RMLS Has Our Listing

Our house is up now for sale on RMLS: #14025421

REMARKS: Charming Alameda cottage with formal living and dining rooms. The gas fireplace is centered between original built-in book shelves. Hardwood floors on main floor. Upstairs is being used as office, but could be master suite by adding bath. Kitchen has been updated. Private back yard with decks and privacy. The neighborhood is wonderful and the homes and the street are beautiful. This is a treasure waiting for your buyer. This is exciting!

Mike Published On FabNest

These Towels You Wouldn’t Dare Throw on the Floor

 

What is one of the nicest parts of staying at a resort in the vacation spot you love? Some may say it’s the sunsets glinting off the water. Some may say it is the relaxation you feel when you fall asleep in a hammock to the sound of the surf. Some may say it’s the chance of finding exotic dining places. For me it’s the luxurious towels found in fine resorts. They are big, fluffy, super absorbent and smell like a sun filled meadow. When you have finished drying your naked body, you don’t just toss them on the floor in the corner for the maid, but hang them carefully on the hook located on the bathroom door.

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Mike Writes of Guest Bathrooms at FabNest

The Guest Bathroom – 10 Impressive Expressions

You know the guest bathroom was designed with me and you in mind. It was designed to impress. It’s a blank slate. It wants us to believe that it’s never been used before. Everything in that small room is perfect. It’s so free of dirt it echoes. It still has that “fresh out of the box” smell. Pictured above is an example of perfection, an Eastmoreland master bathroom designed by Jason Ball of Jason Ball Interiors.

 

Some Still Like Tubs

I thought the tub was over for adults. In fact, we've thought about taking out the tub and replacing it with a walk in tile shower big enough for two. Now according to Breathe Modern, it looks like freestanding tubs are in. Take a look at these:

Rexa_Design_Unico_Egg_1

Madera wood bathtub by WS Bath Collections

A Transformative Apartment Renovation in Brooklyn

Dwell has a feature about a renovation in Brooklyn. I was struck by the major transformation of the bathroom. Here is the before shot of the master bathroom.

Photo courtesy of Ed Kopel.

The renovated master bathroom. 

Photo by Francis Dzikowski/ESTO.

That's why we hire professionals!

Five minutes and $10 can save you $1,000

I had no idea what a little damage in a shower can lead to and is easily preventable. Steve Cloninger Special to the Post-Dispatch has written an article that we all should read if we are responsible for the maintenance of our abode. He writes:

A small hole in the grout will allow water from the shower to get in. It may not be much at first, but chances are the damage is already beginning. Water getting to the drywall behind the tile will damage the drywall, even if it is “water resistant” drywall. When drywall continues to get wet, it has a consistency of something like wet cardboard. When it gets to that point, the tile won’t be able to stick to it any longer and your shower wall will feel soft and moving somewhat. At this point, the only thing keeping the tiles from falling down is the small amount of grout that surrounds the tile. But, this won’t last long, and the tiles will begin falling.

I am grabbing my flashlight before the Blazers play tonight.

Give Your Bathroom the Modern Look

Incorporating a modern look into a bathroom may actually be easier than once thought. However, it can be difficult knowing where to start. We all strive to make parts of our home look better, and the bathroom is no different. In fact, it may even be more important. Quite often, the room is seen as a sanctuary to get away from life, and as such, it should be visually appealing.

You Will Need a Simple Colour Scheme

Simply does it sometimes. With modern bathrooms, there is no real need to purchase extremely bright colours. Minimalism is the key, therefore, it is quite easy to accentuate the qualities of a bathroom with softer colours. Unassuming colours such as creams, whites and greys, work particularly well in modern bathrooms, as they liven up the room without spoiling its appeal. To complete the process, a good idea is to separate this softer colour with a block colour like dark blue, which will help achieve a clean and easy feel.

Do Little to Get a Lot

When it comes to designing a wonderfully modern bathroom, sometimes it pays more to do less as a simple approach can bring a clear contemporary style. It is very important that a modern bathroom doesn’t look too busy. A cluttered bathroom is not a calm bathroom. The way to make sure the room doesn’t become too overcrowded with objects is to utilise space effectively. Clever cabinets can use space efficiently, thus allowing the rest of the room to be pristine.

Get Some Impressive Bathroom Fittings

The simplistic approach to the colour and design of a bathroom allows other areas of the room to shine. This is where a good set of bathroom fittings comes in. These can become the centrepiece of the bathroom, a freestanding bath with smooth, round edges, have a luxury feel that contrasts the minimalist feel of the rest of the room. Shower heads that are mounted at the wall can complement this effortless contemporary bathroom look.

Add a Touch of Class with Modern Tiles

Once all of the bathroom parts are into place, it is time to add some modern looking tiles that will enhance the whole style of the room. The Yorkshire Tile Company are a company that offers a whole range of modern bathroom tiles. For an innovative bathroom look, modern bathroom tiles can provide uncompromising beauty to your bathroom.

Time For A Modern Bathroom?

You know your bathroom needs a remodel if you have a spa-tub with jets, or if your bathroom has small, eight-sided tiles anywhere. You know your savings will decline if your toilets and showers use lots of water. When you and your mate see what Modern Bathroom offers in new eco-friendly bathroom fixtures, featuring dual-flush toilets and bidets; and when you learn that you can have low-flow showers, yet receive a high, water pressure feel through air injection, then you know you are ready for bathroom renovations that will significantly enhance daily living and quality of life for you and your entire family.

Someday, soon, we intend to rip out our bathroom linoleum flooring and have new marble floors installed. Our house was built in 1929, so you might imagine the old tub and shower system could use an upgrade. A new glass enclosure for the tub and shower would be a handsome addition. In the finished basement (lower level as we now call it), the bathroom could use new tile and a bidet. With a bidet, we could live like the French, seen on those House Hunter TV shows. While it takes money to upgrade a bathroom, most renovations are so much cheaper than the cost of a new house.

When we are ready, we will investigate Modern Bathroom, headquartered in Southern California. Originally, they only sold their Modern Bathroom fixtures, but now have added such quality brands as Wyndham Collection®, Christopher Grubb, Americh, Avanity, Bath Authority DreamLine, Cole & Co, Design Element, Fluid, Fresca, HANSA, Hansgrohe, Hydro Systems, JADO, Jason, Madeli, mr. steam, MTI, Ronbow, Stufurhome, Victoria & Albert, Vigo Industries, Virtu USA, and many more. In addition to the showrooms in the Greater Los Angeles area and the low-price guarantee, you can save even more with free shipping, when you order on line.

This sponsored post for Modern Bathroom was paid for by our friends at Modern Bathroom.

Love The Vessel Sink!

Many bathrooms that I see in magazines or on House Hunters International feature bathrooms, either new or remodels, have an impactful image of vessel sinks.  These sinks sit on the cabinet like exotic flowers catching water from a great height. In a way they hark back to the hotel room basins and water pitchers seen in so many westerns. 

Our friends at VesselSinks.com have a variety of designs ranging from glass, copper, stone and ceramic.

• Glass sinks are tempered, so they are quite strong, come in many beautiful colors and you can use a common bathroom cleaner to keep them clean.
• Stone sinks are porous and can stain making them a little harder to maintain
• Copper products from VesselSinks.com are made in Mexico or India where there are many mines and copper artisans.
• Usually white, ceramic sinks are very popular because they are very easy to maintain and don’t stain.

I spoke with Deb Seeley of Deb Seeley Designs and member of NKBA about her use of Vessel sinks in remodels and new construction. Seeley cautioned that you must coordinate the height of the vanity with the height of the vessel.  Vanity heights are now 33”, if you add a 5” vessel sink, your vanity is now 38” and too high for a lot of women and children.  Remodels must take the height of the vessel into consideration.

Faucets are different, also.  They can be purchased with various spout heights (SH) and spout lengths (SR) and can be mounted on the vanity or on the wall.

One great thing about vessel sinks versus undermounts is the ease of changing your sink for a new color to match a change in décor.

Seeley also cautions homeowners that vessel sinks may be best in a powder room.  She thinks they take up more room and they can be harder than undermounts to clean around.

Bathrooms Are Changing

An article in Cincinnati.com about bathrooms informs us that renovations are on the rise with some surprising changes. Gone are the massive spa-tubs with jets and whirlpools. Gone are the little, smooth tiles. Gone are toilets and showers that use lots of water. What's in are doorless showers, soaking tubs, dual-flush toilets and low-flow showers with air injection that delivers that high, water pressure feel. In are big tiles and texture and color.

While walking during First Thursday, we visited Ann Sacks, which is HQ'ed in Portland. Here are two shots of the new bathroom look:

Notice the sink seems to exist without any plumbing in the top picture and in the bottom, notice the colored tiles and many of the tiles and textures available in the mirror.

Or take a look at this bathroom from Mike's article in Oregon Home: