Design | Wellness | Cabinetry
Call it a man cave, a bachelor pad, or even your fortress of solitude. This is your apartment or a room typically decorated to a man’s tastes usually without female influence. Often these spaces serve to help the gentleman relax and unwind. Sometimes they can be for motivation and inspiration. Continue reading “The Best Masculine Fixtures”
Fueling the current trend of digitizing the home-remodeling experience, Houzz has raised an impressive $165 million in a fourth round of capital, led by Sequoia Capital, one of its early backers.
Houzz is using its pile of cash and its popularity with home remodelers to fuel a foray into e-commerce. In a new section of its site called Houzz Marketplace, the company will play host to a selection of bathtubs, vanities, backsplashes and other home décor items being sold by thousands of online retailers.
The transactions will all take place on the Houzz site, and the company will keep a 15% cut of each sale. The order fulfillment and customer service will be handled by the sellers.
E-commerce will become the third source of revenue for five-year-old Houzz, which also sells advertisements and charges architects, designers and other home contractors an annual subscription fee for tools to help them engage with potential customers on its site.
Selling actual products on its site is what Houzz says will make it stand apart from Pinterest, another popular destination for design enthusiasts. I tend to prefer Pinterest over Houzz for collecting pictures and taking a mental break. While I’m interested in seeing the new site design that Houzz has rolled out, I doubt that having products constantly pitched to me is going to be appealing.
I can see how his might appeal to the D-I-Yer more than the Design Professional – especially those who protect ability to source unique finds for their clients.
How do you like the new Marketplace?
We’ve all seen glass dividers in our favorite restaurants. They give us a glimpse of what’s being prepared in the kitchen without the distraction of the noise or heat. Have you ever considered putting the same concept in your kitchen?
Here’s an apartment in Stuttgart designed for a graphic designer featuring a glass divider. The glass protects anyone seated at the banquette from any pops or splatters at the cooktop. It also makes the range hood more effective at catching steam and odors.
If you don’t like your kitchen you are not going to want to spend time in it.
So what do you do when your number one complaint is that the kitchen feels enclosed?
Here are two pictures that show how to open up a small galley-style kitchen. Continue reading “Design Idea for Small Kitchens”