A Toronto smart home has a surprise feature in the living room -- a flat screen TV in modern disguise. A Toronto smart home, "wired for the future," is fully automated. So it seems ironic to find a TV cached behind wood panels in the living room. The point about this house is automation of the basic systems like lighting, audio, security, heating, air conditioning and … [Read more...]
Basic Outdoor Shower
A basic outdoor shower is easy to rig up and the look opens up a natural world of creativity. Two years ago, while visiting our daughter in Michigan, we watched the contractors install a basic outdoor shower on the back deck that leads to the pool. The entire project took most of the morning and by afternoon the little ones were rinsing themselves off after a swim. Adding a … [Read more...]
Modern Outdoor Showers
Flat and square with an emphasis on their shapes, modern outdoor showers are just a bit showy. There’s something wonderfully elemental about showering outdoors on a hot, sunny day whether you’ve just taken a swim in a friend’s pool, or you’ve stripped down in the privacy of your own yard after working up a sweat in the garden. But this collection of modern outdoor showers … [Read more...]
Powder Room Personalities
Whether you call them zany, individual or original, guest baths have personalities that send unique messages. Think about it: your powder room is the one place where a guest will be alone long enough to take a close look around. So, what’s the décor in there really about? Last fall, I explored conventional Powder Room Think based on a three-part formula we see again and again … [Read more...]
Library Ladder Kitchens
Library ladder kitchens borrow a luxe feature from another room to solve a practical problem. Two library ladder kitchens, each stunning but very different in style, solve the upper cabinet accessibility problem in the same unique way: a rolling library ladder installed on a track so that soffit cabinets are just a few steps up. High ceilings in old houses pose upper cabinet … [Read more...]
Carrara Marble Backsplash Kitchen
A Carrara marble backsplash is the keynote in this renovated 1905 San Francisco kitchen. When space is tight, getting a workable kitchen takes some adjustment. Renovated in a distinctly modern industrial style, with a prominent Carrara marble backsplash, this old-house kitchen is organized along one wall kitchen with the sink and gas cooktop adjacent to each other. Usually … [Read more...]
