Dec 13

Don’t Take your Counters for Granite: Granite Care 101

At JP&CO we use a lot of granite in our interior design (especially in the kitchen) because the material touts a never-ending list of benefits. The stone is: * Durable * Each piece is unique * Affordable * Beautiful * Easy to clean * Does not scratch easily * Can handle hot items * Does not harbor bacteria If you’re one of the many homeowners who has invested in this classic material, it’s important that you know how to maintain your countertops. Learning a few simple Dos and Don’ts of granite care will ensure that your counters keep shining and looking fresh long after they’ve been installed.

Dec 06

How to Select a Rug You’ll Love

Just like the color of your walls, your lighting fixtures, and furniture, a rug can drastically change the mood of your space. It can add warmth to a spare room, turn an impersonal office into a cozy workplace, and add character to your floors. You may be ready to reinvent or improve one of your rooms with a rug, but choosing the right one isn’t always easy. To help you make the right selection, I’ve created an easy list of questions to consider before you make your purchase.

Nov 29

Kitchen Island Ideas We Love

A beautiful and functional kitchen island can easily be one of the most popular and utilized parts of your house. Entertaining, cooking, taking care of your to-do list, eating alone or with family, and working on projects are all popular uses of this beloved kitchen staple. Read on for some of our favorite island designs and ideas to make the most of yours!

Nov 23

Mirror, Mirror, On (and Off) the Wall

Mirrors have been long appreciated for the wonders they can do to a room. They’re an essential in the modern home, and we all rely on them daily to help us look put-together before we walk out the door each morning. Mirrors can also be used in a number of unique ways that surprise guests and add style to the design of a space. Read on for some interesting and easy ideas.

Nov 15

10 Thanksgiving Time Savers

Every year I look forward to Thanksgiving; Spending time with the people I love, eating delicious food, and hosting (or helping someone else to host) the get-together is always one of the highlights of the season. That having been said, things can get a little crazy in the kitchen as the clock approaches dinnertime. With the hope of helping everyone save time and stress this year, I’ve decided to share some Thanksgiving tips that will make the day go a little smoother.

Nov 08

Make Your Home Tray Chic

The use of the serving tray dates back to pre-Roman times, but the trays we know and use today were actually popularized by European royalty and originally called “Salvers”, a name that suggests that food served on these trays was fit for royal consumption because it had been tested for poison. Lucky for us, the tray’s popularity spread, while the fear of poisoning is no longer a common household worry! Even better than the serving tray’s functionality is the visual impact it can have on a room as part of your décor or on display.

Nov 01

Making the Most of Your Home Office

Even if you aren’t part of the growing population of work-from-homers, chances are that you still spend a lot of time in some version of a home office. And doesn’t this home office space deserve a little refinement and attention to make it the best that it can be?! Read on to add a little livelihood, originality, and organization to this space.

Oct 26

Last Minute Halloween Table Decorating Ideas

Instead of buying the cheap, expected decorations from a store this year, I decided to dig up some unique DIY ideas for decorating my table this Halloween. Read below for ideas that are easy to do and will bring your Spooky Party or Dinner to the next level.

Oct 18

8 Tips for Green Bathroom Cleaning

None of us want a bathroom teeming with germs. Yet, none of us want a bathroom coated in hazardous chemicals either. Can we have our cake and eat it too? I say YES! 8 Tips for Green Cleaning your Bathroom 1. Instead of using the same artificial air fresheners and sprays to eliminate odor, substitute a dish of baking soda and cinnamon, cedar chips, or natural oils such as lavender. 2. To remove hard water or mineral deposits in your tub or shower, soak a paper towel or rag in vinegar and place it over the stains for an hour, then go to work with a little elbow grease and a sponge.

Oct 11

Ten Tips for an Organized Kitchen

In a perfect world, everything you need to make dinner would magically appear on your counter. The knife would stand at the ready upon your cutting board, your pot and frying pan would materialize on your stove, the strainer balanced over your sink. Obviously, this is never going to happen. The good news: If you devote a little time to upping your kitchen organization ante, you’ll find that cooking can become a much easier and more enjoyable experience. Put some of these organizing tips to use and stop searching, stretching, and scrambling around the kitchen to find the garlic press you forgot you needed until the exact moment you needed it.

Oct 03

Simple & Modern Mantel Displays

Last fall, we had a beautiful home on the Remodeler Showcase Tour. As we added finishing touches with the client to the interior design to get ready for the show we spent a little extra time with the mantel display because of its prominence in the space. Read on for details about our design, along with some other creative and unexpected ideas for mantel displays that will add visual impact to your home.

Sep 26

2 Parade of Homes Showcases, Sept 30 ~Appetizers by CRAVE~ All Are Welcome!

Hopefully everyone is having a great start to the fall. We are looking forward to this weekend’s Fall Showcase event and are happy to share to beautiful homes we recently completed. Hope to see you there! Join us for the open house showcase to see the fantastic changes and enjoy appetizers by CRAVE in St. Paul!

Sep 19

Our "Stay-cation" Remodel

We just had to share this amazing response from one of JP&CO's recent clients! From Randy: "A friend was talking about their cabin on a lake up north. He waxed eloquent, speaking about opening the cabin in the spring - putting the dock in the water and doing maintenance activities like mowing, raking and cutting firewood. Their weekends are spent at the cabin with family and friends fishing, boating, swimming, or just hanging out. All of this after loading the kids and supplies in the van and making the two hour drive up north..."

Sep 13

Fresh Ideas for Table Centerpieces

Eschew the popular vases and ribbons when creating your next table centerpiece. Instead of the expected, create a unique and inexpensive floral arrangement using recycled items, organic components, or surprising shapes and ratios.

Sep 06

Are You an Earth-Friendly Chef?

We all know that we should eat our greens, but how can we eat in a way that keeps the earth green? Read on to learn how surprisingly easy it is to be a more eco-aware cook. Having a veggie garden and buying local is just part of the equation. Read on for more!

Aug 30

Original Art in the Home

An easy way to effortlessly add beauty and sophistication to your home is to find a large piece of original art. This can be much simpler than you think. Often times what comes to mind when you consider “Original Art” is a price tag—images of Rembrandt and Picasso float across your mind. However, original art is so much more than “the greats”—it comes in all mediums, colors, shapes, sizes, and—yes—prices. When considering what you should put on that large wall in your family room or kitchen, consider the wealth of original artwork resources, both online and outside your front door. When hunting for the perfect piece, remember bigger is better when you want to find a piece to anchor a room and fill a large wall.

Aug 23

Cooking in the Green Kitchen

There are many ways to promote a more eco-friendly kitchen. Yes, eating green is probably top-of-mind, but many other factors beyond cuisine come into play when going green in the kitchen. A huge part of an eco-conscious kitchen has to do with the appliances you choose to buy, and the ways that you use these appliances. Read on to learn how you can select the best appliances and put them to use is the most earth-conscious ways. Gas or Electric…the debate heats up We all have a preference when it comes to our stove type, especially today with induction cooktops gaining ground in high end kitchens where gas used to be a must. Whether you’re a fan of electric, or prefer gas, there are a few useful factors to consider. Natural gas is a fossil fuel, but offers instant heat. If selecting a gas stove, keep in mind that the lower the BTU (the heat by a gas burner is measured in British Thermal Units, where one BTU raises the heat of one pound of water by one degree Fahrenheit) output, the more energy-efficient your stove.

Aug 16

Getting your Grounds in Order

Take advantage of these last few months of beautiful weather by dedicating a little time to taking care of your lawn and the area around your house that frames its beauty and creates a happy outdoor space for you and your family. A huge part of grounds care comes in the form of a dreaded weekend task: weeding. But here’s the truth about lawn weeds: a lot of us are attempting to rid them in the wrong way. Often times people turn to synthetic herbicides to liberate their lawns of pesky plant invaders, but these chemical weed killers can be dangerous to people, pets, and turf.

Aug 09

Flawless Entertainment without the Fuss

The awesome perk to having a wonderful home is the ability to throw a great party. What’s more rewarding than gathering all of your near and dearest under one roof to enjoy company, food, and drink? Make sure that you’re always the hostess with the mostest, while also having a whole lot of fun yourself, with these easy entertaining tips.

Aug 04

End-of-Summer Vacation with a Lesson in Design

Did you know that the tallest building in the world is called the Burj Khalifa, is located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and is 2,717 feet tall? I’m going to assume that most of us weren’t budgeting for a summer vacation overseas—but I’ve got great news for you: you can see a ton of amazing architecture and design created by a man whose work is said to have inspired the magnificent Middle eastern structure! Frank Lloyd Wright has been recognized as the greatest American architect of all time, and it was actually his design for a The Mile High Illinois, a skyscraper which never came to fruition due to its staggering dimensions, that inspired the tallest manmade structure known today.