Inspiration for a scandinavian bathroom remodel in London

Example of a danish staircase design in London

Inspiration for a scandinavian dining room remodel in London

Kids' room - scandinavian kids' room idea in London

Inspiration for a mid-sized transitional single-wall ceramic tile and beige floor dedicated laundry room remodel in Toronto with a drop-in sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, granite countertops, gray walls and a stacked washer/dryer

Every year, the same thing happens. The first real snowfall arrives, demand for de-icing materials spikes overnight, and the businesses that waited too long find themselves scrambling for supply at the worst possible moment. Facility managers, property owners, contractors, and municipalities all depend on a steady supply of salt and ice melt to keep their properties safe and operational through winter. The ones who plan ahead sail through. The ones who don't pay more, wait longer, and take on real risk. Sourcing de-icing materials well is not complicated, but it does require thinking ahead and understanding the options. The choices you make about what to buy, how to buy it, and who to buy it from have a direct effect on your costs, your reliability, and your ability to keep people safe when conditions turn dangerous. This article lays out what matters. Why Your Choice of Supplier Matters More Than You Think It is easy to treat de-icing material as a commodity, something you grab whenever you need it without much thought about where it comes from. That works fine until the moment it doesn't, usually in the middle of a storm when everyone needs supply at once and the casual sources have run dry. At that point, the relationships you built before the season become the difference between staying stocked and being stuck. Reliable supply is the whole game in winter operations. A property that runs out of ice melt during a storm faces safety hazards, liability exposure, and disruption, none of which can wait for a back-ordered shipment. This is why establishing relationships with dependable rock salt suppliers before the season starts is one of the smartest moves a facility manager or contractor can make. It locks in supply, often locks in better pricing, and removes a major source of mid-winter stress. The lesson here is to treat sourcing as a planning decision rather than a last-minute errand. The businesses that come through winter smoothly are almost always the ones that secured their supply chain early, chose suppliers who could actually deliver when it counted, and never had to gamble on finding material during a shortage. Reliability bought in advance is far cheaper than scarcity paid for in a crisis. Bagged or Bulk: Matching the Material to the Job One of the first practical decisions is whether to buy de-icing material in bags or in bulk, and the right answer depends entirely on the operation. Each format has clear advantages, and many operations end up using both for different purposes. Bagged material offers convenience, control, and easy storage. It is simple to handle, easy to distribute to different locations or crews, straightforward to store without special equipment, and convenient for spot application by hand. It suits smaller properties, businesses without bulk storage, and situations where portion control and tidiness matter. Bulk material, on the other hand, tends to make sense for large operations that go through high volumes, where buying in quantity lowers the per-unit cost and the operation has the equipment and space to store and handle it. The tradeoff is between the convenience and flexibility of bags and the volume economics of bulk. For many operations, the right approach is a mix: bulk for the high-volume core of the work and bags for flexibility, spot treatment, and locations where bulk handling is impractical. The key is to match the format to how the material will actually be stored, moved, and applied, rather than defaulting to one or the other out of habit. Thinking this through in advance avoids both the waste of over-buying bulk you can't handle and the expense of relying entirely on bags for a large operation. Rock Salt Is Not Your Only Option Rock salt, or sodium chloride, is the workhorse of winter de-icing for good reason. It is effective, widely available, and cost-efficient, which makes it the default choice for most operations most of the time. But it has limits, and understanding the alternatives helps you choose the right material for the conditions you actually face. The most important limitation is temperature. Rock salt becomes less effective as temperatures drop, and in genuinely cold conditions it can struggle to do the job at all. This is where alternatives come in. Calcium chloride, for instance, works at much lower temperatures than rock salt and acts quickly, which makes it valuable when conditions are severe or when fast melting matters. Operations that face hard freezes or need dependable performance in extreme cold often keep calcium chloride for sale on hand for exactly those situations, using it alongside rock salt rather than instead of it. The practical approach is to understand the conditions your property faces and stock accordingly. For many operations, rock salt handles the bulk of the work while a faster, colder-rated material like calcium chloride covers the extreme days when ordinary salt falls short. Matching the material to the temperature and the urgency of the situation is what separates an operation that stays ahead of winter from one that is constantly reacting to it. Securing Your Supply Before the Season Knowing what to buy is only half the equation. The other half is making sure you can actually get it when you need it, which means securing your supply before winter arrives rather than after it has already started. Timing is one of the most underrated factors in winter operations. The logic is simple. Demand for de-icing materials is highly seasonal and spikes sharply during storms, when everyone needs supply simultaneously. Prices and availability both move against the buyer at exactly those moments. By contrast, planning ahead, estimating your needs and arranging supply before the season, puts you in a far stronger position. Working with established rock salt suppliers ahead of time means your material is accounted for before the rush, often at better pricing and with the confidence that it will be there when the first storm hits. This kind of planning also lets you think clearly rather than react under pressure. You can estimate your seasonal needs based on your property and past winters, decide on the right mix of materials and formats, and arrange storage in advance. Operations that do this consistently spend less, worry less, and never find themselves making frantic calls during a storm. The effort of planning ahead is modest, and the payoff in reliability and cost savings is substantial. Storing and Handling What You Buy Securing supply is not much use if the material degrades before you can use it, which makes proper storage and handling an important and often overlooked part of the equation. De-icing materials are sensitive to moisture, and poor storage can turn a good supply into a clumped, hardened mess that is difficult to apply. The fundamentals are straightforward. Keep material dry and protected from moisture, since salt and ice melt readily absorb water and can harden if exposed. Store it in a way that suits the format, whether that means a proper bulk storage area or a dry space for stacked bags. Keep it accessible, so crews can get to it quickly when a storm hits and time is short. And handle it with the right equipment for the format and volume, which protects both the material and the people working with it. None of this is complicated, but neglecting it can undermine even a well-planned supply. Good storage practices protect the investment you made in securing supply early. There is little point in arranging your materials ahead of the season only to have them degrade before use. Treating storage and handling as part of the overall plan, rather than an afterthought, ensures that the material you secured is actually usable when the moment comes. It is the final link in a supply chain built to perform under winter conditions. Estimating How Much You Actually Need One question trips up operations of every size: how much de-icing material to buy. Order too little and you risk running short during a storm. Order too much and you tie up money and storage space in material you may not use. Getting the estimate reasonably right is a meaningful part of sourcing well. Several factors shape the answer. The size and type of the areas you treat, sidewalks, lots, entrances, and drive lanes, set the baseline for how much material each application consumes. The local climate matters too, since colder regions and those with frequent snowfall go through far more material than milder ones. Application frequency depends on how often storms hit and how quickly surfaces need to be cleared, which varies with the kind of property and the expectations of the people who use it. And the type of material plays a role, since different products are applied at different rates. Past experience is often the best guide. Operations that track what they used in previous winters, adjusted for the size of the property and the severity of the season, can estimate their needs with reasonable confidence. For newer operations without that history, it helps to plan conservatively and to work with a supplier who can replenish stock reliably, so that a low estimate does not turn into a mid-storm shortage. The goal is not perfect precision but a sound, slightly cautious estimate paired with a dependable supply relationship. That combination lets an operation keep enough material on hand to handle the season without over-committing to volume it cannot store or use. Thinking this through before winter, rather than guessing during it, is one more way that planning ahead pays off when the snow starts to fall. The Bottom Line Sourcing de-icing materials well comes down to a few straightforward principles: plan ahead, choose reliable suppliers before the season, match your materials and formats to your actual needs and conditions, and store what you buy properly. The operations that follow these principles move through winter with confidence, while those that improvise pay more and take on needless risk. Winter is predictable in one respect: it arrives every year, and demand for de-icing material spikes the moment it does. The businesses that prepare for that reality, rather than being surprised by it, are the ones that keep their properties safe, their costs controlled, and their operations running no matter what the season throws at them. A little foresight before the first snowfall pays off through every storm that follows.

Kitchen - modern kitchen idea in Other

Home office - contemporary home office idea in Ahmedabad

Photographer: Bill Timmerman Builder: Jillian Builders
Entryway - modern concrete floor and gray floor entryway idea in Edmonton with beige walls and a gray front door

Living room - contemporary living room idea in Singapore

Living room - modern living room idea in Singapore

Gareth Byrne Photography
Trendy bedroom photo in Dublin

Studio Saxe was commissioned to design a beachfront house in the beautiful town of Santa Teresa in Costa Rica. We decided to integrate the jungle experience into the house and also frame the views of the ocean whilst blending with nature. Concept Studio Saxe decomposed the mass of the building into a series of pavilions with overlapping roofs that create interesting circulation spaces between the volumes. By dematerializing the volumes, we integrated the home into its lush surroundings. Design Studio Saxe used the decomposition of volumes to house the different programs of the project. Pavilions are divided into bedrooms, living spaces, service areas, and together they create a harmony that is weaved together through the circulation of indoor/outdoor spaces. This in turn allows the inhabitant to experience the intense natural surrounding every time they have to move from one place to the other. Sustainability The project was conceived as a decomposition of the volumes and this allowed for cross-ventilation due to the exposure of every space to at least 2 or 3 walls to the outside. The extended rooflines are carefully placed to protect from the sun and the rain through a process of bioclimatic design which analyzes the sun patterns, winds, and precipitation to create comfort without the use of energy. An array of sustainable systems such as rainwater catchment, water recycling systems, energy generation, and clever design makes this project a pioneer in sustainable tropical architecture that has passive design at its core. Construction Studio Saxe was interested in creating the sensation of floating rooflines, thus a series of thin columns support the roof planes in a way that they seem as they are floating A combination of steel and wood construction with concrete foundations allowed for the lightness of space, and this bleeding of boundaries between the structure and the outside.

East of Tshwane in Gauteng, South Africa is the spectacular Mooikloof Heights home which is situated on a north sloping 15000sq.m. site. This home is approached from the north where it is completely transparent, but as the driveway curves around the west side it becomes a collection of stacked rusted boxes without any openings. Due to the size of the site, the house could be stretched to extend to nearly 85m from east to west: The north elevation is totally glazed across the three storeys with deeply recessed glazing to create sun control. The house is clad with natural stone and rusted steel panels framing openings in the façade. These materials speak to the taste of the client, as well as the environment. The soil is composed of deep slate rock which had to be excavated and used for the gabion walls or crushed and covered with topsoil to create the garden. The sloping landscape was reduced to different terraces, creating a stepped landscape with a large retaining pond on the lowest level. As the driveway curves around the house to the entrance on the south side, a transparent “canyon” opens, with views through the house to the hills, miles away. The rust colour is picked up by the gabion retaining walls that create a carport to the south of the home, while “Weathered”, a steel sculpture by Regardt van der Meulen, welcomes you at the front door. On entering the double volume entrance hall, the view is across two water features, the first one part of the atrium at the core of the house, the other a large reflecting pond in the garden that doubles as a rainwater collection tank. Internally ribbed brass cladding is introduced to walls and ceilings, while several paintings by Santa van der Meulen complements the interiors. Mooikloof Heights was designed in such a way that the feeling of indoor-outdoor living was prominent from almost every space in the house, lending itself to spectacular views. The style of open plan living Is evident throughout the house. The flow of the ground living and entertainment areas blend and combine into each other and create a connectedness throughout house. The exposed steel beams, glass and stone cladding creates a symphony of textures combined with rusting steel walls and screed floors. The staircase cantilevers out of a massive stone wall with double storey glass to the west protected from the sun by steel louvres and an indigenous tree. A few steps down you are presented with a choice of either the formal lounge or the informal family and dining room flowing out onto the lanai, while the open plan kitchen and breakfast room are just past the jacuzzi. Another sculpture by Regardt van der Meulen sits on a perch above the family room, staring across the double volume space. The lanai is a vast space suited to the Highveld lifestyle, incorporating a bar/ barbeque, dining area and lounge, adjacent to the jacuzzi and pool. The view from the whole house to the north is breath taking, covering the valley down to foot of the hill where Mooikloof Equestrian estate is situated and the whole hill across the extensive garden and the large reflecting pond. On the opposite side of the hall is access to the garages (the other 4 garages have direct access to the kitchen area), a lift that connects the basement floor and first floor, and an executive study leading onto a massive roof garden over the guest wing. A large home theatre is situated to the south of the family room. The guest wing can be reached via the lift or another cantilevered staircase and comprises three suites with a lounge area, all leading onto the lower garden. Going up the main staircase you arrive at the pyjama lounge, with one bridge across the double volume family room leading to the main suite. The other runs across the double volume hall leading to two kid’s suites, while a third suite and the gym are situated to the south of the bridge leading to the main suite. The kid’s suite has an internal balcony with the wall facing the suite painted with a whimsical map of the world. The main suite is a private sanctuary, flooded with north and east sun, and a fabulous dressing room and bathroom leading onto large balconies. The home was designed by Nico and Werner van der Meulen of Nico van der Meulen Architects with interiors by their interior design company, M Square Lifestyle Design. Furniture and accessories were supplied by M Square Lifestyle Necessities. View the VTour for Mooikloof Heights now: https://my.matterport.com/show/?m=ChPHjLYWUuf View some of our other Contemporary Projects here >>> https://nicovdmeulen.com/contemporary/

A Family Retreat in Rural Ontario The clients for this project live abroad, and sought a Canadian homestead — an anchor — for their large, young family. During summer and winter holidays, the parents wanted their children immersed in an Ontario landscape like the one in which they were raised. To this end, they requested a “rustic, modern retreat” for their 100-acre property of forest, wetland, and meadows. The family sought a generous home to allow young teenagers and extended family to be comfortable in a remote area for long stays. They sought a casual, comfortable space for the family and their dogs that would encourage activities like hiking and snowshoeing — no fancy entertaining. Under One Roof The most powerful aspect of the design is the long, tent-like roof, which follows the site’s topography. The roof and its ridge beam became the design’s primary focus, shaping the circulation path through the home’s interior, ultimately extending a view toward the forest. A primary technical challenge was the roof’s structure, which despite its 60-metre length needed to seem light. The folds and angles of the steel roof are supported by the meandering ridge-beam. The roof cantilevers and tapers at all edges. At the entry side of the house, the roof lifts like a bird’s wing off the garage volume beneath, sheltering an outdoor terrace. Playing with Heavy and Light Monolithic slate-clad volumes anchor the home and define the space between the curtains of glass. These opaque volumes echo the property’s rock outcrops. The garage, bathrooms, stairs, and pantry are grouped inside, and appear to hold up the dynamic roof. Steel construction was chosen to avoid using the expected material of heavy timber for this forest getaway. Being cognizant of the clients’ desire for a warm interior, it was also important to avoid modernist tendencies for box-like forms. Because the main floor is lifted above the ground and the topography falls away, the main floor is in the treetops while simultaneously filling the lower recreation area with light. A Contemporary Approach to Warmth and Closeness The continuous space of the home, with only bedrooms and bathrooms closed off, is a layout that underscores closeness. The family areas and parents’ area are on the main level. The kids’ bedrooms are bundled into a single slate-clad volume, suspended like a cocoon above the main floor from a 40’ steel beam and accessed by a catwalk. Sustainability To avoid cutting trees, the home was placed on an existing cleared ridge overlooking a wildflower meadow. The home is heated and cooled via a geothermal unit with summer solar gain reduced by significant roof overhangs. The glass walls are triple-pane, and high-efficiency fixtures and equipment for the well and septic system help reduce the home’s environmental impact. Historically, the Canadian identity has been defined by our relationship to the land. Fulfilling the client’s mandate, the home honours that emotional connection through visual and material harmonization with its surroundings.

Example of a transitional porcelain tile and gray floor great room design in Other with gray walls and a standard fireplace

Sharifi-ha House Uncertainty and flexibility lie at the heart of the design concept in Sharifi-ha House. The sensational, spatial qualities of the interiors, as well as the formal configuration of its exterior, directly respond to the displacement of turning boxes that lead the building volume to become open or closed, obtaining introverted or extroverted character. These changes may occur according to changing seasons or functional scenarios of floor plans. Like many other urban plots, the land for this project had a noticeably narrow façade-width compared with its length. Consequently, our expertise in transforming a two-dimensional façade to a three-dimensional one became indispensable. Here, the openness /closure of the building volume is a reference to traditional Iranian houses, which would dynamically serve as seasonal modes of habitation by offering both a Zemestan-Neshin (winter living room) and Taabestan-Neshin (summer living room) to their residents. In summertime, Sharifi-ha House offers an open /transparent /perforated volume with wide, large terraces. In contrast, during Tehran’s cold, snowy winters the volume closes itself, offering minimal openings in total absence of those wide summer terraces. In this project, the challenges to the concepts of open/closed typology (introverted/extroverted character) led to an exciting spatial transformation of an ever-changing residential building. The House is distributed over seven floors: the two basement floors are allocated to family conviviality, fitness facilities, and wellness areas, while the ground floor hosts parking and housekeeping rooms. Public activities all happen on the first and second floors, and the family’s private life takes place on the third and fourth floors. The project consisted of four major parts; the fixed volume of the structure, the void, and the fixed volume and the mobile volume, respectively. When the turning boxes are closed, the building captures sunlight throughout the space of the central void, which also connects the two fixed volumes by suspended bridges. The house adapts to the functional needs of its residents. For instance, depending on whether there is a guest or not, the guest room (located on the second floor) can be reconfigured for different purposes. Similarly, home office and breakfast room (turning rooms on the first and third floors) can change the formality of their appearance according to their residents’ desire. In other words, there is always the possibility of having different seasonal or lighting scenarios, some of which have been already considered in the BMS program of the project. From the initial design steps, we noticed that three pine trees outside could be incorporated into the spaces of the interior. Now, in the open mode of the house, the trees are pleasantly captured by the window frames. Stepping back for about three meters from the permitted construction boundary line allowed us to provide splendid daylight for the basement floors by inserting a glass fountain. The fitness and wellness areas are accommodated between this fountain and the basement pool where reflective installations reverberate the water’s radiance all over the space. The applied manufacturing technique for the turning mechanism was in fact a simple one; the same method which is currently employed in turning theatrical scenes, turning the floor of car exhibitions, steel companies and the shipping industry in Iran. But as our client himself was into importing CNC and other similar industrial German machines, he preferred the structural system to be fabricated in Germany. In doing so, he could engage his employees in the manufacturing process and thus train them for future maintenance purposes. Details of the handrails and air-penetration controlling methods were major issues considered in developing the design of the turning boxes. Designing foldable handrails and refining the edges of the boxes happened to be our feasible solutions. Considering the specialties of this kind of architecture, the structural system was inevitably a customized one. After digitally modeling the structure, a series of SAP2000 analysis were undertaken to examine static/dynamic performance of the proposed system. Being partially moveable is the dominant feature of this structural assembly, which was contemplated throughout the fabrication process by the German manufacturer company. The main loads all rest on the beams of the living rooms. Due to the various configurations the turning boxes may take, the loading calculation has been estimated based on the largest possible loading value applied to the system. Additionally, in order to prevent structural deformation controlling the probable vibrations in the turning boxes was taken into account during the design/calculations of the structure. The house was titled Sharifi-ha House, in honor of traditional Iranian mansions.

Sharifi-ha House Uncertainty and flexibility lie at the heart of the design concept in Sharifi-ha House. The sensational, spatial qualities of the interiors, as well as the formal configuration of its exterior, directly respond to the displacement of turning boxes that lead the building volume to become open or closed, obtaining introverted or extroverted character. These changes may occur according to changing seasons or functional scenarios of floor plans. Like many other urban plots, the land for this project had a noticeably narrow façade-width compared with its length. Consequently, our expertise in transforming a two-dimensional façade to a three-dimensional one became indispensable. Here, the openness /closure of the building volume is a reference to traditional Iranian houses, which would dynamically serve as seasonal modes of habitation by offering both a Zemestan-Neshin (winter living room) and Taabestan-Neshin (summer living room) to their residents. In summertime, Sharifi-ha House offers an open /transparent /perforated volume with wide, large terraces. In contrast, during Tehran’s cold, snowy winters the volume closes itself, offering minimal openings in total absence of those wide summer terraces. In this project, the challenges to the concepts of open/closed typology (introverted/extroverted character) led to an exciting spatial transformation of an ever-changing residential building. The House is distributed over seven floors: the two basement floors are allocated to family conviviality, fitness facilities, and wellness areas, while the ground floor hosts parking and housekeeping rooms. Public activities all happen on the first and second floors, and the family’s private life takes place on the third and fourth floors. The project consisted of four major parts; the fixed volume of the structure, the void, and the fixed volume and the mobile volume, respectively. When the turning boxes are closed, the building captures sunlight throughout the space of the central void, which also connects the two fixed volumes by suspended bridges. The house adapts to the functional needs of its residents. For instance, depending on whether there is a guest or not, the guest room (located on the second floor) can be reconfigured for different purposes. Similarly, home office and breakfast room (turning rooms on the first and third floors) can change the formality of their appearance according to their residents’ desire. In other words, there is always the possibility of having different seasonal or lighting scenarios, some of which have been already considered in the BMS program of the project. From the initial design steps, we noticed that three pine trees outside could be incorporated into the spaces of the interior. Now, in the open mode of the house, the trees are pleasantly captured by the window frames. Stepping back for about three meters from the permitted construction boundary line allowed us to provide splendid daylight for the basement floors by inserting a glass fountain. The fitness and wellness areas are accommodated between this fountain and the basement pool where reflective installations reverberate the water’s radiance all over the space. The applied manufacturing technique for the turning mechanism was in fact a simple one; the same method which is currently employed in turning theatrical scenes, turning the floor of car exhibitions, steel companies and the shipping industry in Iran. But as our client himself was into importing CNC and other similar industrial German machines, he preferred the structural system to be fabricated in Germany. In doing so, he could engage his employees in the manufacturing process and thus train them for future maintenance purposes. Details of the handrails and air-penetration controlling methods were major issues considered in developing the design of the turning boxes. Designing foldable handrails and refining the edges of the boxes happened to be our feasible solutions. Considering the specialties of this kind of architecture, the structural system was inevitably a customized one. After digitally modeling the structure, a series of SAP2000 analysis were undertaken to examine static/dynamic performance of the proposed system. Being partially moveable is the dominant feature of this structural assembly, which was contemplated throughout the fabrication process by the German manufacturer company. The main loads all rest on the beams of the living rooms. Due to the various configurations the turning boxes may take, the loading calculation has been estimated based on the largest possible loading value applied to the system. Additionally, in order to prevent structural deformation controlling the probable vibrations in the turning boxes was taken into account during the design/calculations of the structure. The house was titled Sharifi-ha House, in honor of traditional Iranian mansions.