The average member here-- at least, the ones who've been around a while-- know way more about kitchen design than the average magazine or newspaper writer.

We actually care and think about the subject, while the writers are covering kitchens one day, beached whales the next, and the hotest trends in kindergarten graduation ceremonies the day after.

The idea to do a kitchen design piece is usually triggered by a press release from a designer looking for cheap publicity, and often contains not a single word of independent research.

All they are looking to do is fill some column inches with readable prose to pad out the advertising, the key word being readable: needn't be insightful or even accurate so long as the infinitives aren't split and the participles don't dangle.

The old Bloom County comic strip where poor Opus, employed as a lifestyle editor, was reduced to running stories like "All agog over eggnog" was just as true as it was funny.

That was fun checking out, thanks, Bluekit. Comments reserved on the content of that article, but I love the kitchen pictured. Since you mentioned, I looked and didn't see any indication of even a shallow lip on those shelves. I wonder if that careful budget will stretch to repairing/replacing a chipped marble counter. She was pleased with her $40K budget kitchen, so I'm guessing yes.

Truth to tell, I once had open shelving above a counter in California and never had any losses I couldn't afford, i.e., the old metal-banded linoleum counter didn't chip, and the linoleum on the floor not to worry about, but I put the doors back on the cabinets because of all that dry-climate dust that accumulates so fast.

I did once surprise the friend who gave it to me by hanging an old corner curio unit upside down so its decorative trim became protective lips for its shelves. And still used Quake Wax on every breekin thing (I live in the Bible Belt now, where rhyme rules; comment also reserved.)

$40K is a budget kitchen? For many of us here we could only wish we could spend that on a kitchen remodel. I know that for today's prices, it is not much $ for the average kitchen remodel, but it is about average, not cheap.

On to the shelves. What she saved on the kitchen remodel, she can afford to restock all the shelves once everything breaks during a good, strong quake! Looks like she shops at Crate and Barrel.

OK, NOW I took a look at the kitchen. Not a budget remodel. First of all, painted cabs and shelving--up to 30% more for that over stained. Marble over granite or another form of countertop--not cheap or cheaper--don't see budget savings there. Went with a Meile fridge because it looks good? Not cheaper there!

This lady obviously doesn't cook or spend much time in her kitchen other than to look at how pretty it is over what the function could or should be. She is more concerned (according to the reporter) about looks--hence the comment about her fridge.

After an earthquake, it won't look so good with her glassware shattered all over the place. Hope she is able to keep her dog out of the kitchen area after an earthquake with all the broken glass. I would hate to have the dog get injured.

Having lived through several strong quakes myself, I had (when I lived is So Cal) baby locks on all my cupboards and drawers. I don't have any children, but it helped to keep the contents inside the cabs and drawers during a strong quake and not have glass all over the place which could injure my sweet beastie or myself. I too had earthquake wax on all my display items.

Gee, I wonder where she stores her earthquake water (or pan flu water and supplies)? Pan flu is likely to hit CA and the LA area first....

Wow, oruboris.

You've got a little venom leak there, hon.

As for the kitchen:

I agree that it doesn't look like the ultimate practical Calif. kitchen to me. Maybe she just moved there from Kansas.

But it is attractive (I think, anyway) represents many of the trends, and may have cost LESS than other options. They didn't say "How to get the cheapest kitchen". It was "Get the designer look" kitchen, which assumes some fancy stuff.

But the Times didn't make her put the kitchen in. And they didn't make the designers say the things they did. And California is expensive.

If it starts a discussion of the issues (which it has done) then its done its job. I bet there will be letters to the editor saying exactly the same things as others have pointed out.

So, to turn this one around, what are some GOOD design features for a kitchen in California?

Good design features here are just like good design everywhere else. We have about 400 people in a state of 40 million people who get national media attention and contribute to national stereotypes about the remaining 39,999,600 of us, but that's a rant for a different day.

IMO a good kitchen that is specific to California:
--Pays attention to EQ safety. You DON'T use open shelves any more than you put a big glass framed picture right above your bed without taking some basic precautions. Stuff can be replaced (I lost all my good wedding goblets in '94 but all the cheap souvenir glasses were fine) but veins & arteries can't. Know where and how to shut off the gas and water. Don't notch beams and joists just to get a prettier kitchen or a bigger window.
--Has a kitchen garden close at hand. I can eat picked-today homegrown tomatoes for Thanksgiving dinner, and sometimes for President's Day (nyahnyahnyah!) The best place to store herbs is on the plant.
--Either has a separate fully functional outdoor kitchen, or for the rest of us, is just set up so that we can shlep from the kitchen to the outdoor patio/grill without a pack animal.

BTW, if I ever move anywhere else, you all can laugh at me. I have no idea how to get ice off a car, install a storm window, or prepare for a hurricane. Snow should be visited once a year.

i've worked in magazine publishing for sixteen years. i'm going to let you all in a (not so little) secret: writers are writers. they are assigned a certain amount of words to fit whatever space they have and they go to town. unless it it is a special situation they are not an authority on whatever subject they happen to be reporting on. whenever i see an editor or writer on a talk show they have them chatting it up as the be-all end-all on everything from child abuse to dog food. it makes my stomach turn. so now you know. a writer is not a renaissance man/woman. a writer is quite simply a writer. pay no mind to what you read. the person that wrote it (9 times out of 10) is someone who knows when to cross a T and dot all the i's.

I titled this thread badly and did not mean to give offense to journalists (I did the college newspaper bit for a while too). A better, but still snippy, title might have been "Stupid design tricks, California kitchen edition."

Clear writing is a product of clear thinking...which might explain my incoherent posts.

Just a funny anecdote:

I live in Virginia and have open shelves. The first time my GF from San Diego came to visit after the remodel, her first words were: "OMG, it's beautiful, but this would never work for earthquakes."

A few months later, my BF from L.A. came for a visit and her words were: "OMG, it's beautiful, but this would never work for earthquakes."

LOL. Verbatim, both of them.

I can totally understand it. I love my open shelves, but what I love equally to how pretty they are is how functional they are. In Cali, open shelves wouldn't make as much sense, although they'd be just as functional sans earthquakes.

Ivette

Not to stand up for non-experts offering kitchen design advice, but is the major threat of earthquakes supposed to be dishes falling off your shelves? If your dishes are falling off your shelves I would think you've got bigger problems.

(one of my current favorites is that dear David Bromstad saying that "home is where you order takeout because I don't cook", and connecting that with the kitchen I've seen him design one of the few times I watched the show...)

Flyleft,
If our refrigerators fall over we've got bigger problems. The rest of the country only hears about THOSE earthquakes. But dishes on a shelf can come down with a not-very-big temblor and those happen more often than you know.

agreed - we had 5 small ones last week. No dishes broken (they're behind closed doors), but the door to the garage is "off" again. There are some open shelves I've considered, but they have a lip on the front. However, the back door is open all the time - the dust would be a major pain.

...and my KD is at a "TV Shoot" today....

(for those of you who know my kitchen saga!)

Kateskouros, that is the point I tried, and apparently failed, to make: few writers of such articles have any expertise whatsoever, and yet people still get upset by them. My intention was humor, not venom.

bluekitobsessed is the issue with open shelves things flying and hitting a person during an earthquake? Or just falling off the shelves in general?

I'm curious, b/c I've lived in CA for 22 yrs. and have never had anything damaged in an earthquake, but haven't lived near any of the bigish ones.

Medium sized EQs will knock things off shelves. Tall, narrow, fragile glasses, like the one in the photos in the link, are the most likely to go. In Northridge '94, we lost all of our good champagne and wine glasses but none of the cheap souvenir ones, of course :) It's far better to have shards inside cabs than on the floor while you're hunting for the emergency flashlight because the EQ knocked out the power too. Of course, something flying into a person is much worse than flying off the shelf.

I've lived through Sylmar '71 (very close), Whittier Narrows '87 (not too close), Landers '89 (far, but strong), and Northridge '94 (close). So far. "Nothing under 6.0 counts" -- every native knows exactly what this means.

Thanks, I was just curious.

blukit there is a wax for everything, floors, cars, skiis, surfboards, quakes! who knew. I thought you were being facetious until a later poster referred to quake wax too. learn something new everyday.

Okay, so I've been working on getting all my info together so I can (one day soon, I hope) post our finished kitchen. And when I added it all up I needed that defibrillator another poster asked about recently. Wow! We were being "careful" with our money & choices and even still, we are in the six figures. And our kitchen isn't even that big!

I am in Boulder, Colorado which is nowhere as expensive as LA but based on what we paid for things (cabinetry, flooring, countertops, labor, etc.) I think the homeowner with the marble countertop / open shelves did GREAT for $40K in Los Angeles. While I wouldn't consider that amount of money a "budget" kitchen I can absolutely appreciate that sometimes money doesn't stretch as far as we'd like ....

I don't have a problem with her choosing her Miele fridge for its appearance for, as she noted, it's in a prominent location. I don't have a problem with the fact that we nixed the Electrolux all-fridge / all-freezer for similar reasons: we thought they looked ridiculous. And I don't think that makes us people who don't take our cooking seriously or worthy of being made fun of because we judged an appliance based solely on appearance. I mean, I did the same thing with our countertops: we have (white) marble, clearly not the "best" choice for a (messy) kitchen. But we love it and that's good enough for me! If she loves her Miele fridge, then she spent that money wisely.

Having lived in Los Angeles, San Francisco and Tokyo, I am in shock with the open shelves. I love love love the way they look! But in earthquake country? Even here in Colorado (not known for its earthquakes) we have Quake Wax on all the decorative pieces.

I love the snow.

Hmm, so this explains why so many Calif. kitchens have carpet.

blukit there is a wax for everything, floors, cars, skiis, surfboards, quakes! who knew.
But bikini wax, that's something dif'ernt.

lenam said:
But bikini wax, that's something dif'ernt.

YEEEEOWWWWWCH! My eyes water just thinking about that....

Earthquake wax is nothing more than the wax they use in museums so their items don't move around. It is also call museum wax.

Blue we have lived in similar places and felt the same quakes--Sylmar, Whitter, Landers, Sierra Madre, Big Bear quakes, etc. I too felt Northridge and was thankful I didn't live there at the time although it was strong and long enough to wake me up 200 miles away. I felt where it was coming from and was immediately on the phone to family and couldn't get through. Ran to the computer to check out the earthquake web sites to see where it was posted and waited for family to call that all were OK. That took some time before the lines were open and they were able to get through. My best friend lived in Sherman Oaks and couldn't get through to her for a week. Very scary!

I think the homeowner with the marble countertop / open shelves did GREAT for $40K in Los Angeles.

I think she did pretty good, too, considering she's in LA. But the second thing my eye went to was that God-awful stove. It was like... "Nice, nice, nice, ni... - What the he!! is that!?!?"

She put in a basic Tappan stove. It cheapened the whole look. For a couple hundred dollars more (or a couple hundred less on the fridge) she could have gotten something quiet and less-obvious that wouldn't detract those of us who want to comment on her pretty open shelves.

Nicole

The 'Home' section of the LA times is poorly written. The garden articles are decent. The LA times magazine sometimes has a design spread that is good.

The kitchen article was a disaster. The kitchen itself was nothing to write 'home' about (pun)! The writing was shallow. Worst - $40,000 for that!

they could take any one of this forum's finished kitchens, simply publish the thread for very interesting reading, great design tips, nice photos and the personal journey of the poster :)

[QUOTE]i've worked in magazine publishing for sixteen years. i'm going to let you all in a (not so little) secret: writers are writers.[/QUOTE]

I've always been curious but what exactly does an assistant editor do? On TV, I'll hear that so and so is an expert because they were an assistant editor at a magazine but does that really make that person an expert in that field or are their duties more about layout of the magazine and all that?

titles and job descriptions vary by company but typically an assistant editor will be responsible for literally assisting an editor. lots of phone calls, maybe fact checking (if staff is small), some writing, organizing photo shoots, ordering lunch.
again, they are in NO WAY "experts" on whatever it is they happen to be writing about. if a talk show needs an "expert" to discuss psychology they will get a magazine editor from psychology today because dr. joyce brothers was either too expensive or unavailable. or is she dead? well, anyway, something like that.

I saw that LA Times article, and my first reaction was the same - "open shelves - in California?". We're in Arcadia, next to Pasadena, and even though we've had several "quiet" years, the early 90's were a series of bad quakes, one after another. In a thread from several months ago, someone was asking about the inconvenience of using decorative lock type cabinet hardware. I clipped the posting because I knew that it would answer my worries about securing the doors of my new cabinets.

During the Northridge quake, several friends lost everything breakable in all their cabinets, even the lowers. We lost everything above waist height, but we were farther away. Not only sad, it was dangerous - not just the broken bits, but liquids, etc. Even IF the cabinets don't open, you risk the contents sliding out when you next open the cabinet doors. I agree with all of BlueKitobsessed advice - when one of my kids wants something framed, we colormount it - no glass. All the TV cabinets, armoirs, hutches - all strapped to the walls, and to their bottom pieces, if applicable. All pictures, paintings, clocks, etc are hung on picture hanging hardware, not nails, the idea being they will slide, but not fall. Water heaters are double strapped by code, and in many SoCal cities you cannot close an escrow without a city inspection that verifies the strapping. Chimneys can only rise aboove roof level so many feet in new homes, and older homes have to have the chimneys reinforced or hardware applied to the stack to keep the chimney from toppling if it separates from the house during a quake.

(In the Sierra Madre quake - about a mile from home, my Italian rooster pitcher fell from the top of the fridge, hitting the cat just as he screamed by from the garage. The ground was still shaking, and he just laid there. I covered my eyes and yelled - "the cat the cat", still on my knees trying to not fall over. When the shaking stopped, my husband came downstairs to find me still crumpled on the floor crying about the cat. He started laughing, and made me uncover my eyes. Evidently the animal that I thought was lying dead in front of me had jumped up, run upstairs and under the bed - flying by my husband in a black streak. The rooster pitcher didn't break either)

But to those of you who don't live in earthquake country, and have open shelves - don't your glassware and dishes get filthy from kitchen grease and dust?

Mary

LA Times just contacted me. I dashed off an email that looked something like my original post asking them why they were glorifying a picture of open shelves with glassware in EQ country, and now they might publish it!
Blue (now all the fame & fortune from GW is going to her head)