We understand how overwhelming major home renovations, such as historic restorations and kitchen remodels, can be. Big home improvements mean you also need to make big decisions. However, keep in mind that you don’t have to overanalyze things, and, when everything gets too complicated for you, know that you can always consult a remodeling expert for help.
If you are getting ready to remodel your kitchen, you undoubtedly have a massive list of items, colors, features, and fixtures you need to choose. From the backsplash to the window treatments, you want to get it right so you can enjoy it for years to come.
It’s those little details that make the biggest impact, and texture is one of them. Texture provides balance, adds dimension, and injects visual interest. It can be a significant element – especially if you’ve opted for a monotonal white, cream, or grey kitchen.
Too much of anything is just too much. If your cabinets and your countertops are glossy, you want to add some texture to lift the overall design a little. Texture draws the eye, whereas sameness blends into itself. You wouldn’t want your beautiful selections to fade into the background, would you?
There are two ways to approach adding texture. First, there is tactile texture – the kind of texture you can feel when you touch an object.
Then, there is implied texture, which is something that is interpreted in a visual sense. For example, if you were to do a tile pattern that created an optical illusion of some sort – that would be implied texture.
Both approaches can be very striking in their own way, but it really depends on what kind of look you’re going for. Rougher textures lend a more rustic look while finer textures suggest elegance and formality.
Whichever way you lean, there are lots of simple ways to add texture. Here are a few of our favorites:
Natural fibers are great as accents. You might think about adding natural fiber grass-cloth shades to your over-island pendants or choosing fiber seats for your island stools.
Wood, bamboo, and cork fall into this category as well. Choose a type of wood with an attractive grain pattern. Cork and bamboo have unique grains as well. They can be used as flooring, for your cabinets, on lampshades, or an accent wall to soften the overall look.
There are no rules that say you have to extend a certain material throughout your entire kitchen. For example, you could do your island cabinet in a wood grain but top it with a glossy quartz countertop. Or, you could choose a glossy enamel for the island cabinet and top it with a butcher block.
Glass, brick, and metal can be mixed and matched as well. If you have brick walls in your kitchen, think about keeping one wall exposed to gain that texture. It will make the glass subway tiles on the backsplash pop all the more.
Playing with your backsplash design is another way you can add texture to your kitchen. Tile can be accented with natural stone or stainless steel, or you might choose a contrasting grout color that gives it a three-dimensional look.
Even if you prefer a single color for the backsplash, you could have some fun with the tile pattern itself. Herringbone is very on-trend at the moment, as is stacked tile designs.
Keep in mind, however, if you choose to make your backsplash a little more interesting, you should probably go with a muted countertop. This will ensure that the two elements don’t compete for attention.
Adding texture to a single wall in the kitchen is another way to go. This allows you to have some fun as there are so many possibilities. You could explore a completely different type of tile, such as soapstone or cement. Beadboard or shiplap is another option, as they add surface texture.
Some of the smallest details can make the biggest impact. Your choice of lighting fixtures, drawer pulls, and even the kitchen sink are other ways to add texture. These items generally come in a wide range of finishes from matte to a high sheen. Think about crystal pendants in varying sizes and shapes, or a matte-finish quartz sink in a darker, contrasting color.
Your cabinet doors themselves can provide texture, even if they are a single color or grain. By choosing a raised or recessed style, you highlight the contours of the cabinet details, giving it a more textured look. Adding crown moldings to the tops of your cabinets are another way to obtain this result.
These are just a few of the ways we add texture in the kitchen, but it really depends on your personal style and what you love. If you would like to learn more, reach out today, and let’s start the conversation.
The Master Bedroom Suite is a private oasis, your retreat at the end of the day. The Master Bathroom is an extension of that room. Expanding the master bathroom is a great idea, especially if you’re looking to add a little bit of luxury Are you dreaming of creating your very own spa? Is a soaker tub calling your name? Or maybe, it’s a shower for two with high tech multi jets? Whatever your dream, Cottage Industries is on the pulse of what’s trending in the world today.
So where do you begin in your master bath?
First, let’s look at size. Do you need something larger, more storage, more elbow room with a sink for two? In that case, maybe we can borrow space from a closet or a hallway nook. Re-creating an existing area is certainly easier on the wallet. Perhaps though, all you need to do is re-imagine the floor plan and update your features.
Master Bathrooms have become the luxurious eye candy of the homeowner. Coffee stations, wine coolers and T.V.’s are becoming a common feature sought after by many folks today. The need for speed in this multi-tasking world begins as you do, in your master bath. So whether it’s coffee ready as you finish your morning shower or wine at night as you soak in your tub, your Master Bathroom awaits your vision. Whatever you’re seeking, it begins here at Cottage Industries.
Think about your needs, wants, and comforts. Include fixtures, lighting, surfaces, and flooring. If natural light is in your vision, then more windows are a must. (No sunglasses required!) Maybe repurpose a vintage bureau for your vanity. Open shelving for towels is a sleek modern approach while radiant heat adds warmth for your frosty toes. Luxury and efficiency are no longer an either/or. Now you can have it all – it’s the Cottage way!
Are you preparing to remodel your master bathroom? We’d love to show you how we can help! Reach out today to start the conversation.
If you are getting ready for a remodel on your Main Line home, you probably have lots of questions.
At Cottage Industries, we like to make the process as easy, stress-free, and problem free as possible. We work closely with you right from the start to ensure all your concerns are addressed before the construction begins.
One of the most important issues for anybody considering a renovation project is knowing what your budget is prior to your first design meeting. This does not mean you need to know what the construction will cost, but rather where your comfort level is regarding how much you would like to spend. By prioritizing your wish list, we can guide you through the design process in a way that will maximize effect.
Here are three of the most common questions we hear from our homeowner clients:
Our proposals are highly detailed and itemized so that it’s easy to understand what all the costs are. The price will only change if you choose to change the scope of the work.
Absolutely not – you will have all the time you need during the design phase prior to the start of construction. Once construction begins, however, the timing of changes becomes more critical.
Once your project has begun, a design change or a material change does have a direct impact on the price. In that case, a detailed written estimate would be provided to you for your approval before any of the work takes place.
What is value engineering? Value Engineering is unique to our design/build company. It’s a method we use throughout the design phase, to keep the construction costs in line with your budget. Basically, it’s a cost analysis from the viewpoint of the construction team, whereby you, the customer, can reflect on the design choices versus the construction costs.
The best kind of customer is an informed homeowner. Confidence and trust in your contractor equal a successful remodel. You need to know that your voice is not only heard but valued. Time is money, your money, so don’t assume – ask questions!
Are you getting ready to remodel your Main Line home? Reach out today and schedule a conversation. We’d love to talk to you about how we can help.
Having been in business since 1989, our clients know a lot about who we are as a business, but if you’re anything like us, it’s always good to know the people behind all the great work. Adam Sherman is a founding partner of Cottage Industries, and this is his story.
Born in Boston, Adam’s dad was an educator, and his mom was an author. When Adam was still quite young, the family moved to Oregon, camping across the country on the way. That part of his life, though pivotal in his memory, was relatively short-lived. After two years, Adam’s father took a job at Princeton and moved the family back to the east once again where he spent the rest of his school years as a typical teenager, riding bikes, hanging out with friends and generally enjoying life.
Adam has a fascination with electronics and was intensely interested in science. His father indulged his interest by giving him things to take apart and tinker with. The two of them always had little projects around the house and, over time, he began to learn how things worked and developed a great interest in building and fixing things.
During those years, Adam recalls a summer job working for his woodshop teacher in school. He spent time helping him fix his barn and repairing things around the property and was also involved in the construction of an addition. It was his first taste of what was to come, and he loved it – from the work itself to the people, the project gave him the initial inspiration that shaped the rest of his life.
In college, Adam studied physics and engineering at Albright University. Immediately after graduation, he moved to Narberth on the Main Line for work; a job that had him working on early Apple and IBM computer interfaces. He went on to work at RCA, where he worked on military electronics and at the University of Pennsylvania, where he ran a lab at the Institute of Neurological Science, repairing and creating instruments that were used for medical research.
As rewarding as these jobs were, Adam’s entrepreneurial streak bubbled just below the surface. He saw an opportunity to start investing in real estate and began to buy properties to fix up. He’d buy houses, add new kitchens, features, or additions, raise the property value and either sell or rent.
One night, while going out for all you can eat shrimp with his roommate and friends, Adam met the man who would eventually become his business partner, Nick Walker. A few years later, Nick had moved back to the area from Maine, and the two ended up in the same martial arts class together.
As it turned out, Nick was looking for a place to stay. Since Adam knew that Nick had some talent for construction he suggested that Nick move into his house and help finish up a project he was working on at the time.
You could say, the rest is history. They had a blast doing it, finished that project, did another, and then decided to purchase a house together, fix it up, and rent it out. Together, they built a two-story addition onto the home, figuring things out as they went along.
One home led to another, and they were having so much fun that they quickly decided they ought to turn it into a business. Adam quit his engineering job to devote all of his time to their venture, and to improve the cash flow situation, they started taking on small outside jobs.
As it turned out, their customers liked their work very much. With so many happy customers, the referrals came pouring in, and in 1989, they finally made it official, and Cottage Industries was born.
Shortly after they started their company, Adam also made it official with his longtime girlfriend, Dale. They married in 1990 and moved straight into an only partially-finished renovation project that Adam and Nick were working on at the time. The business was new, but it was growing. They were learning how to run a business and carving out a great life on the Main Line.
Fast-forward to now, Adam and Dale have two grown kids: Matt is 18 and started college in the fall of 2019. Halle is 23 and a professional dancer with the Huntsville Ballet Company.
In terms of the family business, Matt is very interested, and from time to time, he asks about being a part of it. Halle thinks it’s pretty cool too, even though she has her own career underway. The two of them grew up around job sites, sitting on daddy’s lap during company meetings and growing right along with the business as it blossomed.
Through the years, Adam is still passionate about making his customers happy. At his core, he is a problem solver. Hearkening back to his boyhood, he still loves to fix things and come up with creative solutions – it’s just part of who he is. He figured out early on that it wasn’t about making money—of course, being a business is about making a profit—but he always knew that if you can make the customers happy, if you can continue to do the right thing, the money will come.
These days, it’s not so much about having hobbies. Adam loves the business and focuses most of his “spare time” on building it. To him, it’s not work. While he admits that at times it may be overwhelming because he often has more to do than he has time for, he only occasionally feels stressed out by it. Spending a weekend at the beach (any time of year) is one of his favorite ways to get rid of the stress.
As for what Adam would have done with his life, given the choice of anything else in the world, he probably would have chosen “rockstar.” He had started playing guitar when he was a kid but admits he has a terrible singing voice and was only an average guitar player, so he hung it all up in favor of something he was really good at. He still kept his axe for many years afterward but eventually sold it. As it happens, his son, Matt, was pretty bummed that he had. So, on his 18th birthday, Adam bought him his own Gibson six string acoustic.
In the meantime, Adam continues to follow his passions, building a legacy on the Main Line and preserving the heritage of the places he has come to love.
We considered hiring an architect and then bidding out our home renovation (initially a kitchen expansion but changed to a kitchen reno in the existing space, rebuilding our enclosed front porch and installing new hardwood floors among other things) to contractors but instea
We needed a "design and construction" company to completely redesign our kitchen while staying within the original footprint. We had many goals: to improve traffic flow and social space, maximize daylight, carve out a small mudroom with its own entrance, add a convenient ent
We couldn't be happier with the projects Cottage Industries has completed on our 1920 Georgian Colonial Revival. Outstanding craftsmanship from a professional, polite, tidy and respectful crew. From big projects, like our detached garage/apartment and family room conversion,
We selected Cottage Industries as our design/build partner for a significant expansion of our 148 year old home including full kitchen transformation, extended footprint and 2+ story addition. Cottage Industries and the partners they brought to the table did a stellar job ma
I used Cottage to redo the kitchen and laundry room in my Turn of the (20th) Century house. It was also the house I grew up in, so it was an emotional process for me as well. Everyone at Cottage was professional yet understanding. The first thing they did was listen, and we
As an interior designer I have had such a good experience working with Cottage Industries, Inc. Having worked with many contractors I know how crucial and how rare it is to find one in which every professional communicates well and in which projects are finished on time and
Cottage helped us with a full house remodel. Russ (the PM) was beyond amazing and we are extremely happy with the result AND the way the project was handled.
In 2016 my wife and I embarked on a full house renovation of a 6100 sq ft, 1893 stone Victorian home. We interviewed several design and build firms and chose Cottage because they seemed to care as much about restoring the home as we did. Nick and Adam were very professional
Cottage Industries finished my basement exquisitely, which included a partially sunk endless pool and a decorative fireplace. They also did a thoroughly unique sun room for me. It included floor to ceiling glass and we use it daily. Adam always kept his word and the answer w
Capable, responsive, deadline oriented and good craft workers. Highly recommended
