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Custom White Glass Table Top with Mermaids lit by LEDs

We recently fabricated several White Glass Table Top with Glass Mermaids at our Tampa, Fl Studio. We always have at our disposal numerous remnant materials ranging from Textured Glass Countertop to White Glass. We enjoy juxtaposing the opaque vs translucent properties of these which can be combined into imaginative ensembles and enhanced with a multi-color LED strip lights to further highlight the textured glass.

In Clearwater, Fl we have a client Kaia Bowls where we were engaged to provide them with our white glass countertops and some textured glass vertical walls for their beautiful interior remodel. (Their food is beautiful too.) Their clients are mostly foot traffic beach-goers, and in a highly competitive area for food,  they wanted to catch the attention of passing vehicle and foot traffic.  We pitched our idea and drafted a nautical themed set of tables for them with a partially exposed Mermaid as the textured glass portion against a backdrop of White Glass. Our Waterjet was employed to cut these glass elements so they would nest inside the white glass, thus allowing for the LEDs to be placed along the bottom and illuminate the glass upward. This type of design lends itself to strength of the table as well since the intermittent slices leave much of the integrity of the table intact. Our custom white glass table tops are practical for an evening get-together as well since they provide infinitely adjustable, gentle illumination for night dining. Our LEDs are adjustable many ways: 8,000,000 colors, and 0-100% brightness…all from your smartphone or iPad via Bluetooth.  These are visible in the day, but at night are a real attraction. They white glass table tops are non-porous and very easy to clean while staying cool in direct Florida sunlight.  There are infinite variations of this ensemble design as shown below in previous installations. The pieces can be mated horizontally, or as in the case of the white glass table top with Mermaids,  vertically integrated.

Future combinations will be be forthcoming to include islands in countertops, sea life, etc. Stay tuned!

Thank you for reading. If interested in composing your own custom white glass table top ensemble, give me a call at (813) 784 5211….or   Jeff@DowningDesigns.com

White Glass Table Top with Mermaid Profile in Glass

White Glass Table Top with Mermaid Profile in Glass

White Glass Table Top with Mermaid Profile in Glass

Textured Glass Countertop mated with concrete Countertop

Glass Countertop inset into concrete Countertop

The post Custom White Glass Table Top with Mermaids lit by LEDs appeared first on Downing Designs.

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Glass Countertops: Thermoformed, Tempered, Annealed, and Fused.

Here at Downing Designs, we often receive questions about our glass countertops about whether they are Tempered, Annealed, Fused or Thermoformed. Here, we hope to quickly delineate these processes for you as they primarily relate to our custom textured glass countertops. 

Thermoforming is the process we use where glass (sheets or pieces) are placed atop a mold or sand bed inside a kiln which is gradually heated to its melting point to allow it to take the form of the mold. The amount of detail possible in thermoforming is amazing and this technique allows glass to be crafted into many beautiful shapes and sizes, including our glass countertops. Textures are designed by hand in a bed of technical sand in our large kilns to impart the exact look that our client desires. These textured glass shapes can be organic, linear, or any combination.

Thermoforming involves fusing several layers of glass sheets above 1400 F and then cooling and annealing them after it is thermoformed to impart additional strength to the now thick unit of glass (typically 1.5” thick). This Annealing takes time. On large, thick pieces it can take from 5-10 days. The upside is the glass piece emerges as one, and is able to be cut and polished afterwards.

Our textured glass is fused, thermoformed, and annealed. It is  very interesting to see several layers of glass act as one thick piece as evidenced when we take remnants…they fracture as one clean, solid piece.

Annealing is a process where glass is cooled slowly after it has been thermoformed. Its goal is to relieve the internal stresses inside the now fused thick glass. Glass must be cooled so that its center, and its edges are typically within 5 F of one another as it cools from 1400 F…hence the time-consuming nature of annealing, especially with larger and/or thick slabs. Thick, annealed glass is very strong, typically breaking above ~6000 lbs per sq inch which is more than adequate for countertop usage.

Tempering glass is a process which imparts strength to glass products that enable it to be utilized in situations where it would be too dangerous without tempering e.g thin shower doors, and side windows in cars. When broken, tempered glass breaks smaller, relatively safe pieces. You must first cut and polish the glass since tempered glass cannot be cut.

The process is as follows:

Cut and polish glass to size.

Heat glass to about 1140 F and then rapidly “quench” or cool the glass. Cooling the outer surfaces of the glass much more quickly than the center causes the center to contract from the outer surfaces. The center remains in tension, as the outer surfaces compress. This effect is what imparts strength to tempered glass.

While this makes tempered glass 2-4x stronger than annealed glass. Also, because of the high surface tension created in the glass tempering process, you CANNOT temper deeply textured glass without a high risk of it shattering during the tempering process.

All of this to say that our typically 1.5” thick glass countertops are thermoformed, fused, and highly annealed, but not tempered.  They do not need to be. Our glass is plenty strong enough as evidenced by the numerous cantilevered glass countertop installation we have successfully performed. They are crafted by a highly technical process that imparts beautiful textures that will last for a lifetime with proper care.

Many scratches in glass countertops can be removed with a glass polishing kit in the hands of a professional. Deep scratches may not be able to be removed and thus are to be avoided.

  Jeff Downing

The post Glass Countertops: Thermoformed, Tempered, Annealed, and Fused. appeared first on Downing Designs.

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Design Considerations for an Island with a Glass Countertop High Bar

Many clients love the look of a Glass Countertop atop their Island Countertop. We enjoy the look too and have featured this  in a display in our Glass Design Center in Tampa.  We fabricate our Glass High Bars to be “floated” and cantilevered above the lower countertop. We do this with two support  brackets only…leaving a clean, contemporary look. As with any kitchen remodel,this needs to be done thoughtfully, and planned with scale models depicting the actual layout.  Our Glass Countertop over White Glass is our favorite combination and is depicted in the above picture. The flowing textures of the Glass High Bar are the perfect complement to the pure white glass countertop, and allows shadows to dance on its surface with thoughtful down-lighting.

This blog attempts to help you plan for each accessory and combine it into a dazzling ensemble for your kitchen or restaurant bar.

We must examine and plan for each of the following:

Cabinets. Since the average Glass Countertop High Bar weighs 300-350lbs,we must have sturdy cabinets. If we are to have a sink and a faucet in between the Glass High Bar, we must have the room. A practical minimum width for the Island is 36″ of cabinets. See drawing to examine the details.  Everything  (sink, faucet, glass high bar) must coexist in your island space, with room for access to clean the faucet, a sturdy front sink countertop piece, and the brackets to have a sturdy footing. See the pictures of the construction of our Island augmented with 2×12’s fastened very securely to the boxes style cabinets. Make sure to support the bottom of the cabinet augmentation with at least 5 well-fitted wood supports to disperse the extra weight this side of the island will carry.

Lower Countertop.  This material must be strong enough to endure the stress of a 350lb piece, set upon only 2 brackets, that is 175lbs per bracket.  We have succeeded in 100% of our installation by ensuring that the lower countertop has no pre-disposed tendency to crack. Fissures in marble,granite and onyx exist (however microscopically) and are starting points for deeper cracks down the road with stress. If this is the case, please use an underlayment fitted in between the walls of your cabinets to bolster your weak countertop material. We must drill several holes in the lower countertop for the threaded rod and  LED wiring to pass through.

Bracket positioning.  For a ~125″long high bar, we position our support brackets about 20-24″ inboard from each end. The final position will depend upon what is underneath. We use a 3/8″ threaded rod threaded into the bottom of our support brackets. This requires a hole in your lower countertop, to pass this through. From the underside we attach as wide a washer (typically 4″ square) as we can to disperse the torque. We do not want to have these washers and nuts too close to the ribs of the cabinets in order to tighten them securely.

LED power. The LED wire (1/4″ diameter) attached to the LED lighting strip will pass through the bracket and the  lower countertop. From there we need to attach it to 110v power outlet. If no power supply can exist, we can add a rechargeable battery pack that will last for days.

Down Lighting. The LED makes a terrific light for Glass Countertops. When we add dimmable LED downlights that cast tight shadows upon the lower countertop and floor…it is SPECTACULAR!  You may have limits as to where to place the downlights,but it is our strongest recommendation that you add these to your ceiling to make your Glass Countertop High Bar a real show-stopper when your guests arrive for parties. We love the SORAA LED lights and they have been widely adopted by many Museums for their color purity,low energy draw, many aperture widths (10, 25, 36, 60 degree spot light). We use the 10 and 25 degree spots in our Glass Design Center.

Glass High Bar placement showing faucet holes and sink

  Glass countertop high bar support brackets mounted

Glass High Bar installed…NOTE shadows upon floor from downlights.

high bar width and length…off ewalls…in or equal to end of lower wlak around it

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Best Glass Countertop Kitchen and Bar Top Sink Options.

When choosing sinks for your glass countertops, we recommend you discuss with us how you want your glass to look. With a Glass High Bar, its easy since you do not see down into the kitchen utensils, or bath toiletries. For countertop height kitchen and bath surfaces, we recommend back painting the glass to an opaque status. You can also use laminates atop your cabinetry…BUT…we have discovered that little tiny bugs are attracted to the LED lighting…and make their way towards the lights…and unfortunately their little carcasses pepper the top of the laminate and are un-attractive and difficult to remove. If you must use a laminate, we recommend  Chemetal #791 Natural Brushed Aluminum atop the cabinets as it will greatly enhance the shadows under our glass. Painting the back of the glass is very much preferred.

With under-mounted sinks there will always be a large gap to fill between the textured glass and the top of the sink rim. Without back paint, the glass will show the silicone seam…not pretty!  We present 2 beautiful kitchen and bar sink options  for your kitchen countertop. They are:

Beautiful, well made, heavy gauge stainless steel, come in a variety of sizes, and are reasonably priced

Self-Trimming and very simple to install…which many apron front sinks are NOT.

Protective of the glass against breakage or chipping.

Ideal for traditional, contemporary and modern kitchen designs

Top-mounted and Apron-front sinks solve a tricky issue with glass countertops that under-mount sinks do not. They protect your glass from abuse!

Under-mounting sinks on glass counters leads to a very time-consuming installation process…which is why we typically do not to  recommend under-mounted.

A simple, elegant solution involves the use of Ruvati Top-Mounted Bar Sink and/or Kohler’s  Vault Apron-Front Sink

Kohler Vault Apron Front Sink

Installation of these sinks is easy and creates very clean lines. Kohler has great “how-to” videos on their site that walks you through the process. It takes less than 30 minutes to install, and can be done by anyone.

As you can see it eliminates the front countertop…this is SMART! Apron-front sinks also solve a much more critical issue: The front edge of most sinks is a thin countertop piece. Do the math…if a typical cabinet box is 24” deep, the countertop is normally 25.5” deep. If the sink is 20” deep, this leaves only 5″ of countertop…divided by two for front/rear leaves only a fragile 2.5” wide countertop piece in the front and rear of the sink. And the rear piece will be drilled for a 1.375″ faucet hole, and maybe air-switches, soap dispensers, etc. Not good. Cabinet fronts are usually nothing more than a non-structural decorative trim element. Disaster looms if you should press down too hard on the front countertop piece. The counter will crack and need to be replaced with a matching color/pattern. Apron sinks are also much better at taking the impact from pots/pans reducing the risk of chipping an exposed glass surface on the front. We like these sinks so much I installed them in my own home, and suggest that they be given your highest consideration when shopping for your kitchen  glass countertop sink.

When using LED’s along the backside of the glass, any sink is going to prevent the light from illuminating the front glass piece…creating a dark piece of glass. By using an apron-front sink we eliminate that imperfect situation. We can also place an LED around the perimeter of these sinks to cast lighting outward, eliminating dark spots. In some island pieces, this may be the ONLY lighting option available, and is a simple, elegant solution.

For glass countertops with bar sinks the Ruvati 15″ Bar Sink is perfect.

When using these sinks in the middle of our glass countertops, they allow us plenty of room to have structurally thick pieces fore and aft. This is critical to glass countertops in busy homes. We use a technique of adding an additional LED and controller to the front of the sink and adjust the lighting brightness so that it is very close to the brightness of the rear LED.

With our Bluetooth controlled LED strips, this is a very simple operation, and creates a visually seamless look where sinks must be integrated into the glass countertop. See below from 2 of our installations

Ruvati Top-Mount bar sink with LEDs

Ruvati Top-Mount bar sink with LEDs Outdoor KitchenContact:   Jeff Downing     8813-784-5211             email:   Jeff@DowningDesigns.com

Ruvati Bar Sink In Glass Countertop

I appreciate your time reviewing these sink options for glass countertops. I hope that our vast experience with both Ruvati and Kohler has assisted you in your decision making process.

Jeff Downing   (813) 784 5211     Jeff@DowningDesigns.com

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Videos of Glass Countertop Installations.

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How to Retrofit your Island with a Glass Countertop High Bar.

Many clients are interested in adding a Glass Countertop High  Bar to their existing kitchen island countertop. This is relatively easy to do if you pay attention to some simple rules and gotchas to avoid disappointment. Too many hideous looking support brackets are being sold as contemporary solutions, and they end up taking away from what should be a sleek, beautiful glass high bar, with nothing  to disrupt your hands, dishes, glasses, or vision from enjoyment.

Before jumping in, always create a scale plan and think about the following…see pictures of what we are trying to avoid at the end of this article.

 Will the current lower countertop and cabinets be able to withstand the weight of you high bar? If you choose a 129″ x 20″ x 1.5″ high bar as many do, this will add approx.  350lbs of glass to the island. Depending upon the support scheme, this may cause an issue.

How many supports will be needed to distribute the glass countertop high  bar weight evenly? This depends upon the structure again and the look you desire. At Downing Designs we create custom cantilevering supports for our glass countertops. These are elegant and have a smart engineering component that distributes the weight over a 12″ x 1″ length, without drilling the glass. If you choose individual metal standoffs,  you will have to drill several holes in the glass to ensure it is locked down at the rear and front. This is never elegant nor minimalist when you have to rig the glass with so mush superstructure that you lose sight of how simply beautiful is the glass.

Make sure that the supports for the glass are in concert with the thickness of the glass. There is a reason we get away with (2) supports for a 129″ x 20″ x 1.5″ glass high bar top…its THICK!  You could never do this with 1/2″ or 3/4″ glass.  Sooner or later it will crack under stress, and the risk of injury from broken glass is high.

Backpaint or no backpaint? That is important to consider if your supports are simply not pretty and need to be hidden. Backpainting glass precludes the transmission of light through the glass which can add an element of great drama to a setting.  If the support is a knee wall, then the cap atop the knee wall needs to be finished well. Low profile caps are then used sparingly to secure the glass high bar from shifting.

LEDs. Do you have glass countertops with LED’s attached to them?  If so you will want to make sure that the wiring is as hidden as possible. At Downing Designs, we cleverly hide the wiring by pre-drilling a hole in one of our support posts, and then running it through the lower countertop. Only the last 1-2″ of wiring is exposed at the rear of the countertop. Its as minimalist as can be.

Where should the supports, sinks and faucets be placed? It depends upon the design of the high bar, the position of the sink and/or faucet, and the ribs of the cabinets underneath. If we are to secure supports, it is wise to distribute the torque they will exert by using large washers…2-4″ square is best. You cannot place these supports in line with the cabinets ribs without having to do a lot of wood work to secure them. This is why we look to the cabinet drawings for initial placement ideas…and keep holes at least 3 ” away from cabinet ribs.

In the hands of experienced professionals, glass high bar retrofits do not need to be daunting…you just need to let us walk you through the process.

Thank you.

Jeff Downing (813) 784 5211

Low Profile Caps to attach glass high bar to a knee wall

Glass High Bar with 2 supports. 129″ x 20″ x 1.5″

You will hit your knee on this unnecessarily HUGE bracket

Reminds me of Sherwood Forest with so many supports

With so many elements on this top, how can I sit 4 people?

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Custom Reclaimed Wood Mirrors

Downing Designs produces custom Reclaimed Wood Mirrors of all shapes and sizes. We Hand-Select Barn wood to suit your specifications. Each product is accurately templated on-site with 2-D template strips.  Visualizing the mirror template on site is our assurance that the mirror is perfectly tailored to your environment.

Barn wood is prized for its weathered, split and cracked character, but is not suited for structural purposes. The reclaimed barn wood is cleaned, bleached, stained (if needed) and mounted to a plywood backing to ensure its rugged long-term stability. We rout the front edge to recess the mirror beautifully. It is a perfectly imperfect process, but the result is a stunning rustic wood mirror. From a stylistic perspective, these mirrors find themselves equally at home in Modern, Contemporary and traditional homes.

Final installation is completed by using interlocking heavy-duty mirror hangers.

See pictures below for the typical custom mirror offerings…or better…call or text us at (813) 784 5211 to set up a time to visit our Tampa Design Center at 1400 Channelside Drive, Tampa, FL  33605

Reclaimed Wood Mirror Whitewashed

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Water Jet Services from Downing Designs in Tampa.

At Downing Designs, our experience in Waterjet cutting services has been unsurpassed. We work directly with customers to design, Waterjet cut and deliver to their jobsite. Each Waterjet project is different and each client experience level differs. Therefore…we listen intently and verify contractually each element of our Waterjet service.

We have many years of experience in cutting glass, stainless, aluminum, stone, concrete, plastic. Our operator understands the trade-off in Waterjet speed vs quality and can quickly estimate for you the amount of hours required to complete your Waterjet cutting service.

Our 5-Star rating on Houzz and Google is a testament to our commitment to a high quality water jet service experience for you.

See our beautiful glass countertops that we have cut right here in our Tampa Waterjet facility. Glass is tricky to cut, and requires an experienced crew to load onto styrofoam, pre-cut, final cut and unload carefully. Most other materials are a lot more forgiving than glass. Glass sometimes has a mind of its own, and this is why we carefully review each Waterjet cutting plan to reduce the risk of undesired cracking.  We carefully explain these risks to our clients so that they understand  and can choose the best way to cut their piece with minimal risk.

We can work with your DXF or digital file….or we can create a digital Waterjet cut out from a simple hand drawn sketch and scale it to any size you desire.

Many industries benefit from the versatility and expertise of the Downing Designs team, including tool and die makers, architects, decorators, sign design firms, and aerospace industries. Waterjet cutting of steel, glass, stone, aluminum, brass, copper, rubber, plastics, laminates, and composites are all easily cut on our precision Waterjet.

Our shop is equipped with a Calypso Hammerhead 60,000psi Waterjet with a 5’x10’ bed.

We have a 5000lb forklift and all rigging necessary to unload, Waterjet, and reload your cut pieces, and deliver in the Tampa Bay area.

From one-of-a-kind works or art to production Waterjetting,we can take your ideas and create the quality parts you desire.

Call us to discuss your Waterjetting Service needs now at (813) 784 5211

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Downing Designs New Design Center featured on TV Fox 13

We were very privileged to have Fox 13 News come in and interview us for their segment “Made in Tampa Bay” . We have just completed our very modern state-of-the-art showroom in the Ybor City Cahnnelside area, and were proud to have it on display for them.  Our segment was produced by Barry Wong and Jennifer Acosta and featured the best of Downing Designs:

White Glass Countertops

Huge Textured Glass High Bars

Dramatic lighting with Soraa lights

Modern kitchen workstation Galley Sinks from Ruvati

Aluminum Framed cabinet doors with frosted glass and LED’s from Element Design

Alusso Cabinetry floated off the wall

Lighted Glass Shelving

Lighted Textured Glass Tables

Floating Concrete and Textured Glass sinks “SurfSinks”

Our Textured Glass Surfboard

Here is the Link with photos and video:

http://www.fox13news.com/news/local-news/made-in-tampa-bay-textured-glass-surfaces-transform-spaces

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Novel Custom Glass Sink Design

Recently we added a new Glass Sink Design to our lineup. We dont have a name for it yet, but it is an extremely interesting sink just the same. It couples the best of what we can compose into one functionally elegant design: Textured Glass, Concrete, LED strip lighting, and Narrow Beam spotlights using the SORAA 4000K bulb (which we love).

As you view the photographs, you can see the powerful, and well-defined shadows cast upon the countertop with this ceiling-mounted spotlight. This is a feature of this bulb that makes it particularly popular with museums trying to naturally and dramatically highlight their artwork.

This sink also has an element of “floating” that further adds to the drama.

Please let us know what you think…and if you have a great name for this sink, we would be happy to hear from you.

Jeff Downing (813) 784 5211

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Designing Glass Countertops with Custom, Artistic Flow vs Plain, Generic, Patterned Glass.

When selecting high-end Glass Countertops for your Kitchen or Bath remodel, please consider just how much of a difference a custom texture created to artistically “flow” with your room can make in the way the space is perceived. Our sole mission at Downing Designs is to take our vast experience in the design of custom glass countertops and create something dramatic for our clientele. We understand that you have many choices in the selection of your countertops. However, we do not recommend mundane EVER. Life is way too short. Most people spend a considerable amount of time in their kitchens…why not make yourself comfortable? Moreover, with the open space design inherent in modern homes, why not create an artistic pattern in the glass countertop that integrates well with the surrounding rooms? For the same price as boring glass textures that everyone else has, we create artistic patterns that really make a difference in how your home feels and looks.

Take a look at the picture below. This glass countertop design flows naturally in the same direction as people strolling from the front door to the kitchen space and dock. Much like a flowing river of water. It has a direct connection to the room architecture. It has a direct connection with the personality of this waterfront space. It is calming. It is beautiful. It feels right. Its MAGICAL!!!

    Artistically Designed Flowing Glass Countertop with LED’s

You cannot get that with an an ordinary piece of glass which has NO direct connection to your home, made in some foreign factory. It would never had made such a powerful design statement as the custom contours in our glass textures. That difference is exactly why we make CUSTOM glass countertops each one infused with the individual personality of the home and client…and offer far superior value for an admittedly expensive countertop.

Our high bar composition also carefully synchronized with the lower bar design. Again, thoughtful design for the same price as mundane. Our implementation of LED’s and down-lights is also very experienced. Notice how there is no shadow in front of the sink. That’s because we added a very small strip in front of the sink with its own controller. We set the brightness to ~5% of the power of the rear LED to make the intensities match. This allows maximum enjoyment of the piece without the distraction of shadows.

The growth we are experiencing at Downing Designs is a direct result of our holistic design/build/install approach to remodeling. Jeff Downing meets with 100% of his clients for the initial interview, presents several initial sketches, creates the glass in alignment with the sketch, and leads the installation team onsite. Much like a high-quality tailor, we offer you a very hands-on experience in this process….and…we prefer that you participate in the kiln-carving so you can get a “free preview” of the design. We note that our clients take great joy in the daily use of our glass countertops. They are vibrant. They can be color coded and softened to enhance the mood. No other countertop can offer such a visual treat when entertaining your guests. Our clients desire high quality DISTINCTIVE artistic elements for their homes which often resemble art galleries.

Jeff Downing DowningDesigns.com (813) 784 5211 cell

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The Best Modern Kitchen and Bath Design experience in Tampa Bay.

In any modern kitchen and bath remodeling project, you can sift through Google for several kitchen designers, kitchen cabinet suppliers, and a countertop supplier, and juggle the schedules of these individual contractors to serve your design build needs. With Downing Designs, you only need to call us ONCE and we will manage the details from there.

Come and see our European style kitchen cabinets combined with our hand-made Glass Countertops, White Glass surfaces and Concrete countertops and sinks in full-scale displays. See, touch, feel and ponder the quality for yourself. Take your time…its only the most important room in the house! We can round out your visit by going 3 blocks to Ferguson Plumbing for the hardware fittings. Ask questions about our design styles, and get EXACTLY the look you want without compromising.

Specifically:

When we meet with you to perform initial kitchen and bath measurements, we can render these in 3D….offering you a very reassuring preview of the your ensemble. Better to redraw a 3D sketch, than rethink your remodel AFTER it has been installed. This alone can pay huge benefits in terms of encouraging you that the components you have selected will please you for years to come. We can create designs that fit your budget. Once we settle on a design and a budget we can begin the fun part.

We measure for cabinets, and install them as soon as they arrive. While cabinets are being built, we can also begin fabrication of the custom countertop components. We can cut and waterjet the countertops to be slightly oversized, polish the edges, and execute as much of the work that can be accurately fabricated upfront in our shop. This way, the time between cabinet installation and countertop installation is compressed as much as humanly possible. When we install the cabinets, we pull the final template and then finish the remaining fabrication. This is a HUGE TIME SAVER and is smarter approach vs coordinating multiple suppliers (and their schedules). One-stop shopping with a trusted, smart, thoughtful designer.

Speaking of thoughtful design, we can create any modern kitchen design you desire with a vast array of high quality components. For example, if you wish to have a kitchen with 50-50 white glossy doors and custom wood veneer doors. Show us the veneers you desire, and we can fabricate/stain/seal your doors exactly as you wish, with the sequence of grains you desire (horizontal or vertical). Since cabinet doors are also modular, these can also be retrofitted to your existing sturdy cabinet frames to save you $$$. The resulting ensemble will stun your guests, and, be practical for everyday use.

We understand that promises are one thing, but COMMITTED, PROFESSIONAL EFFORT is another. We are highly experience in the art of kitchen and bath design build. It is our stated desire to obtain a beautiful photograph of the installation and display it on our website, as well as earn your 5-star review on Houzz. Without a great design-build and effort, there is no high-quality kitchen or bath remodel result, nor photograph.                                                 Moreover there is:

No way for us to show future clients the quality of our designs and installs.

There is no 5-star review on Houzz

No word of mouth referrals

We are not in this for the short term. We have been in business since 1999, and aim to excel for you. Please call me at (813) 784-5211 or email to  Jeff@DowningDesigns.com

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Modern Kitchen Designs with Sequenced Wood Veneers and White Glass Countertops

Modern Kitchen cabinet and Countertop decisions present an infinite panel of decisions. Most are plain in their makeup. We have decided to present to you the most consistently striking kitchen design (in our eyes) are ones which play a sequenced wood veneer against a white countertop with white cabinets. Much like in the Museum of Modern Art, where white walls are juxtaposed with colorful art pieces, one can accomplish the same stunning effect on a smaller scale in their kitchen design. Personalizing the wood with a sequenced veneer is accomplished by patient listening to what the client wants, and verifying the patterns of the sequenced veneer are perfectly aligned with the flow of the kitchen. Modern European style cabinetry accomplishes this very easily since the doors are simple rectangular panels with no details on the door facade. Minimal clearances of ⅛” allow for the sequence to play out almost uninterrupted by the breaks in the doors. Moreover, as bona-fide minimalists ourselves, we feel that elongated door panels can artistically create a smoother kitchen cabinet look overall. Contemporary design trends allow for unlimited visual effects. The way the grains are stitched together is easily accomplished when working with high-end veneer suppliers whose experience and artistic abilities compose the veneer panel in a perfect array. While the colorful palette of wood colors can range from busy walnut to harmonious light maple, it is the perfect mate for a pure white glass countertop. Too often we look for patterns atop patterns when the simplest of answers is right in front of us. Also, the bright shiny nature of white glass countertops plays beautifully with the satiny finish of the veneer. We won’t bore you with the differences between rift or rotary cut veneers…it is best to simply bring us a picture of what you are trying to accomplish, and we can produce a scale drawing and 3D rendering incorporating your desired veneer cabinets. Once the pricing is approved, the sequenced veneer cabinets can be fabricated and protected with a durable conversion varnish. We use Milesi waterborne finishes that protect the wood extremely well without altering its natural appearance. In modern furniture and design the beauty of the wood and its sensual feel are foremost. This produces an elegant, clean look that is not overpowering or too busy…but rather just right. Modern Kitchen designs often incorporate several “layers” of color e.g. Glossy White, or Matte Charcoal upper cabinets and wood veneer lower cabinets. This powerful interplay is simply breathtaking to behold. We have attached several examples of artistic kitchens (by others) that depict this style. We hope that these examples have inspired you to share with us your dream picture for rendering and fabrication. Come see us, and we can show you various pricing combinations that suit your kitchen remodeling needs. Jeff Downing (813) 784 5211 cell/text

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Modern Kitchen Design with Sequenced Wood Veneers and White Countertops…the BEST of Both Worlds.

Kitchen cabinet and remodel decisions are infinitely possible. However,the most consistently striking kitchen design are ones which play a sequenced wood veneer against a white countertop. Much like in the Museum of Modern Art, where white walls are juxtaposed with colorful art pieces, one can accomplish the same stunning effect on a smaller scale in […]

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Glass Countertop Fabrication…The Interactive Glass Design Process at Downing Designs.

At Downing Designs glass studio in Tampa,Fl we have pioneered a highly interactive process whereby our clients have direct input into their glass designs. Our mission has always been to offer maximum value to our clients, and we realized that opening up our design studio to clients has offered them something that no other facet […]

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A look at the beautiful American Social Bar and Kitchen in Tampa

 When the owners of the American Social Bar and Kitchen in Tampa visited us to initially discuss their bathroom sink ideas, we discovered they were interested in a very contemporary look for their new Harbour Island location. Our design center showed them exactly what they were looking for…floating sinks that offered their guests a real […]

The post A look at the beautiful American Social Bar and Kitchen in Tampa appeared first on Downing Designs.

[d-designs]

A look at the beautiful American Social Bar and Kitchen in Tampa

 When the owners of the American Social Bar and Kitchen in Tampa visited us to initially discuss their bathroom sink ideas, we discovered they were interested in a very contemporary look for their new Harbour Island location. Our design center showed them exactly what they were looking for…floating sinks that offered their guests a real […]

The post A look at the beautiful American Social Bar and Kitchen in Tampa appeared first on Downing Designs.