This is probably one of my all time favorite granites- New Azul Aran! There are stunning veins of clear and taupe colored quartz and tons of mica for a spark-tacular rich pallette in the kitchen. It’s a gorgeous neutral stone that also has these wonderful deep pools of stealy blue that adds just the right amount… Continue reading McDowell Mtn Ranch, cont.
Last week, I went down to the granite fabricators to decide exactly where they were going to cut the stone- oh such power! This is one of my favorite things to do on specialty stones like this New Azul Aran. There are huge chunks of crystal and mineral deposits that you really don’t want the… Continue reading McDowell Mtn Ranch- Behind the Scenes
Cabinet bases have been installed, but they’re never very exciting to look at until the pretty parts come in. DESIGN TIP: If your project has other trades people coming in and your cabinet maker is amenable, leave the doors until last. This way they won’t get dinged or scratched by other people. And you get… Continue reading Day 2- McDowell Mtn Ranch
Another kitchen to get a facelift with some new cabinets, countertops, appliances and a backsplash. The client cannot wait to be rid of the awful granite tiles that barely have grout left between them. Yuck! Of course, we’re going to do something much cooler with the tile backsplash using another custom mosaic that I designed.… Continue reading Day 1- McDowell Mtn Ranch
Things are really starting to take shape and the finishing touches are being added. Well over 1000 of pounds of grout are going into this house… which is mildly ironic since she wanted a maintenance free house. At least none of the tile is porous. The foyer medallion has been installed with such precision and… Continue reading Day 22-23
They say the Devil’s in the details, which is beyond apparent when the head tile installer takes almost a whole day to install the bullnose tile around the five glass block windows in the master shower. When you use Porcelain tile, the edges aren’t finished and it doesn’t polish like natural stone, so you have to use what’s… Continue reading Day 21
Tons of activity continues to propel us toward completion! There’s a guy working in every room and it’s all coming together, so here are lots of pictures to prove it! After the almost catastrophic mistake with the granite edge detail yesterday, I am so relieved that now it’s only a good story.
Just a bit behind on the posting, but not behind on the project. I’ve been spending a lot of time on the job-site making sure that all of my design concepts and plans are being translated perfectly in real life- which means a bit less time in front of the screen. Some times that is… Continue reading Day 16 – 19
Most of this week has been painting and since the painters have 90% of everything covered in plastic and the colors we chose were very close to the originals… the pictures don’t seem super dramatic. The soffit in the kitchen gets a rich coat of chocolate brown to tie in the new cabinet color. The… Continue reading Day 13-15
Even though a lot gets done every day… sometimes the progress just doesn’t photograph well. Maybe it just looks the same to me because I see it everyday. The living room, dining room and office have now been finished with a wood-look porcelain tile that we installed with random staggered grout joints. They’ll grout in… Continue reading Day 11-12
Design Elements Dissected 