Archive for the ‘General’ Category

Setting a New Design Standard for Our Country’s Wounded Warriors

Posted by: Merillat Marketing on 01/11/2012 | Permalinks | Trackbacks

We recently teamed up with Clark Realty Capital, Michael Graves & Associates and IDEO on a project to support injured military members with homes that offer easier living for service members and veterans with debilitating injuries. Through the Wounded Warrior Home Project at Ft. Belvoir, Va., Merillat has provided cabinetry for two concept homes that set new standards for accessible or universal design.

Both homes include Merillat cabinets designed for ease-of-use in the kitchen, bathroom and laundry room. We installed adjustable height countertop surfaces that allow access to anyone, regardless of age, height or mobility. These include deep toekicks that better accommodate wheelchair access and height differences.

Pullout and rollout drawers and shelves eliminate the need for the homeowner to reach into the back of deep cabinets, while larger hardware made knobs and handles easier to grasp – important in designing for all needs. Our local dealer partner, Reico Kitchen & Bath, pitched in to install the cabinetry in the homes.

We’re always considering new ways to incorporate universal design, while increasing functionality and maintaining style. For more information, visit www.Merillat.com.

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The History of Kitchen Innovation

Posted by: Merillat Marketing on 05/12/2010 | Permalinks | Trackbacks
Merillat's patented hinge introduced in 1962

Merillat's patented cabinet door hinge introduced in 1962

Today’s kitchens look more like pieces of art than food preparation spaces. It’s amazing how much things have changed over the past 100 years.

Once upon a time, before the age of electricity, running water and modern appliances, the kitchen as we know it didn’t exist. For the average family, there might have been a table or cutting board for preparation, hearth and fireplace for cooking, and sometimes a dining area, but that was about it.

Around the beginning of the 20th century, the kitchen evolved into a separate room for food preparation. These kitchens were inefficient and poorly laid out compared to modern-day spaces. A typical pre-WWII kitchen had all freestanding elements: a stove or oven of some type, a sink (usually on porcelain legs), an icebox, a table that doubled as a work surface, and a freestanding cupboard to store dishes in. Built-in kitchen cabinets were not a common feature.

Cabinetry
The evolution of cabinetry is interesting. From free-standing “Hoosier” style cabinets, to metal cabinetry so popular post WWII, to the modern conveniences in our kitchens today, our ever-changing needs have necessitated certain advancements.

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Grab your Seat, the Merillat Round Table is Open for Discussion

Posted by: Merillat Marketing on 08/26/2009 | Permalinks | Trackbacks


The Merillat Round Table: Where inspired living spaces come together

From Mark Ayers, Vice President of Marketing

The kitchen is the heart of the home, and online communities are the heart of the Internet and a great place to learn and share ideas. That’s why I’m excited to welcome you to our new blog, Merillat Round Table. We’ll be using this space to talk about the kitchen – the one room in the house that everyone can relate to.

We hope that by participating in our online community you can learn a little more about Merillat, great tips for kitchen design and the latest trends. But most of all, we want you to be inspired! On our side, we’re looking forward to hearing your kitchen stories so that we can continue to bring you products, ideas and insights to make your kitchen the best it can be.

One of our most recent “kitchen connections” was inspiring homeowners in our ‘Good Life’ video contest on Facebook. We produced a music video that showed one of our ideas about living the good life in a Merillat kitchen. The contest encouraged homeowners to create and share their own videos depicting what ‘The Good Life’ means to them.  On July 28, 2009 we awarded the Driehorst family of Temperance, Mich., the grand prize $30,000 dream kitchen makeover. The Driehorsts’ winning video creatively showed what the ‘Good Life’ means to them … a kitchen that accommodates their busy family of six.

The Driehorst family recently embarked on their kitchen remodeling adventure at the Toledo, Ohio KSI Kitchen & Bath showroom where they met with designer Amy Wuest. We’ll be following their kitchen story in this blog. I hope you’ll check back with us often to see the Driehorsts’ kitchen makeover progress. Along the way you’ll hear some tips from kitchen design experts, get a glimpse behind the scenes of cabinet manufacturing, and of course, see the dramatic Before & After reveal.

Come back again, you won’t be disappointed!