Crystal Update

I just wanted to take a minute and share some news from Crystal. I spent then last 3 days up at the factory with 14 others designers from around the country, learning about upcoming product offerings, while at the same time they picked our brains for products and features we as designers would like to see. They have been fortunate to have seen growth in the last year, and were very sincere in passing on their thanks for our business. That growth has allowed them to develop new products, and expand upon existing ones. Coming this summer we will see several new stain colors for Maple, Cherry and Alder, new design options, expanded moldings and more. They are limiting themselves only to their and our imagination for products we can think of.

So check back in a few weeks as we get the official release of these new products.

Andrew

NARI President's Breakfast

Two President's Breakfasts Announced
 
Friday, May 13th and Wednesday, June 15th 
 
Join the National Association of the Remodeling Industry for two upcoming President's Breakfasts. At these free casual events, meet Chapter President, Jerry Levine, as well as others in the business. Members can bring guests. Anyone thinking of joining is welcome to come and talk to members about NARI and get membership information. Hope to see you there.

Upcoming President's Breakfasts:

May 13, 2011
Lutron DC Experience Center
Click here to rsvp.

June 15, 2011
Merrick Design and Build, Inc.
Click here to rsvp.

Furniture for the bath (Part 2)

Mid Continent's vanity program offers six different foot options to finish of the base of your vanity with style. They also offer different options for the exposed ends of the cabinet including flush finished plywood ends and matching false door end panels.

A Fresh Start (Part 3)

Craft room......nearly finished......3-29-11

My fabulous craft room is almost done. I can see the light, but I have some busy work ahead of me. The closet shelving is installed and primed. The crown moldings are up. The old desk has a coat of paint (but needs another). The hardware is installed. The glass has been ordered for the glass door cabinets. More sorting was done (buttons, ribbons elastic, lace, notions, beads and jewelry findings). I still have the rubber stamps to round up, and more storage bins to find and purchase, but the new countertop is installed and painted a color which looks amazingly like the brushed nickel hardware. (!) It still needs another coat, and 2 days to dry fully.

Maple has never looked more beautiful!

Crystal is pleased to introduce four new stains developed to create a clean, radiant finish for maple. Not only do they look fantastic on maple, they’re available on other Crystal woods too!

Fawn on Maple


Prairie on Maple


Praline on Maple


Toffee on Maple

NARI President's Breakfast

The National Association of the Remodeling Industry continues its Presidents Breakfast on Thurs. March 24th. If you're a member of NARI or thinking of joining you should really take advantage of this networking opportunity. These free breakfast meetings bring together professionals in the remodeling industry to network and share their insights. There's no set agenda--just time to discuss what's on your mind.

Thursday, March 24, 2011
Host:  Ferguson Enterprises
Location:  5650 General Washington Drive
Alexandria, VA 22312
RSVP using this online form

Thursday, April 7, 2011
Host: Sisler's Stone
Location: 7139 Lee Highway
Falls Church, VA 22046
RSVP using this online form

Questions:
Contact June Stanich of the Membership Committee at (703) 591-7443 or by email.

Color Trends

A few new color options from Crystal Cabinetry.

A hint of color adds a little zing to any room. Three popular colors emerging are— green, gray and blue. These colors have a soothing and calming affect because they remind us of earth, sky and water and also blend well with warm wood tones.

Crystal’s greens are: Basil, Mohr Green and Sage; grays are: Overcast and Stonebridge; and for blue we have the versatile stain: Cape Cod.

Try them with different color highlights or glazes and get an entirely new shade! For instance put black highlight on Cape Cod for a cool blue, or Van Dyke Brown on Overcast for a warm gray. Mohr Green in a Rub-thru finish over Umber stain with black highlight creates an appealing, organic combination.

For more on Crystal's color options visit their website.

Closets, Pantries, Garages, oh my!

In the next few weeks we'll be introducing you to our new custom closet line. Our website will let you explore all the unique door styles, finishes and accessories. And best of all, they offer solutions for offices, pantries and even garages. Stay tuned...

Furniture for the bath (Part 1)

Mid Continent Cabinetry has created a great vanity program designed to provide furniture quality cabinetry for the bath. They designed the program to offer the utmost in choice and flexibility. The Program includes:

• Bath vanities
• Tall storage cabinets
• Wall and mirror storage

Tales from a Kitchen Designer (Part 4)

Okay, a lot has happened in the past 12 days. I am not quite sure where to begin. I left off with us installing the cabinets. It only took 3 days total. Two days to set the cabinets and one day for us to install moldings, panels toe kicks and put all of the shelves, doors and drawers back in. That alone took several hours. All in all, everything went in pretty well, which is good since my wife was starting to get tired of the dust and is ready to be done. I was a little short on crown molding, and had missed a shelf on one of the base cabinets.