Tag Archives: contractor

Bath Remodeling: Adding the Wellness Principle

Last night I attended our Nor Cal NKBA (National Kitchen + Bath Association) monthly meeting, up at the beautiful showroom DJ Mehler, hosted by the always-elegant Doris Mehler.  The talk by Henry Brunelle, President, Bain Ultra, was brief showed off some extremely high end solutions for creating a spa like experience in the bath. The […]

Aging In Place Remodeling – Boomer Summit

This particular community of thought leaders only considered group housing or building new, Universal Design Green Concept developments, assisted living centers, etc. What interested me was that they did not acknowledge the reality that many people will NOT be moving from their own home, for personal, or in today’s economy, economic, reasons.

Aging Gracefully By Design

Who wants to age in an aging bath?? As a Designer for “Aging In Place,” if people never heard the expression before, you can observe their physical change as they begin to underst the idea. At the same time, it brings out other emotions, like fear, denial, anger, sadness or just plain surprise! The next thing they say is, ”That’s for other people, I’m not getting older!” NO MATTER HOW OLD THEY ARE! Everyone says the same thing. People are funny that way.

Aging In Place Step 3: Maintenance, Cleanliness, Safety

Maintenence is one the the most important tasks you should do on a schedule – why not make it out in advance of when certain inspections or tasks should be scheduled. Things like range hood filters should be taken down cleaned annually. Buy  replace your existing batteries in the smoke alarms. Make your bathroom kitchen maintenance-friendly easy […]

Aging In Place: 10 Things About Aging

Most people would choose to stay in their home as long as possible, even if it means having care giving services. But, in order to really make the most of your later years, it helps if you prepare the home for the future.

Designer’s Corner: Universal Design Reduces Stress

I recently had the opportunity to view an excellent webcast by Cynthia Leibrock, MA, ASID.  She talked about really important issues to consider when remodeling, as what you do will likely want to st the test of time usefullness. What I learned was that it is very important to satisfy sensory surroundings in order to dramatically effect […]

What’s It All About, Shluter?

As a frequently experimental designer, I often want things to look a bit differently than the manufacturer intended, especially when it comes to bath layouts, materials, tile. And then just this week, two of my tile reps both, in one day, said, “Well, then, what about Schluter?” Don’t think for one moment that you’re not as […]

Home Maintenance Tip: Check Your Deck!

One great advantage of living in the Bay Area is our climate, another is that almost anywhere you live, you can find a view – of the hills, the Bay, the Ocean. That makes one of the most popular home additions a beautiful Deck. Those of you with decks more than 10 years old probably have them built from redwood […]