Blog

Kitchen Design Plugin for Sketchup, Sketchup training.

Gessi: Stellar build quality & so much more...

I’m no stranger to high end faucets. I was a stranger to Italy. No more though thanks to the folks at Modenus and Gessi Faucets.

Upon leaving Venice for Milan, the group of us headed over to Eurocucina to visit the booth of Gessi Faucets. I’d heard of them before, and even spec’d them on some jobs. All I knew is that they were quite high end.

Their booth was packed. Approaching it I knew this was going to be an experience...

The booth was a very tastefully done mixture of art and nature.

Now on to the hardware:

 

 

 

 

 

Aside from being just great looking faucets, they are built very well. The best looking faucet can be ruined for me if operating it feels like you’re pushing around a stick in a lumpy bucket of mud. These faucets are just the opposite. They feel like you’re operating a precision machined Leica camera. Every action is met with satisfying metallic click.

Like this post, our tour of the booth at Eurocucina was just a taste of what Gessi can do. Later on in the week I’ll take you on the tour of their own showroom in Milan’s art district. It’s a combination of a Bond Villain's lair and the greatest spa experience I’ve ever seen. I thought Gessi just made fantastic hardware, boy was I wrong, they make so much more...

 

Travel Tech

I travel, a lot. According to my TripIt stats in 2014 alone I’ve traveled to 25 cities, 6 countries and over 37 thousand miles. It’s gotten to the point where I can tell you what gate has the most outlets at BWI.

Recently I found myself on BlogTour with Modenus. Big thanks to them, Gessi, NKBA, Dekton, Clever Storage, The Antiques Diva, and Blanco for getting us there.

Normally I travel by myself, but this time I was with a wonderful group of people that not only were high energy personalities, but super connected bloggers. This group of people could consume phone batteries and mobile data like none other.  Many people had questions about how I keep everything up and running, and I thought I’d answer with my definitive nerd guide to staying connected and charged on the road.

Typically I travel with:

  • My MacBook Pro Retina
  • iPad Mini
  • Nexus 7 tablet
  • Droid MAXX Android Phone
  • At least one camera
  • Bose QC15 noise cancelling headphones
  • Jawbone Jambox

To keep all of these devices charged and connected requires a fair bit of kit that I’ll walk you through now. First and foremost, keeping things charged is important. With all the downtime in travel I spend a lot of time poking at my screens. This means increased battery drain. Here’s what I use to keep things charged:

 This is my favorite charging brick. It’s got folding metal prongs on the backside, and two charging ports on the front. It was cheap to, you can get it right here on Amazon. It also features a 1amp, and 2.1amp charging port.. More on that later..

 I carry this as well. It’s a 12volt charger that worked in just about any car made in the last 200 years. This particular one from Blanco features 2.1 USB amp output as well.

sam_5610
sam_5610

Speaking of power output, not all chargers are created equal. I won’t bore you with the nuances of the USB standard, but I’ll put it like this: Some devices require more power to charge than others. A small smartphone may only require .5 amps to charge whereas a large 10” iPad requires 2.4 or more amps to charge. If you plug a power hungry device into an underpowered charger, it can greatly lengthen the time to charge. This is why I make sure that all of my chargers are at least 2.1 amps so I can effectively charge my tablets, and my phones from any charger. Looking at the back of a charger where the “output” is listed can tell you how many amps it puts out.

 Speaking of charging things, when I travel to foreign countries, they don’t have the same outlets as us. Our power plugs are just two flat metal blades. Other countries can have a variety of different configurations. For that I like this sliding adapter. It has different prongs that can be extended for each country you are in. On the backside you just plug in your US device and you’re all set (provided the voltage matches, more on that later) You can find a similar adapter here.

 The first adapter I showed you can be used in just about any country, but it’s a bit bulky. If I am out walking around and I want to carry something in my pocket, I usually bring one of these. This particular one is for Germany. It’s much and easier to carry around, and can be found here.

 Now, the two adapters I showed you above just turn your metal prongs on your US adapter to the shape needed for overseas. They DO NOT change voltage. In the US, we use 110 volts in our outlets, many overseas countries use 240 volts. If you take any of your chargers or computer adapters and turn them over, look for the tiny text that shows INPUT voltage. If it says 110-240 that means your adapter can adapt to the change in voltage without you having to do anything. In the case of irons, hair straighteners there is often times a switch to change from 110-240.

If whatever device you have ONLY works on 110 and cannot be switched, you need a converter. This is a device that takes in 240 volts, performs some sort of witchcraft on it and turns it into 110 volt. I don’t use one of these as they are bulky and everything I have can handle 240 volts. They can be found here if you need one.

 But what if you’re without a power outlet? What is one to do to bring a device back from the dead? I rely heavily on my devices when I travel for navigation and communication. A dead device is not an option as far as I am concerned. My first line of defense is this 12,000 Milliamp charger. This guy has two 2.1 amp charging ports so it’ll juice up devices for even the heaviest Instagrammer. What does 12,000 milliamp mean? A lot. A typical smartphone is 1500-3000 milliamp, so this can fill a smartphone several times over. An iPad mini is about 4500. This charger can be found here.

 Another effective method for charging a dead device is using your laptop. Laptops have huge batteries in them compared to a smartphone or tablet. If you top off your laptop before you go out, you can use it in a pinch to resuscitate your phone. Using the right cable is important for getting a fast charge.

 If you have an iPhone, the Lightning cable that came with your phone can charge it off of your laptop very easily. In the case of the iPhone, when you plug it into a Mac, your Mac knows it’s an iPhone and pushes about 1.25 amps to it. This will charge it very fast. If you plug it into a PC, you’re getting 1 amp. 1 amp will charge your phone pretty fast as well. If you have your laptop stored in your bag, sometimes you need to plug the cable in, and then open and shut the lid to get the charge started.

 For Android phones you have to charge them with a Micro USB cable like this one. When you use a standard cable to plug into your computer to charge your phone, the computer tries to identify what kind of phone it is. If the computer can identify your phone, it will send 1amp to it so it charges quickly like the iPhone. If it can’t identify it, it will drop down to .5 amp. This is sort of a fail safe setting. This will not charge your phone fast at all. To combat this, I found these special cables that trick your computer into sending the higher amount of voltage to your Android phone. They have been very effective in quickly charging my Android phone on any computer. They can be found here.

 Lastly for cables when I am out walking around I’ll slip a USB charger in my pocket, along with these short cables. They take up less space in my pocket and they allow me to get a quick boost if I pass by an outlet.

iPhone ones here, Android ones here.

 I always bring a flash drive with me. If I am giving a presentation, I have a backup there. You also never know when you need to share a file without access to the internet.

 Mobile data: Being connected is something that is a must when traveling abroad. This could warrant a post in itself... The headlines are: Call your cell phone provider and see if there is a plan they offer for the country you’re going to. Likely it will be very expensive for a small amount of data and minutes. To make things cheaper I buy the minimum plan. Just enough for an emergency. Then when I get to whatever country I am going to, I buy a local SIM card. These SIM cards will get you a new temporary phone number and usually a lot of data and minutes that you can use while traveling. There are many different types of SIM cards and each phone can have a different size. To make sure you’re prepared for any size, grab these SIM adapters before you go. You should also ask your cell provider if your phone is a “world phone” and if it’s “unlocked”.

 The Jawbone Jambox. This is a little portable wireless speaker that can play your music wherever you like. Great for waking up in the morning and listening to some tunes.

 Speaking of music and your sanity, no traveler should be without these. Imagine this: You’re on a flight to Orlando. It’s packed with screaming children and Mickey Mouse Hats. You’ve scored a seat next to the engine. You pull out your tablet and start watching a movie. You turn up the sound to full so you can hear the dialog. Next thing you know Bruce Willis is saving the planet and in his wake are many loud, high decibel explosions. It’s at this point your eardrums explode along with the villains. To preserve your hearing and your sanity I give you the Bose QC15 Noise canceling headphones. These cans use sorcery (and a AAA battery) to block out all the background noise. Flip the switch on the side and that engine noise will be all but gone. In addition to blocking out all the background noise, Bruce Willis and his trail of destruction never sounded so good.

 So I am very picky at how I pack things. You can’t just toss all this stuff into a backpack and expect it to be easy to organize and retrieve. For that I used this little gem called the Cocoon Gridit. It has all these straps on it that are rubbery so they hold all your things in place.

This is the backpack I use. It’s slim and keeps all the weight tight to my back so it’s easy to carry around for a whole day with all this gadgetry in it. You can find it here.

So that’s how I keep everything charged and connected while traveling. I hope this helps you out!

Dekton Countertops: Amazingly durable & sexy

As a kitchen designer, countertops are a big part of any kitchen. While cabinets may be physically larger, the countertop dominates the space. It’s also one of the most used and abused surfaces in the kitchen.

Cursor_and_Dekton_advantages____Dekton

There are many types of countertops, I’ll walk you through a few of them before we get to the grand finale called Dekton that I saw in Italy on BlogTour with Modenus…

Laminate: This is often the most inexpensive way that you can do a countertop. Laminate is a printed veneer that is glued over a plywood or particle board substrate. These types of countertops typically have a drop in sink although there are a few undermount ones that you can get. Laminate while good can deteriorate over time as water enters the wood substrate underneath.

Solid Surface: This is a manufactured plastic countertop. They are solid plastic or other polymer all the way through. They can be worked with regular woodworking tools. They are adhered together with a special glue that bonds separate pieces together so they become one. You often see these types of countertop in kitchens with white (or off white) one piece sinks and in bathrooms that have one piece tops. These tops can be prone to scratching as the material is softer plastic.

Granite: This is pretty self explanatory… A massive chunk of rock that is typically milled down to 1 ¼” thick and dropped on your countertop. Granite is the one of the only ways to get the most natural look. It can be a bit unpredictable in terms of durability from one color to the next. It also needs to be resealed at regular intervals or it can stain.

Quartz: If you’ve heard of Silestone, you’ve heard of quartz. Very simply, Silestone is the process of taking chunks of granite and other rock, grinding them up, mixing them with some glue, then mashing them down into sheets that are about the same size as granite. The end result is a surface that is almost always mistaken for granite. It also requires no maintenance. This is one of the most durable surfaces you can get… or so I thought..

The trend in the US has been thick and chunky countertops for years. You typically see 1 ¼” to 1 ½” thick countertops. In Europe their countertops are typically much thinner. ½” to ¾” of an inch is very common place over there. Since European design is very quickly coming to this side of the pond, one company, Cosentino decided to step up and create something special for us here.

They call it Dekton. This is what it looks like:

default-1

It’s thinner than traditional countertops. It also has a nice texture to it as well. Now I know what you’re thinking: That they took Silestone and just made it thinner. That’s not the case here. Instead of just remixing something they already made, they decided to make something entirely new.

I’m no scientist so I’m not going to nerd out on how the process works, but near as I can tell this material is made similar to diamonds. Diamonds are created by certain types of rock under immense pressure. Dekton is made a similar way. They use very specific materials, rocks included and compress them MUCH harder than Silestone.

The end result is a material that is thinner and trendier. It’s also extremely durable. They even say that you can clad buildings with it. They walk the talk to, as it’s been used to clad the entire outside of several buildings. If it can stand up to that, it can stand up to your everyday abuse in the kitchen.

default-2

I got a chance to see the range of colors and textures they offer in Italy. Suffice it to say, the colors are fantastic. I would definitely spec this material if you’re looking for a fashion forward, durable material from a company that knows how to make great countertops.

 

 

default-3

 

default-5

default-4

 

I'm back!

If you've been keeping track, you might have noticed that I've been rather absent for nearly the entire month of April. I've been on many trips. Most of which forced me to be entirely off the grid. It's going to take several blog posts to cover them all, but to kick it off I want to start with my most favorite trip this month, and ever for that matter. I was lucky enough to be selected as a member of Blog Tour Italy. This trip wouldn't have been possible if it weren't for the generosity of Modenus and our sponsors:

Screen-Shot-2014-04-18-at-8.51.23-AM-1

 

The amount of awesome I experienced on this trip cannot be summed up in one post. So to kick things off, I'll just give you a photo taste of what went on in Italy:

In the coming days I will be sharing details about each and every stop. My camera worked overtime so expect a LOT of pictures as well.

We got a guided tour of Venice

We sang songs for Blanco

We experienced true bathroom beauty at Gessi

We toured Eurocucina

We toured Milan

I met some amazing new people

The Antiques Diva took us on an amazing tour of Italy's antiques culture

Dekton by Cosentino showed us that there is something that is even more durable than Silestone!

And last but certainly not least, the NKBA was there in personal support of our trip. While I don't have a drool worthy picture of the NKBA let me just say that it was very forward looking of them to be at the show. I've been a long time member of the NKBA and I was very excited to see them there.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Blog Tour Milan, here I come

It's with great pleasure that I am announcing that I will be attending Blog Tour Milan this year! BlogTour-Logo-PbM-blk-grey

Thanks to the folks over at Modenus for graciously inviting me on this trip. We will be touring Eurocucina, a large kitchen and bath show. This will be my first time at this show. Stay tuned here for coverage under #BlogTourMilan

Where is Eurocucina? Italy. I'll be stopping in Venice first and then heading on to the show in Milan.

Maybe I'll get to drive some old Italian sports cars...