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Design and layout guides

The layout and cabinetry choices that decide how a finished room actually feels.

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Showing 1 to 12 of 17 Design articles

Hands holding a steel tape measure along a stripped kitchen wall while holding a hand-drawn elevation on grid paper, dimensions and cabinet specs written out Kitchen

How to measure a kitchen for new cabinets

Measuring a kitchen looks like it should take ten minutes. Hook the tape at the corner, read the wall, write it down.Read article Kitchen run shot straight on, a gas cooktop set into the counter directly above a built-in wall oven, with drawer banks either side and even reveals around the appliance openings Kitchen

Modern kitchen appliances worth adding during a remodel

Most appliance advice is a shopping list. That is the least useful version of this conversation, because the hard part of appliances in a remodel is not deciding what you want.Read article Galley kitchen seen straight down its long axis, two parallel runs either side of the aisle, with a window carrying daylight down the room from the far end Kitchen

9 galley kitchen remodel ideas for making a narrow kitchen feel wide open

The galley gets a bad reputation it does not deserve. Two parallel runs facing each other is the most efficient kitchen geometry ever drawn, which is exactly why commercial kitchens and boat…Read article Open cabinet door showing a concealed hinge beside a pulled-out drawer, with dovetail joinery at the drawer corner, the glide, and an adjustable shelf inside the box Kitchen

How to choose kitchen cabinets: tiers, construction, and cost

Cabinets are usually the largest single line in a kitchen remodel, and they are the one homeowners feel least equipped to evaluate. Showrooms do not help much.Read article White fireclay apron-front sink set into a marble countertop, its exposed front panel replacing the cabinet face below, with a brass faucet alongside Kitchen

Farmhouse sink vs apron sink vs undermount sink: what the terms actually mean

If you have been comparing kitchen sinks and the terms have started to blur, there is a reason. Two of the three words in that heading describe the same product, and the third describes…Read article Open-plan kitchen with white Shaker upper cabinets above wood base cabinets and a wood island, looking out to evergreens Kitchen

7 white Shaker kitchen design ideas that will never go out of style

Most kitchen trends have a shelf life you can predict. The high-gloss slab doors, the saturated feature color, the busy patterned tile.Read article Curbless shower seen from the doorway, a single continuous floor tile running from the entry through the shower area behind a fixed glass screen Bathroom

What is a wet room bathroom? Pros, cons, costs & structural requirements

A wet room is a bathroom with no shower enclosure. The shower is not in a box, a tray, or behind a curb. The entire room is waterproofed as one continuous surface, the floor slopes to a…Read article Craftsman house with a separate exterior entrance to a lower-level unit in the foreground and a detached backyard cottage at the end of the driveway behind ADU

Attached ADU vs. detached ADU (DADU): which is right for your property?

Once you have decided to add an accessory dwelling unit, one question shapes everything that follows: build it attached to the house, or detached in the yard.Read article Custom double vanity in a primary suite, shot straight on: white oak millwork under a veined stone top with a thick edge returning down the side, two undermount basins, twin framed mirrors and brass sconces Bathroom

7 custom vanity design ideas for primary suites

A builder-grade vanity is a box with a sink on it, sized to a catalogue dimension that has nothing to do with your bathroom or your morning.Read article Compact bathroom finished with built-in cabinetry rather than freestanding furniture, keeping the floor clear Bathroom

Custom built-in storage solutions for small bathrooms

Walk into most small bathrooms and you will find the same three things: an over-the-toilet rack, a freestanding cabinet wedged into a corner, and a plastic laundry basket on the floor.Read article Finished tiled shower with the threshold at the entry, the detail where the shower floor, the bathroom floor and the wall framing all meet Bathroom

Homeowner's guide to understanding shower thresholds

The shower threshold is the raised curb at the shower entry. Contractors also call it the curb or the dam, and it is the single most failure-prone detail in a tiled shower.Read article Compact bathroom seen straight on from the doorway, with light floor tile running unbroken past a floating vanity and wall-hung toilet into a curbless shower behind a clear frameless panel, a lit niche and a backlit mirror Bathroom

7 ways to make a 5x8 bathroom feel twice as large

A 5 by 8 bathroom is 40 square feet, and no amount of design will change that number. What design changes is how big the room reads, and the gap between those two things is enormous.Read article

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