I bet you could guess the name of this exotic granite by its unique pattern.
If you guessed Turtle, you’d be right. Turtle Blue is from Brazil and is Blue and Green in color. It is suitable for indoor and outdoor applications. Small installations are not ideal since you will lose its unique pattern. Another stone from the Middle east is called Turtle Green but it looks nothing like this gem.
BlueStar gas-powered stainless steel wall ovens are being recalled by Prizer Painter Stove Works, of Reading, PA due to a fire hazard. This recall includes three models of ovens 24″, 30″ and 36″- wide units in both natural and liquid propane gas options.
According to the manufacturer, Prizer Painter Stove Works, some of the wall ovens may have been improperly installed and/or have damaged flexible gas appliance connectors. These ovens were sold nationwide between January 2008 and November 2012 or between $2,250 and $3,900.
Model numbers and date codes are located on the rating plate inside the control panel. You will need to open the oven door/s to access the screws on the bottom of the control to read the model information.
If your oven is part of this recall, stop using it and contact BlueStar for instructions on identifying affected units and to schedule a repair at (800) 449-8691, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. (EST) Monday through Friday.
A great kitchen design needs quality lighting. No matter how stylish your home looks, you won’t want to use your new kitchen if it is dark – especially at night.
I first wrote about Flos Lighting in 2007 (have I really been blogging that long?) in a post featuring the Arco Floor lamp positioned over a kitchen island. I think I like the idea a whole lot more now than I did then. The light comes in both incandescent and LED options.
If you prefer pendant lights for lighting your kitchen island, the Fucsia pendant is a great choice. It is not only stunning to look at, it will light your work surface beautifully.
These lights have a blown glass diffuser with a sandblasted edge and a silicone ring at the bottom to prevent movement. They come in single purchase size or in groupings of 3, 8 or 12.
In April 2013 you will be able to get the New GE Café™ French Door refrigerator that will be able to dispense both chilled and hot water.
A refrigerator that heats water is an industry first. GE offers a unique solution for homeowners who don’t have much cabinet space under the sink for a hot water dispenser.
The dispense is not an Instant Hot. You will have to wait a few minutes according to GE. Four pre-programmed options will be available from the door panel or you can select a custom temperature.
Since the dispenser opening is large enough to set a mug and walk away, I can see how this might appeal to a busy mom who wants to steep her tea while she’s getting her children off to school in the morning.
Are you thinking about remodeling your bathroom?
Have you torn out a collection of magazine pages showing beautiful baths clad in white marble and white fixtures?
While white fixtures will remain timeless, the color choices for your walls are shifting towards darker grays. (Gray = American while Grey = UK)
I prefer warm grays over cool grays. Although sometimes a cooler gray will look great with Carrara Marble.
Gray works in many different styles of homes. It’s perfect for a rustic modern or loft-style home, a traditional home with a modern feel or a contemporary home.
If decorating around a theme, gray is perfect for creating a Zen bathroom.
Consider if giving your bath a new look with a simple coat of gray paint. Light or dark, it will be anything but boring. Adding accents of color with towels, flowers and soaps is an inexpensive way to quickly keep a room looking fresh.
Some of my great Blogging Friends are over in Germany attending the International Furniture Fair at IMM Cologne this week. (Jealous) One of the trends coming from the show is “naturalness.”
Light oaks in particular, as well as oak variants with an attractive grain in natural wood tones on clean door styles will be one of the strongest trends coming from the show. It doesn’t matter if the door is an actual wood veneer or a plastic door that mimics wood’s appearance.
Expect to see this look paired with white and matte stainless – except on the walls, they will be gray. More daring individuals may be inspired by the show to pair the wood with bright colors such as cobalt blue or saffron yellow.
Gnarled Oak Kitchen by Leicht
Brushed grains, staggered joints, cracks and knots also enhance the appeal of this trend. Some manufacturers are even applying oak shingles to cabinet fronts for visual interest.
At the 2013 CES show Samsung decided to throw their hat in the ring with other manufacturers who have shown Refrigerators with touchscreens.
The 32 cu. ft. capacity Samsung T9000 LCD Four-Door Refrigerator represents the next evolution in refrigerator design, with a new form factor that delivers the most fresh food storage in its class according to Samsung.
The top compartment is a refrigerator with 19.4 cu. ft. capacity French Door compartment. The bottom left is a 6.1 cu. ft. freezer. The bottom right side can be either refrigerator or freezer depending on your personal needs.
The refrigerator also comes with apps to help families stay connected and organized. Whether you’d want your Calendar and Weather apps on your kitchen appliance is up to you. Samsung seems proud to offer Evernote integration. While I love the app, I can’t help but imagine all the smudges you’d have on the screen.
No pricing is available yet for the refrigerator but the touchscreen-less model out in the spring will be around $3,999.
We’ve seen companies offering retro looking ranges and refrigerators but have you every seen a retro microwave? The only option for homeowners was to hide a small microwave inside a cabinet when they desired a Period Kitchen.
An Italian appliance manufacturer has nicely solved this problem with their compact line of appliances. Restart offers microwaves, built-in coffee makers, pizza oven and steam oven in their compact collection: Compact Series di Restart.
I really like the all burnished brass finish shown on the microwave/oven combination unit. The mechanical parts of the EFM451 are from Miele. Features include TouchControl in 20 languages, 15 cooking combination methods, and 100 recipe presets.
The EMC451 built-in automatic coffee machine with grinder and cappuccino maker is equally stunning to look at and undoubtedly easy to use with Miele technology.
The Navitronic, multilingual display makes brewing two coffees simultaneously a breeze. There is also the ability to customize 10 different user profiles and choose between bean or powder for brewing.
Restart’s showroom is on Florence so unless you are traveling abroad, these units will be hard to see in person. I haven’t seen a detail spec sheet so I can’t tell if they can easily be converted to American voltage – but, one can hope.
Christmas is full of shiny things
That sparkle, gleam and glow;
These holiday pleasures dazzle us,
And yet, deep down, we know…
That Christmas has its special gifts,
But our year-round joy depends
On the cherished people in our lives,
Our family and our friends.
Happy Holidays and a Bright New Year!
Pantone recently name color 17-5641: Emerald Green as its 2013 color of the Year.
The Color of the Year for 2013 is a very clear departure from 2012′s Color of the Year: “Tangerine Tango,” a hot color that Pantone’s Eiseman described as “sophisticated but at the same time dramatic and seductive…an orange with a lot of depth to it.” In 2011, “Honeysuckle Pink” was the top hue, a retro hue that some characterized as “Mad Men Pink.”
But 2013 is all about a vivid, verdant shade of green that “enhances our sense of well-being further by inspiring insight, as well as promoting balance and harmony.”
To the casual observer the Color of the Year designation can seem arbitrary — in recent years, it’s bounced from shades of blue to yellow to green to pink to orange — those who study color say it’s hardly random.
“When we’re traveling around the world, we look at little clues to how we think color is progressing,” said Eiseman. said.
But like so many good things, the emerald trend seemed to start at home. ”We started to see it in housewares,” Eiseman said.
Cuisinart and Le Creuset have been introducing emerald into their lines, and in Europe, the color has been showing up in glassware and ceramics.
“It has a natural affinity to work beautifully with anything with that glow,” says Eiseman.
The fashion world seems to have embraced the color, especially with celebrities Angelina Jolie, Catherine Zeta-Jones and Elizabeth Moss looking fabulous in jewel-colored gowns. The reaction from Interior Designers seems to be mixed.
Are you on board or will your color choices tend to shift a different direction?
Small Vanity
