In complete compliance: Minimalist to the Maximum

In complete compliance: Minimalist to the Maximum: "BEFORE AFTER Another great project with Greenleaf Remodeling. A true ADA compliant space was created with the constraints of worki..."

Minimalist to the Maximum

BEFORE

AFTER

Another great project with Greenleaf Remodeling.  A true ADA compliant space was created with the constraints of working in a condo - and without moving any of the exisitng plumbing hookups.  A true gentleman, our client is forward thinking concerning not only his space - but his own health.





Living with MS creates enough challenges every day, and a space in which to retreat and "just be" was clearly in order.  What a joy to work on, and our client to work with. By updating the look and feel of the space using minimalist design and "spa appeal", functionality became front and center. The existing shower and tub was removed, as well as one partial wall in the entry area. A storage closet was opened up with colorful baskets used for everyday needs. New lighting, tile and serious hard work and the bath was reborn. 



SHOWER BEFORE



AFTER

A barrier free shower with teak fold down seat, niche for essentials and glass tile accents opened up the small space. The original shower stall was gutted and replaced with a maple wood drawer base with teak top and framed mirror above. A wall mount sink with clean lines, comfort height commode and open shelf cabinet above with closed storage for personal items was deigned with the same quarter cut maple.  Kohler Purist faucets and grab bars keep the remodel clean and contemporary. Using bright polished chrome for fixtures added just the right touch of gleam in this streamlimed space.

Clean, comfortable and WOW what a look - the new remodel adds a whole new elegance to the term "ease of use".

http://greenleafbaltimore.com/

http://huntvalleytileandstone.com/

Design Dilema: High Style Kosher Kitchen

Design Dilema: High Style Kosher Kitchen: "Just recently I completed work on a gorgeous Kosher kitchen. I love it when I learn from my clients. What? A design expert admitti..."

High Style Kosher Kitchen

Recently I completed work on a gorgeous Kosher kitchen. I love it when I learn from my clients. What? A design expert admitting they learned from their client? Yes sir, I did. My client has traveled the world - to Belgium, on Safari in Africa, Russia - just to name a few. Add to that being exceptionally well read and I was enthralled. 

 

The kitchen is simply knock out. Using all Sub Zero/Wolf appliances, two Franke undermount sinks and KWC faucets, the challenge was to provide enough storage for all dishes, pots and pans used during everyday food prep as well as Jewish holidays. 

While storing her cookware in her now organized space, my client began to kasher for the holiday. Any new metal, aluminum container or cookware, glass vessels and utensils require t'vilat kelim (ritual immersion) in a kosher mikvah (ritual bath) prior to use. Passover commemorates the Exodus from Egypt and marks the beginning of the harvest season.

Compact yet concise, this contemporary Kosher kitchen is a chefs' dream to create in. Grey Silestone countertops and a full height backsplash with flecks of reflective mirror sparkle softly in the light. The elegant color and pattern of curly maple wood veneer adds understated drama to the space. Long contemporary bar pulls grace the doors and drawer fronts with just the right touch of metal.

What more can I say about this stunning space? I think a toast to my client is in order....

L'Chayim - to life. And to many happy days and hearty meals with family and friends gathered 'round.

IN with the IN Crowd: The New High School Clique

IN with the IN Crowd: The New High School Clique: "Well I have decided that the iPhone is the ultimate Cool Kids Clique. If you don't have one, you are forced to wait your turn to be picked f..."

The New High School Clique

Well I have decided that the iPhone is the ultimate Cool Kids Clique. If you don't have one, you are forced to wait your turn to be picked for the Dodge Ball team. You're the kid that can't climb the rope, the one that doesn't want to undress in the locker room.

Devices don't make you cool. Did James Dean have an iPhone? Hepburn? Steve McQueen? The Fonz? Their persona made them cool. They didn't have to have an external gadget to be the ultimate. I don't have an iPhone. And since I backed over my Blackberry I'm just not that connected. And you know what? I sleep better. I don't get up at 3AM anymore to return a clients email about a cabinet concern or a counter top. I can do that when I get up. The answer will be the same at 3AM as it is at 6AM. I still care  about my customer, but can care more with a clear head.

I've decided that the real reason to have an iPhone and pay all those data charges is to be the Cool Kid. The one in the IN crowd.  I have an iPad.  With Kindle, and email. So maybe I'm not the Cool Kid with all the apps on my cell. But at least I can see Angry Birds better on a big screen. 

A Visit to the Amish Country

Every now and then I get the opportunity to visit a museum with an exhibit that not only expands my design sensibilities but rivals my level of understanding. Who could have thought the Amish quilts from the 1920's could pack such a punch? I mean WOW.

Saturated color in combinations that make you just  want to roll in them, these quilts are breaking the barrier of our cultural understanding. Amish farm wives and daughters and "women-folk" in the Depression Era hand stitched these incredible works of art using fabrics passed down from generations that were worn as clothing first. The fabrics were then given an artistic rebirth in the form of a quilt. 

Not just color - AMAZING color. Color that makes me giddy.

The quilts are part of the ESPRIT collection and were housed in the corporate offices in San Francisco in the 1970's. ESPRIT clothing, as well as their branding and marketing designs were based on a simple grid system. Mondrian in effect, the clothing was vibrant and color infused. These quilts hung in the ESPRIT offices as design inspiration and an ode to the dynamic  power of simple graphics. And to think they were made in little old Lancaster County on Amish farms in PA. 

And here is where the paradigm shift comes in.  We think of the Amish as a backward, quiet community that doesn't use electricity or drive cars.  They farm the land with horse drawn equipment, make their own clothes and don't have phones. An oddity in the iPad, iPhone gotten get in done world that we live in. 

We think of "Witness" and the Amish in a preconceived notion. We don't see the depth of color present in the human spirit. We don't cognitively give in to that fact that the people that made this art - these quilts - felt intense emotions, the strength of their convictions and beliefs as we do.

 If color is any indication of the human condition, it is worn like a banner in the confines of this museum.

If you have the opportunity to go to this wonderful exhibit in the center of the city of Lancaster, PA, take some time and take it in.  The quality in each piece is uncompromising. The stitch work - all by hand - precise, exacting and tedious. The color squares visually vibrate...imagine the hours of work that went into a single quilt.

Amazing what we mere mortals can do, can create - right smack in the heart of a Depression. 

http://quiltandtextilemuseum.com/qt/?p=73

Lancaster Quilt & Textile Museum
Lancaster, PA 17603
(717) 397-2970

info@lancasterheritage.com