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. 

Where to Wear Your Crown

Check out the after pictures from one of our amazing clients crown molding project. 

On this project our client started out with all white walls and vaulted ceilings, they wanted a warmer more traditional feel to their home. One of the ways we achieved this is by hanging the crown molding at the height of the lowest part of the ceiling which was 8' and continuing it at that height all the way around the room. 
By doing this visually it creates the look of a warmer, cozier room.  

The paint colors that were used on this project were: 
Bottom: Restoration Hardwares Slate 
Top: Restoration Hardwares Stone

Christmas Recipes to Die For....

Looking for some unique and interesting recipes for Christmas? Planning to make your Christmas dinner different and more special this time? Then look no further we put our favorite Christmas recipes in this blog. Here we have brought you some delicious Christmas recipes and menu ideas for the festive season.

Poinsettia Punch

Ingredients 

• 1 (750-milliliter) bottle Champagne, chilled 
• 3 cups cranberry-apple juice, chilled
• 1/4 cup thawed white grape juice concentrate
• 1/4 cup orange liqueur
• 

Preparation

1. Stir together all ingredients in a 2-quart pitcher.
2. Serve in Champagne flutes. (Decorate serving tray with fresh cranberries, if desired.)
3. 
   

Melting Snowmen Cookie Balls

Ingredients 

1 pkg. (8 oz.) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

24   NUTTER BUTTER Cookies, finely crushed (about 3 cups)

2 pkg. (6 squares each) BAKER'S White Chocolate, melted

1/4 cup  PLANTERS Creamy Peanut Butter

48 Mini OREO Bite Size Cookies

2 Tbsp.  decorating icing

Preparation

Mix cream cheese and cookie crumbs until well blended. 
Shape into 48 (1-inch) balls; place in single layer in shallow pan. Freeze 10 min. Mix chocolate and peanut butter until well blended. Dip balls in chocolate mixture; place in shallow waxed paper-lined pan, allowing excess chocolate to pool at bottom of each ball. Decorate with remaining ingredients as shown in photo. 
Refrigerate 1 hour or until firm. Keep refrigerated.

Chocolate-Peanut Butter Cupcakes  

Ingredients

1 pkg. (2-layer size) devil's food cake mix

1 pkg.  (3.4 oz.) JELL-O Vanilla Flavor Instant Pudding

1 cup cold milk

1/2 cup  PLANTERS Creamy Peanut Butter

1-1/2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping

4 squares  BAKER'S Semi-Sweet Chocolate

1/4 cup PLANTERS Dry Roasted Peanuts, chopped 

Preparation

Heat oven to 350°F.

Prepare cake batter and bake in 24 paper-lined muffin cups as directed on package. Cool 30 min. (Cupcakes need to still be warm to fill.)

Beat pudding mix and milk with whisk 2 min. Add peanut butter; mix well. Spoon into small freezer-weight resealable plastic bag; seal bag. Snip off 1 bottom corner from bottom of bag. Insert tip of bag into center of each cupcake; pipe in about 1 Tbsp. filling.

Microwave Cool Whip and chocolate in small microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 min. or until chocolate is melted and mixture is well blended, stirring after 1 min. Dip tops of cupcakes in glaze; sprinkle with nuts. Keep refrigerated.

Holiday Cheese Truffles

Ingredents 

2 pkg. (8 oz. each) PHILADELPHIA Cream Cheese, softened

1 pkg.  (8 oz.) KRAFT Shredded Sharp Cheddar Cheese

1 tsp. garlic powder

Dash  ground red pepper (cayenne)

1/4 cup chopped roasted red peppers

2   green onions, sliced

1-2/3 cups chopped PLANTERS Pecans

SOCIABLES Crackers

Preparation

Beat first 4 ingredients with mixer until blended. Divide in half. Add peppers to half, and onions to remaining half; mix each until blended.

Refrigerate several hours or until chilled.

Shape each mixture into 24 (1-inch balls); roll in nuts. Serve with crackers.

Chorizo and Cranberry Stuffing 

Ingredients

2 pkg. (6 oz. each) STOVE TOP Stuffing Mix for Chicken

1/2 lb.  chorizo, cooked, drained

1/2 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup  chopped cilantro

Preparation

Prepare stuffing mixes in large saucepan as directed on package.

Stir in remaining ingredients.

Glazed Ham with Dijon-Pineapple Sauce

Ingredients

1 cup packed dark brown sugar

1/2 cup  maple-flavored or pancake syrup

1/4 cup GREY POUPON Dijon Mustard

1 whole  fully cooked boneless ham (5 lb.)

Whole cloves

12   maraschino cherries, halved

1 Tbsp. cornstarch

1 can  (20 oz.) crushed pineapple in juice, undrained

Preparation

Heat oven to 350°F.

Mix sugar, syrup and mustard until well blended. Use paring knife to make shallow even diagonal cuts across top of ham in one direction. Repeat, making slits in opposite direction to form diamond shapes.

Insert cloves where cuts meet. Place ham on rack in shallow pan. Place cherries, cut-sides down, on surface of ham.

Bake 2 hours or until ham is heated through, brushing occasionally with 1/2 cup syrup mixture after 1-1/2 hours. About 10 min. before ham is done, mix remaining syrup mixture with cornstarch and pineapple in saucepan; bring to boil on medium-high heat, stirring constantly. Cook and stir on medium-low heat 5 min. or until thickened.

Slice ham. Serve with sauce.

So From Our Families to Yours, We wish you Happy Holidays and Great New Year !

  

                                                            

The Top 10 Must Have Holiday Gifts

1. Apple IPad 2 

It's all about the apps, folks. While the Galaxy Tab 10.1 rivals the razor-thin iPad 2 in terms of build quality, Apple has maintained a wide lead in app selection. With 140,000 to choose from, the iPad 2 has become a veritable Swiss Army Knife, and even if you think Android's catalog is vast enough, many developers still write for iOS before they ever turn their attention to Honeycomb. Until Google's ecosystem can match Apple's, this remains the tablet to beat.

2.Amazon Kindle Fire

Hear that? That was the sound of other Android tablet makers taking a big gulp. Though it undercuts its competitors by at least $100, the Fire still manages to offer a high-quality IPS display and a (heavily skinned) version of Android that covers the basics -- email, web surfing, watching movies. What's more, it's closely tied to Amazon's vast empire of books, movies and MP3s, giving it a tighter ecosystem than what most other Android tabs have to offer. Sure, it lacks a camera and anything that qualifies as beefy storage, but with a price that tempting, its value is undeniable.

3.LeapFrog LeapPad Learning Tablet

The LeapPad Explorer Learning Tablet from LeapFrog is an electronic educational gaming system for children aged 4 to 9. It features over 100 activities for young minds in the form of cartridge games, applications, videos, digital books, flash cards, and downloadable content. Parents are given the ability to monitor their children's learning progress, and children find the games to be fun and engaging.

4.Nikon D7000

Nikon's 16 megapixel D7000 has landed into the world of officialdom with a bang, bringing with it an almighty 39-point autofocus system, 100 percent viewfinder coverage, 1080/24p and 720/30p video options, dual SD card slots, 6fps burst mode for up to 100 shots, and magnesium alloy top and back covers for that extra bit of metalized durability. The continuous video autofocus that debuted in the D3100 is here too, though bear in mind there's a 20 minute cap on uninterrupted recordings. 

5.Wizgloves

Wizgloves let you keep your hands warm while you keep in touch with your device. Wizgloves interacts with your touch screen devices, including iPod Touch, iPhone, iPad and other touch sensitive digital devices.

6. Roku 2 XS

Thanks to a varied range of content offerings--including Netflix, Amazon, Hulu Plus, Crackle, and Pandora--that beats the Apple TV, the Roku 2 XS is the best all-around streaming-media box you can get for less than $100

7. Sony RDP-X500iP speaker dock for IPad or Iphone

Sony's churned out plenty of speaker docks for the smaller iDevices out there, but until now, it hadn't given the largest Apple handheld any love. It's a little late to the party, but the company finally jumped on the iPad bandwagon with its latest RDP-X500iP speaker dock. Sporting a built in subwoofer, magnetic fluid speakers and Sony's Clear Phase DSP sonic technology, this little gem purportedly packs a pretty good bass punch while delivering quality audio.

8.Samsung BD-D5700 Blu-ray player

Sure, it may be 2011, but not everyone owns a Blu-ray player. Or perhaps they need one in another room, or a new model with access to additional entertainment like Netflix streaming. Samsung's BD-D5700 also includes access to the Samsung App portal with a slew of internet content to play, plus compatibility with local media in AVI, MKV, WMV formats, among others.

9.Sony PlayStation 3 Slim Move Bundle (320GB)

 The PS3 Slim Move Bundle is not only an excellent value, but offers an impressive amount of storage space, too. And because the PS3 is such a great media hub, we recommend all the hard-drive space you can get.

10.Animal Planet Air Swimmers

The Air Swimmers are large, helium filled versions of aquatic animals. Currently they come in two varieties, the Air Swimmers Shark and the Air Swimmers Clown Fish. The Air Swimmers have fins and tails that move so fluidly that it's almost like watching an actual fish swimming around in water.