are florals, geometrics, metallics and mural tiles that make an artsy background. And you don’t need to buy a lot – create a feature wall on the back of an island, around an office nook, or intersperse custom art tiles with regular ones.
the coming year.” Mary Maydan, principal at Maydan Architects in Palo Alto, California, says minimalist islands are a hot look. Connectivity
Tech continues to move into the kitchen. Samsung’s Family Hub, for instance, puts a five-screen smart display on the fridge. There’s a cooking screen for shopping lists and recipes, an entertainment screen, a smart Open plan, closed pans home screen, a digital calenThe pandemic made us dar/pinboard and one choose sides when it comes screen you can customize. to kitchen layouts. You eiLG’s Instaview feature lets ther embraced an open plan, you tap in the fridge door to where everyone could easily see what’s inside. App-enabled smaller apinteract, or you were grateful for your closed-room pliances include slow cookkitchen, where some could ers, blenders and cook without disturbing oth- countertop ovens. Motion-sensitive touchers who were studying or on Zoom calls. less faucets have been on “We’re still seeing a desire the market for a few years. If for open floor plans,” Bakes you want to take it up a says. “I don’t think the need notch, there are “smart” fauto separate the kitchen is cets too. making a return quite yet.” With Delta’s voice-actiBut there are tweaks to vated faucet, for example, the open plan. One example you can turn it on and fill to is butler’s pantries – an ada specific quantity. Kohler’s voice-activated faucets link junct space to the main kitchen where mess-making to an app that also monitors water usage and lets you can take place and gear know if you left the taps on. stowed. “You have to look at it “We’re designing more with a little humor,” says hidden pantries for appliMaydan. “You consult with ances like toaster ovens, the faucet about the water mixers and extra dishes,” Brandolino notes. “This also temperature and you disallows us to incorporate cuss the food ingredients more open shelving and less with the fridge. You defioverhead cabinetry, which is nitely have company when a trend we’ll see more of in cooking in today’s kitchen!”
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KALAHEO 3 Bed/3 Ba Interior Area: 2,035 sq. ft. Average long-term US mortgage rates edge up to 5.3%
Lot Size: 11,266 sq. ft. $1,148,000
ASSOCIATED PRESS WASHINGTON— Average longterm U.S. mortgage rates edged up again this week, with interest on the key 30-year loan at its highest level since 2009. Mortgage buyer Freddie Mac reported Thursday that the 30-year rate ticked up to 5.3% from 5.27% last week. By contrast, the average rate stood at 2.94% a year ago. The Federal Reserve last week intensified its fight against the worst inflation in 40 years by raising its benchmark interest rate by a half-percentage point and signaling further large rate hikes to come. The Fed’s move, its most aggressive since 2000, will bring higher costs for mortgages as well as credit cards, auto loans and other borrowing for individuals and businesses. On Thursday, the government reported that U.S. producer prices soared 11% in April from a year earlier, a hefty gain that indicates high inflation for consumers and businesses will linger in the months ahead. On Wednesday, the government reported that inflation eased slightly in April after months of relentless increases but remained near a four-decade high. Consumer prices jumped 8.3% last month from a year ago, just below the 8.5% year-over-year surge in March, which was the highest since 1981. With inflation at a four-decade high, rising mortgage rates, elevated home prices and tight supply of homes for sale, homeownership has become less attainable, especially for first-time buyers.
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WAILUA HOMESTEADS 3 Bed/1 Ba Emma Ladendecker RS-77343
808-378-8462 alohasells@gmail.com
Interior Area: 1,584 sq. ft. Lot Size: 8,029 sq. ft. $748,000