Every year the National Kitchen and Bath Association has a great design contest to determine the most beautiful kitchens and bathrooms in the country. The winners for this year have been chosen, and pictures posted! Here are a few of our favorites, but make sure to check out the full gallery! What’s your favorite of these?
Leave a comment below, and find more kitchen and bathroom tips on a daily basis on our Facebook and Twitter pages!
We all know that summer is fast approaching. There are a whole set of home issues to deal with come the hot months. Here is a short list of things to keep in mind and make sure your home stays safe and running well:
Make to check the exterior of your house
We usually stick with kitchen tips, but we thought we’d branch out today and help you out with total home maintenance. Did we miss anything? Are there things you do for your home every spring/summer?
Martha Stewart is well known for her cooking and DIY crafting…but she also has some great kitchen design tips that are quite practical and easy. Click here to check out all 50, but here are our favorites:
Rolling islands are incredibly handy and versatile
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We interviewed Jeremy Nettekoven of Darboy Stone in Wisconsin about what to look for when choosing a new stone countertop. See the video below!
When choosing your new kitchen sink, there are more options than you may realize. Yesterday, we talked about choosing the right gauge. Material is another consideration, as well as color and finish. Today, however, we are going to talk about how to choose the right number of bowls for your sink. You can get single, double and even triple bowls from Eclipse Stainless, as well as many other sink manufacturers.
Single bowl
This is the larger option, although it does come in many different sizes. . If you have large dishes you are washing on a regular basis, or cooking for a large family, this is probably your best bet. It offers the most space by far and will never leave you confused about how to best use the other bowls, because there are none! This is most common for home bars and second kitchens.
Asymmetrical Double Bowl
Symmetrical Double Bowl
Triple Bowl
There are really two main considerations when choosing a bowl for your sink: 1) How do you wash dishes? 2) What kind of cooking do you do? It is generally that simple. Ask around, try to find friends who have different options that you could see and try out, and make an informed decision!
When getting a new kitchen sink, most people just think about the look. What looks classiest? What look will fit best with my counters, cupboards and appliances? What material compliments the fresh paint the best? A crucial part of choosing a new stainless sink, however, is the gauge.
Essentially, the gauge is simply how thick your sink is. The lower the number, the thicker (and higher quality) the sink is. They range from 22-15 gauge. At most consumer retailers like Lowes or Home Depot, you will find 22, 20 and 18 gauge models. The premium manufacturers, though, will stick to 15 and 16 gauge sinks — like Eclipse Stainless. 
Look is certainly important. But you want to make sure to keep quality top-of-mind when you are looking at any kitchen remodel. Make sure you have all your facts, and look at the raw numbers before making any big decision.
If you have questions about sinks and sink quality, drop us a note in the comments, or find us on Facebook and Twitter.
Source: eLocal.com
We interviewed Tom Garvey of Marble Uniques about choosing the right countertop and fabricator.
We’ve been discussing granite counters quite a bit here on our blog. This is because we work directly with granite fabricators to bring you the highest quality all-in-one bundled kitchen services. When you get countertops from one of our partners, you get a high-quality stainless sink from Eclipse. In that way, counters are an integral part of what we do here at Eclipse Stainless. Having said that, here is a 4-step process to make sure your granite tops stay looking brand new for years.
Make sure you granite stays bright!
If you do this once a week, your beautiful counters will keep their luster for year and years! Do you have any other tips or tricks that you use? Chime in here, on Facebook or on Twitter!
In the down economy, many people have resorted to Do-It-Yourself (DIY) projects with hopes of saving a ton of money. That is certainly something to consider when thinking of home remodeling, but also beware of the potential costs of DIY versus hiring professional. Here is a small list of things to consider when making those decisions:
There are potential pitfalls to DIY projects
a toilet, or adding an entire room? Are you building a pergola, or attacking your back yard with a full-size deck? With smaller projects, DIY is probably okay, and mistakes would be relatively easy to fix. Large-scare remodels, however, require large-scale money for any mistakes you might make.
To recap: Scale, Safety and Sacrifice are all things you should consider when deciding on whether or not you should hire a professional for your next home project.
Especially when you’re doing a kitchen, keep in mind all the small things YOU will be in charge of purchasing and keeping track of. With countertops, for example, do you want the responsibility of buying a slab of stone and getting it cut just right for your needs? Do you want to handle your plumbing needs with installing a new sink and making it just right for your space? There are often more things that come than you could think of!
If you have further questions, give Eclipse Stainless a call today and we’ll help you out.
