Athens Home & Garden Show Recap

If you missed this year’s Home & Garden Show at the Classic Center, you missed out! Here’s a recap and hopefully an enticement for you to attend next year.

-A bag of dirt-Super Sod will deliver a bag of dirt to your house! Need to fill in an area, but don’t want to by 20 bags of top soil from Lowes? This could be your answer.

-Kid’s activities-there were lots of great things for kids to do. They could make a piece of pottery or build a set of binoculars.

-Designer Dog Houses-JOMA Construction was raffling off two designer dog houses with proceeds to benefit ESP.

-Elvis was in the house! Garden South created a life size Elvis out of plants! Look at that hair!

-White Room Challenge-3 teams of Athens Technical College Interior Design students were given 10 hours to transform a space into a room. They repurposed items from Habitat for Humanity and were very creative. It was so fun to watch these spaces transform throughout the weekend. Each space was judged on Sunday.

See you next year! Questions or comments about this year’s Home Show? Email me at jessica@webbercoleman.com

What is quartzite?

You may have heard of one of the newest players in the countertop world-Quartzite. But what is quartzite and should you pay attention to it? The long and short of it is "Yes!"

Quartzite is a very hard metamorphic rock that originates as sandstone. Through a process of high heating and pressurization sandstone is transformed into Quartzite. When heated, individual quartz pieces recrystallize giving it a beautiful and decorative sparkling pattern. Quartzites offer a range of colors, veining and movement and can look like granite, marble, or a hybrid of both. Most Quartzites come from Brazil.

Quartzite is naturally strong, resists heat, is hard to stain and is harder than quartz. On the Mohs scale of hardness (1-10), with 10 the hardest, granite measures between 6 and 6.5; whereas quartzite measures around 7.There is a chance for etching to occur on its surface but can be minimized with regular sealing. Quartzite is considered an exceptional material for use in countertops.

Quartzite can be literally found all over the world, as it is a very common material formed in the crust of the earth. You will notice the more sought after material originates in Brazil and India. The difference in price for the material in either slabs or tiles will be reflected through the availability of colors and location. Pure quartzite is usually white to gray, though quartzite often occur in various shades of pink and red. Other colors, such as yellow and orange, are due to other mineral impurities.

So keep your eye open for this newcomer. It is stunning! Any questions? Email me at jessica@webbercoleman.com

Best of Houzz 2015

This year we were honored to be awarded the 2015 awards from Houzz for best in Customer Service and best in Design. You may say "Who cares and what does it have to do with me?"

First, what is Houzz? Houzz is an online platform for new home building, home remodeling and design, providing people with everything they need to improve their homes from start to finish - online or from a mobile device. From decorating a room to building a custom home, Houzz connects millions of homeowners, home design enthusiasts and home improvement professionals across the country and around the world. With the largest residential design database in the world and a vibrant community powered by social tools, Houzz is the easiest way for people to find inspiration, get advice, buy products and hire the professionals they need to help turn their ideas into reality. Headquartered in Palo Alto, CA, Houzz also has international offices in London, Berlin and Sydney.

Second, what are the awards? The Best Of Houzz awards are given in two categories: Design and Customer Satisfaction. Design award winners’ work was the most popular among the more than 25 million monthly users on Houzz, known as “Houzzers.” Customer Satisfaction honors are determined by a variety of factors, including the number and quality of client reviews a professional received in 2014. Winners will receive a “Best Of Houzz 2015” badge on their profiles, helping Houzz users around the world who discover and love a professional’s work to learn even more about that business’ popularity and satisfaction rating among their peers in the Houzz community. 

If you haven't discovered Houzz yet, I highly recommend checking it out.  It is sure to be helpful…and highly addictive! Any questions? Email me at Jessica@webbercoleman.com