Photo: Sarah Greenman © 2013 Houzz
Elegant porch photo in Dallas with a fire pit and decking

To compliment this indoor-outdoor vision, Beasley choose a mix of simple, natural materials, such as concrete, wood, stone and steel. These common materials were used in inventive ways to create interest and to keep the connection to the exteriors. Textural chiseled stone was juxtaposed with sleek quartz countertops; wood and concrete were mixed to form unexpected flooring patterns; wood and steel were designed to form the unique stair case extending into the balcony, central to the gathering and amenity areas; lineal walls patterns were designed out of striated wood selections, and exposed brick was specified for the large 2-story glass entry foyer wall. One of the most captivating of Beasley & Henley’s design elements is the ‘living wall’ which holds greenery and live plants all year long.

The huge single under-mount stainless sink is positioned at the window over-looking the pool and lush back yard. The bump-out design adds interest and the latches on the upper cabinet doors add a nautical/coastal flair. There are two islands, this "front" one convenient to the sink and refrigeration features ample storage with many drawers including the microwave drawer. The counter is Labrodorite which is commonly used for jewelry. It's iridescent and sparkles like moonstone. The center section between the two islands features an oval wood-topped table with banquette bench seating on two sides. The show-stopping coffered ceiling was custom designed and features a highlighted central area in a circular design. The area behind the range has marble subway tile and the other backsplash areas are raised wood panels giving a furniture quality to this homey space. The dishwasher and large Sub-Zero refrigerator are also paneled in white wood while the microwave and 48" range is stainless steel. The prior cherry kitchen from the late 1990's with Corian counters was re-invented as a entertainment/auxiliary kitchen in the lower level of the house. This great space was a collaboration between many talented folks including but not limited to the team at Delicious Kitchens & Interiors, LLC, L. Newman and Associates/Paul Mansback, Inc with Leslie Rifkin and Emily Shakra, contributions from the homeowners and counters via Belisle Granite. John C. Hession Photographer

To compliment this indoor-outdoor vision, Beasley choose a mix of simple, natural materials, such as concrete, wood, stone and steel. These common materials were used in inventive ways to create interest and to keep the connection to the exteriors. Textural chiseled stone was juxtaposed with sleek quartz countertops; wood and concrete were mixed to form unexpected flooring patterns; wood and steel were designed to form the unique stair case extending into the balcony, central to the gathering and amenity areas; lineal walls patterns were designed out of striated wood selections, and exposed brick was specified for the large 2-story glass entry foyer wall. One of the most captivating of Beasley & Henley’s design elements is the ‘living wall’ which holds greenery and live plants all year long.

The worldly style of this inventive space draws inspiration from Latin American design. Warm wood tones, a custom copper hood, and hand painted Mexican tiles complement the clients Latin American artwork. The Crystal frameless cabinetry is in a black walnut shaker style and natural anigre flat panel door. The dynamic curved shape of the island is mimicked in the granite eating bar and curved shelves of the message/organization center. Photo Credit: Nar Fine Carpentry, Inc.

To compliment this indoor-outdoor vision, Beasley choose a mix of simple, natural materials, such as concrete, wood, stone and steel. These common materials were used in inventive ways to create interest and to keep the connection to the exteriors. Textural chiseled stone was juxtaposed with sleek quartz countertops; wood and concrete were mixed to form unexpected flooring patterns; wood and steel were designed to form the unique stair case extending into the balcony, central to the gathering and amenity areas; lineal walls patterns were designed out of striated wood selections, and exposed brick was specified for the large 2-story glass entry foyer wall. One of the most captivating of Beasley & Henley’s design elements is the ‘living wall’ which holds greenery and live plants all year long.

To compliment this indoor-outdoor vision, Beasley choose a mix of simple, natural materials, such as concrete, wood, stone and steel. These common materials were used in inventive ways to create interest and to keep the connection to the exteriors. Textural chiseled stone was juxtaposed with sleek quartz countertops; wood and concrete were mixed to form unexpected flooring patterns; wood and steel were designed to form the unique stair case extending into the balcony, central to the gathering and amenity areas; lineal walls patterns were designed out of striated wood selections, and exposed brick was specified for the large 2-story glass entry foyer wall. One of the most captivating of Beasley & Henley’s design elements is the ‘living wall’ which holds greenery and live plants all year long.

FINISH: PRIMED The advantages of this approach – of this type of interior door finish – are fairly obvious. Pick a color, any color that suits your projects best. Mix and apply. Re- coat whenever you feel it is necessary to do so. Touch it up. It gives you, the proud owner of these interior doors, complete freedom of choice, and the significant savings, especially where it comes to bulk orders, can be a true source of joy. As Kurt Vonnegut mentions in one of his novels (Bluebeard, unless I’m mistaken … check it out when you get a chance), the thrill of laying on colors is a large part of the artist’s professional satisfaction. In other words, a keen pleasure. When back in the remote past visual arts became a field dominated by professionals rather than hobbyists, the main problem of “just laying on paint” became obvious: you can’t. The medium of choice back then was egg tempera, a permanent, fast-drying substance consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Portraits and ornaments were executed in this medium, and the wood panel was the surface of choice. One of tempera’s interesting features is that it is not as easily absorbed by wood as other mediums. Some sort of primer was necessary, of course, but pretty much any substance that dried evenly could be used. The drawbacks of tempera, or pintura al temple, as the Spanish call it, only became obvious with the advent of the Renaissance, when the leading representatives of the trade turned to oil (and interior doors suddenly became a great deal less crude, but that’s a story for another day). Oil painting is the process of “painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder.” Commonly used types include linseed (highly preferable in art, though not necessarily in interior doors, mind you), poppy seed, walnut, and safflower. Today, five hundred years later, it is safe to say that oil is more versatile than pintura al temple – by orders of magnitude. Specifically, the contrasts achieved through the former are much greater, the darks are far deeper, and three- dimensional, highly realistic images are much easier to achieve. Next time you visit a museum, take a closer look at pintura al temple portraits. All of them, without exception, come off as a bit “flat” as opposed to their latter-day counterparts. Also, where glazing is concerned … Glazing: a painting technique in which a transparent layer, with just a touch of pigment, is laid over a previously painted surface, allowing light to travel through the glaze and be reflected back off of the opaque layer below. Gentle shadows, subtle changes of color, smooth transitions – all these can be achieved through glazing, which was used by all artists up until the middle of the Nineteenth Century, when artist tubes were invented, revolutionizing the field, and other techniques began to be explored. Tempera enthusiasts (it takes all kinds to make a world) will assure you that glazing is not just possible in pintura al temple but is actually the basis of the whole enterprise. Well, what are you going to do? They’re enthusiasts. Anyway, la peinture à l'huile, as the French call it, re-introduced the ancient problem of most surface’s propensity to absorb dipingere, as the Italians call the stuff. Wood or canvas, it is all the same: you’re not going to get very far without a good primer. Experiments were conducted, and soon rabbit skin glue emerged as the least expensive and most effective solution. It was easy to apply. It dried evenly. It made the application of the l’huile stuff on top of it a walk in the park. There were drawbacks. Today, rabbit skin glue is considered to be a major cause of cracking by most modern conservators. (Remember, when you visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art – and did you see those interior doors? … some of them are quite something … - most “old masters” pictures are completely covered with a cobweb of cracks? There you go). Because the glue is hygroscopic, it continually absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, causing the glue to swell and shrink as ambient humidity levels change. Over many humidity cycles, this repeated flexing causes the brittle oily layers to crack. To combat this problem, modern primers are made of acrylic materials which are guaranteed not to cause any damage to the dipingere. No bubbling, no cracks. Your interior doors are safe.

A contemporary clubhouse in Boston. Designed by Beasley & Henley Interior Design. To compliment this indoor-outdoor vision, Beasley choose a mix of simple, natural materials, such as concrete, wood, stone and steel. These common materials were used in inventive ways to create interest and to keep the connection to the exteriors. Textural chiseled stone was juxtaposed with sleek quartz countertops; wood and concrete were mixed to form unexpected flooring patterns; wood and steel were designed to form the unique stair case extending into the balcony, central to the gathering and amenity areas; lineal walls patterns were designed out of striated wood selections, and exposed brick was specified for the large 2-story glass entry foyer wall.

To compliment this indoor-outdoor vision, Beasley choose a mix of simple, natural materials, such as concrete, wood, stone and steel. These common materials were used in inventive ways to create interest and to keep the connection to the exteriors. Textural chiseled stone was juxtaposed with sleek quartz countertops; wood and concrete were mixed to form unexpected flooring patterns; wood and steel were designed to form the unique stair case extending into the balcony, central to the gathering and amenity areas; lineal walls patterns were designed out of striated wood selections, and exposed brick was specified for the large 2-story glass entry foyer wall. One of the most captivating of Beasley & Henley’s design elements is the ‘living wall’ which holds greenery and live plants all year long.

To compliment this indoor-outdoor vision, Beasley choose a mix of simple, natural materials, such as concrete, wood, stone and steel. These common materials were used in inventive ways to create interest and to keep the connection to the exteriors. Textural chiseled stone was juxtaposed with sleek quartz countertops; wood and concrete were mixed to form unexpected flooring patterns; wood and steel were designed to form the unique stair case extending into the balcony, central to the gathering and amenity areas; lineal walls patterns were designed out of striated wood selections, and exposed brick was specified for the large 2-story glass entry foyer wall. One of the most captivating of Beasley & Henley’s design elements is the ‘living wall’ which holds greenery and live plants all year long.

A contemporary clubhouse designed by Beasley & Henley Interior Design. To compliment this indoor-outdoor vision, Beasley choose a mix of simple, natural materials, such as concrete, wood, stone and steel. These common materials were used in inventive ways to create interest and to keep the connection to the exteriors. Textural chiseled stone was juxtaposed with sleek quartz countertops; wood and concrete were mixed to form unexpected flooring patterns; wood and steel were designed to form the unique stair case extending into the balcony, central to the gathering and amenity areas; lineal walls patterns were designed out of striated wood selections, and exposed brick was specified for the large 2-story glass entry foyer wall. One of the most captivating of Beasley & Henley’s design elements is the ‘living wall’ which holds greenery and live plants all year long.

To compliment this indoor-outdoor vision, Beasley choose a mix of simple, natural materials, such as concrete, wood, stone and steel. These common materials were used in inventive ways to create interest and to keep the connection to the exteriors. Textural chiseled stone was juxtaposed with sleek quartz countertops; wood and concrete were mixed to form unexpected flooring patterns; wood and steel were designed to form the unique stair case extending into the balcony, central to the gathering and amenity areas; lineal walls patterns were designed out of striated wood selections, and exposed brick was specified for the large 2-story glass entry foyer wall. One of the most captivating of Beasley & Henley’s design elements is the ‘living wall’ which holds greenery and live plants all year long.

To compliment this indoor-outdoor vision, Beasley choose a mix of simple, natural materials, such as concrete, wood, stone and steel. These common materials were used in inventive ways to create interest and to keep the connection to the exteriors. Textural chiseled stone was juxtaposed with sleek quartz countertops; wood and concrete were mixed to form unexpected flooring patterns; wood and steel were designed to form the unique stair case extending into the balcony, central to the gathering and amenity areas; lineal walls patterns were designed out of striated wood selections, and exposed brick was specified for the large 2-story glass entry foyer wall. One of the most captivating of Beasley & Henley’s design elements is the ‘living wall’ which holds greenery and live plants all year long.

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Inspiration for a powder room remodel in Nagoya

The bidet, a fixture commonly found in Parisian apartment bathrooms, has an interesting history. The device was invented in France in the late 17th century as a way to promote personal hygiene, and it quickly became a popular fixture in French households. Today, bidets remain a common feature in Parisian bathrooms, and many Parisians consider them to be an essential part of their daily routine. While bidets are not as common in other parts of the world, they continue to be a beloved and practical feature of Parisian apartment bathrooms.

This beautiful Terrazzo floor was uncovered in the hallway of a house in Doncaster, as you can see it had taken a bit of a beating over the years, but the owners were keen on having it restored. Restoring period features like these are a great idea as they are very sought after and can add a lot of value to a property. The floor had spent many years below carpet and nails had been hammered through the floor to hold carpet grippers in place. Along with this there was a lot of glue and paint to remove. However, I was confident that we could get the floor restored, I gave them a quotation for the work, and they were happy to proceed as soon as possible. Doncaster is a hot spot for terrazzo floors, apparently there was a big Italian community there in the early part of the 1900s. Doncaster is also famous for its rich rail heritage; the main Doncaster train station is on the East Coast mainline and you find many original station buildings have Terrazzo floors in the public areas. The first job was to remove as much of the paint, glue and other contaminates as possible. These were scraped off the floor by hand using a razor-sharp scraper. We then moved onto using a set of five diamond burnishing pads of different grits to cut through the top layers and grime to eventually bring this floor back up to its’ former glory. Starting off with the most coarse pad first I started to go over the floor a pad at a time, each pad is fitted to a rotary machine which has extra weight added to it to make the pads work ever better. Each time a pad is changed, it is slightly less coarse, this starts to polish the floor up to a shine eventually ended with a very fine diamond pad. Water is added at each stage and removed with the wet vacuum before the next pad is used. Gradually the original floor started to shine through, the colours were quite pronounced, and you could see the floor was a lovely example of terrazzo. After a final rinse to remove the soiling generated by burnishing, I turned my attention to filling the many holes where the nails had been. The floor was left to dry off overnight and the following morning I returned to seal the floor with several coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow. I choose this product as its designed to enhance the subtle colours in the floor and its fully breathable which is an important consideration when sealing floors in older properties. Damp proof membranes are a common feature these days but are a relatively recent invention. With older floors you need to allow the floor to breathe so the moisture in the sub floor can rise and evaporate at the surface, without this the moisture will reach out to the walls where it can cause rising damp. The result was a highly polished floor just the way it would have looked when it was first installed 90 years ago. As you can imagine the owners were over the moon with the transformation. Matthew Lovett South Yorkshire TIle Doctor