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It was originally built as an artist’s retreat in 1960. Today, this home in Siesta Key’s Boyd Park is not just a retreat, but just that, a home. However, a 1,600-square foot home was just not spacious enough for the current homeowners. They knew it was time to redesign for a more modern and comfortable lifestyle, and they didn’t just do an interior redesign. They came to us with a plan for their Siesta Key remodel to absorb their outside carport into the home’s interior.

The New Blue

We’re going to start with the bright yellow front door in the empty carport. All of this changed. We framed in the entire carport so that it became part of the interior.

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What was the carport space became the new kitchen and the laundry room. Cabico cabinets line the new space in a deep blue finish called Maritime Nights. Quartz countertops with sporadic black veining called White Lightning sit below the new windows. Solid white porcelain tiles called Alaska make up the floor. Some features in the kitchen include a kitchen island with waterfall sides, an ice maker at the end of the island, a double trash pullout, and undercabinet lighting throughout. Browse the photos in the gallery below to see more photos.

As mentioned above, part of the carport space became the new laundry room. The same blue cabinets and white tops from the kitchen went in here for a cohesive look. There is also a refrigerator here. We put in a new pocket door to keep this space and the kitchen separate.

Popular Closet Design Trends

What Happened to the Old Kitchen?

So, if the carport became the new kitchen, what happened to the old kitchen? The original kitchen was in the front of the home. This was obviously demoed completely since the kitchen ended up moving to another area.

In the old kitchen’s place is a new guest bath. The white Alaska porcelain tile return here on the walls, floor, and shower. The shower also has a fixed glass partition instead of a moving door.

Updated Siesta Key Remodel Exterior

Because the front exterior changed so much during this Siesta Key remodel, there were some redesigns out here as well. The front door (no longer bright yellow) moved so that it’s now hidden from the street. A new angled wall done in a brick-look tile at the entry piles up to the roofline.

The existing carriage lights remained, just moved since the front door moved. The existing roof remained as well and was extended and built out over the newly constructed kitchen and laundry room.

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With 2023 comes a focus on storage, wellness, and technology when it comes to the kitchen and bathroom. These insights come from the National Kitchen & Bath Association (NKBA). Kitchens and bathrooms are getting bigger and more involved, and homeowners want spaces that are multifunctional to meet their at-home work, education, or entertainment needs. These design styles will dominate 2023 kitchen and bath remodeling trends.

Transitional Reigns

When it comes to the actual design style, NKBA says transitional is the most popular. When it comes to color, greens, blues, whites, wood tones, and grays are on everyone’s minds when it comes to 2023 kitchen and bath remodeling trends. Whites are a popular neutral color with the warm tones coming from the nature-inspired greens and blues for a rustic feel.

Say Hi to Aluminum Bi-Fold Doors

Kitchen Design Trends

Homeowners want to expand the overall look and feel of their kitchen while adding components that hide clutter, make better use of their islands, and extend the space into the outdoors. According to NKBA, the top kitchen designs include large islands that double as dining tables, taking down walls to open up the kitchen to other areas of the home, a working pantry, flooring that’s easy to clean, outdoor living areas, and sanitary countertop surfaces.

Walk-in, built-in, and butler’s pantries are coming out as the top pantry types. Homeowners hope to not only store food but also have a dedicated working area for small appliances and for storing pots, pans, and dishes. Sustainability is also essential to many homeowners. LED lighting, separate storage for recycling, and increased natural light are the top three green wants.

> Vote Cabex for Herald-Tribune Readers’ Choice 2023

Bathroom Design Trends

Homeowners want to create a spa atmosphere in their bathrooms that they can enjoy as they age in place. These are bathrooms in homes that homeowners are not necessarily thinking about selling anytime in the future or even at all. 2023 will see homeowners deciding to remove their bathtubs to increase their shower size. Large two-persons showers with open entrances will take over the space. They also want to remove the walls to increase the overall bathroom footprint. More space is better, or the extra space will be a connector from the bathroom to the closet or dressing area.

When it comes to technology in the bathroom, homeowners are excited about heated floors, temperature and moisture controls, smart toilets and bidets, and smart mirrors. The top three most popular are heated floors, a thermostat smart control for the flooring and shower, and a humidity and venting detector that adjusts based on activity in the bathroom. Sustainability trends are also expected in the bathroom. LED lighting, electric radiant flooring, and water efficient faucets, shower heads, and toilets list as some of the top features.

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As 2022 comes to an end, we look back at the hottest trends in design in the past year. Sure, it’s time to look ahead and keep an eye on what’s newly trending as we head into 2023, but it’s important to look back at what’s been trending this year so we can understand the reason for the trends for the next. From bringing nature in to opening up the indoors, here are some of 2022’s biggest trends in home design.

Bigger and Bolder

Bold colors made their way back into kitchens and bathrooms. Homeowners wanted brighter and bolder colors on not just accent pieces, but pretty much everything from cabinets to walls to sinks. We saw vivid backsplashes and matte plumbing fixtures.

The most popular of these bolder colors were greens, blues, seaside teals, peaches, and creams as a testament to nature. No one wanted that neutral “show home” look. It was all about creating a unique, personalized look.

Nature is Welcome

Having an all-natural look was very important to homeowners. Clean, natural designs dominated kitchens and bathrooms in 2022. For a while now, the trend has been for materials, styles, and looks to be more organic and natural.

For example, we saw wood and recycled materials such as wood hoods and cabinetry with natural wood grain. We also saw natural stone become more common in designs, especially in the case where a single stone is selected for multiple uses in the same area like on the walls and floor. Open floors plans were popular, and expanding on that idea, homeowners wanted more windows and doors. Again, this goes back to nature and wanting to bring the outside in.

Luxury Appliances

Apart from more natural-looking cabinetry, we saw changes in other appliances and materials. For countertops, that meant lighter quartz materials and waterfall edges. With backsplashes, we saw long subway or slab tiles. LVP flooring was very popular. This is Luxury Vinyl Plank, which is a durable and beautiful alternative to hardwood flooring. When installed correctly, LVP perfectly mimics the look, texture, and warmth of real wood.

Deeper base cabinets and fewer upper cabinets were used for better storage. Other appliance trends included galley or workstation sinks and microwave and dishwasher drawers.

Better Bathrooms

More homeowners wanted an all-in-one water space, meaning the shower and bathtub share the same space. These wet rooms and bigger walk-in showers were once only seen in ultra-modern homes, but they’ve become more common across the board.

The bathroom has basically been treated as another living space in the home rather than just a practical room. A luxury shower space creates that area of wellness and relaxation. Open shower entrances, large high-performance windows and doors, and even having the option of removing the bathtub altogether creates a more open feel to the room.

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If a kitchen remodel is on your mind, the holidays are a good time to think about exactly what features you want to include. With holiday parties and family get-togethers going on, people may be filling your kitchen. As they do, think about your remodel. Pay attention to what is and what’s not working in your space. This will help you know exactly what you want for your kitchen remodel. To have the holidays inspire your kitchen remodel, here are a few features to think about adding that will make next year’s holiday gatherings more comfortable.

Seating

Lounge seating is good for keeping guests comfortable and out of the way when you’re in the kitchen cooking. Consider installing a window seat or bench. Built-in seating also includes storage for pots and cookie cutters. Adding a lounge seat to a window enhances your kitchen for guests.

Fireplace

Think about designing your kitchen around a fireplace. There’s nothing cozier than a fire at a holiday party. They don’t have to be real fireplaces though. More and more are turning to water vapor fireplaces for that high-end design element with all the modern touches. The technology that powers these fireplaces generates a realistic flame without the threats of a real fire. These designer-friendly fireplaces run on electricity and water and use LED lights to deliver the effect of fire.

Garbage Built-Ins

It can be annoying trying to do the dishes at a party where the garbage is under the sink, and you constantly must move every time a guest needs to throw out a napkin. Instead, try placing the garbage where guests can easily access it without blocking the sink, stove, or anything else in the kitchen. Locate the garbage and recycling near the end of your island or peninsula so guests don’t have to enter your work area.

Live Well with These Wellness Designs

Coffee Station

Make it convenient for guests to get their own coffee by having the coffee and tea in one spot. This way, guests can feel comfortable brewing their own. A coffee bar is a great built-in to consider when remodeling. A coffee station can also be set up in an existing kitchen using something like a hutch or even a console table.

Speakers & Dimmers

A bright and quiet kitchen might be perfect for the everyday, but parties are definitely the opposite. Lights are dimmed, and music gets turned up. Dimmers are simple to install, and they give good ambience for your party.

How Remodelers Handle Projects During the Holidays

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October means it’s time to turn those thoughts of remodeling into action. It is officially National Kitchen and Bath Month, which basically is a great time to take the first step toward that remodel you’ve been putting off or thinking about all year long. So what makes October a good time to start remodeling, so much so that the entire month is dedicated to it?

> Kitchen Design Trends

National Kitchen and Bath Month was created by the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) in 1982. Generally, with the holidays just around the corner, this is usually the busiest season for home remodeling projects. As a result, there’s no better place to celebrate the fall season than in your own home, so why not give your home an upgrade? Whether you want to work with a contractor or designer, October is the perfect month to give your home (the kitchen and bathrooms in particular) some much-needed attention.

> 10 Advantages to Remodel Now

Throughout history, October has been one of the most popular months to remodel your home, particularly the kitchen. We feel a sense of accomplishment by creating an updated space, one that encourages finding comfort and relaxation inside.

From minor upgrades to complete remodels, there are several ways you can participate in National Kitchen & Bath Month. The type of home project you choose depends on a lot of factors including your investment, schedule, and goals. Also, here are a few design trends homeowners are loving that could look amazing in your home:

• Natural quartz
• Electric water vapor fireplaces
• Glass backsplashes
• Enhanced outdoor living
• LED lighting
• Nature-inspired designs
• Textured wallpaper

> Color Design Trends

Here at Cabex, we welcome this month. To emphasize, we’re excited to meet with homeowners and learn about their thoughts and dreams for the new year regarding their home. Additionally, we’d love to meet with you in our 3,000-square foot showroom and help you find the inspiration you’re looking for for your new kitchen or bathroom.

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Start Planning Your Home Upgrade

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It was originally built as an artist’s retreat back in 1960. Today, this home in Siesta Key’s Boyd Park is not just a retreat, but just that, a home. But this 1,600-square foot home is just not spacious enough for this family. It’s time to redesign for a more comfortable and modern home, and the homeowners didn’t just an interior redesign. They came to us with an idea to absorb their outside carport into the home’s interior.

Carport to Kitchen

We’re going to start with the bright yellow front door in the empty carport. This will all be changing. We’re going to frame in the entire carport so that it’s part of the interior. This new space will become the kitchen and the laundry room.

Cabico cabinets will line the new space in a deep blue finish called Maritime Nights. Quartz countertops with sporadic back veining called White Lightning will reflect the new windows. Solid white porcelain tiles called Alaska will make up the floor. Some features in the kitchen will include a kitchen island with waterfall sides, an ice maker at the end of the island, a double trash pullout, and undercabinet lighting throughout.

Carport to Laundry Room

As mentioned above, part of the carport space will become the new laundry room for this new modern home. The same blue cabinets and white tops from the kitchen will be going in here for a cohesive look. There will also be a refrigerator in here. We’ll be putting in a new pocket door to keep this space and the kitchen separate.

Kitchen to Bathroom

So, if the carport is becoming the new kitchen, what will happen to the old kitchen? The original kitchen is in the front of the home. This will obviously be demoed completely since the kitchen is moving to another area. In its place will be a new guest bath, fit for a modern home.

The white Alaska porcelain tiles will return here on the walls, floor, and shower. The shower will also have a fixed glass partition instead of a moving door.

The New Exterior

Because the front exterior will be changing so much, there will need to be some redesigns here too. The front door (which will no longer be bright yellow) will be moved so that it’s hidden from the street. A new angled wall done in a brick-look tile at the entry will pile up to the roof.

The existing carriage lights will remain, just moved since the front door moved. The existing roof will remain as well, and of course will be extended and built out over the newly constructed kitchen and laundry room for a modern home.

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Nestled in the middle of Sarasota’s Oyster Bay on almost ¾ acres of land is a home waiting for a makeover. Built in 1957, this home was actually updated in 2012 to include an open floor plan, a dining and entertaining area with hardwood floors, and a lot of opportunity for natural light.

Ten years and new homeowners later, it was time for yet another extensive upgrade, this time with waterfall peninsulas, modern wallpaper, a new exterior color, and an outdoor kitchen beneath a stunning pavilion. With so much to be done, this project was split into two phases, with the first phase focusing on the kitchen and bathrooms.

The Guest Bath

Four bedrooms downstairs share two bathrooms, which we’ll call the guest bath and the Jack and Jill bath. In the guest bath, we’re basically updating in place with minor adjustments such as moving sinks, creating more space by replacing the built-in pantry with a pantry with shallower cabinets, and updating the tub into a shower complete with corner niche.

The cabinetry here will be Elmwood Custom Cabinetry with a Bleached Elm Faux Wood finish. The countertop is a classic and elegant Pure White. The walls will be white Titan Edge ceramic tiles, and the floor will be a dark tile called Azuma. The same Azuma tiles will make up the shower floor in a mosaic pattern. A fun tropical banana leaf wallpaper will surround everything.

The Jack and Jill Bath

The Jack and Jill bath will also be another example of updating in place. A double vanity with Elmwood cabinetry in a White Satin finish will sit on one wall between the two doors. The shower is extremely small, so it was important to make that larger.

To enlarge the shower enclosure, we’ll be rotating the toilet and moving it to a different wall. The newly expanded shower will have glass barn door sliders, white Alaska Polished Porcelain on the walls, and a Tasmania Rain Hexagon mosaic on the shower floor and accent stripe.

Adding More Wood

Most of the downstairs bedrooms in this Oyster Bay home had carpeting. We managed to find the existing engineered wood flooring found throughout the rest of the home. This is actually pretty rare to find the same flooring after all these years. This engineered wood flooring is called Silverado Tobacco. With this same wood flooring in the bedrooms as out in the hall and living area, the downstairs will now have a nicer and more cohesive finished look.

The Kitchen

The last room of this phase in our Oyster Bay project is the kitchen. The kitchen that was done in the 2012 update already looks nice, but with the other updates and different styles now being added throughout the home, it just won’t fit in any longer.

The lower and pantry cabinets will be Elmwood with a Haze Veiled finish, and the uppers and tall cabinets will be Elmwood with a Dove White finish. The countertops will be Vena Oro, a white quartz with striking gold veining. We plan to run this quartz down the side of the kitchen peninsula to create a waterfall to the floor. As we will be updating in place here too, the only other update will be the white Titan Touch backsplash.

Yellow to Blue

Lastly, this phase also required an exterior makeover. The exterior color of the home was a sort of canary yellow. The new color will be Newburyport Blue, which is a very dark, almost gray-looking blue.

The rest of the outside of this Oyster Bay home, including the new outdoor kitchen and pavilion, will come in the next phase.

A Pearl in Oyster Bay Part 2: Pavilion & Outdoor Kitchen

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Lakewood Ranch homes are always exciting to work in. They reside in a more luxurious part of Sarasota and Bradenton, so it’s thrilling to take these outdated interiors and upgrade them into a luxurious design to match the aura of the area. This home in particular sits in the middle of Lakewood Ranch Golf & Country Club just a few streets down from a home we remodeled that’s a prime example of what an upgrade into modern luxury can look like (and it’s currently featured in Home & Design). The design for this Lakewood Ranch remodel wasn’t quite as extensive, but it still shows you what can happen with the right design-build team. In this 5,590-square foot home built in 2006, we updated the kitchen, master bath, foyer, and laundry room.

Opening Up the Open Floor Plan

This home already had an open floor plan (as seen in the before photo above), but we opened it up even more. For example, when you first walked into the home, you passed two concrete columns that reflected the existing Mediterranean and Spanish style of the home and entered the dining room (we ended up boxing out and enclosing these round columns). Also, the dining room sat in a corner beside a wall that separated you from the kitchen. What we did was remove this wall to not only open the area but enlarge the kitchen as well.

Glossy Kitchen Design

Solid wood cabinets in a triangular kitchen layout became Cabico Custom Cabinetry in an open kitchen layout. The kitchen lowers, hood, coffee bar shelves have a hollow white finish. The kitchen tall cabinets, uppers, and pantry have a walnut grove textured faux wood finish as shown below.

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The countertop is quartz with Statuario, a flow of veins across a white snow background. The backsplash is a glossy ceramic tile. The new range remained roughly in the same location.

Now the dining room area was completely reconfigured, especially when it came to the ceiling. With the removal of the wall separating the dining room from the kitchen, that meant we had to create a new ceiling line that would transition between the two spaces. We built a new border wall in the dining room and for the back of the new pantry that ended up being a wall for the new laundry room too. The final touch to the new dining room was the new illuminated drop ceiling feature.

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Hexagons in the Laundry Room

As we just mentioned, the laundry room was located behind the kitchen. This is a brand-new location for the laundry room, which also serves as the entrance from the garage. To transform this space into the laundry room, we raised the concrete floor, build an alcove for a refrigerator, and added a hanging clothes rod.

The dark blue cabinets here are Medallion Cabinets with a natural woodgrain interior finish. The countertops are a luxurious white marble-look quartz. The really cool feature here are the metal blue and white hexagon mosaic tiles.

> Why Remodel Now?

Feeling Blue in the Master Bath

The dark blue also carries over into the master bathroom. We removed the solid wood cabinets, tub, glass block shower wall, and massive mirrors in favor of a contemporary design. The change resulted in Cabico cabinets with Greenwich textured faux wood, squaring off the arched ceilings above the vanities, the same luxurious white marble-look quartz as in the laundry room, and a completely revamped shower.

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The skinny, dark shower became a new steam shower with his and her showerheads, a new dropped ceiling, a custom shower bench, and three-level niche. The walls and floor are an oversized subway tile colored ecru, which is a sort of grayish yellow like old ivory, and the ceiling and shower bench are beige wood-like porcelain tiles.

Bringing the luxury upgrade together is the new Naturally Aged Wood Flooring that replaced an outdated tile that might have worked back in 2006, but not today. With these upgrades, we completed another successful remodel in Lakewood Ranch.

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A typical Lakewood Ranch home becomes anything but typical following an extensive full home remodel. From a new open floor plan to a fireplace with a new stone façade, this home becomes the epitome of the contemporary design in the middle of Lakewood Ranch Golf & Country Club.

All One Height

When we first entered the home before any remodeling began, we noticed there were a lot of enclosed spaces. Some of these enclosed spaces were topped with tray ceilings in different heights throughout the home.

To remedy this, we took down the dividing wall between the kitchen and the foyer. In removing this wall, we could lower the ceiling in the kitchen to match the ceiling height in the foyer to make the ceiling easily flow from room to room at the same height. This made the ceiling look like an original feature of the home rather than just part of the remodel.

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From Traditional to Modern

The kitchen originally had a high bar with stools and wood cabinetry, a very traditional look. We ended up removing the plant shelves and added soffits and a drop ceiling to define the space. We also removed the high bar and the angled island in favor of a much larger rectangular linear island that’s all one level to modernize the space.

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The new cabinets here are Elmwood with a shiny white melamine interior finish and a demure textured faux wood exterior finish. The quartzite countertops and island top complete the transition from traditional to modern, along with the wave white satin sheen backsplash. We built a new bench seat in the dining nook by the window to add another level of comfort.

Before in the kitchen, and in other areas of the home, there were a lot of round archways. We ended up squaring off these archways, as well as the niches in the living room. We removed the niche in the hallway behind the kitchen completely. Squaring off those arches gives the space a much more modern feel.

> Why is Budget So Important?

No More Outdated Guest Bath

In the guest bathroom, we removed the plant shelves here too. Plant shelves are just a very dated aspect to a lot of these Lakewood Ranch homes. There was originally also a light bar that was used a lot back in the day to create the light over the vanity area. We removed that and installed a new soffit that’s quite a bit higher to get a little bit more space and feel.

The floor in here is a tile called Onyx Milk Natural. The shower wall tiles are Onyx Silver Polished. The shower floor is a hexagon mosaic of Sahara Noir tiles. The silver niche finishes off the shower.

> Powder Bath Design Trends

The Pop & Wow Factor

In the dining space, we didn’t do too much, but we did try to modernize the space and make it part of what we did throughout the rest of the home. We removed the half wall at the entrance and built a custom built-in with a textured back wall and some wine racks in the before underutilized alcove. This little bar area creates some pop and wow factor in the design.

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Across from the dining room is a cozy new fireplace. We removed the old fireplace insert, the mantle, the stone veneer, the wood shelving, and the arch framing. After squaring off the shelving niche tops, we filled in the niches around the fireplace to create one flat façade with Silver Travertine split-faced ledgestone. It’s an exciting design that’s the first thing guests who visit see when they enter the home.

Something For Him and Something For Her

The master bath was probably the most noticeable transition in the entire home. The client had several desires for this space. One, they didn’t use the tub very much, and the tub took up about a third of the bathroom. That’s a lot of wasted space right there. We turned the entire tub area into a his and hers steam shower, transforming the alcove for the shower into a freestanding tub alcove with a wall-mounted filler and a back accent wall with all the proper lighting.

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The cabinets were replaced with a new Elmwood floating vanity and quartzite countertop. The shower floor has a Sahara Noir pebble mosaic, and the niche is a wave white satin sheen. The shower walls are silver polish, and the floor throughout the space is Onyx Milk tile.

Getting each room to flow seamlessly together is the new non-rectified plank wood tile we installed throughout the main living areas. This home is the perfect example of what can be done when you have the right designer with the right build team. Even a typical Lakewood Ranch home can become unique and truly yours when taken to the next level.

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