Range hoods are focal points in the kitchen

As the heart of every home, the kitchen needs to be functional and efficient. But it should also look great. One of the ways to dress up your kitchen and give it gourmet function and appeal is with a high-quality range hood. They’ve come a long way from the little vented appliance over the stove with a 40-watt bulb. Today’s vent hoods light the cooking surface, vent odors and crank out smoke from indoor grills. They also command attention, often becoming the focal point of the kitchen.

Function is primary

The role of the hood is always to vent odors, steam and smoke and push them outside. That makes vents with exterior blowers the best and safest, particularly for those into serious gourmet cooking. The more cooking you do with heavy heat, such as frying or indoor grilling, the higher the quality of hood you’ll need. Almost any style and look can be incorporated into your kitchen by using hood liners. These vented hoods are the engine under the pretty chassis, making your choice of hood styles almost limitless.

Of course, there are hoods that are both hardworking and stylish. These hoods combine beauty and brawn, and command attention in any kitchen. Once such style is the simple commercial-type vent hood. These hoods are inexpensive compared to copper and wood-covered varieties, but the statement they make is the kitchen in this home is here for cooking. With all the stainless in kitchens today, this hood has all the same commercial and gourmet appeal as the appliances that surround it.

Focal point

Decorative coverings can be added to range hoods to hide the mechanics beneath them. Hoods can be fitted into many kitchen cabinets and made to blend in with the cabinetry style so as to appear almost seamless. For something more attention-getting, kitchen cooks often opt for creating a cooking area or kitchen alcove. Traditionally, an alcove is an enclosed area that where the stove and hood are set back. By framing the hood in the alcove, it works like a picture in a frame and guarantees everyone who enters the kitchen won’t miss it.

In kitchens without alcoves, a cooking center can be created by adding a contrasting backsplash behind the stove to stop splatters and make sure all eyes are on the stove. Topped off with a dramatic kitchen hood, the stove area will stand out in the kitchen and be the clear-cut focal point. The cooking center can be trimmed out with a hood made from built-in cabinetry that is pulled out from the cabinets, hiding the mechanical vent liner inside. Hoods can be covered in reclaimed wood, made from drywall construction and trimmed out, and they can be made to fit over the most modest kitchen stove to the largest commercial-grade stove.

Costs and considerations

Designer hoods fabricated of copper or other metals can cost up to thousands of dollars. But today, it doesn’t require a fortune to get a workhorse of a vent that also looks good. Handy gourmet enthusiasts may want to make their own hood and fit it with a quality liner. Looking at the many styles and the amount of high-quality hoods available to home chefs may give you the prod to take on a kitchen remodel. If you do, look at range hoods first to create your kitchen focal point, and then build your kitchen out from there.

(For more information, contact Kathryn Weber through her website, www.redlotusletter.com.)

(c) 2018 KATHRYN WEBER. DISTRIBUTED BY TRIBUNE CONTENT AGENCY, LLC.