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Reviving the Space Beneath Your Feet: A Guide to Basement Finishing
Is your basement just a storage unit for holiday bins and cobwebs? Residential Designer Robert Smith explains how to transform that neglected square footage into a true extension of your home. From water management essentials to the top 5 features that offer the best ROI (and the 'trends' you should definitely skip), discover the blueprint for a basement that works as hard as you do.
Countertop Confidential: Choosing the Right Surface for How You Actually Cook
When we sit down to design a kitchen, my first question is never 'What color do you want?' It is always: 'How do you cook?' Are you a baker needing a cold surface for dough, or a 'hot pot' chef who needs to set a searing skillet down without fear? Your countertop is the workhorse of your home, and picking the right one means balancing aesthetic goals with the reality of your daily life. From the maintenance-free appeal of Quartz to the 'perfectly imperfect' charm of Soapstone, we break down the top contenders, the costs, and the materials you should strictly avoid.
The Case for Walls: Why the "Open Floor Concept" Needs to End
I’ll be honest—I despise the open floor concept. For too long, we’ve been sold the idea that tearing down walls creates a better home, but the reality is often expensive, noisy, and architecturally bland. In this article, I break down why the open concept trend is killing the character of our homes, the hidden costs of removing walls, and why a return to defined rooms—and the 'broken plan' philosophy—is the key to warmth, style, and true individuality in design.