Black painted exterior doors… why you shouldn’t.

Most interior designers I know, self included, have a love-hate relationship with trends.  Mainly because trends don’t always apply to the design concept or work within the constraints of our client’s home, site or budget.  We hate to say, “no, that won’t work,” but frankly, sometimes it doesn’t. Black exterior doors are not for every […]

5 things I love about this space!

In a previous blog we talked about the elements and principles of good design.  This morning, while flipping through photos we’ve taken of finished projects, I stopped on this image.  It’s a beautiful space and a gorgeous photo. Like all good design, if we spend just a few minutes thinking about those basic elements and […]

It’s not winter yet! Get outside…

Once considered an impossibility in our buggy, Midwestern climate, outdoor spaces are getting a second round of consideration.  Why subject yourself to one more dreaded mosquito when the sofa lies inside waiting to be visited? There are birds! A good breeze (sometimes)!  A bonfire waiting to happen!  And at dusk…stars!  Add an ice cold beverage […]

Columns 101: Doric, Ionic, Corinthian or… tapered?

Even a ten minute run-through of architectural history would include a study of the ancient column orders (or styles).  What’s the big deal about columns, you ask?  They are one of the few, enduring architectural elements utilized in every historical period across the globe since they were established in ancient Greece! There is, quite literally, […]

Hardware; the first and the finishing touch!

If you had to guess, what hardware finish would you guess is the most popular? Satin nickel? Brass? While satin and aged brass finishes are making a slow but steady comeback, our three, most-popular-ordered-every-day-of-the-week finishes are:  oil rubbed bronze, satin nickel and satin brass; in that order.  And you thought I was kidding about brass! […]

The 3 keys to living through a remodeling project: this is happening now.

1. Consider all other options. I type that only partially in jest. While it can be very cost effective to stay in your home during a remodeling project, there are significant trade-offs which might persuade you to re-evaluate you and your family’s happiness vs. monetary savings. The stress of having things un-done and out of […]

Color of the Year – a follow-up!

Last week’s blog included a drum-roll presentation of our #1 most requested color; Custom!  Despite sticking to the facts, many of you didn’t like the answer.  “Custom isn’t a color!” To satisfy our readers, we tabulated the numbers again but this time limited them to the paint and stain categories we offer within our color […]

Did you see us on TV?

We had the great pleasure of welcoming Dean Johnson from the PBS television program, “Hometime,” to our plant last month. It was fun to introduce he and Miriam to our Bayer Built family and walk them through both our prefinish and production facilities. Dean started Hometime in the early 80’s when Bayer Built was just […]

Lighten UP!

In the Midwest, we are nuts about daylight; literally.  Without it we establish something un-affectionately referred to as “cabin fever.”  Talking to ourselves, becoming short with each other, sleeping for 14 hours because it’s dark at 5pm…these are the maladies of winter; some would say, “a gentle form of torture.”  In just a few weeks, […]

Remember that time we were at Grandma’s?

The holidays are approaching and throughout the United States, uncles will be cracking corny jokes and mothers will be crowding the kitchen.  Families will gather, friends will congregate and inevitably, memories will be recounted over a glass of wine or at the dinner table.  We have a fancy word for this sentimentality for the past; […]