Kitchen Think, Nancy R. Hiller

For two decades, Nancy R. Hiller has made a living by turning limitations into creative, lively and livable kitchens for her clients. "Kitchen Think" invites you to learn from both her completed kitchens (plus a few by others) and from the way she works in her Bloomington, Indiana, workshop.

Unlike most kitchen design books, it is a woodworker's guide to designing and furnishing the kitchen, from a down-to-the-studs renovation to refacing existing cabinets, without spending a fortune or adding significantly to the landfill. "The first requirement is simply to think," Hiller writes: about where you are in life, what resources you have in terms of money, materials or time, the architectural style of your home and so forth.

There are hundreds of full-colour photos of well-designed kitchens, organized into 24 case studies, ranging from the sculptural (kitchens by Johnny Grey and Wharton Esherick) to more familiar forms. There is also a heavy dose of practical instruction: how to build cabinets efficiently, a basic kitchen island and a wall-hung plate rack, plus hard-won advice on maximizing inside corners, scribing cabinets and countertops into odd spaces and leaving room for hardware. All of this is built on research into kitchens of the past, and Hiller's historical perspective might change your mind about what makes a good kitchen; it doesn't have to be walls of built-in cabinets.

The book is intended for:
Woodworkers, professional or not, who want to expand their thinking on kitchen design, remodeling culture, materials and techniques
Homeowners with woodworking and renovation skills who want to remodel their own kitchen, including building cabinets
Homeowners who want a deeper understanding of a thoughtful professional kitchen remodel
Anyone looking for design inspiration and unconventional, non-consumerist ways of thinking about kitchens

Nancy R. Hiller is a cabinetmaker specializing in period-style work for late 19th- to mid-20th-century interiors. Since 1995 she has run NR Hiller Design in Bloomington, and her work has been featured in Fine Woodworking, Popular Woodworking, Fine Homebuilding and other periodicals. Her other books include "Making Things Work" and "English Arts & Crafts Furniture".

Facts:
Author Nancy R. Hiller
368 pages in full colour
Size 8-1/2" × 11"
Coated, matte paper
Hardbound with printed matte-laminated cover, sewn binding with fibre-reinforced tape spine
Made in the USA
Language English