Feb4
Jan20
Snowy Oasis
It’s a quiet Friday here at Exceed as I sit at my desk and watch the snow fall lightly. I think to myself, it looks innocent enough but I find myself singing a song to the tune of My Favorite Things….”Snowflakes that sit on my nose and eyelashes, causing all kinds of horrific car crashes….” Despite the stinky roads winter is a magnificent time of year. The first snow is fresh, clean, mysterious and an incredible inspiration!
So in honor of Mother Nature’s white blanket, I’ve put together what I’m calling a Snowy Oasis. It’s a room (in my mind a bathroom) that is white on white on white. It is a pure atmosphere that lends itself to texture, light and beautiful materials. Close your eyes and imagine with me for a moment a luxurious open bathroom. White glistening floors sparkle like ice and are warmed with oversized shimmery shag rugs. The open shower is coated with vertical white waterfall tiles mimicking a glacier catching the sun. An accent strip on the wet wall of glass and quartz vertically cascades to the floor. An oversized soaker tub steams like a hot spring with a backdrop of glacier white ledger stone from floor to ceiling.. Plush chairs dressed with soft fur blankets invite you to stay awhile. It’s a snowy oasis calling your name!
Check out the materials and if you like it then print off the “Like This Look” worksheet to get started transforming your space into a frosty get away!
xoxogingersnap
Jan11
Versus
My favorite Sunday pastime is watching football. I have my jersey on, I’m on my soft oversized couch, wine in hand with some hors-de-oeuvres and good company AND… (drum roll please followed by some agonizing silence) …a roaring fire. I am all about ambiance and feeling warm, welcome and cozy. Most people won’t argue with this because the element that sells this atmosphere is the fire.
Originally a heat source, fireplaces have become a coveted home element. Fireplaces have been around for a long time but with that time comes improvement. Eventually someone caught on that perhaps there is a way to have a fireplace without the hassle. No wood, no gas, no electricity, no flues, no ash, no chimney, no cleaning. Fast forward to now and you have Eco-Smart Fireplaces.
Eco-Smart Fireplaces are versatile, design friendly and UL rated! The fireboxes can be portable, inserted into an existing fireplace or built into granite countertops while other designs are great for outdoors, small spaces or as full built in wall units. The possibilities are vast. The lucky ducks at Exceed (that’s us) have the privilege of showcasing these beauties too!
We spent a good long time converting an outdated corner of the showroom into a glamorous tiered space where four of the Eco-Smart fireplaces burn beautifully. It really adds a whole new dynamic to our showroom. “Give me more reasons to buy one of these fireplaces oh wise one”, you might declare. Let’s compare Eco-Smart with your other choices then gwasshoppa.
What more do you need?! The researched modern homeowner will see the ease, quality and affordability of these fantastic additions to the home and know it’s the wisest choice! Come and visit us to see for yourself or visit www.ecosmartfire.com to learn more.
Dec3
Simply Classic
We do bathroom upgrades all day long but every once in a while we have the opportunity to gut a space and start over! I was the lucky one and Betty Lou (name has been changed so Betty doesn’t have to fend off bathroom admirers) needed everything from faucets to countertops to tile! Let’s begin.
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Betty requested classic simplicity. We chose a large format tile for the floors that embodied just this and worked our way up. Using Petra Romana, we took advantage of all the sizes available such as 12×12’s on the shower walls, 6×6’s on the seat and 3×6’s on the tub deck. But we’ll get to that later! Betty Lou had a bathroom generous enough to accommodate two separate vanities that we topped with Bavaria Quartz from HanStone. We used Toto sinks and faucets to complete the clean look.
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Let’s relax! In a soaker tub that is! We built the decking with clean lines and accented it with a backsplash to jazz things up a bit! We grounded the design with a 4” line of dark brown mixed mosaics framed with ½” travertine liner bars.
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AND the showstopper-the shower. The main event if you will! The idea was to create modest luxury that was functional. Using the Petra Romana tile as well as carrying the accent border into the shower we tied the concept together. We incorporated the niche and built in seat for a more custom look and finished it off with Toto shower fixtures. To complete the design we custom made her shower door. Did I mention we do that too?!?! It is a 3/8” frameless left mounted door with brushed nickel hardware providing ease of accessibility.
Betty Lou painted her walls a neutral color allowing for versatility in her accessory choices. Not pictured is a separate toilet room that we also tiled and placed a Toto toilet in. Betty is the talk of Exceed and her bathroom is an example of how we can take something drab to fab without going overboard!
Happy Designing!
wren&gingersnap
Nov26
somethin’ up our sleeve
In order to exceed your expectations, the ladies here are constantly throwing out ideas for improvements. So here’s the scoop…Exceed is getting glammed up. We’re putting on our best dress and slapping on that red gloss for you! You get the idea-there are major changes coming to Exceed and some are in full swing!
Here’s what to look for! Beige with sass, friendly flames, zany accents, sexy fixtures, some rock n roll, a sign and last but not least cabs…and not the ones you hail.
Got any ideas? I’ll post a quick pic and then we’ll see if you can guess what we’re up too! There’s no reward other than pure aw, a pat on the back…or crack open a cold one and celebrate your genius.
Okay. Ready. Set. GO!
And when the project is done, I’ll post finished pictures and give you some stimulating background! And then you’ll HAVE to give into that little fixer upper in you and come visit us at Exceed! BWAHAHA!
xoxogingersnap
Nov22
Small Business Saturday…
…IS THIS SATURDAY NOVEMBER 26th. American Express and Google have teamed up to support local businesses! Heads up community, we’re a small business!
Here’s the reality, we spend all day Black Friday and Cyber Monday shopping big box stores and huge chains for our holiday gifts when there are hundreds of small local businesses with products and services to offer. Why not get gift cards to the car wash, hair dresser, boutique, flower shop or EVEN get your loved ones a Gift Certificate to Exceed Flooring and jumpstart that home project they’ve been dying to do! Genius, I know! People want money so they can get their hair did or their car detailed or that 12 year old kitchen jazzed up! Its probably a New Years Resolution for all we know.
Speaking of gift cards, we’re offering them during the Holiday Season! And to sweeten the deal (cuz we’re no Scrooges) we’ll give you a 10% off coupon for any of our in-stock tile or carpet! And who knows, maybe you’ll get the gratification of knowing you had a part in your friends remodel! ‘Tis the Season shoppers! See you all on Saturday!
OH and Happy Turkey Day!
GobbleGobble*gingersnap
Oct8
A+
Have you heard of Angie’s List? In case you’ve been living under a rock, it’s basically like the yellow pages. What makes Angie’s List stand out is the fact that businesses are rated on an A-F scale. Customer’s reviews are what make or break your grade. Ultimately it forces businesses to uphold a higher standard of doing business. AND in order to post of a review a customer has to have actually been a paying customer. It helps alleviate cases where people trash companies for petty reasons or even businesses attacking competitors. It’s a great resource for people who want real feedback from real customers. And yes, Exceed Flooring has an A rating. Just sayin’! SO this is what we want from you. Give us a review! Please. We think this is a great way for people to get an inside sneak preview of what working with Exceed is like. Just go to angieslist.com to post your stellar comments!
xoxogingersnap
Oct5
rant about it
Customers are what make our design world go ‘round. However, that orbit doesn’t come without our fair share of hilarious encounters and things that blow our brilliant minds. Here are a few quick tips for future customers who are on a quest to jazz up their space!
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Bill Gates has a budget. That means you have budget. The last thing I want is for you to fall in love with something you can’t afford. So let us know what it is and if we come in under budget-win win!
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An hour is not a long drive especially because you’d drive that to window shop at the mall. We stock a few granite slabs here at Exceed but if you are looking for something a little more special or exotic we recommend visiting a granite yard to find what you want. And that means committing to an afternoon cruise for a $3,000.00 project and there are some great restuarants along the way.
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Browsing is a perfectly acceptable way to get ideas, get your questions answered or even receive some design guidance. On the occasion that you’re in the mindset to buy, it is advised to come prepared with inspiration, general measurements, digitals of the space, tear out pages from magazines, and have an idea of your likes and dislikes. Any helpful information at all.
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Engineered wood is not fake or artificial wood. It is real wood! And those negative rumors-not true. In many cases engineered wood floors are superior to solid 3/4”. We’ll show you why. There are junk engineered floors. Refer to item 10 for the explanation.
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All oak floors are not equal. There is a reason the price on one solid oak floor is different than the next. Often times it comes down to manufacturing, wear layers, wood grades etc. etc.
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There is a whole brilliant world of colors out there. Beige is not the only option. Also beige is no longer the staple neutral choice. Grey and rectilinear is where the market is moving.
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12×12 is a small format tile.
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13×13 is not that much bigger and will not break a design.
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We all have champagne taste with beer budgets. The pretty things are always expensive and we will always be drawn to them like moths to a porch light.
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Please don’t think cheaper means a bargain. You will get what you pay for. We are a business of quality not quantity unlike our big box competitors where price is all they have to sell. Do you really want to buy flooring from a salesperson that was just transfered from electrical? Honest, that’s how they operate. Don’t think we don’t check. We do and find what comes out of their mouths pretty funny and awfully scary.
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Design for you, not for the people who might buy your house in 5 years. If design is done right, the buyers will see that.
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Styles change every year. You don’t pass on a great pair of pumps for fear they won’t be in style next year, right? A great purchase will still be a great purchase even years later if done right.
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Spraying a sealer on your granite doesn’t exactly qualify as hard maintenance.
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Unattended children will be given an espresso and a puppy. Especially in our granite area where each slab weighs 1800 lbs. Please don’t get upset if we get firm with kids. This is serious stuff and don’t want anyone hurt.
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It would be nice to know what state you live in.
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It is highly unlikely that a whole house of carpet will be installed for $100. In fact would you work for 8 hours on your knees tearing out smelly 10 year old carpet, kick in the carpet, (Big box stores don’t powerstretch folks. They don’t have the expertise or equipment) install new pad and carpet, and it’s a crew of two installers. So lets do the math, $50.00/day per installer works out to $6.25/hour. That’s $2.75/hour less than minimum wage which is illegal. Gas is $3.50/gallon and the average van gets 10mpg. Ain’t happening folks. You’re getting cheated elsewhere. Lousy carpet, lousy installation, no real warranty. Just try to get the orange or blue aprons back to fix your buckled carpet. Won’t happen. We hear this scenerio weekly. We attempt to fix them and charge dearly. Our warranty is simple. If there’s a problem we fix it. No charge, no questions. As long as you own that floor. We haven’t had a call back in six years. Period. Just read an ad of a dealer in Richmond Illinois quoting $29.00 whole house installed. We believe our customers have the intelligence to figure real from bs. Some day I’ll tell you how Empire and Luna operate. The scam of all scams. Boiler room operations.
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Granite countertops are not a DIY job.
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We are happy to answer your questions but our number is 815-459-3113, not 800-DO-IT-URSELF. If you have that many questions, maybe doing it yourself should be reconsidered.
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We may be young but we have worked hard for our degrees, spent time building our knowledge base and familiarizing ourselves with every material we have to better assist you.
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Help us help you. Floor tile can go on walls; wall tile cannot go on floors. Otherwise there is no such thing as backsplash, bathroom or kitchen specific tile.
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There is a reason we add waste to your orders. What if you drop a TV on your new floor? It would be nice to have some replacements…and a new TV. Sometimes you remodel and you need additional tiles to fill in blank spots. Maybe you want to bring the foyer tile into the kitchen-it is convenient to have all the information you need to order more.
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It is near impossible to find a tile that is 8 years old. More often than not we are presented with the corner of a broken tile and no information and asked, “What is this?” We can find similar product but the chances that it will be the same is slim to none. This is another good example of why it is always beneficial to have extra tile. There isn’t a week that goes by that we don’t see this scenerio. Our quote is if you can match this you’d best buy a lottery ticket cuz this is your lucky day.
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Cash and Carry is a term we use for jobs where the customer is only buying material but we are not installing. That is just fine! All we ask is that when you come to pick up the material you are prepared with rope, protective mats/blankets or whatever else is necessary to get the product home. (i.e. picking up a 372SF roll of carpet in your Cadillac with no way to secure it to the top)
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We’re here to help! Our showroom can be overwhelming especially because there are so many materials and styles. It’s hard to know where to begin. When we greet you and ask what we can do to help you, tell us what your project is or what you’re looking for. We can pull options and help with the process of elimination so you are able to find something stunning!
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Return our calls. Return our samples. Respond to emails. Communicate your thoughts and ask us your questions. We can only help you as much as you’ll let us.
xoxo gingersnap&cole
Oct4
hang your hopes on a cure
It’s breat cancer awareness month. The month where even rough and tough (and super sexy) football players wear pink in honor of those fighting and who have fought! Our involvement revolves around two parts. First, a portion of our proceeds will be donated to Centegra Gavers Breast Center and all gently donated bras will with laundered and donated to womens services. Awesome, right!?! Notice the rainbow over our pink bra tree? Hope at the end of the rainbow:)
Go here to learn more about our bra tree! http://triblocal.com/crystal-lake/2011/09/28/local-business-goes-to-the-bras/
xoxogingersnap
Sep28
