The party is at your house—and specifically, in your kitchen. Ever notice how no matter the size of your kitchen countertop, that’s where everyone gathers? A home can have an ample dining room and living area, but a crowd will choose to congregate around a kitchen countertop.Size is certainly not a prerequisite for a great entertaining kitchen—though square footage will determine whether you can include features like an island or butler’s pantry, if you’re not the cook for your parties. When designing a kitchen that functions as an effective entertaining space, it’s all about the specialty features that are integrated in the space to make serving food and beverage easy.Before you begin your kitchen renovation, seriously review how you use your current kitchen and set goals for your remodel. This way, you can stay on track as you make important decisions about floor plan, appliances, cabinetry and more.

Questions to Ask:

• What kind of events do you host (casual, formal, buffet, sit-down, etc)?
• How many people do you generally entertain at one time?
• How do you serve food? Do guests serve themselves in the kitchen or do you plate food and serve it in another space?
• Do you cook food yourself, or do you hire caterers for parties?
• Is cooking part of the entertainment (as in cooking clubs)?
• How many people cook at one time while you entertain?

Features:

Sleek appliances. You probably don’t need to purchase the professional grade equipment unless you plan to seriously cook for guests. “I encounter a lot of clients that never cook but they like to entertain in the kitchen, and I usually get appliances that are good quality—they look beautiful and they work well,” says Jorge Castillo of Jorge Castillo Designs in Miami, Fla., and Shaker Heights, Ohio. Stainless steel is a priority for most homeowners, and it’s practically a necessity at resale.Point-of-service refrigeration. Refrigerator drawers and specialty units, such as wine coolers, give the host and guests better access to beverages and foods waiting to be served.Warming drawers. A must for entertainers for keeping food warm and maintaining its quality.Double dishwashers. Secondary dishwashers might be drawer configuration or half-size, or full-size depending on the type of entertaining you do.Flat-screen television. You’ll sacrifice storage space for a flat-screen in the kitchen, but if your often entertain during sports events, for example, and the kitchen is where your crew likes to hang out, then this “appliance” is a necessity.Island. “This doesn’t always work—it depends on the space you are working with,” warns Castillo.Raised countertops. An island or peninsula with a raised countertop can hide dishes and serve as a cooking station on the “lower” host side, and on the higher portion, give guests a surface to gather around in the kitchen. It can serve as a snack bar, the dining table or just a place to lean and set down beverages.Catering workspace. If you tend to bring in catering staff and you have the space to build a butler’s pantry equipped with key appliances (oven, warming drawer, sink, dish washer, refrigeration).

Other Considerations:

• Glass cabinets to show off beautiful dishware
• Wine cooler
• Espresso machine/high-end coffee maker
• Glass range exhaust hood so views are not blocked
• Wet bars in the media center with compact appliances

Whether in the kitchen or in the bathroom: the kitchen faucet on the sink controls the flow of water on the tap and ensures the desired temperature by mixing cold and warm water from two lines. Before you get a new faucet, however, you should check whether there is a boiler in the area. You can often find it under the sink in the kitchen. To process water from the boiler, you need a low-pressure tap.

To replace an old faucet with a new one, the water supply from both lines must first be interrupted. Then you loosen the old faucet at its connections and remove it before you attach the new faucet and seals to the sink and fasten the connections. Finally, you check whether the connections are really tight.

Note: If you live in a rented apartment, you should discuss the replacement of the tap with the landlord, if necessary. In some cases, the built-in fittings are part of the rented apartment equipment – then you are not allowed to replace them without prior consultation.

In order to be able to carry out the exchange safely, do not forget to turn off the corner valves on your wall so that no water can run in. Loosen the flexible hoses on the angle valve with an open-ended spanner or an English wrench.

Note: There may still be residual water in the hoses. To make sure that there is no more water running, you can also turn off the main tap.

The fitting is screwed to the bottom with a nut that you can easily loosen by hand. In order to be able to remove the faucet upwards, you have to unscrew one of the two flexible hoses upwards, otherwise, you will not be able to turn the nut off the hoses. Now all you have to do is pull the fitting out of the sink and unscrew the second flexible hose as well. You can reuse the two hoses for installing the new faucet.

Prepare your new fitting for installation by first inserting the sealing ring. This way the water does not run through the mounting hole. First screw in the blue-marked flexible hose for cold water, which is usually on the right, and then place the mixer on the sink. Then thread the second flexible hose for the hot water through the lock nut. Put the nut over the hose that has already been installed and screw it on together with the rubber buffer from below.

Then you screw the hot water hose to the faucet from above and screw on the lock nut by hand until the faucet is firmly seated. In the next step, you screw the flexible hoses back onto the angle valves. Make sure that the hoses are not kinked or twisted and tighten the nuts with an open-end wrench. Turn the corner valves back on and turn on the water.

You can find out here the advantages and disadvantages of high-gloss kitchen cabinets. We will also show you how the different materials work and how you can best clean them.

How do high-gloss kitchen cabinets work?

High-gloss kitchen cabinets reflect the light. This makes them look particularly bright.

The glossy surface of the high-gloss kitchen reflects light. This applies to both kitchen lighting and daylight. These lively reflections create an optical depth. They brighten up every room.

Small kitchens in particular benefit from this effect. Light-colored materials are also recommended. In addition, a high-gloss kitchen looks luxurious and exclusive.

Before you decide on a high-gloss kitchen, however, you should weigh the advantages and disadvantages:

Advantages of a high-gloss kitchen cabinets

The kitchen space looks bigger. This effect comes about through the reflective surfaces. The effect is particularly strong with white kitchen fronts.
High-gloss kitchen cabinets are timelessly elegant and look high-quality.
The fronts are easy to care for and can be cleaned with a damp cloth and a little washing-up liquid.
A high-gloss kitchen can be combined very well with other furniture and materials. The fronts look particularly good together with built-in devices with a stainless steel look.

Disadvantages of high-gloss kitchen cabinets

Small and large scratches, dents, or dents are clearly visible.
In contrast to real wooden fronts, the damage cannot simply be repaired, polished away or sanded off.
A real lacquer front is very expensive.

Materials for the high-gloss kitchen cabinets

The surface of high-gloss kitchens is not just made of paint. The material is very robust, but also a bit more expensive. Alternatively, you can also design your kitchen with other high-gloss materials. In the following, we will therefore give you an overview of different coatings for high-gloss kitchens.

Real paint
Kitchen fronts made of lacquer are very high quality. For this purpose, a carrier plate is painted in several layers. First the base coat is applied, then a hard coat. In the last step, the piece of furniture is polished to a high gloss. This complex process is quite expensive, but it is also robust and durable. Such a surface is particularly hard-wearing and waterproof.

Foil
The cheapest alternative to real paint is a film. It is pressed onto the carrier plate with high pressure.

Since the foils are available in one color and with different patterns, you have a large selection here.

A film is easy to care for, but also quite sensitive to shock. In addition, the film can peel off at the corners over time. In some cases, bubbles also form if there is too much water vapor.

Lacklaminat

Turn your kitchen back into a bright kitchen by covering the facades with lacquered laminate.

You can also transform your existing kitchen into a bright kitchen by covering it with lacquered laminate. For this purpose, kitchen facades are also laminated with plastic film. However, this has also been painted.

This makes kitchen facades look better than unpainted foils. They are also less susceptible to scratches.

Available as an acrylic, solid acrylic sheet, or as a carrier sheet coated with acrylic as the surface. Acrylic kitchen facades are easy to clean. If they are specially sealed, they are also scratch-resistant.

This variant of a very bright kitchen looks like a glass facade. However, it is significantly cheaper.

Glass
You can also use glass to design the facades of a bright kitchen.

A carrier material is also used here. Safety glass plates are applied to this. If you paint the glass plates with a special paint from the back, it creates a beautiful color effect.

Glass facades are heat resistant and easy to maintain. This is an advantage. The disadvantages are that they are quite heavy and expensive.

Cleaning the high-gloss kitchen cabinets

In order for a high-gloss kitchen to look high-quality, it must be cared for accordingly. Otherwise, streaks and scratches quickly make a worn impression. A big advantage of the high-gloss kitchen is that the fronts can be cleaned very easily.

The right cleaner

When choosing the materials, use your existing kitchen unit as a guide. If you want a completely new fitted kitchen, it is best to buy everything from one manufacturer or to choose a model that goes together.

High-gloss kitchens require little maintenance. Use a clean, damp cloth to remove fingerprints and other dirt.

A clean, damp cloth is important for cleaning. Usually that’s enough. If the dirt is a bit more stubborn, use detergent. A drop of it is often enough.

A glass cleaner is also a gentle alternative for cleaning.

Note: Avoid scouring milk or other aggressive cleaning agents that contain abrasive grains. That makes the surfaces rough and unsightly.

Cleaning accessories
A good way of cleaning is window cleaners that run on a battery. Use them with a little detergent.

If you only use one cloth, avoid microfiber cloths. They leave very fine sanding marks and scratches. Chamois leather is better suited.

In contrast to kitchens made of solid wood, a high-gloss kitchen does not require regular maintenance. You don’t have to oil or impregnate them. You should even avoid common care products. They usually only settle on the surface and cause streaks. As a result, they reduce the shine and thus also the effect of high-gloss kitchens.