Tip #1 - Plan storage that children can reach. One day, I realized that my daughter was more than capable of getting a cup off the shelf and putting water into it - IF she could reach the shelf. So, I stocked one lower cabinet with a kid-friendly selection of plates, cups and bowls, and she's been serving herself ever since. 

Drawer-mounted plate racks, like the one below, are the best way to move dishes down to a kid's level. Order a rack like this with your new cabinets, or add it to an existing deep drawer.  The one below is by Crystal Cabinet Works, our go-to cabinet manufacturer.

Tip #2 - Provide a safe step up. Kitchen cabinets are just another set of monkey bars for some kids. You remember how the thinking goes, "If I hook my toes around this drawer pull, rest my opposite knee on the countertop and hold onto the door with my left hand, I know I can reach the Pop Tarts with my right."

Seriously though, falls are the leading cause of injury to kids under 15 according to the CDC. So, figure out where you're going to put a step stool. It'll be safer for children and for you.  A broom closet will work, or you can even hide one under the toe kick of a cabinet. Here's a picture of the Stepfix by Hafele.

Tip #3 - Be careful around corners. Children run when they should walk. There's no avoiding it. So, think about what a child is going to be faced with when they run around a blind corner.

Is it an open wall oven with a hot door that is right at their eye level?  Or, will it be you standing at the kitchen sink cutting vegetables with a knife?  Or, you again, only this time turning with a hot pot in your hands?

In general, avoid putting potentially dangerous appliances or work areas where children, or adults for that matter, might blunder into them.

Do you have other tips on keeping kids safe in the kitchen? Share them here. I'd love to hear from you.

Looking for more kitchen design tips? Download our FREE guide.

Jackie Lopey is a Certified Interior Designer and the CEO of Venue. Read about Jackie's journey from a DIY home remodeler to Certified Interior Designer & CEO.

One of our most commonly asked questions is: How can I make more space in my home. Answer? Hire a great interior designer who is terrific at making the most of your space (we happen to know a great one)! You might not be ready for a remodel just yet, so you need to look at how you organize your home. We are not asking you to fold your clothes in a different way or hug all your possessions and see if they bring you joy! However, Claire in marketing, is a huge fan of Marie Kondo and really does feel "The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up" when sorting and ridding her home of unwanted clutter. She actually enjoys making sure her clothes neatly stand to attention before putting them away! However, if you feel this is all too much effort, the simple trick it to have a house filled with great organizational and storage options.

KITCHEN
We know you can never have enough surfaces or storage in your kitchen. Here are some of our favorite organizational and storage options for your kitchen.

Spice Rack & Pan Drawers

Now you see me...now, you don't.  The perfect way to hide kitchen appliances!

Clever kitchen appliances give you more space and keep your surfaces clutter free.

A kitchen pantry with doors can hide a multitude of sins and is the perfect way to hide your kitchen appliances and ugly packages, whilst having all your supplies in one place.

Glass fronted display kitchen cabinets showcase a favorite collection

Narrow slide out drawers keep appliances off counter tops but still easily accessible

Beacon Hill introduces Animale at Robert Allen, silk textiles that marry the worlds of creature and man. In Animale, human and animal attributes intermingle throughout embroideries, jacquards and prints, to create an arresting tableau of pattern, texture and color, and a silk collection that is one-of-a-kind.

Surface cut weft yarns that mimic the tendrils of a feather, weave structures that mirror the contours of a nautilus, print and embroidery techniques that call to mind magnificent plumage... Exquiste craftmanship, a hallmark of Beacon Hill, eloquently evokes beauty and beast through the language of textiles. By working with the world's finest artisans, Beacon Hill has developed fabrics that are both one-of-a-kind, and beautifully designed for diverse applications.

MAGIC? NO, MAGNETS! 

This week we were discussing the benefits of induction cook tops with our clients and we're delighted to see Wolf are embracing induction cooking in their new first induction range available October 2016. If you've never cooked with induction, you're in for a surprise. It is a technology of startling precision and power – perhaps the only type of cooking that could lure you away from gas.  Wolf pairs a powerful induction cook-top with its celebrated dual convection oven, which delivers the most even heating you'll find, plus 10 automatic cooking modes to master any dish. It's a combination to delight any culinary enthusiast.

The induction cook-top boils water faster than gas. Has a black ceramic glass surface that cleans in seconds. And a flexible cooking surface that accommodates various pan sizes and dishes. How does it perform? Induction gives you high to low end control as precise and powerful as any gas range you've used. With this extraordinary range, you'll cook meals better (and faster) than you ever thought possible.

Induction cooking harnesses the power of magnets, generating heat directly in the cooking vessel rather than the cook-top, to create a precise and efficient control of heat.  Along with the boost feature on the cook-tops, water will boil faster and cookware heat more quickly than gas. Wolf Induction allows you to predict delicious results by providing exact and quick heat control on both high a low settings. 

One of the many features of the Induction Range is that is combines the induction cook-top with the Wolf convection oven. With two convection fans that saturate and circulate heat to ensure that food is cooked evenly without hot and cool spots, allowing multi-rack cooking with no rotation necessary. The 10 cooking modes allow for perfecting anything from traditional roasts and pies to pizzas and dried fruits.

It just makes us want to get cooking? 

SAVE WATER EVERY DAY

KOHLER, believe great design is form and function in perfect harmony with the environment. They design products that don’t just look beautiful and perform exceptionally well, but also use significantly less water. Because lowering your water usage shouldn’t mean lowering your standards.

Switching to a water-saving toilet is the single most effective change you can make in your house to conserve water. And with KOHLER technologies like their powerful AquaPiston®flush engine, you won’t have to sacrifice anything in terms of performance.

The Highline® Comfort Height® water-conserving toilet combines both style and function with its clean, simple design and efficient performance. 

California has just experienced the first rain of Fall, and wow do we need it! That's why we are an advocate of anyone who makes it their mission to save water.