This past year a client came to us; they did not like their living room. The original builder wanted the room to be “special” so he made the room with vaulted ceilings. The problem is, the room would have been bigger if you would have tipped it on its side! With a bit of design and study, we came up with a solution that took the room from 17’ tall with vaults, to a room that is now 14 feet tall with a coffered ceiling. The new appearance is now very appealing and pleasing to the eye but more importantly makes the room comfortable.

The kitchen underwent a significant redesign. One of the biggest quandaries was what type of surface to use for the island counter. One of the oldest and most beloved countertop surfaces ever is ...wood!

In fact, I am currently writing an article about a wood desktop that is being crafted in our shop. Wood is warm to the eye as well as to the touch. It looks great with almost any decor or architecture. But… wood is soft and it ‘dings and dents’ quite easily. However, for many persons, the dings and dents are a part of the appeal of wood.

Now for this project, we used a wood countertop from Caribou. Caribou is manufactured in Canada and they have a special process of sealing the wood to make it even more durable. This project was given a beautiful walnut island. I think you will be seeing more of this in the future.

UPDATE: I visited this beautiful home 18 months after completion and the wood countertop looked wonderful. I asked the owners if they would do this surface again—and the answer was a resounding YES!