Quartz vs Concrete

Christine,

Quick questions for the Interior Design Guru if you have a sec:

Would you cover kitchen tile countertops with concrete?

Why or why not?

Quartz?

Thanks,

Lolly

(quartz)

Hi Lolly,

Let me start by telling you the pros and cons of both surfaces.  Neither quartz nor concrete have visible seams.  Quartz is more forgiving with hot pans and does not need to be sealed.

(concrete)

Concrete, on the other hand is more flexible with shapes, inlays, edge and color options.  Concrete needs to be sealed regularly, but when it is, it, along with quartz is stain resistant.  (Tobi Gairley- quartz)

Personally, I like, have used and would continue to suggest both surfaces.  

I like using  quartz when I want a light color and a clean look. It is far more stain resistant than other light surfaces like certain types of marble.  (This is for a kitchen- I feel comfortable with the stain resistance of marble for bathroom use).  The marble above, for example, is gorgeous, but I am way too practical to put that on a kichen counter.  If I wanted that clean modern look, I would probably go with quartz, even though it lacks the natural movement and beauty of marble.  I would worry that my client would hate me after the red sauce or red wine spilled and curse words associated with my name would be flying around the kitchen.  If they insisted on it, I would make them sign all kinds of waivers.  ;-) 

(concrete)

I like using concrete when I am looking for a more distressed “used” feel, or a more “industrial” feel.  I would pair concrete counters with a distressed hardwood floor, or a chiseled edge travertine, or a brick floor.   

(quartz)

Quartz is a surface I would use if I didn’t want the counter to be noticed.  If I had a busy backsplash, and other points of interest in the room, and wanted the counters to blend in and not stand out, I like using quartz.  (If the home is very modern, and I am looking for a bright unnatural color, like blue, this doesn’t apply- but for most homes- this would be my thought process.)  I would pair quartz with a clean straight edge floor.

(concrete)

I would consider concrete to be more casual and quartz to be more formal.  If low maintenance is of highest concern for my client, I would go with quartz.  If my client were looking for a lower cost, I would go with concrete.  (It is not always lower- but I could probably make it lower by making it very simple.)

I hope that was helpful.  They both come in very different looks.  It is a decision I would make in conjunction with selecting the backsplash, cabinets and floors.  Go select the backsplash first.  It might make this decision for you, by clearly coordinating with one surface better than the other. 

Oh, the Disconnect!

Hi Christine,
First, I wanted to let you know how much I LOVE your blog.  I have been neglecting my kids/husband/house to read your posts ever since I discovered you.  Thank you so much for all the great tips and ideas! 
 
Secondly, I'm writing to ask (beg) for your help.  I am struggling with my living/dining room and hope you can point me in the right direction.  I've enclosed pictures, but as you can see they are two rectangular rooms with a large opening between them.  We are in the process (thus the lovely tape and missing baseboards) of painting all the woodwork "white".  I've also announced to husband that I would like crown in both rooms and wainscoting in the dining room.  (He wasn't very excited about either project!)  We purchased this house almost four years ago as a foreclosure and it has needed a LOT of TLC.  It is a center hall colonial but doesn't have much character -think golden oak on every possible surface - yuck! - and we are in the slow process of making it over.  I love modern, clean, lines, but with some warmth, and I'm not afraid of pattern (not that you can tell it from these rooms).  Also, I have two girls under the age of 3 which explains the tea party in progress on the coffee table.  These rooms are more for grown ups, but they need to be somewhat kid friendly.
 
Here are my problems:
 
1.) Fireplace - it is giving me fits.  I've tried a bunch of different things with no luck.  Nothing seems to look quite right.  You can see my most recent acquisition in the pictures (a sunburst mirror that I love) is still mounted on the plywood it shipped on!!  I think it would look awesome in my entry way so I'm not too worried if you don't think it should stay.
 
2.) Ceiling - don't know if you can tell from the picture, but we have a small tray.  I made poor husband spend a week of vacation scraping the popcorn off the ceilings (who sprays popcorn on a tray ceiling???), but now I don't know how to treat them, so they've just been painted white.  Should we add additional trim to the tray? It's only about 2" deep.  Obviously when we add crown molding in white, I'll need to paint the ceiling, but which part?
 
3.) Pulling the color scheme together - I somehow ended up with purple/grey/green in the living room but have purple/red/green in the dining room.  The red/green with orange continues in the kitchen and family room which are through the door of the dining room.  How do I tie these rooms together?  I know part of it is pattern and that my curtains probably need to be replaced.  I just can't figure out what would work in both rooms - the windows should match, right?  I found some artwork that I like, but they are only purple/green/grey.  How do I pull the red into the living room - do I need to???  Also, I would definitely be open to wallpaper in the dining room - as I love the look of wallpaper with wainscoting.  I can certainly repaint, this was our "we need to paint the walls before the floors go in" color.  (I know, I know - pick paint last)
 
4.) Furniture arrangement - I feel like I'm close on this, but not quite there.  I would love your input.  I do have chairs for the dining room that I plan to reupholster and two China cabinets that I am refinishing that could be used in either room.  I can augment my furniture, but don't have the budget to replace everything and would prefer to spend on curtains, accessories, etc.  I think maybe I need a new/bigger rug for the living room.  The cream just doesn't seem to be doing it for me. 
 
Thank you in advance for any guidance you can provide.  Please feel free to be brutal and frank!  I promise to follow your suggestions and send after pictures.
 
Kind Regards,
Angela

Hi Angela,

Thank you for the kind words.  I hope you will still like me when you are done reading this post.  ;-)  I have 12 things I need to share with you.  The writer in me wants to be concise, but this time, at the risk of boring the readers out there, I need to say all 12. 

1.  You have two sunburst mirrors in sight of each other.  That is at least one too many. 

2.  Ditch the drapes.  (See I am being concise after all!)  They are far too traditional for your contemporary furnishings.  Replace them with a simple drapery panel.  Green is too much for your walls, and purple would be too much purple.  I would use the neutral color in your chairs and then add a trim in purple.  I woud also add a drapery panel on the windows by your fireplace.  On those windows use drapery rosettes instead of a rod to keep them in place and pull them to the sides, working with your rounded shape.  I would hang them higher, and use four panels in the living room and four in the dining room. 

3.  Accessorize the sideboard and table better.  That is what your dining room needs more than anything.  (Along with new drapes)  ;-)  On a rectangular table, either use a rectangular centerpiece, or use three items, which gives the arrangement a rectangular shape.  Can you see how adding the two candlesticks in the photo below works so much nicer than if there was JUST the plant?  

(photo from A'LaMode)

4.  Replace the round coffee table with a square. It should also, and more importantly, be larger. 

(photo from Southern Living)

5.  Your lighting is terrible.  Add can lights.  See this post on a lighting plan.

6.  Yes, trim out the ceiling tray.  Yes to the wainscotting (3/4 way up) and yes to the crown. Yes to painting all of it a glossy white.

7.  Your fireplace decor needs some color to really be connected to the room better.  Use the 40 x 40 purple flower picture that you sent.  Your current fireplace decor is way too formal for the room.  Your fireplace mantle is shallow; I would take off the candle sticks.  Keep it simple.  Your modern look is more simple and clean.  Move that miror to replace the mirror in the dining room.  I would get rid of everything red. 

8.  The sconces in the living room are way too modern for your house.  In general. all of your decor is too modern for your architecture.  You can get away with it more in furnishings, but once items start being attached to the room, you should maintain architecutral integrity.  I do however, appreciate that you have sconces.  I love and applaud the all too infrequent use of sconces.  ;-)

9.  Your living room only has one strong pattern.  Your use of pattern is too weak to really look pulled together. I picture a look more like this in your room:  Notice the strong pattern in the chairs, rug, and throw pillows?  In your case, add some pattern in the drapes as well if you'd like to.

10.  It is too small and too open a space to have two separate color pallets. 

11.  If you don't want to replace your chandeliers- change positions.  Personally, I'd say they were too modern, and too formal for your architecture and your space, but they are also the wrong shape.  Put the rectangular one over the dining room table, hung much lower, about 30" above the table, and put the one in the dining room in the living room.  I think those blingy chandeliers are something that we as a society will look back on in 10 years the same way we look back on the shirts that show your belly that everyone was wearing 10 years ago, but they really only looked good on anorexic people.

I do know that they are very popular right now, and every store is selling their version.  That's just my opinion.  Now I just offended all of my friends with chandeliers like this...  I might have to come back and delete this section...

 12.  Too large of a disconnect.  The big overall probelm is simply stated one of a disconnect.  You have a traditional home, with traditional trim, right down to the rosette in your woodwork.  Then you have this very blingy modern thing going on in your chandelier, and everything in between.  It's like you wore these earrings:

With this outfit: 

The thing is, sometimes it's really great to mix things up.  Some of my readers are saying, "I love the idea of those earrings with that outfit. "  I will say that mixing like you are doing is something that some people can do amazingly, but honestly, it is a hard thing to teach.  It is so very instinctual.  Your silver candlesticks and buffet lamps belong on a Downton Abbey dining room table, and the dining room table belongs in a Pottery Barn catalog.  Consistency is what you need. 

The Home Office

Hi Christine,

I forgot to ask you what the focal point is for a home office.  Is it the desk?

I very much enjoyed the webinar and I look forward to attending more of them.


Mary

Hi Mary,

Great question.  There is not just one answer to that one.  Sure, sometimes it is the desk, but it certainly doesn't have to be. 

In a living space I would say that the furniture all faces the focal point, such as the center of the dining table, or the fireplace or television.  In a small office, there might be just one chair, which faces the computer monitor.  ;-)  A larger office which has guest chairs facing the desk would have the desk, or wall behind the desk, as the focal point.  The question is, when you enter the room, what do you want the eye to go to? 

Feng Shui would say that the chair should not be facing the wall, but that rather the desk should be in the center of the room, where the chair is in a position where you can see a guest enter the room, not have your back to them.  This setup would again have the focal point be the desk, or the wall behind the desk. 

Here is an example where the focal point is the chair:

In the seminar, I talked about breaking a pattern, and creating a focal point- This office below is a good example of that:  Notice above how you have bookcase, break, bookcase.  The break lines up with the cute zebra chair and the mirror, creating a central dominance.

Here again, the focal point is the wall behind the desk, created with an accent of wallpaper: 

In this small space, the focal point is not the desk chair, or wall behind the desk, but rather I would say that the focal point is the art:

In the office below I would say the focal point is the rug:

What I find as an interior designer is that I do have an "ideal".  I like the focal point to be the wall behind the desk, with a secondary focal point in the chair and the desk itself.  (the photo with the beige zebra chair is a good example)  I like the main office chair to face into the room, instead of face the wall.  This is how I have designed my personal office space. 

However...  I frequently have clients with restrictions that prohibit this.  My cliet will say, "we need two chairs, two computers, six file drawers, two bookcases, and a sofa sleeper. " The restrictions are too many to also be able to treat the office with the focal point that I would like to.  Sometimes function has to come first, forcing me to design some built-ins rather than be able to put a pretty desk in the center of the room. 

Which home office photo is your favorite? 

Webinar Recording

My first Webinar was today.  Thank you all who attended.  I have received multiple e-mails saying that some did not receive the follow-up e-mail from Anymeeting, and couldn't get on to the Webinar.  I will figure this out before my next Webinar, one week from today.  I did record the class, if you are interested, you can view the recording by clicking here. 

Free Webinar

At the beginning of the semester I started teaching an Interior Design class at the local high school and Jr. High.  I have just loved it, and have decided to adapt it to a Webinar. 

In my series of classes I will cover all of the principles and elements of Interior Design in greater detail, so that you absolutely will be able to decorate like a professional.  It will be interactive as well, so you will be able to ask questions and converse as we go. 

Yes, there will be some homework- but we all know that I am not the boss of you- so you can do it if you please.  If you have a current decorating project, the series of homework assignments will guide you through your project giving you the practical and personal tools you need to be successful. 

I also hope it will be fun.  ;-)

I am going to play around with the day and time, searching for a convenient time for those interested.  I am not opposed to teaching a class more than once, so if you are not able to take this class, but would like to, leave a comment telling me when a better day or time would be, and I will see what I can do.

 My first class will be free, subsequent clases will be $25.  If you would like to take it, simply e-mail me and I will send you the guest code.