The Value of Concrete Countertops: Customization Increases Aesthetic Appeal and Real Estate Investme
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Article by: Deborah Meyer From top-dollar homes , Tulip Divisions - Garden tulips and their identities. in the San Francisco Bay Area to sprawling mountain homes , Why You Should Consider Gardening For Your Children in the Colorado Rockies, discriminating homeowners are demanding custom designs , Blue Flowers Add Style and Color to any Garden and finishes in their kitchens. , Wilted Hangups In particular, they are looking to express their individuality and distinct design , Plants We like for the Clay Soils of Horsham Pa. preferences with the fast growing design , Blue Flowers Add Style and Color to any Garden material of choice — concrete. , Shower Walls - Problems and Solutions In fact, concrete , Building A Foot Bridge countertops have become somewhat of a status symbol for kitchens, , Wind Chimes Go Great With Gardening rivaling granite and other high-end countertop surface options. Consumer Reports Magazine (August 2004) ranked concrete , Benefits Of Gardening For Kids highest for its "customization" and "exclusivity" among high-end kitchen , The Nigra Arborvitae Grows Well In Dublin Pa. countertops. As a custom product, , Why Organic Gardening? the amount of time and craftsmanship required to produce concrete , Fall Lawn Care countertops places , Linens and Things for your Bathroom them as the most labor-intensive and priciest among leading countertop materials. However, concrete , All About Foliar Feeding African Violets countertops are becoming more accessible for those on a modest budget. The latest do-it-yourself (DIY) trend to captivate homeowners and builders is building , How to Prune Plum Trees your own concrete , Gardening Tips and Tricks for Late Autumn--Part One countertop. This phenomenon has gained popularity largely due to Cheng's best-selling book Concrete , Fall Lawn Care Countertops: Design, , Plants For Establishing a Hedge in Easton Pa. Forms, and Finishes for the New Kitchen , The $27,000 Toilet Seat - A Funny DIY Story and Bath (Taunton Press, 2002). According to Cheng, there is little monetary investment in making concrete , A Japanese Garden is Not Your Ordinary Garden countertops, yet the creative gains of working with concrete , Arbs for Doylestown are plentiful. THE SHOWSTOPPER Increasingly, homeowners are moving away from the monotonous, manufactured look of traditional countertop surfaces and choosing concrete , How to Grow a Forest of Sundews for its earthy, timeless appeal. Plus, the options for personalizing concrete , Remove Permanent Marker Stains countertops are endless: one can color, , The Swallowtail -- A Beautiful Butterfly polish, stamp and stain concrete , Remove Permanent Marker Stains or imbed personal objects like stones, , Gardening in the Shade seashells and fossils into the countertop's surface, adding sentiment and character. Functional features , Why You Should Consider Gardening For Your Children such as drain boards, soap dishes, and trivets can also be incorporated to suit the homeowners' own needs and lifestyle. Concrete , Disaster Planning is slowly becoming demystified as characteristically cold , Why Organic Gardening? and industrial. In contrary, this age-old material is warm and surprisingly tactile; people cannot help but touch their smooth, polished surfaces. Real estate agent Joy Rasmussen, who has recently sold her mountain home , Remove Permanent Marker Stains — a short-term investment property , The Nigra Arborvitae Grows Well In Dublin Pa. in Steamboat Springs, , Shower Walls - Problems and Solutions CO — recounts her visitors' experiences with concrete: "When I had open houses, , Selecting the Right Air Compressor for Your Air Tool visitors gravitated to the concrete , Gardening Tips and Tricks for Late Autumn--Part One countertops — many people around here have never seen them". Joy's 2,265 sq. ft. mountain home , Gardening in the Shade was custom build by her husband, Ken Otterman, along with KJ Otterman, president of Classic Special Custom Homes. , Why You Should Consider Gardening For Your Children They built pour-in-place concrete , The $27,000 Toilet Seat - A Funny DIY Story counters for the home's kitchen , Dryer Fires – Is Yours Ready To Ignite and three bathrooms , Disaster Planning by using Concrete , Practicing Safe Pest Control In Your Garden Countertops as their guide. The sand-colored concrete , Plants and Trees Native to Lower SalfordTownship Pa. countertops were polished smooth, then paired with natural , A Nice Cozy Fireplace! slate of varying colors , Plants and Trees Native to Lower SalfordTownship Pa. — like charcoal, rust and gold tones — that forms the backsplashes in the kitchen , Buying Chainsaws From Auction Sites and baths. As a design , Plants and Trees Native to Lower SalfordTownship Pa. accent, small rectangular slate tiles , Benefits Of Gardening For Kids were added to the rim of the bathroom , Plants and Trees Native to Lower SalfordTownship Pa. sinks, which provided a unique detail to the custom vanities. When Joy and Ken decided to sell their house, , Why Organic Gardening? their investment in concrete , Preventing disease in your garden countertops proved its value. "We were able to list the house , Linens and Things for your Bathroom $20,000 over market value, and had no problems selling it," comments Joy, while discussing the long list of upgrades throughout their house, , 10 Ways to Survive Building or Remodeling Your Home including knotty pine solid doors, , Introduction to bonsai tree growing: an overview natural , Buying Chainsaws From Auction Sites slate wall , The Sowtail -- A Beautiful Butterfly accents and hardwood floors. , Linens and Things for your Bathroom "The concrete , Mole Traps: Can you use them? countertops were easily the most unique and impressive of all the finishes. I believe they were a huge part in adding value to the home. , Gardening in the Shade Around here, all you see in homes , Name that Tree are granite countertops —and I really think homebuyers are getting quite numb with granite." "Concrete countertops are a unique offering to homebuyers who see the same finishes used in house , Name that Tree after house , Plants For Establishing a Hedge in Easton Pa. they visit," explains Joy, offering her observation as a seasoned realtor. "Having concrete , Why You Should Consider Gardening For Your Children countertops almost gives you bragging rights — you have something different from your neighbors." BREAKING THE MOLD Another advantage of concrete , Introduction to bonsai tree growing: an overview is its adaptability in either modern or traditional settings, especially when coupled with other materials like varied metals, , Caring for your bulbs properly wood , Benefits Of Gardening For Kids or stone. , The $27,000 Toilet Seat - A Funny DIY Story "Concrete adds so many [possibilities] to stone, , Wind Chimes Go Great With Gardening and the combination with slate, which is hugely popular here, gives the mountain homes , Benefits Of Gardening For Kids an overall warm, natural , Benefits Of Gardening For Kids touch," says Joy. Joy and Ken have since built a much larger home , The Swallowtail -- A Beautiful Butterfly (4,000 sq. ft.) that offers expansive views of the Steamboat Ski Resort and is meant to serve as a long-term investment for the couple. They've also expanded their list of custom finishes, including hand-troweled walls, , Why You Should Consider Gardening For Your Children elegant oil-rubbed bronze hardware, , Shower Walls - Problems and Solutions knotty pine doors , Replace the White Birch With River Birches In The Easton Pa. Area that arch at the top, cabinets in a natural, , Liner ponds versus folding preformed ponds knotty alder, and their favorite — concrete kitchen , Buying Chainsaws From Auction Sites countertops. Unlike in their previous home, , Replace the White Birch With River Birches In The Easton Pa. Area KJ and his specialty crew poured charcoal-colored countertops using the pre-cast method in the unfinished basement , How to Prune Plum Trees of the new home. , Practicing Safe Pest Control In Your Garden Before pouring the concrete, , Borrow on a Budget: Getting the Cheapest Home Improvement Lo they sprinkled an array of semi-precious stones , A Nice Cozy Fireplace! in the mold including Leopardskin, Moonstone, Mother-of-Pearl and Turquoise. After the surface was ground and lightly polished, the finished result was an impressive blend of colors, , The Swallowtail -- A Beautiful Butterfly "By far, the Mother-of-Pearl was the most incredible," says Joy. The L-shaped concrete , Plants We like for the Clay Soils of Horsham Pa. countertop has a rough, rustic stone , Remove Permanent Marker Stains appearance, complementing its rugged country surroundings. An integral drain board and trivets provides function and added interest to the concrete , Plants We like for the Clay Soils of Horsham Pa. countertop. Natural , 5 Reasons To Stock Up On Firewood In Early Spring slate backsplashes, distinct wall , Caring for your bulbs properly accents, and a butcher block countertop at the kitchen , Linens and Things for your Bathroom island all resonate with the traditional warmth and earthiness of the concrete , Principal Residential Mortgage - Important Guidelines countertops. Joy and Ken's respective backgrounds in real estate and custom homebuilding, and as investment homebuyers, have helped them realize that concrete , Selecting the Right Air Compressor for Your Air Tool countertops can add tremendous aesthetic and financial value to a home. , Customize Your Décor Like a Pro Concrete's customization and "show-stopping" appeal is like no other countertop surface. Cheng is a proponent of emotional aesthetics and building homes , How to Prune Plum Trees that capture these emotions, as in the case of Joy and Ken Otterman. Cheng concludes: "People really want differentiation, something personal, something custom : and concrete , Gardening in the Shade can do that for them." Article Source: http://www.articledashboard.com
Learn more about using concrete , Principal Residential Mortgage - Important Guidelines for interior , Laying Out Your Landscape Part Two applications and making DIY concrete , Introduction to bonsai tree growing: an overview countertops. |
  
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