With our Bamboo Subway Tiles in 3” x 6” now starting to catch on with our customers we wanted to share some of the reasons why we love Bamboo so much.

1.) It’s natural: Our Bamboo Subway Tiles are made from real bamboo which is actually considered a grass and not a wood as it grows and matures.

2.) It’s sustainable: Bamboo can be harvested every four to 5 ½ years and Bamboo re-grows naturally without the need for pesticides and other chemicals.

3.) It’s versatile: Bamboo plants are naturally moisture resistant and anti-bacterial with excellent mildew resistance.

4.) It’s good for your home environment: Bamboo plants absorb about five times the amount of carbon dioxide and are known to produce up to 35% more oxygen than hardwood trees.

5.) It’s strong: Bamboo is one of the strongest building materials in the world with a tensile strength comparable to steel

It is clear to see why we love our Bamboo Subway tiles so much and we are happy to make them for you. We appreciate the support our customers have shown us in purchasing and installing our Bamboo tiles.

We had a call from a client the other day asking us about our new Solana Glass Mosaic Tile Blends in 1” x 1” in the Latte color. The customer asked about the colors found in the Latte blend and whether they would match well with a particular color in the project they had been planning. While it is hard for us to tell over the phone about matching colors we were able to offer some thoughts about the Latte glass mosaic tile blend.

The Latte blend is a combination of three very neutral colors that are a nice match for many different color combinations of fabrics, paint colors, lighting and faucet fixtures, and furniture. Our Solana glass mosaic tile blends come mesh mounted as almost all mosaics do and the Latte color would be a fine compliment to Oak, Cherry or dark Maple cabinets.

Our Solana glass mosaic tile blends are meant for kitchen backsplashes, showers, tub surrounds or swimming pools or spas. Order a sample of the Latte color today and we know you will be pleased with the beautiful colors in what is one of our favorite blends.

I was reading the blog over at Apartment Therapy recently and they had a nice post about different and unique uses for installing subway tile in a home. The “traditional” way to install subway tile is in the brick pattern on a wall which is timeless and looks beautiful. But there are other ways of installing subway tiles that can change the look of your space in ways you may have never thought of before.

Installing subway tile in a vertical pattern instead of a horizontal pattern can bring a whole new dimension to a room or area. More and more of our customers are trying out non-traditional ways of installing subway tiles that have really come out fantastic. One other favorite is to make a herringbone pattern over a stove area on a backsplash with the horizontal area of the kitchen backsplash remaining in the traditional subway tile brick pattern. The herringbone pattern can be done with 2” x 4” subway tiles while the brick pattern can continue with either 2” x 4” tiles or a 3” x 6” size. Either way will look quite nice and is yet another way to add visual interest to your homes tiled area.

With the month of August upon us and temperatures rising across the country, consumers now are flocking to their local hardware store or home improvement center to buy that portable fan in order to offer a little relief from the heat in their home or apartment. With that being said, have you ever wondered why the (ugly) design and look of these fans has not changed virtually at all over the years?

Most portable fans come with the standard plastic blade enclosed by a wire cage to protect the inquisitive person everywhere who wonders “I wonder what will happen if I stick my finger right in between those blades turning effortlessly in their protective cage”? Don’t tell me that was never you when you were a child!

We recently stumbled across a newly introduced portable fan that has a pretty neat and sleek design to it. The Otto Wooden Fan by Swizz Style www.swizz-style.com is a very nice addition to any home or apartment and is available at Bed Bath & Beyond, Macy’s and several online home goods retailers.

Rather than the customary metal cage normally found with today’s portable fan models, the Otto fan is encased in wood from Africa as described on the Swizz Style website “Otto is made of African sapele. Sapele is a large deciduous tropical tree native to Africa. The wood is similar to mahogany with its smooth fine grain and deep warm sienna”.

The price might be a little rich when compared to the inexpensive fans found at any big box home improvement retailer but this fan seems like a fashionable way to beat the heat.

The New York Times recently profiled the top design blogs on the web.

Apartment Therapy
Cool Hunting
Design Sponge
Hollister Hovey
MoCo Loco
Peak of Chic
UnBeige

The advice that was given in the article was to find a blogger who has taste similar to yours. Then the trends and design ideas that they feature will appeal and hopefully inspire you.

I’ll admit that I am partial to Apartment Therapy.

In a recent article, the NY Times profiled Micheal Jansen a man who is interested in downsizing his life and his home. He says what many of us think:

“I don’t want this life — the life of someone who’s working too hard to pay a large mortgage to live in this house.” The catalyst, he said, was watching the value of his home plummet with the rest of the real estate market, while the time and money required to maintain the property only increased. “The energy cost is enormous,” he said, “and the bigger your property gets, the more there is to do.”

I have a friend who recently their home and moved to another state for work. At the onset of the relocation they fully planned to buy a new house, but the hidden joys of renting have won them over. They are not sure when they will buy a house. There is no periosic maintenance associated with a rental. That is what the lanlord is for. If something breaks, like the furnace, you only need to call the landlord. Sometimes it is easy to forget that our time is a valuable commodity.

And with that in mind, Michael Jansen has become deeply interested in the small house movement. Many of us talk about downsizing, especially those of us in the cold weather states who have seen our heating costs double and triple in the past few years.

Others have also been deep into the small house movement. A small house, from all definitions I could find,is a house that is smaller than 1000 sq ft, though many of the homes that are featured are under 300 sq ft, with some not even topping 100 sq ft. That is small!

The blog Small House Style is dedicated to everything small house related. If you are looking for information on small houses it is a fabulous resource for how being small doesn’t mean compromising style.

All of the hardwood floors in our house were painted. I think it is because it was originally a summer house and it was probably less expensive and easier to have the floors painted than to have them finished.

We have sanded floor after floor in our house. If I never see a floor sander again, I will not be upset.

When we got to two of the chidlren’s bedrooms we thought, why not just repaint them? It would add a little character. And, okay I will admit it, it would be much, much easier.

The bedroom above already had a grey colored floor, the same color that is used on the exterior porches of the house. And so I decided to just go with that color and see how it loooked. I have to say that I really like it.

My younger son’s bedroom we are going to go with a barn red color.

The first thing that you need to do before you begin to paint to scrub the floor. I recommend using a TSP solution to cut the grease, grime, and dirt that might be on the floor. (*If your floor has polyurethane on it you will need to sand the floor in order for the paint to adhere properly. Unless you are doing the floor painting as a temporary measure.)

After the floor dries crawl around and look for any paint splatters or areas that might need a light sanding. Those little imperfections will show through the paint. You might think that paint will cover it all, but trust me on this, it will not.

Once you have done that, give the floor a final vacuum.

It might seem like this is a lot of prep work, but really the prep work is the most important part of any project.

I chose a porch and floor paint by Benjamin Moore. I have used this paint for exterior applications before and figured that if it can withstand the outside elements that it can hold up to the abuse of little boys.

I first cut in around the room with a brush and then roll the rest of the floor with a roller attached to an extension pole. Let the floor dry for 48 hours. You might be able to get away with letting it dry for less time. Or you could be like me and walk into the room and leave your footprints. It is much better to be safe than sorry. After 48 hours, roll on a second coat of paint.

Depending on the coverage you get, you may want to put on a third coat.

If you want to add some more personalization to your floor, you can stencil around the edges, paint checkerboards. or any other design that strikes your fancy. I painted a rug on the porch floor of my old house. It held up for years with no additional protection, until I finally painted over it.

Gone are the days of kids hanging out in the dark paneled basement. More and more parents are turning to designers to create a space for their children that is friendly, inviting, and most of all will keep their children at home. Parents are turningto designers to help them create these rooms, or in some cases elaborate indoor-outdoor cabanas.

I saw evidence of this when we were looking at new construction. Every single house had a second dedicated family room for the kids and a media room especially for watching movies.

In a recent article in the NYTimes,

Julia Buckingham Edelmann, a Chicago interior designer, said that over the last few years she has seen a large increase in clients who want to decorate and design spaces for their teenage children, and a concurrent decline in interest in the multipurpose great room. “There are dedicated spaces for everything” these days, she said — the home gym, the home spa — “so it makes sense that there is the teen space.”

I think that the point is aptly made that what passes for “play” these days for kids is really structured activities that look a lot like work. And so during their down time, kids, just like their parents, want to hang at home with their friends. Gas prices and safety issues have effectively cut out the drive around in the car all night looking for friends. Not to mention that through the advent of cell phones and texting, kids are constantly connected to their peers anyway. They don’t have as much of a burning desire to see them face to face.

The whole movement makes sense to me. We all want our teenagers to bring their friends to our house so we can get to know them. We all feel that we will supervise better than the other parent. Mostly, we don’t want to have to drive them all over Hell’s Half Acre. I want one of those rooms with the pool table, the 100 inch television, the XBox and whatever else in my house. Maybe once my kids go to bed for the night I could sneak in there and play.

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.