functional design

High Value and Luxurious Remodeling Ideas for Your Home

Posted on by Jana Humpherys
By Natalie Akins, Guest Blogger, Innovative Building Materials, With Photos from Eklektik Interiors

Everyone has their own luxury home remodel wishlist, whether it’s a deep soaking tub and spa-like bathroom, custom wall coverings like bespoke wallpaper, a feature wall with custom artwork, or high-end appliances in the kitchen, there is something out there for everyone’s taste. 

Whole House Luxury Upgrades

Some upgrades are worth doing throughout your home, and they aren’t limited to just one room. 

Radiant Floor Heating

One of the most popular luxury upgrades to any home is the addition of radiant floor heating. Once you have heated floors, you may not remember life before! Designed to evenly heat a space from the floor up, instead of from the ceiling down such as with forced hot air or traditional radiators, this feature is about more than just warm feet. Radiant heat more evenly heats a room and takes advantage of the fact that heat rises, making it a very efficient heat source.

 A word of caution: to get the best return on your radiant floor investment, you’ll need to consider radiant floor heat insulation in your subfloor. These specific subfloors help to retain heat, spreading it out even better and more efficiently. The right subfloor can also help your floor retain heat for longer, requiring less power to heat overall.

 Feature Walls

Walls are blank canvases begging for interesting details to add dimension and depth to any room. Making one of a room’s four walls stand out from the crowd can add a custom feel to your home, as well as allowing you to try bold colors, types of wall coverings, or accents that might be overwhelming across your entire space, but just right for one wall. A smaller space also allows you to splurge without breaking the bank.

High-End Wall Coverings and Custom Millwork

High-end wall coverings come in various textures, color schemes, and styles, from patterned wallpaper to natural textiles. When combined with custom millwork like moldings, trim, wall paneling, and crown molding, it can put a refined touch on your space. Particularly helpful in rooms with large, expansive walls, wainscoting can break up the space, add visual interest, and draw attention to any artwork displayed above.

 Kitchen Upgrades

An inviting kitchen is the focal point of a home for family and guests. It seems like no matter what, everyone ends up in the kitchen at some point whether they are preparing for dinner or picking out dessert. Kitchens are a great place to show off your personality and create the most functional space possible, bringing glamour to your home with luxurious appliances, custom cabinetry, and breathtaking finishes that will make every day feel like you’re on vacation.

Beverage Centers

Beverage centers have exploded in popularity, and for good reason. A well-stocked beverage center allows you or your guests to easily grab or mix their favorite drink in a dedicated spot complete with refrigeration, a coffee station, and the guest-worthy glassware. This also helps control traffic in the busy kitchen hub, keeping your main prep and entertaining space available for food.

Custom Ranges, Hoods, Ovens, and Warming Drawers

When choosing where to invest in your kitchen, a good range never goes out of style. With more and more custom options on the market, you can completely tailor your range to your cooking and entertaining style, and accent it with a custom hood for an extra tailored look in your kitchen. Customizing the color, finish, and shape of this kitchen staple immediately brings a personalized look, replacing the standard rectangular hoods of the past. 

A beautiful kitchen will undoubtedly get some use, and for larger gatherings or meals having multiple ovens can help consolidate prep and cooking time. For even more convenience, a warming drawer can keep your food warm for seconds and thirds.

Sail Over to your Kitchen Island

Kitchen islands are central features to any kitchen, and what better way to draw attention to this focal point than with a custom, complementary color to offset the island from the rest of your kitchen? Top it with a one-of-a-kind countertop, and you can easily make a bold statement with this relatively simple upgrade.

Countertops on your island and throughout your kitchen are a good opportunity to show off your personality and highlight your taste. Natural stone, like quartzite slab, offers subtle beauty, with neutral tones and natural variations, while remaining durable and easy to maintain. Mixing materials such as natural stone with butcher block combines complementary styles with function.

 If you’re replacing your kitchen island, consider incorporating amenities like built-in refrigerated drawers, a warming drawer, bookshelves, outlets, and storage space maximized for awkward items like cutting boards or particularly large pans.

 Primary Bed and Bath Upgrades

Your day begins and ends in your primary bed and bath suite. It should be a space you can’t wait to get back to! We spend hours each day in our bedroom between preparing for the day, sleeping, or even just resting. High-end details in primary bedrooms and bathrooms can make them even more comfortable and convenient.

 Dressing Room

Closets have certainly trended towards being bigger over the last several decades, but have you made the leap from a closet to a dressing room? Beyond just being a walk-in closet space, a dressing room is equipped with counters, storage, mirrors, vanities, and more.

 Dressing rooms are not just a place to get dressed—they are a place to truly get ready. For an added perk, add a mini-fridge stocked with your favorite beverages.

 Spa Bathroom Upgrades

Being able to relax in a spa-like oasis, right in your own home, gives you a private and customized place to truly let go of any stressors. Instead of packing up to go to the spa, you can head right into your bathroom for an unforgettable experience.

Popular bathroom upgrades include everything from tub upgrades to changing out the hardware. Deep soaking tubs have risen to popularity and come equipped with features to maximize heat retention, prolonging your soak.

Custom double-vanities give you and a partner space to spread out, while still being together, with high-quality craftsmanship and custom color schemes. While you are looking at your vanity, don’t forget about high-end faucet upgrades, like black bathroom faucets, that can stand out against popular neutral bathroom fixture colors like white and grey.

Bathrooms are the perfect place to use your green thumb—the relatively high humidity of your bathroom is the perfect atmosphere for a vertical garden, adding natural and relaxing elements to the space.  

 And one of the ultimate bathroom upgrades is an in-home steam or sauna room where you can go in, close the door, and be transported to another world.

 No Wrong Place to Start

Your remodeling options are endless for every room of the house. It’s just a matter of picking what is most important to you and then making some choices. Luxurious upgrades to your home not only make your space more welcome and comfortable for you but can add serious resale value for future prospective buyers. You can’t go wrong!   

Natalie Akins is the Interior Design Editor at Innovative Building Materials. With over 20 years of interior design experience, Natalie has worked on many projects including commercial office design and residential spaces.

Maximalist Vs. Minimalist: A Conversation with Designer Kathy Anderson

Posted on by Jana Humpherys

There is no place like a home that functions for you on every level.  Does your current interior design reflect you and the way you want to live? Do you prefer simple lines and a monochromatic color scheme, following the minimalism trend? Or do you prefer something more bold, bright and colorful, leaning toward a maximalist approach?  Kathy Anderson, founder and principal designer of Eklektik Interiors, takes a very personal and customized approach to her designs.  She believes there is room for both minimalist and maximalist persuasions in a home, and she is a master at blending the lines between styles.

Minimalism:

“Great design can be lost with all of the ‘stuff’ we surround ourselves with,” Anderson explains.  Minimalism is focused on what is absolute in terms of need and function.  It simplifies your life and your home by eliminating the unnecessary visual noise and highlighting a few great pieces. “When a space is beautifully designed and curated,” Anderson says, “less can definitely be more.”

Her favorite part of incorporating minimalism:  Helping clients go thru their belongings and simplifying their lives by keeping only those items that really mean something. Thoughtful curation tells a meaningful story.

Her favorite space for minimalist design:  I prefer a minimalist approach in personal and intimate spaces. I think that is important because everyone needs a place to retreat to find solace and comfort from the hectic world that we live in.

Maximalism:

“Modern Maximalism is more about personalization than perfection,” says Anderson. Maximalism is comfortable and livable without being messy or random.  There is an art to it.  It is dramatic, colorful, and outside the box, but is not cluttered, garish, or overly done.  A lot of books, art, accessories, fabrics, and textures can be displayed with purpose and thought in a personalized style that is dramatic and fun. “That’s the great thing about design,” says Anderson. “Rules are made to be broken but with careful consideration. There can be a fine line between fabulous and frightful.”

Her favorite part of incorporating maximalism:  Solidifying the space with rich color for a dramatic background to pop the bright colors, textures, and collectibles.

Her favorite space for maximalist design:  Living spaces, a study, or a home bar are fun places to add color and showcase curated collections.  These spaces can function for gathering and spending time with family and friends, while also telling a client’s unique story.

The most important part of Anderson’s job is highlighting the function of a space and aligning it with the lifestyle of each client. “That is what I love about what I do,” says Anderson,  “every engagement is different because every client is different. They are each unique in how they live, what makes them tick, and what brings them joy.” Whether a client prefers a minimalist or maximalist approach or a combination of both, Anderson strives to satisfy each client’s needs so their homes enrich their lives.

How Italy Taught Me to Refute Throw Away Culture

Posted on by Kelly Wesson

Before my last year of college, I had the opportunity to spend my summer studying abroad in Florence, Italy. I was more than excited to spend the summer in my dream locale, but little did I know I would be experiencing a culture that would help shape my style as a designer. I had studied most of the famously historic architecture that the country had to offer, but being able to see the structures in person, walk through them, be surrounded by them, and touch their walls, brought a whole new sense of meaning to my thoughts on design. It wasn’t just the famous buildings, like the Duomo and Palazzos, that changed my perspective, but the buildings I saw everyday as I walked through the narrow city streets. The centuries old buildings that are now being used as apartments, restaurants, schools, and shops were what really opened my eyes to a different way of living.

Shops and restaurants
Shops and restaurants are found below apartments with original architecture.

In America we currently exist in a “throw away” culture, meaning most things we use everyday are not meant to last. We are so accustomed to throwing something away when it has served its purpose or when the next new shiny thing on the market has come along. It’s not just iPhones and material objects that we upgrade every few years but also things that are meant to last, like cars, houses, and buildings. The reason for this is partially due to the lack of quality in the initial construction of these things, but it is also because of our mindset of wanting everything to be new and representative of the current year. This “throw away” culture has allowed for many buildings and homes to be torn down, only to be replaced by new and modern designs. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for modern design and function, but I don’t appreciate how our society views older things as useless and ugly. In the design industry we should be striving to create things that will not only be functional, but will also stand strong to stand the test of time.

The Duomo
The Duomo was undergoing construction during my time in Florence. It undergoes regular maintenance to keep the exterior looking as it originally did the 1400s.

When talking about “throw away” culture, Italians couldn’t be any more opposite. They built with a purpose of creating lasting architecture and they’ve clearly succeeded. Construction on the Florence Cathedral and Duomo began in 1296 and wasn’t completed until 1436. The architects and workers took plenty of time to have the structure completed in a way that would last centuries, which it has. The building that my school resided in was converted from a centuries old apartment style home. Even the basement apartment that I lived in was from the early 1900’s and had been recently updated. Despite the updates being made on these types of apartment buildings, the original architecture and style is still able to shine through. Italians celebrate their history and the architecture that goes along with it. They are constantly surrounded by their heritage through the buildings they work, dine, and live in. This is the type of culture that inspires me when I look at designing for our clients, specifically with remodels.

We do a lot of remodels here at Eklektik, and we get clients who either want to totally gut the space and start new or ones who want to keep existing elements of the home. More often than not though, they are on the side of totally gutting the space. I would like to inspire our clients to think about what aspects of their home originally drew them towards purchasing it—which elements they fell in love with. Then it’s our job to figure out how to incorporate those existing elements into the new design. Even if it’s something as simple as the existing molding or built in shelving, these elements can maintain the original charm that the home has to offer.

Historic architecture and charm
A beautiful example of a modern apartment home with historic architecture and charm.

We also do plenty of new construction at Eklektik, where we work with builders and/or a client from the ground up. In these instances we can utilize this same idea of refuting throw away culture, by building with a purpose to last. This means we need to design with the future in mind. What current trends will still work in the years to come? What materials will last for years without needing to be replaced or upgraded? These are the questions we consider when designing new builds.

This idea of refuting throw away culture won’t be accepted by everyone, but we can progress the movement by encouraging homeowners to preserve some of the initial design brought to life by the original architects and by designing and building quality, lasting structures. I’m thankful for my experience in Italy and how it opened my eyes to a new culture with new ways of thinking and living. Specifically how it taught me to appreciate the care and detail that goes into creating beautiful lasting architecture. One day I hope to own a home that has been thoughtfully designed, with unique characteristics of the time in which it was built, but that allows me to meld in my own style seamlessly.