Kelly's Kitchen Sync

Tell you what...I can cover the hard costs...

I have no idea why, but some folks believe our field is open to bargaining, especially now. Not simple negotiations, but the "here's what we're willing to pay." Have a look at this little satire to see how eye-popping it looks when applied to other fields. (Edited to add: I'd like to mention I didn't find this on my own. Another couple of contractors pointed this out in one of the contractor forums I frequent and it's going viral fast.)

For my field, here's another one to avoid at all costs:

"We're doing the bathroom/entertainment center/desk for now, but we'll be working on the kitchen/whole house/addition/huge undisclosed project next. You give us a good deal and we'll see what we can do."  

Twitch.  Please don't try this; it just leaves a bad taste in our mouths. Professionals will work with you regardless of future projects because they're, er, professionals. If I had a quarter for every time I heard this, I would've retired at 30.

Here's the number who went ahead with the first project: less than 5%

Here's the number of people who followed through with the second: 0

What you'll receive from me is: "Let's work on the project at hand." Unfortunately, I won't spend much time with it, since experience has proven you're not a future client. The clients who usually plan 2-4 projects never say this. They just...walk through the door.

The surprising fact you may not know about "these tough economic times" -- boy, am I tired of that term -- is that almost all the professionals I know are steadily working. Not the insane rush that it was a couple of years ago, but a nice, steady pace. I have a 40-hour work week for the first time in 10 years - I can focus on researching more items, and devote more time to both new and existing clients.

I've also turned down larger projects where the client wants the dining room remodel thrown in for free because "we must be hungry" -- the "I want the trim on the bangs and the hair color, but I'm only going to pay for the trim" in the video.

No. I know what we're worth and what we need to make a living. Let's work together.

Home trends to watch: sun tunnels

(Rating: Starter to mid-range homes.)
(Timeline: Already here. Expect sales to balloon exponentially
with the President's green directives.)

 

For those of you who don't know what a sun tunnel is, it's simply this - a tube from the roof to an interior ceiling to bring daylight into the home.

 

Solatube directs reflected sunlight to the home interior

Unlike a skylight (unless it has protective covering or shades), the interior of the tube has a series of reflectors preventing full sun from damaging the interior finishes of your home. No heat, just bright light.

I've been specifying them for 6-7 years now. Marketing would have you believe it's the greatest green item to hit a ceiling space in forever, and let's be fair - it does have its bright moments. (Pun intended.)

Imagine a dark closet or hallway or interior bath flooded with light during the day, all without having to turn on a light or use electricity. There's your energy savings right there. (Also, reflected light means no fading of clothing - or at least very little. I'm thinking of you, Arizona and other sunnier states.)

A 14" Velux Sun Tunnel in a walk-in closet

There are two brand names: Sun Tunnel and Solatube, but I first knew them as sun tunnels (small case) when I visited Australia in 1992. I was fascinated at how much light they created.

Two pluses on why you'll see them trend in the next couple of years. In addition to the growing green interest:

• they're under $ 500.00 - much less than the cost of skylights
• they install in under half a day.

From the department of "what were they thinking?" - Lighting

So I'm spending the afternoon looking through hundreds of mini-pendant lights for a client project. Those of you out there who are D-I-Y might be encouraged to note that it's not easy for us in the design field to select lighting either - too many choices.

The time goes like this: "No. Too big. Yes. No. Not enough light. Yuck. Too small. Maybe. No. Oh, lovely but not for this customer. No. Ooh, I like that one for me. No. Maybe."

You get the picture. *grin* I look through hundreds (and I really mean hundreds) of lights.

And occasionally, I come across the "what were they thinking?" designs, which I think I should share with you.

(Photo credit: Lighting Universe. Click to link.)

BEHOLD! THE FLYING PIG PENDANT!  Or, as the description says, "Glass Pig Pendant." Wow. Catchy. They really go all out in marketing these days, don't they?

The reason I say, "What were they thinking?" is while this is cute, can they actually make money on it? Is there really a niche for barnyard animals as lighting fixtures? (I can't even say that last sentence without laughing. Try it.)

I can think of three places where this might be a fit: a deli counter, a butcher shop or a restaurant in New York's Meatpacker District.

Here's why I'd never specify it for a residential home -- people like to touch. While it might be charming for a nursery or kindergarten, it'd be far too tempting for the little ones, and I'll bet that glass heats hot enough to, er, fry bacon. (Edited to add: Never mind. They have a Xenon light bulb. Clever. I take it back about the nursery/kindergarten.)

So, what do you think?  Is it a squeal or a sow?  Would you invest in a couple of pork bellies? Buy it only if pigs really did fly?

Yes. I'll stop now.

No. Wait. If the pig doesn't interest you, how about the cow?

(Photo credit: Lighting Universe. Click to link.)

Puns fail me; I'm going back to work now. I imagine I'll need to buy a bunch of you some new keyboards...

Three water-saving faucet solutions

How much time do you spend fiddling with the hot and cold to get the temperature just right? Wouldn't you like to have it right as soon as you turn on the faucet? Would you like to save water? Are you concerned about hygiene?

If so, then here are three water-saving solutions with a basic premise: pre-setting the temperature so the water is the right degree of warm from the beginning. No more testing to see if the temperature is correct; no more water waste as you wait. Added bonus: not having to touch the lavatory or kitchen levers with sticky or dirty hands and a possible reduction in hand-to-lever-to-hand germ transfer.

Obviously, these aren't for everyone; if you want cold drinking water, you may want to think of other solutions (as in separate filtration/faucet units which I discussed in this post), but if you can answer the above questions with a yes, you may want to glance at these possible solutions:

1. Most Economical: The Smart Faucet
(Retails for under $ 20.00)

 
(Photo credit: The Smart Faucet)

Home Trends to Watch: Charging Stations

(Rating: approx. 2-4 years away from mass market.)

Kitchen desks are out; message centers are in
The requests these days are for message centers in the kitchen, not desks, and if you're a contractor or designer savvy on trends, you know how much a client's eyes light up when you say, "And here's a landing space and message center with a cork- and message-board, and a place to hold your keys and cellphones." Even if it's just an alcove in the entry, busy lifestyles dictate a central location where one can scribble, "Dad, don't forget to pick me up from soccer at 5!"

For a Baby Boomer couple without children: the former desk is
now a message center/hutch. File drawers are in the center
with pens and notepaper neatly tucked away.

Current unsolved dilemma - where do the cell phones recharge?
The average family of four actually own between 4-6 personal and work phones. Each charger has a large adapter which will only allow one phone to plug into an outlet at a time.

May is Arthritis Awareness Month

Years ago, I worked for a company which shared commercial workspace with a door company who used to leave their back delivery door open year round. There was precious little heat (except for a little block heater) and long hours typing in 32-40 degrees (0-4C) in the winter left me with the problem: when my hands are cold now, I don't like pulling or tugging anything because they ache, with varying degrees of wince. I can't imagine what it must be like for true arthritis sufferers.

According to the Arthritis Foundation:

• 1-in-5 Americans deal with some form of arthritis in their day-to-day life
• Half of arthritis sufferers are under 50; two-thirds are under 65
• Arthritis is the third leading cause of work limitation in the U.S.
• By the year 2030, 25% of adult Americans will have some form of arthritis

The Arthritis Foundation encourages manufacturers to make goods easier for those living with arthritis and praise those who do with an Ease-of-Use Commendation. The product goes through some independent lab testing before approval (and as a side note, the manufacturer in question also contributes to the foundation every year.)

Laura Clementi of Diamond Cabinets contacted me this month to say Diamond Cabinets received an Ease-of-Use Commendation from the Arthritis Foundation for their Logix Line of interior fittings. In view of Arthritis Awareness Month, it sounded like an ideal topic. 

Let's look at one of the Logix units: Diamond's SuperCabinet 2.

 

I have to be honest: my first thought was, "So how is this different than any of the other interior fittings out there?"

We usually install two or three full-width rollouts instead of the smaller units pictured above. The reasoning behind this is it maximizes the space and can be less expensive. Let's face it, when every inch counts, we don't want to waste it by separating units, right?

Wait. Let's think about it for a moment. 

Now imagine your hands are swollen, hot, and are about as sensitive as an open cavity. Do you really want to pull out a fully stacked 30" - 36" wide rollout stacked to the brim with all the goodies you see above?  No way.  Because no matter how good the glides are, a weighted shelf still requires some heft to open. (Carpal Tunnel Syndrome is also a form of arthritis, by the way.)

Separating the units, as Diamond has done, lightens the load, while still storing all the dry goods in one cabinet. Is it for everyone? Of course not, but it's certainly a good thought for designers and homeowners to consider.

Links:

Arthritis Foundation

Diamond Cabinets Logix Line

A little art for your switch plates and outlet covers

Switches and outlets - like them, hate them, or ignore them, they're a necessary part of our homes.

Our current trend has been to blend them into the background or hide them under cabinetry. But what if we borrowed from the past to a time when cover plates used to be a thing of beauty? What if they were considered as another layer in your design arsenal?

Yes, not a really new idea. Those of you with older homes -- you might be saying, "Oh Kelly, there are lots of websites devoted to reproduction switch plates."

True.  You're, er, covered.  But what of the rest of us who don't have an architecturally defined style to the home - or rather, we have a style, and it's shouting, "1980!" 

Let's take the above example, which happens to be said 1980s home remodeled around 3 years ago. Had I known about this website then, I might have suggested either one of these:

     

I know - these are showing toggle switches instead of the Decora rocker switches above. The website doesn't allow me to copy the other options, but they're available.

It is possible to get the actual rocker plate or the toggle switch itself in different  colors. I might have used a dark brown rocker plate for the copper basket weave above. The website also has some plates for the GE low-voltage switches as well.

You might be surprised at the explosion of covers in the past few years. Here are just a few to whet your appetite:

Home Trends to Watch: Water Filtration Systems

(Rating: certainty in many areas of both Canada and the US in mid-to-high end
residential; possible localized inroads of lower-priced units in starter homes.)

(Photo: Everpure)

I once lived in an area of Silicon Valley where the water smelled like either dark green pond growth or sulphur.  The municipality claimed the water was safe, but who wanted to drink something that smelled like imminent tadpole birth?

Needless to say, we had almost a 100% specification rate on water filtration systems.

That was almost ten years ago.  Where I live now, just outside of San Francisco, the water is pretty decent, but many people (typically in the higher income brackets) still prefer bottled water by almost 10-to-1 ratio over drinking tap water. It wasn't until about four years ago, that requests picked up for kitchen sink filtration. 

I attribute the growing trend to three factors:

Quick housekeeping

It's unfortunate, but I will be canceling my Feedblitz account for e-mail subscriptions (they want to charge per subscription and, well, eeep!)

My apologies to those of you who've subscribed so far. If you could please transfer your subscriptions to a reader in the next couple of days, it would be much appreciated.

Sincerely, The Management

Who says toilet seats have to be white?

Ok, I blame Paul at Kitchen and Residential Design for his post on floral urinals for my posts going down the, er, drain. 

Spotted at Trendir:  the latest in designer toilet seats from Pressalit. 

(Photo credit: Trendir and Pressalit. Click on the photos to go to the Pressalit website.)

They're certainly over the top, aren't they? Or, as fellow designer, Arne Salvesen at useful spaces said in one of his posts on an equally eye-opening lavatory, "The answer to the question we never asked."

What do you think?