Tuesday, January 28, 2014
8 Kitchen Counter Options That Will Make You Forget Granite
MARY BOONE for Zillow Blog
Granite is great. No one is denying that.
Its use in residential applications has skyrocketed in recent years. A 2012 survey conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of The Marble Institute, found that 75 percent of homeowners who intend to remodel their kitchens in the next two years indicated they want granite countertops.
Granite’s durability, longevity and good looks make it ideal for kitchen countertops and other heavily used surfaces, including table tops and floors. Still, it’s expensive (typically $60 to $100 per square foot installed), it’s extraordinarily heavy (requiring reinforcement of base cabinets) and requires considerable upkeep.
Beyond granite, there are a multitude of countertop options available and their number just increases over time. If you’re in the market for a kitchen makeover, you may find one of these great, non-granite surfaces is just what you need:
Carrara marble
Marble is softer than granite, which means it stains and scratches. “But it creates its own patina when it does that,” says Alan Zielinski, immediate past president of the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) and president and CEO of Better Kitchens Inc. in north-suburban Chicago. “That aging process gives the marble a nice, warm look. That warmth appeals to some people – if you’re not one of them, you probably should avoid marble.”
Wood
Wood countertops are enjoying a resurgence in popularity, largely due to their durability and style. Adding a wood top to an island, while using a contrasting material for perimeter counters is a great way to add interest to the kitchen.
Butcher block is the most common type of wood countertop, but slabs can be crafted from a variety of woods, ranging from cherry and bamboo to zebra wood and iroko. Wear will give wood counters a charming patina, but you’ll need to periodically oil them to prevent drying.
Soapstone
Soapstone is a smooth, matte natural stone that comes in a hues ranging from soft grey to charcoal. It is one of the only natural surfaces that is not affected by acids, so spilled coffee or orange juice won’t leave a stain. Soapstone is also heat resistant.
No special cleaners are needed to keep soapstone clean but mineral oils can be used to enhance the stone’s natural beauty.
Engineered quartz
Although some quartz countertops are actually made of quarried slabs of stone, the new engineered material is created through a manufacturing process that mixes approximately 95 percent ground natural quartz with 5 percent polymer resins. The result is a super-hard, low-maintenance, natural looking countertop that’s available in a wide range of colors.
“Because quartz is a composite material, it brings with it both the practicality of natural stone and the consistency of a manufactured product,” says Zielinski. “It’s resistant to scratching, but it can be scratched and it’s resistant to heat, but you don’t want to set a hot frying pan on it.”
Concrete
New colorizing and stain techniques have made concrete counters more popular than ever. Skilled craftsmen can create beautiful concrete countertops in any color, shape and size. Embedded stones, tile or even silicone chips can be added to the mix to create a piece of art. The result is a beautiful counter that’s durable as well as scratch- and heat resistant.
The counters, which can be extremely heavy, are susceptible to damage from acidic liquids and must be sealed and regularly maintained to resist stains.
Glass
Glass countertops can endure high heat without cracking or scorching, they won’t stain and they’re non-porous, which makes them very hygienic. “I really like glass because it’s so versatile,” says Zielinkski. “You can laminate three pieces together and use a crackled surface or other art layer between the top and bottom. They can be painted on the back, or lit. They’re very high-end and very versatile.”
Glass counter tops are typically three-quarters to one-and-a-quarter inches thick. Glass is tempered; polished square edge finishing or edge banding is generally recommended. Under-mount sinks are not recommended due to the transparent nature of glass.
Stainless steel
Stainless steel countertops can be found in any style of kitchen, from contemporary to traditional, because they complement many of today’s appliances. Stainless steel is stain- and heat-resistant but it can be scratched or dented. Of course, steel isn’t the only metal countertop material on the market. You might also consider copper, pewter or zinc.
Solid surfaces
Solid-surface countertops can look like natural stone but they’re generally less expensive and require less maintenance.
“Another big advantage,” says Zielinski, “is that solid surface counters can be created with virtually no seams. That can be a plus not only in terms of appearance, but it also makes cleaning much easier.” These counters are heat- and moisture-resistant and easy to clean. They can, however, be scorched and scratched.
Tuesday, January 7, 2014
Remodeling Home Design Trends for 2014
If you are like my wife, a new year means a fresh perspective...change...renew! Like her, you may be feeling the desire of renovating, redecorating, or revising your space for 2014. We sometimes tend to follow the fashion world when color, texture, and design are involved as it seems to dictate (according to my pocket stylist wife) the trends for home design as well.
Trends in Color
In November my wife had the Women's Wear Daily article out stating the Pantone color of the year - Radiant orchid . But color trends for 2014 are also feeling blue. Blues across the color wheel are predicted to be hot hues for 2014 too.
You'll see a lot of Navy in upcoming design spreads as well as fashion. "Navy blue will be a big trend for 2014. I'm seeing a lot of the shade on the runways, on the streets, in editorials, in chic interiors... I actually think everyone will get it in 2014," said designer Mark D. Sikes in House Beautiful's Top Decorating Trends for 2014.
The Glam Factor
The Great Gatsby has influenced a "glam" feel and is another hot trend for 2014. You"ll see it in wallpaper, textiles, furniture, and accessories. I know this because my wife is inserting these ideas into our current remodel.
The Kitchen
Kitchen remodels are going glam too. With most of my clients, the kitchen is the pulse point of their home, and now designers are dressing it up," said Elle Décor, " cabinetry painted in rich gemstone colors, unique lighting fixtures, and elegant fixtures. I was impressed to read that "Floating shelves are also a hot 2014 design trend according to remodeling firm the Neil Kelly Company since we have these in our kitchen as well as my Daughters room.
Beautiful Bathrooms
Continuing is the spa-like environment in bathrooms. Clean lines, unique fixtures, and softer colors. To add depth incorporate textures with mosaic tiles, trends like a waterfall shower, modern touch faucets, and heated floors add eye candy and coziness Oversized walk-in showers and elegant standalone tubs are strong bathroom trends for 2014.
Tech Trends
The No. 1 trend for 2014 that brings some much-needed tech help to the home. U-Socket is a wall plug that "has two built-in USB ports to power devices including iPhones, gaming devices, digital cameras, Kindles and iPads... and features a smart sensor that allows it to shut off when the device is fully charged."
Downsizing:
Downsizing continues to be a long-term trend. 2014 will see people interested in living in smaller spaces that are closer to urban downtowns rather than larger houses in the suburbs.
In California, New Law Means Home Remodeling May Force Plumbing Upgrade
In California, New Law Means Home Remodeling May Force Plumbing Upgrade
Californians who want to alter or remodel a home built before 1994 may have to agree to install water-efficient plumbing in order to obtain a building permit. As Amy Quinton reports from Sacramento, the 2009 law that takes effect in January is creating some confusion in the building industry.
The law requires anyone seeking to alter or improve an older home to install water-saving toilets, faucets and showerheads. In some cases it would apply even if a homeowner is remodeling an area that has no plumbing, such as a bedroom or garage. It wouldn’t necessarily apply to an improvement such as a new roof.
Steve Gorman is with the City of Sacramento’s building department. He says the law’s vagueness will likely result in cities interpreting it differently.
Gorman: “The interpretation that comes into play is a result of it being a law and not a building code. So when it comes out in a building code format, there has been thought given to how it’s going to be enforced and it’s given a little more specificity.”
Water agencies sponsored the bill to help meet the state’s goal of reducing water use 20-percent by 2025.
Monday, May 6, 2013
6 Design Details to Avoid in a Small Kitchen - by Stephanie Gibson from Cultivate
Here is the first of a few I will be sharing:
6 Design Details to Avoid in a Small Kitchen
by Stephanie Gibson
There's no denying that spacious kitchens are fabulous. But if your reality is a kitchen where the refrigerator and oven doors can't be open at the same time and you frequently have to use the breakfast table for prep space, then you know just how cramped a small kitchen can feel. The good news? By avoiding a few common design foibles, you can make your tiny kitchen feel just as generous as the wide-open kitchen you're currently coveting.
1. A Built-In Island
Just about every kitchen can benefit from the extra prep and storage space of an island. But a big built-in island will overpower a small kitchen, taking up precious floor space and preventing movement in an already tight area. Do what the designer for this kitchen did and opt for a moveable, freestanding island instead. Williams-Sonoma's version (link below) includes a shelf below to hold bowls or other prep tools, and the cart folds up neatly so it can easily be stored when not in use.
2. Solid-Front Cabinets
Small kitchens need all the storage space they can get, but we guarantee you won't love the extra storage when it feels like your tiny kitchen is closing in on you. To keep things unobstructed, choose open shelving for at least one wall, and group necessities like plates, mixing bowls and glassware by color for a cohesive look. Not ready to put your kitchenware completely on display? Try cabinets with glass doors instead, and fill them with neatly stacked dishes and mugs. The glass fronts will lend an airy feel and increase the depth of the space.
3. One Big Light Fixture
Relying solely on a large central light fixture means you'll illuminate the workspace directly below it, but won't brighten the surrounding areas and corners. Installing several recessed can lights with dimmer switches is a better solution. Bright, well-lit roooms give the illusion of spaciousness, and soft white bulbs will eliminate any harshness. Install strips of under-cabinet lighting for additional task illumination, and don't block your kitchen's natural light, either: Leave windows bare, or hang simple bamboo shades that can be raised all the way up during the day.
4. A Matte Backsplash
Brick or thick ceramic tiles might be gorgeous in larger kitchens, but heavy materials like these will immediately weigh down a small space. Instead, choose a reflective material that will create a seamless line between the countertops and cabinetry. We love the look of glass tiles, which are also a snap to wipe clean. Light-colored countertops paired with white tile and cabinetry creates an especially airy feel in a diminutive kitchen.
Try this: 2x2 sheet-mounted staggered
Try this: 2x2 sheet-mounted staggered
5. Mixing Countertop Materials
Once again, this concept might make sense in kitchens were there's more space to go around, but in a smaller kitchen, you're better off with a smooth surface that provides a continuous element, which will trick the eye into elongating a space. Choose a large, seamless slab of light-colored granite, soapstone or engineered stone. Pair it with an undermount farmhouse sink that won't break up the line. Instead of cluttering countertops with gadgets and storage containers, hang magnetic strips, hooks and racks on the wall to corral spices and utensils.
6. Tile Floors
Practical as they might be in a kitchen, the geometric blocks and grout lines of a tile floor will break up a space, making it feel choppy and small. Instead, go for finished concrete or wide-plank wood laid in a horizontal pattern. The stripes will widen a tiny kitchen, visually stretching the boundaries. Add more interest by throwing down a striped rug.
Thursday, February 21, 2013
5 bathroom design trends for 2013
5 bathroom design trends for 2013
NKBA members say these bathroom concepts will be big this year
February 14, 2013
Each year, the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) surveys its members to identify the latest design and specification trends in kitchen and bath design. This year, more than 300 NKBA member-designers participated in the 2013 NKBA Design Trends Survey, reporting the materials, product types, and styles that they specified in their kitchen and bath designs over the final three months of 2012. While broad trends won’t be evident in every local market, the following are the top overall trends that emerged for bathrooms across the United States and Canada. Note the first three can apply to kitchens as well.
Shades of gray
Shades of gray in bathroom remodels have risen from 12 percent to 56 percent since 2010, according to NKBA. Whites and off-whites remain the top color schemes of bathrooms, used in 71 percent, respectively, an increase of 6 percentage points over the past year. Beiges and bones remain the second most popular color scheme, followed by grays and then browns. Browns are slightly in decline, falling from 39 percent in 2012 to 35 percent this year, but sepia tones rose from 11 percent to 18 percent.
Quartz
Quartz was the second most popular counter-surface material used in baths last year. This year, it has significantly narrowed the gap with granite, increasing from 53 percent to 65 percent, according to NKBA. Meanwhile, granite held steady in 2013, with 71 percent usage. Marble still remains a popular bathroom vanity-top material, only moderately dipping in popularity from 46 percent in 2010 to 39 percent this year.
Transitional styles
In 2012, the popularity of transitional style — a seamless blend of traditional and contemporary — exceeded that of its traditional counterpart, which had been the clear topper in 2010 and 2011. In the latest survey, transitional styles in the bathroom are still positioned No. 1, currently used by 61 percent of NKBA-member designers, according to NKBA.
Ceramic/porcelain tiles
Ceramic or porcelain tile flooring has been in slight decline over the past two years; but it remains the most popular of all materials, specified by 83 percent of the survey participants this year — down from 93 percent in 2011, according to NKBA. Natural stone tiles have also declined since 2011, dropping from 77 percent to 59 percent in 2012, and to 57 percent this year. However, they have been the second most popular type of flooring used since 2011.
Undermount sink
Undermounts are in slight decline this year, dropping from 94 percent in 2012 to 87 percent, according to NKBA. But here again, they remain the most specified type of lavoratory sink — not just in the latest poll, but over the past three years. Integrated sink/tops have seen modest growth, increasing from 35 percent in 2012 to 41 percent currently.
Thursday, January 17, 2013
The New American Dream: Walkable Urban Neighborhoods
The New American Dream: Walkable Urban Neighborhoods
By Fernando Pages Ruiz
By 2020 you’ll be living in a more sustainable community, even if you don’t know it. Market forces more powerful than eco-ethics or energy policies will drive the makeover of our towns and cities into pockets of walkable neighborhoods with varied retail and residential uses in close proximity, transforming both urban and suburban landscapes.
In short, suburban dormitory neighborhoods have become less desirable and downtown neighborhoods are the new American dream.
To compete with resurgent inner cities, the suburbs are developing their own versions of downtown where park-and-shop malls once stood. By 2020 this urban retrofit will be under construction throughout the U.S., even rural towns in regions as unlikely as the Bible Belt have started moving in this direction. By 2030, most of us will live in places that look a lot like Europe, with discernible local character and a defined center of commerce that serves as the nexus for community life.
Sure, the notion of walkable communities has become a political issue pitting rural conservatives against urban progressives. But by and large, the argument has been won through the economic success of walkable urban centers, which has motivated cash-strapped cities everywhere to support the creation of new, so-called lifestyle centers that recreate the urban experience.
The first towns to turn toward urban retrofit for tax revenue include neighborhoods in what Christopher Leinberger, Vision 2020 research chair for Sustainable Communities, would describe as the primary concentric ring of suburban development. Areas immediately adjacent to a competing metropolis, such as Wheat Ridge, just outside of Denver, which has recently undertaken the transformation of a major traffic artery lined with vacant storefronts and narrow sidewalks into a revived Main Street that draws commuters to--rather than through--the heart of town.
They began with a vision, “In the year 2030, people of all ages and abilities live, work, learn, shop, and play along 38th Avenue,” asserted the city’s planning document for the 38th Avenue Corridor Plan, adopted in October 2011. Then, using a low-cost approach, the City put the corridor on a “road diet” in the summer of 2012 by reducing the number of thru-traffic lanes from four to two. The diet created several benefits to the corridor, including a more attractive, pedestrian-friendly environment, reduced traffic speeds, increased safety, and the sought-for economic benefits, including the attraction of new businesses. The project has become the catalyst for a wider revitalization strategy strongly focused on creating multiple, community-focused hubs--or mini downtowns within what was once a sprawling Denver suburb.
Along the same lines, a recent USA Today article profiled several small cities that are becoming more cosmopolitan through similar redevelopment efforts. The article’s flagship was Carmel, a Midwestern suburb 20 miles north of Indianapolis. The town’s self-described European-style redevelopment effort has paid off handsomely: This year Money magazine ranked Carmel the No. 1 best place to live, with low unemployment, excellent schools, arts and culture, nature trails, and a huge community recreation complex. Other urban redevelopment efforts highlighted in the front-page feature included towns in Texas, Utah, and Colorado.
I have personally seen the transformation in the most unlikely place, rural Nebraska, where I lived and worked for nearly 20 years. The town of Ashland, between Lincoln and Omaha, revived its main street with cobblestone crosswalks and lured New York artists with promises of cheap studio space to create an attractive art district that now lures tourists off Interstate 80, and attracts a growing population of retired farmers wanting an urban, but not-so-big city experience. Meanwhile, following the lead of Omaha, which has become a national example of successful redevelopment, Lincoln recently doubled its efforts with a 2020 Vision of its own, in short order creating a vital downtown with ample residential, restaurant, retail, and office development. The result is palpable in the new vitality of downtown Lincoln, and the fact more college graduates now remain as permanent residents after graduation, in fact, Lincoln made the list at the Daily Beast among Richard Florida’s 25 best towns for college graduates, ranked above places like San Diego and Seattle.
The potency of this national shift toward walkable, non- automobile-centered life is both dramatic and historic. Car and single-family home sales have plummeted among people in the 21-to-34 year age group, a demographic that predicts trends likely to survive the next two decades. Auto makers have had to adjust sales to accommodate fleets of car-sharing services, instead of new car dealerships, and single-family home builders are becoming multifamily developers because this cohort of would-be first-time home buyers seems to prefer a small apartment in the high-rent district to a discounted mortgage in the suburbs, according to a recent Federal Reserve study.
I confess to a quiet skepticism about the power of the sustainable community movement at the outset of EcoHome’s Vision 2020 venture. But witnessing the quick conversion of places as far from urban fads as rural Nebraska in the light of all we have discussed during this first year of Vision 2020 has convinced me that Leinberger’s theory of demand-side transformation is indeed the most powerful force working to reduce our nation’s dependence on carbon-based energy. It is perhaps the only force potent enough to make a difference because it is based on human preferences, on what we want to do, vs. what we ought to do. The market, or demand-side strategy works despite political swings and has the self-determining economic muscle that makes things happen. There’s no need to set milestones and struggle to achieve them when social trends take over, as proven dramatically in the state of Florida, where Republican Governor Rick Scott turned down $2.4 billion in federal stimulus funding for a high-speed-rail line, only for private investors to step up and build the line themselves. Why? Because the market demands it.
I would not be surprised to see a similar result in Nebraska, with high-speed rail connecting Lincoln to Ashland and Omaha by 2030. Communities throughout the U.S. will become sustainable precisely because the elements that make them so coincide with the key ingredients of desirable living: a close-knit community, ready access to social engagement, and public amenities that provide recreational opportunities for all. The reduction in carbon will be a by-product of Americans pursuing their American dream.
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