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Design Trend: Tips on Installing A Whole House Water Conditioning System

If you’re one of those people who gets water from a well or from a municipality with particularly bad water quality, you may have suffered through any one of a legion of problems: cloudy water, water with a “rotten egg” smell, water with a chlorine or metallic or fishy taste, or water so hard that it leaves your skin feeling tight and your hair feeling dry. And if you’ve got that “hard” water problem it’s not only a problem for your health but for the health of your home. Water filled with calcium and magnesium deposits can shorten the life and efficiency of home appliances like dishwashers and washing machines. Water heaters can’t heat hard water as fast as soft water, so your utility bill goes up. In fact, tankless water heaters running with hard water often need replacing every two years. Plus, hard water leaves scaly deposits on your plumbing system which build up over time, causing clogs and corrosion that can shorten the life of your home’s plumbing system. If you have hard water you know it, just by the number of showerheads you run through over a few years time.

Fed up with all the problems brought by substandard water quality, more and more homeowners, particularly those looking for Northern California water services, are taking advantage of whole house water conditioning systems that can treat water flowing throughout the house. Not only do these homeowners get clean, filtered water to drink from the kitchen tap, but washers and dishwashers need not suffer the insults of overly mineralized water either. Plus, homeowners can again luxuriate in baths and showers that leave skin feeling refreshed, not layered with gunk.

Are you thinking of adding a whole house water conditioning system? Here are a few tips:

1) Ask the professionals. There are a number of different types of systems , from drinking water systems to whole home water softening and filtration systems. Each is designed for optimal performance based on various factors, including the source of your water (well or municipal), size of your plumbing, as well as your overall volume of water use, and level of purification needs. The best way of finding a system that will work for you is talking to the experts and evaluating your situation accordingly.

2) Drinking water isn’t needed throughout the house. It’s impractical, unnecessary, and extremely expensive according to experts at DeAnza Water Conditioning. In fact, they say, the bulk of their customers are opting for two systems — one to soften and/or filter the water for the entire house and then a separate water filtration system in the kitchen exclusively for drinking and cooking. That separate system uses advanced reverse osmosis (RO) technology to remove all of the particles that cannot be removed by standard purification.

3) Shop around and consider not only the system design and planning but technical support. Your choice of water systems will be based not only on the conditions at your house, but also on the kind of technical support you’ll be getting in the future. All water systems need maintenance and support, so you’ll want to choose a company carefully, that you know will be around over the long haul.

4) Compare apples to apples. Prices on water filtration systems can vary enormously, from a few hundred dollars to several thousand. Keep in mind that what’s on offer also varies enormously. Ask a lot of questions and keep the differences in mind as you assess costs.
Adding a whole house water filtration system to your home is a serious undertaking, but the benefits in terms of water quality, life extension of plumbing and appliances and, of course, the health benefits are enormous. Once you’ve made the change, you’ll never want to go back again!

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Magnificent Big Sur Glass House Descends to Ocean

This amazing house in Big Sur, California on the slope of a cliff overlooking the Pacific Ocean is by Fougeron Architecture .

Entered from a terrace at the top, Fall House is partly clad in copper on one side.

Modeled on the movement of a sea slug downhill, the house has a central ‘hinge’ that is transparent.

This means that a double height living room under the “hinge” is entirely skylit with sunshine all day.

The effect of the glass and the height is truly exhilarating.

The transparency of the central living room is complete on both sides as well.

The house follows the hill downhill.

As you descend the “sea slug” you arrive at the kitchen, barely above the waves.

Outside the kitchen a comfortable perch for a morning coffee.

Morning sunshine floods the master bathroom where a bath is at floor level.

At the farthest end is the master bedroom, with a glorious perch right over the Pacific Ocean.

This absolutely magnificent house was recently awarded an honor award from the AIA CC for excellence in architecture.

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Design Dilemma: Five Home Design Trends for 2015

The clock has not yet struck midnight and there are a few more hours left to go in 2014, but we’re already looking ahead to design trends for the new year. As interior design trends don’t move as fast as fashion trends (thank goodness) some of the trends we’re mentioning this year we also mentioned last year. But there are a few new wrinkles in the mix which promise to make 2015 an interesting one in home design.

1) A fusion feel. While Japanese Fusion may be all the rage in cuisines, similarly, ethnic fusion is all the rage in home design. What’s hot this year is new interpretations of traditional ethnic designs in color, texture,  pattern and style. Eclecticism and mixing it up are the order of the day. Major influences will come from Africa, Asia, The Middle East and Europe. The look might be very subtle, as in the New York modern kitchen above and below…

…Or it might be more “in your face” muscular as in the living room below:

Here’s another living room boasting a melange of ethnic accessories. The all white backdrop helps to hold everything together.

2.) Soaking tubs instead of rain showers. Rain showers came into vogue several years ago. They looked stylish and different, but let’s face it, they were never comfortable to use unless you always like to get your head wet with every shower.  The trend now is to soaking tubs that are also a little more comfortable to use.  The Japanese soaking tub below is extra deep and narrow in length. You can get your whole body in, without taking up so much floor space.

Here’s another deep soaking tub below:

And here’s another version below:

3) Undermounted leggy sinks in bathrooms. For a while, overmounted vessel sinks mounted on cabinet-style vanities were in. Now styles have shifted back to undermounted sinks with all the plumbing hardware exposed below. Sometimes these are outfitted with shelves, that allow for a storage area while retaining the feeling of openness.

4. Digital Art. Digital art is an artistic work that uses digital technology as an essential part of the creative or presentation process. Since the 1970s, various names have been used to describe the process including computer art and multimedia art, and digital art. While painting and traditional photography are still going strong, nothing is more “of the moment” than computer art.

Below, a kitchen backsplash incorporates digital art.

5. Natural Elements. The use of natural materials in home decor never really goes out of style. Still, with more interest in environmentally sustainable materials and practices it seems more of us are also interested in bringing a little bit of nature to our homes. The most common way of doing this will be to incorporate the use of more wood into our homes.

Look out for these other trends in the new year:

• Blue as the new black. We’re talking a blue that is so deep it is almost black. And it will be used in the same way that black is, to create a sensual intimate vibe.

• The use of shiny metals contrasted against natural woods.
• Organic shapes. We’re talking bioforms in furniture shapes, from rounded, cellular lamp bases to rounded table bases and ovoid couches and chairs.

What trends have you seen pop up in recent months? What do  you think is going out of style? Share your thoughts!