Houzz about that!

It’s been said, ‘A picture says a thousand words,’ and there’s no better example than the website Houzz. Its amazing remodeling pictures say leaps and bounds about the quality of Houzz’ dedication. Additionally, its awards also portray a standard of excellence for any business. Once again, Abbey Design Center is immeasurably proud to win the Houzz Service Award of 2015!

History of Houzz

Houzz.com started just a few years ago by a couple planning a remodeling project. They found themselves surrounded by disorganized stacks of magazines, pictures, samples and referrals from friends. They knew there had to be a better way to organize the planning of home remodeling projects, products and professionals. Their experience was the inspiration behind the design and launch of houzz.com.

As a complete remodeling company, we discovered houzz.com in 2013 and jumped on the platform to showcase our remodeling work. The structure of the site was appealing with its straightforward approach to showcase projects by uploading pictures and providing brief product or process descriptions.  The site features only high quality ‘After’ photos for browsing but allows us to include project ‘Before’ pictures to demonstrate the depth of the project and the designers’ aesthetic and functional creativity from start to finish. Houzz has accumulated millions of photos bringing remodeling consumers from around the world flocking to houzz to find ideas for their homes, by saving photos to Ideabooks. Customers can share their Ideabooks with local professionals like us, who can assess their taste and plans quickly.

The Houzz Service Award

Houzz also provides consumers with reviews of professionals, giving consumers detailed information of customer experiences –enough positive reviews and the professional earns an annual Best of Houzz Service Award. With more than 50 reviews and a 5-star average rating customers have been honoring us with feedback on their remodeling experience with Abbey. In 2014, we received more than 40 reviews on houzz.com. So, drumroll please . . . for the second year running . . . Abbey Design Center has earned the Best of Houzz 2015 Service Award! This award is special to us; it keeps our business growing by providing that inside story from each customer who wants to share his or her story about the Abbey Design Center experience. For that, we are very grateful and thank our customers and houzz.com for being there to say those thousand words every minute of every day.

We’re back from KBIS! Did you miss us?

Our designers are now home from Design and Construction week at the Kitchen and Bath Industry Show (KBIS) 2015 held in Las Vegas at the end of January. Now that they’ve had a chance to soak their feet and answer their emails, they are ready to share the plethora of information and inspiration they garnered in 3 days of classes and displays.

KBIS 2015 featured classes in traditional and new lighting trends, approaching technical difficulties in challenging design requests, the art of storage, design through virtual visualization, using daylight in design, and many many more. Abbey’s designers also visited hundreds of vendor booths and displays soaking up new ideas and pressing the flesh with colleagues and even celebrities. Yes, that is Mariel Hemingway with Lead Designer, Sherry Wohn.

What we took away…

So what were the latest trends? Sherry’s big takeaways for the latest trends are “Sleek seamless kitchen and bath designs with a focus on functionality and ultra organization and new water saving technologies and more effective energy saving features for the bathroom.” And with every conference comes the big must-have wow technology every designer wants. Sherry reports, “The new 3-D technology that allows customers to virtually walk through their projects is right around the corner.” Jimmy Nazem, General Manager at Abbey Design Center in Sterling saw geometry playing a role this year with “open and horizontal designs with plenty of white and cream shades.” He also encountered many Mediterranean style kitchen displays with “open shelving replacing upper cabinetry.”

Hmmm, it sounds like not all trends are consistent. Taking away upper cabinetry is not consistent with ultra organization and functionality. Trends aside, it still comes down to what are the goals and desires of the client? Avid cooks may think it important to have a place for everything hidden away neatly organized from dust and view while non-cooks may want a statement kitchen displaying their prized vessels for drinks and take out.

Everybody is different, every project is different and KBIS 2015 provided so many new inspirations for our designers to make each remodeling project special. So come and put us to the test. What are your goals for that new kitchen or bathroom you’ve been wanting to remodel? Let us make it special, different from all the rest, just for you and your family. Vive La Différence and Viva Las Vegas!

An open floor plan is extremely desirable for many homeowners. They provide an open view and use of multiple rooms without walls dividing the space. But, they are not for every family at every life stage.

Some consider an open plan ideal for young families with young children so they can keep an eye and ear on the kids’ every move. However, once those toddlers become tweens, separate spaces become more desirable for time with friends and when they need to be alone to concentrate or study.

Let’s review what’s good and not so good about creating or buying into an open floor plan.

Pros & Cons of Open Floor Plans

Pros:

• You’ll be able to keep an easier eye on the family – with open floor plans; everything is available to be seen. This is particularly helpful for families with younger kids.
• Open floor plans are great for entertaining. There are no walls getting in the way, and larger groups can be together throughout the entire time.
• Going with the second bullet, there is more social time. People can converse from a room away and not have to shout.
• Fewer walls can increase the view of your yard or scenery and increase the natural light in your room. Natural sunlight is also a great way to keep your home nice and warm!

Cons:

• There’s little privacy. Fewer walls and doors limit spaces to use to be alone.
• There’s little space for artwork or other decorations. Since there are no walls breaking out the space, only the outside walls can hold art, which can fill up fast.
• These rooms take longer to tidy up. In order for an open plan space to look neat, all contiguous rooms must be orderly. Enclosed rooms can be tidied one at a time without an impact to the overall living space.
• Noise travels further. This could be seen as a pro or a con, depending on your living situation. Extra walls can trap and limit noise. In open plans, you tend to hear most everything.

If you’ve decided that you do want to create that more modern open floor plan, here are some things to consider…

Tips For Creating an Open Floor Plan

The first step to creating an open floor plan is to make sure your house is right for it before you start tearing down any walls. Consult a designer and or architect to ensure your home can support your desired design. Plumbing, heating and electrical systems may be hiding in the walls you want gone. Plans to reroute those systems can be extremely costly. If the wall is a supporting wall, a substitute structural support will be required and that will always come at significant expense.

If these issues are not applicable or you are ready to take them on regardless, here are some other tips to help you bring your open plan to fruition.

• Choose a central style and color palate to flow throughout the open plan (flooring, colors, patterns, etc.).
• Consider traffic patterns in and out of the space.
• Make the most of your available space now that the former wall space is central to the new room.
• Plan how the furniture will be placed now that you are creating a larger open footprint, and consider new pieces that may better fit the space.
• Do not cover all the new empty wall space with too much décor, you may start to feel closed in again.

If you are ready to go for it, we wish you luck on creating that beautiful open floor plan and don’t be afraid to ask us for help!