Another breathtaking bathroom remodel in Alameda with HDR Remodeling.
We love how the right paint color on the walls showcases the richly hued green tile, the delicate metallics of the fixtures, and the elegant glass light fixture.
Pond Isle, Alameda + HDR Remodeling
A bright blue accent in the bathroom tile becomes the all over environment for the walls of the primary bedroom as paint and design inspire, inform, and frame each other in this primary suite remodel in Alameda. Design and construction by HDR Remodeling.
Blair Avenue, LEED Certified Remodel: 10 Years Later
10 years ago, when this cedar siding was new (see first image in this portfolio), it was a bright burnt orange color. There’s an expected curing process, of course; and there were unexpected changes. The overall deepening of the original color was expected. The areas where the wood cured unevenly and turned almost black, those were meant to be preventable.
In contrast, the interior wood stain has held up beautifully due to the lack of exposure to the elements.
This project exemplifies the fact that sometimes a more ‘eco-friendly’ product is actually less effective at achieving the goal: i.e.: preserving the look and longevity of the wood. As a LEED certified project, specifications required Arana to use a water-based sealant. However, after having to call us back to her home to apply this product once a year for two years, and seeing how the stain was ineffective at penetrating the wood evenly, leading to dark spots and a lack of overall protection, the homeowner opted for an oil-based product — on the sides of the home that are in direct sunlight and more susceptible to weather. The VOCs are higher, but the results preserve the original materials longer, which is arguably equally important, from a green-building perspective.
To read more about what LEED certified green building techniques and systems did and didn’t pass the test of time, click here to read our article in Oakland magazine.
La Cresta Avenue, Oakland + HDR Remodeling
An astonishing garage conversion that creates space for work, working out, playtime, and more, plus cleverly hidden storage. Our team handled the painting both inside and out. Another great project with one of our favorite contractors, HDR Remodeling.
Before & During: Kitchen Cabinet Refinishing
Images of the process of refinishing and painting kitchen cabinets. After carefully removing all of the cabinet doors and drawers, every surface has to be thoroughly sanded, and any needed cosmetic repairs are made to the underlying wood at this stage. And then we apply a stain-blocking primer to prevent the color of the original wood from bleeding through the layers of new paint, which is the last step.
While repainting is a much cheaper option than tearing out the old and installing brand-new factory-painted-and-baked cabinets, we like to make sure our clients understand that new cabinets would be more resilient than refinished ones.
Kitchen Cabinets, Glen Alpine, Piedmont
Cabinet painting is the easiest way to create a major change in your kitchen without demolition, dust, and downtime. You don’t have to break through walls or change out cabinets in order to experience a complete refresh and transformation of your space. It’s also an economical and eco-friendly choice, preserving our forests (and budgets) by re-using existing wood rather than replacing with new.
The kitchen cabinets in this Mediterranean home were a combination of painted (olive) and a serviceable blond-wood stain. Taking them to the next level with a refinish and paint, and choosing to unify the look with a single cabinet color, utterly transformed the room.
Before & During: Painting the Exterior of a Floating Home
Images of the process of stripping, sealing, priming, and painting the exterior of this floating home in Alameda’s Barnhill Marina.
Barnhill Marina, Alameda + Cass Morris Color Design
Colorful and very personalized exteriors are a hallmark of the floating homes in Barnhill Marina, like this one. As described in Alameda Magazine, Barnhill Marina is a cheery neighborhood of “Artists, working professionals, and retired people (who) all cohabitate in (this) little oasis of zany-colored, kitschily-decorated mini-Victorians. Some are big kayakers, sailors, and paddle boarders — others just enjoy observing the water.”
While anything goes, and usually the bolder, the better, this project’s colors were (like all projects that Cass consults on) chosen with an eye toward how the home will look in relation to its neighbors. The pops of orange against the blue echo the gray body with red trim of the home on one side, while also harmonizing with the orange body of the floating home on the next berth down, and echoing the warmth of the sunny yellow exterior of the home when facing the other direction.
Hillside Avenue, Piedmont + LMB Interiors
We love the gorgeous and unusual Farrow and Ball paint color that this family chose, with the guiding hand of Laura Martin Bovard and LMB Interiors. This was a fun remodel! (Many of them are.) Choosing to paint kitchen cabinets not-white is a big deal, a bold move, and yields lovely results.
When a designer thinks outside the box, and her clients are willing to follow her there, magic happens.
A kitchen paint color that is not white; and the cabinets are show-stoppers.
Birch Court, Rockridge + McCutcheon Construction
For this Rockridge classic turn-of-the-century Craftsman-style home, we were tasked with the job of painting ever-so-carefully around the gorgeous factory-finished blue cabinets, custom built by Segale Bros.
We were so pleased that the homeowner agreed to a high-gloss, oil-based white. We loved the choice to paint the rest of the cabinets a different color, and how each color and finish highlights the distinctive grain of the wood top on the island. This is a wonderful indoor-outdoor project we did with McCutcheon Construction.
We painted the exterior of the home, as well as the kitchen, and the new, expansive, back entrance that opens up to the garden.