Su mmer
pleasures

KITCHEN page 6

/

MO.

Wi th Oaf
$1800 Doh!

Stk#D581 9

CHROME
WHEELS!

ery lease

CADILLAC. CREATING A HIGHER STANDARD.

• Example based on Spring Edition Sedan Deville with $35,762 MSRP 24 Mo. GMAC SmartLease is plus 6% Michigan use tax, title and $1,800 cap
cost reduction. Excess mileage charge 15¢/mile will be charged over 12,000/year. Customer may purchase car at lease end for $27,566.76 plus tax
and plate fees. Customer must be eligible for lease loyalty and must currently own or lease any Cadillac to qualify for ad prices.

Dynasty, Viking and Wolf are out dough, require even lower
all making cook tops that can ac- counter tops, she adds — 3 to 4
commodate this kind of change, inches below a "normal" counter
height — around 28 or 29 inch-
he added.
He also laments the lack of es off the floor on average.
Cook tops can be lowered or
appropriate counter space in
raised
as can sinks.
many kitchens today.
"The depth of a sink has a
"One problem is they're too
shallow — 22 to 24 inches. I'd profound effect on comfort and
much rather see a 30-inch-depth some experts suggest that such
counter, which allows you to put wet zone equipment be raised
all your appliances on it while 2 inches to alleviate fatigue when
still leaving you 18 inches of standing, or be fitted with a
kneehole for sitting on a stool,"
work space."
That means your appliances says Krasner.
Wall ovens are often placed
are easier to use and you don't
have to pull them out of cup- too high so that burns are in-
evitable for shorter cooks.
boards.
They should be mounted at a
Deborah Krasner is another
who believes kitchen design height centered slightly above the
needs an overhaul to accommo- countertop, she says, allowing
date today's cooks. In her new cooks to see inside easily and mak-
book, Kitchens for Cooks (Viking ing removal of hot food easier.
"There are several major ob-
Studio Books), she says the old
stacles to creating a kitchen with
standards don't work today.
"No longer do we invariably different height counters, it
find one average-size woman seems to me," Krasner says.
Foremost is familiarity —
working alone in the kitchen
cooking three- or four-course kitchens have looked the same
family meals, and even when we for decades.
"Second, we have practical
do, we see that one standard
counter height often does her a concerns: Kitchen renovation can
be an extremely expensive
disservice," she says.
"To tell whether your coun- proposition, and we are uneasy
tertop and cooking surface are about investing in a kitchen that
set at a comfortable height, look may end up being too idiosyn-
at your shoulders as you work in cratic for resale purposes," Kras-
ner says.
your kitchen.
She counters that fear with
"Are they up around your
ears? When you chop vegetables, her belief that a well-planned
is your elbow skewed to the side? kitchen that works well for its
When cooking at the range, can owners "has an appeal that tran-
you easily see down into a big scends mere appearance. Such
stockpot? Does your wrist hurt kitchens invite serious cooks and
when you shake a saute pan full support any changes they may
of food? Do you often have need to make them functional
kitchen accidents? Are there for the next person."
And if they're ergonomically
chopping scars on your finger-
tips or burn marks down your designed, the cooks will be
healthier and happier. ❑
arms?" she asks.
Find your correct counter Priscilla Lister is a writer for
height by measuring the dis- Copley News Service.
tance between your bent elbow
and the floor (the average bent-
elbow height for a woman is 35
inches, for a man it's 39 inches),
Krasner says.
"In general, 3 inches below
this bent-elbow distance is the Not all improvement projects re-
best height for most of your quire a major investment. Pro-
counter tops (this would make jects that cost less (sometimes a
32 inches the best counter height lot less) than $100 include in-
for an average woman, and 36 stalling closet organizers, re-
inches the best for an average placing light fixtures, installing
man. Note that the standard di- a sensor light outdoors and giv-
mension in kitchens of the last ing the front door a fresh coat of
50 years is a 36-inch-high coun- paint. ❑
tertop)."
— Copley News Service
Some tasks, such as rolling

Affordable
Improvements

851-7200

7100 ORCHARD LAKE RD. • at the end of Northwestern Highway • WEST BLOOMFIELD

OPEN MON & THURS. 'TIL 9 P.M. & SATURDAY 9-3 P.M.

8 • sum 1995 • snail

(