I think I may have written it a million times, but we are in the middle of a full kitchen remodel. The plans have been drawn, the cabinets and appliances purchased, the flooring is just waiting to be installed. The planning is the fun part, I think. Though I hope that it is replaced by the fun p[art of actually using the kitchen when all is said and done.

In the latest issue, Consumer Reports talks about the secrets of successful kitchen remodels. One of the reports that spoke to me was avoiding the hype, what to buy instead of the trendy items. I know from experience that when you start really looking at kitchens you can get sucked into the vortex of the newest, hippest, trendiest items. After all the work you don’t want your kitchen to be outdated any time soon.

Here are their tips:

1) Avoid pro style appliances.

I think that this is a tough one. If you are remodeling and thinking of the resale value of your home, you need to consider what your neighbors have. If in your neighborhood there is the expectation that houses will have a pro-style range, you will be doing your home a disservice by not installing one. I have discovered, however, that having one high end appliance is the way to go. If you have a 36″ Viking range, that will be the focus of attention in the kitchen. The other appliances can be faux pro-style stainless steel clad and be had for thousands yet.

2) Speed cooking. These are cookers that combine microwaving with conventional cooking. I personally did not even entertain buying one of these. I have enough trouble cooking without adding this to the mix. A convection oven is as high tech as I am going.

3) Multimedia Refrigerators. Yes, they look cool, but according to Consumer Reports, the do not literally cool as well as their traditional counterparts. I love how Consumer Reports says you would be much better served with a conventional refrigerator and a pad of sticky notes.

4) Trendy Counter tops. If you want your countertops to be maintenance free, you might want to skip some of the more trendy options out there, like poured concrete. I love the look of concrete, but after hearing about its susceptibility to cracking and staining, it was out of the running for me. And though I love the way it looks, so was soapstone. The need for oiling and the easy scratching, even though they can be buffed out, was more than I was willing to do. I’ll take granite. It is timeless and durable.

5) Pricey faucets and sinks. Have you seen some of the prices? Here you need to do your research. It is important to spend the money on a quality faucet that will hold up to daily use, but many of the higher priced sinks are no different than their lower priced counterparts.

Other things to avoid, according to Consumer Reports — turbocharged dishwashers, appliance drawers, green flooring that is not durable, and one stop shops.

This was an interesting idea: a contest to create a small, innovative, “green” house that can be produced for less than 99K.

From the website, the contestants should submit plans for

a single family house with up to 1,400 SF, including 3 bedrooms and 1½ – 2 bathrooms, on a 50′ x 100′ site in Houston’s historic Fifth Ward. The winning design should be adaptable to a variety of sites in the area, including 33′ x 90′ lots and 40′ x 100′ lots

This particular neighborhood was selected because it has fallen into decay in recent years and the competition organizers hope that by building affordable, sustainable housing the area can be revitalized.

The 99K budget includes builder’s overhead and profit, all appliances, hardware, and finishes, and any additional engineering or architectural fees. Logically, hard construction costs of materials and labor should be in the range of $75,000. The $99,000 construction limit must include construction costs, financing, closing costs, commissions, overhead, and profit. The actual construction budget in the Houston area will be approximately $75,000. The lot and infrastructure are not included in this figure.

So the 99K house is the cost to build the house, not what the house would be sold for to the public.

There were 185 entries into the contest. This is the winning entry

The part that I like the best about the design are the water conservation ideas outlined here:

We have been thinking of installing a couple water barrels on our downspouts to use for irrigating our lawn and garden, certainly nothing as elaborate as two story cisterns attached to the side of the building as in this design. But I think that is a fabulous idea and one that makes you wonder why more people are not doing something like this.

The area that I don’t think this design works is the passive cooling system. In a hot and humid area like Houston, air conditioning seems like it is a necessary item. Where I live in New England, air conditioning is not a necessity. We don’t have it. Our older home stays remarkably cool due to window placement, porches that shade the sunny side of the house, and large windows for cross ventilation. However, the number of days that the temperatures top 95 degrees every summer can be counted on one hand. Apparently the the competition judges don’t agree with me.

Construction has now begun on the project. It will be interesting to see the design through its building phases.

As the weather has turned warm in my part of the country, and we finally do not have nights that dip below freezing, it is time to turn to landscaping.

I have a large front yard that is completely lacking in any sort of landscaping or real trees and so this past week I ventured down to a local nursery to check out the trees, shrubs, and of course flowers.

The thing about landscaping is that it really needs to grow to look good. And I am lacking in patience. I want an instant front yard.

Better Homes and Gardens has a feature on their website that allows you to try out different plants. They also have several plans available for free from which to get ideas for your own yard.

I love these tall purple flowers. I have no idea what they are called, but my neighbor has them in a flower border in front of their porch and every day I drive by and admire them.

so that it doesn’t look like every other nursery on the block.

Handprinted wallpaper with a vintage feel. A fabulous alternative to the primary colors or nauseating pastels and cartoon characters.

Flooring is also a consideration in the nursery. Traditionally many families have put wall-to-wall carpeting in children’s bedrooms so that they can have a cozy and comfortable place to play. However, as more and more families are trying to make eco-friendly choices in their homes, they are being put off by the off gassing and toxic chemicals that are used in manufacturing carpeting. For those willing to sppend the money, bamboo is nice choice for a wood floor. However, many of us already have wood floors and are looking for something to cover them or define a comfortable play area.

Enter FLOR.

Modern modular carpet tiles that can be configured in whatever way suits the room. They are also made from eco-friendly materials in a socially responsible way.

Also from Famille Summerbelle, Not just for a baby’s room, I love this unique framed family tree. I think it could look at home anywhere.

Oh, I know. Where is the crib, and rocking chair, and changing table. Details, details.

Trying to find the mix of bathroom fixtures that both matches the style of the house and is modern enough to be convenient has proved to be more challenging than I had thought.

I bought a bridge style faucet with cross handles that say hot and cold on them for the sink. The faucet in the tub also has the cross handles but says hot and cold in French. My husband insists that it says, “You paid too darn much!” on the handles. But I love it.

The tile for the bath area is a combination of white tiles. 6×6 field tiles, 3×6 subway tile, a decorative raised 3×6 tile (listel), and a chair rail. Until I ordered the tile I had planned on going with all subway tile, but this particular mix of tiles won me over.

Now we are trying to decide whether we want the bottom 6×6 tiles in a running bond pattern or if we should just match up the grout lines. Decisions, decisions.

When we remodeled one of our bathrooms we decided to keep it in the style of the house… wainscotting, hex tiles on the floor, pedestal sink. A more modern interpretation, certainly, but not something that would look wildly out of place in a house over a century old.

One of the things that I excitedly purchase was a porcelain and chrome toothbrush holder. I remember one of them in my grandmother’s house and I loved how the toothbrushes hung there. A chrome rimmed glass sitting in the center. So I bought one for our bathroom.

It was only after it came, and it was installed, that I realized not one of our toothbrushes fit in the holes. I thought it was annoying, a fluke in the design of the holder I purchased, and really didn’t give it much more thought. The holder is in my children’s bathroom, not mine.

Then I read this article in the NY Times that talks about this exact annoying problem. Turns out I am not alone.

As problems go, bulked-up toothbrushes — the kind that make obsolete the old-fashioned built-in ceramic cup and toothbrush holders that persist in many homes and apartments like relics of a less sophisticated (but, one can’t help feel, more grounded) age — don’t rank high on the list of human scourges. But they probably have more direct impact on the quality of many people’s daily lives: one more petty annoyance to make them feel powerless, pawns in some hidden corporate marketing strategy.

Until I purchased the toothbrush holder, I never realized that all of our toothbrushes came in different shapes and sizes. The tooth brush holder that hangs on the bathroom wall is about as useful as the slot in the back of the medicine cabinet for the disposable razor blades.

Some manufacturers are coming on board and making holders that are fit a variety of sized handles. This one by Umbra is one of my favorite finds. It reminds me of indoor/outdoor carpeting gone wild. I mean that in a good way.

At $9.50 at Shop Fosters it is also very affordable. Now to free up valuable counter real estate to find it a home.

Is subway tile a trend that is on the way out?

When you are doing a remodel, whether a kitchen or a bathroom, you are spending a quite a bit of money. You want to make sure that after a few years the choices that you make are not the equivalent of avocado green appliances.

I have been trying to walk the line between choosing things that I love without choosing things that will quickly be dated. But it is difficult at times. A lot of the things that I really like are popular right now, but so it the historic type of house that I live in popular. Pedestal sinks, hexagonal floor tiles, subway tile walls, claw foot tubs… I have all of these things. But the tubs are original to the house. And I am certain that before a previous owner thought it was a great idea to put in a dark faux wood vanity with pink sink and matching pink toilet, that there would have been a pedestal or wall hung sink.

Our third floor bathroom is original and has an adorable wall hung sink, wainscotting on the walls, and a clawfoot tub.

But back to chosing the tile. Will subway tile look dated in a few years. I honestly don’t think that it will in older homes. Maybe in new construction, but even then I think that done well it will be a classic look which is timeless.

A more modern application of the subway tile is to install it with all the grout lines. Running bond pattern, meaning the grout lines are staggered, is a classic look. And I love Cardiff also makes a subway tile that is smaller in size, 2″ x 4″ instead of the 3″ x 6″ that is standard, and comes mounted on a 12″ x 12″ mesh sheet.

Subway tiles are not just available in white either. While I prefer the more subdued colors, subway tile can be purchased in virtually every color under the sun.

For the past 20 years granite has enjoyed a relatively uncontested reign as the high end counter top surface of choice. Recently, however, new innovative products are popping up and causing people to rethink their choices.

When a material is found in apartment complexes and tract homes, “it’s been done to death,” said Ellen Hanson, an interior designer in New York.

The trend now, designers and suppliers said, is toward warmer and softer materials used centuries ago, like wood, copper and soapstone. For a more modern look, glass, composites and recycled materials are being used.

I wrote a few months back about recycled paper countertops, which I love.

(photo courtesy of NY Times)

Ice Stone is a newer product that is made from 100% recycled glass in a cement matrix, diverting hundreds of tons of glass from landfills each year. They operate out of a renovated, day-lit factory in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, creating U.S. jobs for workers in an eco-friendly, safe and respectful environment.

Sales of quartz composite surfaces, also known as engineered stone, by manufacturers like CaesarStone and Silestone, have steadily increased over the past five years. I am not overly fond of either of these products. To me it just doesn’t have the same cache as granite, soapstone, or wood.

I love soapstone. Particularly they way the it feels when you touch it. It also reminds me of middle school science lab which had soapstone counters. So perhaps part of the appeal for me is a wistful nostalgia for the good old days of the asymmetrical hairstyle and Frankie Goes to Hollywood. My husband does not share this love. So the soapstone is off the table, or cabinet as the case might be, for us.

This week I was reading the fabulous blog, Reclaimed Home. The tagline says it all: Low Impact Housing and Renovation Options for Thrifty New Yorkers.

One post was about Recycled switchplates, with one designer making them out of recycled street signs. Very fun for a kid’s room or a game room.

It got me thinking about the things we have in our home. Not all of our door knobs or outlet covers and switchplates match. We kept all the original ones in use and moved the fancy Eastlake Ceylon ones to the first floor. It truly pains me that somewhere in our house’s history someone thought it was upgrading to get rid of all the nice brass ones and replace them with junk that is available at the local hardware store.

We also have these hinges on many doors. I suppose we should take comfort in the fact that we could one day sell our house off piece by piece if we wanted to.

My daughter’s bedroom has some very old glass door knobs. There are none in the rest of the house so I often wonder why just one set? Did one of the children like them? Did they just happen to have it laying around from a previous home of theirs and use it replace a broken one?

We have doors that are flat 4 panel. Doors that are raised 4 panel. Doors that are 6 panel. And a couple doors that have the panels going horizontal, not sure what they are called. We also have one door that I have taken great pains to strip and sand, and now paint. It is an old bathroom door with a window in it. I think it was to let let light into the hallway from the bathroom in the days before our home had electricity.

We have window locks that vary from room to room, and sometimes even within a room. There are random coat hooks and locks here and there.

Nothing matches, but I love it that way. It shows the history of the house. The progression that the house took over its 100+ year journey. Not all of the things are fit to stay forever. There have been more than one times when I have stood scratching my head and thought, “What WERE they thinking?” (The 1970’s were not a kind era to old homes.) I am sure that one day years from now people will stand in this house and wonder the same things about renovations we have done.

Maybe one of them will even hate that one bathroom has a frosted window in the door.

Though I am not sure they could ever hate it as much as I hate the orange and brown shag carpet with the matching orange walls in our formal living room.

I absolutely love this tile collection. The bold patterns. The subtle colors. The Spanish influence.

These tiles would look equally at home in a modern loft or an eclectic log cabin. I think that is one of the hallmarks of good design, the ability to stand on its own no matter what the surroundings. Elements Ceramic tile collection would make a stunning focal point in any home or decor application.

I could picture this one as my kitchen backsplash. Though I am not sure how much cooking I would get done since I would just have to stare at it lovingly all day long. Matching solid field tiles are also available, so if a wall of pattern is too much, use the decorative ones sparingly.

These unique tile are all hand painted by tile artists and are the newest line of decorative tiles from the Elements Collection. The collection can be purchased only through the AnchorBayTile online tile showroom.

Use them on stair risers, fireplace surrounds, outdoor barbeques, kitchen backsplashes and bath surrounds.