Design | Wellness | Cabinetry
Kohler’s new Pedicure Spa will make your home feel like a Day Spa. This Kohler package is complete with a deep whirlpool footbath, a teak client chaise lounge, a technician chair and all the needed faucet/drain components. The Pedicure Spa can be customized with your choice of layout and tile selections. The only thing it is missing is the soothing music and the person to pamper your feet.
My previous post about the French Door Wall Oven from American Range seemed to draw a lot of interest so I couldn’t wait to report the news that Jade Appliances is working on their own French door model for shipment in 2008.
The tandem doors open to 135 degrees on both sides, providing easy access. The doors are also spring-loaded from the 90 degree position to the fully open position to ensure that they never close inadvertently. The oven will have convection bake and broil capabilities with electronic controls and roller racks.
Here’s an excerpt from a great article about how switching CFLs on and off can shorten their life and how long you should burn your CFL.
“Switching CFLs on and off does shorten lamp life, but [the] conclusion that they need a three- to five-hour on-cycle to maintain a reasonably long life does not appear to be correct. Robert Clear, a staff scientist at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, told Enviromental Building News that it has been difficult to get data on this question, but a 1998 study of electronically ballasted CFLs found a 20% reduction in lamp life if the on-time was reduced to one hour. With significantly shorter on-times, the lamp life is dramatically reduced: with 15-minute on-time cycling, lamp life dropped 70% and with five-minute on-time lamp life dropped 85% (which brings the lamp life close to that of incandescent light bulbs). “This suggests that you should consider replacing incandescents with CFLs in any application where the lamp is on an average of [at least] about 10 minutes per start,” said Clear. He added that “every switch cycle is equivalent to about 6 minutes of lamp life. This means that you should turn a CFL off if you think it won’t be turned on again for another five minutes or so.” This approach should also maximize electricity and cost savings.”
I decided I had to watch the HGTV Design Star Sunday night since they were making over two kitchens. The results were not good. The HGTV website tries to gloss over how bad the rooms are by taking photos from a distance and showcasing other areas like the Dining Room that were more the designers’ fortes.
The kitchen below was not finished. The designers did not allocate their budget or resources well. They chose to do a black ceramic tile countertop but they did not purchase enough material and did not even grout the tile they had down. No amount of accessories is going to fix this room – although they tried. The judges commented that they liked the old kitchen better. I’m not sure what the home owners thought, their reactions were not revealed. Other comments on the HGTV site are just as scathing citing the lack of lighting and bad material choices.
The “winning” kitchen was not much better. A heavy crackle finish was applied to the upper cabinets leaving the lower cabinets with only new hardware. The time spent faux painting the backsplash should have been devoted to finishing the cabinets. While the homeowners were pleased with their results, the judges commented that they should have had better.
Their is truth in hiring a Kitchen Designer to get the best results.