Rough and Ready
New Flooring Gets Banged Up
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
The latest trend in Southern California flooring is faux-old wood planks, according to the National Wood Flooring Association.
Hand scraped, brushed, punched and worn planks are the hottest thing in flooring. Some manufacturers even use a tumbler that swirls chains and bolts around smooth wood to distress it. Part of the appeal is the instant sense of history that comes with a distressed floor. The other part, of course, is the ease of care. You can’t hurt a distressed floor.
According to Chris Phillips of DeChateau Hardwood Flooring in San Diego, the trend started five years ago in California among owners of contemporary homes who wanted to contrast modern architecture and furniture with a casual floor. Crews used to do the work onsite; now the distressing is done by the supplier.
It might seem backwards, but distressed wood is more expensive than pristine planks. For a super-authentic look, hand-distressing is the way to go. Hand-distressing mimics real wear and tear better than machine-distressing, with prices starting around $14 a square foot. But much of the work can be done by machine instead of by hand, which makes it more affordable—around $5 a square foot.
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Capri Style
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Imagine a villa on Capri—white and flower-bedecked, clinging to a hillside with sweeping views over a deep blue sea, cool interiors and interesting furniture. Now imagine that you’ve been invited inside.
Mariella Gardella has persuaded 23 Caprese villa owners to throw open their doors for this lush book. Superb photography captures the essence of Capri—its terraced gardens, sailboats, cliffs and coves and most of all, its color. As she tours these enchanting private villas, Gardella draws readers to the heart of the home, the kitchen, sprinkling traditional local recipes throughout the book.
Fixing is Up
Remodeling Still Popular
Monday, January 07, 2008
Despite a depressed housing market, remodeling is hot.
A recent Harvard University Joint Center for Housing Studies noted that 2007 was the second-highest year on record for remodeling, with spending reaching $173.6 billion compared with $177.7 billion in 2006.
Dan Fritschen, author of “Remodel or Move? Make the Right Decision,” says that remodeling in a down market can make a lot of sense. His company, RemodelEstimates.com conducted a survey last fall among 5,000 homeowners and found that people are planning to spend about the same amount on home improvement this year as before.
One trend seems to be that homeowners plan to do at least some of the work themselves, a boon for DIY retailers like Home Depot. Surveys indicated that consumers seem to be remodeling with an eye toward comfort rather than enhancing resale value.
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Dry Grass
Bamboo Fiber Soaks It Up
Sunday, December 30, 2007
The latest arrival in trendy bathrooms is bamboo. Not on the floors or in cabinets, but in the towels.
Pure Fiber’s 100% bamboo towels are plush and soft. But besides the softness and silkiness of cashmere, bamboo yarn gives you the absorbency of fine cotton. Even better, bamboo yarns are more environmentally friendly than cotton, which accounts for a quarter of all crop pesticide use worldwide. Bamboo fabric requires less dye than cotton, modal or viscose, and the color is much more vivid.
And when you’re ready for new towels, the old ones are biodegradable. As a natural cellulose fiber, bamboo can be 100% biodegraded in soil by microorganism and sunshine.
Pure Fiber’s towels come in a range of colors like midnight blue, coastal blue, zesty orange, sunny yellow and, of course, white and natural. A set of bathtowels retails for $42.
Locally, Bambu Batu stocks bamboo towels and other bamboo items.
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California Romantica
Sunday, December 23, 2007
For a glimpse inside some of the best examples of California Mission and Spanish Colonial homes, it’s hard to do better than California Romantica. This lushly illustrated book features homes by George Washington Smith, Wallace Neff, Richard Requa, Lilian Rice, and other noted architects.
From whitewashed stucco walls and cloistered patios to tile roofs and glorious gardens, each house is a rare masterpiece, splendidly appointed with authentic California furnishings, including Monterey furniture, California tile and Navajo rugs.
Among the magnificent seaside estates, canyon villas, and courtyard bungalows shown is Diane Keaton’s former home in Beverly Hills, which she thoughtfully restored with noted designer Stephen Shadley, and for which she has been recognized as a committed preservationist.
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Thrown a Curve
A New Shape in Showers
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
A new shower from Italian design firm Aqvadesign was inspired by the use of wood in beautiful ships, where it withstands the action of sea and sun.
Suggesing the graceful curve of a ship’s hull, the 2-inch thick Aqvaplana shower panel is designed in solid marine Okumè type wood. It might seem counter-intuitive to use wood in a bathroom where it’s in direct contact with water for extended periods. But the idea of creating a shower panel of wood normally used in boat-building and further protecting it with special marine-type varnishes, actually brings the natural warmth and beauty of wood directly into your bathroom, without any problems related to mildew or deterioration.
Available in 6 wood colour variations (Zebrano, Ebony, Wenghe’, Teak, Oak and Paduk), the panel has an ultra-thin frame (5.5 cm at the base and 3.5 cm at the height of the shower head), that is entirely concealed (no connection between the faucet and shower head is visible externally). For even more wow factor, the fixture can be installed free-standing.
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