Kitchen Cabinets and Wood Floors – A Grainy Question

Kitchen Wood Grain

If you have wood floors in your kitchen and a natural wood finish on your kitchen cabinets, should the floors and cabinets be the same species of wood and the same color or should they contrast? And if they should contrast, which should be the darker color? I often discuss this issue with my clients.…

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Tile Floor – Size in a Shower

Tile Floor in Shower

Here is a little tip to keep in mind when you are selecting a tile floor for your shower. Make sure the tile is relatively small. The reason might not seem obvious at first. A shower floor needs to have a slope so the water will flow toward the drain. Puddles in a shower floor are…

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Green and Sustainable Building in Historic Old Town San Diego

Historic Green

Passive solar design, green and sustainable building are not new inventions. Who would have thought that we would be returning to the house design principles of more than a century and a half ago? I was in San Diego recently and visited the part of town they call Old Town San Diego. I don’t think the buildings…

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Designing Food Pantry Shelves in Your Kitchen

Kitchen Pantry

Have you given much thought to the shelves in your food pantry? I have a client who recently moved in to her new home. While chatting with her today, one of the items she mentioned as being particularly thoughtful in the design were the shelves in her food pantry. I was happy to hear her…

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Green Roofs

Green Roof

Green roofs are roofs that have grass of other plant materials growing right on top of them. The theory is that the roof will stay cooler and reflect less heat back into the atmosphere. There was an interesting article in the Raleigh News and Observer today. It was about how the local Universities are going…

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