Blog

  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, som...

  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. ...

  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 b...

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 kitchen...

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 inc...

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...

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, comfortable, natural bathroom design...

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 Whit...

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, carp...

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 i...

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, and look a...

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 volu...

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...

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 sai...

We are pleased to announce that this past Tuesday, January 12, for the second consecutive year, Concept II was awarded a Best of Houzz 2016 award for Customer Service. This is due in large part to our clients' on-going support and positive feedback.An annual survey and analysis of the Houzz communit...

Get an inside look at the Kitchen, Bath, and Tile Showrooms at Concept II through our new Virtual Showroom Tours. In these virtual tours, you'll see examples of our kitchen and bath design and remodeling work as well as our extensive tile selection; one of the largest tile showrooms in Rochester.The...

Concept II is not an ordinary kitchen and bath design and remodel service. A boutique design firm located in Rochester, NY that began over 40 years ago, we've evolved into a specialty home design and remodeling studio that is focused on our clients' wishes and needs.What sets us apart from the compe...

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