How cute is this 1866 double shotgun in the Bywater neighborhood of New Orleans? And just in time for Christmas.
What makes this charming house so unusual is that only two colors are used. Here's what they did:
Siding, doors, shutters: Red
Quoins, door frames, window frames: Hunter green
Before the paint job, this house was extremely boring (photo below). When I saw it up for sale, I thought: Who would want such a boring house? Then, it got painted by the new owners and WOW! They had vision. Here's what they did (click on photo for larger view):
Brick exterior: Olive green
Fascia: Fuchsia
Windows: Yellow and orange
Door: Fuchsia and Yellow
Shutters: Deep blue
Ironwork: Purple
Picket fence: Butter yellow
Bravo! And thanks for brightening up the neighborhood!
Perhaps because of my decades as a journalist, I have a proclivity toward truth-telling. And no matter what you may think, the vast majority of journalists are truth tellers. I have personally passed up many, many perks from sources in order to remain objective and unbiased.
With that background, I was surprised by the email I got this morning from Mike Petersen, president of Petersen Aluminum Corporation. The company makes strikingly beautiful metal roofing, among other things, and they bragged about this:
We are pleased to expand our color palette to include 20 LEED Certified . . . colors. PAC-CLAD Cool Colors are designed to improve the energy saving performance of our metal roofing products without compromising color selection.
This puzzled me because as far as I know, only finished buildings that meet very strict criteria are "certified" by the LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) rating system developed by the U.S. Green Building Council.
As far as I know, LEED has never, ever reviewed and certified individual products. So that got me thinking. Did something change? No, the aluminum company is mistaken.
Here's the explanation from LEED:
Short statements claiming that a product meets certain LEED performance criteria may be used if the statement does not suggest endorsement by USGBC or product certification and the following statement is included in connection with the claim:
Products are not reviewed or certified under LEED. LEED credit requirements cover the performance of materials in aggregate, not the performance of individual products or brands.
So to be accurate and based on "true fact" (which is the worst reduncancy in the world as facts are always true), the roofing materials company should say: Our palette includes colors that can help achieve LEED certification.
So even though times are hard, and we're all looking to make more sales, let's strive to be accurate. OK?
I feel delighted every time I walk past this house. How do people come up with these combinations? And I love the etched-glass door. (Click on image for larger view)
Here's what we've got:
• Siding: Dusty rose
• Porch deck, shutters and mullion detail: Hunter green
• Porch railings, fascia, moldings, window frames and door frame: Butterscotch
• Metal work: Black
In 1902, the hosting needs of President Theodore Roosevelt, who took office in 1901 after President William McKinley was assassinated, had outgrown the White House's existing State Dining Room (shown here).
And so plans were made to create a bigger State Dining Room in the famous East Room. This room would still be used for smaller gatherings, but it had to be renovated, and it especially had to be painted.
According to an article on April 17, 1902, in the Boston Morning Herald, the family found the yellow color scheme "obnoxious."
Here is the new stately State Dining Room in 1904. Notice the moose head over the fireplace, presumably provided by the president, an avid hunter.
Here is the same room in 1992, minus the moose.
And again in 2010. It can seat up to 140 for dinners.
Photos: White House Museum
I just can't get enough of these removable vinyl wall decals. They are made by a lady and her Chinese husband, who is the artist. The little bio on the Etsy website is so endearing:
"We are a family run shop,my husband is a chinese artist,he design the graphics,I do some computer work.we are very happy the etsy give us the chance to offer our best decals to the world."
I want the fish ($22 plus $10 shipping) and the bamboo leaves ($42 plus shipping). How about you? See more
If I had a baby, I'd want this one ($68):
When Santa Barbara Magazine asked me to write an article about the massive remodel done by Imaging Spence (yes, that's her given name), I kind of dreaded it. You may recall that her husband Gerry Spence is a famous attorney and author, and I feared that the couple might be snotty and ostentatious and arrogant. But they are the exact opposite: humble, self-effacing, fun and delightful. And their remodeled house is stunning.
Here's the story I wrote:
To hear Gerry Spence tell it, his wife has a way with both houses and husbands.
"Look what she's done with me," says Gerry, a photographer, painter, poet and pundit, author of 14 books, and an undefeated trial lawyer who represented Karen Silkwood, Randy Weaver and others.
"Without Imaging Spence," he claims, "I'd be a homeless waif."
But when Imaging, his spouse of three decades, says "Don't tell me you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear," she's actually referring to the ho-hum Montecito property she transformed into a gracious Mediterranean manor with arches, columns and corbels, and the enchanting gardens she has imagined since childhood.
The couple, who live half the year in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, bought the home on 24 canyon acres because, Imaging says, "I needed a project."
At the time, the Spences owned a George Washington Smith-designed home on 2 1/2 acres in Montecito, with gardens designed by famed architect Lutah Maria Riggs. When their real estate agent said, "Imaging, I've got a property you should look at," the couple agreed to see it.
Ignoring the house, Gerry and Imaging hiked all over the ocean-view property, taking in the creek, sycamores, oaks, eucalyptus, cypress and century-old olive trees. As the couple looked toward the pool, they spied two ducks floating there and a bobcat stalking from a nearby hill. When the bobcat made its move and the ducks took flight, Gerry took it as "a sign" that the couple would be protected there: "Well, we have to buy this house," he said.
(Photos: Santa Barbara Magazine)
Continue reading "Famous Folks at Home: Gerry and Imaging Spence in Montecito, Calif." »
This idea is so unique that we at Kathy's Remodeling Blog can hardly stand it: You can have your own garden flowers imbedded into resin panels for use as kitchen or bathroom cabinet inserts.
Can you imagine your favorite flowers, that you grew, immortalized in resin panels? You can use translucent resin panels for room dividers, stairway guard rails, cabinet inserts and tons of other purposes.
Including flowers you grew is a great idea for personalizing your home. And don't be afraid to personalize your home. Now that the housing market is stagnant, and will be for at least a decade, it's time to get personal. Chances are, you'll be living there for a long, long time.
Check out this stair rail guard used by Santa Monica architect Kyle Moss. Can you imagine your flowers imbedded into panels like these:
Or, how about a room divider like this made with panels imbedded with your flowers:
Here are some companies who make these panels:
One day, when I wasn't looking, my once-charming front porch went from shabby chic to just plain disgusting. I waited for the crew from HGTV's Curb Appeal to show up. When they didn't come, I decided to take on the job.
Here's the porch I started with:
As you can see, I had many challenges: mold, mildew, baked-on grime, faded paint, cracks and rust stains. After I got the porch cleaned up and the cracks filled with concrete patch, I applied a coat of KILZ Clean Start Primer. I wanted to try out this product because it has no VOCs (volatile organic compounds). Organic in the previous phrase always throws me off. These fumes that evaporate into our lungs could also be called "volatile chemical compounds." Sound scarier? This new product from KILZ was very pleasant to work with. It covered well, which what I have come to expect from KILZ, and I didn't have to hold my breath as I worked.
Here's what the porch looked like after the KILZ:
And here's what it looks like after one coat of paint:
In my opinion, this looks pretty darn great. And with a high-quality primer, this paint job will last much longer than if I had just added the top coat alone. I don't expect to paint this porch again for many years to come. See the whole story here.
In 2008, I posed this question in a poll: Is contemporary style on its way out? My theory was that hard economic times would propel people into the comfort of traditional styles. I used this June 2008 photo from Architectural Digest to illustrate the shift. Notice the farm style table and warm floors to balance the chic chairs, range hood and metal stairs.
Many respondents to my poll said NO WAY are the sleek, spare lines of contemporary style on the way out. Some even suggested that this would be the "in" look forever more.
See the results of my Poll: Is contemporary style on its way out?
But, as you can see from the list of kitchen and bath trends below (if you believe this list), contemporary is moving out and traditional is moving up.
Here's a press release from the National Kitchen & Bath Association:
The results are in from a recent survey of designers conducted by the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA) to reveal the key design trends for 2010. The results of the NKBA 2010 Kitchen & Bath Design Trends Survey confirmed the continuation of a number of existing trends in the marketplace, but also uncovered others that indicate shifts in the direction that kitchen and bath style will take this year. Below are 2010’s seven kitchen trends and four bath trends.
KITCHENS
1. Traditional is the New Contemporary
Traditional will continue as the most popular kitchen design style in 2010, with contemporary following closely behind, while the Shaker style is seeing a surprisingly strong resurgence. Shades of whites and off-whites will be the most common kitchen colors in 2010, while brown, beige, and bone hues will also be popular.
2. Cherry on Top
Cherry will remain the most popular wood for kitchen cabinetry, followed closely by maple, while alder increases in use. As for the finishes placed on those cabinets, medium natural, dark natural, glazed, and white painted will all be common. Other colors of painted cabinetry and light natural finishes are in decline, however, as are distressed finishes.
Continue reading "2010 Trends — Is contemporary out? Already?" »
I'll tell a word that really annoys me: Neutral. Could there be anything more boring? Yet you'll see people walking through a boring house and remarking: "Love the neutral colors." And I'm like: "What's to love?"
I guess I'm a little more radical than some. I like COLORS! This green kitchen rocks my world. And it's not just the paint that's green. It's the countertops and the backsplash tile as well. See a gorgeous slide show of the kitchen designed by Ken Kelly.
Oh, I can already hear the detractors. Here are the common arguments against a bold kitchen like this, and my answers to them:
Detractor: This color will look dated in a few years.
Kathy: It's green, for goodness sake. It's the color of nature. How could it get old? And really, we're losing so much of our green planet each day to corporate sins and overpopulation. I predict that green will continue to be a color we crave.
Detractor: Not everybody likes this color and it will hurt your resale value.
Kathy: True. But not everybody will be buying your house. You only need one buyer to like it. And how long do you plan to live there? The housing market will take years, maybe decades to recover. So where are you going? If you're staying put, make your house the way you like it. Life is short.
Detractor: You may tire of this color in a few years and want something quieter.
Kathy: And? So you redo the kitchen. Big wow! We all have changing tastes. We all mature, and then regress. What are we supposed to do, sit on our hands until the day of our funeral? No, live now people! This is your time.
Well this is a fine fix: An article in the San Francisco Chronicle reveals that Danielle Hirsch, a regular on HGTV's "Color Splash," prefers muted colors in her own home in Mill Valley, Calif.
"I like neutral colors in my house because it helps keep me fresh," she said in the article. Above, you can see her and her husband, Dan, watching TV in one of their peaceful rooms.
This got me thinking: I wonder if neutral colors help all of us keep fresh. Maybe those bold and sometimes outrageous colors she and host David Bromstad put into other people's homes — the reds, the greens, the yellows — are not that easy to live with on a day-to-day basis.
See the whole story here.
Progress is being made on Joni's condo kitchen remodel.
See Joni and her nurse-friend Patti in their scrubs working on the kitchen.
See the kitchen before any work was done.
So far, the overhead cabinet that blocked the natural light has come down, and a fun s-curve track light has gone up. The boring wood cabinets have been sanded, painted brown, glazed green and coated with polyurethane.
Plus, the backsplash tile (right) has been chosen, ordered and paid for. It comes to a whopping $641 out of the $1,000 budget. "We were found to have very expensive taste," Patti noted.The latest indecision revolves around the wall color, which surprised Patti: "I thought the wall color would be pretty easy to chose," she said. "Well, it's not!"
As you see in the photos (click to enlarge), a coating of a terra cotta/mocha color went up on the wall (center left photo) and Joni loves it.
Patti, though, feels it takes away from the excitement of the green cabinets and of the very expensive glass tile for the backsplash. So Patti found some cream-colored paint that Joni had used in her hallway and brushed some on to see if it worked better (center right photo). She leaned a sample of the tile up there to see how it looks.Me? I like the lighter wall color. I think it sets off the tile better.
On the other hand, why not get the tile installed and then play around with the wall color?What do you think?
The spending so far:
Sanding sponge: $5.38
Track lighting: $54.65
Paint: $71.60
Paint containers: $6.02
Polyurethane & brush: $36.61
Foam board for paint testing: $2.80
Sandpaper: $15.19
Drop cloth (plastic): $3.21
Glaze (2nd can): $8.57
Paint application tools: $5.87
Flat polyurethane (satin was too shiny): $18.31
Staining pads: $2.67
Coolest backsplash tile ever (Patti's words): $641
(Photos: Kathy Price-Robinson)
Here's an update on the condo kitchen remodel being done, girlfriend style, by fellow nurses Patti and Joni.
The two spent a few hours in surgical bonnets and surgical masks sanding the boxes of Joni's cabinets. Patti took the doors home and sanded and primed them, laying them out on her kitchen counters to dry. Patti said the "sanding/prep work is the most time-consuming with the least immediate reward." It's the painting and glazing that is real fun.
At the beginning of the project, Joni struggled to find time for it. Now, though, she's "on fire," as Patti put it.
One day after work, the two headed out to peruse three tile stores. Joni has settled on the backsplash tile you see here to achieve the funky, arty, coffeehouse look she wants. The tile is called Petrified Forest in the Geologie line of Oceanside Glasstile of Carlsbad. It's a blend of these tiles: Harvest Matte, Olive IridSlate: Copper Quartz and Indian Autumn. Here's another view of it. Joni loves it. They are also considering medallions like you see here, in 2-inch and 4-inch sizes, with the larger ones above the stove area.
The two friends were planning on cutting the 12-inch squares of 1-inch glass tiles in half and installing rows of six tiles each above existing 4-inch laminate backsplash. But these squares have 11 tiles, not 12, so Patti said that's a head-scratcher. As for installing the tile, Patti attended a tile-laying clinic at Home Depot and doesn't think it would be too hard to do the backsplash. Joni's not so sure, and she's getting a price from a pro.
Joni polished a few of her existing pulls and decided they looked great with the glazed green doors and the tile.
Next steps, finishing the cabinet painting and choosing the wall color.
The project so far:
1. Watch a video of Patti explaining the remodel goals
2. Check out Joni's lighting choices
3. See a slide show of the track light going up and the cabinet coming down
4. Choosing cabinet color and considering backsplash tile
5. Getting started on the painting
6. Loving the glazed green top coat
The budget so far:
Expenditures:
Sanding sponge: $5.38
OSH track lighting: $54.65
Paint: $48.44
Paint containers: $6.02
Polyurethane and brush: $36.61
Sandpaper: $11.45
Balance of $1,000 left to spend: $837.45
Do you ever feel "terminally unique?" I do. And that's why blending my own glass tile backsplash is so appealing. Oceanside Glasstile of Carlsbad offers an online tool for mixing up the colors you like best. Here's my favorite blend! It feels exciting to my bones. Granted, it's not relaxing. It's not classic. But, it's me.
And oh what a difference grout color makes. Here I show the same blend with (clockwise from top left) gray, green, white and red grout.
And if you're leaning toward green, this would be considered a green choice in terms of proximity to SoCal. These tiles are manufacturered just outside Tijuana. And in most green building philosophies, if stuff is made within 500 miles of your home, that's a good thing.
I heard some great advice about getting hip with color trends, and I'll share that in a moment.
But first, you have to get current. As David A. Keeps reported in this newspaper's Home section, here's the deal:
"Orange and red aren't quite dead, but the trendiest hues — purple, green, silver, even pale magenta — have a blue streak. The color of the season falls somewhere between turquoise and cobalt."
So here's the advice I heard: When you like a trendy color, don't go out and spend $2,500 on a couch of that color, or tile your backsplash with it. The color trend will be long gone when that couch or backsplash is staring you in the face.
Rather, plop that trendy color into your life with dishes, pillows, baubles and other accessories. In fact, if you're a color-trend fan, it might be a good idea to decorate with a neutral palette so the color of the day can be added, subtracted, changed and modified according to your whims and those of the trendsetters.
This photo shows how the residents of a Westwood condo brought the trendy color of lime green into their home without a lot of expense or long-term commitment.
(Photo: Sharon Cavanagh)
Hi, Patti here, with an update.
My friend Joni and I have decided to paint all of her cabinets green but leave some chocolate brown (base color) for relief on the kick plates and in a couple of mid-sections on the top cabinets.
Painting the bottom cabinets first gave us a feel for how the green would settle on Joni's eyes. As it turns out, we love, love, love it!
We fortunately have a short workday tomorrow, which will afford us some quality sanding time on the top cabinets, maybe get the primer on and then go shopping for backsplash tile.
Joni saw some tile in a small shop that she really likes and wants my input on. She's attracted to stone. It will be interesting. I think stone sort of dates the kitchen, but ya' know what? It's HER kitchen. If she loves it, that's what's important
Hopefully, I'll be able to post our prime choices for you.
Thanks for checking in on us!
The project so far:
1. Watch a video of Patti explaining the remodel goals
2. Check out Joni's lighting choices
3. See a slide show of the track light going up and the cabinet coming down
4. Choosing cabinet color and backsplash tile
5. Getting started on the painting
The budget so far:
Budget: $1,000
Expenditures:
Sanding sponge: $5.38
OSH track lighting: $54.65
Paint: $48.44
Paint containers: $6.02
Polyurethane and brush: $36.61
Sandpaper: $11.45
Balance left to spend: $837.45
As I'm perusing tile stores to get ideas for my own backsplash, I come across a photo of this gorgeous green glass tile. It's in a house featured by the L.A. Times Home Section in an article title, appropriately, Exploding with color.
What struck me was the use of the same color in all the tiles. It occurred to me that when you're considering 3/4-inch or 1-inch tiles, there is almost an irrestible urge to mix it up and include all your favorite colors. See what I mean here and here.
But there is something powerful, bold and courageous in using the same color all the way around.
Am I onto something? Or could this be hard to live with?
(Photo: Mel Melcon / Los Angeles Times)
I promised myself I’d be super careful when choosing my kitchen colors. Why? These events:
First and foremost, and my daily reminder, is the garish green that got painted onto my exterior trim when I asked the budget painter guy to match colors on a house I’d seen. There I was, the morning the crew arrived, in my driveway, trying to figure out if the green he brought was the right green. It was so not the right green, but I don’t make my best design decisions in the heat of the moment, so I let the paint go on, figuring I’d repaint the trim later (but will I?). I need time to contemplate.
Then, providence brought into my orbit some role models: two women who took extraordinary care in choosing their kitchen colors. Kristina Johnson actually bought several pints of green to try out on her Glassell Park kitchen walls. (She ended up painting her kitchen three different greens, so that’s the hazard if you like a lot of them.) Bethany Orlemann taped paint chips on her Eagle Rock kitchen ceiling and studied them carefully to decide on the exact off-white she would love.
By the time my own selection process began, I had decided to paint my kitchen walls a pale olive green and my cabinets an ivory white. Then I spread out a color fan from ICI on the table. Did you know there are more than 140 off-whites in a fan like this? This is why people hire decorators and designers. The choices are daunting.
For my green, I was truly lost. There are greens with a lot of yellow, lots of blue, some gray. Dark, light, pale, bright, garish (been there), subtle.
Continue reading "Choosing kitchen paint colors in this land o' plenty" »
Back in the 1980s, Michelle Griffoul chose her home for one reason.
"It had forklift access to the backyard," said Michelle, who bought the home, in the Santa Barbara County community of Los Olivos, when she was a fledgling ceramic-tile artist with a very large kiln. "The house itself was irrelevant."
But the sage-green house with eggplant-colored trim has become relevant over the last 24 years, serving as a canvas of sorts where Michelle has tried out and lived with her whimsical ceramic and bronze tiles. Today she makes her living designing and manufacturing tiles sold in 140 showrooms nationwide.
Michelle's own tile projects -- in her bathrooms, on fireplaces and walls, on furniture and in and around a sumptuous swimming pool and spa -- remind her of the stages of her life: a first marriage, motherhood, divorce and remarriage. And they also chronicle her emergence as an artist.
I've been lucky enough to meet two amazing TV decorators: Amanda Pays from Fine Living's "Breathing Room," and Kitty Bartholomew from HGTV's "You're Home: Kitty Bartholomew." (Kitty and I later wrote a book together, now out of print).
Amanda and Kitty shared with me two golden nuggets of decorating wisdom.
But really, those nuggets never really clicked until now, as I've begun to navigate my own whole-house upgrade.
Here's what Kitty told me about choosing colors: Start with one item you love — a painting, a rug, a piece of patterned wallpaper, patterned upholstery or whatever — and choose your colors from that. If those colors look good all together in that painting, for instance, they will work together as a decorating scheme. In Kitty's own house, she used a painting as a starting point.
Here's what Amanda told me about choosing colors: Pick five colors (includes woods and metals) and run with those throughout the whole house. For instance, you might choose nickel (metal), ash (wood) and three colors. Then your house will have a flow. And Amanda's house really did feel serene and pulled together.
I knew all this. But it didn't seem to apply to me somehow. Until tonight, that is, when I was sitting in the living room and gazing upon the stained-glass lamp you see here. It hangs above my dining room table. The lamp is kind of a pain, really. It's too small for the space I'm asking it to fill. The way it flares out makes it easy to bump your head on it. And if you're a short person sitting at the dining room table, the bulb in the lamp shines right in your eyes.
But here's the one thing it has going for it: I love the colors so much I could eat them.
And then it hit me: These are my colors! These are my five! Can I get a "duh"?
Now it all makes sense: The yellow I've painted some walls. The green laminate counters I see no need to replace. The dark metal bathroom faucet I've already bought. The RED of my exterior. Hello? And when I add the cedar wood that is all over my house, I've got it covered.
So these are my five: 1) brick red, 2) sage green, 3) butter yellow, 4) dark metal, 5) cedar.
Now, as I shop or decide or ponder, I'll ask myself: How would this fit into my five?
Do you have five? What are they?
Although the sleek new kitchen in Bethany Orlemann and Danny Miller's vintage Eagle Rock bungalow took only eight weeks to build in the summer of 2007, planning it was a three-year affair.
The couple's meandering path to a new kitchen took a series of twists and turns that began with Orlemann researching design magazines and drawing out her ideas. It switched directions when the couple, both assistant film editors, hired an architect to create what turned out to be an overblown design, which included a giant island that didn't suit their needs.
"It's just the two of us," Orlemann said.
The planning then came full circle with Orlemann designing the kitchen herself with the goal of matching the quality of the $100,000, architect-designed kitchens she saw featured in the magazines -- but for half the price.
"I was determined to show that an assistant film editor could design an equally beautiful kitchen for a lot less," she said. And, Orlemann said, she has no regrets about the extra time it took or the final result.
"Every step we took," she said, "moved us to the next point."
See the photo gallery
See more kitchens
See more SoCal remodels
The new kitchen? It's '100% us'
A Glassell Park couple get personal in their latest redo -- down to the cat-feeding station.
As Kristina Johnson and David Franke discovered while remodeling their Glassell Park kitchen, taking charge of the job -- drawing the plans, buying materials, supervising contractors for some work and doing a portion of it themselves -- can not only save money, but it can also lead to a highly personalized result.
"The kitchen is 100% us," Johnson said of the room, which features a granite-covered windowsill and backsplash to accommodate pots of orchids, a cat-feeding station notched out of a bottom cabinet, and three subtly different shades of sage green paint.
"We didn't build it with an eye for resale or with anyone else in mind."
The couple, both 39, took on the remodel in the summer of 2006 after a string of other successful upgrades, including updating the exterior, landscaping the backyard and redoing the lone bathroom.
Their overriding goal for the kitchen, as well as the adjacent service porch and dining room, was the same as it had been for the tiled bathroom: to add modern conveniences while retaining the character and craftsmanship of the 1941 home. (See old kitchen)
After months of planning, the couple got an equity loan and set a $30,000 budget. Summer was chosen because that's when David, a teacher at Eagle Rock Elementary, had time to tackle what would be the couple's biggest project so far.
A friend sent me a link this morning from TMZ showing (supposedly) the interior of Phil Spector's home, sometimes referred to as "The Castle."
What's eerie to note is that the predominant interior color in his house (maroon) seems to be the same color I painted the exterior of my house. My color is called Rusted Nail by the Frazee paint company, and I like to call it Barn Red, as I see so many barns painted this color.
But since I got the color up on my walls I've recalled other maroon moments in my life. As a teenager, I won $100 in a contest from rock radio station KHJ (anyone remember those days?) and I bought a maroon Schwinn bicycle. Those were good days of emerging adulthood and freedom.
Today, I notice the corner of my office where I do most of my work is flooded with maroon.
But now I've got the Spector specter added to my box of maroon memories. It shouldn't matter, though, because my house Barn Red, not maroon. Right?
Inspired dad really turns on the charm - Los Angeles
Whatever you say, dear - Westchester
Den of festivity - Hollywood
Finding his inner chef - Mar Vista
If you can stand the heat, totally redo the kitchen - Los Angeles
Avant-garde housing in Long Beach's East Village - Long Beach
A retake for '20s home - Los Angeles / Whitley Heights
The right ingredients - Venice
A Victorian victory - Pasadena
A fixer becomes a keeper - Hollywood Hills
A bright idea, it turns out - Lake Arrowhead
A marriage of two styles - Newport Beach
The second time around - Los Angeles
A family's journey to inner space - Mar Vista
Old charm anew - Hidden Hills
Following in her blueprints - South Pasadena
A clean break with the past - Westlake Village
Mission statement - North Hollywood
Making quick work of remodel- Corona
Modest kitchen remodel is top drawer - North Hollywood
Making the place sing - Silver Lake
Architecture students consider all the angles - Los Angeles / West Adams
They had a plan, then reality intruded - Palm Springs
Projects on Homestore.com
A Low-cost Cajun Kitchen,Shreveport, Louisiana
An Avid Cook Gets Her Kitchen, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Making Floor Plan Work for You, Charlotte, North Carolina
From Gross to Graceful,Bethesda, Maryland
Down to the Basement, Dayton, Ohio
Mexican-style Makeover, Playa del Rey, California
