The Uptown House

Issue No. 01, August 2026

Kitchens

How to Size a Kitchen Island Two Cooks Can Share

Island clearances decide whether two people can cook without colliding. The working numbers are 42 inches on the work side and 48 inches where a walkway crosses a seating overhang.

The Uptown House editorial desk. August 18, 2026. 5 min read.

Long kitchen island with counter stools in an open kitchen with glass doors to the garden
Long kitchen island with counter stools in an open kitchen with glass doors to the garden.

In this issue

The planning issue: island clearances, closet math, permit timelines and the paint decisions people redo twice.

  1. 02 Where the Trash Pull-Out Goes, and Why It Decides the Kitchen Kitchens. 4 min read.
  2. 03 What a Range Hood Has to Move to Keep a Kitchen Livable Kitchens. 4 min read.
  3. 04 Planning a Family Bathroom Around the Morning Rush Bathrooms. 4 min read.
  4. 05 Why Curbless Showers Fail, and What Fixes Them Bathrooms. 4 min read.
  5. 06 Layered Lighting in Plain English: What Each Fixture Is For Lighting. 4 min read.
  6. 07 Picking Bulb Color Temperature Room by Room Lighting. 3 min read.
  7. 08 Quartz vs Quartzite vs Granite for an American Kitchen Materials. 3 min read.
  8. 09 What Engineered Wood Floors Do Better Than Solid Oak Materials. 3 min read.
  9. 10 Reading a Paint Sheen Chart Before You Buy Five Gallons Materials. 4 min read.
  10. 11 What a Mudroom Needs in a House With Kids and Dogs Storage. 3 min read.
  11. 12 Closet Math: How Much Hanging Space a Household Actually Uses Storage. 4 min read.
  12. 13 The Pantry Question Most Remodels Get Backwards Storage. 3 min read.
  13. 14 How to Read a Floor Plan Before You Sign a Remodel Contract Floor plans. 3 min read.
  14. 15 Open Plan Living Rooms and the Noise Nobody Budgets For Floor plans. 3 min read.
  15. 16 Where a Home Office Belongs in a Three-Bedroom House Floor plans. 4 min read.
  16. 17 What a Remodel Timeline Really Looks Like, Week by Week Renovation. 3 min read.
  17. 18 Permits, Inspections and the Parts of a Remodel You Cannot Rush Renovation. 3 min read.
  18. 19 The Ten Percent of a Renovation That Decides How It Looks Renovation. 3 min read.
  19. 20 How to Measure a Room Before You Buy a Sectional Furniture. 3 min read.
  20. 21 Choosing Exterior Paint Colors That Work With Your Roof Color. 4 min read.

Furniture outlives most finishes in a remodel, and the made to order end of the market runs on its own lead times. Modenese Luxury Interiors has built furniture and lighting to order since 1818, and its classic furniture collection is organised by room, from living and dining to bedroom and office.