Apron Front Sink

We're considering having an apron-front or farmhouse sink in the kitchen. I've heard of the Ikea one below but not sure if it will work with my Lowe's cabinets. Anyone have comments on this sink (or apron front sinks in general)? Are they durable? Any special considerations?

Green with envy

How much do I love this wallpaper? Oh so much. The kelly green is so fresh, so vibrant. It would be great in our home office.

Trellis wallpaper from Ballard Designs.

Modern House Numbers

Each day, as I drive up to my house, I notice how 'unnoticable' it is. It looks like all the other houses on the street (and granted, I love how the row of red-brick semis makes me feel like I live in a leafy Boston suburb), but I can't help but wish it had a bit more presence. The shutters made a bit of a difference and at least I can tell which house is mine. Once the weather turns warmer, I'll be nagging HandyMan to paint the window trims and the front door. I also want to change the house numbers to something more modern.

On our honeymoon, HandyMan and I stayed at the Gran Hotel Domaine Bilbao. Its a stunning place and our room literally overlooked the Guggenheim. One of my favourite things about the hotel were the numbers and lettering found throughout.


For a font fanatic like me, I was in heaven! Each floor had lettering in a different font. Some were oversized and graphic, others were italicized and scripty. They varied in thickness too, with some floating on the wall, casting interesting shadows. This is the look I want to greet me at my door: sleek, shiny and modern. Here's a few sites I've found that offer a modern take on house numbers.

From WestOn Letters: 5" Ribbon Deep, 4" Clarendon, 3" Ribbon, 5" Futura, 10" Euro Bold.


From Atlas: Paragon Modern, Avalon Modern


From Design Within Reach and Chiasso: Neutra, Sausalito


With any of these, I don't think there will be any mistaking my house :)

Etsy-love

More stuff I'm loving from Etsy. I've got kitchen on the brain.

From L to R: BellaBeeDesigns; dolamakes; FitToBeTied; sumiko; theorangebicycle; phoebec; palomasnest; TotalTableEnvy

Scoop du Jour: DWR Toronto

Toronto fans of modern design can rejoice! Design Within Reach, a chain store with 68 locations throughout the US, has just opened its first Canadian location. The store sells fully-licensed mid-century design classics by the likes of Mies, Bertoia, and Eames. On their site, they've announced a grand opening event:

Grand Opening Event
Thursday, March 13, 6-9pm

We invite you to stop by and say hello during our Grand Opening Event on Thursday, March 13. Plus, from March 13 through 19, we'll donate 10% of all Toronto Studio sales to Design Exchange. A museum and cultural center, Design Exchange, like DWR, is committed to raising awareness and understanding of design. Join us.

DWR Studio is located at 435 King Street West (at Spadina Avenue)

Snow, snow, go away...

The snowblowers and dump trucks were out in full force today. For the last few weeks, the streets around my house have looked like this. It was nice to finally see the huge mounds of white disappear. The sun was shining bright and the snow has slowly started to melt... I'm craving spring.

Conquering My Fears

I did it. I went right up to her, I shook her hand, I introduced myself. And I talked to Sarah.

I'm sure many of you out there can relate. Have you ever had the chance to meet someone you admire greatly? Your hands get sweaty, you think "I can't talk to her. She'll think I'm a dork". And you wait those long tense moments for the crowd to disappear until you get your brief shining moment. See, I've got history with Sarah. I've loved her since the Room Service days when she worked on cheap makeovers of rental apartments. And now, with Design Inc., everybody knows her name and nary a rental in sight.

Tonight, HandyMan and I went to the Interior Design Show. I was intent on asking Sarah to be in our next Pecha Kucha. And after some not-so-gentle prodding by HandyMan, I made my pitch. "Have you heard of Pecha Kucha?" No, I haven't. What's a Pecha Kucha? "Do you think you could speak at our next one in May?" In between production for the show, and time with the family... I'll have to get back to you. If I begged you, would you do it? Please, please, pretty please?

Okay, so I didn't ask that last question. I was pretty professional. I name dropped (the Mayor, Bruce, and Don were all speakers at the first Pecha Kucha), I stayed calm, and I gave her the 30-second elevator pitch. I'll have to follow up with an email and send her the details. Fingers crossed that the stars will align on this one.

But that doesn't matter. I've got one more thing off The Bucket List. At least I can say I tried. But maybe it wouldn't hurt to send Sarah a copy of our book. You know, to let her know I'm legit and not really the stalker I appeared to be tonight :o\

In search of the perfect tile

Step 1: Find the cabinetry. Step 2: Everything else. Now that we have figured out the style and look of the kitchen cabinets, we're on to more fun stuff -- picking out the floor, backsplash, and countertop.

I'm drawn to white kitchens and prefer a classic casual yet warm look. Something like this would do me just fine:

White subway tile backsplash, carrera marble counters, white ceramic sink - so timeless. But HandyMan has other ideas. He'd prefer something with a bit more pattern and colour, maybe bring in the brown tones from the other rooms in the house. Here's some of what we've found so far to suit both our tastes.

The backsplash:

Our first love was this hexagon tile in a calcutta marble. So beautiful! The shape is something you'd see more typically used on a vintage bathroom floor, so we thought using as a backsplash would be a new spin on an old classic and very unexpected. Unfortunately, the more we looked at it, the more we realized what a pain in the butt it would be to cut all the tiles and have them sit straight and flush with the countertops.

The mini subway tiles were great too, but the travertine ones were a bit textured and would be difficult to clean. The scale of these was also a bit small for the space.

Now the mini brick tiles in marble -- awesome!! We found these "Venus Marble Mosaic Tiles in Milky Way" from Olympia Tile. The showroom sample had a bit more pink and yellow than the sample we took home, so I'm hoping with a whole backsplash of these we'll get a bit more variation and interest. The shape is pretty unique too, 1 x 2, and I haven't seen this used much. I think its more interesting than the popular white subway tiles but still gives the same classic kind of feel. What do you think??

More to come!

Design On Demand

If you can't get enough of HGTV Canada, now you can watch episodes online of your favourite shows! Of course, I watched an episode of Design Inc straightaway even though I've seen every episode like a gazillion times already. I love fast-forwarding to the 'reveal' (that's always the best part anyways).

Kitchens Galore

We've decided on our cabinetry but I came across this site via Baltimore Rowhouse which features some great kitchen inspiration pics. Be warned -- there are literally hundreds of photos, with almost every combination of cabinet species, colour, and tile imaginable! The best part: all sources for materials are listed!

From L to R: julie_sd, barb59, lindjake, pharaoh, maconiteasy, organic_donna, arin, beachlvr, stovegirl, michoumonster, mindstorm, sewanhakagirl

And the winner is...

It's done. We've finally decided on the kitchen cabinetry. After making a few more trips this weekend to look once again at the Canac, Aya, and Lowe's cabinetry options we have found exactly what we want. But before I tell you about what we selected, I'll tell what didn't pass the test.

Canac - the price was right with Canac and the kitchen designer was most helpful. We had heard positive reviews about the quality of their cabinetry so that was not an issue. They did offer a shaker style door... but in the end, it was the stipply textured finish of the thermofoil which knocked out this contender. It wasn't that bad, and as they say "Many will see, but few will notice" but we couldn't bear the thought of looking at and touching these cabinets for the next ten years and just thinking... eww. Maybe we're being finicky about the details but we knew we could find something better.

Ikea - After encountering the stipplies, HandyMan and I booted over to Ikea. Even their cabinet finishes felt nicer to the touch. But we couldn't bring ourselves to buy our kitchen at Ikea. I'm sure their quality is great and their product looks great and all, but we were hoping for a more custom, built-in look.

Aya & Altima - both of these custom kitchen manufacturers offered a great product. We just saw an Aya kitchen in Junebug & Frisco's kitchen (which looks absolutely awesome, btw) and knew you would get quality for the money. But was it worth double the price of the Canac cabinets? Hmmm, not so sure.

Kitchen Craft @ Lowe's - We originally priced a KraftMaid kitchen at Lowe's but soon realized that we really didn't want framed construction. Then we checked out another line offered at the store - the new Imprezza line by Kitchen Craft. Lucky for us, they offered a white thermofoil door in a satin finish (i.e. no stipplies!). And the price? Same as the Canac! Woohee, our prayers were answered. The cabinets will look similar to this:




There were a few things we liked about this line:
- no cracking: Because the coating is a thermofoil on mdf, there is no chance for cracking or separating of the finish. With painted wood doors, the wood can expand or contract based on humidity - which means the paint can crack. You'll notice the cracking along the mitred corners, or along the recessed interior seams.
- satin finish: The door feels almost like its laquered. It has a smooth finish, meaning easier cleanup.
- finished front and back: The thermofoil 'wraps' the whole door, giving it a smooth finish front and back. In the past, some thermofoil finishes were only applied to the front of the door, and a laminate was wrapped along the remaining edges and back side. As a result, the laminate would tend to peel when exposed to high heat -- not a good thing when you've got cabinets butting up against your stove!
- option for soft close: I really wanted this feature. This line doesn't offer just the soft close hardware; instead, you pay a reasonable charge of $75 per drawer to get a better drawer with the soft close, plywood drawer sides, wood grain laminate finish, and dovetail joints. Since drawers will get a lot of wear and tear, I think this is a fair price for a good upgrade.

Lessons Learned
Here's a few tips we learned which may help those of you planning a kitchen reno.

• Visit the big box stores first. Sit with a kitchen designer and do a layout. Most likely they will give you a printout of that layout with an itemized cost list. You can then take that layout (if you're happy with it) to other providers and do a cost comparison.
• Most kitchen manufacturers offer the same basic frame - a white melamine interior. So, what you're really paying for is the cabinet door. Look at the door and touch it. Make sure you like the finish. Know the differences between painted, stained, or thermofoil finishes.
• Know all the problems with your existing kitchen that you want fixed. One issue we had was where to store the KitchenAid stand mixer. We solved it by having one lower base cabinet fitted with a roll-out drawer. We chose one roll-out instead of two because of the height of the mixer.
• Find out the tolerance level. With the Imprezza line, filler pieces go up to three inches. That means for a full bank of cabinets, they could be 'short' of the wall up to six inches. And why is that important? Well, because we aren't moving any of the walls, we can take measurements before demo and order the cabinets right away. This shortens the timeline greatly -- with many kitchen manufacturers, they won't even take measurements until demo has been completed and the new drywall has been put up. With a 4-6 week delivery time, this means that cabinet manufacturing and demo/plumbing/electrical/tiling etc can now happen concurrently and we're without a kitchen for a very short period of time.

In the end, this was the best kitchen for us and our needs. We have a simple layout and wanted simple cabinets at a low cost. Plus, all the money we've saved just means we can splurge on the tile :)

Designer Stalkings

Next weekend, HandyMan and I will be attending Toronto's Interior Design Show (IDS08) with our dear friend Willow. This show is "the" show to find out about hot trends, products, and design ideas. Designer and architect-types will abound; no cheesy hottubs or Swiffer sweepers at this home show!

We'll be attending the gala night opening too. We're hoping to see some of our design idols up close and personal -- Willow made a very brief appearance on Designer Guys two weeks ago and I have a huge design crush on Sarah Richardson. I may have to stalk her a bit... HandyMan and I are starting to plan for Pecha Kucha Toronto vol.2 and I would love love love to have Sarah as one of my speakers! Hey, if I can get the Mayor to speak at vol.1, surely I can get Sarah! Anyhoo, in between the stalking, I'll be checking out some of the fab work on display by some of the local and international talent.


From L to R: Splinter bench by Matthew Kroeker; Minotti Cucine; Heatwave radiator by Joris Laarman; Serralunga Flow; BOCCI Lighting; Molo Design Felt Rocks

Happy Valentine's Day

Wishing you all a Happy Valentine’s Day. Hope your hearts and homes are filled with love!

(cupcake flowers from www.einiandco.com)

Faucet Hunting

(Kohler Eclectic Kitchen Inspiration)

Next item on our kitchen reno hunt is a faucet. I'm not sure really exactly what to look for although there are a few features I'd like:

- single handle lever

- brushed stainless finish

- pull out spray

- maybe a gooseneck style

Here's a few that have caught my eye:

From L to R: Elkay Arezzo Single-Handle Kitchen Faucet; Grohe Ladylux Pro; Tango by THG; Tara Ultra by Dornbracht; Elio by Dornbracht; Aberdeen by Moen; Hansgrohe Stratos HighArc Single-Hole with 2 Spray Pull-Out; Kohler HiRise Two Handle; IQ by Jado; American Standard Culinaire Hi-Flow Pull-Out; Arwa Surf; Blanco Precision

Any ideas on what to look for in a kitchen faucet? I suspect that faucets are like paint -- you get what you pay for so its worth it to spend a little more.