By Carisa Crawford Chappell March 13 at 7:35 AM

Sammie and Rainia Washington relocated to the Washington region from Atlanta. While space is much harder to come by in this part of the country than in the South, they did their research to find a house with ample room to spread out, both indoors and outdoors.

The serene drive down Route 108 leading to a new development in Montgomery County hints at whats to come when entering Laytonsville Preserve, where the Washingtons moved last November. Large houses on one acre lots or more impressed them.

NVR Homes opened the luxury community last year and is now selling the first phase of 17 houses. Six have sold so far. Once completed, there will be three sections with about 60 houses in all. Each section has its own cul-de-sac.

The lot sizes and the area is what drew us to Laytonsville Preserve, Sammie said.

Double door entry: Laytonsville is a small, rural town near Gaithersburg and Olney, with a population of about 500. The landscape is still marked largely by farmland.

The development is about eight miles from Georgia Avenue.

There are five floor plans, including the Regents Park II, which is the model home and one of the largest plans offered. This house, along with many of the other plans, has an elevation that comes with a grand double-door entry.

The Regents Park II has four bedrooms, five bathrooms and a center hall floor plan that separates the formal living room from the formal dining room. Arched entryways from both the dining room and foyer lead into the spacious family room.

The model showcases a number of standard and optional features offered by the builder. The sunny kitchen has a center island that doubles as a breakfast bar and white cabinets contrast nicely with the dark granite countertops.

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Southern comforts in suburban Maryland

Concrete Countertops - Putting the Kitchen Back Together.
Finishing the kitchen renovation after concrete countertops.

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Concrete Countertops - Putting the Kitchen Back Together. - Video

The dream

In our prerenovation home, my husband, Dan, and I made the most of our small, dated kitchen by painting the oak strip cabinetry, adding modern hardware and installing black-and-white vinyl tiles in a snazzy striped pattern. Although it had some charm, I was forever dreaming of a bigger kitchen with a better layout, more storage space, stone countertops and somewhere for guests to gather.

The snag

When transforming our bungalow into a three-storey home, we kept the kitchen in the same location to save on costs. To open it up, we took down a wall and extended the room to the very front of the house. The new kitchen had much more space and offered the chance to put the sink under a window, for daydreaming.

Still, there were a few things to work around: a corner that stuck out because of the staircase to the basement, duct work above the stove that needed to be hidden, and our desire for a bit of separation from the new entryway.

We used IKEAs kitchen planning software to fiddle around with different layouts, ending up with a peninsula rather than an island, the classic work triangle of stove-fridge-sink, and plenty of room to have multiple people in there at once.

The result

For countertops, we splurged on quartz with interesting, but subtle, veining that brings grey and white together. I wish I could have used the same quartz for the backsplash, but budget-mandated simplicity resulted in an elongated, textured white tile all the way up to the ceiling. Gold hardware adds a bit of glam to the space, and having some glass-fronted upper cabinets lets me display some of my favourite pieces.

I was won over by IKEAs modern design and great prices for cabinetry, and chose a shaker-style door with grey lowers and white uppers. We have yet to install the hood vent (it took a while to find one with the right dimensions), but I can see the finish line.

Having space for my husband and me to prep dinner at the same time with our daughter running around at our feet has been such a nice change. The kitchen has become the hub of our home, and we couldnt be happier.

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How we created the bigger kitchen of my dreams

View Larger Local More Local Stories US & World More US & World Stories Local Stories from ThisWeek More Articles By Mark Ferenchik The Columbus Dispatch Thursday March 12, 2015 6:04 AM

The quaint Dutch colonial revival house in Columbus Westgate neighborhood is being renovated, with new drywall, new sinks, new vinyl flooring and kitchen countertops.

But no new windows. Though it would be easy to install vinyl replacements, a group of young preservationists will learn this weekend how to repair the wooden windows in the 90-year-old house on Binns Boulevard.

The Young Ohio Preservationists, a year-old group, has formed a partnership with Homes on the Hill, the local nonprofit that redevelops and builds houses for low- and middle-income residents on the West Side.

Homes on the Hill acquired the Binns Boulevard house from JPMorgan Chase last year. The house was in foreclosure, and Chase donated it.

This weekend, the house will be a workshop. Volunteers from the Young Ohio Preservationists, affiliated with Heritage Ohio, will learn how to install weatherstripping, repair weight ropes, replace broken glass and apply glazing techniques.

The house has 14 windows. Repairing the windows will cost about $2,500, including the training, while new vinyl windows would run $4,500 to $5,000, said Steve Torsell, Homes on the Hill executive director.

Just as important, the work will help maintain the character of the house in a neighborhood that prides itself on just that.

We celebrate that, said Betty Jaynes, president of the Westgate Neighbors Association. We have a lot of people who are moving to this area, who embrace these older homes.

Torsells niece, Rebecca Torsell, is a member of the young preservationists group and looking forward to its first project.

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Preservation group to learn about restoring old windows

Kitchen Countertops Manhattan New York
http://countertopsnyc.com/ prides itself on having a vast array of colors, textures, and variations of natural stones at a price and quality of service that is difficult to beat, We provide...

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Baltaire, an ultra-luxe new steakhouse by the team behind Coral Tree Cafe, Red Room Food & Wine Bar and Comoncy coffee boutique, is now open in Brentwood. Think dark wood, plush leather armchairs, white marble countertops and a lounge with a fireplace.

Executive chef Travis Strickland, who has worked at Chicago Cut Steakhouse and The Local Chicago, will cook all the restaurant's meats on an imported French Montage broiler. Cuts include A5 Japanese Wagyu, porterhouse for two, 35-day, dry-aged cote de boeuf and more.

On the menu willbe a seafood platter with king crab, shrimp, oysters and Maine lobster; and a Dover sole fileted and deboned tableside in French copper pans.

There'salso a Greek salad prepared tableside and a shaved vegetable salad with beets, carrots, blue cheese and citrus vinaigrette on the lunch menu.

The beverage program, curated by beverage director and sommelier David Vaughn (formerly of Osteria Mozza), includes more than 30 wines by the glass and more than 450 half bottles, full bottles and magnums. Cocktails include the Baltaire Julep, made with a guest's favorite base spirit, and the Sangre y Arena, featuringIllegal mezcal, Cherry Heering, Carpano Antica sweet vermouth and orange juice.

There's also a selection of rare single malt scotches and imported craft beers.

The restaurant features a 68-seat dining room, fireside lounge, baby grand piano [for live music performances] and a 2,500-square-foot outdoor terrace.

Baltaire is open 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for lunch Monday to Friday and 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday. Dinner is served 5 to 10 p.m. Sunday to Thursday and 5 to 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.

11647 San Vicente Blvd., Brentwood, (424) 273-1660,www.baltaire.com.

I like my meat rare. Follow me on Twitter@Jenn_Harris_

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Baltaire steakhouse opens in Brentwood with steaks and tableside Dover sole

Industrial tones such as Corten and white metal mix with reclaimed wood of various hues for a distinguished look in Mar Vista. Wide-plank oak flooring, gilded light fixtures and a crisp white kitchen with quartz countertops highlight the loft-like floor plan.

Location: 4021 Marcasel Ave., Los Angeles, 90066

Price: $2.275 million

Year built: 2014

House size: 4,060 square feet, four bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms

Lot size: 7,873 square feet

Features: Wide-plank oak flooring, custom wall treatments, built-ins, skylights, open-space floor plan, living room, dining room, chefs kitchen with quartz counters, master suite with walk-in closet and rain shower, deck, detached two-car garage.

About the area: The median sales price for homes in the 90066 ZIP Code in the month of December was $1.175 million based on 27 sales, according to DataQuick. That represents a 25.7% increase in median price year-over-year.

Agents: Sherri Noel, (310) 994-8721, The Noel Team -- Keller Williams Realty

To submit a candidate for Home of the Day, send high-resolution color photos via Dropbox.com, permission from the photographer to publish the images and a description of the house to neal.leitereg@latimes.com.

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Home of the Day: A sharp look in Mar Vista

Kitchen Countertops: Things to Consider
Clients are often stuck with the dilemma of what countertops work best in their kitchen. Selecting countertops is one of the earlier steps in remodeling a kitchen. Since all kitchen remodels...

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Luxum Countertops
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