• 5038 N. Clark St. Chicago, IL 60640
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773.275.6275

TREND ALERT: QUARTZ FINISHES

Throughout the past year there has been an increased interest in “rough” or “raw” surfaces in the world of quartz. What is the difference between these surface treatments in comparison to the standard polished and honed? Polished is the most standard quartz surface: easy maintenance, glossy finish and the ability to help open up a

RANGE HOODS

The range hood; an often overlooked appliance once shopping for a kitchen remodel begins. Believe it or not, this appliance has many options available to it’s presentation and versatility in your new kitchen. The point of a range hood is to help circulate the air properly from what emits off of the cooking surface. The

DECORATIVE HARDWARE CHOICES

After weeks of browsing multiple showrooms and deciding what countertop, cabinetry, storage solutions and finishes are essential in creating your dream space; you realize that there’s one more step that has been overlooked. The Decorative hardware! Although it doesn’t seem like an essential thing to keep in mind when picking out various options for your

TREND ALERT: HONED SURFACES

While looking at new countertops in 2019, you’ll probably stumble across more surface finishes then the standard polished as there are a variety of countertop finishes such as: honed, polished, and raw. Although each countertop line may call these finishes different things, they are for the most part, very similar across countertop brands. In this

KITCHEN REMODELING: THE WORK TRIANGLE

Upon visits to showrooms and consultations with kitchen designers; the work triangle is sure to come up at least once. Here will explain what that is and why it is so vital to the importance of a new kitchen design. Each station is assigned it’s own space and traffic pattern according to guidelines set forth

TREND ALERT: BACK PAINTED GLASS BACKSPLASH

Among the many options of tile and quartz backsplash, there’s a type that’s gaining popularity with kitchen designs as of late; back painted glass backsplash! Here’s a few reasons to research a little further into this on-going trend. First, back painted glass backsplash gives you a unique look with a pop of customized color. Glass

LET’S TALK TARIFFS

As of September 24th, 2018 the Chinese import tariffs took place on Chinese Quartz starting at an increase of 10%. As of January 1st, 2019 that will increase to 25%! This information is crucial because we here at AKB do not import Chinese Quartz so there will be no price increase on our quartz countertop

WATERFALL COUNTERTOPS

So after days of contemplating over a plethora of options you’ve finally picked out your countertops to accentuate your kitchen! But did you know that in lieu of the usual path of countertops with standard backsplash, you can also opt for a waterfall countertop? Now what is a waterfall countertop? It’s a continuation of the

CHOOSING A BACKSPLASH

HOW TO CHOOSE A BACKSPLASH Cabinetry and countertop selections, check! After all of the style choices that you need to make during the design process during a remodel, when it comes to your backsplash choice, you may start to feel a bit overwhelmed. Fear not! This part of the design is very versatile and really

DESIGNER SPOTLIGHT: MICHELLE RAYMER

AKB Chicago Designer Michelle Raymer 20/20 Design’s “Expert Choice” Winner “Being able to maximize the rendering capabilities helps set our design services apart from others. Just about every client I work with tells me how invaluable it is to be able to see exactly how their kitchen will look, as many people have a difficult time visualizing