Bay Area Home Remodeling Including Bathroom and Kitchen Remodeling in Los Altos, Los Altos Hills, Palo Alto ...

For more than 125 years, the ceiling fan has been one of the most energy efficient methods of air conditioning. It can enhance both cooling and heating operations. Modern ceiling fans can be quiet, stable and energy-efficient. Best of all–they are versatile. You can tailor them to any style or design.

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When planning a home remodel, there are many decisions to make. Often, the decisions have a substantial cost impact associated with them. However, when looking at the bigger picture of your remodel, don’t overlook quality details that can make your home visually appealing and comforting.

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According to a recent Home Design Trends Survey by the American Institute of Architects, as the economy continues to improve, outdoor living environments remain one of the prime areas homeowners are focusing on when improving their homes.

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Spring has sprung and the garden is full of color. After a long winter, it is refreshing to bring those colors in to expand the visual space and revive our spirits. Here are some ways to bring the outdoors in:

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If you wait until the last minute to consider your lighting needs when you are remodeling your kitchen, you may repeat some of the mistakes you have lived with all these years. Installing a single ceiling light fixture in the center of your kitchen creates unwelcome shadows over your work space as you try to prepare meals. Another oversight would be to install ceiling cans around the perimeter of the kitchen without carefully considering where the beams of light will contact the various surfaces in the room. If you place the ceiling cans too close to the kitchen cabinets, for example, you may create uneven scallops of light on the surface of the cabinets, as well as shadows in the middle of the room.

Good lighting design is developed simultaneously with the rest of your kitchen remodeling plans. It takes into account the following three separate layers of light that work in concert to achieve the optimal lighting experience. Ideally, these layers should be switched individually.

1. Ambient — This is the general illumination of your kitchen that allows you to see well enough to move about the room confidently and safely. The ceiling mounted fluorescent boxes that used to be the standard fixture used for this purpose are out. The most popular choices today are ceiling cans and large surface mounted fixtures. Chandeliers may also be used for ambient lighting.

2. Task — This is lighting that helps you perform tasks in your kitchen, such as meal preparation, cooking and work space clean up. For obvious reasons, when you are wielding a sharp knife you want your work space sufficiently bright, but free of glare so you can clearly see what you are doing. The same thing is true when you are stirring a bubbling pot of soup on the stove. Task lighting is usually provided by under-cabinet lights or pendants over an island.

3. Accent — This is the lighting that emphasizes the little details that make your kitchen look exceptional. It can include the spotlight that accentuates a large painting hanging on the wall, as well as the several small pucks installed behind glass cabinet doors to highlight your favorite crockery. Recessed cove lighting is accent lighting that creates visual interest on a ceiling.

As you are planning your lighting, take into account that highly reflective surfaces will impact your lighting design. You should avoid placing fixtures in a location where the light will reflect off your polished granite countertop, causing an uncomfortable glare in the eyes of anyone seated at the kitchen island.

It is also important to consider how your age, and the ages of others living in your home, may influence the amount of light necessary in your kitchen. In order to see clearly enough to read recipes or the instructions on food packages, most older adults need three to four times more light than they did when they were younger.

Wondering how to pull nature indoors, as well as promote balance and harmony? See the article on the Color of the Year for 2013 and find out how Emerald Green can add Glam to any room.

Update your Home with this Season’s Hottest Hue, and Color of the Year – Emerald Green.

Pantone LLC, the global authority on color and provider of professional color standards for the design industries, announced that PANTONE®17-5641 Emerald- a lively, radiant, lush, green, is the Color of the Year for 2013.

According to the Pantone website, Emerald, a vivid, verdant green, enhances our sense of well-being by inspiring insight, as well as promoting balance and harmony. Most often associated with brilliant, precious gemstones, emerald green is sophisticated and luxurious. Since antiquity, this luminous hue has been the color of beauty and new life in many cultures and religions. It’s also the color of growth, renewal and prosperity – no other color conveys regeneration more than green.

Photo: williowblog.com

“Green is the most abundant hue in nature – the human eye sees more green than any other color in the spectrum,” said Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director, Pantone Color Institute. “As it has throughout history, multifaceted Emerald continues to sparkle and fascinate. Symbolically, Emerald brings a sense of clarity, renewal and rejuvenation, which is so important in today’s complex world. This powerful and universally appealing tone translates easily to both fashion and home interiors.”

According to Shawn Gauthier, a design enthusiast and freelance writer for Houzz, “Emerald green pulls nature indoors.” Summer is just the right time to use this rich and elegant shade to tie interior and outdoor spaces together.

Visit Houzz for wonderful photos, like the one above from Carlyn And Company Interiors + Design and ideas on how to incorporate this color trend throughout your home.

Valentine’s Day is almost here and many of us will try to find the perfect greeting card, gift, or night out to show appreciation to our loved ones. While these offerings may provide a brief spark in your relationship, may we suggest a more permanent Valentine’s Day gift that will enhance your home and bring you and your loved one closer for much longer than a holiday? . . . . A Fireplace!

On chilly winter nights, nothing adds as much ambience to your home as a roaring fire. Year-round, a fireplace adds beauty, dimension, and a focal point for your room. While there are a number of federal and local regulations that restrict the construction of old-fashioned masonry fireplaces in new and remodeled homes, there are a number of EPA-certified wood-burning fireplaces that provide the richness only a real wood fire can impart and, at the same time, curtail the particulate matter in the smoke by as much as 70%. Two are shown in the photos at right. Additionally, there are a number of ways to retrofit an existing wood-burning fireplace to comply with current regulations. Most will require glass or metal doors and an insert or retrofit to contain the particulate matter. See the list of EPA-certified Fireplacesfor more information.

Renaissance Rumford EPA

Blaze will walk you through the five steps of selecting the right fireplace for your space and make the installation easy and enjoyable.

1. Is a fireplace or fireplace insert needed? A fireplace insert is installed in the existing wood burner. A regular fireplace is installed in the framed opening.
2. Are you looking for a traditional or modern style?
3. Are you using the fireplace for heat, and if so, how much heat will be required?
4. What options (log set, brick, doors and control functions) would you like installed?
5. Review the flue piping and the installation parameters.

Blaze Fireplace is a family-owned and operated full service contractor and supplier of fireplaces, mantels, insulation, and garage doors. Blaze provides onsite consultation, installation, service, warranty, and after-sales support. Their 6,000 sq ft designer fireplace showroom features more than 60 active burning fireplace displays and over 40 mantels. The Blaze San Francisco Office and Showroom is located at 101 Cargo Way in San Francisco, CA 94124 Phone: 415-495-2002.

Do you wish you had more space inside your home, but you aren’t interested in an addition right now? We are experts in re-configuring your existing space to optimize its functionality. Keep reading below as we discuss some space-saving door options.

Perhaps your home feels overcrowded and you’re looking for ways to increase usable space without adding on. Have you considered the fact that a standard hinged door requires eight to ten square feet of floor space to swing open? This is basically wasted space in your home, since nothing else–such as a chair or table–can occupy that same floor space. You may want to keep in mind the following attractive options:

Pocket Doors
A pocket door uses no floor space around an entry, but rather it slides within the wall, providing a clean, unobtrusive look to a room. The door hangs from a track mounted to the ceiling, with a guide placed at the door opening. One big advantage of this type of door is that furniture or shelving may be placed along the wall next to the door opening.

Wall Mounted Sliding Doors
A wall-mounted sliding door has a track-and-roller system that attaches directly to the wall, reminiscent of barn doors. The hangers either can be exposed for an industrial look, or hidden in a facia for a more finished look. Unlike pocket doors, these doors remain outside the wall and therefore are an ideal solution for walls constructed of concrete block or brick, or for wood-framed walls containing pipes or wiring. Furniture may be placed beside the doorway without interfering with the door’s operation.

Additional Tips and Benefits:

• Use door panels with decorative glass inserts to add style to the space and allow light to be shared between rooms when the doors are closed.
• Always choose robust, high-quality hardware for all of your sliding doors. This will go a long way toward assuring trouble-free performance.
• As families transition through the various life stages, they want their homes to be flexible enough to adapt to their changing space needs. At times there may be a need to define some private space within an open floor plan. Converging wall-mounted sliding doors or a multiple pocket door system are able to maximize an open floor plan, easily creating two rooms out of one large room.
• Pocket doors and wall-mounted sliding doors both offer a universal design solution, since it is not necessary for a person to remain clear of the door as it is swinging open. Also, if a person is needing help from behind a closed door, easy access may be gained from either side. To meet ADA requirements, a pocket door must open with no more than 5 lbs. of pressure.

Have you already gathered lots of ideas for how you’d like your new kitchen to look, once it’s remodeled? Perhaps you’ve thought about the style of cabinets you’d prefer or the beautiful materials you envision on your countertops and backsplash.
You should also consider these three kitchen trends that will add both safety and convenience to your kitchen. And, their green benefits extend beyond the usual energy and water savings.

1. Hands-free Faucet Controls – touch or motion activated

A kitchen faucet with hands-free technology is a tremendous advantage to meal preparation. Advanced sensors detect movement or a slight tap on the faucet itself to start the flow of water. If your hands are full or too dirty to turn on the faucet, a wave of your hand, the touch of your arm, or the presence of your hands under the spout will start the water flowing.
Hands-free technology saves water, since faucets shut off automatically, unless instructed to do otherwise. And, it can be incorporated as part of Universal Design for those with restricted reach and/or limited hand mobility.

2. Induction Cooktops

Would you be surprised to learn that induction cooking technology was developed in the United States? It didn’t immediately take off here–as it did abroad–possibly because of the specialized cookware requirements. It now appears to be gaining popularity in the U.S as consumers become better acquainted with its advantages.
Induction cooking uses induction heating to directly heat a cooking vessel, as opposed to using heat transfer from electrical coils or burning gas as with a traditional cooking stove. For nearly all models of induction cooktops, the cooking vessel must be made of a ferromagnetic metal, or placed on an interface disk which enables non-induction cookware to be used on induction cooking surfaces. Induction cooks food very quickly–90% of the energy produced is used in the cooking process as it heats only the pan and the food inside the pan–rather than the kitchen environment. The induction cooktop surface remains cool to the touch, so spills can be wiped up easily and there are no open flames or hot burners that can cause safety issues.

3. LED Lighting

LED lighting has opened up amazing new opportunities for placing light in your kitchen wherever you desire and however your imagination dictates. It doesn’t produce heat so it is perfectly suited for the inside of refrigerators and food storage cabinets. And, it’s available in a wide variety of shapes and sizes, from long, narrow strips that fit under cabinet toe-kicks to round pucks suitable for cabinet interiors. LED provides white light in warm and cool tones, as well as a wide variety of other colors that can add drama to your kitchen décor.
Quality LED products typically last longer than CFLs, and are therefore preferable for hard-to-reach areas such as ceilings. The long life of LED lights make them an eco-friendly product.

One of the first signs of the Christmas season is the sight of a front door adorned with an evergreen and holly wreath. A welcoming sign of holiday cheer, wreaths have been used symbolically for centuries.

In ancient Rome, the wreath became so powerful that people used decorative wreaths as a sign of victory. Some believe that this is origin of hanging of wreaths on doors. The ancient Druids believed that holly, with its glossy, shiny prickly leaves of green adorned with red berries, remained green all year due to their magical properties. Many speculate the holly berries have given us our green and red colors of Christmas. Combining the symbolism of the wreath with the believed magical powers of holly, the Romans exchanged holly wreaths as gifts. Once Christianity took hold in Rome, holly wreaths became Christmas wreaths.

A traditional evergreen, holly, and pinecone wreath

To add color to their Christmas wreaths, the American colonists incorporated colorful fruits. Pomegranates, in particular were used as they represented wealth. Celebrating the Christmas season for 12 consecutive days (the “12 Days of Christmas”) the celebration ends on January 5th, the 12th day.

Christmas and Advent Wreaths

While there are many designs and styles of Christmas wreaths, they mainly fall into two categories, the decorative wreath and the Advent wreath. The decorative Christmas wreath is used for holiday decorations and is usually made of evergreens, holly, or other materials which symbolize life emerging through a tough winter. The ring or wheel of the Advent wreath of evergreens decorated with candles was a symbol in northern Europe long before the arrival of Christianity. The circle symbolized the eternal cycle of the seasons while the evergreens and lighted candles signified the persistence of life in the midst of winter. Some sources suggest the wreath – now reinterpreted as a Christian symbol – was in common use in the Middle Ages, others that it was established in Germany as a Christian custom only in the 16th century.

Traditionally, the Advent wreath consists of three violet and one rose candle set in a circle of evergreens. In the center of the wreath sits a white candle. As a whole, these candles represent the coming of the light of Christ into the world. Beginning with the First Sunday of Advent, one candle is lit. An additional candle is lit during each subsequent week until, by the last Sunday before Christmas, all four candles are lit. The fifth candle, which symbolizes the birth of Christ, is lit on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day.

Whether you are looking to start your holiday decorating or trying to find a gift, a wreath can brighten a front door, a window or various places inside your home. See our resources section in the left hand column for more ideas.