Eat-in kitchen - small rustic single-wall dark wood floor and brown floor eat-in kitchen idea in Atlanta with an undermount sink, flat-panel cabinets, light wood cabinets, granite countertops, brown backsplash, brick backsplash, paneled appliances, no island and multicolored countertops

Inspiration for a mid-sized rustic medium tone wood floor and brown floor kitchen pantry remodel in Minneapolis with white cabinets, beaded inset cabinets and quartz countertops

Our busy young homeowners were looking to move back to Indianapolis and considered building new, but they fell in love with the great bones of this Coppergate home. The home reflected different times and different lifestyles and had become poorly suited to contemporary living. We worked with Stacy Thompson of Compass Design for the design and finishing touches on this renovation. The makeover included improving the awkwardness of the front entrance into the dining room, lightening up the staircase with new spindles, treads and a brighter color scheme in the hall. New carpet and hardwoods throughout brought an enhanced consistency through the first floor. We were able to take two separate rooms and create one large sunroom with walls of windows and beautiful natural light to abound, with a custom designed fireplace. The downstairs powder received a much-needed makeover incorporating elegant transitional plumbing and lighting fixtures. In addition, we did a complete top-to-bottom makeover of the kitchen, including custom cabinetry, new appliances and plumbing and lighting fixtures. Soft gray tile and modern quartz countertops bring a clean, bright space for this family to enjoy. This delightful home, with its clean spaces and durable surfaces is a textbook example of how to take a solid but dull abode and turn it into a dream home for a young family.

Mark Lohman
Inspiration for a large coastal light wood floor and brown floor open concept kitchen remodel in Los Angeles with a farmhouse sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, quartzite countertops, white backsplash, ceramic backsplash, stainless steel appliances and an island

Inspiration for a contemporary light wood floor kitchen remodel in Baltimore with an undermount sink, flat-panel cabinets, light wood cabinets, white backsplash and an island

Open shelves in kitchens make everyday kitchen items easy to access. The open shelves to the right of the sink even house a toaster and mixer that you actually want to see, along with cookbooks, glassware, and ceramics. Small hexagonal tile goes up the entire wall for an easy to clean surface. The stainless fume hood and red handles are given room to breathe in the cooktop zone. Photo Credit: Rebecca McAlpin

Jonathan Edwards Media
Large beach style l-shaped dark wood floor eat-in kitchen photo in Other with a farmhouse sink, recessed-panel cabinets, blue cabinets, marble countertops, white backsplash, stone tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances and an island

Shaker style cabinetry with a modern flair. Painted cabinetry with the warmth of stained quartersawn oak accents and stainless steel drawer fronts. Thick two toned butcher block on the island makes a great focal point and the built in seating nook is very cozy. We also created some custom details for the family pets like hidden gates at the doorway and comfortable beds with screened doors.

Large elegant u-shaped ceramic tile and beige floor eat-in kitchen photo in Toronto with an undermount sink, recessed-panel cabinets, white cabinets, granite countertops, white backsplash, ceramic backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and multicolored countertops

Sliding bi-fold doors put in this custom wall of cabinets make accessing (and hiding) everyday appliances easy.
Large elegant u-shaped medium tone wood floor and brown floor eat-in kitchen photo in Toronto with an undermount sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, quartz countertops, white backsplash, porcelain backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and white countertops

Inspiration for a mid-sized country l-shaped vinyl floor and brown floor eat-in kitchen remodel in Austin with a farmhouse sink, granite countertops, gray backsplash, ceramic backsplash, recessed-panel cabinets, dark wood cabinets, stainless steel appliances, no island and beige countertops

Example of a mid-sized transitional l-shaped medium tone wood floor eat-in kitchen design in Boston with a farmhouse sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, quartz countertops, white backsplash, subway tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances and an island

Kitchen - mid-sized contemporary l-shaped brown floor kitchen idea in Toronto with flat-panel cabinets, white cabinets, gray backsplash and stainless steel appliances

Large elegant u-shaped ceramic tile and beige floor eat-in kitchen photo in Toronto with an undermount sink, recessed-panel cabinets, white cabinets, granite countertops, white backsplash, ceramic backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and multicolored countertops

Nobody would be foolish enough to knowingly purchase PIZZA using a third party call-center middleman.But every day, thousands of people do exactly that when they purchase flowers for delivery! That’s because a NEW TYPE of “florist” has appeared on the scene. And that means most flower buyers pay as much as 50% MORE than they should pay! Finding A Floral Supplier When a prospective flower buyer wants to buy flowers, his first stop is usually the internet. The author’s flower shop is in Charlotte, NC and the two most widely used search terms in this area are: “Charlotte flowers” and “Charlotte florist.” When the customer searches for either of these terms, he will get a list of results. Paid results (advertising) are usually shown first. Organic (website) results come after the advertisements. When a customer clicks on an advertisement, he is usually taken to a beautiful website owned by a call-center floral middleman offering beautiful flowers, hand-delivered by a LOCAL florist. And the products are sales TAX FREE. But what is not revealed is that the middle man does not actually have a flower shop in Charlotte! The Difference Between Toasters and Flowers With “durable” products like toasters and sweaters, the location of the seller isn’t terribly important. That’s because the products will be shipped from a warehousevia USPS, UPS or FedEx. But flower arrangements are *fragile* and cannot be shipped that way! Instead, they must be locally custom-hand-crafted and hand-delivered! And this means that if a customer orders from a middleman’s website, the order must – somehow – be passed from the middleman’s company to a REAL local florist in, for example, Charlotte, NC. This “order transfer” is done by one of the three florist-to-florist networks: FTD, Teleflora and Bloomnet (1-800-Flowers). Too Many FEES and COMMISSIONS Membership in these networks is not free, so the middleman always adds a “handling charge” – typically about $15 -- to the customer’s bill to help pay for hiscosts to access to the network. Please note that the $15 handling charge usually far exceedsany TAX FREE “savings!” But the “handling charge” only helps pay for *access* to the network. The florist-to-florist network also takes a 7% commission, and also credits a 20% selling commission back to the middleman! What this means is that, for a typical online floral purchase, just under HALF of the customer’s money vanishes in unnecessary FEES and COMMISSIONS. By comparison, when a customer buys a toaster from an independent business listing it on Amazon, only a few percent of the purchase price goes to fees and commissions. With this huge profit potential available to third party floral marketers, it is not surprising that these middlemen spend huge sums on advertising and sales promotion. A few years back, one even took an ad during the Super Bowl! Buy Direct For Better Value Clearly, the consumer will always get His Best Floral Value by placing his floral order DIRECT with a Real Florist n the City where the flowers will be delivered. Sometimes it may be difficult to tell whether a Flower Supplier is located “in town.”Here are three easy ways to separate a “real” florist from a floral middleman: 1. Look for the street address, city and state on the website. Often this will be found on a tab labeled “About Us” or “Contact Us.” If you cannot find an address at all, then this is almost certainly a middleman! 2. Look at the telephone number. If the only number on the website is a TOLL FREE “800” number, then the floral supplier is probably not local. 3. Look at the invoice (before you click the BUY NOW button!) for any “Handling” or “Service” charges. A REAL florist will never add these charges to your bill! For more information about Charlotte Flowers and Charlotte Florist, please visit the author’s Flower Hut website at http://flowerhut.com. BUT, if you do not want flowers delivered to Charlotte, Matthews, Mint Hill or Pineville, NC, please do NOT order from us! Take the time to find a REAL florist in the town where you need flowers delivered. You’ll be glad you did!

Open concept kitchen - large transitional l-shaped light wood floor open concept kitchen idea in San Diego with an undermount sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, granite countertops, white backsplash, glass tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances and an island

Inspiration for a large transitional l-shaped light wood floor open concept kitchen remodel in San Diego with an undermount sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, granite countertops, white backsplash, glass tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances and an island

Kitchen pantry - large transitional u-shaped dark wood floor and brown floor kitchen pantry idea in Toronto with recessed-panel cabinets, white cabinets, quartz countertops, gray backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and white countertops

Mid-sized transitional l-shaped medium tone wood floor eat-in kitchen photo in Boston with a farmhouse sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, quartz countertops, white backsplash, subway tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances and an island