Modern Kitchen and Bath Design with Floating Cabinets Make Small Spaces Appear Larger.

If you are remodeling your kitchen or bath cabinets, one of the options you have is to float your cabinets off of the floor.

There are many advantages to floating your cabinets. The largest advantage is to increase the visual feel of the volume of space of the kitchen or bath. This benefit is particularly pronounced in small to medium kitchen or bath spaces where every inch matters, and the visual reward can be tremendous.

This is a 3-Dimensional equation, and must be thought through in 3-D fashion to enjoy the benefits of floating cabinets. 

We think about gaining volume for your room in many ways:

Volume below the cabinets. 

Volume above the cabinets. 

Volume in front of the cabinets.

Volume under high bars.

Volume under sinks.

Your eye can be led under and over the kitchen or bath cabinets and in doing so makes the room appear bigger. The ability of your eye to see the base moulding trim as a continuum has an enormous impact on how you perceive the space. It opens it up. Most kitchen or bath cabinets have a 5” toe kick before the actual cabinet space starts above the toe kick. By floating kitchen cabinets e.g. 10” above the floor you only compromise your storage space by 5”. The visual difference is much greater than that 5”.

This is also true of upper cabinets. By leaving room above your cabinets instead of going all the way to the ceiling once again the visual trick is intact, and creates the feel of a much bigger room. The continuous flow of crown moulding appears much cleaner to the eye…and the illusion is complete. Its a cleaner and more modern kitchen and bath look.

Upper kitchen cabinets typically are useful only up to about 7.5’ above the floor…above that  most people can’t reach without a chair.

We dare ask the question…is all that cabinet volume necessary?

Only 1 way to find out, and that is to empirically measure the volume of your “stuff”…pots, pans, dishes, glasses, etc. It’s never a bad exercise to have an annual exercise to donate excess/unused items to charity, be it from your clothes, your garage or your kitchen cabinets.

Donate pans and pots and dishes and glasses that you have not used that are just collecting dust and taking up space, and causing you to think you need more cabinet volume than is required.

In this fashion you’ll have better access and more efficient storage for that which remains.

Downing Designs showroom has floating cabinets, floating sinks and floating Glass Countertop High bars… Do you see a theme here? We have seen far too many kitchens and baths where HEAVY feeling cabinets are unnecessarily installed everywhere and this visually repels our eye. 

By taking away “heavy” looking elements that take up space i.e. full length kitchen cabinets, full vanity cabinets, and knee walls for hi bars we open up the visual space. 

Adding pure White Glass Countertops adds to the visual expansion as well.

When you look at our small showroom it has a much larger feel. It has White Glass Countertops on its periphery to make this small space feel more spacious. And that’s exactly the idea we want to reflect.

Our Glass Countertop High Bar also adds to the floating feel and is amazing. It floats atop (2) custom metal brackets that hide the LED supply cord internally and is 127” x 20”. Had we used a knee wall, it would have divided the room visually. This design has a very modern, airy feel and is great fun to be seated at that high bar with a glass of wine.

Our Glass Sinks are floated as well. Not only is it a clean look that allows beautiful downlighting of the glass pattern onto the floor, but it also serves as ADA ready sink. This is typically important in restaurants where bathroom space is precious and owners want 1 beautiful, universal sink design to serve handicap [patrons and non-handicap patrons alike.

Further, it appears we are all getting older each day. Designing for the day when we may be wheelchair-bound is never a bad idea. Do it once…do it right…do it so it will be practical well into the future.

The best part about this minimalist style of floating cabinets, floating sinks and floating High bars is that it actually costs less.

We are huge proponents of minimizing the amount of upper cabinets that you buy at the start of your project… You can always add more cabinets if you feel the need.

We like to say design for the 99% not the 1%. This means that don’t design for the annual Thanksgiving dinner, but rather design for everyday use… which may be one, two or three people.

The depth of your cabinets also can be customized to suit your space. For example, you wouldn’t use 24” deep cabinets in small bathrooms because it takes up too much room. The same thinking can be true in the kitchen or any room. Visualize what a skinnier cabinet can do for the living space.

Good cabinet fabricators can make your cabinets any depth you specify. Again by keeping the visual space open and floated with a minimalist cabinet design you free up the visual space in your kitchen or bath.

Take a look at some of the following pictures. Each of them offer some interesting insight into the value of floating kitchen or bath cabinets.

Thoughtful space planning will pay dividends for you during your stay in your home or condo, and will also pay dividends at resale time.

Think about this…Let’s say that you’re in a condominium or in a development where floor plans are very similar, if not identical. If two houses possess an identical square footage and are on the market for identical prices, the one that feels bigger and more contemporary will always get the bid.

Something to consider when planning your next kitchen or bath remodel.

Give us a call to discuss how floating your kitchen or bath cabinets can achieve great results for you as well.

Jeff Downing

Jeff@DowningDesigns.com

(813) 784 5211

The post Modern Kitchen and Bath Design with Floating Cabinets Make Small Spaces Appear Larger. appeared first on Downing Designs.

source https://downingdesigns.com/modern-kitchen-and-bath-design-with-floating-cabinets-make-small-spaces-appear-larger/

Concrete Wall Tiles, Custom, Large Format

Producing large custom concrete wall tiles can be very rewarding. These tiles can be assembled indoors or out, and have an infinite range of color-matching possibilities. Creative possibilities for incorporating custom relief molds of Leafs, Wood, etc can yield amazing results, especially when downlit with our simple lighting system described at  the end of this blog.

Large format concrete tiles as thin as 1/4”  can be fabricated in any shape desired. They are excellent  for bathrooms, living rooms, and outdoor walls  and can be waterproofed. Several examples below show the versatility and creativity possible with concrete wall tiles. 

Concrete Wall Tile Leaf Mold

Large format Leaf castings of Palm leafs, made at Downing Designs shows how beautiful these castings can become. This mold is 9 feet tall and 5 feet wide  and ¾” inch deep. It only weighs 450lbs…pretty light vs the HUGE concrete countertops and concrete sinks we make that are often 800lbs+.

Notice how acute spot lighting from above really highlights the rib structure…closer examination of the overlapping areas shows us that both leafs’ ribs transmit through onto the concrete and are revealed in great detail this is a beautiful calm piece.

Concrete Wall Tile leaf casting

Concrete Wall Tile leaf casting dramatic lighting

Mondrian Wall Tile Mosaics

Taking inspiration from the artist Piet Mondrian we produced a series of residential installations one in the living room, one in the bathroom. By using different thickness concrete wall tile with varying colors mixed and matched it produced a Mondrian like Mosaic in very large format. Installation is simple and could have been done by any competent wall tile installer.  Once again, down lighting from the ceiling dramatized the differences in wall tile thicknesses and really makes an artistic statement in both rooms. 

Concrete Wall Tile Large Custom: Mondrian

Bath with concrete Wall tile shower ala Mondrian

Bath with concrete Wall tile with 10 degree spotlights

Contemporary Bath with concrete Wall tile shower

Custom Concrete Wall Tile 

We can piece together a mosaic plan scale model for you that sketches out the possibilities and shows you what the final product would look like. 

Any color is possible with concrete wall tiles. We can match any color you desire from a Benjamin Moore color deck or color swatch you send to us.

Concrete is an excellent material to use Outdoors since it is immune to UV light and harsh hot/cold weather. Concrete roofing tiles will last 100’s of years. Take a look at the structure of the Sunshine Skyway Bridge and you will note that it’s caissons are concrete. The pigments we use are battle-tested from decades of concrete roof tiles where they have survived UV light, hard freezing conditions, and acidic droppings from animals.

Our favorite wall washing Spotlight combination is described below it is very inexpensive to achieve an amazing effect and we strongly recommend you look at these materials

3”  Recessed Ceiling mount gimble light

Ceiling Lighting

Its $11.00  Its wet rated. Its well-made (I have 5 of these in my home). Makes positioning of the light wash easy.

The bulbs we recommend for dramatic lighting are SORAA…either 10degree tight spotlights or 25 degree narrow spotlights. These are less than $30.

Each fixture costs you ~$40…and they are simple to wire in concert to achieve the desired effect. Not sure where to place these???  Duct tape one of these fixtures properly wired to an extension cord to an 8’ 2”x2” wood stick and hold it close to the ceiling and watch the effect. Mark the spot and cut your ceiling. Simple. 

The post Concrete Wall Tiles, Custom, Large Format appeared first on Downing Designs.

source https://downingdesigns.com/custom-concrete-large-format-wall-tiles/

Making Original Textured Glass Countertops a Case Study: Eric and Kelly

We solve a big problem for our high-end residential and commercial Textured Glass Countertop clients. Many are only interested in original works of art for their homes …not reprints or copies. They have creative ideas and want them expressed in their decor…right down to the level of details in their glass countertop texture.

Our high-quality glass countertops are too expensive to not have fun shopping for! 

This blog is one of several case studies presented to help you understand how our clients creative input drives the design process at Downing Designs.

Background

Eric and Kelly D. were designing their cute Tampa pool home to reflect their Key West taste. Kelly has an exceptional eye for landscape design, and has meticulously planned and executed by Eric. The effect is at once perfectly calming and vibrant in its color and textural composition. The next step was to make an outdoor bar that fulfilled their intent. They wanted a luminous party bar. One that synced with the flow of the outdoor walkways and layouts. They were concerned that no texture would capture the flow she envisioned.

The Lady gets what she wants. Pretty simple. We met onsite with their GC, and discussed several options incorporating her design ideas. And produced a few initial sketches.

They visited our studio where we discussed our design process. It is straightforward, but requires understanding how we feel about the flow of our textured glass countertops. The Downing Designs design center was designed for just this approach. As we walk around our textured glass high bar, different aspects become apparent: the flow looks different from one end vs the opposite end…the edge is amazing and we show how different textures that dissect the edge vs parallel the edge look like. Armed with this insight into our design process,  the design became formalized in a series of refined pencil sketches, that captured the simple, breezy flow they desired. We proceeded to then scale up our sketches in the kiln with their direct participation. Its no secret that wine definitely helps this process, and this Sunday afternoon was no different.

Making Eric and Kelly’s Glass Countertops.

We took the sketches and made a scaled-up version of the selected design…”Kiln Carving” in the sand. Much like a water colorist, we start with a light outline, then carve our sand bed deeper to refine the design with a series of brush strokes to give us the desired texture. Kelly and Eric watched as I carved the bed…further and further with controlled strokes…taking on the ultimate shape of the textural flow. It is a very interesting process to watch a 2-D pencil sketch become 3-D in a sand bed. Slight adjustments are made during the process as they viewed the artistic shape from many angles to assure that the flow is perfect. Eric took a few strokes on the endpoint of the carving, and Kelly dotted the eye of the hurricane (Hurricane Kelly it is now dubbed). 

Sand bed for glass countertops before carving

Carving Sand bed for glass countertops

Texturing glass countertops Hurricane Kelly

We then stack low iron glass sheets to make 1.5” thick glass countertops. When illuminated with natural light or enhanced with our LED’s (8,000,000 colors!) it can take on any color you desire. We offer professional and extensive lighting consultation as part of our design service to assure you that your glass countertop or glass high bar will be beautifully illuminated, and we discuss the many options offered.

The kiln is heated to over 1400 degrees Fahrenheit…annealed…cooled. After 5 days, the glass has been fully fused, and has taken on the texture of the kiln carved sand bed. We then use our CNC waterjet and/or diamond saw for precise cutting to size. Extensive hand polishing takes our glass to an optically pure lens quality edge. This is a critical Downing Designs quality distinction which we have elaborated upon before.

We also round over all corners and edges to make sure that the glass is comfortable when you are leaning against it, as well as chip resistant when people hit it with hard objects such as wine bottles, elbows and chairs. 

The result is spectacular. The pictures don’t do justice to the effect this BIG beautiful, glowing bar top has upon its patrons. It’s calming. After a long day, what could be better than to have the perfectly soft, upward glow wash over your cocktails, food, and your significant other. We have described this “Time Machine” effect of this glow previously. It’s real. It’s wonderful. It’s powerful at making everyone look younger. My wrinkles become less obvious. Come see for yourself. 

 

SUMMARY

We think that spending a lot of money on an expensive stamped, prefabricated piece of glass is just silly, when for the same amount of money you can have an original design, contoured to fit your kitchen or bath room flow. If you want to have an original, Rockstar bar for your home or restaurant, you don’t do it by covering old Beatles songs.

Give us a call to discuss your ideas and we will develop for you a unified design plan for your layout, complete in all respects with lighting, and glass countertop textural flow. You don’t need to be a wine expert to know that anything pairs well with a Downing Designs glass countertops, especially when infused with the likes of Kelly and Eric’s personality…

Thanks to  Eric and Kelly D. for letting me photograph and write about this experience.

The post Making Original Textured Glass Countertops a Case Study: Eric and Kelly appeared first on Downing Designs.

source https://downingdesigns.com/49970-2/

Making Original Textured Glass Countertops. Case Study: Acqua Cafe

We solve a big problem for our high-end residential and commercial Textured Glass Countertop clients. Many are only interested in original works of art for their homes …not reprints or copies. They have creative ideas and want them expressed in their decor…right down to the level of details in their glass countertop texture.

Our high-quality glass countertops are too expensive to not have fun shopping for! 

This blog is the first of several case studies presented to help you understand how our clients creative input drives the design process at Downing Designs.

Background

Arlene Desiderio was opening her newest restaurant: “Acqua Cafe” in West Palm Beach, Fl.  Like a true artiste, every detail is curated and expresses her charming touch: from the restaurant design, menu, food prep, staff selections,  advertising…everything. By infusing her restaurant design with her personality (and boundless energy), the impact is seen even in the finest details. She has reasons. Past missteps have led her to trust her own instincts vs. those of others. She is successful because she understands what she and her customers want, and plans every element to meet that demand. 

We were contacted by her Architect, Evans Howard from Alonso and Associates in West Palm Beach, and he was rightly concerned that she would be difficult to please because she is so hands-on in every aspect of the Acqua Cafe design concept. She has designed and operated several other successful restaurants. The stakes are high. Glass countertops are too expensive… and to not get what she wants would be a decision she would have to live with for the duration of this restaurant operation. After we described our process for empowering clients by integrating their ideas with our own, I suggested that we have Arlene visit our facility to participate in the design process. Evans agreed and was delighted with this approach. The Lady is paying for it…. The Lady will get what she wants. Pretty simple. We set up a time and Arlene drove 4 hours from WPB to Tampa to incorporate her design ideas and watch as they came to life.

This approach has worked very well for us. Remote clients also can participate interactively as we set a time where the glass oven and sand bed is being sculpted. We send pictures during the process and consult with the client to assure them that their ideas are being integrated and executed as best we can.

Making Arlene’s Glass Countertops.

We start with an initial series of digital sketches of the glass texture to map well with the bar “L” shape in her restaurant. We refine these sketches until the final version is selected for production. 

The magic begins in our kilns where we measure to make a scaled-up version of the selected design…”Kiln Carving” in the sand. Much like a water colorist, we start with a light outline, then carve our sand bed deeper to refine the design with a series of brush strokes to give us the desired texture. After watching how I carved the sand, Arlene was game to cut a few swirls herself. 

Arlene Desiderio texturing sand bed for her glass countertops

We then stack low iron glass sheets to make 1.5” thick glass countertops. When illuminated with natural light or enhanced with our LED’s (8,000,000 colors!) it can take on any color you desire. We offer professional and extensive lighting consultation as part of our design service to assure you that your glass countertop or glass high bar will be beautifully illuminated, and we discuss the many options offered.

The kiln is heated to over 1400 degrees Fahrenheit…annealed…cooled. After 5 days, the glass has been fully fused, and has taken on the texture of the kiln carved sand bed. We then use our CNC waterjet and/or diamond saw for precise cutting to size. Extensive hand polishing takes our glass to an optically pure lens quality edge. This is a critical Downing Designs quality distinction which we have elaborated upon before.

We also round over all corners and edges to make sure that the glass is comfortable when you are leaning against it, as well as chip resistant when people hit it with hard objects such as wine bottles, elbows and chairs. Arlene’s Glass is back painted, LEDs attached with stainless steel cover. We sandblasted her Acqua Cafe logo on the glass to further personalize the design.

The result is spectacular. The pictures don’t do justice to the effect this BIG beautiful, glowing bar top has upon its patrons. It’s calming. After a long day, what could be better than to have the perfectly soft, upward glow wash over your cocktails, food, and your significant other. We have described this “Time Machine” effect of this glow previously. It’s real. It’s wonderful. It’s powerful at making everyone look younger. My wrinkles become less obvious. Come see for yourself. 

Acqua Cafe glass countertop bar glowing soft uplight

Acqua Cafe West Palm Beach glass countertop

 It was a pleasure to be invited with my Mom (Barbara Downing) to dine with Arlene. Fabulous interesting food and staff! Cool Countertop!

SUMMARY

We think that spending a lot of money on an expensive stamped, prefabricated piece of glass is just silly, when for the same amount of money you can have an original design, contoured to fit your kitchen or bath room flow. If you want to have an original, Rockstar bar for your restaurant, you don’t do it by covering old Beatles songs.

Give us a call to discuss your ideas and we will develop for you a unified design plan for your layout, complete in all respects with lighting, and glass countertop textural flow. You don’t need to be a wine expert to know that anything pairs well with a Downing Designs glass countertop at the Acqua Cafe, especially when infused with Arlene’s personality…

Thanks to Arlene Desiderio of the Acqua Cafe for letting me write about how much fun I had with her designing her custom glass countertops.

The post Making Original Textured Glass Countertops. Case Study: Acqua Cafe appeared first on Downing Designs.

source https://downingdesigns.com/making-original-textured-glass-countertops-case-study-acqua-cafe/

5 Must-Know Countertop and Faucet Design Considerations in a Post-Coronavirus age.

1. Non-Porous Countertops
2. Hands Free Faucets
3. Hands Free Soap Dispenser and Sanitizer sprays
4. Automatic Hand Dryer

Many Kitchen and Bathroom design options offered prior to the 2020 Coronavirus outbreak, such as countertop materials, faucets, soap dispensers, hand-drying towels must now be re-considered with an eye towards preventing pandemic propagation in public places.

 “Hands-on” faucets and door handles, Manual soap dispensers, Hand towels, Porous Countertops that do not prevent transmission and/or harbor these dangerous agents, especially in a commercial bathroom setting, must be examined by designers in a whole new light. Given what we know today, it must be considered that some of these options will go the way of dinosaurs as we seek maximum protection from contagious viruses, bacteria, etc. 

This is not yet a legal liability issue for commercial bathrooms, but keep an eye out for that since litigious parties are always on the hunt for such things.

Let’s examine several kitchen and bath design elements to see the best choices for preventing virus transmission:

1. Countertop

We spend a lot of hands-on-contact time eating and drinking on countertops. It is inevitable. Transmission of germs on countertops we lean-on and touch so frequently must be addressed. Think of your own kitchen, favorite busy bar, or restaurant table.

Non-porous countertops such as Glass, White Glass have a HUGE advantage over traditional porous surfaces such as granite, natural quartz, marble going forward.

Glass Countertops can be made in 3/4″ thick glass, backpainted any color, and are very rugged and non-porous.

       Backpainted Glass Countertop

White Glass countertops are 2 or 3cm thick, opaque, stain-free, non-porous and commercial tough countertops.

White Glass outdoor Countertop Bar at American Social restaurant in Tampa Fl

Non-porous materials are both cost-effective and beautiful options for your countertops.

While some suggest that Engineered Quartz is non-porous, cleaning it with Bleach is not permitted. It will void the warranty. From the Cambria website: 

Do not use or expose Cambria Product to certain cleaning products, including, but not limited to, BLEACH, Soft Scrub®, or paint removers. Do not use abrasive or harsh scrub pads.

Nor is it a viable material if you are using hot pans in the kitchen, hot styling tools in the bathroom, or outdoors where UV light will degrade and yellow the plastic quickly.

Spraying with Microban antimicrobial spray can temporarily help. From their site:   

Microban keeps surfaces sanitized against bacteria for up to 24 hours, even after multiple touches* on hard non-porous, non-food contact surfaces.

2. Hands Free Faucets

Fortunately, there are many non-contact faucet options available.

Implementation has been slow, but expect this trend to accelerate. Any commercial restaurant, bar would benefit from installing hands-free faucets in their bathrooms.

Google “Hands free faucets” and you will see many exciting options.

These can be set to hot/cold/warm and sensors detect motion with another setpoint for time on before automatically shutting off.

Retrofitting currently installed faucets can also be accomplished elegantly. Grohe’s foot-touch sensor is demonstrated in this video:

3. Hands Free Soap Dispenser and Sanitizer sprays

Just like faucets, touchless soap dispensers are a great idea for preventing agent transmission.

Google “Automatic soap dispenser” to see many results for home or commercial use.

For on countertop installations we like:  Simple Human and Toto

For Commercial wall-mount sanitizer we like: Automatic Sanitizer Sprayer

For Commercial wall-mount soap dispenser we like: Alpine

Below is a wall-mounted side-by-side soap and faucet dispenser.

4.   Automatic Hand Dryer

Well entrenched already. We like:  XLERATOR

Summary:

We believe that responsible Hospitals, Reception desks, Bars, Restaurants, Schools all now need to consider non-porous Glass and White Glass countertops,  hands-free faucets, touchless soap dispensers, automated hand dryers as THE STANDARD for new construction. Using materials that harbor dangerous biological agents in their porous surfaces could soon become a point of litigation. 

Non-porous materials are both cost-effective and beautiful options for your countertops.

The post 5 Must-Know Countertop and Faucet Design Considerations in a Post-Coronavirus age. appeared first on Downing Designs.

source https://downingdesigns.com/5-must-know-countertop-and-faucet-design-considerations-in-a-post-coronavirus-age/