Candice Tells All: A kitchen face-lift that really cooks
01.01.70
Interior designers and plastic surgeons have one thing in common: They both do a lot of face-lifts.
Recently, a house belonging to clients Ilya and Pina went under my "knife." They have a large family and they all live in an old farmhouse where they enjoy cooking and holding family celebrations. But the kitchen was ill-suited to the tasks at hand. The room that should have been the soul of the household was absolutely soulless.
The kitchen was very large with a nice wood floor, but its redeeming qualities ended there. From the dim lighting to the dated appliances, this kitchen needed help. To help keep costs down, I decided to give the space a face-lift instead of a total gut. I knew this would be no simple nip-and-tuck, but, rather, a full-fledged operation.
A kitchen face-lift typically involves refreshing a lot of the old and injecting some of the new. In this instance, I wanted to preserve some of the farmhouse flavor, but update it with an urban, industrial vibe.
Source: The Seattle Times
Rich real estate's a whodunnit
01.01.70
There are things you need if your home is to be considered a "fine" one.
First is marble, lots of it. On the floor, the kitchen benches, in the bathroom. Enough to keep the Italians solvent for another day. Then an abattoir of leather, on the chairs and sofas, in little insert things on tables. And recessed lighting – the raw vulgarity of a hanging bulb is not allowed.
Lastly it needs to have a secret, what really defines the dwelling – the precise nature of which is impossible to see from outside. Empirically, that's your baseline for Fineness.
This orienteering-cum-sleuthing adventure attracts inquisitive people. A friendly, nicely-perfumed crowd, many wearing sunglasses the size of an American tank commander's, as it's bright and sunny and a work day after all.
Home one on our three-home sample of the 10 on show is in River Oaks Pl and bares two clues immediately: a rareish hard-top version of the MRS sports car and an old Burmese so friendly it can be sequentially lifted by wandering herds of strangers in its bedroom, no bother. Owner absence is mandatory, so they can't be quizzed, but cat and car speak of good character.
Source: Waikato Times
