Villa Marchese del Grillo Relais-Restaurant-Enoteca For more info & details visit: http://relaismarchesedelgrillo.com/ Katerina Bucciarelli Broker Associate Fortune International Realty 2013 Top Producer. kb@kbmiami.com www.kbmiami.com Photo Credits: Javier Ospina.

Another beautiful deck wrapped up just in time for cooler fall weather. This deck went many years without maintenance by previous owner. We were able to remove the rotted decking and fortunately the framing was still in good condition. We put down new pressure treated boards and brought this deck back to life! Message us if you're looking to upgrade your outdoor entertaining space for the fall!

30 Years of Construction Experience in the Bay Area | Best of Houzz! We are a passionate, family owned/operated local business in the Bay Area, California. At Lavan Construction, we create a fresh and fit environment with over 30 years of experience in building and construction in both domestic and international markets. We have a unique blend of leadership combining expertise in construction contracting and management experience from Fortune 500 companies. We commit to deliver you a world class experience within your budget and timeline while maintaining trust and transparency. At Lavan Construction, we believe relationships are the main component of any successful business and we stand by our motto: “Trust is the foundation we build on.”

30 Years of Construction Experience in the Bay Area | Best of Houzz! We are a passionate, family owned/operated local business in the Bay Area, California. At Lavan Construction, we create a fresh and fit environment with over 30 years of experience in building and construction in both domestic and international markets. We have a unique blend of leadership combining expertise in construction contracting and management experience from Fortune 500 companies. We commit to deliver you a world class experience within your budget and timeline while maintaining trust and transparency. At Lavan Construction, we believe relationships are the main component of any successful business and we stand by our motto: “Trust is the foundation we build on.”

New Urban Luxury Private Residence – Alys Beach, Florida Architect: Khoury & Vogt Architects Builder: BRW Builders of Destin E. F. San Juan supplied all the interior and exterior wood millwork for this expertly designed residence adjacent to the snow-white dunes found in the serene New Urban townscape of Alys Beach, Florida. Challenges: The most significant design challenge of this project was to engineer a processing method to fabricate the complex millwork components in mass for the outdoor lounge. Khoury & Vogt Architects created a custom design for an inspiring and elegant outdoor living space. Fortunately, this house had a resourceful and creative team ensuring the vision of the design stayed intact. Solution: The intricate design required a creative approach which entailed high-level fabricating skills. “This project stands out in my mind because it required that I personally design and build numerous jigs,” says Edward San Juan. Taking on the challenge, San Juan designed and handcrafted each jig to the exact specification required for the exterior design. The team at E. F. San Juan continued with the creative approach, integrating and assembling the custom jigs to produce a work of art. The millwork beautifully complements the sleek white design on the deep indoor-outdoor decks, allowing the feel of the surrounding nature to flow inside. The result is a breathtaking and inspiring New Urban home in a luxurious beach town along Scenic Highway 30-A. --- Photography by Jack Gardner

A young family of four recently purchased a home with an unfinished basement. Each member of the family had their own opinion of how to use the space: dad wanted a music room, mom loves to dance and have parties, and the children wanted a media/game room where they could hang out with their friends. Fortunately, the basement was big enough to meet all their needs. The renovation includes a secluded sound proof music room that doubles as an office, a home gym with full-length mirrors and a multi-purpose area for dancing and entertaining. A full bar area with sink, dishwasher, microwave, wine cooler and under-the-counter refrigerator features granite countertops and custom cabinetry. Complete with high-back bar stools, it is a great gathering space during the parties the family loves to host. The focal point of the basement is a gas fireplace with ledger stone surround. Mood lighting, sconces, pendants, recessed lights and a disco ball provide plenty of lighting options. Last, but not least, is a high-tech media room with 110” large screen television. Let the games begin!

The kitchen needed to be lightened and brightened. Out with the dark mid-toned brown wood cabinets and in with freshly painted white cabinets. I transformed the counter area by having an all neutral backsplash for a clean and revived base. I added modern pendant lighting over the island and light wooden Hickory stools decorated with orange accents which gave it a fresh updated look. The owner is a lover of nature and animals, so I wanted to create a casual dining area with a modern twist especially since the space looks out onto the beautifully landscaped backyard. It was a natural choice for the owner to select art featuring two large aviaries filled with a colorful palette of birds, as she has a parrot of her own. Placing an elliptical Julian Chichester table and bright orange Design Within Reach chairs with a whimsical chandelier and vibrant patterned drapes gave the dining area a cheerfully updated look without spending a fortune.

With overwhelming support by the community who dug deep and donated, the 2018 Central Valley St. Jude Dream Home Giveaway successfully raised $957,100 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital! Since 2007, De Young Properties has been a major donor and builder of 12 St. Jude Dream Homes, helping to raise $11,628,545 to help the kids of St. Jude fight cancer and other life-threatening childhood diseases. One hundred percent of the proceeds will be donated to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, which works around the clock to develop cures to save the lives of boys and girls, including children in the San Joaquin Valley. “We strongly believe in our responsibility to help others, which is why the St. Jude’s Dream Home Giveaway is so important to us and our entire De Young team. We are grateful to our community’s continued support of our business – a community that has given so much to us, which is why we are so passionate about giving back. In fact, we are even more passionate today than we were in 2007 when we first partnered with St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital. We are honored to be a donor and builder of our 12th St. Jude Dream Home in this war against childhood cancer. St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital positively affects the lives of families across the country, in addition to giving us the opportunity to change the life of a local family,” said Paula De Young of De Young Properties. “This amazing pediatric research center, that not only treats life threatening cases in children, also freely gives guidance to doctors around the world and here in the Central Valley. We count ourselves fortunate to be able to help such an important cause” The 2018 St. Jude Dream Home is one of the most popular De Young floorplans, the Residence 210 with a beautiful Cottage elevation, and will offer three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, a formal dining room, spacious den and an open-air courtyard with a gorgeous stone accented fireplace. With celebrity designer, Michael Moloney, donating his design talent and resources once again as Design Ambassador for this year’s St. Jude Dream Home, the home boasts a long list of special features, including fashionable quartz and granite counters from Granite Mountain Stone Design, premium designer maple cabinetry and professional closet design from KraftMaid Cabinetry and stainless steel Bosch appliances with a gas range, washer, dryer and built-in refrigerator. In addition, premium-grade wood-look porcelain tile floors by Shaw Floors, spacious 10’ ceilings, professional and water efficient front and back yard landscaping, and Energy Star approved Eagle Brand Cool Roof Tile. The prime Clovis location of the St. Jude Dream Home is in the De Young Trailside at Loma Vista community which is within walking distance to Reagan Educational Center and located within the greater 3,300-acre Loma Vista master-planned community designed by the City of Clovis. In addition, it is a short drive from Clovis Community Medical Center and a variety of entertainment and dining options including the Sierra Vista Mall, The Square at Campus Pointe, Old Town Clovis and even Wild Water Adventure Park. Easy access to Highway 168 and Herndon Avenue can provide a fast work commute during the week and a family outing to Shaver or Huntington lakes on the weekend and even more. De Young Properties would like to once again thank everyone in the community who contributed their hard-earned dollars to this worthy cause. They are appreciative of everyone who donated, volunteered or purchased a ticket to win this year’s St. Jude Dream Home, and feel privileged to be able to help such an important cause.

A young family of four recently purchased a home with an unfinished basement. Each member of the family had their own opinion of how to use the space: dad wanted a music room, mom loves to dance and have parties, and the children wanted a media/game room where they could hang out with their friends. Fortunately, the basement was big enough to meet all their needs. The renovation includes a secluded sound proof music room that doubles as an office, a home gym with full-length mirrors and a multi-purpose area for dancing and entertaining. A full bar area with sink, dishwasher, microwave, wine cooler and under-the-counter refrigerator features granite countertops and custom cabinetry. Complete with high-back bar stools, it is a great gathering space during the parties the family loves to host. The focal point of the basement is a gas fireplace with ledger stone surround. Mood lighting, sconces, pendants, recessed lights and a disco ball provide plenty of lighting options. Last, but not least, is a high-tech media room with 110” large screen television. Let the games begin!

This vibrant office is a dream come true for creative designers. It’s also where Libby’s deep passion for rug design blossomed, thanks to her early role with Creative Matters as a junior salesperson and later, their Retail Coordinator. Years later, Libby is still fortunate to work alongside this remarkable team again and again. This dynamic team provided the breathtaking rugs for our Lake Simcoe project, skillfully crafting custom pieces that blended perfectly with the exquisite home. For this project Libby and her team partnered with them to revitalize their impressive office space in a turn of the century bank building at heart of Toronto’s west end. Creative Matters transformed their second-floor offices into a small showroom about seven years ago. However, after the pandemic, they recognized that their team’s working style had evolved, prompting a reimagining of their workspace. They relocated the showroom downstairs, removing the rows of cubicles to create a bright and open environment. This space is distinct, catering to the unique requirements of both the showroom and the team’s creative process. Our team focused on providing storage solutions, clean lines, and ample space, while maintaining the light and airy feel of the previous renovation but seamlessly integrating it into the main floor. Now, Creative Matters to warmly welcome clients and showcase their exceptional work. Many custom pieces are integrated in this office such as a custom collaborative work table on the second floor that has a hidden access panel for tech components. A custom bench in their lunchroom is a welcome and comfortable addition which creates a nice nest to connect and unwind. An overall workflow adjustment was made to this dynamic teams way of working in this dynamic office, and we love to visit and see them seamlessly working in this newly integrated space. *Special thanks is given to The Working Vine for their analysis of workflow. This was integral to our space planning and design.

Fortunately the Bulter's Pantry has a second sink and dishwasher to allow more room in the main kitchen to entertain.
Mid-sized transitional galley medium tone wood floor and brown floor kitchen pantry photo in Baltimore with an undermount sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, quartzite countertops, multicolored backsplash, ceramic backsplash, stainless steel appliances, no island and multicolored countertops

The pictures showed are of an Encaustic Cement tiled floor that had been installed in the bathroom of a property in Twickenham. At the time the tiles were installed, they did not seal them and had since accumulated dirt, especially in the grout lines. Encaustic cement tiles have become extremely popular in the last few years with many beautiful artistic often geometric patterns available to choose from. The very nature of the cement-based tile however does make it slightly porous, and if left unsealed dirt will become ingrained in the tile making it difficult to remove and keep clean. Like grout they do therefore need to be sealed in order to keep them looking at their best for longer. Now we normally recommend using diamond encrusted burnishing pads when renovating Encaustic Cement tiles however in this case the face of the tiles were not too bad and it was really the grout that needed the most attention. So, to cut the cost for customer, I advised a straightforward alkaline scrub clean and seal. To clean the tile and grout I sprayed the floor with a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean and left it to soak into the dirt for ten minutes. Space in the bathroom was quite tight so instead of using a mechanical floor scrubber I scrubbed the tile and grout by hand working the alkaline cleaning solution into the pores to release the grout in dirt. After scrubbing the floor was rinsed with a little water and the soil removed with a wet vacuum. Afterwards the floor was inspected, and any stubborn areas retreated with repeat of the process. After a final rinse, the floor was dried as much as possible with the wet vacuum. Fortunately, the weather has been amazing of late and so it did not take long for the floor to dry, being a small space and a little encouragement from a heat gun always helps. Removing excess moisture before sealing is essential as even a small amount can cloud the sealer resulting in an uneven appearance. Once satisfied that the floor was dry, I proceeded to seal it by applying a couple two coats of Tile Doctor Colour Grow across the Encaustic tile and grout. As an impregnating sealer Colour Grow penetrates the pores of the cement occupying the space and thus prevent any dirt from becoming ingrained there. Colour Grow’s colour intensifying properties also helped to deepen the black colour of the tile enhancing the contrast between the tiles and grout. Now the floor has been properly sealed it will be far easier for the customer to keep them clean in future. For maximum longevity of the sealer I recommend maintenance cleaning with Tile Doctor Neutral Cleaner. Don’t be tempted to use supermarket cleaning products without reading the label first, many are simply too strong for cleaning sealed surfaces and will strip off the sealer prematurely leaving the tiles unprotected. Jonathan Oldham South Middlesex Tile Doctor

“I am also fortunate enough to have a barn on my property right in the middle of Silicon Valley so barn lighting was practically a requirement. Barn Light Electric impressed me on multiple levels with fixtures made in the U.S., truly wonderful customer service, the ability to customize, and gorgeous colors to choose from.”

Fortunately all of the windows and trim were intact but every window was taken apart and refurbished with new sash cord, giving full, smooth movement for top and bottom sashes. The bedrooms originally had shoe moulding different from the rest of the house and that was replaced with a similar profile moulding. Chad Shiflett

This historic restoration and renovation was the cover story for the September / October 2015 issue of Design New England. Working with skilled craftsmen, we salvaged a derelict house and brought it into the 21st century. We were fortunate to design all aspects of the home, from architecture to interiors to the landscape plan!

The photographs below are from a bathroom in Maida Vale W9 which had a lovely Slate tiled wall over a bath with shower. Unfortunately, the Slate tiles had been ruined by the use of harsh cleaning chemicals in an attempt to remove the limescale caused by hard water. The slate had now lost all its natural colour and looked completely washed out. The property had recently changed hands and the new owner was keen to have it renovated. I went over to take a look and work out a solution, this in itself is a lot trickier these days with all the COVID precautions we need to take when working in someone’s house. It was clear that a strong acidic limescale remover had been used on the slate and this had etched the stone, leached all the natural oils away and generally ruined its appearance. Fortunately, we have a solution for this (see below) and after conducting a small test I was able to confirm the problem could be resolved and gave them a quote which included a day’s labour, abrasive pads, stone oil and sealer. Our quote was gratefully accepted, and we booked a time in to carry out the work. I returned to the property and I set about burnishing the slate wall tiles using a very coarse 200-grit six-inch burnishing pad fitted to a handheld buffing machine. This process resurfaces the stone slightly to remove the etching caused by the limescale remover. I used a medium dilution of Tile Doctor Grout Clean-up to lubricate the process and to remove the remaining limescale. Once done the slurry that is generated is rinsed off with more water. In a bathroom, it is easy the slurry can just be drained away. In other areas we would use a wet vacuum. After the 200-grit pad the surface of the Slate was further refined using a 400-grit pad and then an 800-grit pad, this time only using water and giving the stone a thorough rinse after each pad to remove the soil. The slate was then left to dry off over lunch and given more encouragement with a heat gun afterwards so I could move onto the next step. This involved applying a coat of Tile Doctor Stone Oil which puts back the natural oils back into the stone improving its appearance. Once the Stone Oil had fully dried, I moved onto sealing for which I applied two coats of Tile Doctor Ultra-Seal; this is penetrating sealer that soaks into the stone to provide maximum stain protection without changing the colour of the stone. It is also an excellent grout sealer which is a bonus. Before leaving I talked the client about how best to maintain the Slate and left them a complimentary bottle of Tile Doctor Aqua Pro tile cleaner which will help keep the limescale at bay. It is gentle enough to use every day but will help prevent the previous build-up and unlike the previous products used will not damage the newly applied sealer. Jackson Davis Central London Tile Cleaning

A very comfortable and elegant best-seller, with fabric upholstery that can be customised to suit your needs. The perfect versatile complement for your living room. The Fortune coffee table features a matt brass frame, which contrasts with the natural tone of the gloss blackened oak tops and drawers. A contemporary straight line design that will add a modern and elegant touch to your interior space.

This 1964 home was renovated after the Sandy Storm hit. The owner had a specific budget so the design stayed within that budget and was kept very simple. Fortunately, much of the original furniture was saved by the family. The home looks much as it did pre storm but with wonderful new chair rail, bead board paneling and a variety of paint finishes.

The Home While looking for space where their active family could expand, these homeowners turned to Black Forest, with trees that remind them of their Indiana years. A stunning Pikes Peak view underscores how fortunate they are to live in Colorado. This home features classic nods to the owner’s French heritage while embracing a thoroughly of-the-moment Colorado lifestyle. Priorities for these homeowners included blending outdoor and indoor spaces wherever possible with generously proportioned windows and doors, porches, patios and balconies. A gracious lime-washed brick entry punctuates a simplified white stucco and black-frame-windowed exterior with traditional rooflines. Dramatic open spaces on the main floor comfortably accommodate the everyday activities of this busy family of four, while providing for welcomed visits from family and friends. A functional, open kitchen is designed for serious cooking, a butler’s pantry for staples, and serveware storage and dining spaces that effortlessly host after-school snacking to multi-course meals. A main-level, Peak-view office comfortably supports working at home, complete with a beer cave and tasting nook for hosting fellow aficionados after work is done. Guests will find comfort and privacy in a ma in-level guestroom suite or sleepover fun in the built-in bunks of the expansive over-garage bonus room. This home is a true collaboration that blends the homeowner’s long-held vision of their ideal home brought to life by the builder’s vision and design/build process that achieves something truly…Warm and welcoming in the Forest. The Builder Stauffer & Sons Construction is a true Design-Build team creating some of the finest living spaces in the Pikes Peak region for over twenty years. We’ve developed an easy point-of-entry to the Design-Build process that begins with our very popular Conceptual Design and Budgeting Agreement. This affordable, low-commitment step provides answers to the early-stage questions of “what and how much?” With this critical information in place, a robust collaboration between client and builder ensues, resulting in a thoughtfully designed home that strikes a balance between size and scope and budget. The Interior Design Family, friends and soon-to-be friends are welcomed into this updated version of a French country farmhouse through a bricked archway and a solid arch-top entry door. Once inside, a sweeping gallery of windows adorned with flower-filled window boxes sets a nice foreground to the ponderosa pine forest. A great room with a two-story, lime-washed, brick fireplace sits juxtaposed to a cozy farm-styled kitchen with large island, plenty of storage and a Pikes Peak view. This family home features a simple, clean design with warm, wooden beams and solid, white-oak flooring. This home is designed to be lived in. Wherever you go, downstairs, upstairs or out on the porch, this home wraps around you and is a delightful place to enjoy.