Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
Welcome! I'm Susan Serra, CKD, CAPS and member of NKBA & USGBC. Designing functional, comfortable and social kitchens...Ready to start the journey to a truly personal kitchen? I'll get you there... www.susanserraassociates.com
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Founded:
1991
 
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.

Susan Serra Associates, Inc. Follow me on Twitter for random green Thanksgiving tweets and short bursts of lots of other minutia you need to know about. Mostly kitchen related, but I cover many other topics as well (plus I have a bit more fun on Twitter for better or worse). Twitter is a mild obsession for me, and lots can be said and learned in 140 characters...like random Thanksgiving green tweets. Twitter name: @susanserrackd

4 hours ago
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
As we prepare for Thanksgiving, I've gathered together past scenes of kitchen busywork, tables, and the last roses of the season! The image of food on my Kohler Talk blog post can be found on the table in this album. http://www.us.kohler.com/mykohler/blog.jsp?plckController=Blog&plckBlogPage=BlogViewPost&uid=bf0f428a-821d-4367-b627-e2bfb0fa1be3&plckPostId=Blog:bf0f428a-821d-4367-b627-e2bfb0fa1be3Post:75683989-bcbf-4363-b297-0173fd9c4b22&plckScript=blogScript&plckElementId=blogDest
Thu at 2:20pm
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.

Susan Serra Associates, Inc. Entertaining and The Busy Kitchen...my blog post for Kohler Talk. The first image of food? That's from my own Thanksgiving table just before the rapture! ;)

Susan Serra Associates, Inc.

Susan Serra Associates, Inc. What are you doing in NYC on Tuesday? Come to my talk with PR pro Steve Halsey from Gibbs & Soell hosted by the New York chapter of IFDA. We're talking about social media. He's the social media pro, I'm the DIYer. :) This is one of my favorite topics, as I'm ever so slightly addicted to all of it!

Source: www.hometextilestoday.com
New York -- The New York Chapter of The International Furnishings and Design Association (IFDA) will host a program later this month to counsel homefurnishingscompanieson ways to successfully engage social media sites to promote a company an its brand.
Linda Merrill
Linda Merrill
wish I could be there!
November 13 at 8:35am
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
I often would like to go to your events, I'm always reading about such good events!
November 13 at 8:38am
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.

Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
I'm in a Louis Poulsen mood this morning. Take a look at these wall fixtures. Yes, you can use them in your kitchen! Put them on each side of a window, a few can be installed along a backsplash, higher up on a wall, used in a row to illuminate artwork or between sections of open shelving, depending on the installation.... Think of non traditional uses for lighting. That's what makes a kitchen yours alone and it's a warm, home-y feeling too.Read More

Source: www.louispoulsen.com
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.

Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
A few little notes on what I'm doing:

Tomorrow will be an exciting day, to say the least...I will be participating in an interview with Thom Filicia! We will both be interviewed together on trends for 2010. More details soon!

Then, I'll be attending a press event for Samsung in the city. For some reason, I'm ALL over ap...pliances this year and I'm looking forward to learning any little pieces of information I can.

Then, I invade my city apartment at which my son resides, will generally annoy him in some way I'm sure, especially since my evening appointment was cancelled, and Thursday, I'll be judging the best 2009 innovative kitchen/bath products for K+BB magazine, which is an all day thing with lots of shouting and arm twisting going on!

Diversity IS the spice of life. And, I surely love the industry I'm in...it's really the best.
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Source: www.thomfilicia.com
TFI : Thom Filicia Incorporated : Design Company
Laurie
Laurie
The best part of city living...it's all there! Sounds like a great time!
November 11 at 8:17am
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
I think it will be! Interview done, next, get ready for the rest of the day!
November 11 at 9:18am
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.

Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
I'd love to hear from as many of you as possible. Tell me about your dream kitchen, however you want to describe it!

I'll go first. For me, it looks and feels like a loft! Wide open, gracious, furniture-like cabinetry, blending into the surrounding rooms seamlessly. Built in pantries to the ceiling maybe surrounded by r...ustic beams on each side. All the cabinetry on legs. Built-in appliances with not a "pro" appliance in sight. I'm not sure about the countertops, but I'm thinking wood. Here's one VERY preliminary thought of how my own kitchen (when I eventually renovate it) could look and function. I'm considering other plans too.

Right now, there is a full, closed, wall dividing the kitchen and dining area, with the kitchen and dining room swapped. How about you?
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Michael Young
Michael Young
Finally! This post has been on my mind since you posted it! I can envision several different themes, motifs, settings that I'd regard as a "dream" kitchen. However, there is one thing, above all others, that is a must... perfect lighting. Obvious? Well, no, not exactly. Three things: (1) the entire space has to glow, (2) there can be no ... Read Moreshadow(s) anywhere, and the deal breaker: (3) there can be no visible sources of light. Bury the fixtures, recess them deeply, invoke magic spells, install four times as many as necessary, ... do whatever it takes at whatever expense... but don't let me cast my gaze directly upon the source of the light. No fixture ever devised, no matter how tasteful, suits my tastes as well as no visible fixture at all. Green? Efficient? Probably 'nay' on both counts but it's a dream kitchen.
Wed at 8:29pm
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
Michael, I'm glad I made you think! :) Very interesting...well, it's also often uncomfortable on the eyes to set your eyes on the source of the light, and you're bringing up something that I'm not sure that I've been focused on before, in that level of detail. What I usually try to do is to include 3 types of lighting...general, task, and accent ... Read Morelighting. Accent lighting I think is as important as the other two because it sets a mood and contributes to a feeling an that glow you're talking about. Lighting is one of those very big deals that, when it's done, needs to do several things nearly perfectly. So, tell me more about how much light/where do you like? Many like kitchens to be lit up like a laboratory. I'm one of those, but, then that's what dimmers are made for...for balance and control.
3 hours ago
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
This post may sound self serving, and, well, it IS, and it is rare that I am quite this direct, but what I want to do is illustrate, specifically, why a client must continue to ask questions of his/her kitchen designer throughout the entire design process, even if you, the client, think it's a...
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
Yesterday, just outside of Chicago, I attended a multi-brand appliance event, hosted by Sears. It was quite an eye opening experience, as Sears appliances, quite honestly, have not been on the radar in my business...
Pamela Rodriguez
Pamela Rodriguez
What a wonderful opportunity! I saw the post on Twitter by @SearsBlueCrewHA: "Betsy Owens, VP Kenmore, is talking about the re-launch of Kenmore." I've high expetations. I grew up with Kenmore appliances.. my folks knew they were actually made by other companies, but you couldn't beat Sears' service that was an added bonus and occasionally the ... Read Moreextra bells and whistles added into the Kenmore version. You could count on them to be there. What fascinating times we are in... Sears is taking the lead in blending cutting edge technology with good, old-fashioned customer care.
November 5 at 7:05am
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
Pam, you're so right, we are in fascinating times! We were told that Kenmore is in 1 out of 2 homes in the US! I could hardly wrap my brain around that number. You're right...the trust factor is everything, and from what I saw, they seem to take that factor very, very seriously, as they should!
November 5 at 8:40am
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
Finally! Just what Long Island and metro New York needs: in-person, unbiased, professional kitchen design consulting services. Although the emphasis on the page talks about kitchen design phone consultations, local in-person consultations are available as well....
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
I've been offering kitchen design consulting services informally and have not devoted a special page on my blog to this service until now.  I am very pleased to formally introduce the One Hour Phone Consultation!...
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
The results are in! Thank you for taking the survey! The topic of the kitchen floorplan survey was spur of the moment for me. I had just finished a marathon session designing my own kitchen (in a dreamlike state as it is at least a year or two off)...
Angie
Angie
Susan, wow, GREAT summary/essay. I like how you've distinguished your analysis between design professionals and homeowners. Moreso, I love the overall trend analysis vis a vis cultural/political/social climate.
October 29 at 7:54pm
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
Thank you for your thoughts Angie! I really appreciate your support!!
November 8 at 4:15pm
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.

Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
Here's a super fantastic productivity alert that I'd like to pass along, and I think you will find it very useful. It's called Evernote. Whether you want to save a handwritten text note, snapshot, web clip (bookmark) or voice note, I'm finding Evernote to be a very powerful collector of data, and it's a breeze to use. ...

Lifehacker, http://lifehacker.com/5041631/expand-your-brain-with-evernote one of my favorite sites, does a great job at clearly explaining many of its uses. NOTE: (no pun intended) To make use of the more powerful (and there are many) uses for Evernote, you'll need to take a little time and click around on their site, view some videos, look at their blog, things like that. I promise delightful surprises along the way if you can put in 30-60 minutes. I started using it right away, every day, all day, then revisited it a week or so later to learn more about its features and I'm glad I did.

Here are some great uses for your kitchen design project (not to mention my client projects for my own office use), one can, of course, create tags, even separate "notebooks" for, say, different rooms in the house, or by material, or by allied professional, or, of course, to add multiple tags to any one piece of data.

The "power" of Evernote can also be seen in its mobile applications...when you're at the stone yard and you want to take an image of a stone. Using Evernote's mobile application, it will immediately upload it to Evernote on the web, to your account. In the future, you'll have that record in your mobile phone, on your web account, and offline too, if you download Evernote's application. Everything syncs.

Have a handwritten note? Take a picture of it and I think I read that the text on the note is searchable PLUS you can map where the note was written! That's crazy stuff, isn't it?

Evernote is a visible bookmarked link on my browser menu, and I use it A LOT! I hope this has been useful. Let me know if you're using it too, and how you use it. Fantastic app to organize design projects!
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Source: www.evernote.com
Welcome to your notable world. Use Evernote to save your ideas, things you see, and things you like. Then find them all on any computer or device you use. For free.
Marcy Feld
Marcy Feld
This looks amazing- I' going to try it!
October 28 at 9:35am
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
Oh, you'll love it, I promise. It's not so "pretty" but I'm finding it so useful!
November 1 at 4:48pm
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.
Just a few little things... PLEASE take this survey: Kitchen Floorplan: Open Or Closed? It's seemingly a simple question, but the results are fascinating as the votes are coming in. I'll share them with you shortly. Please cast your vote...
Susan Serra Associates, Inc.

Susan Serra Associates, Inc. Take this survey...it will reveal very interesting information on what we want now in our kitchens and living spaces. I'll post the results soon!