Nashville, TN (PRWEB) February 14, 2014

Houzz, the leading platform for home remodeling and design, has awarded The Kingston Group of Nashville, Tenn. Best Of Houzz 2014. More than 16 million monthly users that comprise the Houzz community chose the residential construction and remodeling firm for its excellence in customer service and design.

The Best Of Houzz award is given in two categories: Customer Satisfaction and Design. Customer Satisfaction honors are determined by a variety of factors, including the number and quality of client reviews a professional received in 2013. Design award winners work was the most popular among the more than 16 million monthly users on Houzz, known as Houzzers, who saved more than 230 million professional images of home interiors and exteriors to their personal ideabooks via the Houzz site, iPad/iPhone app and Android app. Winners will receive a Best Of Houzz 2014 badge on their profiles, showing the Houzz community their commitment to excellence. These badges help homeowners identify popular and top-rated home professionals in every metro area on Houzz.

At The Kingston Group, we pride ourselves in the quality of our work and the client experience, said Ricky Scott, co-owner and partner of The Kingston Group. We are very honored to be recognized as Best Of Houzz for the third year in a row.

Houzz provides homeowners with the most comprehensive view of home building, remodeling and design professionals, empowering them to find and hire the right professional to execute their vision, said Liza Hausman, vice president of community for Houzz. Were delighted to recognize The Kingston Group among our Best Of professionals for both customer satisfaction and design as judged by our community of homeowners and design enthusiasts who are actively remodeling and decorating their homes.

With Houzz, homeowners can identify not only the top-rated professionals like The Kingston Group, but also those whose work matches their own aspirations for their home. Homeowners can also evaluate professionals by contacting them directly on the Houzz platform, asking questions about their work and reviewing their responses to questions from others in the Houzz community.

Follow The Kingston Group at http://www.houzz.com/pro/rick1424/the-kingston-group-remodeling-specialists.

About The Kingston Group The Kingston Group is a residential construction and remodeling firm based in Nashville, Tenn. The company provides custom building, remodeling and community restorations for homeowners and homeowner associations throughout Middle Tennessee. Founded by Ricky Scott and Robbie Edwards in 2007, the company has been recognized by Remodeling Magazines Remodeling 550, Qualified Remodeler Magazines Top 500, Best of Houzz Awards and Nashville Business Journals 2012 and 2013 Small Business Awards. You can find The Kingston Group on Facebook at Facebook.com/BuildKG, on the Web at BuildKG.com or listed as the number one general contractor in Nashville on Houzz.com.

About Houzz Houzz is the leading platform for home remodeling and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish - online or from a mobile device. From decorating a room to building a custom home, Houzz connects millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world. With the largest residential design database in the world and a vibrant community powered by social tools, Houzz is the easiest way for people to get the design inspiration, project advice, product information and professional reviews they need to help turn ideas into reality. For more information, visit http://www.houzz.com.

# # #

See original here:
The Kingston Group of Nashville Receives Best Of Houzz 2014 Award

Last week I introduced you to my latest whole-house client: the Modern Bungalow Project. You can read all about the house and my inspiration for the designs here. I've already shared my plans for the master bedroom and nursery, and today I'd like to show you my dreams for the entryway and living room.

This is an older home, and there are actually two entries. One when you first walk in the front door with a tiny closet and tile floors, and then that opens up into a larger entry with wood floors that welcomes you before you step into the living room.

My fabulous client mentioned a love for wallpaper, and she didn't have to tell me twice! Wallpaper is back. It has been back for years now. There are so many fresh and modern options that anyone can find the perfect pattern for their home.

I was especially inspired by this particular wallpaper. It's modern and whimsical, and would really set the tone for the rest of the home. I know, I know, not everyone likes birds. But for some reason I still love this paper.

I especially love this paper on the ceiling.

I propose we paint the smaller entry a deeper blue, and then the larger entry would be covered in this wallpaper. It would look fantastic from the living room, and make a statement as soon as guests walk in the door.

I also fell in love with this pipeline hall tree. It gives the practicality you need in an entry without the cost of built-ins, yet feels modern and organic.

Then we move on to the living room. This space has a funky layout, so it may not look exactly like the photo below. Basically it's a room full of walkways. It's open to the dining room, has stairs that come down into the living room, is open to the entryway, and has a wall of built-ins surrounding the fireplace. Tricky!

My clients selected this sofa, and I gladly worked around it! I took my color cues from the wallpaper and tried to select durable pieces that were small in scale but comfortable. To start, these mid century green leather chairs. Kids can't ruin them and they'd only get better looking with time.

I liked the organic feel of these block-print drapes in light grey and aqua.

View original post here:
Modern Bungalow Project: entry and living room design plans

When Yellowstone County Attorney Scott Twito has his morning briefing with staff and law enforcement officers, everyone packs into his office or a small conference room on the courthouses seventh floor.

When theres a trial, prosecution witnesses often stand around the pit, a central open area where victim/witness coordinators are located, waiting to be called into the courtroom.

The noisein the pit can getso loud that the coordinators have trouble hearing when they make phone calls, oftento convey sensitive information to victims or witnesses.

They can hardly hear with the sound going on, Twito said.

The footprint of the county attorneys offices has not changed in about 20 years, Twito said, but his department has grownto include more attorneys and staff and a heavier caseload.

Twito said hes desperate for conference rooms for families, victims and meetings.

When deputy attorneys need a conference room, they can either use the small meeting room or bump their boss from his personal office, which has a medium-sized round table. Twito picks up his laptop and clears out.

For times when a big conference room is essential when there are multiple trials or for large staff meetings Twito reserves Room 105 on the first floor. He uses the first-floor room four or five times a month, he said.

'Space wars'

To relieve crowding in the county attorneys offices and to address space needs for several other county offices, the county commissioners are considering a proposal that calls for some courthouse remodeling as well as construction of a new building at MetraPark. The plan is estimated to cost $1.4 million.

Read more here:
County Courthouse renovations planned to ease crowding

Powder Rooms can be dazzling when you create layers of interest, a few tips can help make the most of a small bathroom. (Posted By Normandy Remodeling, Community Contributor / February 4, 2014)

Despite the limited size and elements in a typical powder room, there is plenty of opportunity to impress in these small spaces. A Naperville couple was seeking something with more interest in a light color scheme for their powder room, and worked with Normandy Designer Ann Stockard to achieve their goals. Stockard focused on three design elements to make their desired look a reality: 1. Including texture. The beadboard and tile mosaic make the space more detailed and inviting. 2. Choosing an interesting light fixture. An art deco style light fixture was selected that guests would notice. The fixture draws the eye up, which also helps the powder room seem more spacious. 3. Infusing personality. Powder rooms really serve as an extension of the rooms around it, which is led to the selection of a soft blue paint that is also in the kitchen. However, there is room for flexibility in powder rooms; choosing the green glass tiles gives the room its own personality and adds a hint of sparkle. Industry peers loved the texture and level of functionality in this space, and the powder room recently received a First Place Remodeling Excellence Award from the National Association of the Remodeling Industry, (NARI) Greater Chicagoland.

About Normandy Remodeling Normandy Remodeling is a Design/Build remodeling firm that develops plans and designs and then executes those plans to create a single point of contact for a homeowners remodeling project. Normandy Remodeling has been providing award winning kitchens, baths, renovations and additions to Chicago area clients for over 34 years. Normandy is known for great service, high ethical standards, and exceptional quality of work. Their dedication to their clients has previously earned them the title of Remodeler of the Year by Professional Remodeler Magazine, as well as the distinction of GuildQuality Guildmaster Award 2008 through 2012. Centrally located in Hinsdale, Normandy Remodeling services the entire Chicago Metro area. Normandys headquarters also features an 8,000 sq ft showroom that allows prospective clients to learn more about the renovation process and makes the selections process for existing clients quick and convenient. For more information about Normandy and the other awards and recognition that they have received, visit http://www.NormandyRemodeling.com.

About Ann Stockard With over seventeen years experience in the design industry, Ann has been part of the Normandy design team since 2006. Her professional knowledge and skill, combined with the resources of Normandy Remodeling, provide her clients with unsurpassed customers service and a truly rewarding design/build remodeling experience.

Read the rest here:
Naperville Powder Room Wins Design Award - chicagotribune.com

Published: Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2014, 9:01p.m.

Hampton Township School District officials are discussing a potential large-scale remodeling project at the high school that could cost as much as $10 million.

Administrators and school board members hosted a meeting on Jan. 27 with township residents and two architects from VEBH Architects to discuss ideas for remodeling the school.

We have not made any decisions. We have not spent any money. Even our architect is here pro bono, Superintendent John Hoover said.

During the presentation, Hampton High School Principal Jeff Finch identified areas of concern that administrators identified and upgrades that could improve energy consumption, security or education at the high school, where there currently are 1,098 students enrolled.

The major areas of improvement include relocating the main office and establishing a captured vestibule to direct visitors directly into the main office to increase safety; consolidating all the guidance services in one site; updating the technology infrastructure; alleviating congested hallways; establishing a project-based learning lab to focus on science, technology, engineering, arts and math, or STEAM initiatives; updating the science labs, especially chemistry; and increasing storage for a number of departments. Finch also provided an additional list of areas for improvement.

Tom Durkin and Dan Engen, principals with VEBH, provided a number of architectural options for the various areas of concern to get the board to consider options and generate more questions.

There is a lot to address, so the question is, Where to now?' Durkin said. It might be too soon to talk about numbers; it's very early in the process. The most important aspect of this project is a plan.

Engen said the architects do not yet have all of the information needed to make suggestions for quality solutions.

Durkin said if the school board decides to move forward with exploring the remodeling plan further, administrators and architects first would have to meet with all of the user groups to summarize the educational needs and then develop conceptual studies and alternatives and cost estimates. The administration and school board would have to review that information.

Read more here:
Hampton High School remodeling could benefit learning, safety

Collins Road Theatres in northeast Cedar Rapids will be closed most of next week to install new seating in three of the five movie theaters as well as for additional remodeling.

Bruce Taylor, owner of the 10-year-old, second-run movie complex, said it will be closed from Monday, Feb. 10, through Thursday, Feb. 13. Taylor said certain shows also will be dropped on Sunday evening, Feb. 9, to get a head start on the changes.

The theater will reopen on Friday, Feb. 14.

Taylor said the three auditoriums slated for new seating will have fewer rows to provide at least four inches of extra leg room. He said seating in the remaining two theaters likely will be upgraded in the near future.

Taylor said the new two-tone seats, which have been displayed recently in the theater lobby, have a higher back that the old ones. He said the theater will provide booster seats for young children to help them see the movie screen.

Taylor said the remodeling also will include replacing wall fabric, painting and adding 7.1 sound. The latter system provides more surround sound than 5.1 sound by adding two speakers to the back wall of the auditorium with two more channels of audio.

The upgrades will include new digital processors to handle the 7.1 sound. Taylor said that will allow him to provide descriptive narration of movies for customers who are blind or visually impaired.

We will use the same little radio receivers that we provide to our hearing-impaired customers, Taylor said. We will plug the transmitter into a different output that provides descriptive narration of a movie.

Descriptive narration provides an audio description of what the characters are doing on the screen, visual elements such costumes and facial expressions, and any printed text.

Taylor said the remodeling project will cost around $100,000 to complete.

See the article here:
Collins Road Theatres closed next week for remodeling

The parade of people who rented apartments in an old Crafton house aggravated Chuck Gigliotti, a longtime neighbor who lives across the street. After it became Section 8 housing in 2003, shingles fell off the roof regularly and loose bricks threatened to avalanche from a tall chimney. In 2006, Mr. Gigliotti watched from his home as two dozen police officers and a SWAT team broke down the door and arrested one man.

Finally, in March 2012, he bought the house at 24 Mildred St. for $18,900 and tackled his ninth property. His wife, Lindy, was not thrilled, but Mr. Gigliotti, 56, was ready for another challenge -- rehabbing the worst-looking house on the street. He formed a company called Crafton Redux and hired three Triangle Tech graduates to restore the 1904 house that is a near mirror image of his own. Nearly two years later, they're finished. The four-bedroom, 21/2-bath house is for sale for $220,000.

Mr. Gigliotti has a long history with old houses. At age 19, he joined the local carpenters union. Since 1988, he has been buying houses to remodel and resell. For six years, he was a glazier at Rex Glass in Robinson; for another six he was a self-employed remodeling contractor. Since 2010, he has taught carpentry at Triangle Tech.

Although he has done his share of working on roofs, he had no interest in going up on the high-pitched roof to remove the chimney. So, he cut a 16-inch hole in the wall of a third-floor bedroom and put a ladder through it. Gradually, he and his crew removed bricks, ending up with enough to build a 21/2-foot-wide walkway that parallels the property's upper side.

In the first-floor foyer, living room and dining room, the crew installed 3/4-inch oak floors. They also removed three walls and rebuilt the staircase landing from scratch. A first-floor powder room was installed off the foyer. The project was a carpenter's dream or nightmare, depending on your perspective.

"We made 1,000 feet of wood casings for doorways and 500 feet of baseboards," Mr. Gigliotti said.

A wall divided the living room into two bedrooms. The men removed 100 2-by-4s that held up that wall, creating a 5-foot-high pile of debris. They also built a chute that went out of a living room window. One day when the chute became clogged with debris, Dennis Parr, one of the Triangle Tech grads, stepped in to help.

"I got this, G," he told Mr. Gigliotti.

He took a running start and slid down the chute, holding onto its 2-by-10 railings to stop before landing in the dumpster. The jolt broke up the clog.

Off the living room is a large dining room and a kitchen with new KraftMaid oak cabinets, a breakfast bar and a large granite-topped island with deep twin sinks. A mosaic backsplash made of granite and painted glass tiles matches the tan granite counters flecked with black and gray from Choice Granite in Spring Garden.

View original post here:
Crafton man rehabs worst-looking house on street

Photo via GOOP How does one become a 'lifestyle guru?' Used to be, the process required years of meditation on Mt. Shelter Mag, but with GOOP, her weekly lifestyle newsletter, Gwyneth Paltrow has pioneered a new path to enlightenment: opening up rooms in your lavish estates to brand-heavy rejiggering efforts and self-publishing the results. Earlier this month, we were caught unawares by GOOP's redo of an unidentified "expansive but frill-free space above the garage," which turned out to be a guesthouse in Paltrow's LA home. With her latest remodeling project, Paltrow laid the cards out on the Karl Springer console table right up front, enlisting Room in a Box, the e-decorating service of designer Windsor Smithto whom GOOP ascribes an "understanding for how a living, breathing and modern family (with rambunctious kids) will actually use a space supersedes that of any mere mortal," possibly referencing her fine work in chez Paltrow West Coastto take on the living room in her Amagansett, NY abode. Eager, young disciple, to beat your own path to a higher plane of Paltroesque design savvy? Come, let us learn at the resplendently pedicured feet of a true celebriguru.

Photos via GOOP Here, we spy Paltrow's "troubled" living room, whose true potential had eluded two previous overhauls at Paltrow's own hand. Why, oh why, had this remained "a dead zone in the home, where nobody seemed to spend time?" Could it have been the visual violence wrought by that couch? A chakra imbalance brought on by a slight misalignment of the picture clump beside the piano? All Paltrow knew, aside from the fact that those "adorable" one-seaters deserved a second chance, was that she had to bring in a professional.

Photo via GOOP First off, the piano was moved to the center of the room, as Windsor Smith tells it, to "draw energy into the space." In its place, a Roche Bobois sectional sofa was added, along with a Carol Egan coffee table, chosen to grace this nook with a "contemporary twist," "a subtle sense of weightlessness," and "a lightness to it that reinforces the room's airiness." It's worth noting here that we're dealing with light, air, and weight, the -nesses that form the very foundation of our universe, and all of its interiors great and small.

Photo via GOOP At the other end of the room, more pieces of Bubois sectional were brought in atop a freshly-laid carpet to create a "tempered palette of soft neutrals" that serves as a "low-key backdrop" for Donald Kaufman's Color Field painting, and there you have it, a "modern-day take on the traditional 'salon,'" a shrine to all that is GOOP-worthy under the sun. Regrettably, that loud couch in the space's previous incarnation is now wreaking havoc in the family room, but concerning this one, perhaps GOOP said it best in a one-word caption to a photo of Paltrow enjoying her now space: "Thrilled."

Room In A Box [Goop] How Gwyneth Paltrow's GOOP GOOPs Up a Studio Apartment [Curbed National] All previous Paltrow coverage. [Curbed National]

View original post here:
Adventures in Interior Design: Come, Let's GOOP Around in Gwyneth Paltrow's Living Room

Posted on: 9:40 pm, January 30, 2014, by Heidi Hemmat, updated on: 12:49pm, January 31, 2014

DENVER Dreams of a new kitchen turned into a nightmare for many Colorado homeowners who collectively paid a local contractor hundreds of thousands of dollars, only to see him take the money and run.

The company is called Kitchens 4 Less and Herman Hinojosa, the owner, is suspected of stealing from homeowners who paid large deposits for work that was never completed.

In November, Hinojosa filed for bankruptcy leaving his customers high and dry. He claims hes broke and has no way to finish the jobs he started, but our investigation found Hinojosa is still receiving money from unsuspecting customers.

Arvada resident Christine Wilson lives in the middle of a disaster area. The single moms living room is packed full of what used to be in her kitchen leaving a 5 by 10 space to live in.

This is where we are living. Its awful. We do homework here, we cook here. Wilson said.

She hired Hinojosa last summer to remodel her kitchen and bathroom to make it more accessible for her disabled mother.

According to her invoice, Wilson paid Hinojosa the required $9,000 up front. But days turned into months with no work.

We have an open sewer line in the bathroom. Its been that way for 5 months. I was very much ripped off. Wilson said.

She learned about the bankruptcy when she received a notice saying Hinojosa had filed for Chapter 7. The notice listed dozens of people who told us they collectively paid Hinojosa hundreds of thousands of dollars for remodeling work they never received.

Follow this link:
Contractor accused of taking deposits for remodeling, didnt complete work

How to Build a Post-to-Post Staircase System

Many design options are available for finishing an interior staircase system, but the most basic approach and perhaps the most versatile is the post-to-post, which incorporates a handrail suspended between two newel posts. A number of elaborate trim and finishing options make it possible to use this straightforward approach and exhibit impressive dcor and an architectural elegance without much deviation from the basic design.

How to Make a Closet Pants Rack

Pants can be a pain to hang. They're heavy, bulky and don't always fit the hangers. If you have numerous pairs, you can't just stuff them in a drawer unless it's gigantic. And even if you do cram them into a dresser, they next time you pull them out they're crumpled. There's a better way to store pants using a sturdy dowel rod assembly that holds up to 12 pairs.

Trim Carpentry on Stairs

Staircases are made up of different components. Treads or steps, risers and stringers are common to most of them. The design and placement of all of the above can make stair trim carpentry varied. There are options for creativity and function. Anyone with a miter saw can trim stairs successfully with a few tips.

How to Build a Wall of Shelves With Doors Like a Wardrobe

Wardrobe cabinets typically have tall, or full-length doors from top to bottom. If the height of the wardrobe is more than about 60 inches, the doors can be divided into two sections, one at the top and one at the bottom. Build a solid wall of shelves with the characteristics of a wardrobe using different types of plywood.

How to Create a Tree Stump Table

Okay, you finally got that tree stump pulled. Don't haul it to the landfill or burn it, make an end table instead. If you know you want to make a table but don't have any stumps to pull, scope out the brush piles at new construction sites and get permission to haul one away. Once you have a stump, making a table takes just a few hours of power tool work and a couple of creative decisions.

See the article here:
Interior Remodeling | Building & Remodeling | eHow