Part Two: Kitchen Design

So as you can see from the pictures below we are in the middle of the kitchen renovation; whats been accomplished so far is we purchased new appliances, had our faux artist paint the existing cabinets white and had our carpenter custom build an island.  

The Island will be painted a light blue and have a honed black granite on top.

Stacked Stone Makes Your Fireplace Pop...

We are currently working on two clients fireplaces using stacked stone.

Here are some inspiration pictures below.

Whats Cooking?

The Start of Clients Kitchen Makeover

Back in December we started working on a clients kitchen design. Below are some pictures of the kitchen when we started.

The cabinets and desk area to the left will be removed in order for our carpenter to custom build an island that can seat seven.

Below are the 3D images of the new kitchen concept.

The idea was to paint the existing cabinets white, change the hardware and appliances, add granite countertops and custom build an island.

Below is a sneak peak of when construction started three weeks ago. As you can see the cabinet, bar area, and desk were all removed which opens up the kitchen to the family room.

By removing the cabinet they had to remove part of a wall as well which needed drywall repair. 

All together the demo and rebuild of the wall only took two days, after that our faux painter Max with Meridian Studios came in to paint the cabinets. We will show those pictures later.

Did I mention that in removing the cabinets that were there our carpenter had to make a wood floor repair in the middle of the room matching the brazilian cherry floors that the homeowner currently had. 

We will be posting the before and after pictures of the paint tomorrow. Check back to see our progress.

Great Superbowl Party Ideas

The Essentials

Super Bowl XLV, in which the Green Bay Packers defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers, was the most watched American TV show in history. The February 6th averaged 111 million viewers, which surpassed the previous record of 106.5 million set in 2010 by Super Bowl XLIV, which broke the record of 105.9 million, set in February 1983 by the final episode of "M*A*S*H".So this event has definitely become an unofficial American holiday with reason to party. When planning a Super Bowl party, you’ll need to make sure food is provided, as well as side-entertainment for when the game draws out too long for the average attention span. And of course, you need to deck your place with appropriate colors, either with both teams as featured decorations, or if your partial to one, your teams colors. Super Bowl parties aren't just to watch the game, but to actually “party” which is usually why people watch these games together.

Food

Food may be the most important thing at a Super Bowl party, besides the Super Bowl, so you want to make sure it’s good. Here are some common dishes that you can make before the big game.

Chips and Dip:

1 pound ground beef

1 cup of shredded cheese

1 small onion, diced

1 medium tomato, diced

1 package of tortilla chips (16 oz)

1 fresh jalapeno pepper, sliced

1/2 cup of the salsa of your choice (Pace, Tostitos, On The Border)

Directions:

1) Brown the beef in a frying pan on medium heat along with the onion, adding salt and pepper to season.

2) Place chips on a platter underneath half the cheese, place the beef, then the rest of the cheese. Microwave it until cheese is melted then serve with salsa on the side.

Buffalo Wings:

24 chicken wings   

2 cups of canola oil

1 teaspoon of garlic powder 

2 teaspoons of white wine vinegar 

2 tablespoons of butter

Hot Sauce

Directions:

1) You chop off the tips of the chicken wings and throw them away, then split the wings at the joint to get a drumette and a double-bone. Heat the oil to 375 degrees. When the temperature reaches 375, add the chicken, making sure it’s fully submerged. You cook these in batches. Once they’re golden brown and floating, they’re ready.

2) In a saucepan, add the butter, hot sauce, white wine vinegar, and garlic powder and cook until all is blended and butter is melted.

3) Combine the chicken and hot sauce mixture in a bowl and toss until all the chicken is coated. Serve with blue cheese dressing and celery sticks on the side.

These are classic dishes that are common to Super Bowl parties. If you’ve never prepared these items before and instead store-bought everything, try doing this instead. Homemade dishes are usually better than store-bought.

Entertainment:

Even though the game is the main-feature, it can sometimes drag on, especially if your team isn’t winning. So it’s good to have extra entertainment provided for your guests.

Fantasy Game:

Along with doing the classic betting grid game, you could have your guests write down on a piece of paper who they think will win the game. Below that, have them write who will be the MVP, and then have them write down the score. Have each guest playing put in a dollar and the top three who have the closest answers would receive the prizes. Third place would receive 25% of the money, second place would get 35% and 1st place would get 40%. Of course, if not into betting, you could offer other prizes.

Commercial Rating:

There are many who watch the Super Bowl just for the commercials. This would get them involved if they aren’t that into sports. Simply have each guest rate the commercials and at the end compile all the votes and decide the best by popular opinion.

Decorations:

As far as decorations are concerned, there’s no need to be fancy when it comes to the Super Bowl theme. If you have classic art or cultured fixtures in your home, you might want to take them down as this isn’t meant to be a classy party.

Instead of serving dishes on an elegant silver tray, serve them on a Boston Warehouse Touchdown Tray. Totally un-posh, and uninspiring as far as class is concerned, but it does make a good tray and it looks like a football field. You can also serve your chili in these not so luxurious chili bowls that make it seem like your eating right out of a football! Second to actually eating out of a football.

Put away that antique Persian rug, and let people find their way to the party with a rug that mimics the green turf on the screen. And adorn your table with a football field tablecloth. Even though it may not be as fashionable as your Bombay pintuck tablecloth, you’ll at least know how many yards it’ll take for you to get the ketchup.

This can be a fun Super Bowl party for adults and kids alike. You can always add your own twists to any of the suggestions made to make it more personal. But remember, the most important thing in a Super Bowl party is that you get to spend time with friends and family. Don’t you know? That’s why the Super Bowl was created!

The Million Dollar Question

Yes, that is the million dollar question.  People say this to me all the time:  “I have this old sofa that belonged to my [mother, grandmother, etc.] and I was thinking of reupholstering it.  What do you think?”

Well, here’s what I know.  Reupholstering is a labor intensive process which can be expensive so there are a few things you should consider before deciding whether to reupholster a piece of furniture:

• How old is the piece?  If it’s a family heirloom or an antique, it may be worth it to have it reupholstered.
• How well is it constructed?  Is it sturdy or rickety, is it made of hardwood or softwood, is it screwed and glued or just nailed together?  Repairing the frame will add to the cost, and if it was a poorly made, cheap sofa to begin with, it is not worth it to reupholster it.
• If it has exposed wood, what kind of shape is it in?  Again, repairing or re-staining the wood will increase the cost.
• Does the piece have interesting design features (carved wood, interesting shape or details)?

If the piece is a treasured family heirloom, that has great sentimental value, and it’s well made and in good physical condition, it’s probably worth it but there are still some more things to think about:

• The average sofa takes at least 15 yards of fabric.  A good quality upholstery fabric usually starts at about $60 per yard so the fabric alone will cost you $900.00 before the actual labour to do the reupholstery.
• An older sofa, even if it is well made and in good condition, will likely need some new foam, padding, or springs so that will also add to the labour cost.

Now I know you've probably heard designers on TV or in magazines talk about buying fabric for $15 a yard and reupholstering a garage sale find for next to nothing.  When I talk about reupholstering a piece of furniture, I’m mainly talking about a sofa or an armchair and there is a difference between recovering a cushion and completely reupholstering.  Re upholstery almost always involves replacing foam and repairing or replacing springs.  Unless you are really talented, full scale upholstery is best left to the professionals, but it’s pretty easy to recover a small ottoman or a chair with an inexpensive piece of fabric and a little effort.

Very often re-upholstery will cost you about what a new sofa or chair would cost because with new padding, etc., you are essentially getting a new piece of furniture, so it’s important to weigh out all the pros and cons before going ahead.

Going Green

Artificial Grass  

Currently I am working on a design for a clients patio/ pool area. 

My thoughts are to use artificial grass along with travertine stone in a diamond pattern like below. 

What I like about the artificial grass is how little maintenance it requires, no watering, cutting or fertilizing, just always perfect. 

Valentines Day Giveaway

Morrone Interiors is excited to announce our Valentines Giveaway, a contemporary and stylish mirror from Basset Mirror Company.With its unique design, combining traditional elegance and modern accents, this piece is sure to update the look and feel of your home. It is 24" x 34" in size.

Here's how to enter: 

-Follow us on our blog. http://morroneinteriors.blogspot.com/

-Publish a comment on where this mirror would look best in your home.

-Tweet or Facebook this post on Twitter or Facebook for an extra entry(Please comment with the link)

-Sit tight and wait to see if you're the lucky winner 

The giveaway event for this beautiful mirror will be open from January 12th until February 12th after which a winner will be selected at random and notified by email, accordingly.This giveaway is limited to participants in the Central Florida area. If we are unable to contact the randomly selected winner due to an invalid email address, an alternative winner will be randomly selected. Good luck!

Islands That Inspire

PAINTED KITCHEN ISLANDS

Currently we are working with a client to transform her standard builder kitchen to a custom kitchen by adding an island.

Here's a quick round-up of some painted islands that inspired us:

Cocoa Beach Condo Start to Finish

In the fall of 2010 we started designing and project managing a condo in Cocoa Beach that needed a little love to say the least.

The above photo is the view of the dining room and what would become the kitchen.  We tore down the wall that you see in order to make an open kitchen. 

This is the after picture once the wall was removed and our guys installed new drywall on the back wall in order to turn what was once the den into a third bedroom. They also built a breakfast bar.

This is the kitchen after but prior to the ceiling light being installed. We used a shaker style white cabinet and Kashmir White Granite to give a clean transitional look.  

This is the ceiling light before. (Beautiful right?)

We would have loved to remove the drop ceiling but we couldn't do to the A/C in the condo. So we opened up the ceiling as much as possible and created a forty-five degree angle. Our electrician installed six recessed lights to give a lot of lighting to what was once a pretty dark space. 

This is after the light went in. Now just a subway tile backsplash to go. :-)

This lovely space was well honestly I am not sure, all I know is it had potential.  Since it was leading into the master bedroom I thought how great would it be to make this a coffee bar for the homeowners to enjoy. 

Here is the coffee bar after. We continued the white shaker cabinets and the Kashmir white granite on the coffee bar and also both bathrooms. 

Here is another view of how beautiful the before was on the coffee bar.

Another view of the after.

Notice that the master bathroom was missing not only tile,  but drywall and a ceiling. Out with the old and in with the new.

We used a white subway tile on the walls and a white beehive one the floors.  All of the plumbing fixtures were replaced as well. 

We had our glass company who might I say are amazing to install a frameless glass enclosure.  I also want to point out the glass tile used in the shower. I love that the blues and greens in the tile as it really picks up the colors of the ocean outside.

The master bedroom. Okay my first thoughts when I saw this room was why did whomever tile a frame around the slider verses using casing..... Anyways it wasn't a pretty site.

The after creates a retreat for the homeowners to enjoy. 

Look into the living room. Notice this door was framed in tile too. 

This is a view of the dining room. I love the look of the wainscoting on the back wall. Our guys built a shelf so that we could showcase artwork on top. 

From floor to ceiling our team installed porcelain tile floors, repaired all of the drywall, selected all of the furniture accessories and window treatments.

This is a view to the long hallway leading to the front door, notice the right is open; that area is the den that became the third bedroom. 

This is that hall after.  Our electrician added recessed cans while our team installed the tile floor and the wainscoting.