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From top-dollar houses in the San Francisco Bay Area to stretching mountain residences in the Colorado Rockies, discriminating home owners are demanding custom styles as well as surfaces in their kitchen areas. Specifically, they are aiming to reveal their individuality as well as distinctive layout preferences with the quick expanding design product of selection-- concrete.
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From top-dollar homes in the San Francisco Bay Area to sprawling hill residences in the Colorado Mountain ranges, differentiating homeowners are requiring personalized styles and coatings in their kitchen areas. Particularly, they are seeking to share their individuality as well as unique layout preferences with the fast growing style material of choice-- concrete. As a matter of fact, concrete kitchen counters have actually come to be somewhat of a status icon for kitchens, equaling granite and other premium kitchen counter surface area choices. Customer News Publication (August 2004) rated concrete highest possible for its "personalization" as well as "exclusivity" amongst high-end kitchen area counter tops. As a custom item, the quantity of time and workmanship needed to generate concrete counter tops positions them as the most labor-intensive and priciest amongst leading countertop materials. Nevertheless, concrete kitchen counters are ending up being a lot more easily accessible for those on a small budget plan. The most recent do-it-yourself (DIY) pattern to mesmerize property owners and also builders is building your own concrete countertop. This phenomenon has actually obtained popularity mainly due to Cheng's very successful book Concrete Countertops: Design, Kinds, and Ends Up for the New Cooking Area and Bathroom (Taunton Press, 2002). According to Cheng, there is little financial investment in making concrete kitchen counters, yet the innovative gains of collaborating with concrete are plentiful. THE SHOWSTOPPER Increasingly, house owners are moving far from the dull, manufactured look of traditional countertop surface areas and also choosing concrete for its natural, timeless appeal. Plus, the options for personalizing concrete countertops are endless: one can tint, polish, stamp as well as tarnish concrete or imbed personal items like stones, seashells and fossils right into the kitchen counter's surface area, adding belief as well as character. Functional features such as drain boards, soap meals, and also trivets can additionally be included to match the house owners' own needs and way of living. Concrete is gradually becoming demystified as classically chilly as well as industrial. In contrary, this olden product is cozy and remarkably tactile; people can not help but touch their smooth, refined surface areas. Realty agent Joy Rasmussen, who has lately offered her mountain home-- a short-term financial investment building in Boat Springs, Carbon Monoxide-- states her site visitors' experiences with concrete: "When I had open houses, site visitors was attracted to the concrete countertops-- many individuals around here have never seen them". Delight's 2,265 sq. ft. mountain home was custom-made build by her partner, Ken Otterman, together with KJ Otterman, president of Classic Special Custom-made Residences. They developed pour-in-place concrete counters for the residence's kitchen as well as three bathrooms by using Concrete Countertops as their overview. The sand- colored concrete kitchen counters were brightened smooth, then paired with natural slate of differing shades-- like charcoal, corrosion and also gold tones-- that develops the backsplashes in the cooking area as well as bathrooms. As a style accent, tiny rectangle-shaped slate ceramic tiles were included in the rim of the bathroom sinks, which supplied a distinct information to the custom vanities. When Joy and also Ken decided to offer their home, their investment in vss countertops sacramento concrete kitchen counters verified its worth. "We were able to note your home $20,000 over market value, and also had no problems offering it," comments Happiness, while reviewing the long checklist of upgrades throughout their house, including knotty pine strong doors, natural slate wall surface accents as well as hardwood floorings. "The concrete countertops were quickly the most one-of-a-kind and excellent of all the surfaces. I believe they were a big part in including worth to the house. Around right here, all you see in homes are granite countertops-- as well as I actually believe property buyers are getting fairly numb with granite."
" Concrete counter tops are a distinct offering to property buyers that see the exact same finishes utilized in residence after home they visit," describes Pleasure, offering her monitoring as an experienced realtor. "Having concrete kitchen counters nearly offers you boasting rights-- you have something different from your next-door neighbors." DAMAGING THE MOLD AND MILDEW One more benefit of concrete is its versatility in either modern-day or typical settings, particularly when paired with other materials like different steels, wood or stone. "Concrete includes many [possibilities] to stone, and also the combination with slate, which is extremely popular right here, offers the mountain homes a total cozy, natural touch," claims Joy. Pleasure and also Ken have since built a much larger home (4,000 sq. ft.) that provides expansive views of the Steamboat Ski Hotel as well as is suggested to work as a long-lasting financial investment for the couple. They've additionally expanded their checklist of customized finishes, including hand-troweled walls, sophisticated oil- rubbed bronze hardware, knotty ache doors that arch at the top, cupboards in an all-natural, knotty alder, and also their favored-- concrete cooking area counter tops. Unlike in their previous home, KJ as well as his specialized team put charcoal-colored counter tops using the pre- cast technique in the unfinished cellar of the brand-new residence. Prior to pouring the concrete, they sprinkled an array of semi-precious rocks in the mold consisting of Leopardskin, Moonstone, Mother-of-Pearl and Turquoise. After the surface area was ground and also lightly brightened, the completed result was an impressive blend of colors, "Without a doubt, the Mother-of-Pearl was the most unbelievable," states Happiness. The L-shaped concrete kitchen counter has a harsh, rustic stone look, matching its tough country environments. An important drainpipe board and also trivets provides feature and also included passion to the concrete kitchen counter. All-natural slate backsplashes, unique wall surface accents, as well as a butcher block counter top at the kitchen island all reverberate with the traditional warmth and earthiness of the concrete countertops. Delight and Ken's corresponding histories in real estate and also custom homebuilding, and as investment property buyers, have actually aided them understand that concrete kitchen counters can add incredible aesthetic as well as financial value to a residence. Concrete's personalization and also "show-stopping" appeal is like nothing else countertop surface. Cheng is an advocate of psychological aesthetic appeals and also building houses that catch these feelings, as when it comes to Pleasure and Ken Otterman. Cheng concludes: "Individuals really want differentiation, something personal, something custom-made-- and also concrete can do that for them."
