Five Trends in Kitchen Design That Are Here to Stay

We’ve all seen them…the decorating TV shows that trumpet the latest high-fashion trends in kitchens -- from glass countertops to microwaves that double as flat screen televisions. It’s easy to get caught up in the hype for the latest high-priced item, but what trends are worth your attention and investment? While industry experts often disagree on style issues, they all agree on one thing: the trend of bigger, more open, more important kitchens in the U.S. is here to stay. “A generation ago, kitchens were thought of as the place where mom cooked by herself, then brought the food out to the rest of the family.

Now, kitchens are the hub of the home, where the entire family gathers in the evenings, after work, to do homework, share meals and entertain friends. Everything we’re seeing in kitchen design is just another way to make kitchens more multifunctional and welcoming,” said Ellen Cheever, ASID, a well-known kitchen designer, educator and frequent contributor to industry publications like Kitchen and Bath Design News. Following are five trends to consider for your own kitchen.

Trend #1: The Kitchens Within a Kitchen

As more Americans build homes with kitchens that are open to living and dining rooms, kitchens are being treated more like any other room in the house, with elaborate moldings, specialty lighting and finely crafted floors and ceilings. “People need their kitchen to be expandable and collapsible, too,” Cheever added. “On the weeknights, they need to be able to navigate their kitchen quickly when they’re just warming up a simple meal. But on the weekends, they need it to open up enough so they can prepare a fancy gourmet meal and entertain a large group of friends while they are cooking.” As a result, designers are creating quick prep areas where a small sink, cutting board and microwave are close together. Larger homes are often using a small butler’s pantry off the main kitchen for this purpose, with a clean-up sink, microwave, prep area and small refrigerator. The butler’s pantry has the added convenience of keeping dirty dishes out of the way while entertaining, and storing large amounts of serve ware, linens and china. Cheever noted that customers are also putting in larger sinks in the island, to make a food prep zone, and placing larger farmhouse sinks along the back wall for more elaborate “clean-up centers.” “The days when kitchens always had one sink right under the kitchen window appear to be over,” Cheever said.

Trend #2: Eclectic Is In

Customers of all kinds are interested in the new, unusual and artful, according to Jan Aufderhar, semi-custom manager for MasterBrand Cabinets in Jasper, Ind. While the upscale markets are often driving innovation, these trends are now becoming common at all price levels, Aufderhar said. “Instead of having a solid bank of cabinets with a standard look, customers are mixing and matching finishes, putting cabinets up on feet to make them look more like freestanding furniture and choosing exotic woods and hardware,” she said. “White cabinets are still popular, but the sales are going down for those as customers go for painted finishes like chili pepper red, or rich, hand-rubbed finishes like dark cherry,” Aufderhar said. Customers are adding more display area into upper cabinets as well, putting in clear or art glass inserts into their door fronts and gallery lighting inside the cabinet to show off prized ceramics or hand-blown glass collections.

Trend #3: More Tall, Less Wall

As customer’s floor plans continue to be more open, there is less space to mount above the counter cabinets. As a result, manufacturers are creating more height options for cabinets to help break up the space between rooms. “We’ve been installing a lot of pedestal cabinets -- these are cabinets which are taller than the rest, usually 42 inches or more, that act almost like a built-in-pedestal at the end of a long run of under-the-counter cabinets. It’s a great post for a column or other architectural element for the room,” Cheever said. She noted that designers are also creating counters with two levels. The high level breaks up space between kitchen and living room areas and reduces the appearance of counter clutter. It also provides a handy place to pull up a barstool to do homework. Designers are also creating “baking centers” with lower than standard counter heights perfect for kneading bread or making candy.

Trend #4: Expanded Office/Work Desk Areas

“Used to be, there was a desk in the kitchen so mom could store her recipes and work on the bills,” Cheever said. “But as more homes got wireless Internet access, mom didn’t like being cooped up at a kitchen desk.” Today, customers are forgoing tiny kitchen desks for larger desks that wrap around into the family room -- perfect for watching the kids while they surf the Internet and paying the bills while enjoying TV with the family.

Trend #5: Everything at Your Fingertips

“Customers today are no longer satisfied to have cabinets that merely look good. They want them to work efficiently for them, too,” Aufderhar said.Appliance manufacturers have been quick to capitalize on the trend too, as they develop warming drawers, beverage chillers and more for under the counter. Offering customers options like buffet storage for linens, fine glass storage, beverage centers and the like has made it possible for customers to design more complex areas in their kitchens. “Instead of the kitchens with just a traditional cook, prep, clean-up and food storage areas, customers can use their kitchen cabinets to create a formal dining area, a casual dining space, a homework area, a wine service/bar area or anything they need, just by carving out a corner of space in their kitchens. It’s the products and the planning that are truly key to making the open-concept kitchen trend work. It’s a trend that truly reflects how people are living these days, and I think it’s a way of life that will be around for a long time,” Aufderhar said.

via LuxuryRealEstate.com

For the latest in kitchen concepts go to www.ColoradoDreamHomes.net

Homes of the Billionaires

Bill Gates' Home (William Henry Gates III, Medina, Wash., Net Worth: $51.0 billion)

Homes Of The Billionaires by Sara Clemence and Victoria Lee (Forbes)America's wealthiest citizens can buy or build just about any type of house they like, and so it should come as no shock that many of them live very nicely, indeed. They can easily purchase in some of the most expensive and desirable locations in the world, from Park Avenue to Beverly Hills, guarding their privacy with extensive grounds and high private hedges. And real estate bubble be damned--when you have upward of $10 billion in banks and brokerages, price simply isn't an issue. But like the rest of the population, their tastes run from garish to daring, glamorous to traditional. (We are sure one can read volumes about their personalities from the homes, but we won't even try here.)

The shingle-clad Massachusetts estate owned by Fidelity Investments billionaire Abigail Johnson has little in common with Oracle (nasdaq: ORCL - news - people ) head Larry Ellison's mansion in Woodside, Calif. We scoured public records, searched databases and leaned on local sources to identify the homes of the few dozen richest people in the U.S. To protect their privacy, we do not reveal addresses or surroundings, but our photographs allow you to see how they live--sometimes in surprising ways. In some cases, it's common knowledge that the homes belong to certain people; in others, information was confirmed by the owners or is recorded in public property records. In a few instances, we went with what we believed to be the most recent addresses. We know from media reports, for example, that S.I. Newhouse of Advance Publications has lived near the United Nations in New York. His wife, Victoria, was among the residents who spoke out several years ago against Donald Trump's plan to build a view-blocking new tower. But a company spokeswoman would only confirm that he and his brother, Donald Newhouse, both maintain residences in New York City. A few people remain total mysteries. For example, Google (nasdaq: GOOG - news - people ) founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, recently minted billionaires, guard their privacy so closely that we only know that they probably live in Palo Alto. A Google spokesman would not comment on Brin or Page's home. Obviously, when you can spend as much as you like on a home, you can indulge passions, fantasies and quirks. We're not talking wine cellars or master bedrooms suites--once considered the height of luxury, they are practically standard in upscale homes--but amenities like the trampoline room in Microsoft (nasdaq: MSFT - news - people ) founder Bill Gates' lakeside residence in Medina, Wash. Or, Ellison's 33-acre spread inspired by the Japanese city of Kyoto. Its man-made lake was designed to be earthquake-proof, and the buildings were constructed in traditional Japanese style, without using nails.

Location isn't always a common factor among the richest Americans, either. Although wealth tends to concentrate in specific areas, being a member of the billionaire's club doesn't automatically come with a house in Palm Beach--though John Kluge of Metromedia does occupy a pale yellow mansion there. Many of the richest people on our list own houses where they grew up, or near the sources of their wealth. Sometimes those are less-than-glamorous places--think Bentonville, Ark., home of Wal-Mart (nyse: WMT - news - people ) and several members of the Walton clan. Dell (nasdaq: DELL - news - people ) head Michael Dell's primary residence is in Austin, Texas, and Nike (nyse: NKE - news - people ) founder Philip Knight's is in Hillsboro, Ore., a rural area outside of Portland, Ore. "He bought it in the 1970s," says Mai Truong, a local real estate broker with RE/MAX Equity Group. "Back when he bought it, that was pretty much nowhere land."

Then there is the question everyone wants to ask: How much is a billionaire's home worth? In some instances, as much--or more--than one would think. Kluge's Palm Beach estate, which totals more than 21,000 square feet and sits on four acres of manicured grounds adorned with statues and reflecting pools, has a market value of more than $28 million, according to county estimates. Ellison spent several years and more than $100 million to build his palace. Earlier this year, Gates received a property tax bill for a whopping $1.1 million, because his compound was estimated to be worth nearly $140 million. Fellow Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen, who owns a group of nearby properties valued at a little under $120 million, got off with just a $1 million charge. But at the other end of the scale are uber-wealthy people who are uninterested in flaunting--or even, it seems, enjoying--their billions.

Some of our rich-listers choose to live surprisingly modestly. Take Warren Buffett, the brains behind Berkshire Hathaway (nyse: BRKA - news - people ). The "Oracle of Omaha" lives in the Happy Hollow neighborhood of Omaha, Nebr. It's not a shabby place, but he bought the gray stucco home in 1958 for $31,500. In 2003, it was assessed at just $700,000. Members of the notoriously reclusive and low-key Mars family, heirs to the candy fortune, seem to own pretty modest digs--John Mars lives in a McLean, Va., townhouse and, until a few years ago, his equally secretive brother, Forrest Edward Mars Jr., who at that time was estimated to be worth $9 billion, lived in a unprepossessing condominium in Arlington, Va. Of course, billionaires often own more than one home--and sometimes several--which can explain why one may seem relatively modest. Another might be an utter palace. Truong guesses that Phil Knight's house is worth just a few million dollars, depending on the condition of his house and what it's like inside. "There's a pool, a nice big yard," she says. "But it could be very old, very simple depending on the owner." Who wants to live like a billionaire? Perhaps you already do.

More Luxury Homes at www.ColoradoDreamHomes.net

Billionaire Bathrooms

It's easy to get extravagant in the bathroom. The status kitchen has now been established--granite counters, handcrafted cabinets, Viking ranges and Sub-Zero refrigerators. Meanwhile, "marble" has been the simple shorthand for luxury in the bath. You don't have to be Dennis Kozlowski to know that there's much, much more. The disgraced (and now convicted) former chief executive of Tyco (nyse: TYC - news - people ) looted tens of millions of dollars from his company but may be most notorious for his custom-made, gold-threaded shower curtain, which carried a $6,000 price tag.

The kinds of super-expensive objects that grace the very best bathrooms probably aren't available at the local Home Depot (nyse: HD - news - people ) or Bed, Bath & Beyond (nasdaq: BBBY - news - people ). For one, they are often made of rare materials--take the master bath of a $33 million apartment in New York's Trump International Hotel and Tower, which is paved in brilliant lapis lazuli. They are frequently custom-created to fit the environment. And having products handmade in (and imported from) Europe always adds substantial sums to the final tab. "We do believe that bathrooms are the next kitchens," says Milton Pedraza, chief executive of the Luxury Institute, a research firm based in New York. Even people who don't cook much have multiple stoves and chef-quality cookware, he points out.

Now wealthy home owners are transforming their bathrooms into spas--and for practical, as well as indulgent, reasons. "A lot more people are beginning to say, 'I'm not moving away from my kids or from the central city,'" he says. "Instead, they are exploring ways to remain in their homes after retirement, while being looked after. Baby boomers are opting more for in-home care as opposed to managed care. I think expanding the bathroom into a home spa is not just for indulgence but also for therapy." Even without creating space for the masseuse, a well-heeled home owner can attend to any number of details in the luxury bath. Sometimes spending a lot of money is about convenience--like having a flat-screen television behind your mirror, so you can catch the news while getting prepped in the morning. High-tech appliances, such as a self-cleaning toilet that can be controlled with a wireless remote, don't come cheap. Then of course, there are pure aesthetics. Hand-cast fixtures in jewel-like designs can make a bathroom a thing of beauty--even if you're simply turning on the tap.

(Pictured Above)Villeroy & Boch, Price: $85 to $105 per tile Villeroy & Boch, better known for place settings, has created tiles that can light up your life--or at least your bath. The stone and ceramic tiles are embedded with tiny LED fixtures that last for about 100,000 hours and can be used on any surface. They come in a variety of colors and styles, to provide ambient lighting, highlight pathways or illuminate anything else you might imagine. Prices vary according to style. For more information, visit www.villeroy-boch.com.

Article by Sara Clemence, Forbes.com

For more cool bath ideas visit www.ColoradoDreamHomes.net

Are They Priced NOT to Sell?

Why Some Supermansions Are Priced "Not" to Sell

It's the ultimate trophy property: A 29,000-square-foot spread on Biscayne Bay with 13 bedrooms, a gun room, fingertip identity-scanners, and, for privacy from gawkers on passing boats, a machine that shrouds the backyard in mist. Yet several years after putting the home on the market, no one has offered owner Thomas Kramer anything close to his current asking price of $50 million.

Still, he isn't entertaining a cut -- because showing it is entertaining enough. Sears Chairman Edward Lampert and singer Enrique Iglesias have visited, according to people who showed the house; director Michael Mann used the home to shoot scenes of the new movie version of "Miami Vice." "I've met unbelievable, interesting characters," says Mr. Kramer, a 48-year-old real-estate developer.

This is the real-estate world's expanding ubermarket, where prices start at $30 million and sellers are sometimes in it just for sport. These aren't mere mansions -- sorry, Cher, your $9.8 million joint wouldn't make the cut -- but modern-day San Simeons, largely insulated from the rest of the market. Currently about 60 of these mini-emirates are for sale in the U.S., according to databases and interviews with brokers. That's compared with a handful of $30-million-plus homes even a few years ago.

So who are these people, why aren't they in a rush to sell -- and what do their mid-eight-figure pads look like? We went on a cross-country tour of homes that have been on the market for close to a year or more and found sellers such as a former radio-station owner, a retired Seattle-area couple and plenty of people who made their money in the real-estate market. Our visits let us into to a private art wing with steel doors that drop from the ceiling, a 70-foot saltwater swimming pool and a sweeping vista over Michael Eisner's Aspen-area house way, waaaaay below.

We also found prices that didn't seem to compute. One home on Mercer Island, Wash., has a $40 million price tag, more than five times the high sales price on the Seattle-area island. A Los Angeles ranch compound, described in a marketing brochure as "gracious" and "breathtaking," had a guest cottage with a sagging roof and a mirrored disco ball in the screening room. And in Marin County, Calif., a historic home that had undergone a $32 million, nine-year renovation had a two-car garage.

More of these hyper-estates have come up for sale in recent years. On the west side of Los Angeles, there are more than a dozen homes on the market in the $30 million-plus range, up from about two in 2001, according to Cecelia Waeschle of Sotheby's International Realty in Malibu. In Manhattan there are around 20, compared with a handful in 2001, says Fox Residential Group. In Florida, two spec homes under construction are expected to come on the market at about $125 million each, while two in the Los Angeles area will have "for sale" signs of about $60 million.

Testing the MarketSome of these prices can be attributed to the past half-decade's real-estate boom; houses that might have been listed for a mere $25 million a few years ago could go for $50 million now, or more depending on the location. But there are other factors at play. Many megamansions are being built without buyers in mind. There's a sense that some homeowners are simply having fun testing the market -- naming their dream price in the hopes that a buyer will wander by and pay it one day, but without being particularly motivated to sell. In many cases, their houses have sat on the market for years, with owners holding prices firm, or even boosting them.

via The Wall Street Journal Online

More Luxury Homes info at www.ColoradoDreamHomes.net

Realtors Assess Resale Value of Remodeling Projects in Shifting Markets

The resale value of many remodeling projects has not kept pace with the costs of those projects, according to Realtors and remodelers who recently participated in Remodeling magazine’s 2006 “Cost vs. Value Report.” Produced for 19 years by Hanley Wood, LLC, this is the ninth consecutive year the report was completed in cooperation with REALTOR Magazine, as National Association of Realtors members provided their insight into local markets and home buyer preferences in 60 different cities across the country.

The report shows that prices for most remodeling projects continue to increase, though their resale value has decreased. This trend reflects a return to a more balanced real estate market in many areas of the country. As in 2005, kitchen and bathroom remodels are still near the top of the list in terms of costs recouped, on a national average.

In 2006, the national average cost for a major kitchen remodel was $54,241, and the return was $43,603, for an 80.4 percent return on investment. By comparison, in 2005, a major midrange kitchen remodel cost an average of $43,862 and returned $39,920, or 91 percent of the costs to remodel. Midrange bathroom remodels recouped 85 percent of their cost in 2006, with remodeling expenses averaging $12,918 and resale values averaging $10,970. Last year, the same project cost $10,499 and returned $10,727, or 102.2 percent.

“Our Realtor members visit hundreds, if not thousands, of homes with their buyer clients each year, and have a unique understanding of what home buyers value in their local markets,” said NAR President Pat Vredevoogd Combs of Grand Rapids, Mich., vice president of Coldwell Banker–AJS–Schmidt. “As real estate markets shift in many sections of the country, homeowners must rely on the guidance of real estate professionals who are immersed in the industry. Realtors’ insight into buyer preferences and their connections to local remodeling experts help them add value to the real estate transaction, whether their clients are preparing their home for sale or just want to be informed about resale value down the road.”

The report compares construction costs with resale values for 25 common remodeling projects in 60 cities. This year the report provides data for nine U.S. regions, rather than four as in years past, following the divisions established by the U.S. Census Bureau. The projects represent additions, remodels and replacements. Nationally, replacement projects tended to return more value than additions or remodels, but, as in previous reports, the desirability of different remodeling projects varied by region and metropolitan area.

The most profitable projects nationally, from a resale value, were midrange vinyl and upscale fiber cement siding replacements, at an average of 87.2 and 88 percent costs recouped, respectively. Most of the regions reflected that, as well; some type of siding replacement ranked among the top three projects in terms of costs recouped in every geographic area except the Mountain region, composed of Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico and Wyoming. The least profitable project was a home office remodel; this project returned the lowest percentage of remodeling costs at resale in all but the South West Central (Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas) and Pacific (Alaska, California, Hawaii, Oregon and Washington) regions.

Homeowners in the Pacific and South Atlantic (Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia and West Virginia) regions could expect to see some of the highest percentages of remodeling costs returned at resale, while homeowners in the West North Central (Iowa, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota and South Dakota) and East North Central (Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio and Wisconsin) experienced some of the lowest returns.

Combs cautioned consumers to look beyond the data. “Many factors affect a home’s value and, consequently, the resale value of any given remodeling project,” she said. “The home’s overall condition, availability and condition of surrounding properties, location, and regional economic climate are all factors that influence value in real estate. When considering a remodeling project or preparing a home for sale, consumers should rely on industry professionals, such as Realtors, who have the expertise and experience to help homeowners protect their investment.”

To read the full project descriptions, visit www.remodelingmagazine.com. The site also includes project data for each of the nine regions. The full study, as well as city-specific reports, which are available for the first time, can be ordered by visiting www.costvsvalue.com. Members of the media can obtain a sample report by sending an e-mail with press credentials to costvalue-cs@hanleywood.com. “Cost vs. Value” is a registered trademark of Hanley Wood, LLC.

Hanley Wood, LLC, is the premier media company serving housing and construction. Through four operating divisions, the company produces award-winning magazines and Web sites, marquee trade shows and events, rich data, and custom marketing solutions. The company also is North America’s leading provider of home plans. Founded in 1976, Hanley Wood is a $240 million company owned by JPMorgan Partners, LLC, a private equity affiliate of JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The National Association of Realtors, “The Voice for Real Estate,” is America’s largest trade association, representing more than 1.3 million members involved in all aspects of the residential and commercial real estate industries.
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For more information, contact:
Sara Weis, 202/383-1013, sweis@realtors.org