SINK Your Teeth into This

Before we dive into this weeks post I wanted to say a HUGE thank you to all of you who took the time to vote for The Cow Spot for apartment therapy's Homie award. TCS didn't win, but I was so excited/honored by how many people voted! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

I play favorites a lot in my life. I have a favorite number (14), a favorite color (Blue), a favorite food (cheese dip of course), a favorite sister (Candace) and a favorite sink. Yes, you read that right - favorite SINK. While a plumbing fixture might seem like an odd thing to have strong feelings about, let me tell ya - this sink is different. It is not only aesthetically pleasing but it is extremely durable. I think we can all agree aesthetics and durability are uber relevant when it comes to one of the most used items in the kitchen.  So, let's get to it.... I'm watching the Grammy's while writing this post so we're going to play it like this.....

The award for Courtney's favorite sink goes to........

Blanco's Silgranit Sinks

Not only do Silgranit sinks come in a slew of different shapes, sizes and colors but they are near indestructible. When you think of all the abuse a kitchen sink takes on a daily basis, it's easy to see why a sink that is heat resistant, scratch resistant, acid resistant, and stain resistant would be desirable.

Silgranit is a quartz material made of 80% granite with the look and feel of real stone without the maintenance. Blanco's Silgranit sinks offer an advanced surface technology that ensures the sinks are easy-to-clean and extremely hygienic AND because these sinks are man-made they are non-porous which means staining is not an issue. It's a sad day when you've helped someone design their dream kitchen, see it all come together and then WHAM, as soon as they start actually living in the kitchen, things get scratched, stained, faded, etc...Blanco has gone to great lengths to ensure that their sinks hold up to even your toughest or dumbest sink interactions. I say dumbest because I've been known to pour some pretty ridiculous things down a kitchen sink (white oil based paint......OYYY.)

So many times "durable" options mean you sacrifice the pretty factor. I mean, you can cover your couch with a plastic slip cover to protect it but....GAG. The best part about the Silgranit line is not only do they have our best interest at heart regarding durability, but they understand we need our sinks to be beautiful and they understand one sink doesn't fit all so we need options. There are 23 different shapes to choose from, so whether you prefer a double bowl sink, a single bowl sink, a bar sink, etc...they've got ya covered.

Their sinks come in seven different colors including.....

Color - Anthracite

I used the exact sink pictured above in a kitchen remodel I did in Chattanooga. The curved back of the sink looks really cool when installed. The countertop (in this kitchen's case granite) follows the curve of the sink, creating a pop of interest. The anthracite color is really sharp and offers a nice contrast with lighter colored countertops.




Color - Metallic Gray

The metallic gray finish is a nice option if you like the stainless look. This color will be more matte than stainless steel, but tonally it's in the same family. The home owner's at my #Northcliff project are considering using this finish for their wet bar sink.

Color - Truffle 

This is the exact sink we are using at my #Stonemountain project. It's a nice deep sink, again with the slight curve at the back. The color is Silgranit's newest addition - truffle. It's such a warm sophisticated color.

Other colors include: White, Bisque, Cafe' Brown and Biscotti.

I was reminded of my sink love recently when I found myself specifying and advising some clients (#northcliff & #stonemountain) on their prospective kitchen sink purchases. As I was telling each of these clients about the benefits of Silgranit it occurred to me that I too will be needing a kitchen sink for my kitchen remodel. Would I be putting my money where my mouth is regarding my love for these sinks? After about 5 seconds of deliberation I decided the answer was YES! Brent and I will choose one of these sinks for our own space. I'm not sure what color or shape as of now, but I do know that a product this durable with a plethora of enticing shapes and colors is definitely the product for me and my kitchen!

For more info on Blanco Silgranit sinks check out their website here.

All photos are from google search.

Spotted - 2013 Homie Award Nominee

Exciting news!

The Cow Spot Blog has been nominated for a Homie Award for Best Home Design and Inspiration Blog through apartment therapy.

If you have a minute please follow this link and vote!

If you already have an apartment therapy account: You can vote by scrolling down until you see the The Cow Spot Blog.

If you don't have an apartment therapy account: You can click here to sign up. It's easy and free and the site is full of all kinds of interesting info that you can enjoy. Once you've signed up, scroll down, find The Cow Spot Blog and vote!

As I've said many times before, this blog has become a part of me, one of the bright spots in my week and a true creative outlet for me. To be nominated for an award like this is an honor and I'm so grateful!

Voting ends this Friday, February 8th at midnight EST. I'm a bit behind since I just found out, so please VOTE, VOTE, VOTE - tell your friends and help The ol' Cow Spot WIN!

Thank you MOOcho!


photo from apartment therapy's website.

You May Get Dusty Just Reading This Post

Sheetrock dust is serious stuff. I would know because I've been covered in it for over a month. I find it everywhere; on my clothes, in my hair, it's even on the floor mats of my car. The one redeeming quality sheetrock dust has however, is that where there is dust, there is progress. It seems projects typically get really ugly before they get really pretty. Like most people, projects go through that "awkward stage"... the human equivalent of having braces, massive bangs, glasses, acne, etc...My house is no exception. For a few weeks our house was that kid who ate glue, a work in progress, but in shambles. To say we've been busy since my last new house post would be the understatement of the year. Truly, it's only February 4th so that's possible right?  Anyways, we've been busy and we are slowly but surely inching our way towards a finished product.

In true Brent & Courtney fashion a mere 5 days after closing on the house we began renovations.

Brent, his Dad and his brother Scott got things started with a little demolition. First thing on the agenda was to remove the wall that separated the kitchen and the dining room.

This wall ....

                             

Things got messy real fast. The next day my parents and I showed up just in time to finish off the wall.

I even got in on the action. I figure there's no point in having huge muscles if you're not gonna put them to good use.

And finally: BOOM - wall demolished!

With the wall gone the space really opened up, but we had one more major change we wanted to make that would give us additional kitchen space.

Our new kitchen layout called for us to remove this exterior door. The door was kind of random and lead to a small concrete pad on the side of the house.

While the concrete pad was fine, it really offered nothing in terms of function and the door took up valuable real estate within the kitchen so it had to go.

Back inside the house we decided to remove the plaster walls inside the kitchen.

Removing the existing cabinetry had revealed holes in the wall that needed to be patched. Upon discussions of what would be best for the project we decided to go ahead and remove the interior walls for multiple reasons:

1. To create a smooth surface.
2. To replace the old cloth wiring. 
3. To add insulation (which most houses built in this time do not have).

The issue with removing the walls was that the existing walls are plaster while the new walls would be sheetrock. The challenge we faced was the varying depths of the walls where sheetrock met plaster. To be honest if we had to blend the walls we may not of taken on this challenge, but since the transition between plaster and sheetrock would be covered with new cabinetry the varying depths became a non-issue.

Luke tried to help mop up the dust with his fur!

This is what he looked like when we left.....

 .....JUST KIDDING! 

The space looked something like this when we left it yesterday. We cleaned (massive dust piles) and got everything ready for the floor guys to begin re-finishing the downstairs hardwoods this morning!

All photos are my own.

2013 Cathedral Inspiration House

 Thursday night I was invited to the Press party for the 2013 Inspiration House where I had the opportunity to meet the designers and take a peek at the rooms. I was invited as press for The Cow Spot Blog which was cool in and of itself. I really enjoyed my time and loved speaking with the designers about their vision while touring their respective rooms.

I've been to a lot of show houses, but this one was special. I'm attributing the warm and fuzzy feeling this house gave me to the designers. Like so many show houses, each room was furnished and designed by a different designer or design firm. Most were uber enthusiastic,and eager to talk about their spaces - the decorative concepts, decorative items and the overall vision. Many had cool stories to share about certain items in the space and a few told me they did some of the painting and final touches themselves to ensure everything turned out just right.

Here are a few snippets I took on Thursday to tide you over until you can see this beautiful house in person.

Boardroom

Designed by Jennifer Reiner & Robert White of Reiner/White Design Studio.

This room is filled with personality. Most items in this space came with a story including the dramatic chandeliers.

Boardroom

Designed by Jennifer Reiner & Robert White of Reiner/White Design Studio.

The chandeliers were actually existing elements in the space. The designers jazzed them up with Hollywood bulbs and draped them in crystals creating fabulous statement pieces.

Boardroom
Designed by Jennifer Reiner & Robert White of Reiner/White Design Studio.

I loved the resourcefulness the designers brought to this space, for example the curtains shown above we're from Ikea and the chains were from Home Depot and painted.

Kitchen
Designed by Eric & Jenny Rothman and WarnerMcConaughey of HammerSmith.

This is the downstairs Kitchen. It's a small space that was completely transformed with the addition of the barreled ceiling beams. The cabinets add an additional layer of interest to the space in addition to the cool floor detail.

Kitchen
Designed by Eric & Jenny Rothman and Warner McConaughey of HammerSmith.

Here's another shot of the kitchen. How cool are the nail heads on the wall?

Library

Designed by Summer Loftin of Summer Loftin Antiques.

This was a really fun room and one of the the first I toured upon entering the house. This space is the gentleman's study and was filled with taxidermy. There was a giraffe, a bear (seen above) and a monkey to name a few. The designer explained she didn't want to do your typical gentleman's study and instead wanted to create a hunting lodge feel. The walls were painted and stenciled by the designer herself, she even added her logo in the center of each stencil. This designer was full of enthusiasm and layered the space with interest.

Let's go upstairs.....

Apartment Entry & Stairs

Designed by Dayka Robinson of Dayka Robinson Designs.

Put your sunglasses on - this staircase was bright! I've never seen a staircase like this. It was funky and bright and made you want to continue up the stairs to see more.

Apartment Living Room.

Designed by: Bryan A. Kirkland of Bryan Alan Kirkland Designs.

This happy room was in the upstairs apartment. It was so chic and eclectic with a funky vibe. The designer said the wallpaper was the first element chosen and everything else came together around it.

I hope you enjoyed your sneak peek at some of the rooms. This show house truly has a layer of detail and consideration that made me run, not walk, home to start writing this post. I hope you will find time to check it out, you are sure to be inspired!

Details:

Sunday, January 27th (yesterday - sorry!)
Thursday, January 31st
Friday, February 1st
Saturday, February 2nd
Sunday, February 3rd
Thursday, February 7th
Friday, February 8th
Saturday, February 9th
Sunday, February 10th

11:00 A.M. - 5 P.M. All days.

The beneficiary of this years event is - Refugee Family Services.

For info check out the 2013 Inspiration House website here.


All photos are my own. 

Introducing a Resolution

Yes, I do realize we are 24 days into the new year and New Year resolutions are SO 3 weeks ago, but I've been deciding if I even want to set any. To be honest, I don't really buy into the whole new years "thing." I never remember to eat the black eyed peas or cabbage to make me rich. I'm annoyed by the blast of newcomers at the gym walking on my treadmill while I have to wait to run. And I kinda think we should all just set obtainable goals for ourselves daily and work with that. But, since January is the month of the resolutions I've decided to set a goal for The Cow Spot.

The Cow Spot's goal for this year is to post more completed projects. I do a lot of projects of all shapes and sizes. All of the projects I work on go through a design process, a finish selection, a tear out or build and then an installation. I've been thinking a lot about it lately and I think a lot of the projects I do will relate to most in one way or another.  I posted about some of my projects last year, but there were so many I didn't mention at all. My goal this year is to take before photos and then go back once jobs are complete and take some after shots. I want to keep you all in the know and let you see what I'm up to. I plan to name each job and reference it with a hash tag. That way whether you read about the happenings of the job on the blog, Twitter, Facebook or Instagram you will know what job I'm referring to.

So, let's start my resolution today - I have several exciting jobs in process right now, here are some sneak peeks of two of them:

These are some of the "before" shots of a kitchen that was demoed last Tuesday. We are going to call this project #StoneMountain.

  

This space is getting a full overhaul. While the layout will remain the same (or close to it) the functionality and aesthetics of this space will be changing dramatically. We spent a lot of time working with the cabinetry layout to optimize the storage and work space.  This project has really taken off - in a little over one weeks time SO much progress has been made. The demo is complete, there is paint on the walls and trim and flooring goes in on Monday. Cabinetry will be installed in a few weeks and with every layer of material installed this space is looking more and more beautiful.

 Below are some of the "before" shots of a kitchen that was demoed last Thursday. We are going to call this project #Northcliff.

This space was completely re-designed. The homeowners and I spent a lot of time working through the details and internal components of each and every cabinet. This kitchen is going to have a great level of symmetry and depth. We should be installing these cabinets next week - I'm itching to see the space completed.

I think a lot of you can relate to the above "before" pictures in one way or another. Whether it's the stained cabinetry, the desks or the layouts themselves, these kitchens were in need of a face lift. I'm really excited about both of these projects - I can already see the completed spaces in my head and can not wait until they become a reality!

All photos are courtesy of my clients.

Madame Vice President

Last night I officially became an officer of the NKBA (National Kitchen & Bath Association) Georgia Chapter.

Here I am with my giant hand being sworn in at the induction ceremony. 

My position is Vice President of Academic Relations. Essentially I will serve as the primary liaison between the Chapter and the endorsed educational programs located within the Chapter boundaries. I'm pretty pumped about this opportunity and this specific position. You see, I came from an accredited program at The University of Georgia and literally owe a lot to NKBA, and fate, and ambition, and luck, but for the purposes of this post, to NKBA.

As I've talked about before I opted to take an optional Kitchen & Bath class in college. Taking this class led me to KBIS (Kitchen & Bath Industry Show) 2008 where I met my future first employer. Six weeks after graduation I was hired and officially became a Kitchen & Bath Designer. Since then, it has been through networking I have done within NKBA that I've had the opportunity to change companies, serve on a committee, enter a design contest (and win!) and now serve on this board.

I believe in the power of networking. I believe that accredited schools will offer a curriculum that will produce future designers equipped with the fundamentals necessary to succeed. I love what I do, but I didn't get here by blindly sending out my resume. I want to tell my story and help others. I want the Georgia Chapter of NKBA to be the best that it can be and what's better than a freshly plucked student full of enthusiasm and creativity? Watch out students, here I come!

A big thanks to Holly Hill Floyd for snapping this photo. 

House Tour

I hope everyone had a Happy New Years! It's hard to believe we are already 9 days into 2013 - time flies! I came back to work last week after a long holiday break, and I have to say it feels good to get back into a routine.  The holidays were a blast and I was one of those really lucky people that was off the week between Christmas and New Years. I was out of work for so long I started to forget what my co-workers looked like.  It was glorious. But this years winter vacation was anything but relaxing; it was chalked full of new house remodel phase one.

Before we dive into the work completed thus far, I thought it might be fun to give you a tour of the house as it was the day we bought it.  Below are the images that will one day be known as the "before" shots.

Oh, and disregard the furniture. The house was semi-staged while it was on the market. All furniture was removed before we moved in, giving us a clean slate to start with.



Living Room.

This is the room you walk into as you enter the house, the door you see straight ahead is the front door. This will definitely be a room we will spend a lot of time in. It's a long room with nice lighting. We don't have any structural plans for this room but do plan to refinish the floors, paint, add furniture, window treatments etc.. Our favorite part of this room - the gas fireplace. I can already tell you this will be my best friend as it seems I'm always cold, OH and I love s'mores so it's a win win.


Dining Room.

Above is the dining room.  The wall you see straight ahead backs up to the kitchen. This is a great picture because this room, from this angle already looks different. This room is actually involved in the biggest remodeling project we have on our agenda, which includes removing the wall you see straight ahead. The removal of this wall will really open up both the dining room and the kitchen. Stay tuned - this project is well underway!



Kitchen

 

And here is the ol' heart of the home - the kitchen. This space was difficult to photograph because it's small and there really wasn't a great angle that allowed the camera to capture the space in its entirety. While the components such as the cabinets and the appliances were in pretty good shape the layout was mediocre at best. We came up with a plan pretty soon after seeing the space which involved the removal of the wall the refrigerator is currently on (this is the wall that backs up to the dining room) in order to open up the space. Also on the list, the removal of an exterior door you can't see that literally goes to nothing. Because of the new layout, new cabinets are a must as well as countertops and backsplash (HOORAY!) As I mentioned in the dining room blurb, this part of the project is well underway, walls have been chopped and dust has been flying.

Sun room.

I've decided to call this room the Solarium, it's a fancier word for sun room. This is a great space right off the living room. We figure the room was added on to the house at some point because you can see the original siding on the right wall. The room is full of glass and the sunlight pours in. The french doors you see ahead lead out to the deck so I know we will get a lot of enjoyment out of this space as we entertain.


Master Sitting Area.

This house spoke to us for a number of reasons, but one of the main reasons is the upstairs master suite which includes the master sitting area pictured above. The upstairs was renovated in the early 2000's and is in great shape. We plan to turn this area into a den with a cozy couch, TV, books, etc. I love the built-ins in this space and plan to fill them full of the bazillion design and fashion books I have acquired over my lifetime.

Master Bedroom.

The entire back wall of the master bedroom is filled with windows overlooking our awesome back yard. It's a great space with plenty of room for furniture which translates into storage. Speaking of storage, see the french doors to the right? That's the closet - AKA my favorite room in the house ;)

Master Bath.

 And finally, the master bath, AKA Brent's favorite room. Brent has big plans for that tub. He wants to mount a TV on the wall to the left so he can lay in the tub and watch his stories. I'm serious. I can't lie, I love the tub too. It's hard to see from this picture but the tub has these chunky gold feet with with a vintage tub fixture. It's an instant focal point and I'm excited to design around it. This space has a lot of possibilities and really doesn't need much more than some window treatments, paint and some storage in the form of cabinetry.

Well, there you have it, I hope you enjoyed a quick tour of the new digs. There are a few spaces I've left out of this post, including: the downstairs guest bedrooms, downstairs bathroom, hallway (with charming phone niche!) and the deck/backyard. I will post those pictures eventually but for now I wanted to cover the major living areas. Dont' worry I won't bombard you with posts about my house. I'll take it easy for awhile until more progress has been made, but I'll be back, and at the rate the renovations are going, I'll be back soon!