Our Own “Before and After Bath” Featured in This Old House Magazine

My sons, James and Henry, are rather excited these days…

Yes, it’s Christmas time and they’ve been busy composing their letters to Santa, but that’s not their sole source of passion and pride.

A few days ago we received our copy of This Old House magazine and found a pleasant surprise. On pages 28 and 29 is a full spread of our family bathroom, including a photo of the boys sharing the sink to wash their hands (an image that is not quite accurate, in that brothers at that age are rarely found “happily” sharing the bathroom sink).

Annmarie and I are rather excited too. It’s our second project published in This Old House magazine. Our dining room was featured back in April and being life-long fans of TOH, we are honored to be included in the pages of their publication.

As for our three year old daughter, she’s not at all disappointed. A little birdie told us that a future issue may feature her own bedroom with Charlotte posing solo.

Stay tuned…

Download a PDF of the article here.

New NYC Flagship Store for Waterworks

From Waterworks.com:

Waterworks, known for its’ unrivaled quality and luxurious bath experiences, is moving its New York flagship showroom—set to open early 2010.

Located at East 215 58th Street, around the corner from the famed D&D Building, the two-story, 8,000-square-foot space will feature the brand’s iconic bath fixtures, fittings, surfaces and bath furnishings. The showroom will showcase inspirational vignettes and the essential tools for specifying great bathrooms.

“We are excited for the opportunity to fully update all aspects of our product presentation in support of our amazing New York clients,” said Peter Sallick, Waterworks CEO. “Working with the New York design community has been one of the primary pillars of our business. Making a further investment in this new showroom is a very positive move for Waterworks.”

The layout of the space, designed by the Waterworks design team, will meld luxury and intimacy to reflect the brand’s philosophy of the bath as a personal space of relaxation.

Co-founded in 1978 by Barbara and Robert Sallick, Waterworks is based firmly upon a foundation and commitment to design excellence. Inspired by the rich history of the European bath, Waterworks has brought impeccable style and artisanal quality craftsmanship to the American bathroom. Each product has a story to tell and is created through a unique collaboration involving designers, craftsmen, artisans and manufacturers. Highly regarded as a premier design resource, its exclusive designs now encompass bath and kitchen faucets, surfaces, bathtubs, washstands, accessories, home furnishings and more. Waterworks showrooms can be found in 15 locations across the country.

Quick Drain

From QuickDrainUSA.com:

Quick Drain USA TM stands alone in the construction of today’s showers. Our leading edge is due to our superior construction, design and functionality. Our low profile linear shower drain is clean and unintrusive – the outdated round center shower drain is no longer needed! Our Quick Drain USA TM stainess steel channel slot shower drain can be used with any tile size and can be installed as a channel drain under the shower door or against the shower wall as a linear trench drain.

Quick Drain USA TM is the lowest-profile bathroom and shower linear drain in the world. It is easy to clean and has a very high flow rate. Ease of installation keeps this shower drain in demand by home builders and contractors as well as by discerning homeowners.

Living Well Link of the Week: Quick Drain USA

Pelham Almost Complete

“Move in” day is this Saturday.

Today, the house was filled with busy workers applying final touches to the paint, installing glass in the bathrooms and fitting carpet in the bedrooms. The house is looking absolutely amazing.

I love the modern edge the owners added with lighting, plumbing fixtures and tile.

Check it out for yourselves…

Fivecat Studio: Recent Work 032009

We’ve been super busy in the studio. Here are progress photos of some recent work:

This is a kitchen and bath project we just finished up in White Plains. We also updated the adjacent family room with recessed lighting and a new set of bookshelves.

Sherle Wagner

From SherleWagner.com:

Since 1945, Sherle Wagner International has been recognized world wide as the premier source for luxury hardware and bath accessories. Our product range has expanded significantly over the years, moving beyond the bathroom and embracing the contemporary without departing from appreciation for the classics. Each new line we introduce remains consistent with the high design and fabrication standards that have made us the leader in the industry for over sixty years.

Sherle Wagner International was founded by a man with a passion for perfection and an eye for elegance: a pioneer in realizing that the utilitarian does not have to mean the mundane. Mr. Wagner was, first and foremost, an artist. Sherle Wagner designs maintain a quality of timelessness through an artist’s understanding of an aesthetic that does not pass with the ages.

Because all Sherle Wagner products are originals, made by us from the design inception stage to completion, the results are unparalleled. We use old world artisans and timeless techniques, so that every piece is a true original. The Sherle Wagner name is synonymous with luxury and characterized by fine detail, meticulous finishing and authenticity.

Living Well Link of the Week: Sherle Wagner

Emotile by Ceracasa

In the latest issue of Modern Estate (one of my favorite mags), they feature a very cool new technology. Emotile by Ceracasa uses a CMYK ink jet printing process that applies any chosen image on the surface of porcelain tile.

Think of the possibilities; logos, graphics, patterns, photography.

I am not so sure about living with a pair of 8′ tall feet on my bathroom wall, but the limitless opportunity for creativity is amazing.

Living Well Link of the Week: Emotile by Ceracasa

Invest in Your Nest

A few weeks back Lawrence Lanahan called. He was writing an article for the annual real estate issue of Westchester Magazine. (By the way… check out their new website. It looks great.)

I received my issue yesterday.

I don’t think this article could be better timed. With real estate in a slump, the stock market riding the dragon coaster and our nation’s banks playing musical chairs, there is no better time to invest your money in your own home.

You’ll never lose with a kitchen renovation, or that kid-friendly family room you’ve been dreaming about for years. Maybe a new master bedroom suite, so when the kids are in the family room, you can escape to your own private quiet space. Give yourself a spa-like master bath with warm radiant floors, a steam shower and an air-jet therapy tub. You’ll never think about the stock market again.

And when our financial world returns to normal (and it always does), cash in and reap the rewards of investing at home.

From Westchester Magazine:

Let’s get the bad news out of the way: Sales of single-family homes in Westchester decreased 26.7 percent between the second quarter of 2007 and the second quarter of 2008, according to the Westchester-Putnam Multiple Listing Service (WPMLS). As if that’s not disheartening enough, the median price (that is, the mid-point of all reported sales) of a single-family home also dropped in the same period, from $700,000 to $674,900. And inventory is up 10.6 percent—that’s 443 houses on the market that weren’t there a year earlier.

If you were hoping to sell but decided to wait for a rebound, you might be staying put for a while. Even the rosiest prognostications say we’ve got a long way to go; there are simply too many factors at work, all tunneling into market stability like termites. The Westchester County Board of Realtors in a recent newsletter proclaimed that “foreclosures, mortgage interest rates, credit availability, unemployment, the Manhattan real estate market…are not radiating wellness.”

Well, “not radiating wellness” is one way to put it. Might as well come right out and say it: real estate-wise, life is giving you lemons. And when that happens, you renovate the kitchen in which you make your lemonade. The fact is, whether you’re planning to sell or stay, experts say it makes sense to invest in your abode. “When things get tough, instead of selling and buying a different house, homeowners do upgrades,” declares Mark LePage, president of residential architecture firm Fivecat Studio in Pleasantville. “It is great for resale.”

Read more.

Kitchen & Bath Portfolio 2008

From Architectural Record:

Central to the function and vitality of every home, kitchens and baths are also hubs of creative energy in the latest residential interior design—as shown by our annual picks, each of which bends the “rules” with an ingenious twist of spatial relationships and/or use of materials.

Living Well Link of the Week: Kitchen & Bath Portfolio 2008

Kitchen/Bath Industry Show

Susan Serra, The Kitchen Designer, is in Chicago this week for the Kitchen/Bath Industry Show (KBIS). Check out her first post here. Then follow the links at the top of each page to read all about her adventures in Chitown.

One of Susan’s cool finds is this new refrigerator drawer from Fisher Paykel. It’s a single drawer. That’s tough to find. Most cold drawers are offered in pairs. And that’s just the beginning of why its so cool. Flip a switch and it converts to a freezer. Flip again and its a pantry (53 degrees). Flip again and its a perfect place for your evening’s wine selection.

Thanks for your annual KBIS report Susan. Great job!