McDaniels Kitchen & Bath

Kitchen sink sizes start with the base cabinet, not the product page. The base cabinet is the box that sits on the floor under your counter, and the sink has to fit inside it. So the number that settles the question isn’t the sink’s length. It’s the sink’s listed minimum cabinet size, the narrowest cabinet the maker says that sink fits. That number can be wider than the sink....

For a bathroom vanity with drawers, plan the sink bay first. The sink bay is the part of the cabinet under the sink, where the drain and the supply lines run. As a general rule, the drawers go where the plumbing isn’t, or they get cut around it. At 24 or 30 inches, that can mean doors under the bowl, and drawers only where the sink and the cabinet line leave room for them.

Pick the bins first. For a pull-out trash can cabinet, decide what it has to hold — one bin or two, and which size — then check that the cabinet’s real opening holds those bins, then choose the spot on the run. Settle all three on the drawing before the cabinets are ordered.

That order matters because cabinets get built to a drawing. Bins that don’t fit the opening, or...

Start with one question: is the house on a septic system or a municipal sewer? The answer decides the rest. On septic, plan the kitchen so it doesn’t depend on a garbage disposal, because the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) tells septic homeowners to eliminate or limit its use. On a sewer, the septic concern doesn’t apply, and the choice comes down to cabinet space...

Our monthly Partners in Design event series continued in September with a visit from Kate Slotman from Freshies Bakery. Partners in Design offers a unique opportunity to invite a range of local busines...