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The Watermark Awards: Builders, architects, and designers may submit residential kitchens and baths from projects completed after January 1, 2006. Winners receive feature coverage in the April/May 2008 issue of BUILDER and/or CUSTOM HOME.
Conventional wisdom hits the chopping block in this year’s kitchen and bath competition.
Experts share their secrets to low-cost kitchens and baths.
DESIGNER DEBRA TONEY DESCRIBES the exterior elevation style of this Denver spec home as Asian-influenced Arts and Crafts. It's an aesthetic that clearly set the stage for a succession of serene, zen-like interiors. The professional-grade kitchen, for example, is a study in restraint, eschewing bold colors in favor of a more sophisticated palette that focuses on texture. Movement is suggested by the natural veining of its soapstone countertops, the reflective sheen of a “zen weave” glass mosaic backsplash, and the pronounced wood grain of the espresso-stained, rift-cut oak cabinetry. The floors are Chinese mahogany, and the whole space is anchored by a formidable (5'4”x13') bamboo butcher-block island.
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You can always count on the wet areas of a home to serve as laboratories for experimentation and as harbingers of what's hot in residential design. Clean lines and contemporary finishes continued to make inroads in this year's Watermark Awards, even in homes whose exteriors ring traditional.
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A great kitchen has many important elements, including cool appliances, hardworking countertops, and an attractive yet durable floor to withstand abuse. But don't kid yourself: All of these things come second to the element that really anchors the kitchen—the cabinets.
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This month's top shelf products include the high-end bathroom suite by Troy Adams Design, screws from Trufast that eliminate the need for pre-drilling in wood, and thicker countertops from Eos Solid Surface.
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The kitchen and bath are radically different spaces than they were 20 years ago, says Suzie Williford, the 2007 vice president of the National Kitchen & Bath Association. As a result, products for these spaces are radically different as well. The spaces still perform their normal functions, but now they do much more.
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The Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS) may be half the size of the International Builders' Show-in attendees, exhibit space, and in the sheer number of exhibitors, but for a products editor it is not any easier to cover. Why? Because the concentration of cool stuff to see at KBIS is staggering.
Almost 35,000 tile and stone industry professionals and 1,200 manufacturers, dealers, installers have descended on the Windy City to get an interactive glimpse of all the latest product and technology developments associated with tile. Coverings--essentially, Fashion Week for the tile set--is where attendees come for one reason: to see and touch the merchandise.
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Despite the housing slowdown, size, features, and high-end products in the bath (and the kitchen) are still important to consumers, reports the American Institute of Architects. This means that you can't skimp on the swank.
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Kitchens and baths sell more houses than any other space in the home. They are also, perhaps, the subject of more home shows than any other area in the house (except maybe the garden). What you put in the kitchen and bath, then, is extremely important. So how can you know what's hot and what buyers want?
Of course, a harmonious existence cannot be achieved solely through technology. Enlightened homeowners will attest that a thoughtful floor plan can also work wonders—particularly when it comes to alleviating traffic congestion, minimizing trips up and down stairs, and aggregating utility space to facilitate multitasking.
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It's all about moving up at Veranda, in the master planned community of Morningstar Ranch. Buyers include those moving up from within Riverside County as well as folks from San Diego and Los Angeles counties who want to move up in their quality of home without having to hit the stratosphere when it comes to price.
Like a tree house set in the limbs of a mature oak in the neighborhood, the master suite that occupies the entire second level of the home is a true getaway.
Like the street-level retail and small professional offices provided under the condos sprouting up around Lake Eola, the home's main floor offers occasional and functional spaces for the household.
IMAGINE HOW MUCH easier it would be for a parent with a toddler and an infant to get from the garage or driveway into their new house without having to navigate even one step up to the door, or to haul a load of laundry or groceries, with one kid in tow and another one on hip, through slightly wider door openings and hallways. How much more would that family pay for a house with those and similar lifestyle or convenience features, or at least be more likely to purchase it instead of one without them?
CONTEMPORARY DESIGN IS HOT (again), but this time around it is not the cold, machine-like look that some people usually associate with it. Today's modernism is more of a move toward simpler interiors and pared-down products. Cabinet manufacturers have picked up on this shift, and their new products reflect it.
SOME PRODUCTS SPEND AN ETERNITY on the cusp of being the next hot thing, but never gain enough mass appeal for one reason or another. You can add electronic faucets to this list.
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Designing a house “by committee” is, as any architect or builder will tell you, a patently insane notion. Yet every year since 1984, The New American Home has done it in spectacular fashion, bringing together the world's leading suppliers and a host of consultants and valued trade partners to assist the design-build team.