It began with the classic 1980s look: low, dropped ceilings and soffits, white countertops and a separated, closed-off layout. Led by owners Jim and Susan Todd, general contractor Jack Bowers of InnerSpace and Joe Wozniak of Fine Line Wood Products brought the kitchen into the 21st century.

View this kitchen gallery here.

We started by opening the space, said Susan Todd. By opening up the space and taking down the walls, we could optimize the high ceilings.

While eliminating and moving several walls and soffits, including expanding the laundry room, the space opened up to the living room. The larger laundry room, now a prep area, reuses the previous kitchen cabinets.

Where do guests always congregate? In the kitchen, added Todd. I wanted to have a big work, serving and bar area and a comfortable environment for my guests.

Completely flipping the style of the previous kitchen, the owners opted for a modern design. The design aesthetic was to have a floating kitchen look, explained Bowers. The use of mirrors on the island and on the backsplashes helped with the visual floating design.

Wrapped in glass, a cantilevered bar adds a formal touch that also ties into the contemporary theme. Mirrors scream contemporary, explained Todd. It definitely opens up an area and is a clean look, and it is easy to keep clean.

The mirrored backsplash lies behind acrylic-paneled cabinetry. Finished with high gloss, the cabinets pop with ruby red for the uppers and wired mercury for the bases. I think mixing the red and gray cabinets with the glass and mirrors and the high-polished countertops gives a real wow factor from any vantage point, said Bowers.

Topped with high-polished Carrera granite, the countertops balance the colorful cabinets with simple black and gray veining. This granite has a gray base color, which matched very well with the gray cabinets and helped with the floating look, explained Bowers. Gray-honed stone tiles complete the palette.

Three small, chrome black pendants over the prep area match one large black pendant over the bar. Suspended from thin metal wires and finished with a glossy surface, the lights complement the high-gloss cabinets and the floating appeal. The fixtures also go with a sphere exhaust unit over the cooktop, which brings an unconventional twist into the space.

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Open to Modernity

Granite Kitchen Countertops Ideas 2014
Granite Kitchen Countertops Ideas 2014.

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Granite Kitchen Countertops Ideas 2014 - Video

COURTESY CHENG CONCRETE

The concrete countertops in Eleanor Zuckerman's San Francisco kitchen are handcrafted works of art.

Custom-designed by Fu-Tun Cheng of Berkeley, Calif.-based Cheng Concrete, they feature colors like brick, flowing lines and pictures of nautilus shells.

"With concrete there is a lot of room for creativity, to say nothing of color," says Zuckerman, a retired psychologist. "It gives you flexibility."

Homeowners looking to spice up their kitchens can install a variety of countertops that go beyond the traditional laminate and tile. Today's options include concrete and butcher-block-style wood, and a range of custom-designed colors and shapes. IceStone countertops use recycled glass from broken bottles.

"So many different materials are used in countertops these days," says Tony Izzo, Curtis Lumber's corporate kitchen and bath manager in Albany, N.Y.

Until about 25 years ago, he says, roughly 90 percent of countertops in U.S. homes were laminate, and the rest tile. Then DuPont's Corian hit the market, followed by granite and quartz, which are current favorites, he says. Today just half of countertops are laminate, Izzo says.

The burgeoning interest in alternative countertops is the natural extension of that trend. And they are becoming more affordable.

"Slowly, over the years, the market has really grown," says Mike Heidebrink, president of Cheng Concrete. When the company opened in 2002, it catered mostly to well-heeled dot-commers willing to spend more to bring an artisan's touch to their kitchens.

Today, Heidebrink says, Cheng Concrete also serves a growing number of skilled do-it-yourselfers who want to shape, mold and install countertops themselves. They can choose the color and lines of their countertops, he says. Once installed and sealed, he says, concrete countertops are as durable as limestone and marble.

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Concrete emerges as popular countertop

The concrete countertops in Eleanor Zuckermans San Francisco kitchen are handcrafted works of art.

Custom-designed by Fu-Tun Cheng of Cheng Concrete in Berkeley, California, they feature colors like brick, flowing lines and images of nautilus shells.

With concrete, there is a lot of room for creativity, to say nothing of color, says Zuckerman. It gives you flexibility.

Homeowners looking to spice up their kitchens can install countertops that go beyond the traditional laminate and tile. Todays options include concrete, butcher-block-style wood and a range of custom-designed colors and shapes.

IceStone countertops use recycled glass from broken bottles.

So many different materials are used in countertops these days, says Tony Izzo, Curtis Lumbers corporate kitchen and bath manager in Albany, New York. Until about 25 years ago, he says, roughly 90 percent of countertops in U.S. homes were laminate, and the rest were tile.

Then DuPonts Corian hit the market, followed by granite and quartz, the current favorites, he says. Today, just half of countertops are laminate, Izzo says.

The burgeoning interest in alternative countertops is the natural extension of that trend. And they are becoming more affordable.

Slowly, over the years, the market has really grown, says Mike Heidebrink, president of Cheng Concrete. When the company opened in 2002, it catered mostly to well-heeled dot-commers willing to spend more to bring an artisans touch to their kitchens.

Today, Heidebrink says, Cheng also serves a growing number of skilled do-it-yourselfers who want to shape, mold and install countertops themselves. They can choose the color and lines of their countertops, he says. Once installed and sealed, he says, concrete countertops are as durable as limestone and marble.

See the rest here:
Corian? Bah! Countertop creativity knows no bounds

The concrete countertops in Eleanor Zuckermans San Francisco kitchen are hand-crafted works ofart.

Custom-designed by Fu-Tun Cheng of the Berkeley, California-based Cheng Concrete, they feature colors like brick, flowing lines and pictures of nautilusshells.

With concrete there is a lot of room for creativity, to say nothing of color, says Zuckerman, a retired psychologist. It gives youflexibility.

Homeowners looking to spice up their kitchens can install a variety of countertops that go beyond the traditional laminate and tile. Todays options include concrete and butcher-block-style wood, and a range of custom-designed colors and shapes. IceStone countertops

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Associated Press photo

At Cheng Concrete, concrete is used to create artisanal countertops. Although these countertops are designer-crafted, skilled DIY-types can make simpler versions themselves. Along with wood and recycled glass, concrete is growing in popularity as an alternative to traditional countertopmaterials. (Full-size photo)

The concrete countertops in Eleanor Zuckermans San Francisco kitchen are hand-crafted works ofart.

Custom-designed by Fu-Tun Cheng of the Berkeley, California-based Cheng Concrete, they feature colors like brick, flowing lines and pictures of nautilusshells.

Go here to see the original:
For the kitchen, think beyond standard surfaces - Sun, 01 Jun 2014 PST

Published: Friday, May 30, 2014, 7:00p.m. Updated 6 hours ago

The concrete countertops in Eleanor Zuckerman's San Francisco kitchen are hand-crafted works of art.

Custom-designed by Fu-Tun Cheng of the Berkeley, California-based Cheng Concrete, they feature colors like brick, flowing lines and pictures of nautilus shells.

With concrete, there is a lot of room for creativity, to say nothing of color, says Zuckerman, a retired psychologist. It gives you flexibility.

Homeowners looking to spice up their kitchens can install a variety of countertops that go beyond the traditional laminate and tile. Today's options include concrete and butcher-block-style wood, and a range of custom-designed colors and shapes. IceStone countertops use recycled glass from broken bottles.

So many different materials are used in countertops these days, says Tony Izzo, Curtis Lumber's corporate kitchen and bath manager in Albany, New York. Until about 25 years ago, he says, roughly 90 percent of countertops in U.S. homes were laminate, and the rest tile.

Then DuPont's Corian hit the market, followed by granite and quartz, which are current favorites, he says. Today, just half of countertops are laminate, Izzo says.

The burgeoning interest in alternative countertops is the natural extension of that trend. And they are becoming more affordable.

Slowly, over the years, the market has really grown, says Mike Heidebrink, president of Cheng Concrete. When the company opened in 2002, it catered mostly to well-heeled dot-commers willing to spend more to bring an artisan's touch to their kitchens.

Today, Heidebrink says, Cheng also serves a growing number of skilled do-it-yourselfers who want to shape, mold and install countertops themselves. They can choose the color and lines of their countertops, he says. Once installed and sealed, he says, concrete countertops are as durable as limestone and marble.

See the rest here:
Countertops run gamut from concrete to glass and wood

By Dennis Thompson HealthDay Reporter

WEDNESDAY, May 28, 2014 (HealthDay News) -- An otherwise healthy man died of an incurable lung disease after breathing in fine particles while making Corian countertops for almost two decades, doctors report in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The 64-year-old man, Leroy Eckardt of Mount Vernon, Wash., spent about 16 years working on Corian at his mom-and-pop countertop business, inhaling dust as he ground, machined, drilled and sanded the material, said Dr. Ganesh Raghu. He is a professor at the University of Washington and director of the Center for Interstitial Lung Disease at UW Medicine.

Raghu believes that the inhaled Corian dust caused Eckardt to develop pulmonary fibrosis, a disease that scars the tissue of the lungs and makes it increasingly difficult for patients to breathe.

"He rarely wore a mask while working on the Corian," Raghu said. "He didn't think anything of it, because he didn't think this was causing any problems."

Eckardt's health steadily deteriorated, and he died of respiratory failure seven years after his diagnosis.

Pulmonary fibrosis affects about 140,000 Americans, and is most common in people between people the ages of 50 and 75, according to the American Lung Association. There's no cure, and many people live only three to five years past diagnosis.

Made by DuPont Co., Corian is a material composed of acrylic polymer and aluminum trihydrate.

Doctors found aluminum trihydroxide particles in the diseased tissue of the man's lungs during a biopsy at the time of his diagnosis. Raghu said the particles in Eckardt's lungs appeared to match Corian dust samples that the patient supplied from his workshop.

Raghu said this is the only case he knows of in which Corian has been associated with pulmonary fibrosis, but added that one of his co-authors has heard of other cases. They report on the case in a letter in the May 29 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Read more here:
Man Dies of Lung Disease After Working With Countertops, Doctors Report

Crawling out of the standard-materials rut when remodeling -- you know, the conventional idea that counters must be stone or tile, floors wood, yada yada -- opens up a brave new world of possibilities. New alternatives can also save a lot of money and win environmental Brownie points.

For full details, just ask Janet Hall, the San Francisco-based co-founder, editor-at-large and "materials maven" at the popular renovation and home-design website Remodelista.

Hall and her colleagues curate a wealth of mind-bending ideas, many of them from cutting-edge decorators and architects who are constantly seeking never-seen-before concepts for the home.

"Some motivating factors (for switching to new materials) include budget considerations," Hall says, "plus an effort to reduce consumption and repurpose items people already have in the home or that have been used by someone else. Also to add personality, creativity and originality into the design."

Just imagine a multihued herringbone floor made from dirt-cheap steel; old leather belts deployed as curtain rods; rustic barn siding on countertops; inexpensive plumbers piping repurposed for hanging contemporary pendant lights.

Hall's mantra is "Recycling, repurposing and reusing," and that applies to every conceivable safe, practical material out there.

New uses

Burlap -- that inexpensive, rough-textured, neutral-toned fabric of feed-sack fame -- is having its moment. Remodelista shows it transformed into window coverings, table runners, room dividers and more. Particularly unexpected was an elegant atelier at the 2013 San Francisco Decorator Showcase from designer Antonio Martins that had not only burlap "walls" but an eye-popping floor of mottled, bluish, cold-rolled steel in a herringbone pattern. Though supremely durable, it didn't look like metal at all.

The Richlite countertop and backsplash in the Bay Area home of Remodelista co-founder Julie Carlson are heat resistant, nonporous, durable, warm-to-the-touch and inherently antibacterial. (Matthew Williams/Remodelista)

For DIY curtain rods, Hall says, "We like plumbers pipe, especially if you want a vintage, farmhouse kind of look." If you prefer something sleek and modern, she points to a small, avant-garde light pendant that can be built, again using plumbers pipe, for $60.

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Renovating? Remodelista suggests unconventional, money-saving materials

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