Home Builder Developer - Interior Renovation and Design

A swirl of flooring hues at Orlando Regional Medical center cues patients and visitors about directions a trick that can be used in your house. (0Provided by Orlando Health)

As homes go, the place was large: 245 bedrooms and 345,000 square feet. And though it looked and felt like a home in many ways, the new 10-story building I toured last week was really a hospital in disguise a feat of decorating to be sure.

The architects' objective was "to create a home for 245 patients," said the press materials handed to those of us previewing America's newest hospital tower, a $300 million structure at Orlando Regional Medical Center, which will admit its first "overnight guest" Jan. 26.

If imitation is the best form of flattery, then we who care about making homes beautiful, comfortable and nurturing just got a huge compliment.

Everything the designers did to make the large institutional space feel homey, they learned from home designers. They get this universal truth: There's no place like home, especially when you're sick.

"Our biggest design challenge was to make the hospital feel hospitable," said Karen Guindi, the interior designer at the helm of the project, who designed high-end hotels before she began designing hospitals.

So it was with gallows curiosity that I went to see what sleight-of-hand design was used to take the edge off the facts that your bed is a gurney with side rails, that people talk in the hall at all hours and leave the lights on, that everyone who visits you needs to wash their hands, that just when you fall asleep somebody dressed in monochromatic pastels sticks you with needles and messes with your hardware, that you're likely there because you're deathly ill and that down the hall people are routinely being cut open.

It would take more than pretty art, high-definition televisions and a comfy sofa to gloss over that, I thought.

"Our mantra was this is not an institution," said Guindi, who chatted with me in the art-filled lobby after my tour. "It's a healing environment, designed with home, hospitality and nature in mind."

But Guindi also had to bear in mind that the place needed to stand up to heavy traffic and human abuse. You know, all the assaults our homes endure spilled coffee, dirty shoes on nice furniture, face-down pizza only more so.

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Six home design tricks to steal from an unlikely place: Hospitals

Stansbury Park, Utah (PRWEB) January 24, 2015

Conveniently nestled within the heart of the ever-growing community of Stansbury Park, Utah, and just west of the Benson Grist Mill, stands a quaint 1850s pioneer home and granary that havent received much attention until recently. The Coulter Family along with a local contractor performed the hefty, yet rewarding undertaking of remodeling this two-story rock home. The finished project, after eight months of intense labor, is a historic event venue with a remarkably original vintage feel. It has been affectionately re-named the Coulter House. It not only represents the heritage of the Coulter Family itself, but ties generations and families together while celebrating the genealogy of the early settlers of the Tooele Valley. Through the Coulter Familys efforts, this newly restored event venue will continue to stand as a landmark for not only the Tooele Valley, but also for the Stansbury Park community.

The Coulter House is now open and available for all types of events including wedding receptions, family gatherings, community and religious events, consignment for antiques, holiday boutiques, small business incubator, art gallery, business meetings, funerals, art shows, birthday parties, quinceaeras, and various other types of events. A public open house will be held on Friday January 30th from 5 to 8 P.M with refreshments being served. On Saturday, January 31st from 10 A.M. until 2 P.M., a fundraiser will be held for the Stansbury High School FFA Chapter. They will be serving lunch and a $1.00 donation is requested to help support the local FFA Chapter. Additional information can be found by visiting The Coulter House Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/thecoulterhousellc, by visiting the Coulter House website at http://www.coulterhousellc.com, or by calling (435) 840-5587.

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Local Historic 1850s Pioneer Home Converted into Vintage Event Venue

Getting glass kitchen cabinet doors gives an elegant look to your kitchen, and a great way to customize your kitchen attributes in the most cost-effective manner. Remodeling your kitchen does not require you to buy a complete new set of kitchen cabinets anymore. Instead, you can really save up to a lot of your budget with special glass inserts for kitchen cabinet doors. It not only makes you look more organized and fresh, but also helps you keep an easy track of the items in the cabinet, and even show off the unique and expensive ones.

Kitchen cabinets are a great way to hide your kitchen clutter, and help you keep things in the most organized manner. However, over years of wear and tear, the cabinets are the most abused items in the kitchen. If you are planning on renovating the kitchen, the shabby cabinets will need to be one of the first items replaced. But sometimes, you cannot even manage getting all new cabinets as well. The best resort happens to be replacement cabinet doors. These doors come in various styles and custom designs that add a charm to your kitchen without investing any big money on it. The recent and most stylish one happens to be the glass kitchen cabinet doors.

These custom kitchen cabinet doors come with a variety of glass styles and forms. While choosing the glass for kitchen cabinet doors, you need to pick the best quality glass material that has longer durability, and less prone to breakage. Since kitchen cabinets are used in the harshest manner, special care should be taken while making glass kitchen cabinet doors for these. There are etched glasses available in the market, and are quite popular with the custom kitchen cabinet doors. However, more designed the glass is, less see-through it would be, and wouldnt serve the purpose of finding things right away from the kitchen cabinet. So, you need to strike a balance between fashion and functionality.

Another determinant factor for the glass kitchen cabinet doors is the frame that it fits upon. Mostly these are wooden frames, but plastic and metal materials are also available. Whatever be the material, the cabinet frame needs to be of high quality that stays intact with the cabinet for the entire life. A poor quality of frame would cause added strain on the glass inserts causing it to break in no time.

One advantage of using glass inserts for kitchen cabinet doors is the easy see-through functionality. You need to finish off your work quickly, and if you have to spend most of your time in searching things in your cabinet, it is of no use. Using glass for kitchen cabinet doors makes the items in the cabinet highly visible, saving on a lot to time to find one. Moreover, there are things like an expensive crystal glassware set, or a beautiful bone china dinner set that you would love to display to others. Having glass kitchen cabinet doors beautifully adorns and shows off your elements of pride.

Not only are glass kitchen cabinet doors are functional and cost-effective, but also add a stylish charm and versatility to your kitchen interior. These custom kitchen cabinet doors can be an aspect for pride and personality!!

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Replacement Cabinet Doors

One of the best ways to make sure your living room looks and feels inviting is designing a layout and floor plan that works for your space, not against it. The right layout allows you to entertain guests, relax with family, and do activities like watch TV or play games in comfort.

But be aware long, open or square living rooms present different design challenges. What might work for one space doesn't necessarily make sense for another.

Here are the most common design challenges of these living rooms and some smart solutions that make the most of each space.

With two walls longer than the shorter walls at both ends of the space, a long or rectangular-shaped living room can feel narrow and claustrophobic. But with strategic planning, you can make this type of living room feel welcoming and user friendly.

"My living room is actually a long, narrow rectangular space," says designer Abbe Fenimore of Studio Ten 25. "Really think about how you will be using the room. Instead of just putting things in the room to fill the space, find pieces that are both fun to use and help create function."

Photo courtesy of Marysia Rybock

Fenimore believes adding a built-in bar, bookcases, shelving or even a workspace that are similar in style to your furniture can pull the look of a long living room together. Make sure to take note of doors, heaters, outlets and windows before you plan your layout the location of these items can limit furniture placement and be problematic if not considered before final floor plan decisions are made.

What you want to avoid is a long living room that feels like a hallway, says designer Marysia Rybock of ScavulloDesign Interiors. Using narrow furniture will just emphasize the long lines of the room. Go for a sofa with a tailored feel and tight upholstery.

"Using smaller pieces and a variety of them, instead of one sofa and a coffee table, helps the space feel more spacious and unique," says Rybock.

Open living rooms allow for easy entertaining and good traffic flow. But a living room that shares space with an adjoining dining room, family room or kitchen can present challenges for those who want some type of definition for each area.

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Living Room Layouts and Ideas | Home Remodeling - Ideas ...

Ah, the powder room. That whimsical, showoff of a bathroom. Unless of course, its fixtures are frumpy, its style lost in the last century. Here's how to remodel your powder room so you're never afraid to say, "Yes!" when someone asks, "Do you have a restroom I can use?"

Style A powder room, because of its small size, is a great place to take chances with design. You might try an intense color or unusual materials, ones that might overpower a larger room. "You can go really crazy," says Sara Ann Busby, president-elect of the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) and owner of Sara Busby Designs, Elk Rapids, Mich.

Before contacting a bath design professional, give some thought to what style of powder room you prefer. Unsure of your personal style? Yes/No Design: Discover Your Decorating Style With Taste-Revealing Exercises and Examples by Diane Love (Rizzoli International Publications) can help you get a handle on it.

Once you've pinpointed your style, check out some beautiful bathrooms in person. Decorator show houses, kitchen and bath showrooms, and plumbing showrooms provide places to see styles in 3-D, says Jessica Clock, a designer with Carmel Kitchen Specialists Inc. of Carmel, Ind.

Color When auditioning colors for your powder room, beige, tan and sand need not apply. Bold hues like merlot, navy, chocolate and even black work well in this small space. Although conventional decorating wisdom suggests that lighter colors make a small room feel bigger, there's no need for visual tricks here. Embrace the room's small size and go for drama instead. "I love the idea of creating a jewel box. A bathroom doesn't have to be big to be effective," says Randall Whitehead, lighting designer and owner of Randall Whitehead Lighting Designs.

Layout Despite the room's small size, many mechanicals must be included. "You've got big drain lines to get in and obviously the water supply lines," Sara Ann says. "You've got to get ventilation in there and possibly a window and some very specific products that aren't really flexible in size," like a toilet and sink. A professional designer can look at the overall size of the room, take the mechanicals into account, and create a floor plan that maximizes space.

Materials Powder rooms are the perfect place to dabble in materials that are more costly, delicate or require more maintenance because the room needs considerably less material than other bathrooms and receives less traffic. Sara Ann Busby also suggests using materials in unusual ways. For example, she likes to add a twist to stone countertops by creating a jagged edge. The effect is unexpected and gives a natural feel to the bathroom.

Accessories To make a powder room hospitable, accessorize. Add art to walls, arrange small vignettes on the countertops, and provide little luxuries like finely milled soaps and rich lotion for guests to use. The one thing a powder room doesn't need much of is storage. Anything a visitor needs from hand towels to extra toilet tissue should be in plain sight. So put the lights on a dimmer, light a wonderful candle, and the next time someone asks to use the bathroom tell them yes, without hesitation.

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Remodeling Your Powder Room : Home Improvement : DIY Network

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Peak Roofing from Grand Rapids MI plowing snow with his John Deere and Metal Pless Plow.

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Peak Roofing 0001 - Video

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Altuve has always said he believes the Astros are headed in the right direction, but the offseason additions of Pat Neshek and Luke Gregerson to the bullpen and Jed Lowrie, Colby Rasmus, Luis Valbuena and Evan Gattis to the lineup have him feeling especially optimistic for 2015.

"I think we have the team to go to the playoffs this year," Altuve said. "We have to keep working hard and get ready and start the season with a good feel."

Outlook: Altuve is top-notch speed and average source

Jose Altuve hit for a league-leading .341 average to go with 56 stolen bases in 2014 and is expected to put up similar numbers in '15

Altuve joined teammate Alex Presley and former Astros pitcher Brandon Backe during Friday's final day of the annual winter caravan for stops on the island, including a trip to meet a penguin and other wildlife at Moody Gardens. The players also signed autographs and posed for pictures with fans.

"This is a good chance to spend the time with the fans away from the field and try to show people how we are on normal days," Altuve said.

Altuve is coming off a magical year in which he won the American League batting title, leading the Majors with a .341 batting average and a club-record 225 hits, smashing Craig Biggio's previous club record of 210 set in 1998. Altuve had the most hits by a second baseman since Charlie Gehringer had 227 for the Tigers in 1936, and he set the single-season hits record by a Venezuelan-born player. He also posted franchise records for multihit games (69), three-hit games (24) and singles (168), all of which led the Majors.

All that's in the past, though. Altuve is ready to turn his attention to 2015.

"I'm not thinking about numbers," he said. "I think about winning. I think about getting ready and getting to know my teammates, getting together and being on the same page and working hard and playing defense and swinging the bat. And win."

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Altuve: Astros setting sights on playoffs