Little Siesta Cottage- This 1926 home was saved from destruction and moved in three pieces to the site where we deconstructed the revisions and re-assembled the home the way we suspect it originally looked.

Although the Kids Bathroom was reduced in size by a few feet to add additional space in the Master Bathroom, you would never suspect it! Because of the new layout and design selections, it now feels even larger than before. We chose light colors for the walls, flooring, cabinetry, and tiles, as well as a large mirror to reflect more light. A custom linen closet with pull-out drawers and frosted glass elevates the design while remaining functional for this family. For a space created to work for a teenage boy, teen girl, and pre-teen girl, we showcase that you don’t need to sacrifice great design for functionality!

Although the Kids Bathroom was reduced in size by a few feet to add additional space in the Master Bathroom, you would never suspect it! Because of the new layout and design selections, it now feels even larger than before. We chose light colors for the walls, flooring, cabinetry, and tiles, as well as a large mirror to reflect more light. A custom linen closet with pull-out drawers and frosted glass elevates the design while remaining functional for this family. For a space created to work for a teenage boy, teen girl, and pre-teen girl, we showcase that you don’t need to sacrifice great design for functionality!

Kitchen - transitional kitchen idea in Cedar Rapids

Hallway - traditional hallway idea in San Francisco

The homeowner for whom we built this wood pergola happens to be an artist. We suspect that fact may have had something to do with the way this project turned out, but that’s only speculation.

With the understated elegance seen from the front, who would suspect the avalanche of luxury beyond? Barrel vaulted entry more than 20 feet long leads to the heart of the home. Designed for entertaining, the central wet bar off the breakfast room has counter service to both family room and covered patio; elevator up to 3rd story media room. Located on nonpareil property in Highland Park, this Mediterranean home is the ultimate Bella Vita!

Although the Kids Bathroom was reduced in size by a few feet to add additional space in the Master Bathroom, you would never suspect it! Because of the new layout and design selections, it now feels even larger than before. We chose light colors for the walls, flooring, cabinetry, and tiles, as well as a large mirror to reflect more light. A custom linen closet with pull-out drawers and frosted glass elevates the design while remaining functional for this family. For a space created to work for a teenage boy, teen girl, and pre-teen girl, we showcase that you don’t need to sacrifice great design for functionality!

With the understated elegance seen from the front, who would suspect the avalanche of luxury beyond? Barrel vaulted entry more than 20 feet long leads to the heart of the home. Designed for entertaining, the central wet bar off the breakfast room has counter service to both family room and covered patio; elevator up to 3rd story media room. Located on nonpareil property in Highland Park, this Mediterranean home is the ultimate Bella Vita!

Our clients, a couple in their early 40s with 3 young kids, bought their 1990s Colonial Revival style home about 8 years earlier and have been tackling updates to the home and property ever since. Both the husband and wife grew up on the Maine coast before settling permanently in New Hampshire, so their love of blues, grays, and a simple New England aesthetic came as no surprise. But while the wife longed for a few pops of color, the husband was definitely a little suspect of pattern and richer hues. We created a space that evoked both warmth and serenity, with a little bit of New England preppy style. We employed sky blue grasscloth, a traditional-with-a-twist lucite chandelier, and a fresh drapes + Roman shade combination for semi-formal style.

Although the Kids Bathroom was reduced in size by a few feet to add additional space in the Master Bathroom, you would never suspect it! Because of the new layout and design selections, it now feels even larger than before. We chose light colors for the walls, flooring, cabinetry, and tiles, as well as a large mirror to reflect more light. A custom linen closet with pull-out drawers and frosted glass elevates the design while remaining functional for this family. For a space created to work for a teenage boy, teen girl, and pre-teen girl, we showcase that you don’t need to sacrifice great design for functionality!

This is an example of a diptych (double panel) limited edition, contemporary fine art piece. The piece is an alumnium metal print perfect for kitchens as it can be wiped down and is not suspect to fumes and smoke from cooking. My limited edition and orignal fine art metal prints are finished with a ¾ inch aluminum inset mount that is attached to the back of the work, and floats the artwork off the wall. Detail and resolution are unsurpassed and the artwork is at an archival quality.

With the understated elegance seen from the front, who would suspect the avalanche of luxury beyond? Barrel vaulted entry more than 20 feet long leads to the heart of the home. Designed for entertaining, the central wet bar off the breakfast room has counter service to both family room and covered patio; elevator up to 3rd story media room. Located on nonpareil property in Highland Park, this Mediterranean home is the ultimate Bella Vita!

With the understated elegance seen from the front, who would suspect the avalanche of luxury beyond? Barrel vaulted entry more than 20 feet long leads to the heart of the home. Designed for entertaining, the central wet bar off the breakfast room has counter service to both family room and covered patio; elevator up to 3rd story media room. Located on nonpareil property in Highland Park, this Mediterranean home is the ultimate Bella Vita!

The eating area off the kitchen features a Mediterranean style and colors with Amazonian Embroidered cushions from Peru. The table is a French industrial antique from the 19th century.

Recently, I was called to a work on a Limestone tiled floor in a house near Hove Park. Hove Park is a popular park in Hove, East Sussex, which was once opposite to the Goldstone Ground, the traditional home of Brighton and Hove Albion football club until the ground was demolished. My client informed me that the house was used a meeting place every Friday, and the high traffic of people was taking its toll on the floor. The floor was clearly in need of a good clean, especially the grout. You do need to take care when cleaning Limestone as it can be affected by the acidic substances you get in some cleaning products which can break down the surface of the Limestone and cause further damage. The results of my test clean showed the Limestone tiles responded well to the cleaning, but I was concerned about the grout, which was not cleaning very easily. I suspected that the grout had, in fact, been discoloured by a bleach-based cleaner, turning it grey. Bleach contains strong chemicals, so there is a good chance that any bleach-based cleaners used on tiled floors will discolour the grout over time. After discussing this issue with my client, I quoted separately for a possible grout recolour. On the first day of working on the floor, I started the cleaning process using a black buffing pad attached to a floor buffer machine, in combination with a solution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean, which I applied to the floor. This combination really helped to remove the heavily built up grime and dirt. Although the tiles looked great after the clean, I still wasn’t convinced by the state of the grout. After drying a test area with a heat gun, I confirmed that the grout was not continuous in colour and would need a recolour to get it back to looking its best again. I left the rest of the floor to dry for a period of two days, allowing any residual moisture to evaporate, before returning to recolour the grout with a white Grout Colourant which was applied using a good old fashioned toothbrush and baby wipes to remove any excess. I was careful to apply thin, even coats in order to prevent the possibility of the Colourant staining the tile. After several hours of knee-breaking work, the recolouring was complete, and I was extremely pleased to be able to show my client the finished product. She was very happy to be able to show off the floor to her friends, which was now white all the way through, without the dark lines caused by the discoloured grout. Another satisfied client.

The tiles shown in the photographs below are classic distressed Black and White Italian Marble installed in the kitchen of a property in Bamber Bridge which is South of Preston. Some of the tiles had an issue with loose grout which I suspect was due to the suspended wooden floor and a small amount of movement had resulted in the grout cracking. Ideally more support would be needed under the floor to prevent this, in the meantime however I recommended removing the grout and replacing with a flexible grout product that could cope with the movement. The tiles also needed a clean, polish and reseal so it made sense to address the issue with the grout as part of the work. Working as a two-man team we started by cleaning the floor with a set of diamond burnishing pads starting with a coarse 400-grit, followed by 800 and 1500 grit. Water was used to lubricate the process and the floor was rinsed with water between pads with the fine slurry generated by the process extracted using a wet vacuum. These pads remove ingrained dirt and then slowly refine the appearance of the Marble building up its polished appearance in the process. The next step was to rake out all the grout which as discussed was compromised and needed replacing. We had to be very careful when removing the grout due to the electric heating mat under the floor, any damage to that would require ripping the floor up. With the old grout removed and the floor cleaned the floor was then grouted using Mapei Ultra-colour which is a flexible and fully waterproof grout more than suitable for this situation. Between us we managed to pack a lot into day one which was tough, however with the hardest tasks out of the way day two should be a lot easier. Day two started with an initial clean making sure to remove any excess grout smeared on the surface that can affect the look of the tile if not removed. This was followed by the application of the last of the set of burnishing pads which is a 3,000-grit pad that really brings up the polish on the marble. You only need a small amount of water sprayed onto the floor when applying this last pad so by late morning the floor was dry and ready for sealing. The customer wanted a better sheen appearance than they previously had, fortunately we find the Diamond burnishing pads do this well, they also tighten up the pores of the stone as well which means less sealer is needed. The floor was then sealed with Tile Doctor Colour Grow which is an impregnating sealer that improves colour and soaks into the stone occupying the pores and thereby preventing dirt from becoming ingrained. Once complete the floor looked great and the client was very happy. Sealers and Polish do wear down with use over time so before leaving I discussed our annual maintenance plan option which will ensure the appearance of the Marble floor always looks good. The plan involves returning once a year to further polish the floor with a high-grade burnishing pad and to add more sealer if required. We also discussed the use of Tile Doctor Stone Soap for regular cleaning, it is a pH neutral cleaner which is ideal for stone floors like Marble which are acid sensitive. Russell Taylor Lancashire Tile Doctor