Brand New Display At The Lehigh Valley Showroom: Casual Chic!

See the Latest in Kitchen Design

Features "Cashmere" Painted Cabinetry, Heated Floor, Lighted Display and Floating Shelves

Love stainless steel appliances, painted cabinetry, and metallic surfaces? Check out our brand new "Casual Chic" kitchen display!

Set the mood with programmable lighting in the glass display cabinets flanking the stainless steel vent. Yes, you can change colors to match your mood! The light filters through the glass shelves, washing the wall in color. There's more shine in the glass tile in "Mocha" installed behind the vent hood. The stainless steel Whirlpool range features double ovens.

The Zodiac countertop in "Nutmeg" is repeated in the peninsula, which has an overhang for seating and a microwave drawer. The pantry wall features tons of shallow shelves - much easier to locate items in than deep shelves! The pantry wall has a lighted display niche with a mirrored back wall and floating shelves. Below the display niche is a clever feature: a pet feeding station. No longer will you trip over the dog's dishes. Cut-outs at baseboard height hold both water and food dishes, and the cabinet above can be used for pet food storage.

Uniting the whole space are floating shelves (no visible supports) of Formica laminate in "Natural Cane." The cabinetry is by Quality in Maple with a "Cashmere" painted finish. Under it all is a heated floor, covered in porcelain tile in "Metallica" finish. Think of the warmth! You can walk this floor in your socks in the depths of winter and still be cozy.

Stop by to see this brand new display and bring your friends - you'll see the very latest in kitchen design ideas at both the Lehigh Valley and Pocono Morris Black showrooms!

Try Before You Buy: Think "Goldilocks" for Chair Heights

What do Goldilocks and kitchen seating have in common? Well, just like Goldilocks and the Three Bears, you’ll want to try the small, medium and big versions of seating as you design your new kitchen. If you are planning a kitchen snack bar – and that’s one of the most popular features Morris Black does - you need to consider the counter and seat height options. First, think purpose. Most countertop seating is for in-kitchen casual dining or relaxing, like reading the morning paper or browsing cookbooks. Typically, you will be choosing from three standard snack bar or table heights: 30”, 36” or 42”


The normal table height is 30” high, with chair height of 18”. If you opt to have an extended kitchen counter top as your snack bar, it will be 36” high. Since the bar height is 6” more than table height, you should increase the seat height 6” to 24” high. Similarly, if the bar is 42” high, you should have seats 30” high.

Who will be using these seats? For small children and the elderly, 30” high seats may not only be uncomfortable, but unsafe as well. At that height, most adult feet will not touch the floor, so you probably want seats with a foot ring or a foot rail on the bar itself.

24” high seats are easier to get on and off of than 30” high, of course. But some people find even this height uncomfortable. 18” table height seats are easiest to use and probably the most comfortable. I find that most clients, however, will not want a table height snack bar in the kitchen if it is in close proximity to a kitchen table of the same height. Varied seating heights are visually more interesting.

Like most design decisions, seat height is a matter of preference. Examples of each are at our Lehigh Valley or Pocono showrooms. Like Goldilocks, try all three heights, and see what you and your family like best.

Dan Lenner, CMKBD