What to consider when adding a range hood!

May 19, 2016

By: Yanic Simard.

Get to know the types, styles and why you may want to skip a hood altogether.

The majority of homeowners working on kitchen upgrades will add a new range hood, according to a recent Houzz kitchen survey. And as with any decision during a remodel, the number of options can be overwhelming. If you’re looking to install or upgrade your hood, this guide may make things a little easier. Here you’ll find information on the options available, how to work a hood into your decor and why you may want to do without one entirely.

Do I Need a Range Hood?

Technically, range hoods aren’t absolutely required for all kitchens and aren’t usually mandated by building code (though hoods that are installed are sometimes subject to certain rules).

In fact, I have designed projects that did not include a hood. For example, in this condo kitchen, adding a range with ventilation would have exceeded the budget and eaten into the tight space.

If you think you’d like to skip the hood, check your local building code. Review how well your space is naturally ventilated and consider your realistic cooking behaviors. After all, some people use the microwave for most meals.

Do I Want a Range Hood?

If you don’t cook often with a lot of steam and oil, you can get by without a range hood, but you may actually need one more than you think.

Even if you can’t see dramatic smoke or steam when you’re cooking (from a burning roast or steamy soup), oil particles often get dispersed through the air, which is a nice way of saying that the grease from your frying pan can coat the room slowly over time if you aren’t suctioning the air away. For serious chefs who cook on the range often, a powerful hood is strongly recommended.

Where Should My Range Hood Go?

Naturally, a range hood should be placed directly over or behind a range to be effective, since the farther it is from the source, the less suction power it will deliver where you need it. However, it’s also important to consider that range hoods must ventilate to somewhere, so it’s usually recommended to place them on or near an exterior wall. The less distance the air has to travel to get outside, the less powerful the system has to be to be effective. To save energy and equipment costs, you should consider locating your range with this in mind.

Types of Range Hoods:

Standard over-range hoods. There are two standard forms of over-range hoods: wall-mounted units with no surrounding cabinetry, seen in the previous photo, or under cabinet hoods that are partially enclosed in cabinetry or attached below a cupboard, as shown here. These typically vent back through the wall, though they may run all the way up, venting through the ceiling and roof.

This category includes island range hoods, though they’re much less likely to be attached to cabinetry. Typically, if an island includes a range and range hood, the hood becomes a feature of the room. You can’t really avoid seeing it, so you may as well make it spectacular!

Some modern range hoods come in high-tech-look tilted styles that intrude less into the space and make an interesting futuristic statement. These are still standard over-range hoods, but they generally use more powerful suction to make up for being slightly farther away from the range itself (tucked flatter to the wall). The result is a more airy feel with more headroom open around you as you cook.

Built-in over-range hoods. Built-in over-range hoods are disguised in cabinetry (usually faux cabinetry with no actual storage space inside), so as to be invisible or at least not a focal point. These units typically aren’t finished themselves and must be paneled, or covered with cabinetry fronts, to hide their messy inner workings. This means that you can’t really uncover one later, though you can change the paneling if you change your kitchen style.

Built-in hoods can sometimes be exposed a small amount, which can add a nice visual detail and ease access to controls for speed and integrated lights.

Pop-up vents. Also known as “behind cooktop hoods” or “downdraft vents,” this high-tech option isn’t really a hood at all, but rather a slim vent that applies suction right at the source of the smoke or steam, and pulls it down into ductwork in the floor rather than up into the ceiling. These vents are generally able to pop up into place when needed and tuck back down to be flush with the counter when not in use.

Pop-up vents are useful when the ceiling over a range isn’t able to house appropriate ventilation ducts. The fact that they take up little visual space can give a beautifully open look, especially when used in an island.

However, they tend to be the least powerful option by far, so for serious chefs who often cook with a lot of steam and grease, the pop-up may not be sufficient.

Pop-ups are a fairly modern style in general, but they can still work in more traditional kitchens, especially when combined with stainless steel chef’s-kitchen appliances and a more dramatic range hood to act as a focal point.

A pop-up vent is typically sold as part of a coordinating range, so the price will be included in the range cost.

Microwave combo hoods. Finally, range hoods are often combined with a microwave to handle two functions at once in a small space, which can be a smart choice for compact kitchens. These combination units don’t usually have as much power as a stand-alone hood, but they can be sufficient for typical home cooking or those who rely on the microwave heavily.

Style Ideas:

Range hoods can be integrated in your decor a number of ways without being paneled. First, simply choosing a white unit (rather than stainless steel or black to match typical ranges) lets it blend in with white cabinetry for a breezy kitchen atmosphere. It’s OK for the unit to be a somewhat different white from your cabinetry finish as long as the hood isn’t mismatched with any other white appliances or fixtures.

If your kitchen includes a lot of stainless steel, a large and simple stainless hood will continue this material and become part of the decor. You can pick up on this metal in smaller ways too (if, say, you don’t have quite a spectacular fridge) through accents like cabinet handles, faucets or steely pendant lights.

The pendants here go for beautiful contrast, adding warmth to balance the silvery coolness. This can be a good way to keep your kitchen cozy and inviting even with so much exposed steel.

Adding a special backsplash that runs just from your range to your range hood can be a practical way to avoid grease-stained walls and a beautiful detail that integrates the two pieces into one showstopping feature. Repeat a stainless steel finish to continue the industrial kitchen appeal. Or use a coveted feature tile here to get a splashy look without splurging on a full wall.

This range hood is partially obscured by sliding cabinetry doors. The hood is still visible, but being behind glass like this makes it feel a little less “in your face” and softens the crisp metal finish.

This built-in hood gets a little highlight with wood trim at the bottom edge, picking up on other wood finishes in the room. Adding a trim detail like this helps make a hood feel like an integrated part of the space. It also helps make a large unit look less bulky by breaking it up with a visual stripe.
If you can afford to lose some storage space, a huge trend is to skip the upper cabinets and let a sleek range hood be the sole feature on an otherwise underdressed wall. The result is a room that feels vast, with only beautiful jewelry-like details in your sightline and lots of open space (and clean vented air) so you can breathe easy.

Make your small space seem bigger!

May 12, 2016

By: Jamie Wiebe

These backyard ideas will make your small space seem bigger!

Don’t think of your microscopic yard as a curse. So what if it’s technically a small concrete slab that barely accommodates a half-sized Weber grill? Or if your flagstone patio is just big enough for you, a lounge chair, and a good book? Your tiny outdoor spot is actually an opportunity to get creative.

To live large with a small footprint, try these functional tweaks to make your minuscule outdoor space feel like a palatial retreat.

1. Divide the Space!

Wait, what? That’s right. Even if your square footage is relatively small, dividing your outdoor space into two areas can actually make it seem bigger.

“Creating a space within a space makes it seem larger because it gives you a separate experience,” says Joy Diaz, chief marketing officer at Land Care Inc.

Diaz recommends a small wood pergola, which you can purchase at home improvement stores or even build yourself without too much effort. You can also use walls to divide the space. We’re not talking about bulky concrete barriers here — try using short trellises, arbors, or vine-covered wooden fences to separate your loungers from your patio table.

“It says, ‘I’m in one place, that’s another place, and if there’s room for two places it must be big,’” says J. Scott Williams, a landscape architect at YardApes in New Milford, Conn.

As an added bonus, walls prevent visitors from walking in a straight line from one end of the patio to another, instead creating a winding path that makes your small space feel expansive.

2. Plant a Privacy Screen!

A peaceful space always feels roomier than one crowded with noise and other distractions — like the pressure to strike up an awkward conversation every time you lock eyes with the nice lady next door. Keep your evening soirées and morning coffee blissfully secluded with a few cleverly positioned plants.

There are a few ways to achieve this goal. Along the very edges of your space, plant a tall, wide bush, like the purple smoke bush, a fantastic, easy-to-care-for container plant that can grow six or seven feet every year. Just be sure to keep on top of trimmings to keep it from overgrowing your patio — you want it growing up, not out — but as long as you do so, it makes an excellent privacy screen.

“A larger plant in a small space is dramatic,” says Williams.

You can also privatize your patio without sacrificing any square footage with the oldest trick in the book: Install some climbing vines on a trellis to clearly tell your neighbors, “This is my special space.”

3. Add a Water Feature!

A dramatic focal point can really add some intrigue to a mini yard. And a water feature, like a bubbling birdbath or wall fountain, can do just the trick.

Williams suggests choosing an element with a black bottom, which will create a darker surface that reflects sky and trees, making your outdoor space feel bigger. Just make sure your water feature doesn’t overwhelm your porch — you can skip the long, vanishing edge-style pool.

“I wouldn’t put a longer element in a small space, which might make it look smaller,” Williams said. “Add a smaller water element into a small space, and make it seem larger.”

4. Use Vertical Space!

Distract from your lack of horizontal yardage by really maximizing your outdoor space’s most abundant dimension: vertical space.

Use your walls, fence, or railings as extra space by adding vines or a living wall filled with flowers, herbs, and other eye-catching greenery. For a simple change, prop an attractive ladder — think barnyard chic, maybe? — against the wall and use its rungs as shelving for plants or other decor. The internet is bursting with other vertical planter and shelving ideas, too, using everything from pallets to chicken wire.

“It draws the eye up and outwards, and gives it a green and completely different look,” says Diaz. “It can change the atmosphere of the area. You’ve walked into a different experience from your home — it’s a psychological and emotional change.”

5. Expand Space with a Mirror!

“Mirrors really make space feel more expansive,” Williams says. On a small porch, place a tall mirror on the ground behind a portico or a patch of greenway, which “makes it look like a doorway into another garden.”

You don’t need to go huge on the mirror to have a huge impact. Even hanging a normal-sized mirror, like one you might find over a dresser, can make a tiny space feel much larger. But whichever you choose, make sure to weatherproof your mirror first using a mirror edge sealer (you’ll also want to add sealant to the frame, especially if it’s made from wood) to prevent moisture damage — unless you like the weathered look, that is.

Small spaces don’t have to be limiting. With a little bit of creativity — and perhaps a reflective surface or two — there’s no reason you can’t feel like you’re living in your very own Versailles.