Design Envy-Product Post #3

Living and designing in Royal Oak, I meet many talented designers. One being, Gretchen Kramp who is an avid artist in creating her own hand made ceramic tiles, and lives in Royal Oak. You may have already seen her work featured at Detroit Zoo and sold in many boutiques in town.

What you may not know, is her tiles are available for your kitchen, bathroom and any other room you may be thinking of remodeling. Her fun, quirky, or classic tiles are sure to please many different styles. Here are some of my favorites, ready to purchase at her online store.

If you are looking for something beautiful and unique..take a peek at her work. They look amazing in a back splash focal point, butler's pantry, powder bath..and certainly pretty enough on their own.

Support local artists in your home!

GET ORGANIZED IN THE KITCHEN

Simply put, being organized is the key to time management.

Does this sound familiar; searching through your drawers for that whisk, pulling out seven pots to get to that fry pan, knocking over your garbage can when working between your cook top and refrigerator.

For most, that is probably every night while attempting to cook a simple family meal.

As your kitchen designer, I can help find 'homes' for all your kitchenware to live..and be at your fingertips, so you stay organized enough to put Martha Stewart to shame.

Take a peek at these photos from our "Medallion Cabinetry" line for some helpful ideas and inspiration!

It's a beautiful sight...get on your white gloves, and enjoy your new kitchen!

ARE YOU VISUAL...

Are you able to walk into an empty, pink painted room and see how it would look, if; you wallpapered it with a Jacquard pattern, installed floor to ceiling, slab dulce stained cabinetry with a triple stack of mouldings, Andromeda granite with subway tile?

No? You are not alone..

That is where we come in..with the visual aid of CAD 20/20 program we are able to show you how your cabinetry design will look, in YOUR space. After field measuring your space or using blueprints, I am able to generate your personal design to review with you.

Inhale and exhale...and enjoy the visual sight of what your kitchen or bath, or office...could look like!

Where do I find my Design Inspiration?

Back in March of 2007, I was lucky enough to meet my culinary hero, Giada De Laurentiis, at a charity event in Chicago.



She was sweet, humble and passionate for her work...not to mention, ultra beautiful and teeny tiny!

Giada, Tyler...need a new kitchen designer? :)

Here is a fun shot of Tyler Florence from Food Network, and I at the same charity event..he actually was running the live, fun and crazy auction!





The love I have of designing, cooking, and just being in the kitchen with family & friends...always leads to creative inspiration.

Cook like Giada De Laurentiis

For those who may not know; I love love love the food network. Saturday mornings, clicking to the food network, my hot, swirling coffee in hand, PJ's still on, my husband reading his Free Press Sports section next to me..true bliss.

My love of the chef world started on PBS, early in my childhood, when my Mom and I would watch Julia Child, or Jacques Pepin, and try different recipes. Now I find so much inspiration from the sounds and visuals of a great cook in the kitchen. I believe it lends to my design work as well.

Today, one of my favorite chefs, as you see above, is the beautiful Giada De Laurenttis. Her show visually is so beautiful, clean and classically Italian with a modern twist.

If you are a fan, like myself, you long to have some of her culinary tools. Well...ask you shall receive. I have found some of her staples seen time and time again, all available online.

Create some "Everyday Italian" in your own kitchen:

Her Walnut cutting board, from http://www.ozarkwest.com/:

Adorable porcelain measuring spoons, from http://fantes.com/measuring-spoons.html#porcelain:

Simple and clean glass pitchers, for storing fresh herbs, or mixing Bellini's, from http://www.lekkerhome.com/: Also..what a cool website in general..one of my fave's!

And, finally..her most used stovetop to oven cooking tool, the trusty and fool proof, Le Creuset Braiser, found at food network's store: http://www.foodnetworkstore.com/p-311688-0-_Le-Creuset-Dune-Covered-Braiser.aspx?Ntt=le%20creuset%20braiser&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntk=All

Hope you find this enjoyable and inspirational to get in YOUR kitchen and start creating some great memories with your family~

How to combine different tones, in a classic manner

Shown here is a photo from one of our lines "Medallion Cabinetry"


The cabinetry style is the Ellison door : shown in both the Maple Painted "White Chocolate" and the Cherry stain "Onyx."



When combining two different tones, or even two different cabinetry styles; try to keep it simple.

• Don't go for trendy doors. Pick classically cut doors...a trained professional will be able to assist you in that selection.
• Pick colors that are more neutral, like shown above. Even though the counter tops are a black granite (shown on the painted cabinetry) and a white & gray marble (shown on the darker cherry)..it works.
• Keep to an overall neutral color palette, choosing two tones (like this light vs dark) will keep your design from looking dated.
• Make sure your cabinets are cohesive with your flooring. What I advise is, do NOT try to match up your floor coloring to cabinets. Your floors should either be lighter or darker than your cabinetry. See how in this photo, it's a medium toned Oak that works well with both cabinet colors. Perfect!
• Go with what you LOVE...you can't go wrong with that!

Hope this inspires!

Design Envy-Product Post #2

Cabinetry hardware...it truly is the 'jewelry' for your cabinetry. Think about it, you can quickly change the look of your kitchen, by switching out your knobs/handles from brass to satin nickel. Or from ceramic knobs, to artistic pebble pulls.









Here are some of my fave's...that are a little more unique. Have fun with it....if you are nervous for a full kitchen hardware change...start in your powder room!



Go for the "DESIGN ENVY" look:


































Pictures featured, were pulled from these websites:

http://www.sokostudio.com/


http://sea-stones.com/


http://www.anneathome.com

Ziggy & Steve's job continued...

Look at the adorable tumbled baby subway tile...way too cool!



Here is the Master Bath:
Hancock Maple-Dulce
http://www.qualitycabinets.com/

A co-designers shout out-Good job Ziggy and Steve!!!

Today, my co-workers, Ziggy Martin and Steve Peters gave me a tour of a Grosse Pointe home they just finished designing the following cabinetry for.

What you will see in the kitchen is our "Quality Cabinets" line in Maple Manchester door-Cafe/Licorice.

The master bath was "Quality Cabinets" Maple Hancock door-Dulce stain (one of my faves!)

I thought it turned out so beautiful! Great job guys! I only had my camera phone with me, so please excuse the poor quality of the pictures. It was a sunny day this morning, so it created quite a misty glow in the pic's...a bit ethereal.

Enjoy!