Crazy about Quartz Countertops

Quartz countertops are my top selling countertop these days.  It is no wonder, since they are pretty much maintenance free!  They are non-porous, scratch resistant, highly resistant to stains, and most come with a 10 year warranty.  They also do not have to be re-sealed like granite, marble, and recycled glass countertops.       

                                                        

                                                     Caesarstone - Blizzard

Caesarstone - Haze - a new color!

      Caesarstone - Linen - also a new color

Caesarstone has even come out with several colors that contain recycled content.  I just installed a display in my new showroom (pictures to come soon) of Caesarstone's blizzard and quartz reflections, one of the new recycled content colors.  

Caesarstone - Quartz Reflections



A New Orleans Style French Country Kitchen

 

                                                   photo by David Tompkins 

                                                   photo by David Tompkins 

                                                  photo by David Tompkins 

                                                  photo by David Tompkins 

                                                   photo by David Tompkins 

                                                  photo by David Tompkins 

This has to be one of my most beautiful kitchen designs yet.  It is so warm and inviting and I am very proud of it! The cornufe looks stunning with it's copper accents and designer series Ventahood hanging above it. The walnut countertop made by Grothouse Lumber adds warmth and contrast.  The Thermador refrigerator, freezer, and wine unit all hide behind cabinet doors and give a nice furniture feel to the space.   I used Mid Continent cabinetry on the perimeters of the kitchen and CWP cabinetry for the island.  I will be posting more pictures of beautiful kitchens like this one very soon.

Green & White

This is a fabulous kitchen that I designed a few years ago. The homeowners were amazing people to work with and were really open to an updated look! (I did not have to talk them out of diagonal corner wall cabinets and glazed finishes.)

The kitchen is a huge improvement from it's original state---a tiny closed in room. The wall between the living area and kitchen was removed and the windows on either side of the range were added....one of my favorites features of this kitchen.

Design Details:

Cabinets- Wellborn - Bristol door style - bright white finish

Range hood- Fisher Paykel

Other appliances- JennAir

Tile- Interceramic

Lighting above Island- Restoration Hardware

Have You Had a Taste of Flavor Paper?

I recently discovered Flavor Paper, a unique wallcovering company, that is located in the Bywater District of New Orleans. I cannot believe that I did not know about this fabulous company. Flavor Paper's wallcoverings are unlike any other wallcovering out there and what a unique name!! Although it was extremely hard to pick just a few because I love them all, here are a few of my favorites:

Aster Space (above)

Valencia

Laced

Kashmiri

City Park

Mustachio

fleur de saveur

Flower Pedal

Flavor Paper even has a scratch and sniff variety of wallcoverings that were originally created for Michael Angelo. They include flavors such as cherry, banana, and tutti frutti. Give yourself a little visual pleasure and check out Flavor Paper's fabulous website.

The Epitome of Faded Grandeur

Today, while searching for some inspiration, I stumbled upon this website. I assume it is for people looking for fabulous movie locations (most of which seem to be in Europe). I was looking for Victorian era kitchens and was pleased to find many wonderful examples. This abandoned castle took my breath away.



I will post some better examples of Victorian Era kitchens, but this image definitely needs to be discussed. The back left part of the picture shows the built in cabinetry and the right side shows the stove. I now see where Clive Christian got his inspiration...period kitchens. I am so in love!

This appears to be another kitchen in the castle. I could stare at these photos for hours.
The stove again, in the main kitchen. Is that subway tile I see?

Beautiful Details!
If you look closely, you can see the delicate mural that adorns the walls in this room.


I love the shade of blue in this room.
This is my favorite room. I guess it was the library or a ballroom. If I had lived here it would have definitely been used as my ballroom.
I have had a love for old abandoned homes for years. My mother had this book about anti-bellum homes in Louisiana that I used to pour through when I was a child. I never grew tired of those images. I have so many questions for this castle. Who lived here? Why did they abandon it? There must be someone out there who would want to live here. It is kind of sad that no one gets to live amongst these beautiful rooms. I am so happy that I found this website and this castle. I will visit these pictures often for inspiration and post some of the beautiful Victorian kitchens that I found real soon!

Mahogany and All of it's Splendor...

I have been a very bad blogger lately. With the holidays, our upcoming move, and work consuming most of my time, I just have not been able to spare a few minutes to focus on my blogs--until now!
Today, I had the chance to visit a kitchen that I completed last year. I had not seen the lovely tile back splash yet and was eager to take pictures. Boy do I wish I had before pictures of this space. It was one unsightly room! We removed a large walk in pantry, which was where the range and cabinets on the far wall (in the above picture) are now. It also consisted of laminate countertops, a peninsula that took up far too much space, and very out-dated appliances.
My client's chose these beautiful African Mahogany Inset cabinets. The upper cabinets are a custom 4 feet tall. Can you imagine having all of that storage?
This is my favorite thing about the kitchen-- A custom Armoire/Refrigerator/ Pantry. The center cabinet is the refrigerator and the pantries are on either side. This kitchen will always be special to me. My client's encouraged me to use my imagination---my favorite type to work with (and they are also related to one of my co-workers.)

A few things that I would have done differently:

1. I would have gone with a wood hood or a beautiful hood from Metallo Arts (too bad that I did not know about them then.)

2. I would have added an island in the center of the kitchen.

Overall, I am very proud of this kitchen!

The Doll House

The Doll House is a house in the French Quarter that I had the chance to work on a year ago. I recently posted on The Four Leaf Clover a few details and pictures about this wonderful little piece of history. Last Thursday the PRC (Preservation Resource Center of New Orleans) held an event at The Doll House-- as they do each month for select historic homes that are in the middle of a renovation.
The owners opted to leave the walls, fireplaces, and doors of this 1810 home in place, which allowed for a rather choppy kitchen design. The kitchen had a total of 5 doors and a large fireplace that I had to work around. I was actually happy that my client's chose to keep the existing layout. From day one, my client made it clear that she loved a furniture look, wanted stainless steel appliances, and wanted a large island with seating and open storage. I was thrilled when she found 3 beautiful antique hutches at a local urban salvage center. My job was to come up with an island that would house a 3 foot wide Wolf range, a dishwasher, and a sink. After doing several drawings, I came up with the perfect island! The pictures of the room are not the best--the space is so small and I was trying to snap shots around people moving in and out. The picture above shows the Wolf range with a 3"x 3" post on either side with open shelving. The dishwasher is beyond the shelving and the sink is on the opposite side of the range.

I love the antique pieces that she rescued and also the wood beams on the ceiling.

Here is the opposite side from the dishwasher. The white carrara marble overhangs about 9" and offers a place for seating. I love the open storage. (I am sure those shelves will be filled when they actually move in.)
Viewing the room from the copper sink, you can see the fireplace and another furniture piece in the background.
This is my favorite furniture piece. I think it would look nice with some bead board attached to the back too, maybe painted in a contrasting color.
Very old brick floors and a shiny new Wolf range--this space definitely mixes modern elements with the old.


This is the third antique piece which is obviously used as the bar. If you will, notice the wood beams in the mirror. My clients and I are very pleased with the end result in this kitchen. I have never been fond of just putting boxes on the walls and floor, and am certainly glad that that is not the case here. I am so happy for my clients. It would be a dream to have the opportunity to live in the French Quarter, especially in a place as beautiful as The Doll House.