Want a bigger kitchen but don’t have the space? Blow out a wall and expand like we did with this Brookline Massachusetts Kitchen Expansion & Remodel.
Images from a piece the New York Times Magazine created on the World Trade Center Ironworkers.
The Wellbuilt Team has worked hard to stain this white oak floor into a bold colored black. During this process the floor is first bleached with a white primer. After this step, we then apply two coats of black stain. Lastly, as a topper we add a protective layer of clear polyurethane.
Our team is cleaning up a project on Manhattans west side that a cowboy contractor left behind. Mr Rodeo ended up flooding the apartment when sending a three inch screw straight through a water pipe in the wall. Here’s a few photos of the crew doing the remediation work. The entire wood floors (some 2000 sq ft) have to be replaced.
3 Reasons to Decorate with Wood Grains:
- Wood imparts strong emotions and memories and creates a sense of connection to a space. Darker tones may remind you of a cozy cabin, a book-filled library or a warm ski lodge. Lighter tones might bring to mind sun-filled kitchens, summer picnics or a serene spa.
- Wood makes a subtle statement of high-quality design. The finest furniture you can find is mostly crafted from wood. The look is refined and elegant, whether you use a modern or traditional style.
- Wood grains give you plenty of options. The beauty of decorating with wood grain is that it can enhance many different decorative styles. It can be rustic or streamlined, traditional or modern.
This Wellbuilt project in Winchester, Massachusetts shows what can be achieved when a family needing more space for their young family decided to turn their detached car garage into a new beautiful adjoined luxury kitchen.
These little nooks are tucked up along the coast of Nassau Island in the Bahamas. They are part of the Compass Point Beach Resort Bungalows. Simple, vibrant, and wellbuilt.
This charming reclaimed wood floor was installed as part of a major Wellbuilt renovation in Hamilton, Massachusetts. The specifics on this aged beauty are unknown, however we do know the wood came from beam stock as part of a timber frame barn structure over 150 years old in Pennsylvania.
Here’s a photo of a recent Midtown East, NYC Wellbuilt project in the works. For this particular job we used non VOC paint with a semi-gloss finish, making it easy to wipe away handprints and stains. The clients have young twins who tend to run around the place so we came up with a solution to replace the slippery ceramic tile with a glue-down wood floor. Wellbuilt continues to use only the best sustainable products out on the market for our projects and clients. Stay tuned – more photos to come when the job is complete.
This brand new luxury apartment overlooking the high line at 245 10th avenue will receive a full renovation makeover by Wellbuilt in collaboration with designer George Allan. The project offers huge potential as the apartment has been left as a big white box, ready for a new owner to take hold and give it their own splash of inspiration, not to mention implementing some Wellbuilt green initiativesto save the client money and make the space a healthier place to live. This project will take on several stages working from the flooring up to the ceiling, custom mill work to the kitchens and closets, an upgraded master bathroom, lighting, audio visual, custom finishes, and selected furniture pieces.
Here’s a few excerpts from an article about Singapore’s relatively new Marina Bay Sands Hotel skyscraper swimming pool - It’s 6.30am and the lift at the Marina Bay Sands Hotel smells like polished leather. I swipe my card, a gate to the SkyPark clicks open and before me is a lap swimmer’s nirvana. The faintly rippled surface of the world’s longest elevated swimming pool is all that exists between me and the pinnacles of Singapore’s cloud-piercing skyscrapers. This 150-metre pool has been designed with a daring “vanishing edge”. A row of palm trees, still trying to come to terms with the altitude, is beginning to show promise of shade. Beneath the palms are two rows of sun loungers. I’m immersed in almost 1.5 million litres of water, swimming among the clouds atop the world’s largest cantilevered platform. I wonder how heavy all this water must be. The pool is perched almost 200 metres high and prone to movement caused by wind and settlement in the earth. More here.
Its rare to come across individuals working the family trade these days, as an assortment of new age employment opportunities are popping up daily. Farming, bread making, and sewing clothes make up a fraction of trades that western societies passed down to younger generations. As time has changed, the market place has grown, and many trades have gradually become outdated. Needless to say, the industry of building remains one of the oldest trades to date that is still heavily sought after. With this, Wellbuilt’s Todd Rotondi is a third generation builder. Todd grew up in Massachusetts swinging a hammer, digging trenches, and operating heavy equipment in elementary school. Todd’s dad and grandfather played an integral role in fostering Todd’s extensive knowledge of the construction industry. Here’s a few snapshots of the lad hard at work digging the foundation which would ultimately lead to Wellbuilt Company.
Political hoohah aside, this Clint Eastwood Chrysler 2012 Superbowl ad inspires anyone hit hard by the downturn of the past 4 years to keep fighting for a comeback.
So what kind of paint does your builder use? More often then not, clients are unaware of how toxic consumer level paints can be. General household paint contains up to 10,000 chemicals. Of these chemicals, 300 are known toxins, while 150 have been linked to cancer. Arguably the most potent chemicals found in these paints are volatile organic compounds also known as “VOC’s“. The design and build industry has made a conscious effort to shift over to using environmentally sound materials such as these non VOC paints. When selecting a paint option for our clients, Wellbuilt Company has been mindful of these effects and we have gradually shifted to using non VOC paints on all jobs. These non VOC paints are great when designing and building “green“, however we believe clients deserve Wellbuilt spaces that are in fact treated with only the best materials on the market.
Wellbuilt Company’s very own Mitch Kidd has been building and crafting spaces since he was a little lad. Most kids in their adolescence play with legos, lincoln logs, and k’nex while others swing a hammer and bang nails. Wellbuilt’s team have built go carts, skateboard ramps, furniture, and even sail boats in their younger years. And one of these guys actually sawed his thumb off in the process – his boat was later appropriately named “thumbs up”. Mitch however built a three story tree house on his parent’s farm at the age of 9. Two decades on its still standing. Not sure if these images do much justice to this Wellbuilt gem, but here’s a few photos of the project.
In 1879 Thomas Edison unveiled the first incandescent light bulb. Needless to say, Mr. Edison’s efforts have changed the world and how we view it. Like many inventions in history’s past, the light bulb is an evolving product in design and build. And with these new products to hit the market comes discussions on energy efficiency and electricity bills. Household energy consumption is often a topic of conversation that most of us discuss, but when we look at the bigger picture we see high rise buildings in cities like New York, Buenos Aires, London, Paris, and especially Tokyo. These buildings take large sums of money to literally keep the lights on for businesses. As the cost on energy has risen, the last two decades has seen an influx of energy efficient products. In 2007 an energy law was passed to lead manufacturers to start phasing out incandescent bulbs in favor of more energy efficient lighting. Some consumers look at this change as an attempt to “go green“ but we view it as doing the right logical thing and a sound investment for our clients. With that, here we are with a few energy efficient style light bulbs that we will be using in our upcoming Wellbuilt projects.
Macquarie Group is a leading provider of banking, financial, advisory, investment and fund management services with international divisions in Australia, Korea, London, Dubai, and Singapore. In 2006 the group set out to facilitate a new approach towards the design and functionality of modern office environments. Based in Sydney, the Macquarie Group acquired a building on One Shelley Street. The project took approximately three years to complete as California-based Clive Wilkinson Architects collaborated with Sydney’s Woods Bagot architecture branch to design the 330,000 square foot interior. Since its opening in 2009, One Shelley Street has won a variety of awards and praises for its creative design and take on environmental sustainability. One Shelley Street serves as a healthy dose of inspiration to Wellbuilt’s pursuit of environmentally sound design and build solutions.
Introducing Corey Gash. Born with an abnormal brain and super-human talents, this guy has it going on. From building out a wooden music studio in the early 90′s to a total renovation of an old coastal barn, Corey is the definition of a man’s man and creative pioneer. He’s also a music producer, drummer, chef extraordinaire, flea market king, family man, and designer. Before using reclaimed materials was considered “green” this guy would scour the back alleys of Newport Beach to find all sorts of reusable treasure. Corey is no traditional designer, and as a matter of fact, he fell into the design field by accident as his passion for music production bled into a passion for building music studios. This curiosity and pursuit to build music studios lead him to study design decades after he started customizing spaces. His own personal music studio, which goes by the monicker of Pheasant Studios was built almost entirely by wooden crates he found around various locations of Southern California in the early 90′s. During the inception of this space, the foundation had an abnormally high ceiling, so Corey decided to create a second story living space equipped with a full blown kitchen, bedroom, and entertainment center. Pheasant Studios is the epitome of coastal cool boasting an americana, gentleman-like charm. Here’s a few snaps from this wonderful place. Keep an eye out for this guy as we’ll be highlighting his works as inspiration and one of our go to project design gurus for Wellbuilt.
