As we continue to spend more time at home because of the pandemic, we increasingly miss the places we can’t currently go to. Now, we are looking to emulate the atmosphere of the places we miss and bring that energy into our homes: restaurants and bars, hotels, spas and salons, movie theaters, concerts, and nightclubs. Over the next few weeks, we’ll be giving you tips on how to bring the vibes of these places into your home—an immediate staycation.

I love going out to eat, experiencing different cuisines, indulging in foods and wine pairings that I normally wouldn’t have at home, taking in the lively ambiance of restaurants and bars, and of course, enjoying mealtime knowing that I don’t have to clean up after. Today, we’ll dive into how to bring the restaurant ambiance and efficiency to your home and make your kitchen work for you!

BRING IT TO LIFE

Move over, all-white kitchens! Monochromatic, white kitchens can feel dull and lethargic. Bring your kitchen to life by incorporating bold cabinetry colors and backsplash tile. Bold colors like deep navy and emerald green can be used on the entire kitchen, not just featured on a contrasting island. These colors help recreate that lively, restaurant-esque vibe in your home. After your cabinets get a fresh coat of paint, update the hardware. Switching up the hardware can instantly refresh your cabinets and transform the kitchen entirely.

To avoid looking cluttered, anything that lives on your kitchen counter should be displayed with intention, like bowls and storage containers for cooking utensils, fruit, and dry groceries like sugar, flour, or coffee. No need to compromise aesthetics for functionality; simply elevate your countertop storage to give your kitchen a clean look. Glass and ceramic jars, sleek breadboxes, light-tone wood fruit bowls, and stoneware crocks make whatever is on your counter look like it belongs there.

For extra liveliness, display some flowers or greenery to a pretty vase. Plants uplift the entire space with color and lightness, while adding a natural element to contrast all of the hardware and appliances in the kitchen.

Image via Country Living Magazine — *Image via* *Country Living Magazine*

MAKE IT WORK

Feeling like there simply isn’t enough time in a day? Smart home technology can help by automating many of the mundane and covertly time-consuming tasks in our daily life. Smart appliances become our very own kitchen assistant, taking any extra work out of kitchen tasks.

When I attended KBIS, the premier Kitchen & Bath Industry Show, in January 2020, I got to see firsthand how advances in technology are transforming our kitchen experiences. Thermador is one of the leading luxury kitchen appliances brands which has revolutionized the way we cook and entertain with cooktops, steam and convection ovens, column refrigeration, and more. Thermador is not only led by innovation but by elevating our lifestyles without compromising design. At KBIS 2020, Thermador announced the launch of the Home Connect app which connects to all of their smart appliances and can be operated by by voice control and link to a number of smart devices, including Amazon’s Alexa, Google Assistant, IFTTT, and others. Now you can check the status of all your Thermador appliances at any time, anywhere. Monitor the internal temperature of your refrigerator, confirm that the oven is off, and check much more straight from your smart device—guaranteed peace of mind.

With so much progress in recent years, it’s truly incredible what we can do with this technology: we can view what is in our refrigerator without even opening it, our refrigerator can make suggestions what to cook based on what we have on-hand (Bosch), we can tell our faucet to dispense two cups of water, we can preheat our ovens using our smart phone or voice control, and even send recipe instructions and tutorials to your appliance (Thermador). If there was ever a time to upgrade your home so you can have it all controlled from the palm of your hand, it’s now.

The only thing your kitchen should be putting on your plate is a delicious meal—not additional work. With all of us spending more time at home and longing for an efficient kitchen that doesn’t sacrifice style for functionality, now is the perfect time to renovate. With our full-service interior design services, we revamp your kitchen to make it work for you—so that every day you can be sure that you’re not wasting time on kitchen tasks you shouldn’t have to do. We take design and renovation off of your plate and manage your project from the initial design concept all the way through to completion. All you have to do is sit back and relax while we transform your space!

MORE ABOUT FULL-SERVICE DESIGN

ELEVATE MEALTIME

Cooking a four-course meal (and cleaning up afterwards) isn’t what most people look forward to doing after a long day. With restrictions placed on restaurants and dining for a year now, the daily dilemma of figuring out what to make for dinner to satisfy everyone in the house hasn’t gotten much easier. Luckily, there are a few simple ways to make mealtime easier on you without compromising the quality of the meal itself.

Out-sourcing your weeknight meals through delivery or meal services like Hello Fresh takes the guesswork out of figuring out a dinner plan on nights that time is of the essence. Subscription meal-boxes can be personalized based on dietary restrictions, allergies, and personal taste—making it easier for you to get dinner ready and even reach health goals like eating more plant-based meals.

If you want to your dinner experience to feel a little more extravagant, supplement your meal by adding courses that you outsourced, like appetizers or desserts. Adding courses that you didn’t make yourself instantly elevates a meal without adding any extra work. If you’re in the Essex County area, check out Calandra’s Italian Village in Caldwell, NJ, where you can find fresh bread, taralli, antipasti, pastries, cookies, cakes, pies, gelato—everything you need to serve a meal fit for a Michelin-starred menu. Feel like going high-end? Serve a luxe wine in stemware that pairs with your meal; consult Amanti Vino in Montclair, NJ, or their second location in Morristown, NJ–ranked in Wine Enthusiast’s top 50 wine retailers in the country–it never fails for obscure varietals and hidden gems. Supporting local business while easing and elevating mealtime? A win-win situation!

ADD SOME MAGIC

Once the essentials are covered, tailor your kitchen space to feature the things you love. Incorporate magnificent things—just a little bit of magic—that aren’t apart of the standard kitchen. If you love baking fluffy artisanal bread with a beautiful crust, or you want to roast your veggies to crispy perfection so your kids will actually eat them, or you’re like me and would die for a slice of homemade Margherita pizza on a Friday night, Monogram’s Smart Hearth Oven is the magic touch to your kitchen that you’re looking for. Imagine having a Neapolitan brick oven in your kitchen, but with the precision of an electric oven, and seamlessly installed with a brushed stainless steel exterior for easy cleaning and a luxurious eye appeal.

But what’s pizza without a wine pairing? Plum can help you serve the perfect glass of wine with your piping hot slice of pie. Plum is the the first appliance to preserve, chill, and serve any 750ml bottle, one perfect pour at a time. How is it the perfect glass every time? Plum uses argon gas to preserve your bottle after each pour— as if it was never opened. This extends the shelf life of your wine up to 90 days. With a click of button, you can select the ounces you wish to drink and Plum will dispense and aerate the selected amount. No more wasting wine! The sleek design can be incorporated into any room as it could sit on a countertop, tabletop, or be integrated into cabinetry.

Simply place your bottle of choice inside the chamber with the cork or metal screw cap on. The Plum then reads the wine label using Artificial Intelligence (AI) Technology which then automatically sets the chamber to the perfect temperature as the winemaker intends. To dispense, click the desired ounce from the touchscreen keypad; the appliance will then pierce through the foil and closure, and pour for optimum drinking. Upon pouring, the bottle is preserved with argon gas to keep your wine fresh for up to three months!

Following the wine theme, Thermador offers a variety of wine refrigerators (cabinet-sized and under-the-counter refrigerators are available) to ensure that your wine collection is stored properly in a temperature-controlled environment while being displayed in a sleek and luxurious fashion. Thermador also recently introduced the first glass-care dishwasher for all your stemware and steins! Gone are the days of hand-washing all of your stemware. Oh, and lipstick smudges? Don’t know her! Lipstick stains wipe away in just one cycle. Wine enthusiasts and party hosts, these appliances are sure to add some magic and streamline your entertaining space!