Maple Heights family to get KraftMaid 'Extreme Makeover'

A life-changing knock on the door finally took place Wednesday morning.

Willoughby-based Marous Construction stood on one side, joined by the crew of the Emmy award-winning “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” The Anderson family of Maple Heights stood on the other and learned that they will soon receive a home built by Marous and have those very moments broadcast before millions on national television.

Everybody else will have to wait until the show’s eighth episode this season to see exactly how the scene played out. The eighth season began last weekend.

“We are thrilled that Marous Brothers Construction has been selected for this monumental effort to affect a local family in a positive way,” company president Chip Marous said in a statement Wednesday. “We’ve spent weeks planning for this, and now we’re excited to begin construction on the Anderson home.”

Like most episodes, the show involving the Andersons is shaping up to be a heartfelt one. Andre Anderson completely lost his sight to diabetic retinopathy, and his wife, Jasmine, is progressively losing hers to the same ailment and is considered legally blind. One of their two sons, Jaison, is deaf. Despite those challenges, the family is described as one that is deeply involved in its own community.

The five-day build will start this week after the family leaves for an ABC-funded vacation. It will require the help of about 40 Marous employees, 15 to 20 subcontractors and 1,500 or more volunteers.

KraftMaid Cabinetry of Middlefield will donate cabinetry in the episode like it has in all episodes since the 2004 debut. The company also said 200 of its workers will participate in the build.

“Something wonderful and amazing happens when ‘Extreme Makeover: Home Edition’ touches a community,” KraftMaid spokeswoman Kim Craig said. “Neighbors and strangers work side by side to help make a difference and for a family they may or may not know. It is a magical experience and has truly been an amazing thing for KraftMaid to have had a part in helping to change the lives of nearly 200 families.”

Those who want to volunteer or make donations can sign up at www.marousbrothers.com.

Casual, Cozy Kitchen in Dallas

In a cottage kitchen, owners Craig Schumacher and Philip Kirk avoided an extensive kitchen remodel by installing inexpensive black and white tile on counters and backsplashes. An ironstone collection overflows from shelves to walls. Vintage jurors' chairs (stained ebony) came from assorted flea markets and antiques shops.

Popular 2010 Interior Paint Colors

Trendy interior paint colors are leaning towards the more relaxing and soothing shades. We are seeing paint colors from light, pale pink to yellow on one hand and then on the other, we are seeing more earth tones that help to reflect the "green" side that people are feeling. Bringing the outdoors in with browns, tans, greens and so on is very popular in 2010 interior paint colors.

"Highest in Customer Satisfaction with Cabinets"

According to the J.D. Power and Associates Cabinet Satisfaction Study KraftMaid ranked highest in a study that looked at ordering and delivery; price; operational performance; design features; and warranty. This distinction further demonstrates that consumers recognize KraftMaid is leading the way in satisfaction.

The extensive product selection, featuring more than 100 trend-on door styles and over 45 furniture-quality finish options, gives you endless opportunities for customization. With the highest ranking among cabinet manufacturers in satisfying customers, you also get an added feeling of confidence when you bring KraftMaid Cabinetry into your home. Call KraftMaid Seattle @ (206) 402-4950

The Value of KraftMaid Cabinets

Posted by Jodee,

Kraftmaid cabinets are the most versatile cabinets available on the market today, offering the wide array of wood species, not seen with any other cabinet manufacturer. They have been around since 1969 and have been know as a staple of quality and style ever since. Their wood selection includes: oak, cherry, and maple. Their cabinets are made with the best eco-friendly materials in the industry, and every product is created with utmost beauty, style, and quality. These cabinets are built quickly without compromising quality. Their selection of kitchen cabinets, bathroom cabinets, and entertainment cabinets can make a dramatic effect throughout your home.

Stainless Steel Plinth Shower

TOTEM is a "TECNICAL" shower made with resistant material. A stailess steel plinth can be buried and then give STABILITY to the structure. The plinth is predisposed a water drain. Complete with mirror, towel rack, basin and show accessories, iroko wooden board, customizable taps, support for shower curtain. It is COMPLETELY AUTONOMOUS, and siutable for RESTAURANTS, BEER CELLARS, CAMPING AREAS, CLUBS, VILLAS, GARDENS, LOFTS, BALCONIES and APPARTMENTS.

Tour the new dream home: At International Builders' Show, it's small, virtual, and affordable.

The New Economy Home, designed by Marianne Cusato, is on virtual display at the International Builders Show, which opens Tuesday in Las Vegas.
What a difference a year makes! The International Builders' Show, which opens Tuesday in Las Vegas, planned to showcase a huge and glamorous New American Home, as it's done in years past. Instead, it has a virtual display of the New Economy Home.
What happened? The economy. The builders of the 6,800 square-foot dream home couldn't get enough financing to finish it. They lost it to foreclosure in December.
So Builder magazine is offering an entirely virtual tour of a sustainable home that, at 1,771 square feet, is one-fourth the size. There are also four small, factory-built, energy-efficient homes on display in the Las Vegas Convention Center's parking lot.
Architect The combined living-dining room of The New Economy Home, on virtual display this week at the International Builders Show, has windows on three walls.
Marianne Cusato walks Green House readers through her four-bedroom, three-bath New Economy Home. She calls it "the most innovative home never built." Two are actually now under construction in Warwick Grove, N.Y., at about $95 a square foot, and more have been ordered.
(Update 1/19: in response to reader comments, the cost cited is just for the house, not the land. The homes' total price tag: $350,000.)
"Small is the new big," says Cusato in an interview, adding that good design can make small homes live large.

Here's a guided tour, in her words:
The home is designed to be simple to build, livable and beautiful. The simple form of the house allows budget to be put where it matters – in the places a homeowner can touch and feel like the front porch. Side windows make the house live larger while also allowing for cross ventilation and natural light at all times of day.
The first floor of The New Economy Home, on virtual display this week at the International Builders Show, includes a living/dining room, kitchen, half bath and adaptable suite.
On the first floor, there's a combined living/dining room that is connected but separate from the kitchen. In the back is an adaptable suite, with a separate entrance and a possible kitchenette, that can be used as rental unit, an in-law suite, a home office or a downstairs master suite.

The second floor of The New Economy Home has three bedrooms, two bathrooms and a bonus storage room.
On the second floor, there are three bedrooms, including two secondary bedrooms with a shared bath and a master suite. Off the master suite is a storage area, which can be converted over time to a sitting room, home office or nursery.
The entry foyer of The New Economy Home, on virtual display this week at the International Builders Show, is open to the combined living-dining room but has a separate, formal feel.
The entry foyer defines the point of arrival. It is separated from the living room to be more formal as well as to protect people in the home from the elements when the front door is opened and closed. The stairs add an element of architectural interest.
The living room is designed to be open yet defined from the kitchen. Windows on three walls open up the room to the outdoors making it live large. This version shows a formal dining area with a desk against the side wall and the living room area in the distance.

The white kitchen is open to the combined living-dining room but remains its own room.
In the kitchen, the double height KraftMaid Cabinets maximize storage. The space-saving double oven and range, all in one unit, from Whirlpool help to make the kitchen live larger.

The adaptable suite, part of The New Economy Home, can also be shown as a family room or as a home office.
The adaptable suite, shown here as an apartment, could be a downstairs master bedroom, a family room, a home office, an income-producing rental unit or an in-law suite for an elderly parent or boomerang child.

Two ways to make a compact home live larger is to minimize hallway space and to capture storage wherever possible. The stair landing doubles as the hallway for the second floor, maximizing usable space and minimizing circulation space. A set of bookshelves is built into the side of the stairs creating additional storage.

One of the secondary bedrooms on the second floor can be used for a child's bedroom or a home office. One important feature is windows on two walls, which allows cross ventilation and reduces dependence on mechanical systems.

The bonus storage room, off the master bedroom, could be converted into a sitting room, a home office or a nursery.
A storage room, accessed off the second-floor master bedroom suite, can be finished as a sitting room (shown) or as a home office or nursery (not shown.) (Note: This 229 square feet is not included in the 1,771 square feet of finished space.).

The house features durable low-maintenance materials, such as fiber-cement siding, high-performance Anderson windows, well-insulated walls (R-22) roof/attic (R-44) crawl space, (R-30), a compact footprint and a high-efficiency HVAC system.

For more information on KraftMaid Cabinetry, contact KraftMaid Seattle (206) 402-4950