I was just browsing through some of the pictures on our newest blog, RemodelingTherapy.com, and this one made me stop and think for a minute…

Of course my first thought was just how nice, comfortable, and relaxing of a space this is. It just looks like the kind of room you want to curl-up in and just sit for awhile.

I’ll be honest and tell you that my next thought wasn’t quite as positive. I was having visions of the long-term impact of real life on floors with gaps so large. Don’t try this at home unless you have one of those vacuum cleaners that will pick up a bowling ball.

But the thing that really made me stare for awhile was the authenticity of this look. It’s not easy for most people to pull-off. I’ll give you the secret…

Mess Up On Purpose!

I’ve built rooms like this and one of the biggest challenges, yet most important requirements, is to get the carpenters to go against their training.

Take a look at the roof framing in this example, which I’m under the assumption is all for show. See how it’s not evenly spaced? That’s important to the look, and it’s hard to get a good carpenter to do that!

Another example is the beam to the top right of the picture. It’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on there, but I can tell that some pretty big gaps in the woodwork are showing.

To a professional contractor or carpenter, that’s kind of a no-no! You have to force this kind of thing.

If you’re a novice DIY’er some of these goofs might happen naturally. If you’re looking for an authentic shabby-chic or rustic-not kind of look, let them be. And if you’re hiring a pro…

Tell them you won’t pay-up unless they mess-up!

See more pictures of beautiful white spaces at this post on RemodelingTherapy.com

Yesterday, I wrote a post about a really great DIY Green Wall Vertical Garden Thingy that I ran across while chasing down a photo that caught my eye. This is that photo:

This space really caught my eye because my family and I live in a tiny house of just under 1000sf, having downsized from about three times that size. Anytime I see a small space design that really works great, I have to write about it!

Glass, Glass, and More Glass

One of the most effective tools in small space design is light and this room has plenty of that! The floor-to-ceiling windows and glass doors create an almost seamless integration with the adjoining deck.

This much glass is hard to use in larger spaces because of heating and cooling challenges, but in a small space it’s much easier and less costly to keep the inside comfortable.

Color, Color, and Less Color

I really love the color of this wall and the way it goes against white. In fact, I think it’s almost the exact same colors as in (one of) my dream kitchen(s). The bright yellow tables add a perfect accent and putting them on blue wheels makes the space flexible! Luvvvvv it!

Open Beam Ceilings of Pretty Wood

I limit my use of the word pretty to situations when I really want to get the point across. This is pretty wood. It looks like a natural fir but it could be one of umpteen other great species used for framing. What it is NOT however, is super-high-end-cost-you-a-fortune-and-then-some kind of wood. This is pretty normal stuff that has been hand selected for the best grain and the nicest arrangement of knots, etc.

I don’t think it’s been finished at all. Why wood you? (ha!)

Don’t Miss The Lighting

Gotta love the juxtaposition of the raw wood with the sleek modern lighting.

Bottom line.. love this room!

photo source: Sunset.com

International Builders Show 2011 – Orlando, FL

I’m working my way around the trade show floor and seeing some interesting products and trends. I thought I’d stop for a second and share a few. I’ll get into more detail on some of these later, but just a quick look at some of my notes:

Side Mount Garage Door Opener

LiftMaster – Makes a cool garage door opener that mounts on the wall beside the garage door like you see in the picture. Would have helped me out tons of times when we faced ceilings under 8′ in garages with room additions above. It also has a battery back-up so you can still get the door open with ease when the power fails.

Hand Scraped Wood Floors

Shaw Flooring – Makes hand-scraped flooring that is actually hand scraped! (no machines) The authenticity of the finished product is hard to beat.

Lots Of Foam Insulation

I’m seeing a strong trend toward the use of foam insulation. It’s been coming for awhile and it looks like foam is arriving in a big way.

Wood Floors That Stick Down w/ Ease

Lumber Liquidators has a product that really looks to have promise for the DIY market. You buy an underlayment in rolls for a couple bucks a square foot and just roll it out on your sub-floor. Then you simply peel the film off the top to expose an adhesive and stick the wood down to it.

Simple as that!

I’ve only seen a small part of the trade show floor, so I’ll be back!

~ RG

How to save money, create great visual impact, and get efficient kitchen storage at the same time!

Kitchen Cabinets and Shelves Mix Great

One of the hottest new trends in kitchen design is the use of open shelves in-place of traditional upper cabinets. As usual, the use of the word “new” isn’t entirely accurate. Open shelves in kitchens have been around forever. Pretty much because they rock.

Open Shelves Look Fantastic

When considering open shelves for your kitchen storage, we should dispense with trying to start off with practical reasons. The number one reason to use open shelves in kitchen design is because it looks absolutely amazing!

The availablity of great looking stuff to put on those shelves is a big help. Colorful bowls and pretty dishes combine with ultra sharp looking mixing bowls, giant spoons, and shiny small appliances to make the whole thing look like a resort kitchen.

Oh, and I almost forgot, the whole kitchen looks about twice the size and about ten times as bright and airy. I’m just sayin.

Open Shelves Are Efficient Storage

Let’s face the facts. Upper cabinet storage has never been ideal. First of all, it’s not easy to reach way up there. Shelves don’t fix that, but what they do fix is that you can see what in the world you’re trying to reach. The framework around cabinets makes the storage area darker and it invites the storage technique known as “jamming”.

Open shelves may not be able to be crammed full, but you still have base cabinets for that! They end-up being efficient storage that you can access much easier, and don’t get all cluttered up with jamming.

Open Shelves Are Cheap

I probably should say “dirt cheap” because in reality, compared to cabinetry, there is almost no comparison. I’ll throw a contractor number out there off the top of my head. A six foot long run of upper cabinets in a nice kitchen might run about $1,000.00 with the range being from half that to double that or more.

A 6′ run of open shelving, even nicely done with quality materials, shouldn’t run you more than $500 or so and I’m being conservative. If you do it yourself, you’re looking at $50.00 in materials!

The bottom line is we’re talking cheap, cheap, cheap, compared to regular cabinets.

Is Open Shelving for You?

The biggest concern I’ve heard has been dust and dirt on the dishes. Is that something that worries you? Do these great benefits outweight that concern?

I think when we get around to our kitchen, at least part of the design will include shelving for storage.

Recommended Kitchen Remodeling Posts

Replacement Kitchen Cabinet Doors – An Alternative to New Cabinets
Banquette, Booth, or Built-In? Cool Kitchen Table Seating
Kitchen Tile Trends at Calfinder Remodeling Blog

I just can’t get enough of these colorful kitchens! I wrote apost just over a year ago with one that is still my favorite. That post was titled: Colors in Cabinetry — A New Trend? If it wasn’t already a major trend then, it certainly is now! And I’m one person who is happy, happy, happy about it!

bhg.com

The photo above has one thing in common with the one from last year that I think is really a key to pulling this look off:

Color on bottom — White on top!

Using white on the upper cabinet really serves to brighten the look. If the top half of the room had the darker colors, it wouldn’t work the same way. If they were actually reversed, and the white was on bottom, I think it would be a disaster!

Color On All The Cabinets

architecturaldigest.com

This look, where color is used on all of the cabinets is also beautiful in the right color and can work in a wider range of overall decor. The kind of detail and quality in these particular cabinets doesn’t hurt either.

Any thoughts? I’d love to hear your opinion on color in cabinetry or your favorite details in these pictures. It helps me know how your mind works! Thanks!

One of the hottest “new” trends I’m seeing this year is the extensive use of real wood paneling. I say “real” because I’m not talking about the wood paneling of the 1970′s. No photo-finish veneer paneling here! I’m talking about real wood paneling!

Paneling Wood Comes In Many Forms

The number of looks that can be obtained using wood to cover your indoor walls is vast. Over the next few weeks, we’re going to cover all of the best and coolest of them! Such as:

• painted wood paneling
• ceiling wood paneling
• beadboard paneling
• board-and-batten paneling
• plywood paneling
• real wood veneer paneling
• wainscot paneling
• raised-panel paneling

We’ll see pictures of all of these ideas and we’ll look at both traditional and modern looks that can be obtained with wood.  Don’t miss a single idea in this series, Subscribe by Feedburner Email!

Installing Wood Paneling

Our training wouldn’t be complete if we stopped with the ideas. We’re also going to look at the practical knowledge of:

• What to buy
• Where to buy it
• How to install it
• How to finish it
• What goes with it

By the time we finish, you’ll be a Paneling Ninja!

I’m coming up on the one year anniversary for Remodeling Guy. In that time, I’ve learned a little about me and blogging. I’m not great at keeping to set blogging schedules. Other duties sometimes interfere.  (see the subscribe links below to be sure not to miss anything)

So installments in this post series will have little, if any, discernable pattern. I might post two installments in a day, or one a week. Maybe on Monday, maybe on Thursday. Who knows?

I’ll mix these posts in with other regular content.

I expect the series overall to be fairly complete and detailed. It will probably take at least a half-dozen posts, probably more.

Ninja Training is serious business, especially when tons of awesome pictures are involved.

Don’t miss anything! Subscribe to Remodeling Guy for free at either of the following links:

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I hope you enjoy the series.

Post #2 – A Gazillion Types Of Wood Paneling

Post #3 – Board-and-Batten Paneling

Post #4 – V-Joint Tongue and Groove Paneling

Post #5 – Beadboard Inspiration (lots of pictures!)

Want some great ideas for remodeling projects to tackle this year? If so, you’re in the right place, because I’ve got some and I’m going to start the year off by sharing a few of my own remodeling dreams. Let’s go to it.

Idea #1 — Build a Bed Swing

I’ve been jaw dropping and getting all google-eyed at pictures of these things for long enough. I’d like to build one in 2010.

This one from CoastalLiving.com looks like it’s on a wonderful waterfront porch. I love the custom made bedding and the construction of this one looks like I could figure it out!

This one really ropes me in! I love the idea of using thick natural fiber rope like this. If I go this route, I might also take another idea from this picture… hang it close to the ground. If that rope ever rots, I don’t want to fall too far!

What I love about this one, besides the obvious, is the structure over it and the cool canopy woven between the logs. I think there is a good chance that when I build mine, it will include some logs that haven’t been milled. I love the natural shape of these posts and beams.

This last one might be my favorite. I like the look of the woodwork on this one. The exposed ends of the slats, the curved and smoothed edges on the front rail, and the way the sides and back have a railing to give this the function of a daybed.

The picture is originally from CoastalLiving.com, but I found it as part of a similar list of cool hanging beds at Living Locurto.

I can’t wait to give this a try! Sound fun to you?

I’ve built-up quite the backlog in the “to-read” stack. I’m speaking metaphorically, of course, because there is no actual stack, we’re talking a cyber-stack here.

Maybe what I’m missing is a great place to read my stack. And since it’s so big, and I’ll be there so long, maybe I also need a table nearby. This way I can keep provisions such as food and drink close at-hand. I might even jot down a note or two… maybe even use real paper.

One of the more prolific in-box fillers, BHG.com, provided me with a little inspiration this morning. And they introduced me to a new term at the same time.

Banquette – pronounced “bank-ette”

I won’t go on about how a bank-ette would be more than sufficient for my account, or even a micro-bank, or a piggy-bank.

But what is interesting is what I found when I started searching for more of these, which heretofore I would have called “built-in booth style seating”. It seems like banquette is a bit more stylish term and maybe not quite as “booth”-like.

I’m a huge fan of the picture above, which was posted in a forum conversation about this very subject, here. This whole look works great from the floors, to the awesome open walls, to the shelves above the windows. The seating itself looks like a great place to sit and look out over the water view.

What About Booths?

I was too lazy to look-up the real definition of Banquette, but I noticed in many pictures that they didn’t really meet the picture in my mind of a “booth”. The banquettes seem to have built-in seating on one or two sides, combined with chairs. Booth’s on the other hand generally use all built-in seating.

Like this one by Kitty Hawk, NC architect Chris Jenkins:

I love the feel of a booth. Cozy and comfortable. I read in the above linked forum thread that some people felt that the seating would be restricted or problematic in a situation where there wasn’t a server bringing everything to you.

I don’t agree. We had a small booth style dining area in our motorhome and we all loved it. Both for eating and just for sitting. I want one of these one day.

Here’s more:

How cool is this? I could sit in there all day (possibly with slightly altered ergonomics). This can be purchased at the very interesting website Bars, Cigars, and Brew or you can make it. Look close…it’s just wood to begin with and worked into art.

Or from the always awesome CoastalLiving.com:

Love the seafaring style of the table and the light fixture, and I really think the three sided arrangement would be ultra-comfy. Who among us doesn’t truthfully want the huge three sided or circular booth at restaurants, even when we’re alone or in pairs? Big booths are sporty.

Built-In’s Rock

I love built-in stuff. I just think it makes great use of space and looks incredible. Banquette’s or booths, by any name are great built-in’s. While I was looking around, I came across this picture again:

Which I originally found at Houzz.com and used as the basis for an entire post:

A Perfect Space Saving Kitchen Window Seat

The post details much more than just the built-in, talking about a number of great DIY projects in that kitchen.

Have a great week!

Kachelofen… best I can make of the sound in English is what happens if I kick my feet up and nod off at my desk. My wife might say “caught you loafin’” really fast, with an accent. Then it would be Kachelofen.

But that’s not what this post is about. Here’s a picture:

I found this picture at a Wasserofen.de , after I went searching for pictures of Kachelofens. Mary commented in the last post about fireplaces mentioning these and I went a lookin’. Way cool! Here’s more:

From Polar-Ofen.ch

Then I hit the motherload of awesome pictures at der-ofenladen.de

The people that design and build these things are just so talented and creative it amazes me! And they apparently really work!

Heat Flows Inside

From what I can understand, the interior of these structures has pathways for heat (air) flow. The areas that you can sit, as best I can tell, are up against warm walls, usually tile or what appears to be a clay/stucco type material.

Clearly I need to learn more, but I’m hooked! If I had one of these, I can tell you where you would catch me loafin’ on a cold winter day!

Of course, it was in the mid-eighties today… that whole Florida thing… probably why I’ve never heard of these!

How about some incredible open beams and floors to go with it, like these from Kachelofenfreund.de

I’m in awe.

You don’t often see the words “medium” and “countertop” used together. But you can, and should! Counters, just like any and all of the other elements of your home, have the potential to be a work of art!

Sometimes, the art is in the material itself and the artist is God Himself! This is true with granite, onyx, and beautiful woodgrains! At other times, the art is a creation of the skilled hand of an artistic soul.

These photos are of concrete countertops! Aren’t they amazing? The top one is a photo I took myself today of a sample I have from Downing Designs, an amazing concrete and glass studio in Tampa, FL.

I visited the studio a few months ago and I was amazed! I’ve had images of wonderful concrete creations dancing around in my mind ever since and the sample I left there with has not been buried in the sample graveyard!

While the top photo shows a real shell set in a beautiful, beach sand color, concrete mix along with colorful bits of glass and smaller shells, the bottom photo is the one I can’t get out of my head! I’ve seen this in person and it’s just really awesome!

Downing used real leaves (I’m not supposed to know what kind) to create these custom formed sinks which are truly incredible! It’s hard to see, but there is a tiny hole in the bottom where the water runs into the drain!

Availability: Good Most major cities have custom shops and concrete counters (maybe not like above) is something you can learn to do yourself  The materials themselves are readily available everywhere.

Lead Time: Normal This will vary greatly depending on the shop. Since this can be art, some shops (artists) are very far backlogged. I would say that on average, the lead time will be about six weeks.

Cost Range: Medium Again, this will vary dramatically depending on the company or individual. Generally speaking, concrete counters have similar costs to granite. For the DIY’er, the cost can be extremely low… if all goes well.

One more thing for the wish list!