82° M/CLOUDY, -
Thursday, October 02, 2008, 10:31 am
Home Decor Today: Ascending Asian
A recent study in the culinary world of catering trends revealed that all types of Asian specialties have replaced Italian as the foods most Americans want to eat when they order party platters, hire a caterer or attend a gala that has a buffet.
I’m noticing a similar trend in the design world. The simple architectural styles of both antique and new Japanese, Korean, Thai, Chinese and Indonesian furniture and accessories are replacing Italian, Spanish and other Mediterranean looks.
Are we just finally bored with big, ornate armoires and tables that look as if they belong in a Medici palace? Maybe because so many of us are downsizing, ponderous, carved entertainment units with pilasters and precious molding just won’t fit into our newer, slimmer rooms. Perhaps it’s our recent flirtation with Feng Shui, or maybe the Asian style is coming back into the spotlight because that’s what it does every so often.
Eventually, what’s old is new again. The use of Asian furniture and artifacts to furnish one’s home to give it both personality and the gravity of history is enduring. If you own a good piece of Asian furniture, it’s always worth saving and using in unconventional ways because, honestly, it will never go out of style.
A four- or six-panel Chinese floor screen in carved rosewood, or a Japanese folding rice-paper shoji screen, can certainly add distinction to a dull corner, and it helps define a space. Similarly, a double-sided Japanese step tansu chest is an excellent space divider in a loft apartment and provides good storage.
Asian furniture keeps coming back because it complements nearly anything, and everything, else. A well-chosen Asian accent is the universal harmonizer. Asian works with modern, traditional, transitional and contemporary room settings. It’s the designer’s go-to style for pulling a space together.
Chinese pieces, with a high lacquer shine and usually done in bright red or black, used to be the rage. Today, we’re seeing quieter, more organic pieces, such as Korean altar tables, simple hand-hewn benches, and new pieces done in bent wood and even in concrete by esteemed architects, such as Maya Lin.
Consumers today associate the Asian style with up-market spas and resorts, where international designers have tweaked various Asian themes into rooms that promise meditative calm and tranquil nights. Bathrooms, in particular, have gone Asian in a big way, with stone basins and flooring, black cabinetry with Asian hardware, and art that makes you think you’ve walked into a Vietnamese temple.
There’s hardly a quality boutique hotel you can stay at that doesn’t reflect some Asian influence. Even when there is no apparent Asian theme going on, designers seem to have universally decided that the addition of a Buddha head or standing Buddha statue is a fitting grace note to any décor scheme. Buddha so dominates the accessories market that The Enlightened One has become almost a cliché, as ubiquitous as a spray of white orchids arching out of its simple clay pot.
Asian furniture, the genuine antique kind, is very pricy, and rightly so. It’s also becoming rare. Cheryl Burke is a Sarasota-based dealer who operates a respected Burns Court gallery and travels extensively to China. She usually sends a full container back to the United States. But on her most recent trip, she bought only three pieces. She reports that genuine antiques -- pieces that have not been restored or retouched -- are becoming increasingly more difficult to locate in mainland China.
If your decorating scheme doesn’t require an authentic antique, the market is full of well-made reproductions, many produced by established furniture companies with which you may already deal. The chow-leg end table design, with its bowed-out legs, is common. The altar table is another. Haiku Designs, a 20-year-old company in Boulder, Colo., makes some of the most beautiful Asian platform beds you can imagine, and in so many styles. The company’s kenso bed looks like modern art that just happens to have a mattress on top of it. And while their raku tatami bed looks a lot less comfortable, it definitely has that coveted Zen eye appeal.
But if nothing else works for your budget or your design preferences, you can always go to Target, TJ Maxx, Home Goods or your local garden center and score a Buddha head. You’ll be right in style. -
Monday, September 22, 2008, 5:04 pm
Closet strategies
Americans remain closet-obsessed, and those homeowners who can afford it are spending renovation dollars on installing new and efficient closets, or they are reworking existing ones to maximize space and efficiency.
Carrie Bradshaw, the shoe-loving New Yorker of "Sex and the City" fame, probably expressed her affection for her closet best: “I like my money right where I can see it…hanging in my closet.”
But, even if you don’t have a penny to spare on buying or building anything that might improve where you store your luscious stuff, there are still simple organizational strategies that could make your life easier and your home closets more functional. Here are a few:
-- Get rid of bi-fold doors because they don’t allow full access to the closet. A pocketed sliding door is more practical, and a hinged door allows for an over-the-door accessory, such as a shoe rack or a full-length mirror. Experts say that half of your closet should be for double-hanging clothes, a quarter for long clothing and the remaining quarter for flat shelving and for drawers.
-- Place slacks on the top rod in double-handing areas because they have narrow clearance from the wall and don’t cast shadows. Make sure your closet has a light.
-- Place shoes at eye level. They are your commonly used items and you don’t want to be constantly bending down to find them. Tilted shelves take up less space than flat and can be used for sweaters as well as shoes.
-- If your closet is less than eight feet deep and 10 feet wide, you don’t want a center island. It will just cramp the space.
-- In a walk-in closet ,arrange your clothes so that the things you wear most are closest to the door.
-- Paint or wallpaper the inside of your closet so that it’s a pleasant-looking space.
-- Invest in pretty baskets to store odd and little-used things that can sit on a high shelf. It’s nicer if all the baskets match.
-- Trade in all your hangers for the new ultraslim huggable ones that don’t allow clothes to slip off. They take up much less room . I’ve seen them at T.J. Maxx, Bed, Bath & Beyond and other mass-market stores. They come in a variety of colors. I’ve tried them and they work.
-- Edit your wardrobe (including shoes and handbags) twice a year. A good rule is that if something new comes into your closet, something old should be recycled. -
Monday, September 15, 2008, 5:43 pm
Pillow talk
Dust mites and allergens love your bed pillow as much as you do, which means that it’s a good idea to wash pillows and pillowcase protectors seasonally. Land’s End, a Wisconsin company well known for sporty clothing, also produces bed linens, and experts at the company are offering tips about the proper way to launder bed pillows.
Why do it? Because bed pillows trap bacteria, pollen and other irritants that contribute to the discomfort of 50 million people in the U.S. who suffer from allergies.
When hand washing a pillow, fill a tub with warm water, add mild detergent and half-cup of bleach. Wash by gently squeezing the pillow from one end to the other. Rinse with fresh water and squeeze one section at a time to drain excess liquid. Put the pillow into a dryer with two tennis balls. The tennis balls keep the fiber in the pillow from bunching up. Dry until you don’t feel any dampness anywhere on the pillow. Remove the pillow from the dryer and place it on a flat rack so that air can circulate through it. Keep the pillow there for a day to ensure that it is completely dry.
To machine-wash a bed pillow, fill the machine to half full with water. Pour detergent and a half-cup of bleach into the machine until completely diluted. Use a color-safe bleach if your pillow is not white. Squeeze the air out of the pillow, place it into the machine and set the washer for a gentle cycle. Use the spin-dry feature twice to ensure that most of the water has been removed. Then put into the dryer with tennis balls.
Some companies like HoMedics produce a pillow made of 300-thread-count cotton and filled with microfiber that retards microscopic critter build-up. Their DreamShield Ultra pillow collection retails from $20 to $120. The pillow is machine washable.
Land’s End has a hypoallergenic pillow called PureLoft. The synthetic microfiber filling mimics the feel of cushy down. It offers slow compression, but nice bounce-back for resilient support. This collection of pillows helps repel dust mites and bacteria because the pillows are treated with natural Neem oil, extracted from the Neem tree that is native to India. This oil repels dust mites and bacteria. PureLoft pillows range in price from $20 to $50, depending on size.
Replacing your pillows every so often means that where you rest your head at night is a healthy, comfortable place. You can tell when a down or feather pillow needs to be tossed by folding it in half and pressing the air out. Now let go. If the pillow doesn’t pop back into shape, it’s broken and should be discarded.
To determine if a synthetic pillow should be replaced, place a shoe on the folded pillow and let go. If the pillow doesn’t throw the shoe and spring back into shape, trash it.
Besides laundering bed pillows routinely, there are other easy ways to control dust mites and other allergens in the bedroom. Here are a few:
-- Avoid wall-to-wall carpeting in the bedroom, and fabric drapes, too.
-- Keep upholstered furniture to a minimum in the bedroom.
-- Vacuum regularly. Wear a mask and after the room is vacuumed, stay out of it for a half an hour.
-- Replace wool, down or feather bedding with synthetics.
-- Replace your bed pillows every couple years.
-- Invest in allergen-impermeable covers for the mattress and bed pillows.
-- Use a pillow protector under the pillowcase.
-- Change pillowcases often, more than weekly in hot weather.
-- Wash bedding weekly in hot water.
-- When dusting, use a damp cloth; a dry cloth only moves the dust around.
- Ban dogs or cats from sleeping in your bed. -
Monday, September 08, 2008, 10:44 am
The downsized generation
Either because of so many people being in the empty-nest stage of life, or in response to the gloomy economy, this could well be the decade of the downsizers.
Homeowners who are considering lifestyle changes to smaller living quarters have certain priorities in common. They want smaller but more perfect homes, with plenty of luxury amenities. They want a house, if possible, with a postage-stamp yard and maintenance provided by the management of the community. They want to be near shopping, recreational facilities and cultural options.
Most homeowners have thought out the general process, but when the reality hits about what to do with one’s accumulated stuff in the house (not to mention the garage, attic or basement), they often feel utterly defeated.
Space planners and interior designers have many strategies for successfully living in a small space. If you are determined not to be ruled by possessions or square footage, here are a few tips for inspiration:
-- Before you move in, measure carefully your new, smaller rooms to see what will fit and what won’t. Opt for built-ins wherever you can.
-- Restrict your color palette to about three main colors and repeat them throughout the house. Vary the hues with contrasts in texture.
-- Reflective surfaces visually expand space. Stainless steel, glass mosaic tile, mirrored finishes and metallic paints gather and reflect light and make a space seem open and airy. A large, framed mirror on a wall opposite a window is a sound decorating idea, especially if the mirror reflects a pretty view. But, a solid wall of mirror is usually a mistake because it doubles any visual clutter.
-- Use the same color flooring throughout the main areas of the house. The materials can be different – wood, carpeting or tile – but the color should be consistent. This really does make a petite area seem more spacious. In a narrow hallway, install wood or tile flooring on the diagonal and paint the walls a light color. It will visually widen the area.
-- Optimize space with lighting. Use recessed or track lighting for the ceiling and choose a skylight for natural light if you have an option. Select wall sconces and swing-arm, wall-mounted reading lamps. Keep end tables free of lamps; you need that real estate for other things.
-- Avoid floor-to-ceiling cabinets. They make a space feel cramped and closed in. Horizontal cabinets below counter height are the way to go. Above counter height, consider some open shelving.
-- Limit the number of “large statement” items in each room. A large statement can be a window treatment, a big piece of furniture, a huge television, a chandelier, fireplace or a bold piece of sculpture. Choose furniture with crisp, clean lines. Avoid bulky sofa arms and consider a pair of slipper chairs (no arms).
-- Use multi-tasking furniture. A Murphy bed in a home office is usually a good idea if you sometimes need the space for a guest room. An ottoman than can be a coffee table and has storage capability is worth the extra cost. A table that can double as a desk is useful. All side tables should have drawers or shelves. If a piece of furniture isn’t going to work hard to maximize your small space, you don’t want it.
-- Do you really need or want a formal living room? A formal room?
-- Cut down on your accessories. If you have a prized collection, rotate pieces and don’t display everything at once.
-- If you’re going to wallpaper a small room, choose wide vertical or horizontal stripes or a bold, over-scaled pattern. Using a tiny print in a small space is a design disaster and will make the room claustrophobic.
-- Spend what it takes to have an expert maximize every square inch of closet space in your new, downsized home. Get help from a designer or downsizing professional when going through possessions to determine what to keep and what to get rid of. An outsider won’t have the emotional attachment to objects that you do. Also, a design professional can suggest ways to repurpose some large pieces you can’t bear to part with. These people work by the hour or by the project. You’ll profit from their fresh ideas. -
Wednesday, August 27, 2008, 1:03 pm
Paint trends
Two significant trends in paint could make choosing a color and a brand a lot more pleasant for homeowners who want the kind of quick and inexpensive upgrade that a fresh coat of paint can deliver.
The biggest, fasting-growing trend is the industry’s transition to paints that contain low or no amounts of VOCs. Those initials mean "volatile organic compounds," and the "organic" means the chemical compounds that contain carbon. There are thousands of VOCs in everyone’s home -- daily newspapers, vinyl flooring, fuel oil, upholstery fabrics and countless household cleaning products. VOCs are added to paint once the color is mixed to improve performance, both in color, coverage and durability.
Although VOCs evaporate at room temperature, they can be harmful to people, especially those with allergies. VOCs also account for the odor that can remain for days after a room is painted.
Today the paint industry is responding to the green movement by producing good quality no- or low-VOC paints. Manufacturers say they’ve solved the problems of coverage and color consistency without resorting to VOC additives. Consequently, if you want to paint in the inside of your home with sustainable products, it’s easy to do so. Low- or no-VOC paint costs more than regular paint (I find that most green products do, especially the household cleaners), but the benefits are peace of mind and a healthier home environment.
The other news regards the names of paint colors. Neutrals used to be called 100 shades of white, beige or taupe. Not so anymore. Playing into the sustainability movement and a back-to-nature attitude, a neutral palette today is called the "atmosphere collection," and includes such paint hues and shades as endless rain, ebb tide, dewkiss, air, wind’s breath, puff, hazy stratus, shaded path, lichen, open plain, candle light, ember glow, duck egg, clear skies and old flame.
Do you have any idea what these colors might look like? Of course, you don’t. Paint colors today are intentionally vague and suggest more of a lifestyle choice than selecting a color that works with your furniture and natural light sources. Still, they sound like things you’d like to latch onto. The only way to tell if raked leaves or wet clay or kiva glow will work for you is to buy a quart, paint it on a large section of wall, and live with it for two or three days, observing how it looks in natural light and artificial light, and how it functions with the furniture and flooring in your space. Picking a color by its name is just too risky. I found out that Arctic Thaw is lavender and Old Flame is a lurid pink. -
Wednesday, August 20, 2008, 10:35 am
Bend the design rules to go from mundane to marvelous
Design professionals, who know the time-tested rules concerning scale, balance, proportion and color in residential spaces, are usually confident enough to challenge conventional wisdom when it comes to adding originality and personality to a home.
Some of their offbeat tricks-of-the-trade are fairly easy to emulate and might brighten some of your less-than-wonderful rooms. The odd or unusual choice might be just what you need to consider when you want to go from mundane to marvelous. Here are a few:
-- A ridiculously overscaled painting in a small room can be a triumph of imagination because it functions as architecture and can anchor the space. Try the painting in and out of its frame to see which you like better.
-- A piece of stone garden statuary moved from the outside to an interior location is worth considering. Think about putting it in a corner of the dining room near a window or French door. It will bring architectural gravity to a dull space that may need it. Designers today are looking at indoor/outdoor accessories and furniture with a mix-and-match attitude.
-- An oriental area carpet in the kitchen does amazing things for the space.
If you have a big, charmless, standard wall-mounted mirror in your bathroom, have your handyman put a frame around it using common molding material. Paint the frame the same color as the wall or an accent metallic color and be amazed at how refined the space now looks.
-- Paint your ceiling something other than white. If your room is less than eight feet tall, paint the ceiling a shade or two lighter than your wall color. If your room is higher than eight feet, paint the ceiling two shades darker than your wall color. If you paint crown molding the same color as the wall, it will give the space height and a European aspect.
-- If you have a room full of antiques and traditional furniture, introduce a bold piece of contemporary art to the scheme. The contradiction of opposing styles and periods will energize the space and elevate the level of sophistication.
-- Put casters on your bedroom dresser. It raises the height to a more convenient level and makes it so easy to move when you drop something behind or want to vacuum.
-- Put some art in your garage. You probably pass through that space several times a day, so give yourself something uplifting to gaze upon. Rotate the art seasonally. A widowed friend of mine, a professional woman in her 50s, told me recently she put a big framed print of James Dean in her garage. It makes her smile at least four times a day as she passes through the garage.
-- Repurpose an old piece of furniture that's bound for the dump by painting it black or white. -
Monday, August 11, 2008, 12:00 pm
Top trends in home renovation
Americans are spending upwards of $200 billion annually on home-renovation projects, either to feather their nests for personal comfort and enjoyment, or to transform their properties into something enticing to buyers in this drastically depressed market.
It’s a fact: The best and newest kitchens and bathrooms have the edge in a buyer’s world. There are plenty of practical and aesthetic things to consider when remodeling, and several that the experts say you should avoid.
For example, if you don’t currently have a swimming pool, don’t install one for resale. It limits the pool of potential buyers. Never convert a garage into living space if you intend to sell. Buyers want a garage. And avoid wallpaper and fancy faux wall finishes. It just means extra work and money for buyers who don’t appreciate your taste. Stick to neutral paint colors.
Here are some the hottest trends in residential amenities and upgrades if you’re renovating for resale, or just want to make you life more luxurious at home:
-- Built-in dressers in the walk-in closet. Also, built-in bookcases, a banquette in the breakfast area and a window seat (with storage capabilities) if you have a bay window.
-- Walk-in pantry in or near the kitchen.
-- Wall-mounted flat-screen television.
-- Walk-in shower in the master bath with multiple shower heads.
-- His and her walk-in closets.
-- En suite guest rooms. This means each bedroom has its own adjoining bath.
-- All lighting on dimmer switches.
-- A range vent hood that makes an artistic style statement.
-- French doors.
-- Two dishwashers.
-- Outdoor shower.
-- Quartz or recycled-glass counter tops for the kitchen, instead of granite.
-- An outdoor kitchen.
-- In a two-story house, a laundry room upstairs as well as down. -
Thursday, August 07, 2008, 12:34 pm
Beyond flowers in the garden
Gardening is still one of America’s top hobbies -- a reliable way to get exercise, reduce stress, improve the curb appeal of your home, increase your food supply with homegrown herbs and vegetables, and do something positive for the local eco-system.
The National Gardening Association says 91 million households in the U.S. participate in some lawn or garden activities, and about one in four Americans spends four or more hours a week tending lawns, flowers and vegetables. Trends right now include sustainable gardening, water gardening and market gardening.
But, gardening today means more than cultivation of the earth. More and more homeowners are using their outdoor spaces to extend living and entertaining areas. Outdoor kitchens, elaborate swimming pool pavilions, garden tents and pergolas, expensive walls and fences, outdoor furniture and art especially crafted to be weather resistant, and fully furnished “garden rooms” have become so popular that entire industries have grown up around making the outdoors look and feel more like the indoors.
"House proud" today means garden proud, too. If you’re in the process of evaluating your yard for fresh-air renovation projects that will yield more living space for your family, here are a few products to investigate.
Practical ways to help make the most of outdoor living areas:
-- Resin or faux wicker furniture. It looks like wicker, but is coated, weatherproof strands of resin wrapped around an aluminum frame. This new outdoor “wicker” resists water, mildew and sun damage, and is a breeze to clean. Other reliable options for outdoor furniture are powder-coated cast aluminum, teak ipe, and redwood.
-- Sunbrella fabric for your cushions and patio upholstered pieces.
-- Manufacturers, such as Frederick Cooper, Smith & Hawken and Royce (among others), make table and floor lamps of all styles and sizes that are constructed to be used outdoors. You can throw them in the pool and they come out working just fine. All the wiring is sealed; the lampshades and bases are made to be weather resistant.
-- Area carpets that simulate fine wool rugs or natural sisal are now available for the outdoor kitchen or the dining or relaxing area in the garden. Made of Polyproplene, these rugs clean with a hose and are fade-, stain- and water-resistant. Check out The Home Depot, Crate & Barrel or catalogs, such as Frontgate. A good one starts at about $70 for a runner.
-- A system of night lighting. It extends your views from inside the house at night and allows you to enjoy the garden for entertaining. Invest in up lighting, down lighting and pathway lighting. It should be soft and subtle, and on a dimmer. Night lighting is a good security factor, too.
-- Establish a décor theme for the outdoor areas, such as Mediterranean, American cottage, rustic or modern, and keep the furniture and accessories consistent. The fence or wall and gate, along with your biggest pieces, such as a fountain and dining ensemble, will establish the style statement.
-- Containers that hold herbs or flowering plants on the patio or lanai should be consistent in color and style with the garden decor theme. Vary the height and width of the containers and arrange them in groups of three or five. -
Wednesday, July 30, 2008, 3:24 pm
French doors make a comeback
French doors have always been an option in traditional homes -- a way to add graciousness to a hole in the wall that wants both privacy and style. But lately, more model homes and design publications are featuring French doors in places where solid or sliding-glass doors once prevailed.
I’m seeing double French doors installed at the entrance to the master-bedroom suite in residences both classical and ultra-modern. Traditional French doors feature many small panes of glass, and the trim is usually white to match the crown molding. In modern homes, the French doors have no panes at all -- just a single sheet of glass that is either clear, or etched or frosted for privacy. The trim is painted the color of the furniture or stained to match the majority of wood tones in the room.
One way of achieve seclusion and control light is to purchase French doors that have mini-blinds positioned between double pieces of glass. One side pops out when you want to remove the blinds. The control wand is on the outside so that you can raise, lower, or tilt the blinds as you wish.
Besides seeing French doors in the bedroom, I’m also noticing them in the family room that opens to the lanai and pool pavilion. True, French doors take up more room than sliders, but many homeowners feel that French doors are a luxury item that become an architectural feature to admire.
I’ve been impressed with etched and frosted French doors for the home office that needs to double as an occasional guest room, and French doors that separate the dining from the living area. And a French door that leads from the pool bath to the outside is a recurring feature to covet.
A French door is an ideal solution for a small kitchen that doesn’t get much light. A French door in a bedroom or guest bath that opens to an enclosed courtyard (with maybe an outdoor shower) is an unexpected amenity, and again brings additional light into a space.
I’ve admired French doors with mirror panes instead of clear glass. This works when you never want to see what’s on the other side of the door, yet the door itself is a nice design feature.
One of the best and creative uses for a French door that I’ve seen recently is the French garage door. From the street, you see a double set of pretty French doors with the appropriate door knobs and such. You really don’t have the sense that there is a garage behind it. Yet, the doors roll up in the conventional manner, revealing the cars and junk. For the homeowner in possession of a snout house (one where the garage faces the street), the French-door treatment is an exceptionally attractive alternative and one you might consider when you have to replace the garage door. FrenchPorte has some elegant examples on its Web site. It shows these French garage doors on actual houses in before-and-after situations.
But whether it’s inside or out, if you’ve got a home improvement project under way, consider a French door. It’s fashionable, functional and updates your space. -
Tuesday, July 22, 2008, 1:21 pm
Going with a trend – engineered wood
A big trend in flooring today, for both residential and commercial applications inside and outside, is engineered wood. Also called manmade, composite or manufactured wood, engineered wood is composed of layers of hardwood, veneers or compressed wood fibers that are bonded with resins under heat and pressure to make panels and boards that are uniform, resistant to moisture and demonstrate superior strength.
Our family recently selected engineered wood flooring in a hand-scraped hickory color and texture as part of our home-renovation project. Our 2,000-square-foot house is 30 years old, with ceramic tile throughout most of the house and carpeting in two guest bedrooms. We selected engineered wood because we think it will be easy to maintain, it’s handsome, it is slightly less expensive than hardwood, and we like the distressed finish. When our three grandchildren and their two unruly dogs are in our house, we don’t have to fret about scratches and dings in the floor boards because they are already there.
Additionally, the weathered look of the floor matches the rest of this three-decades-old abode. Although the manufacturers of engineered wood insist it’s a fine and practical choice for wet rooms, such as our two bathrooms and laundry room, because the wood is so efficiently factory sealed, we didn’t go for it, choosing instead ceramic tile. Not knowing what the long-term track record is with engineered wood in wet rooms, we chose not to be a case study.
Instead, we picked a large-format tile (20 by 20 inches) that complements the undertones in the wood. It looks fine, and we have peace of mind. But, we did run the engineered wood through the kitchen because the house has an open floor plan. My husband insists we put a throw rug in front of the sink, at least to begin with.
When the installers surveyed the house, measured everything and took into account the vast amount of tile, they estimated a maximum of two weeks for tile removal, floor installation and then the painting and installation of new baseboards. Out went all the furniture -- and us, too. While we stayed in the guest house of generous friends, back at our house the process stretched into three weeks and one day. Delays occurred after the tile was removed and it was discovered that the moisture level of our concrete slab was unacceptably high. A vapor barrier had to go down, tacking two days onto the project and requiring another infusion of cash.
Then the installers came up short on wood. Given the many angles in our kitchen and family room, the quantity of planks ordered was inadequate. That was another delay of three days while wood was ordered.
Then, of course, installers don’t work on weekends. You see where this is going. It does no good to be frustrated. Once you’re in, just grin and bear it. After we got the OK to move furniture and ourselves back into the house, we first hired professional cleaners to come in and deal with all the tile dust. Even though the installers put up plastic draping, that dust goes everywhere. A company that cleans ducts is now on our list to employ because that insidious dust can filter down for weeks and months.
We’re in our house again, and thrilled with the flooring. We’ve repressed the bad days of worrying about color choices, the delays and cost overruns. All of that seems inherent in most home-improvement projects, anyway. We can’t say at this point how durable our engineered wood floor will be over the years to come, but we’re confident, at this point, that we made a practical decision, given our budget and sense of aesthetics. The new flooring looks comfortable and right for our relaxed lifestyle, and we may have increased the value of our home.
If you’re considering putting yourself through the ordeal of ripping up your old tile and carpeted floors for engineered wood, here are some tips based on our experience:
-- Take samples of wood home and put them on the floor, observing the changes in color in both natural and artificial light. If you had light tile or carpeting and chose a dark wood, the change would be more extreme than you imagined. Whatever the time estimate the installer gives you, add several days.
-- Decide if you want the wood installed straight or on the diagonal. The latter ups the price (more cutting), but is preferable in many situations. Get expert advice from a designer if you can’t decide.
-- Know that you’ll need to hire a cleaning team before you move back into the house -- and maybe a duct-cleaning service, too.
-- Order extra wood. That will take care of faulty measuring, and it insures that you have extra pieces stored in the garage in case you need to pull up and replace boards in years to come.
-- Opt for new baseboards; you’ll be glad you did, especially if your home is older than 10 years.
-- Realize that you might have to repaint your walls.
-- Moving your furniture out of the house and stripping all the closets should encourage several trips to charitable donation centers. Don’t move stuff back into the house that you really don’t love. This is a golden opportunity for giant re-evaluation of your belongings. -
Friday, July 18, 2008, 12:35 pm
Home and gardening classes in August
The University of Florida/Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences-Sarasota County Extension (register at 861-5000, ext. 19900) will hold these classes in early August:
-- Creating Your Florida Yard, 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, Aug. 5, North Port Library, 13800 S. Tamiami Trail, North Port. Topic: Creating a garden that is beautiful and protects the environment, using Florida Yards & Neighborhoods principles. Speaker: Val Ollinger.
-- Indoor Hurricane Protection, 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 6, Twin Lakes Park, 6700 Clark Road, Sarasota. Topic: Coping with disaster by preparing in advance through the assembly of a disaster supplies kit. Speakers: Maria Rometo, Mary King.
-- Beneficial Insects: Make Friends With the Good Bugs That Protect Your Garden, 1 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 6, Twin Lakes Park, 6700 Clark Road, Sarasota. Topic: Minimize your use of pesticides by conserving biodiversity in your landscape, giving natural predators a chance to control plant pests. Speaker: Fred Santana, Ph.D.
-- Universal Design — Aging in Place, 4 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 6, Twin Lakes Park, 6700 Clark Road, Sarasota. Topic: By using designs, features and products that are usable by most people, regardless of disability, you can extend the time you can live in your home. Speaker: Betty Alpaugh.
-- Stinging Insects, 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 13, Twin Lakes Park, 6700 Clark Road, Sarasota. Topic: Wasps and bees are beneficial in the landscape, but are feared because of their stings. Learn which ones are dangerous and what to do if you are stung. Speaker: Fred Santana, Ph.D. -
Thursday, July 17, 2008, 5:14 pm
Knoll knowledge
Modern furniture is a huge trend right now, which is good news for the Knoll company, which has been collecting, manufacturing and distributing original furniture and accessories by iconic designers and architects since 1938.
The Knoll product is tightly controlled. In Florida, there are only two authorized Knoll Space retailers, one on the east coast, where the legendary Florence Knoll has retired, and the other (and newest) is in Sarasota at Home Resource, a modern furniture gallery near downtown owned and operated by Michael and Kathy Bush. Their store carries designers outside the Knoll stable, but to have the Knoll line added to what they already showcase is quite a coup.
Probably the most famous piece of furniture ever designed that’s in the Knoll collection is the 1929 Mies van der Rohe Barcelona chair, created for the German Pavilion at the Barcelona World Exposition. That chair became a symbol of the synthesis of old and new, and is still an oft-copied classic. However, if you want a genuine Barcelona chair you have to go a Knoll dealer and it will cost about $5,000 – or more, depending upon the grade of leather you choose.
If you cannot afford a Barcelona chair, there is still every reason to go to Home Resource, browse the gallery and maybe engage Kathy or Michael in conversation. You can get a lesson in modern furniture and accessories. Sit in the Barcelona chair (they have a beautiful black one) or cuddle in the world famous Womb chair, designed by Eero Sarrinen and possibly the most comfortable chair ever made.
Sarrinen made the chair especially for Florence Knoll. He was her close friend at Cranbrook Academy of Art in Bloomfield, Mich. Eliel Sarranin (father of Eero) was the school’s first director, and the young Florence Schust was a student of architecture and design. Later, Mies van der Rohe was her teacher at the Illinois Institute of Technology (then called the Armour Institute), and still later she worked with Walter Gropius and Marcel Breuer in Cambridge, Mass. She was brilliantly positioned to carry out her philosophy, “good design is good business.”
Florence Schust later formed a business partnership with Hans Knoll (German owner of the Hans G. Knoll Furniture Company at East 72nd Street in New York) and the two eventually married. Florence did interior design and created both furniture and original fabrics to coordinate with modern furniture.
As the company grew, Florence and Hans drew designers to their company, people such as Harry Bertoia, Franco Albini, Marcel Breuer, Isamu Noguchi, Warren Platner, Gae Aulenti, Jens Risom, Frank Gehry, Jorge Pensi and other legends of international design. Hans Knoll died in a car accident in Havana, Cuba in 1955. Florence continued on as president of the company until 1960, when she stepped down to become design director. She retired in 1965.
While you’re at Home Resource, get the story on the names of the fluid bentwood furniture designed by renowned architect Frank Gehry. He’s a Canadian, you know, and an avid hockey fan, and that’s why his chairs carry names such as Hat Trick, Power Play, Cross Check and High Sticking -- all hockey terms. Most Gehry chairs are owned and admired by other architects. You see them in their offices.
The back-story on a lot of the furniture in the Knoll collection is rich in tales of the relationships of the various designers to one another, to the company and to their clients. It’s fascinating and should make you want to read about these extraordinary innovators and perhaps be inspired to own some of their furniture. -
Tuesday, July 01, 2008, 8:39 am
A lot of comfort from a 'little pillow'
Growing up in New Orleans within sight of the Saint Louis Cathedral where my grandparents were baptized and married, I ate a lot of beignets at the Morning Call and Café Du Monde.
These delectable little French doughnut, served hot from the fryer and liberally sprinkled with powdered sugar, were good any time of day but especially in the early morning with a big cup of black chicory coffee or late at night when the city looks and feels entirely different. Sometimes, after a day of shopping I’d spend the last of my streetcar fare on beignets and then have to walk home in the hot afternoon.
I haven’t had an authentic beignet since the last time I was in New Orleans and that was before Katrina. But, last month while vacationing in Santa Fe I discovered the culinary cousin of the beignet. Called a sopaipilla (little pillow) and roughly pronounced as soap-a-PEE-ah, this treat is a puffy triangle of hot fried dough that is served by the basketful accompanied by a small jug of honey.
You don’t order them; sopaipillas just appear like a little grace note at the end of each meal, breakfast, lunch and dinner. To say they are delicious is an understatement. They are addictively delicious. Just ignore the calories and cholesterol.
Different varieties of the sopaipilla are popular in Chile, Argentina, New Mexico and Texas, where the sopaipilla is the state pastry. The American sopaipilla is thought to have originated in Albuquerque in the late 1800s.
Since I don’t have access to homemade sopaipillas here in the Sarasota area, I’m going to learn to make my own and enjoy them as a Sunday morning breakfast treat. In her Grant Corner Inn cookbook, Louise Stewart (who ran a bed and breakfast in Santa Fe for nearly two decades and now lives on Siesta Key), provides an easy recipe. For anyone else who wants to try an authentic Southwestern doughnut, here it is.
4 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon lard
1 cup warm water
Vegetable oil for frying
Honey
In a medium mixing bowl stir together flour, baking powder and salt. Cut in lard with the fingers or pastry cutter until mixture resembles coarse meal with a few pea-sized lumps. Add I cup warm water. Stir to blend, then knead 20 times until dough is fairly smooth. Cover in bowl and let rest a few minutes. Roll out dough on floured surface into a rectangle about 1/8-inch thick. Cut into triangles or use a cookie cutter for other shapes. Heat about 1 inch of oil in large frying pan to a temperature of 375-degrees. Fry sopaipillas until golden brown on both sides, burning once. Drain on paper towels and serve at once with honey. Bet you can’t eat just one. -
Tuesday, June 24, 2008, 3:55 pm
Architectural perspective
A new hotel done in the old Pueblo style sits in Santa Fe, New Mexico.One thing that travel accomplishes is to give one a fresh perspective on an issue that’s facing the community at home.
I recently returned from the richly historic and charming city of Santa Fe where the residents, merchants, city planners and developers are struggling with how to keep the city looking old and picturesque for the tourist trade while satisfying the innovative forces that are driving architects and designers. Sound familiar to Sarasota or Venice residents?
Within the large historic district of Santa Fe there are only two permissible building styles, Pueblo and Territorial. The first kind of edifice is made with adobe and is rustic and rounded with small windows and flat fronts. The second (post 1847) is made of brick and wood and often combines pueblo and Victorian styles.
When painting a downtown Santa Fe structure one must choose from 30 approved earthy paint colors and no building, except for a hotel, can ascend to over three stories. This strict code means there are photo opportunities aplenty for visitors and it has provided Santa Fe with a genuine sense of place that is envied by other tourist cities. Its architecture is almost a brand.
Santa Fe officials are now extending the historic district and thus expanding restrictive codes. Many architects are balking, insisting that the vernacular architecture of the past, while it was successful in responding to the climate, topography and to the limited available building materials of bygone days, has turned into kitsch.
Civic leader Garrett Thornburg, who awards an architecture prize each year, thinks it isn’t even good kitsch. Quoted in Santa Fe’s Trend magazine, he notes: “You don’t stop progress…with fake adobe. If you walk around the Plaza, count how many buildings are of brick with a fake stucco cover. Disney does it better. The Disney-fication of downtown Santa Fe: enough already!”
He goes on to say that in the historic cities of Copenhagen or Amsterdam, “when a 1650s building falls down, they don’t try to create a fake one. They build something new.”
In another of the magazine’s interviews, Alain de Botton -- who has written the book “The Architecture of Happiness” -- discusses how Santa Fe might preserve its authentic character without stifling creativity.
“The challenge is how to avoid bland modernity and kitsch," he said. "By kitsch I mean construction in a style that has cut itself off from its authentic roots, which has stopped responding to functional requirements, which is disconnected from the reality around it.”
Botton goes on to conclude: “My general notion is that buildings in Santa Fe should continue to be built in traditional materials but in evermore adventurous and contemporary forms or shapes.”
In the young city of Sarasota, our vernacular or historic architecture is probably Florida cracker, Mediterranean revival and more recently Sarasota school of architecture (SSA). Should we be preserving any or all of these styles as we envision new public buildings, schools and private homes? Or should we be advancing adventurous concepts and promoting building materials that better respond to a sub-tropical, beach-rich community in the 21st century?
If we embrace the new do we concede our sense of place? Does the architecture of Sarasota even describe or evoke a genuine sense of place? As heated debate continues in this town at all levels about preservation, adaptive use and new design, it’s reassuring to realize that other cities are grappling with the same issues with the same intensity.
Other places have lamented the loss of their Lido Beach Casino, Ringling Towers and SSA beach houses on Lido Shores and Casey Key. Other cities are trying to come up with vast sums of money to convert significant buildings as we debate converting Paul Rudolph’s Riverview High to some alternative use. Citizens of other cities are looking at modern buildings such as the Herald-Tribune and either wondering if such a monstrosity belongs in a quaint downtown area or asking why such a bold and beautiful enterprise took so long to get here.
Whatever Sarasota citizens believe or decide about buildings that rise up out of our sand and limestone, the conversation about regressive versus progressive architecture is one worth having. When we argue about it, vote on it and passionately care about the architecture we live and work in, we are creating our own unique sense of place. -
Tuesday, June 17, 2008, 1:10 pm
Kudzu closets
Closets are getting bigger -- if that is possible -- and more luxurious. (Photo / Greg Wilson Group for Style magazine)Huge closets in the master bedroom (and everyplace else) are taking over like a kudzu vine that grows at an alarming rate overnight. It seems like overnight with this closet explosion, too.
The history of domestic storage in America isn’t that long, and it encompasses chests, armoires, dressers, trunks and boxes under the bed as the primary sources for stashing stuff.
Then reach-in closets, from 72 to 92 inches wide, became part of home architecture, and, suddenly (and thankfully), every bedroom had one. Finally, in the later half of the 20th century, we achieved what we thought was residential Nirvana -- the spacious bedroom walk-in closet. There was just one per master bedroom, but wasn’t it a grand feeling of luxury as we divided the space for his and her clothes.
Well, today the modern walk-in closet has become a full-sized room with built-in furniture that replicates the quality and good looks of what is in the adjoining bedroom. And don’t even think about sharing. Each occupant of the master bedroom has a private closet room, often on opposite sides of a short corridor that connects the master bathroom to the bedroom, thus comprising all the components of the “master suite.”
And how sweet it is, because these new and ultra-organized closet rooms are so cleverly designed that we no longer need practical storage furniture in the bedroom; it’s already in the closet room. Consequently, we get to use the extra bedroom real estate for a yoga studio or meditation niche, a morning coffee bar, reading nook, whatever.
The construction industry is savvy to America’s closet obsession and has complied with model homes that showcase closets to covet. If you’re renovating an older home, no need to be denied. There are as many closet companies as there are banks and churches in most towns. And big-box stores offer do-it-yourself closet components that start at under $100 and allow the homeowner to add specialty features as the budget expands for closet expansion.
The best places to view reach-in and walk-in closet options are model homes and online closet companies, which have photo galleries demonstrating the possibilities. If you select a closet company to give you a custom treatment, that company will measure your space, inventory your clothes and accessories, analyze your specific needs and then suggest practical solutions.
If you’re going to be your own designer and installer, follow the same plan. And then do what all experts strongly suggest: edit your belongings.
The well-appointed master bedroom closet room has:
-- A full-length, three-way mirror.
-- Someplace to sit.
-- Ample shelves or racks for shoes.
-- Drawers for lingerie and accessories.
-- A fold-out ironing board.
-- Felt-lined, 14-inch-deep jewelry trays.
-- Valet.
-- Rods for hanging clothes (both double and single).
-- Shelves for folded clothes.
-- Good lighting.
-- Ample electrical outlets for a hand-held steamer or for ironing.
-- Counter space.
-- Step stool for reaching high-up shelves.
-- An area for stashing clothes going to the dry cleaners.
Marsha Fottler
