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Saturday, January 19, 2013 – Daily News 3B Country Life garden & home Mini makeover Modern luxury vinyl fools the eye for your kitchen By Allen Norwood The Charlotte Observer (MCT) Do you cringe at the very thought of how much money you could potentially shell out for an entire kitchen remodel? According to a Remodeling magazine survey, the average price of a major kitchen remodel in the Sacramento, Calif., area is estimated to cost more than $67,000—with a resale value of just over $50,000. And if you factor in the fact that homeowners not in the construction or building industries can underestimate the makeover's cost by as much as 40 percent, the total price tag can quickly skyrocket. Sean A newest trend in home remodeling is the mini-remodel—keeping the focus on separate updates one at a time rather than doing everything at once. So, instead of gutting your entire kitchen and starting from scratch, consider the smaller projects that can breathe new life into this space without breaking the bank—or your spirit. Faucet This is arguably your home's most used plumbing fixture and a simple update can yield wonders for the entire kitchen. Today's kitchen faucets are efficient, hard working and durable. A pullout faucet simplifies prep and cleanup, hot and cold dispensers provide instantaneous water and a bar faucet provides an additional option. Sink This might be the most involved exchange of the simple kitchen updates. Once you've chosen your new kitchen sink, you'll have to give up your kitchen counter for a day, maybe two. But that's it. While your head's in the sink, what about the garbage disposal? Yes, some households actually function without one (guilty!), and installing one simplifies post-meal cleanup. Lighting Talk about a change of scenery. An updated light or lighting system can change the way you look at things in your kitchen—literally. From an ENERGY STAR-rated ceiling fixture and track lighting to a mini chandelier or pendant lighting over the kitchen table, never underestimate the power of proper lighting anywhere in your home—particularly in the kitchen. Cabinets Let's not forget about your home's smallest doors. Kitchen cabinets are essential for storage, and a swap of new cabinet hardware for old can give your entire kitchen a new look. This is the simplest of all the kitchen updates. Just unscrew the old cabinet pull or knob and screw in the new one. 'Nuff said. The kitchen remodel doesn't have to be as daunting an event as it sounds. Sure, improvements like hauling in a new refrigerator or installing a new stovetop and range are game changers, but these more significant updates require more planning and cost. Even a small update can work wonders for your home's favorite meeting place and most popular room. Until next time, Happy Home Improving! Murphy Project Home Luxury vinyl flooring? Really? Yes — but these products definitely are not the shiny orange sheet that covered your mom's kitchen floor, or the old peel-andstick school hall tiles your dad plopped down in the foyer. Modern luxury vinyl is a broad category that includes wood- and stonelook products with colors and textures good enough to fool the eye. It's a category that's growing rapidly. Earlier this year, the industry website Floor Daily called it the most dynamic category. Sales of luxury vinyl hit $500 million last year — up 13 percent, Floor Daily reported. For those who don't choose carpet, hardwood or hard tile, luxury vinyl — instead of laminate — is likely to be the favorite option. Local flooring pros say they've seen the trend in their showrooms. "In the past year, it's like it's a hot item," said Jennifer Fallon, owner of the Floor Gallery of Lake Norman in Mooresville. She sells slightly more of the tile-look luxury vinyl, but wood styles are not far behind. At Hughes Flooring in Charlotte, N.C., Rodney Hughes reports the same. "It's taking off," he said. "(Floor companies) are putting a lot of marketing money into it … and we're starting to see that." If you visit your favorite home center or floors website, you'll find lots of options. Online you'll find discussions of the best products and techniques. There's even a shorthand: LVT for luxury vinyl tile, and LVP for luxury vinyl plank. These are products you can install yourself if you're reasonably handy. Some products click together for ease of installation. If you have the top products installed by a pro, though, you can pay about as much for luxury vinyl as for some standard hardwood or ceramic tile. Say, $8 to $10 a square foot installed, Fallon estimated. Hughes said simply: "This is not a price-point product." So, if not for price, why choose luxury vinyl? Again, the appearance is one reason. The tile-look products can be grouted, to make it look more like ceramic or stone. The wood-look planks feature rich colors and textures. Hughes said that the technology responsible for such looks is helping to drive the popularity. It's softer under foot than tile, and stands up to spills and large pets better than hardwood, Fallon said. Hughes said one huge advantage for luxury vinyl is that it isn't damaged by moisture. "You can soak it in the bathtub and it won't swell or buckle," he said. "There's no wood inside." Hughes still likes the high-end laminates, but manufacturers have never been able to fully eliminate that distinctive — and sometimes objectionable — clicking sound when it's walked on. Luxury vinyl has a couple of advantages for remodeling projects. These floors can be glued down, or they can be "floated." Individual tiles and planks can be clicked together and then installed without glue, to float on special underlayment. Floating floors can cover up minor imperfections in the subfloor during a renovation. Luxury vinyl is thinner than hardwood, and thinner than stone or ceramic tile installed on the required underlayment. When remodeling, it's easier to match a thinner product to the level of the surrounding existing floors. Which leads to the one complaint Fallon and Hughes share about luxury vinyl. There are few goodlooking options for the edge, or transition, where luxury vinyl abuts another type of flooring or a floor THE BEST OF # Rectangle (300x250) 1 Sky Scraper Sean Murphy is a copywriter for Build.com in Chico. Visit the company's website for more home improvement tips at www.build.com. Leaderboard $300 Skyscraper $325 Rectangle $375 Tile $250 Your online ad (160x600) runs through noon on 2/28/13 Home Style: Fabric book By Mary Beth Breckenridge Akron Beacon Journal (MCT) ON THE SHELF: FABRIC DESIGNER SHARES INSPIRATION IN BOOK Fabric designer John Robshaw takes readers on a globe-trotting journey through his artistic training and creative processes in "John Robshaw Prints: Textiles, Block Printing, Global Inspiration and Interiors." Robshaw, known for putting an updated twist on exotic fabric designs, takes readers to India, Indonesia, Thailand and elsewhere to describe the evolution of his art and share an inside look at the traditional techniques used to create his high-end fabrics. In photos and words, he describes the painstaking processes involved in block printing, batik, indigo dying and ikat weaving. He also shares pictures of some of his designs and shows them used in room settings, many in his own home. "John Robshaw Prints" is published by Chronicle Books and sells for $40 in hardcover. Best of Pricing Leader Board (728x90) 2013 that's a slightly different level. "They don't make a transition," Fallon said. "I sometimes have to use wood, and stain it to match. They make metal, like you'd use on an old vinyl floor. But it doesn't look good." "They definitely need to make better trim pieces," Hughes agreed. "It's just less attractive with metal. ——— Modern vinyl floors Want to see examples of modern luxury vinyl? Visit the websites of top manufacturers, or look for portfolios on social sites such as Pinterest or Facebook. Armstrong calls its popular luxury vinyl line Alterna; tiles and planks are available in a variety of s i z e s : www.armstrong.com. Mannington's Adura line includes variable-width planks, a popular improvement according to area flooring pros: www.mannington.com. Congoleum's DuraCeramic tiles, like other luxury vinyl products, can be installed with or without the special grout: www.congoleum.com. Tile (160x90) Questions? Please call your ad representative at 503.527-2151 Leader Board (728x90) The Best Of Tehama County will be a publication featuring the best that Tehama County has to offer, determined by community votes VOTING ENDS FEBRUARY 28TH PUBLISHING ON SATURDAY, MARCH 30, 2013