6909 N. John Ave (The Lena)

The heart of any home is the kitchen, so the kitchen may as well be part of your living space... especially when your kitchen is this snappy. The high-gloss red cabinets have aluminium edging, and we mixed in a few frosted glass/aluminum door fronts for additional interest. It's a galley, which opens out onto the living room on one end and the laundry room the other.

The refrigerator (with an automatic icemaker), dishwasher, smooth-top range, and range hood are all stainless steel. There's a cabinet for your microwave (and trust us, you will want to microwave some popcorn and sit out on the deck on a few summer evenings).

The kitchen floor is a handsome slate. Countertops are solid oak butcher-block. Lighting is low-voltage halogen on a dimmer plus a range hood and halogen under-cabinet lights. We've put in a new extra-deep stainless steel sink and contemporary pull-out faucet under a the kitchen window.

And now for some storage porn. The drawers are all on full-extension runners and large enough to swallow your biggest pots and pans. There's a pull-out pantry cabinet next to the range for spices, oils and other cooking essentials. The laundry area has a floor-to-ceiling pantry cabinet for even more storage.