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28. Brushed nickel. “I love a polished nickel finish paired with a 12-by-24-inch or larger-format tile,” Brock says. “I also love combining matte black fixtures with some beautiful white tile.”
29. Polished chrome or polished nickel. “These days, most of my clients ask me to specify finishes that are not too trendy, so either a polished chrome or polished nickel with a PDV or similar finish is my go-to,” Brock says. “Gold and matte brass are on-trend right now and they are beautiful, but I’m not sure how long they will be around, so I use them sparingly.”
When it comes to fashionable shower finishes, Palicki advises saving “the trends for things that are easier and less expensive to change, such as light fixtures, hardware and faucets.”
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A score higher than 50 indicates that more firms reported an increase in their business expectations than reported a decrease.
Construction Firms
Construction Firms
1. Business activity outlook increased. The Expected Business Activity Indicator, related to project inquiries and new committed projects, increased by 10 points, to 62, for the fourth quarter of 2024, from 52 for the third quarter of 2024. This means more construction firms anticipate quarter-over-quarter growth than anticipate a decline.
Expectations for project inquiries increased by 7 points, to 59 (from 52 for Q3), and expectations for new committed projects increased by 12 points, to 64 (from 52 for Q3).
Both build-only and design-build firms are more optimistic for Q4 than they were for the previous quarter. The expected activity indicator for build-only firms increased 9 points, to 62 (from 53 for Q3), and for design-build firms it increased 10 points, to 61 (from 51 for Q3).
The indicator is based on survey questions about whether businesses expect the number of project inquiries and new projects to increase, decrease or remain unchanged in the coming three months compared with the previous three months.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
A score higher than 50 indicates that more firms reported an increase in their business expectations than reported a decrease.
Construction Firms
Construction Firms
1. Business activity outlook increased. The Expected Business Activity Indicator, related to project inquiries and new committed projects, increased by 10 points, to 62, for the fourth quarter of 2024, from 52 for the third quarter of 2024. This means more construction firms anticipate quarter-over-quarter growth than anticipate a decline.
Expectations for project inquiries increased by 7 points, to 59 (from 52 for Q3), and expectations for new committed projects increased by 12 points, to 64 (from 52 for Q3).
Both build-only and design-build firms are more optimistic for Q4 than they were for the previous quarter. The expected activity indicator for build-only firms increased 9 points, to 62 (from 53 for Q3), and for design-build firms it increased 10 points, to 61 (from 51 for Q3).
The indicator is based on survey questions about whether businesses expect the number of project inquiries and new projects to increase, decrease or remain unchanged in the coming three months compared with the previous three months.
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
3. Comfortable Furniture
This is an obvious one but it’s worth emphasizing: Comfortable furniture is a must-have in a living room. That means using more soft fabrics, deep cushions and rounded edges rather than solid, hard-backed pieces and sharp corners. “I always tell my clients that the most important living room feature is comfort,” says designer Lindsey Machado of Designed With Grace & Joy. “We will always make any space look beautiful, so it’s more important to me that they’re also happy with the way it feels. That not only includes actual materials — think plush rugs, soft pillows and throw blankets, a nice-feeling sofa — but also ambiance.”
Designer Krista McGrath of McGrath Interiors tells homeowners to get the best-quality seating they can afford. “They will spend hours sitting on their furniture,” McGrath says, “so it should be very comfortable and hold up well.”
Designer Sabrina Lowe agrees. “The sofa is the one item in the living room that clients should put resources toward,” she says. “Most people who invest in a good couch have it for decades.”
Shop for sofas and sectionals
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High drama. Julie Cavanaugh, founder and principal designer at Design Matters — which operates across five studio showrooms in Northern California; Jackson, Wyoming; and Park City, Utah — will often use a statement backsplash to dial up the drama. “The owner of this smaller ranch-style house in San Jose loves high style and lots of glam,” Cavanaugh says. “For this backsplash, we combined glass tile in multiple sizes and elaborate natural stone. We did a riff on the idea of ‘soldier’ tile, which is a single row of vertical tile at the countertop and a second tile or material above it.
“As this project required us to amp up the glam, we turned the soldier tile horizontally to allow for a few more inches of the beautiful plume-styled stonework to take center stage,” she says. “Introducing a little bit of glass tile at the countertop line also helps with spills and cleanup, as they are not directly on the marble.”
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
High drama. Julie Cavanaugh, founder and principal designer at Design Matters — which operates across five studio showrooms in Northern California; Jackson, Wyoming; and Park City, Utah — will often use a statement backsplash to dial up the drama. “The owner of this smaller ranch-style house in San Jose loves high style and lots of glam,” Cavanaugh says. “For this backsplash, we combined glass tile in multiple sizes and elaborate natural stone. We did a riff on the idea of ‘soldier’ tile, which is a single row of vertical tile at the countertop and a second tile or material above it.
“As this project required us to amp up the glam, we turned the soldier tile horizontally to allow for a few more inches of the beautiful plume-styled stonework to take center stage,” she says. “Introducing a little bit of glass tile at the countertop line also helps with spills and cleanup, as they are not directly on the marble.”
This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
1. Stain It Again
Designer: Kirby Foster Hurd of Kirby Home Designs
Location: Edmond, Oklahoma
Project. A new-construction spec home. “We collaborated with the builder, MassaRossa Luxury Homes, who allowed me full design creativity to create a space that would appeal to the masses,” designer Kirby Foster Hurd says.
“Uh-oh” moment. “The entirety of the kitchen cabinets are stain-grade maple wood,” Hurd says. “We created a custom stain by combining various stain colors together to get a light stain color. And we finished the cabinets with a matte finish.
“When I walked in to check in on the staining process, the cabinets were extremely dark. I had a panic moment for sure. We go through a very detailed process of stain samples on the same species of wood we are using in each particular project, so I was absolutely shocked when I saw the kitchen cabinets and how they were not representative of the prior stain sample I reviewed and approved. Unfortunately, the custom stain color had been matched incorrectly at the paint store.”
Solution. “Luckily, we work with very talented painters,” Hurd says. “They sanded the original cabinet color off and we started the whole process over again. Second time was a charm.”
Find designers, general contractors and other pros near you
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2. Hardworking Sink
Designers often recommend giving extra consideration to elements that you interact with the most. In a kitchen, that can be a lot of things, but the kitchen sink is one area that always sees a lot of action. So it makes sense to put a little more effort into designing the sink area and choosing components.
These days, many sink manufacturers offer designs called workstations, which feature add-ons such as cutting boards, strainers and prep bowls. “I always recommend a sink with gadgets,” designer Brittany Steptoe-Wright of BSW Design says. “For example, the sink in this project [shown here] is a single, large undermount sink, but it has a colander, cutting board and drying rack that sit inside on a small lip and provide so much function. It’s a game changer.”
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Algozzini often uses seamless bluestone or granite for outdoor counters. “They can be honed, polished or, in the case of granite, even have a leather finish,” he says. “We also use some newer synthetics, which generally provide a lower profile with a crisper, slightly more contemporary look.” The counters seen here are outdoor-grade engineered quartz.
Douglass also recommends granite. “It’s durable, looks great and cleans easily,” he says. For outdoor installations, he suggests a 3-centimeter-thick granite counter instead of a thinner one. “The extra thickness will help with laminated seams,” he says. He also advises against using a full, laminated bullnose, saying that “extreme weather will cause problems in the long run.”
Work with a landscape contractor in your area
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Giving guests options for gathering and relaxing is important for facilitating an engaging party atmosphere. So pros recommend creating multiple seating areas that allow for intimate conversations or larger chats, both inside and out.
Mixing seating pieces like sofas, love seats, chaise lounges, accent chairs, swivel chairs and movable footstools can make numerous arrangements possible.
“We like to provide multifunctional pieces to our clients who love to entertain,” designer Robin Violandi of Violandi + Warner Interiors says. “It might be occasional chairs or upholstered cubes that are easy to move to different rooms to provide additional seating. Multiple small side tables are great for providing a place to put a drink or a small tray for guests. All of these items are easy to move from room to room and can serve double duty.”
This Dallas living room by Delaney’s Design is a great example. It features a casual seating area near a limestone fireplace with a sofa and two armchairs. The armchairs can swivel around to face a second seating area with a sectional sofa and two movable ottomans in front of a large-screen TV.