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 DIY
Network show adds up for Flux Design
The luckiest of numbers for
Flux Design owner/president Jeremy Shamrowicz is 13: 2013 is
the 13th year that his company (located in Riverwest) has
been in existence. And the DIY (Do It Yourself) cable
network has begun airing the first of 13 episodes of "Made
in Milwaukee," a reality show featuring Flux in action.
|
 Local
experts say baby boomers leading a real estate resurgence
MILWAUKEE – Baby boomers
are leading a resurgence in the local home improvement
market. The home improvement industry is steadily building
itself back up after years of struggling in a poor economy.
And baby boomers, those born between 1946 and 1964, are to
thank for the boost in business, said David Pekel, president
of Wauwatosa-based Pekel Construction and Remodeling.
|
 Model
remodeler
Bill Winters wants to live to be 100,
but only practice his trade until he’s 99 1/2. So, what’s he going
to do for his final six months? "I guess I’ll revisit my best
accomplishments," he mused. And, at the rate he’s going, he’ll
have to be quite selective for the 58-year-old Winters was named the
2003 winner of the Milwaukee Metropolitan Builders Association
Remodeler Sales Person of the Year.
|
 Weathering winter
Prepare yourself — winter is around the corner.
How to stay warm and lower costs? Read on! Peter Quale of Handyman Connection suggests using a
roof rake, which is available at most hardware stores, to clear snow
from your roof and prevent ice dams from forming.
|
 Home
ecology
What steps are builders taking to
improve the energy efficiency of homes? Stan Wrzeski, a professor at
the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee’s School of Architecture and
Urban Planning, explains that nowadays it’s best to think in terms
of an "ecology of systems; that is, to consider all the various
parts of a house that need to work together.
Wrzeski cites the importance of effective
ventilation systems.
|
 Building
kudos
It seems
quite apropos that the remodeler of the year in the state of Wisconsin
goes by the name of Mark Brick. Like the building material his last
name mimics, Mark Brick, 44, of B & E General Contractors of
Thiensville ("Design, Build & Remodel), has been going strong
for 17 years.
|
 All
in the family
Choosing to remodel a
home or build an addition can be a difficult decision. For
Barbara Heimsch of Wauwatosa, it was an especially difficult
decision.
|
 Tennis,
basketball anyone?
It’s a
beautiful spring day. Tennis gear in tow, you and your partner
head off to the park to get in a few sets. Alas, when you
arrive all of the courts are occupied. Wouldn’t it be nice
to have your own court?
|
 HGTV
turns eye our way
Down
a winding path amid towering pines and maples sits a
spectacularly renovated home on five wooded acres in Mequon.
This remodel is so impressive, in fact, that television crews
from HGTV, the nationally televised home and garden television
cable network, have decided to give the world a glimpse.
Homeowners Jim and Terry O’Shaughnessy and the show’s host
Pat Simpson will be showcasing this “jewel in the rough”
on HGTV’s “Before & After” sometime this spring. The
show airs Sundays at 7 and 10 p.m. central.
|
 Breakneck
bathroom
As an
everyday space, the ideal bathroom is all about personal
choice. That is why homeowners always have made great strides
in improving the function and form of where they spend a good
portion of their private time.
|
 His
taste runs to turrets
We
all want a bathroom that is beautiful and functional. After
all, a bathroom is the most used room in a house. At times it
can be our precious place of sanctuary and one of the only
places where others usually won’t follow.
|
 Subterranean serenity
This
isn’t the first time Hilbert and Mercedes Bruss have experienced
high energy prices. |
 The master bath
Sure
it might be nice to have a fabulous great room, impeccable home
landscaping or finished basement, but when it comes to true house
envy, there are only two places that really count — the bathroom
and the kitchen.
|
 Size
is only part of the package
According to
some area experts, the shower is becoming a luxurious way to
start your day. “Most people get up in the morning and take
a shower,” says Sandra Volk, showroom consultant at H.W.
Theis Co. in Brookfield. “Since it’s used most often,
people are making the shower as pleasurable as possible.”
|
 A
woman's home
In
1876, Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky wrote the music for Swan Lake.
Ulysses S. Grant was President of the United States. In the
Milwaukee Sentinel City Carriage Works advertised phaetons and
buggies.
|
Preserving
personality
When
photographer Jim Schnepf first saw the Cedarburg stucco house
with the barn out back, he knew something beautiful could
develop.
|
 Reviving
a rec room
When
Mike and Kathy Nelesen of New Berlin decided to finish their
basement, they did their homework. “We talked to four or
five remodeling companies before we found Perry,” recalled
Kathy. They met Perry B. Szpek, design sales associate for JDJ
Builders, Inc. of Greenfield at last year’s Fall Home and
Remodel Show at State Fair. “He was one of the few that
listened to our ideas,” said Kathy.
|
Old
world feeling
Dick
Kuchler is an expert at seeing things that don’t exist yet.
“Dick is an engineer,” said his
wife Kathy. “He can imagine what something will look like while
it’s still on paper. I’m a visual person and I want to
actually see something. Then I can decide.” |
 It's
all natural
Sometimes
there is elegance in simplicity. The “natural” route seems to
be finding its way into more and more homes these days, and in
particular the flooring. Homeowners are taking their games up a
notch or two as more upscale options in flooring have become
available. It’s no longer a quick decision over which color of
linoleum or carpet to lay down.
|
 Restoring
your floors can add value to your home
While
wall-to-wall carpeting has been the floor covering of choice
in homes across the nation for decades, in recent years a
growing number of homeowners are choosing to show off their
wood floors. They are discovering that you can add charm and
sometimes value to your home by restoring your hardwood
floors. But whether you want to completely restore a floor or
just refinish it, you need to get the facts first.
|
 Go
natural, and step on it!
If
you ask interior designer Nancy Miller of Form & Function
to recommend a floor that’s reasonably priced, extremely
durable, stain resistant, aesthetically pleasing and made from
a renewable resource, the answer will likely be “bamboo.”
Most of the hardwood floors you see in homes today have many
similar qualities, however what sets bamboo apart from the
rest is the ability of the bamboo plant to regenerate itself
in three to five years.
|
Be
wise when considering carpet
A
room’s focal point traditionally has not been the floor.
That was then. Today’s decorating trends start, quite
literally, from the ground up—putting emphasis on carpeting
as a room’s main focus. |
 Find
flexibility, value in area rugs
For
years, wall to wall carpeting was the floor covering of choice
in homes across the country. These days, people want to show
off their handsome hardwood floors and cover only select
spaces. You can do that beautifully with area rugs, according
to Milwaukee-based interior designer Sally Carson.
|
Action
at the Astor!
Jim
Searles is in the throes of an ambitious plan that is designed
to not only strengthen the Brady Street neighborhood, but to
pay homage to days gone by. |
 Tally
Home! Historic hollow revived
Almost 70 years have passed
since one of Mequon’s most elegant estates was constructed in a
woodsy glen near Zedler Lane. Horse-drawn carriages once brought
visitors down the winding, one-lane bridle paths that led to a
stable and hunting lodge known as Juniper Hollow. It was the
ultimate gentleman’s retreat: a reward for the time spent
working in the city. It was far away from the urban bustle yet
near enough for a day’s fox hunt.
|
 Pizzazzed
By
giving an old building a facelift, contractor Mark Brick of
B&E was awarded the national Contractor of the Year award
by the National NARI organization in the category of
commercial exterior renovation. Although Brick is no stranger
to the honor—he’s won two times before—he still believes
that every project gives him an opportunity to learn more
about what he
does best.
|
 Vintage
elegance
When
Helen Sheveland heard company was coming, she headed straight
for the closet. The Shevelands had lived in their Delafield
condominium just a few weeks at the time, but Helen and her
husband Richard wanted to make their home as welcoming as
possible. |
 Garden
room, dance studio provide plenty of pleasure
A
basement doesn’t have to be just a concrete box where you
keep holiday decorations. A foyer or sun room can hold more
than just a chair and a small table. With a little remodeling
magic, you can turn any defunct space into a very useful and
integral part of the house.
|
 Expanding
your living area
Remodeling
often is done when an older home needs updating or enlarging
as a family grows and changes over the years. You may live in
a home that you’ve loved for a long time and you don’t
want to move, or you might be happy with the location of your
home because of work or school considerations. This often is
the case when homeowners hire a remodeling firm to make
structural changes. |
 Top
to bottom proud
When
Jim and Elizabeth Neubauer took on the search for their dream
house they were surprised at what they found. Their 1950 Cape
Cod style house located on a quiet street in Whitefish Bay
where they were living had everything they were looking for
—well almost everything. |
 Den
of ubiquity
If having
somebody else do the work for you is not your thing, or if your
budget requires that you do the work yourself, planning for a home
office will require even more thought and preparation. |
 Stone
sweat
It seems
that nobody ever really completely possesses a Cedarburg stone
house. Each resident adds his own history to the building, each
family leaves its imprint, but Cedarburg stone homes survive their
owners. These houses become celebrities in their own right. David
Welky’s home has been no exception.
|
 The
Rader house
As a quilter,
Nora Rader had been creating masterpieces from shapes for years.
But no project she had ever undertaken matched the challenge of
piecing unusual spaces together to create the home she and her
husband Ken share today. Located in The Arbors in Delafield, the
4,000-square-foot, five-bedroom home is an interesting mix of
uniquely-shaped rooms that wraps as comfortably around residents
and visitors as one of Nora’s colorful quilts.
|
A
clear idea and a careful choice
The experts want
you to know there is more than just dreaming involved in doing a
kitchen. |
 The
Schlieter Home
Even on a quick
trip up Waukesha’s College Avenue, the Schlieter home catches
your eye. Towering over modern-day condos on either side, the
pretty painted residence behind rambling old shrubbery seems
bigger than life.
|
 Outdoor
room
I submitted you,”
announced Peter Kudlata of Flagstone Landscape Design in a
telephone call to Shorewood homeowner Carmen Haberman. With that
statement, Kudlata started a process that would end with a gold
award in the residential design category in the 2000 Landscape
Awards Contest presented by the Wisconsin Landscape Federation.
|
Hole-y
historic house!
There’s no
denying the charm of an older home. From a Cream City palace to an
elegant Painted Lady, older homes offer a sense of historic
character not often found in new construction.
|
 Maintaining
your log home
Log homes
must be properly cared for; there are measures homeowners must
take to preserve them. |
 Convert
kid's room into your own special space
Watching
your children go off and leave home is hard for any parent.
Whether your first or your last, seeing a child off to college, a
career or his or her own place is a big step for both parents and
children. Though the child may be gone from the home, a new
opportunity awaits — what to do with that empty bedroom.
|
Heavenly
hardware puts distinction in details
You
can’t put your finger on it, but as you walk through there’s
just something distinctive about a home. |
Looking
for original artwork? Check out this cabinet hardware
It’s a
trend more people seem to be getting a handle on.
|
Color,
texture define outdoor dining
Spring is
in full swing and summer’s not far off. It’s time once again
to think about entertaining outdoors. |
 Blending
Old & New
Behind the main house on Rocky
and Ellen Cummings’ Mequon property is a barn with a secret: it
isn’t a barn at all; it’s a recreation center. |
