8 Questions To Ask Yourself Before Putting Hardwood In Your Kitchen Hardwood flooring can be stunning in a kitchen, highlighting appliances and cabinetry, adding texture, movement and color. The variety of woods, colors, textures, grains, finishes, lengths, and cuts are just the start of the choices available. The temptation to use this material in the… Read More »
Universal Design and Aging in Place: Bathroom Grab Bars
March 13, 2017
While we’re only as young as we feel, and 50 is the new 30, thinking universal design before one actually needs it is a great idea. Universal design is a term that we hear often, yet what is universal design? Wikipedia states that universal design refers to broad-spectrum ideas meant to produce buildings, products and environments… Read More »
Purchasing cabinets is expensive, so making sure you are buying the cabinets that will match your storage and aesthetic needs is essential. Not all cabinets provide the same amount of space, functionality and design appeal. Homeowners generally keep their cabinets for a minimum of 10 years, so it’s important to make an informed decision. Over… Read More »
As a design build firm, we get to work on lots of cool projects. Every so often, we get an interesting and iconic home on which to work. This Walnut Creek, CA Eichler is a recent remodel that we completed and love the results! If you live in Northern California, you are probably familiar with Eichlers.… Read More »
Pets and jobsites are rarely compatible As a contractor, we have never lost or injured a client’s pet and hopefully we never will! Let’s talk about dogs: Like contractors, dogs love tools. We’ve had a golden retriever eat a cell phone, run off with a hammer and energetically chew the handles of any tool he… Read More »
Has Your Home Had Shoddy Work Done In The Past?
March 23, 2016
The quickest way to discover shoddy workmanship is to be the general contractor remodeling a home. Some clients know that their home has issues due to past craftsmanship lapses by others. Some clients suspect that there are issues, but are unsure. Recently, a client asked if we could help them with a small kitchen remodel.… Read More »
If you are like most people, a set of house plans is not something you care about. House plans are filled with abbreviations and references that you don’t understand and that are difficult to interpret. Are your plans, torn, dusty and smudged? Space is usually limited and precious in a home and due to their… Read More »
A Kitchen Disaster or Why Design Build?
November 5, 2015
More often than you might think, we receive calls from distressed homeowners in the middle of their projects, looking for help. It might be a do-it-yourselfer without the time to do it, a homeowner with a friend that was going to help but didn’t, a homeowner in a dispute with their contractor, a homeowner whose… Read More »
MSK Design Build’s Visit to Crystal Cabinet’s & Cambria Headquarters
October 30, 2015
We are big believers in continuing education, both for our designers and for our craftsmen. Recently, we were thrilled to be invited to Minnesota to visit the factories and corporate headquarters for Crystal Cabinets and Cambria Quartz. Our designers Kelly Morisseau, Linda Bryant and Natalia Avalos spent three busy days, learning more than they already… Read More »
Beautiful White Marble Countertops…Pros and Cons
October 2, 2015
We are renovating a Walnut Creek home and installing beautiful white Crystal cabinetry. The countertops went in this week and they are a fabulous white marble. We stopped in today to see how the cabinet installation was going, and we were absolutely knocked out by the marble countertops. Really striking! I have to admit that… Read More »