Blog

2018 is the year of Ultra Violet, according to the Pantone Color Institute. We are half way through the year, but we continue to see kitchen and bath trends changing. More people are looking to make a statement with bold kitchen and bathroom color choices. The colors we choose for our homes reflect...

"Wood-look tile is a great option for people who want the aesthetic of wood in a space where real hardwoods would not be best suited: bathrooms, laundry rooms, mudrooms, and even some kitchens." -- Designer, Nicci Winrock Wood Look Porcelain Tile -- The Benefits Porcelain tile is extremely...

The equation for high-quality custom kitchens, baths, closets, and tiles is simple. The answer is Concept II, the result of one robust showroom plus one talented team. For nearly 50 years, this comprehensive design showroom and the studio has been giving customers a graceful and much appreciated al...

On February 15th, Monroe Community College Interior Design Students, with instructor Deborah Roides, visited the Concept II showroom for a hands on experience relating to a unit on "Materials" (IDE 102). The discussion was led by Deb O'Connor an alumni of the program. Emphasis was placed on ethic...

Just as each jewel and timepiece is the beginning of a special story or celebration that builds memories over time, we feel so incredibly fortunate to have started our story and continue to build our memories here in Rochester, New York. Drawing on his dad's experience running a watch repair serv...

Concept II proudly sponsors the MEG's Gift 2018 annual golf tournament, dinner and silent auction.Meg's gift is a non-profit organization created out of love to advocate for mental health intervention and to nurture an inspirational legacy through community involvement and support.MEG's gift is a no...

Read more about this collaboration to design, supply and install the kitchen and bathrooms on this new home on Canandaigua Lake, in this Design NY Magazine article. Published on March 3 Written by Karen Marley Imagery by Sandra Kicman ALL IN GOOD TIME Tucked against the shore of Canandaigua...

On October, 25th, Concept II sponsored, An Evening with Andy Cohen. An event to support the Jewish Federation of Greater Rochester.   See images from the event below.

What's the first thing you think of when I say steam oven? I think if you've even heard of one, you might be inclined to say that it's a great way to cook things like vegetables and rice.  You may also be aware that cooking with steam is recognized as a very healthy way to cook because the ingred...

You have many options when it comes to choosing a countertop for a kitchen or bath remodel. We find that most of our customers are deciding between granite and quartz for a solid surface. In the Rochester, NY area, we have a great resource in Rocky Mountain Granite. The showroom on Basket Road in...

Over 40 Million Monthly Unique Users Nominated Best Home Building, Remodeling and Design Professionals in North America and Around the World Rochester, NY, January 17, 2017 -- Concept II of Rochester, NY has won "Best Of Design, And Customer Service" on Houzz®, the leading platform for home remo...

Have you ever been to our tile showroom? I only ask because if you haven't shopped for tile lately, or if your experience is limited to the big box chains, you aren't seeing the whole picture in tile. One of the most exciting developments is the supply and demand for encaustic cement tile....

arabesque noun ar*a*besque   Simple Definition of ARABESQUE: * a complicated decorative design made with many lines that curve and cross each other * a ballet position in which the dancer stands on one foot and holds one arm forward while the other arm and leg are held out behind Source:...

Have you ever been told to go to "your happy place"?  Maybe it was at the end of a yoga class, or in those countdown seconds before a surgery? Well this is image you see above is mine and you are welcome to use it anytime. I look at images of tile all day long, sometimes at night too, come...

Be still my heart. When this brass hardware re-awakening started showing up on the pages of my favorite design magazines I think I cried a little. We needed this!  I know I speak for designers everywhere when I say that everything had gotten a little (read: a lot) cold.  All at once the be...

I chose these three bathroom vanity images for the title banner because the first thing I want to do is dispel the myth that wall-hung or floating bathroom vanities are exclusively contemporary. Wildly different in feel, the above bathrooms are all benefiting from the use of wall-mounted bathroom va...

Did you say you want a kitchen design that is guaranteed to endure? While it's true that interior design trends are fluid, and always changing, there is one thing that is ALWAYS going to be popular. White! And since you're looking at a kitchen and bath design blog, we're talking about white ki...

Ahh.... the suburban American mud room, often it's a casual (usually secondary) entryway to the house. It is typically intended as an area to remove and keep footwear and other outerwear.  As well as providing storage space through the use of well-designed cabinets, a mud room serves to increase the...

The waterfall, as a tiled shower design, termed tile waterfall, is a reaction to the widely used horizontal decorative tile band that has been around since Roman Bath houses.  Sometimes called a listel (French) or listello (Italian) this has been a go-to way to add color/design/sparkle/motif to the...

Maybe it's because I'm going to the beach tomorrow, or maybe it's because we just picked up a great new stone tile dealer, but I've got pebbles on my mind. Is the pebble stone tile look for everyone? No, it definitely is not. But if you're looking for a casual, co...

Like fashion, the world of interior design maintains its classics, but is always progressing, often in the form of trends. Concept II kitchen and bath designer, Derek Pino is frequently confronted with the question "what's the latest in kitchen design"? Grey Is The New White White paint has al...

This drives my family and friends crazy. Everywhere we go, I'm looking at the floors.  I could tell you about the tile flooring in every restaurant and store I go to.  My brain is noting and cataloging every surface, for better or worse.  Of course this goes for hardwoods, carpeting, and vinyl, b...

Niche, nitch, notch, it doesn't matter how you pronounce it, just make sure you mention it as a "want" when prioritizing your next remodeling project.  I can't think of a space that wouldn't be improved by having one. The best examples of the usefulness of a niche is in the shower walls.  Her...

Every year the tile manufacturers come to the tile convention trying to outdo each other with bigger, and bigger tile. They are doing it for you, because you made that face, and complained about the grout.  (There are other reasons, more on that later.) Let's take a trip, back through time, an...

I don't love to clean. I know that some people really enjoy it. I appreciate clean, and the ability to maintain clean, but that has not been a priority so far in my busy life. I accept that daily cleaning is not one of my strong suits, but I can also say that I will be the first to voluntee...

Some friends of mine were house hunting last year.  They spent every weekend going to open houses, looking for the perfect one.  They were really excited about one in particular, it had a good location, two bathrooms, a big garage... let's just say it ticked off all their boxes. The one drawback...

During the last ten years of working in this field, one of my greatest pleasures has been the observation of the evolution of design vocabulary.  I've even kept a little notebook of popular words and phrases that clients use to describe what they want.  I could probably write a blog on each one... m...

Just one section of the tile showroom at Concept II When people walk into the Concept II tile showroom for the first time, they often have the same thought, "How do you pick?!" I know this is true because as a Tile Designer at Concept II, more often than not, I hear it said out loud. "How...