Standing Room Only - Running back to the Urinal

So many times when we take on a new client it's a woman that sets the tone and style for a new or new-to-an-existing-home kitchen or bathroom.

Unfortunately ladies, today is not one of those days.

I have always considered myself a man's man; I like football, beer and motorcycles. The average guy will usually hire away someone that will fit their home with great kitchens and bathrooms. Problem is, most guys don't like/need the final product. Sadly, the driving force behind many designs done for guys is resale value.

With the large amounts of men building and buying homes that will be just for them, it's about time that one particular bathroom fixture makes a welcome resurgence, the urinal.

Before you hit the x up there in the corner hold on... this isn't the urinal at the frat house, nor is it the "trough" at your old college football stadium. Elite and luxury plumbing designers have provided kitchen and bath industry pros with cutting edge design and state-of-the-art function. In all reality, urinals are definitely not new in home design. The reason urinals are so less prevalent in everyday life is merely because most men see them everyday and yes ladies, most of them are gross. The perception, from most women, is that men are nasty and so are their bathrooms. Ladies who catch a glimpse of the urinal at an airport or fast-food restaurant have every reason to be grossed out.

I promise, these are not the urinals at the local pub. Here are three that I would use today!

One of my favorite places to buy kitchen sinks is Whitehaus. I have always been enamored by their copper farm and Farmhaus Fireclay sinks. From faucets to decorative hardware, I have always been impressed. As I was browsing the other day, I stumbled on this round stainless steel urinal. Perfect for an application with subway tile(as shown in the picture). It's only a matter of time before I spec this in a customer's home.

If sleek and modern is your thing, this SiChuan Metals urinal will do the trick. The high gloss finish and bold lines make a strong, yet subtle statement in a bathroom.

For years I have struggled with expensive taste. It's a personal curse, but my clients have always reaped the benefits! If a urinal were going in to my bathroom at home, it would be one of these two. While both are on the pricier end of the spectrum, each offers a striking design and would cause said homeowner to become the envy of 'all the guys'.

Neo-Metro is a commercial line for the most part... We put commercial appliances in our kitchens, why not in the bathroom? (I know, that image of a urinal cake in a cold, used-to-be-white urinal with a broken handle makes me do that blech noise too.)

So there you have it, a urinal for the men's room at home.

Ladies, the holidays are upon us. What better gift could you get yourself than never having to yell at your man for leaving the toilet seat up?

It's the perfect potty-present.

Thanks again to Paul for having me as a guest on this great blog!

You can contact me at our website or on Twitter.

http://www.cupboardsonline.com/

www.twitter.com/cupboardsonline

Watering Can Wisdom

I am back again for another post today as a guest writer on Kitchen and Residential Design; if you missed the announcement of the Little Bert Chair Giveaway at GrassrootsModern earlier today, please check it out!

As "green" "organic" and "natural" become such promiscuous advertising buzz words you want to throw up your locally grown lunch in the 100% post-consumer recycled paper bag it came in, I hesitate to propose any ideas on conservation. This simple suggestion is so easy though, and anyone with plants can appreciate it.

About two years ago, a friend of mine who I affectionately call an "old hippie" let me know that the watering can in her bathroom was not just there for decorative effect. In fact, she collected the water from her tub faucet as it warmed up before showering. She then used the collected water for her extensive plant collection. A simple idea indeed and I tried it at home immediately. I reported back to her that I now follow her example and thanked her for the idea. She laughed and told me that she had heard it a long time ago, and had been doing it for many years.

Since she shared the idea with me, I have shared it with two friends who now collect their pre-shower water. I know not everyone's water takes as long as mine to warm up, but for those of us who have to wait, this simple idea saves some water. Hopefully, other readers will try it too, and pass it on.

Little Bert Chair Giveaway at GrassrootsModern

Hello everyone! This is David Nolan and I have a giveaway to announce that is happening Christmas Day at one of my favorite blogs - GrassrootsModern. Personally, I have no use for a Little Bertoia Chair but it would make a great gift. You can enter the contest twice, once if you comment on the post and one more time if you retweet the contest. Definitely check out the rest of GrassrootsModern while you are there, it is filled with good taste and condensed writing. They do use the dreaded "we" in this post, with good reason I believe, but the second person plural may send Paul into another Apartment Therapy-esque rant which "we" wouldn't want. Generally, it is only I's for GrassrootsModern.

so what I am trying to say is . . . heavy on the one

jb here, posting on Kitchen and Residential Design. Yeah – I will admit it; I don’t know how it happened either. I certainly have very little formal design knowledge, and . . . I am pretty certain, too, that I am not as well traveled or as well versed as our host, Paul. But here we are, and I am, again . . . freewriting.

For those of you who do not know me, I am in the early stages of launching a business. My business targets what I see as a void currently found within the home improvement market. I bring this up less to sway you any which way, but more, rather, to lead you into what I am about to say.

While I have thrown my hat in, I have also chosen to do so in a slightly different way. In deciding upon that path, I have faced, and still expect to face, many challenges. None so far have been bigger, though, than simply trying to find the words that I need to effectively communicate what it is exactly that I envision.

In the course of planning, of course, I looked. I looked at the industry. And I found that these days there are companies and individuals doing remodeling, restoration, rehabs and renovations. Some businesses offer home services; others offer solutions. Some homeowners do design and build; others focus on maintenance and repair. All exist within a marketplace that is mostly divided: do-it-yourself or do-it-for-me, and to which caterers do I give my patronage?

In looking, I spent some time on the phrase – “home improvement.” It means, and I think we know it to indicate, any enterprise that effectively upgrades, fixes or otherwise improves a house. The act of doing and done. “Home improvement” as a discrete phrase, however, may exist, too, not only as the high level descriptive, but also as a sub-set of itself.

OK . . . I know that there are slight nuisances associated with each of those sub-sets of activity. In terms of a business you may call, for example, you may expect a “home improvement” company to offer a wide and blurry array of home services. With these organizations, too, you may expect a limited amount of design service and/or only a few aesthetically-oriented questions.

The phrase “home improvement,” you see, has been utilized by many. And over years, some have claimed it and used it for good. Others, though, have helped to cultivate a sense, adding meanings, of maliciousness and mistrust; no? Be it the tonic salesmen with their overpriced door-to-door pitching of wares, or the hypnotists who have taken on clients only to leave them in the end in a daze.

From that, I often avoided the phrase as if it were a four-letter word. But I have come around and I have come to use it, sometimes, more as a matter of convention. Still I do not attach it to my business, specifically.

I feel in some way that I must apologize now not only for writing some those words above, but also for any negative meanings that I myself may one day add. They are, after all, only two innocent little words, natural and attractive.

Heavy on the one, they say – Home is the focal point of life, and I am not talking only of those things attached to the house. Think about it – is there any other place you spend more time; is there any other place that you know so well, or care so much about?

And perhaps as a phrase today, home improvement, more so than rehabbing or designing and building, actually offers an opportunity to take back a little something for ourselves and others. Am I so bold, yet, to do that alone; no!

Or could I maybe just modify it to fit my needs, instead, calling it something like -- life improvement? A new business sub-set, no; no, I can't. After all, I do fear a steep fall into the pit of either misrepresentation or, worse, of self-help freakdom.

I go instead, at least in marketing material, with “Home Project Services” or “Home Project Support.” These phrases are meant to denote non-standard, and somewhat non-descript, construction services. Not design, per se, and still I wonder what I am trying to say.

Now . . . did this little tangent accomplish anything for anyone? I don’t know; sometimes, these things are hit or miss. But I do know you may notice me here and there, trying to find the words that say, “My business (and more should follow) may really be less about home improvement, and more about helping people find the means to improve their most important asset … themselves.”

*******

Thank you for reading, thank you to Paul, and Happy Holidays to all:

jb @BMoxieBMore
Blogging for now at :: http://www.agentsofmoxie.com/

How-to/self-help photo shot by Barry Morgan at Barry’s Big Blog of Building @blogofbuilding (check him out for a daily visual log of building and other things): http://bigblogofbuilding.blogspot.com/

and ps. Here is a great little story about both moxie and the work of some home improvement contractors, courtesy of Mike Hines @eXapath :: Forgotten...But Not Gone

A wintertide break and an honor bestowed

I will be pretty scarce around these parts for the next ten days or so. I need a break for starters and I wanted to use that need for a break as a way to get some different voices to appear on this blog. Well, it started this morning with Elizabeth's walking tour of her neighborhood in Buenos Aires. It picks up again tomorrow with JB who's going to check in from Baltimore and these guest posts will continue for the next ten days. There are some really great people lined up so be sure to keep checking back.

As if to kick me out the door, Carmen from Decorating Diva ran a profile of and interview with me today and I am beyond flattered. Decorating Diva is a bit of a big deal and I am indeed honored. Thank you Carmen.   Spend some time looking around that expansive website. If you have a design dilemma or question, Decorating Diva's your answer.

I'll be spending some time with Sara Baldwin at New Ravenna Mosaics while I'm out of town and I'll be brimming with new and exciting developments from her world when I get back. Ciao!