We are now in the fireplace business (note my previous post) and desired an area to showcase them together.  It makes for a much more dramatic impact.  With that in mind our ever so brilliant head designer constructed a tiered affect.  This is a much better use of space as we were limited.  Then came the hard part-materials.  With everything at our fingertips, however do we choose just the perfect tiles?  After some brainstorming and focusing on our consumer demands, we took off in search of beige.  Here’s the thing, the general public can’t let go of beige.  It’s not the staple neutral anymore; grey is BUT it might be awhile before we see the homeowner embrace it.  So our ideas formulated from the tried and true beige color palette. 

We wanted to show customers how beige can be done without being boring.  So we mixed 26 different materials on 11 planes to create beige with sass.  It was a trying task as we went back and forth on where to put the materials and how to utilize them.  The end result is incredible.  Take a look and also note how a basic CAD drawing can become something dimensional, breathtaking and elegant!

xoxogingersnap

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

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.

1. 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.

2. 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. 

3. 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

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

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

 xoxogingersnap

1. 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!

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. 12×12 is a small format tile.

8. 13×13 is not that much bigger and will not break a design.

9. 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.

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. 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.

13. Spraying a sealer on your granite doesn’t exactly qualify as hard maintenance.

14. 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.

15. It would be nice to know what state you live in. 

16. 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. 

17. Granite countertops are not a DIY job.

18. 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.

19. 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.

20. 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. 

21. 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. 

22. 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.

23.  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)

24. 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!

25. 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

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

In latest ugly tile design news, we all put our thinking caps on and did our best to create a backsplash, shower or fireplace surround using a questionable 6×12 yellow tile shown in the last post.  These are the results.

Let me elaborate from top left to bottom right.  Yours truly designed a kitchen backsplash appealing to a more European country taste.  It includes a 4×4 sunflower metal medallion surrounded by a multicolor glass 2×2 mosaic.  The backsplash is grounded by our lovely 6×12 yellow tile and jazzed up with a line of 1×1 muted yellow glass mosaic that also frames out the range hood area. I also included some 6×6 ceramic tiles for paint color inspiration as well a floor tile ( a 6×6 distressed leather brown porcelain tile) and a similarly brown quartz countertop. Next we have Bonaroo who created an unexpected vertical design that ties modern in with rustic.  As she puts it, “I chose to compliment it with muted greens and blues with an 18×18 slate looking porcelain that was toned down a tad by incorporating natural tones and textures with the wood plank porcelain tile and pebble mosaic.  I dressed it up slightly with a stone, glass and metal mosaic and punched up the bathroom with a rainforest marble brown custom countertop.” 

Kay-Elle’s design was inspired by a 1950’s stove and farmer’s sink.  Her love of color and perhaps a little retro spunk turned a bizarre tile into something interesting and functional.  She paired the bright backsplash with a white cabinet to further drive home the blast from the past.  Hawleywood went for a simplistic yet flirty design.  She complimented the tile with another yellow tile that might remind one of a daisy.  It is with that direction that she included a white ceramic 6×6 tile with a daisy motif.  She ran this along the shower wall as a border and framed it out with split face white pebbles. 

Wren took it back to basics with a yellow, brown and black theme.  She designed a backsplash to include a base of the yellow tile broken up by an elongated black tile that frames out a wood 1×1 mosaic border.  As a focal point behind the hood she used a 2×2 acid washed copper mosaic to pull the brown tones upward and to further compliment the wood mosaic.  To finish the look she used a light brown veined quartz countertop to help tone down the bright yellow. AND last but certainly not least is Cole.  She upped the ante and not only designed a fireplace surround for a contemporary townhouse in the city but she rendered it.  A breakdown of her design would include a designer favorite-Mercury Mosaics.  These are custom handmade mosaics that come in different shapes but are popular in a circle format.  She utilized them in a vertical accent strip to increase the height in the space.  She used a root beer glass 3×6 tile to ground the circles and played up the yellow is a small strip mosaic that has browns, yellows and reds in it.  Annnnnddddd that’s all folks.

Now it’s your turn.  VOTE!  Whose design would you pick?!  If you were stuck with 4 skids of the horrendous 6×12 yellow tile how would you dress it up…or down.  Shame on me.  Who am I to call our poor tile horrendous!  Someone will like it and as Bonaroo said, “It is not up to a designer to decide whether something a homeowner wants should or should not go into their space; rather it is a designer’s responsibility to make what the homeowner wants work.”   

So tell us who you think nailed it and they’ll earn those braggin’ rights!