CAMBRIASTYLE

America’s originalsupermodel ravesabout her new kitchen

LivingtheDreamOne family’s vision

produces amasterpiece home in

North Carolina

CherylTiegsCherylTiegs

CambriaUSA.comCambriaUSA.com

INAUGURAL ISSUE / WINTER 2010

Welcome to this, our first issue of Cambria Style, a magazine

devoted to the values of our company, to its people, and to our

goal of inspiring you to create a special place in your home.

Cambria…. Ours is not just a product, but rather a unique

place, a refreshing, invigorating place where we take much pride

in how we work, how we manage, how we communicate, how we

serve, how we innovate, how we think, how we feel, and, yes, even

how we mow our grass—all with the hope for our Cambria family

and for our products that together we will come to connect with

and become a part of the lives of many people. It’s a connection

that can only be forged through people’s emotions—through their

wants, their needs, their lust for great design, and their hopes for

their most cherished place, their home. This inspiration, we hope,

comes, to some degree, from our beautiful, elegant, warm, breath-

taking natural quartz surfaces and the distinctive place and space

from which they come.

We strive each day to develop and inspire relationships with

all those that make up Cambria’s extended family. We hope to

inspire our Cambria partners, our all-important consumers, our

kitchen and bath dealers, our friends in the architecture and

design community, our builders, our installers and fabricators—

indeed, everybody who is a part of the sale, delivery, installation,

and service—not to mention the use—of our beautiful products.

That entire Cambria family—consumers and all—plays a major

role in breathing life into our products and in bringing that

life to its zestful, rewarding, and satisfying position in the

marketplace.

All of this comes from a shared culture. A culture that values

quality, elegance, warmth, beauty, excitement, individuality,

innovation, the pursuit of perfection, and many, many other

things, big and small, that together say—style. To put it simply,

Cambria has it, and now we bring it to you.… Cambria Style.

In Cambria Style we strive to offer

you an opportunity to pause, every few

months, to allow our place into your

place. We hope, through our stories and

insights, to begin an ongoing and valued

conversation that creates a new place, neither yours nor ours,

where, inspired by our discussion on these pages, we can explore

the future of your beloved sanctuary, your home.

We hope you’ll come to welcome our periodic visits to that

deeply emotional place where you live every day, inhabited by all

the desires and feelings, all the wants and needs that ultimately

define your personal look, your individual design, your unique

combination of taste and emotion that is your style. We also hope

that your style will be inspired by our style, Cambria Style.

In the end, with our stories and our ideas, we seek to nurture

in you a sense of comfort and excitement about your home, and

inspire you toward that profoundly individual dream we all share

for a place of existence that compels us to say very simply: This is

my home and my style—and I love it.

ENJOY!

Martin Davis

PRESIDENT AND CEO

Cambria

Publisher’s Letter

Welcome To Our Place

4 STYLE REPORTA roundup of news and notes

from the style frontier.

8 CULINARY SCENEWith a little help from Cambria,

Anwar Mekhayech and his partners

turned One Eleven Yorkville into

Toronto’s latest hotspot.

10 STYLE SOLUTIONSMAXIMIZE YOUR SPACE: A little planning and

some innovative approaches can make a

small kitchen feel a whole lot bigger.

36 DEALER DETAILSALL INCLUDED: Mark and Jim Rutzick have

built All Inc. into one of the largest kitchen

and bath dealers in the Midwest.

38 STUFF OF DREAMSELEGANT EXTRAS: A medley of useful but

stylish items to add color and character to

your home.

42 CAMBRIA COLLECTION42 THE CORE OF CAMBRIA: With its roots in

the family dairy business, Cambria has

always retained its key values.

44 THE COLORS OF CAMBRIA: A look at

Cambria’s industry-leading palette.

46 THE BEAUTY OF CAMBRIA: 2009 Cambria

Lifestyles Contest winners.

48 LAST LOOKKNOW YOUR ADJECTIVES: Invaluable advice

from noted interior designer Billy Beson.

SPRING 2009

INAUGURAL ISSUE

Cheryl Tiegs relaxes with one of her beloved dogsoutside her Beverly Hills home.

ON THE COVER: CHERYL TIEGS AT HOME Photographed by Dominique VorillonCambriaUSA.com

CAMBRIASTYLE

18

12 Color BasicsChoosing theappropriate colors for your kitchen is a critical startingpoint for therenovation process.

18 At Home with CherylAmerica’s originalsupermodel blendedan eclectic set ofinfluences withstunning Cambriasurfaces to create her own, verypersonal, oasis.

24 Living the DreamPam and SamHooker’s decision to build a new house in rural NorthCarolina resulted in a masterpiece.

32 Sticking with ItCambria LexusPartner FloformCountertops built itsbusiness by workinghard and committingto its core values.

4

Costs and Fees1) Fixed/Flat rate—In this case,

the designer provides a spe-

cific, upfront project total that

includes everything from

developmental costs and blue-

prints to materials and labor.

For smaller projects, this

method is very common. Nev-

ertheless, clients should insist

on a written contract that

spells out the final price and

sub-category costs as well as

how unexpected overruns or

changes in the scope of work

will be handled.

2) Hourly fee—Here, compen-

sation depends upon the

actual time expended by the

designer on the project. The

drawback to paying by the hour is that there’s

no clear-cut expectation of the project’s final

costs at the outset. However, for someone

undertaking a more ambitious project with sev-

eral unknowns, hourly fees offer a more realis-

tic and flexible working relationship.

3) Cost plus—This involves letting the designer

purchase all of the materials and services for a

job first and then resell them to the client at an

agreed-upon higher rate that covers the cost of

the designer’s time and effort. For extensive

projects or significant remodels, cost plus pro-

vides a good amalgam of flexibility for the

designer and some measure of financial control

for the client.

Find a Designer page on the American Society of Interior Designers website: asid.org/designservices/selectingFor more on the costs and fees of an interior designer, go to: asid.org/designservices/costs

Working with an Interior DesignerBefore you hire aprofessional designer, be sure you’ve done your homework and areprepared for somecritical issues you aregoing to have to address.Here are a few toconsider.

Style Report

Key QuestionsIs the designer licensed or accredited by the

American Society of Interior Designers?

Does he or she have previous experience

working on the type of project you’re

considering? (Can they provide recommenda-

tions from former clients or evidence

of work on similar projects?)

Have they demonstrated creativity,

resourcefulness, and talent?

Are they responsive to your design questions

and receptive to your individual needs?

Are they reliable and do they possess profes-

sional work habits (i.e. show up on time, hire

only reputable subcontractors, etc.)?

THE WORLD OF INTERIOR DESIGNNEWS AND NOTES FROM

5

Recycling Made Possible

As more and more Americans

have embraced conservation,

the kitchen has increasingly

had to fulfill yet another of our

homes’ daily missions: recy-

cling. (Roughly 50 percent of

U.S. households now have curb-

side recycling and more than 80

percent have access to a plastics

recycling program, whether

it’s curbside collection or com-

munity drop-off centers.) But

performing that mundane yet

important task doesn’t mean

having to give up a kitchen that

is fashionable or functional.

Here are some tips to make

recycling work for you:

Consider how many different

items will be recycled, how

often they will be picked up or

dumped, and how separate they

must be (single-stream or sepa-

rate bins for each).

Once you’ve figured that out,

you can determine the storage

volume you’ll need in your

kitchen. A good rule of thumb:

for a small family, one standard

27-quart garbage can holds about

one week’s worth of uncrushed,

sorted recyclables (i.e. just plastic

bottles or just aluminum cans).

Ideally, you should locate

these recycle bins within or near

your kitchen’s work triangle,

close to both a sink (for washing

out food and beverage residue)

and the unrecyclable trash can.

You can either add self-

contained, stand-alone recycle

bins or below-counter kitchen

cabinet inserts. Keep in mind,

however, that stand-alone bins

will be more visible and may

not exactly match your existing

kitchen décor.

If your kitchen is adjacent to

or above a garage or mudroom,

consider building a pass-through

or drop-chute that sends recy-

clables straight into a larger tub

or the actual curbside pickup

can, minimizing the need for

storage space in the kitchen.

With everyone going green these days and recycling all the rage, how can you be a good environmental citizen while still retaining a stylish kitchen? Here are a few thoughts on the subject.

Do you really need all those cabinets? How about designating one or two of them for your recycling bins?

Four- and two-bin undercounter styles from Kraftmaid.com Rotary recycling center from Organize.com

Stand alone recycling system from Ecopod.org

Countertop color:NottinghamTM

Style Report

Now You See It...

On the runways of the fashion

world, it’s only a matter of time

before everything old becomes

new again. Well, the same holds

true in today’s kitchens, as the

pastel and primary hues of the

1950s are once again proving

popular among homeowners

looking to make a bold design

statement with their refrigera-

tors and stoves. After the some-

what psychedelic harvest golds

and burnt oranges of the 1960s

and ’70s, the more austere black-

then-white era of the 1980s and

’90s, and the quasi-industrial

stainless steel-look of the past

decade, it’s perhaps not surpris-

ing that consumers are seeking

out appliances with visually

engaging colors to make their

kitchen appliances pop. To

accommodate this, large, estab-

lished appliance-makers, like

Viking, as well as smaller, retro-

style brands, like Big Chill and

Elmira/Northstar, now offer up

colors like robin’s egg blue,

flamingo pink and fire engine

red as part of this kitchen color-

palette renaissance.

Now You Don’tOf course every trend in fashion

fosters a counter-trend, so the

move toward bolder, more color-

ful kitchen appliances has like-

wise begotten a contrasting trend

that seeks to make them disap-

pear. This “full overlay” look, as

it’s known, camouflages appli-

ances behind thin veneer panels

designed to blend in with the

kitchen’s (usually wooden) cabi-

netry. This seamless look tends to

appeal to homeowners looking

for a more traditional and calm-

ing effect in their kitchens.

1950s

turquoise

pink

harvest gold

avocado

black white stainlesssteel

TBD

1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s 2010s

Can you find the refrigerator?

The vertical handles on the

cabinet to the right are

the only clues.

Current trends in appliance design tend toward the colorfully retro or inconspicuously modern.

Island color: AshfordTM

Get the greatest bang for your buck withthese home improvement projects.

For nearly 60 years, an unmis-takable trend has continuedapace in American house-holds—as family size has gottensmaller, houses have grownincreasingly bigger. In fact, since1940, the average amount ofsquare footage per person innew, single-family U.S. homeshas more than tripled—fromroughly 300 to 965 square feet.Where has all this extra squarefootage been added? Some of ithas been devoted to the cre-ation of in-home retreats —master suites with upsized bed-

rooms, bathrooms, and generous walk-in closets. Butmore and more these burgeoning floor plans have focusedon a house’s public spaces, whether it’s awarding muchmore space to traditional areas like family rooms andkitchens or the creation of brand-new spaces like mediarooms, children’s playrooms, or home theaters.

Now, for the first time in decades, some experts arepredicting average home size will shrink (albeit slightly).“We don’t think the size will rise anymore,” noted Gopal Ahluwalia at the 2007 International Builders Show.Ahluwalia, vice president of research for the NationalAssociation of Home Builders, also pointed out that aconsensus of industry experts polled by the NAHB nowbelieve that the average size of new, single-family homeswould decline from 2,521 square feet to 2,330 squarefeet—a roughly 7.5% drop—by 2015. Several factors couldbe pushing this trend, including the recent nationwide dipin home prices, the rising cost of energy, and a notableincrease in empty-nest Baby Boomers looking to downsize.

According to a survey conducted by

HomeGain, an online marketplace

that connects realtors, home buy-

ers, and home sellers, cleaning and

de-cluttering as well as lightening

and brightening your home can

noticeably rejuvenate a house’s

appearance and pay relatively large

dividends in the value of your

home compared to the money

invested (see table above). “These

steps can cost as little as a couple of

hundred dollars and have returns

as high as $1,500 to $2,000,” says

HomeGain’s Jessica Gopalakrish-

nan. Other tactics, like outdoor

landscaping, repairing the electri-

cal wiring, plumbing, and flooring

as well as shampooing a home’s

carpeting, also made HomeGain’s

list of straightforward, worthwhile,

For more information and additional low-cost, high-impact home improvementprojects, check out HomeGain’s Home Sale Maximizer tool at www.homegain.com/download/max_guide.pdf.

and relatively inexpensive ways to

freshen up a home.

But to achieve the most dra-

matic results—and if you’re prep-

ping your home for resale, the

biggest potential increase in sales

price—realtors recommended re-

painting the interior and exterior

walls and making minor updates

and repairs to a home’s kitchen

and bathrooms. However,

Gopalakrishnan points out that

these steps typically involve the

largest upfront costs. But the

greater aesthetic effect and the

larger impact upon the asking

price—on average, a $7,500

increase—of repainting a house

and updating its kitchen and bath-

rooms often justifies the extra time

and expense.

HERE TO STAY:

HigherCeilingsON THE OUTS:

Formal LivingRooms

2015HOME DESIGNCrystal Ball

4.0

3.0

2.0

1.0

0.01940 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2010

Average Household Size (persons)

Average New House Size (square feet)

NU

MBE

R O

F PE

OPL

E

SIZE O

F HO

USE

Growing Homes, Shrinking Families?

FLOORING

CARPETING

PAINT EXTERIOR

PAINT INTERIOR

KITCHEN/BATHROOMS(minor/cosmetic)

$0 500 1000 1500 2000 2500 3000 3500 4000

COST OF IMPROVEMENT

INCREASE IN HOME VALUE

A TREND REVERSED

Home Sale Maximizer

Has the era of the massiveMcMansion finally ended?

8

Anwar Mekhayech has a knack for restau-

rants. The Toronto-based designer, a co-

principal of architecture and design studio

the Design Agency and co-host of the pop-

ular HGTV series The Designer Guys,

grew up in a restaurant family and even

owned a couple himself. “If you’ve worked

behind the scenes, you get a better under-

standing of what it takes to offer a two-star

experience as opposed to a four- or five-star

experience,” he says.

So Mekhayech and his partners Allen

Chan and Matthew Davis were shoo-ins to

design the interiors for One Eleven

Yorkville, a new upscale restaurant and

lounge in the tres chic Toronto neighbor-

hood of the same name. Owner Michael

Etherington became familiar with the

Design Agency’s work as a manager at

Lobby, another Toronto hotspot that bene-

fited from the Design Agency’s touch.

“Michael wanted it to be luxurious,”

says Mekhayech, “not necessarily splashy,

but he wanted it to make an impact.” In a

play on the menu’s emphasis on what

Mekhayech calls “seafood nibbles,” the

Design Agency, with input from Ethering-

ton, conceived of an aquatic theme for the

space; upon entering the restaurant,

patrons are greeted by a waterfall cascad-

ing over the One Eleven Yorkville logo.

The restaurant’s innovative “bubble walls”

incorporate that aquatic element with a

nod to the bar’s extensive selection of high-

end champagne: Acrylic wall panels are

filled with water that, with the help of an

air pump sending tiny bubbles from floor

to ceiling, gives the restaurant the feel of a

room set deep in a sea of champagne.

And “deep” is right. The restaurant is

on the bottom floor of a commercial

building and sits at about six feet below

grade; patrons don’t enter One Eleven

Yorkville, they descend. This, coupled

with the relatively small 2,000-square-

foot space, created some design chal-

lenges. Nothing new in that, says

Mekhayech: “I’ve never seen a restaurant

designed perfectly. There are always com-

promises with the space.”

Compromises with this space involved

getting creative in ways that would give

the illusion of more space. “The lighting

was key” for this, says Mekhayech. The

restaurant’s bubble walls feature colored

LED lights to open up the shadowy rooms.

In the fall and winter, the lights can be set

to a golden amber and in the summer they

shine cool blue. The ceiling is also inlaid

With a little help from Cambria, Anwar Mekhayech and his partners at Toronto’s Design Agency turned One Eleven Yorkville into the city’s newest hotspot.

BY M A X B E R RY

CulinaryScene

Commercial Design Mekhayech (oppo-site, middle, with

partners Allen Chanand Matthew Davis)designed a coffered

ceiling (opposite,below) with inlaid

gold mirrors toreflect the candle-

light and create theillusion of extra

height; the tabletops(right) are com-

posed of twoCambria colors,

OakhamptonTM, witha custom inlay of

Cambrian BlackTM.

9

with a gold mirror that gives the impres-

sion of extra height by reflecting the can-

dles adorning the tabletops—reflective in

themselves since they’re fashioned from

Cambria quartz.

“It was our team’s collective idea to

incorporate a tailored and customized look

for the tabletops and we had heard of Cam-

bria’s quartz surfaces and the ability to do a

custom inlay with different colors,”

Mekhayech says. The tabletops, picking up

on the motif introduced by the restaurant’s

branded waterfall, also bear the restau-

rant’s logo. “We used the logo to form a

graphic pattern on the tabletops,”

Mekhayech continues. “Each table has a

different part of the logo’s script. A few of

the square tables can be pushed together to

make the logo legible from above.”

Mekhayech and his partners combined

these ultra-modern touches—LED lights,

indoor waterfalls—with natural elements

like the slab of African hardwood they

hand-fashioned into the restaurant’s bar to

achieve what Mekhayech considers the

essential component of any great design:

balance. “There’s definitely a relationship

[within] the space. If certain things

[within a space] are angular, there has to

be an equal and opposite element to soften

it up or make it flow more.” A lifelong

appreciator of, and participant in, all

things culinary, the ultimate reward for

Mekhayech is watching others enjoy a culi-

nary experience he helped craft. “It’s fun

to sit back and watch people interact with

the space,” he says.

One Eleven Yorkville is now open to the

general public.

Sometimes a small kitchen can seem like a

big headache. Whether it’s a small city

apartment or a modest house in the sub-

urbs, we often spend so much time in our kitchens

that they become the focal points of our homes.

Between routine meals, entertaining, and simple

living, any kitchen sees the bulk of a home’s traffic

and activity. This leaves small kitchen owners pon-

dering the eternally vexing question: how can I do

so much in so little space?

Fortunately, with a little planning and resource-

fulness, even the smallest kitchens can be designed

to handle your busy lifestyle without breaking

your bank. The following are some tips for putting

together an efficient small kitchen.

Planning. Before you consider how to redesign your

kitchen spend a little time observing how you use

it. Do you do a lot of cooking at home, or does the

microwave simply reheat takeout leftovers? Do

you entertain often or rarely? How does your fam-

ily actually use the kitchen space you have? Once

you’ve answered those questions, and understand

your priorities in the kitchen, you can set about

redesigning it to maximize its potential.

Make the most of cabinet space. Large kitchens

have the luxury of half-used cabinets. Not so for

small kitchens. Add lazy susans and pull-out trays

to your cabinets to help maximize your use of

available space. Keep non-essential items out of

the cabinets. Cook books, for example, can be

stored on a shelf elsewhere in the house. Use

overhead hanging racks to store pots and pans.

Not only does this save precious cabinet space, but

it can add an air of culinary attractiveness to the

kitchen.

Light & Bright. While you might not have a lot of

space to work with, you can create the illusion of

more space with a few simple tricks. Nothing rein-

forces the sense of enclosure like dim light. Add

bright lights, especially under cabinets, and take

advantage of natural light sources like windows to

bring in as much light as possible. Choose light

colors for walls, counters, and backsplash tiles to

increase the feeling of space.

Appliances. You’re not the only one out there with

a small kitchen. Plenty of people face the same

space constrictions as you do, and appliance makers

have designed products to meet those challenges.

KitchenAid, for instance, offers 24-inch-wide single-

and double-drawer dishwashers. Many manufac-

turers also make appliances for over-the-counter

installation, saving precious counter space.

Style Solutions

Light, especially under the cabinets (below), increases thesense of space; available space savers include: (right, top tobottom) an overhead hanging rack, a narrow sliding spiceshelf, a wall-mounted wine rack, and a drawer dishwasher.

Maximize Your SpaceA little planning and some innovative approaches can make a smallkitchen feel a whole lot bigger. These timely tips can help.BY C H R I S TO P H E R F R E E B U R N

The Beauty of Stone The Durability of Quartz

© Cambria 2010

The Beauty of Stone

The Durability of Quartz

CambriaUSA.com

CAM 01-13.7:Cambria 5/27/10 6:09 PM Page 17

13

Use the “60-30-10” rule of thumb, advisescolor consultant JillClarkson. Use yourpredominant color onroughly 60% of theroom’s surfaces (say, the cabinets); choose asecondary color forabout 30% of the room(which might be thewalls, or the countertopsand floors); and pick athird color as an accent(often a stronger orcomplementary color)on just 10% of the room(perhaps a backsplash,piece of furniture, orartwork).

Rich and European? Crisp and modern? Warm

and cozy? Will it be an eat-in kitchen? Do you

have children? Do you like wood, or white or

painted cabinets? Not sure? Start tearing out

pages from magazines of kitchens you like—

whether it’s just one element or an overall look.

Think about other people’s kitchens you’ve liked

and why. After you’ve culled a group of

tearsheets, go through them and look for com-

mon ground—you might find that you’re drawn

to blue kitchens, or open kitchens with few upper

cabinets, or that you prefer concealed appliances.

All of these clues will be invaluable in your plan-

ning process. As Susan Serra, a kitchen designer

based in Northport, N.Y., and the author of an in-

fluential blog, thekitchendesigner.com, puts it,

“Look at the ‘big picture’ first to visualize the end

result you are seeking.”

Don’t forget a touch or two of black. “Black cre-

ates drama and contrast,” says Ann Morris,

CMKBD, of Allied Kitchen and Bath in Ft. Laud-

erdale, Florida. Whether it’s a set of framed prints

or a coffeemaker, a worn black cabinet, or ebonized

bar stools, a bit of black adds punch. Similarly, Jill

Clarkson, a color consultant in Corte Madera, in

northern California, suggests adding a touch of red

to enliven a neutral color scheme: “A little bit of

red—in a vase or a picture frame—can add visual

richness.”

How will you use your kitchen most? “If some-

one is a great cook, the appliances will often

lead the discussion,” says interior designer

Whether you are preparing to renovate, build new,

or just refresh your existing kitchen, there are myr-

iad decisions you must confront as you make your

plans: In no other room are there as many materi-

als, appliances, and decisions to be made! While

color might not be the first element that comes to

mind in planning a kitchen, it is actually one of the

most important, and can help guide many of the

other decisions you have to make.

Where To StartWhat’s nearby? Look at adjacent rooms. Does

your kitchen open onto a great room, family or din-

ing room? Even if they’re only glimpsed through a

doorway, adjacent rooms and color schemes have an

impact. Ideally there should be a relationship or flow

between rooms, rather than a total disconnect.

What’s your comfort level with color? Look in

your closet for clues: How we dress is often indica-

tive of how we decorate, in terms of color prefer-

ences, and how bold or safe we tend to be in our

choices. “In all instances,” suggests Lyn Peterson,

author of Real Life Kitchens (Clarkson Potter),

“start with your personal preferences. If you are a

blue and yellow person, chances are you will never

be a bittersweet and sage person.”

What’s fixed and finite? Do you have appliances

you’ll be keeping, or cabinets or counters that are

staying? Your scheme will need to incorporate and

complement any existing materials or elements.

What’s the overall look and feel? Light and airy?

for the kitchenColorBasics

Choosing the appropriate colors for your kitchen and its key componentsis a critical starting point for the renovation process.

B Y J I L L K I R C H N E R S I M P S O N

14

generally the largest surface and biggest expenditure

in the kitchen, they play a key role in setting the over-

all style and are often where most people start. Here

is some advice from designers on choosing cabinets,

whether wood, white, or colored:

Think long-term. “Part of the answer to the color

question is how long you will be living in your home,

and your concern for resale value,” points out Susan

Serra. “The cabinets usually cost the most, so color

decisions should be made carefully.” Barbara Schmidt

concurs: “Neutrals sell a home. Anything strong in

color or design limits the market. The kitchen and

master bath close the sale of the home, so your choices

now may be reflected in your home’s value later.”

Instead of using only one type of cabinetry through-

out, consider using a different finish or color in one or

more areas. You might opt for wood cabinets but intro-

duce color in an island (see photo, opposite), message

center, or pantry cabinet. This adds interest and helps

break up monotony, especially in a large kitchen.

Wood cabinets, while neutral, are themselves a

color—one of a wide range of browns, from light ash or

beech to rich mahogany and cherry to dark walnut or

ebonized wood. Woods are a versatile partner with

many types of countertops and surfaces; they also gen-

erally have good durability and endurance. However,

“Think about how much light is in the room,” advises

Kyong Agapiou. “If it’s a bright room with lots of sun-

light, dark wood can be gorgeous. If it’s a dark room,

you have to be more careful. You may want to opt for

Barbara Schmidt, of bstyle, inc., in Minneapolis,

Minnesota, who is also a set designer for Cambria.

“If you entertain a lot, then the island area becomes

the focal point. Or if you want to update for resale,

surfaces become the most important factor.”

Ask for help. Designing a kitchen involves much

more than just ordering cabinets. A kitchen or interior

designer can help ensure that you don’t make expensive

mistakes, and also organize the space for optimal effi-

ciency, help you navigate the vast array of choices avail-

able, and make sure every element works well together.

Gather swatches and samples of every material

you’re considering and try them out in the space. Not

just paint chips, but also wood flooring or cabinet sam-

ples, countertop samples, backsplash and/or floor tiles,

cabinet hardware, and appliance finishes, if possible.

“Try to gather multiple options for each element, be-

cause you never know what will work best until you get

it into your own home and look at it in the lighting of

the room,” advises Kyong Agapiou, CKD, ASID, a

kitchen and interior designer for The Kitchen Factor

in East Haven, Connecticut. “People are often surprised

when they see what works best in the actual space.”

Color, Step by StepCABINETSThere may be other starting points for designing a

kitchen—for example, a beautiful backsplash tile, or

a fire-engine red Aga range—but since cabinets are

Countertop color:OakhamptonTM

Island color:BrownhillTM

15

With white cabinets,consider using tiledbacksplashes andpatterned countertops toprovide relief from glareand add needed texture tothe kitchen; warmerwood cabinets (opposite)call for countertops thatpick up their base notes.

Countertop color: VictoriaTM

Island color: Welshpool BlackTM

ResourcesReal-Life Kitchens, by Lyn Peterson (Clarkson Potter)Can’t Fail Color Schemes for Kitchens & Baths, by Amy Wax (Creative Homeowner) The Kitchen Designer blogby Susan Serra: www.thekitchendesigner.com

Try the “Online KitchenDesigner” tool atwww.hgtv.com and alsobrowse through their “De-sign Portfolio,” featuringdozens of kitchen designs.Kitchens.com offers awealth of resources, in-cluding tons of kitchen photos, productnews, and designer advice. Order a free Kitchen & BathWorkbook or find a certi-fied kitchen designer inyour area on the National Kitchen and Bath Association’s website,www.nkba.org.

16

lighter wood, or a glazed finish. You could break up the

wood with open shelves, glass doors or an accent color,

so it doesn’t feel too heavy.”

The type of wood you choose can guide the other

color choices in the room. Jill Clarkson suggests: “For

dark, warm finishes such as cherry, a contrasting cool

color such as celadon green will look fresh and clean.

For lighter wood cabinetry, such as maple or pine, you

might want to go for a mid- to darker wall color that

will really make the cabinetry pop.”

White cabinets can help a kitchen feel light, clean

and airy, but keep some pointers in mind: “If you

have all white cabinets and are thinking about white

counters as well, make sure there is some place you

have relief from that glare,” advises Amy Wax, au-

thor of Can’t Fail Color Schemes for Kitchens & Baths

(Creative Homeowner) and color consultant at Your

Color Source Studio in Montclair, New Jersey. “White

can actually be tiring on the eyes. Add some soft color

on counters, backsplash, or walls for relief.” The backs

of glass-front cabinets can be another nice place to

add color.

“Texture is essential in an all-white kitchen,” says

Ann Morris. Add interest to white with a raised-re-

lief tile backsplash, or accents of stone, wood, textured

glass, or other tactile materials.

“All whites do not match,” Morris adds. White has

clear undertones, whether warm and yellowish or cool

and bluish. Try to keep the undertone consistent and

always look at all whites in the space, in natural and

artificial light.

White plus a color always looks fresh. “For cool

white cabinetry, you may want to add warm colors

such as yellow, almond, or biscotti. White also looks

fabulous with sage green and blues,” advises Jill

Clarkson. And, black and white is a classic that’s in

vogue with retro and industrial kitchens.

Don’t be afraid to try colored cabinets. “In my last

home, I had red cabinets. That kitchen was on the

cover of House Beautiful and in their advertising for

years,” says Lyn Peterson. “I had my Viking range

sprayed the same red, and Viking later introduced

that exact color because they had so many requests

for it!” Peterson suggests choosing a color with “a

quiet base note. Blues need a gray base note; reds a

browner base note; greens want to be sage-ier. Loud

brights are hard to pull off.”

COUNTERS“People put a lot of emphasis on cabinet choices, but

your countertop can be just as important,” points out

Amy Wax, “because it’s what you look at most as

you’re working. If you don’t like your countertop, you

won’t like the room.”

“Do you want contrast or to blend in and go mono-

chromatic?” asks Ann Morris. Neutral stone counter-

tops, such as quartz, in grays, black, browns, or whites,

go with almost everything. Keep in mind that “very

dark surfaces can be hard on your eyes for long periods,

and reflective elements like mica can sometimes be dis-

tracting,” says Wax.

Counters with a lot of “movement” or pattern

should be balanced by a quieter backsplash, or per-

haps a different countertop on the island. “If it is a

‘busy’ countertop, I would not use it on the backsplash

as well,” says Peterson. “Pattern doesn’t read the same

when it is both horizontal and vertical.”

“Different countertops can help define different

areas and provide added interest,” says Susan Serra.

The island is a common place to use a differently

colored countertop; a desk area could be another. “But

the traditional design of countertops in one material

and color is still very much alive and helps create

‘flow’ in a kitchen,” she says.

If you want to use a colored, rather than neutral,

countertop, “It can either be the ‘star’ of the kitchen,

with more neutral or quiet cabinets, or you can pick

up the color in other areas, such as a tile feature above

the cooktop, or a colored appliance,” suggests Serra.

“White countertops look contemporary and sleek

and reflect a lot of light in darker closed spaces,” says

Barbara Schmidt. “If your space needs that extra

light, be sure to add texture and layers of warmth in

Countertop color: Snowdon WhiteTM

17

kitchen, you can consider using white appliances, and

for medium to dark woods, such as walnut and dark

oak, you could use black appliances. “White or black

can work well so long as the contrast level is held in

check,” says Jill Clarkson. “Be sure there is additional

white or black added throughout the space to make

it look cohesive.” Barbara Schmidt believes white ap-

pliances are passé, especially when used in non-white

kitchens.

For a statement-making blast of color, adventure-

some types (not overly concerned with resale) could

consider choosing a colored range, such as those from

Aga, Viking, or La Cornue, in shades like cobalt blue

or lipstick red. Or, play it safer with vibrantly colored

small appliances such as mixers, toasters, and blenders.

ACCESSORIESYou can’t go wrong by adding shots of color with

bowls, cookware, pottery, artwork, even dish towels or

flowering plants. Accessories are an inexpensive, flex-

ible way to change the color story of your kitchen as

often as you’d like. In a white, wood or otherwise

neutral kitchen, pops of bright color will stand out

brilliantly and enliven the overall scheme.

If your kitchen has a predominant hue, choose a

shade across the color wheel (what’s called a “com-

plementary” color) for your accent or accessory color.

Complementary colors energize each other.

Putting it all togetherHere are some good rules of thumb for making your

choices work together successfully:

Use the “60-30-10” rule of thumb, advises color

consultant Jill Clarkson. (See page 13.)

For a monochromatic scheme, use different intensi-

ties, or “values” of the same color, to make it interesting.

Decide what’s going to take center stage. “Walls,

cabinets, counters and floors shouldn’t all be similar,”

says Amy Wax. “Choose one element to be the

strongest.” On the other hand, “Too many different

colors can create discord,” points out Ann Morris.

“Your eye is going all over the place. It feels like Mc-

Donald’s or a kindergarten. Save bright saturations

for accent colors.”

“I design spaces to have focal points and resting

areas, and those can be defined by tones of color from

the same family,” says Barbara Schmidt. “By using

different tones of one color, I can highlight

architectural details and special areas.”

In the end the best rule of thumb

may be the simplest: It’s your kitchen,

make it your own!

the rest of the kitchen. I love rustic woods mixed with

white, and bringing the outside in with elements of

wood or green tones.”

FLOORING“If I’m doing a tile floor—for example, one of the

great porcelain tiles that mimic the look of stone but

are easier to care for—I like to coordinate the tile

backsplash with it,” advises Kyong Agapiou.

If you have wood cabinets and are putting in a

wood floor, make sure the two coordinate. “It’s safer to

go either lighter or darker on the floors. You don’t want

it to be too matchy-matchy,” advises Susan Serra.

BACKSPLASHES AND WALLSThe backsplash can be a great place to add a splash

of color. “A tile backsplash can bring beautiful art to

your walls, perhaps in an inset above the cooktop, with

some accents continuing beneath the cabinets. There

is an almost infinite range of options—from glass

mosaic to ceramics to stone,” says Agapiou.

“The backsplash sits back and is obscured in large

part by countertop accessories and appliances,” points

out Lyn Peterson. “If it is dark, it gets even darker

when undercounter lights are off. So

nothing too deep in color for the back-

splash unless you want a gloomy counter

work area.”

Because walls are often a relatively

small surface area in a kitchen, they are

a good place to experiment with bolder

color. Paint is also the easiest and least

expensive element to change. If your

cabinets, counters, and floors are neutral,

try adding rich color on the walls,

whether a deep red, sunny yellow, or

grass green.

APPLIANCESStainless steel, still popular, is a good mid-

tone that goes with everything. But given

the proliferation of appliances in the

kitchen—“not only bigger refrigerators

and cooktops, but sometimes also beverage

centers, wine fridges, double wall ovens, or

duplicate dishwashers,” points out Peter-

son—you may want to consider concealing

some appliances with cabinet fronts.

Because stainless steel is very re-

flective, it can stand up to darker

or richer background colors in

the kitchen. In a light

Pottery, cookware, patterned dishes, colored appliances, etc. (left) can all bring bracingsplashes of color to an otherwise muted kitchen palette. White cabinets and light coun-tertops (below, left) cry out for a bold color on the walls to add a dramatic accent.

Countertop color: DoverTM

Floor colors: HazelfordTMand DoverTM

19

For someone who has lived much of her adult life traveling the

world to exotic locations with an endless barrage of flash bulbs illu-

minating her every move, it is perhaps understandable if Cheryl

Tiegs tends toward a more grounded and subdued lifestyle when

out of the glare of the public eye. Nowhere is this desire more

apparent than in her thoughtfully designed and tastefully under-

stated home in Bel Air, California. It is her oasis, the place where

she can escape from the hustle and bustle of L.A. to meditate,

where the closest thing to an entourage involves her two Labrador

retrievers gamboling along behind her, and where her iconic status

as America’s first supermodel takes a back seat to a much more

important role—that of being a mom to her 17-year-old son Zack.

“I like the simplicity of the design of my house,” Tiegs says,

while sitting comfortably in the midst of it. And despite the

swirl of photographers, cameras, and lighting that she has

graciously allowed in to document her recent kitchen renova-

tion, Tiegs says her home’s design is all about producing a

“soothing, calming effect.”

But befitting the eclectic, well-

traveled nature of her life, her home’s

design has never been about rigidly

conforming to any one architectural

moment, place, or style. Raised on a

farm in Minnesota, Tiegs has posed

on secluded tropical beaches, lived

abroad for a time in Africa, trekked

At HomewithCheryl

PHOTOGRAPHS BY DOMINIQUE VORILLON

America’s original supermodel blended an eclectic set of influenceswith stunning Cambria surfaces to create her own, very personal, oasis.

BY R E E D R I C H A R D S O N

Tiegs describes her DoverTM

extra-thick countertopsfrom Cambria’s Desert CollectionTM as “verysmooth, very zen.” The two-toned octagon-and-dia-mond pattern on her Cam-bria tile floors mirrors thelight tan and dark browncolors on her cabinets.

21

through Mexico’s Copper Canyon and above the Arctic Circle, and

now embraces the environmentally conscious ethos of Southern

California. Accordingly, Tiegs has modeled her house’s style on

those personal experiences, blending together a number of differ-

ent design influences—Traditional Country, Balinese, British

Colonial, Eco-friendly—to create a harmonious and peaceful

inner sanctum.

But, as many homeowners discover, striking just the right bal-

ance between what’s aesthetically pleasing and pragmatically pos-

sible, isn’t always easy. Recently, Tiegs confronted just this very

problem when she found herself more and more frustrated with

the elegant, yet exasperating, Italian ceramic tiles covering the

countertops and floors of her kitchen.

“They looked good,” Tiegs readily admits, “but these days,

because I live with two dogs and a teenager, we have an active

household and so what becomes very important in my life at

home is making things easy.”

Her Italian tiles, she increas-

ingly felt, were anything but.

“I would find myself agoniz-

ing over them all the time,” she

explains. “If I had friends over and someone would leave a wine

glass stain on the counter or if I was squeezing a lemon to make a

salad for myself or if the dogs tracked in something from outside,

I would just constantly be thinking, ‘I can’t leave any trace or that

[stain] is going to last forever,’” she says. And no matter how dili-

gent she was about keeping them clean, Tiegs says the tiles always

seemed unkempt and dirty.

Occasionally, she would break down and hire an outside clean-

ing service to come in and spend a whole day scrubbing out all the

stains and resealing the surface of the tiles. But the excessive cost to

maintain their appearance—around $3,000 a cleaning—and the

harsh chemicals used to seal them, simply made her kitchen more

of a hassle than it was worth. “I didn’t want to end up a slave to my

floors and counters, but that was exactly what was happening,” she

recalls. “Finally, I said to myself, ‘what’s wrong with this picture?’”

Once she decided to replace the Italian tiles in her kitchen,

Tiegs, along with her close friend, interior designer Martyn

Lawrence-Bullard, turned to natural quartz surfaces to create her

new kitchen countertops and flooring. Because of their non-

porous nature, quartz products resist stains, which means no more

worries about wine stains or dog prints (or costly chemical

sealants) residing on her countertops and floors. And when it

came time to choose which brand of quartz products to use,

Tiegs’s choice can be traced back to her roots.

“I still go back to Minnesota quite a bit and I met [Cambria

President and CEO] Marty Davis and his family a few years ago

and we’ve become friends,” Tiegs explains. After accepting an invi-

tation to tour Cambria’s state-of-the-art production facility in south

central Minnesota, she came away impressed with its environmen-

tal sensitivity: The facility recycles every drop of wastewater back

into the quartz production process. She also admired the products:

Cambria’s 93-percent pure natural

quartz countertops and floors are

stain resistant, twice as strong as

granite, and both Greenguard Indoor

1947— Born on September 25th in

Breckenridge, Minnesota

1964— Debuts on the cover of Glamour

magazine at the tender age of 17

1970— Makes first appearance on the cover

of Sports Illustrated’s swimsuit issue

1975— Second time on the cover of Sports

Illustrated’s swimsuit issue

1978— First appearance on the cover of

Time magazine (cover line: “The All-

American Model”). Popular poster of

Tiegs in a pink bikini appears and

quickly becomes a pop culture icon

1979— Tiegs becomes the first prominent

model to cross over into the celebrity-

endorsement business; begins selling her

own signature clothing line at Sears

1980— Tiegs authors book The Way to

Natural Beauty

1983— Graces the cover of Sports Illustrated’s

swimsuit issue a then-record third time

1984— Appears on the cover of Time magazine,

which touts her role in the comeback

of Sears

1995— Buys her current home, a 1950s

“Hawaiian house,” in Bel Air and

begins extensively renovating it

1996— Appears on Travel Channel series

Pathfinders: Exotic Journeys,

backpacking through Mexico’s

Copper Canyon

2004—In Sports Illustrated’s 40th anniversary

swimsuit issue, Tiegs is inducted into

the magazine’s swimsuit Hall of Fame

2007— Tiegs again named one of People

magazine’s 100 Most Beautiful People.

Embarks on 10-day expedition to the

Arctic Circle. Partners with Cambria

2009—Begins new role as celebrity judge on

ABC reality show, True Beauty

The Cheryl File: Tale of an Enduring Legend

Balinese, Traditional Country, and British Colonialstyles co-exist gracefullythroughout Tiegs’ elegantbut comfortable home.

Ever since her first appearance on the cover of a national magazine in 1964, Cheryl Tiegs has beena fixture on the American scene

MakingThings Easy

22

Air Quality® and Greenguard for Children and Schools® certified.

Finally, she was impressed with the company overall, with its val-

ues, and with the people she came to know. So impressed, in fact,

that in 2007 she decided to partner with Cambria.

“I’ve found throughout my career, whether it was with Cover

Girl makeup or my clothing line at Sears or my eyewear collec-

tion, it’s best to work with people that really care about what

they’re doing,” she explains. “I’ve found that connection with

Cambria.” And when it comes to endorsing a product or company,

Tiegs is someone who clearly understands the stakes involved.

Her clothing line partnership at Sears during the 1980s brought

in an estimated $100 million in revenue in its first year and was so

successful in reviving the moribund brand that it landed Tiegs on

the cover of Time magazine. “But the real turning point in my

decision to become a Cambria partner,” she stresses, “was under-

standing the company’s commitment to the environment.”

For Tiegs, environmental advocacy is no mere pose. She traces

her eco-awareness epiphany back nearly 25 years, to the time she

spent observing the wildlife while living in Kenya. Now an avowed

recycler of pretty much everything (she even takes newspapers off

of airplanes to ensure they don’t end up in the trash), her current

home is a wealth of individual earth-friendly initiatives. Tiegs has

installed both compact fluorescent light bulbs and light-channel-

ing solar tubes to cut down on the use of electricity, converted her

pool to a more natural salt-water based cleaning system, and now

boasts of three low-emission vehicles in her garage (two gas-elec-

tric hybrids as well as an experimental SUV powered by a hydro-

gen fuel cell). And at the start of her recent remodel, she even had

each of the Italian tiles in her kitchen painstakingly removed one

by one so she could reuse them elsewhere. “We’re not a throwaway

society anymore and that’s how it should be,” she says.

Still, Tiegs points out that “it doesn’t make any sense to buy

something that’s practical but still ugly.” On that account, she and

designer Lawrence-Bullard, who has worked with other high-pro-

file clients such as Elton John and Cher, were anything but disap-

pointed. “Because of the different design influences in my house

and because I was keeping my cabinets, I wanted my new flooring

and countertops to match all that,” she says. “And I found it was

really easy because of all the choices and colors Cambria offered.”

For her countertops, she and Lawrence-Bullard settled on a fairly

monochromatic dusky tan color (DoverTM) from Cambria’s Desert

CollectionTM. Describing its look as “very smooth and very zen,” the

Her beloved dogs Truffle (left, and opposite, right) and Bugs (opposite, jumping) are Cheryl’s constant companions,and greatly enjoy the eco-friendly salt water pool, just one of the many green features of Tiegs’ California home.

Going Green

23

extra-thick, blunt-edged countertop adds a subtle, modern touch to

an otherwise traditional country kitchen. And its color, when joined

with the pale-yellow backsplash, creates a light-colored horizontal

beltline around the kitchen that balances nicely with the dark

wooden hues of the cabinets and doors above and below.

For her kitchen floor, Tiegs opted for a more interesting look,

going with a two-tone, octagon-and-diamond pattern (DoverTM

and HazelfordTM, respectively, from Cambria’s Desert CollectionTM)

that mirrors the light tan and dark brown color pair in the rest of

the kitchen. In fact, Tiegs says she was so dazzled by the way her

kitchen floor turned out that she expanded her flooring renova-

tion to include her guesthouse.

Previously covered with seagrass fiber flooring, the guesthouse’s

living room, which her son Zack uses as a music rehearsal space, now

has a cool, FieldstoneTM Cambria tile floor (left) that extends all the

way into the bathroom and up and around the shower stall. “It’s

beautiful,” Tiegs says. “Originally, I was going to stop at the bath-

room wall, but then I thought, ‘Why stop there?’ and I did the sides of

the shower in it as well,” she explains. “Because of that, the whole

thing just kind of flows beautifully from one room to the next.”

One year later, Tiegs continues to be pleased with her kitchen

and guesthouse renovation. “They’re more than just beautiful

slabs of something,” Tiegs points out. “If I see a spill or a stain

now, I’ll just wipe it up and it’s gone.” But even more important

than how her remodeled spaces function or how they look, she

says, is how her new countertops and floors fit within her home

and lifestyle. Timelessly beautiful, eminently practical, and envi-

ronmentally sensitive—her new renovations fit all of these to a

tee, so much so that the cover girl proudly says of her rejuvenated

home, “I’ve made it my own.”

Floor color: FieldstoneTM

24

25

LivingtheDreamLiving

theDreamWhen Pam and Sam Hooker decided to build

a new house in rural North Carolina, they searchedhigh and low to find just the right elements to

fulfill their vision. In the end, they selected Cambria surfaces for their kitchen and three of their

bathrooms. The result is a masterpiece. BY CHRISTOPHER FREEBURN

26

One of the things that we really wanted was a house that looked like it had been sitting there for 100 years.... Every detail of the house seemed to fit

perfectly with the colonial look we wanted.”–SAM HOOKER

27

surprise that the house they finally built stands like a magnificent

plantation manor, complete with stoic white columns, great glass

windows, and ample verandas from which to gaze on the tobacco

fields that surround their North Carolina home. And to make sure

that they blended the best elements of the past with today’s mod-

ern elegance, they chose Cambria to reflect the home’s refined sense

of sophistication.

The Hookers grew up together in King, North Carolina, a pied-

mont town of about 6,000 people, 10 miles northwest of Winston-

Salem. “We were high school sweethearts,” says Pam. “After college,

we moved back to King and lived there for about eleven years.” Dur-

ing that time, the couple had two children, Harrison and Gabrielle,

both now teenagers. Sam is the chief operations officer at Ridge Care,

which offers assisted and independent living options to seniors in the

region. Pam worked as the human resources director at the North

Carolina YMCA until about four years ago, when she opted to stay

home and care for Harrison and Gabrielle.

As their children entered their teenage years, Pam and Sam

began to feel that their home in King was too small for the family.

They began to explore the possibility of building the home of their

dreams. When they mentioned the idea to Pam’s father, Thaxton

A pre-planned home designfrom architect William

E. Poole produced a housewith such remarkable

architectural detail and sucha powerful old-fashioned feel

that many observersassumed it was built in the

19th century, which is exactlythe response Sam and Pam

Hooker were hoping for.

hen Pam and Sam Hooker decided to build

their dream house, they knew they wanted something

that radiated old-fashioned southern charm. So it is no

W

28

Harrison, a great opportunity presented itself. Pam’s grandparents

had been tenant farmers on a large farm in Westfield—a neigh-

boring town about ten minutes from King. “They lived in a small

tenant house and raised tobacco and managed the farm for the fam-

ily that owned it,” Pam explains. When the farm’s owners decided

to sell the farm fifteen years ago, Thaxton bought it. He and Pam’s

mother, Allene, continued to grow tobacco and other crops on the

farm’s hundred-acre expanse.

“When Daddy found out that we were going to build a new

house, he said, ‘you know you are already going to inherit part of

the farm, so why don’t you take it now and build the house there?’”

Pam says. The Hookers were delighted by the prospect and quickly

took Thaxton up on the offer and work began on the new house in

late 2007. Building their home on a working tobacco farm fit the

Hookers perfectly. “My parents grew tobacco over at the farm while

I was growing up, though we lived in King at the time,” Pam ex-

The Hookers used Cambria throughout their house, including PrestonTM inthe guest bathroom (above) and WindsorTM (right, and opposite, right) onthe wet bar that sits in an alcove between the dining room and the kitchen.

Countertop color: PrestonTM

plains. Her father operated under a sharecropper agreement with

the farm’s owner to grow tobacco. After they purchased the farm,

her parents took up residence in a log cabin located just a stone’s

throw from the new house. Sam had also worked for tobacco grow-

ers when he was younger. “So we’ve both worked around tobacco

since we were kids and, of course, it’s just part of the local envi-

ronment,” says Sam.

Pam’s parents continued to work the farm until recently. Now

the productive acreage is leased to other farmers who continue to

plant and harvest tobacco. “So this year we had great big fields of

tobacco across and to the left of the house,” says Pam. “It’s going

to stay a working farm, that’s our plan.” For Sam, having working

tobacco fields around the house is simply an added bonus. “I think

it adds historical credibility to the house,” he says. “This land has

been growing tobacco for almost a century, maybe more. I like the

idea that it’s going to continue that way.”

29

popular in the late 1800’s that many people simply assume that

the house is more than a century old. “We actually have had a

number of people who have driven up to the house and they think

that it is an old plantation home that we are remodeling,” says

Pam. In fact, according to Pam, the house bears a striking re-

semblance to nearby Cone Manor, the former home of the

southern textile magnate Moses Cone, whose gleaming white,

13,000-square-foot 1901 mansion is a North Carolina landmark.

While it’s one thing to want a house that might seem like it’s

been standing for a century, few people want the headaches

that come with a truly old home. The Hookers, with consider-

able help from general contractor David Allen, avoided most of

those troubles by melding modern building technology into old-

style décor. All of the home’s exterior surfaces, for instance, are

made of Fypon, a polyurethane mixture created by blending iso-

cyanate and resin. Fypon can be molded into almost any shape,

design or texture. The principle advantage of fypon is that it mim-

ics the appearance of natural wood, but is entirely resistant to

mildew, insects, pests, and rot. “So we won’t have problems with

termites in the future,” says Pam, laughing. Thus the Hookers’

home looks like a century-old plantation, but won’t have to have

extensive amounts of exterior woodwork replaced every few years.

In true plantation style, upon entering the Hooker home, one

encounters a grand foyer with a sweeping staircase and chandelier.

At a total of 7,200 square feet, the home is spacious and airy. “On

the second floor we have the large glass doors so that you can go

out into the terrace,” says Pam. Throughout the house, hardwood

floors emphasize the home’s historic feel. Pam says they stained

Countertop color: WindsorTM

he charm of locating their majestic plantation-style

home amid working tobacco fields wasn’t the only motive

driving their choice of location. The Hooker’s farmland

comes with panoramic views. The house has large verandas,

as well as a second-floor terrace, which maximize the family’s enjoy-

ment of the surrounding landscape. To best fit this majestic setting,

the Hookers chose a preplanned home design from Wilmington,

North Carolina–based architect William E. Poole. “I started on the

Internet and looked at hundreds of house plans,” Sam says. “One of

the things that we really wanted was a house that looked like it had

been sitting there for a hundred years.” Sam ultimately settled on a

house plan called “Verandas,” which blends modern openness and

convenience with classic southern style. “I kept coming back to that

plan,” he explains. “Every detail of the house seemed to fit perfectly

with the Colonial look we wanted.” Indeed, the house’s design so

closely resembles the Colonial Revival-style architecture that was

T

30

the doors a dark color to complement the floor. “Our painter had a

hard time with that,” she recalls. “He said he really didn’t want to

do it, but we wanted it to have that really antique look, the sort of

aging that occurs with stain and wood.”

When it came to the kitchen, the Hookers decided not to devi-

ate from the design contained in William Poole’s house plan, which

called for a large kitchen with a curvy central island and lots of

countertop and cabinet space. “I didn’t want stained wood cabi-

nets,” Pam explains. While the Hookers scrupulously followed the

specifications of the house plan, the overall look of the kitchen was

the result of a collaboration with Melissa Jessup of BL Cabinetry,

the cabinetry design studio at Rural Hall, North Carolina-based

Brannock-Lynch Lumber Company. “They were really excellent,”

says Pam. After deciding on green as the right color for the cabinets,

Pam, Sam, and Melissa set about looking for the right countertops

to match the cabinet color. “We looked at a lot of different options

from granite to other quartz products,” Pam says. Ultimately, she

and Sam settled on Cambria. “The thing that attracted us to Cam-

bria was the depth and vibrancy of the colors,” Pam says. “Other

products had similar colors, but not the depth that Cambria has.”

The Hookers choose KensingtonTM for the kitchen countertops. Sam

agrees that Cambria was the perfect choice, especially for the

curved island. “I was impressed that Cambria could be so easily cut

to that odd curve, and yet still look so natural,” he says. “I appreci-

ate Cambria’s functionality in addition to its great look.”

“Aside from the great color depth, the other thing that made

me choose Cambria was that it doesn’t have to be sealed,” Pam

adds. “I’ve been to other people’s kitchens that had granite coun-

tertops, which had been sealed, and you could clearly see variations

in the surface from the sealing process.”

The Hookers also selected Cambria for the countertop in

the wet bar that sits in an alcove between the kitchen and the din-

ing room. The wet bar’s cabinetry is rosewood, painted a distressed

black to give it an aged appearance. “We knew we wanted a cop-

per bar sink and we used bronze-colored faucets, so we wanted a

countertop that would bring these colors together and the Cambria

WindsorTM did just that,” Pam says.

The Hookers also put Cambria in the guest bathroom, and upstairs

in the children’s bathrooms. In the guest bathroom, which features a

combination of black and white cabinetry— mostly a distressed black

31

with a washed out white trim—Cambria’s marvelous color depth

helped pull together the color scheme by blending seamlessly with

the cabinetry and wall color. “The Cambria countertop is gray (Pre-

stonTM) and we painted the walls a pale gray to match,” says Pam.

Upstairs, Pam took pains to match the Cambria countertops with

the colors used in the floor, walls, and cabinets to give each child’s

bathroom a unique look. “In Harrison’s bathroom, for example, we

used Cambria’s LancasterTM , which has dark gray tones that work

well with the hues of brown and copper in the slate on the floor.” In

Gabrielle’s bathroom, the Hookers opted for Cambria’s Wilshire

RedTM to complement the more feminine color scheme.

Pam says she worked closely with the contractor and salespeo-

ple at the cabinetry and tile stores to ensure that the work on the

house went smoothly. “Probably the biggest key to pulling it all to-

gether, from selection of cabinetry, to paint color, to countertops,

was taking samples of the cabinet colors and the Cambria colors to

the tile store to make sure that everything was going to work to-

gether.” The process took time, but saved them trouble later on.

“We didn’t end up saying ‘oh, I hate that paint color,’ or ‘I wish

we’d chosen a different color for the countertop,’ once it was in-

stalled, and then have to go back and change it,” Pam says. “There

was a lot that we tried to do on the front end and during the selec-

tion process to make sure we didn’t end up with too many cases of

‘I wish I had done this or that.’”

Once their dream house was finished, in November of last year,

the Hookers began the task of moving their family from the old

home in King, to the new house in Westfield. “Gabrielle and Har-

rison actually adjusted to the new house a lot easier than I did,”

Pam recalls, laughing. “They really fit right in.” Gabrielle in par-

ticular, quickly adopted a new morning routine. “She gets up every

morning, eats her breakfast, and then goes to visit with her grand-

parents—whose cabin is just 300 yards from the house—for a bit

before she goes off to school.”

“I’ve been fortunate in life to have many opportunities,” says

Sam. “But this home really is a dream come true for us.” He adds

that leaving their old home, with all of its memories—especially

from when the children were young—was difficult. Still, this mag-

nificent new home, with its elegant exterior and old-fashioned

charm, offers the Hookers a chance to write another wonderful

new chapter in their family’s story in the years ahead.

Countertop color: KensingtonTM

The elegant curves of the main island countertop were no problem for Cambria and the KensingtonTM pattern blendedperfectly with the green cabinetry aound the perimeter of the kitchen. The result was a highly functional space,perfect for the preparation of food, of course, but also great for hanging out and maybe even doing some homework.

32

33

hen Cambria announced in October

2008 that Floform Countertops would be

the inaugural inductee to its Lexus Partner

Program, the choice seemed natural enough. Floform is a

full-service kitchen renovation company specializing in

hard surface countertops with locations across Canada’s

western provinces. It also more than meets the Lexus

Partner criteria of sales success, commitment to market-

ing, and exceptional customer service. But, like any busi-

ness that has survived for more than 40 years, Floform

had to endure its share of growing pains along the way.

Luckily, given the choice to simply stop growing or try

springing up in a new direction, the folks at Floform

chose the latter.

Most entrepreneurs can describe a moment when they

first knew they had it—a sticking point where ambition

and idea coalesced and a business was born. For Ted

Sherritt, that moment was less about what happens

when things stick than what happens when they don’t.

“There was a change in the adhesive

industry” is not the answer one expects when

asking the Chairman and CEO of a thriving

company how he came to his current station

in life. A career accountant for much of his

adult life, Sherritt wasn’t even born when

brothers John, Harry, and Frank Dyck

founded Floform in 1961. He would come to the business 34

years later as the generator of its rebirth.

“Those early years were very pioneering,” says Frank

Dyck of Floform’s fledgling days as a fabricator and

installer of laminate countertops in Winnipeg, Manitoba.

“[Laminate] was a new product for the industry.” It caught

on quickly. After a few years in a less than ideal storefront

in Winnipeg (“In today’s terms we talk about a building

like that as a matchbox,” says Dyck), Floform moved to an

all-concrete building across town more accommodating to

their purposes. (“It was like Fort Knox compared to that

first building.”) While brother Harry left Floform in 1969

to begin a career as a contractor, Frank and John Dyck

went on to open their second branch in Edmonton, Alberta,

in 1980. Locations in Calgary, Alberta, and Saskatoon,

Saskatchewan followed within the decade. The brothers

were marching west.

But their march almost ended in the early nineties when

the effects of that aforementioned ‘change’ in the adhesive

industry began to show in kitchens across

Canada. Floform countertops installed years

earlier with glue relying on a new kind of

binding agent—one that lost its hold after a

few years’ exposure to oxygen—were quite lit-

erally coming apart at the seams. Like a drove

of cicadas emerging from their stay under-

Stickingwith it

Cambria Lexus Partner Floform Countertops has built somethingapproaching an empire by working hard and committing to its core values.

BY M A X B E R RY

Sherritt (in his Winnpegshowroom) praises

Cambria for the qualityof its training and for itsindustry-leading color

palette, which hedescribes as “fantastic.”

W

34

ground, countertops all over western Canada popped up, and the

noise was deafening.

The resulting loss in business prompted John and Frank Dyck

to seek some professional help with the refinancing of their com-

pany. Enter Ted Sherritt.

It was 1995 when Sherritt began working with the Dyck broth-

ers on the financial restructuring of Floform. By his own account,

Sherritt had “always been a little entrepreneurial,” but his deci-

sion to actually buy into the company he’d been charged to help

save was more than a little bold. “They were running out of

money fast,” says Sherritt. “John was over 70 then, hanging in

there, making sure they got through it.”

Still, the move made sense. “We were getting on in age,”

Frank Dyck says of he and his brother, “and maybe didn’t have

our P’s and Q’s in order [for retirement].” Sherritt helped with the

P’s and Q’s, and provided Floform—and the sizable staff the

Dycks had amassed throughout the years—with something else

the company needed: a future.

Thanks in part to some venture capital and a restructuring of

the company that saw several branch managers become partial

owners, Floform began to recover. But it’s hard to imagine the

most rigorous financial restructuring doing the job of responsible

customer service. It was in this regard that the Dyck brothers

truly impressed Sherritt.

“Lots of people would have gone bankrupt and started again,”

he says. “That just wasn’t in their nature.”

What was in the Dycks’ nature: extending the warranty on

every Floform countertop that had peeled as a result of the faulty

adhesive and offering replacements at a deep discount. By 1998,

Floform was back in the black.

Sherritt and his branch managers bought out John Dyck

shortly after the restructuring of the company and Frank retired

in 2000. “I had a ton of respect for [them],” Sherritt says. “They

were exactly the kind of people you’d want to do business with.

They built a great tradition. All I had to do was carry it forward.”

He has carried it across what he calls the “prairie provinces.”

In addition to Floform’s locations in Winnipeg, Edmonton, Cal-

gary, and Saskatoon, 2008 saw the opening of new facilities in

Regina, Saskatchewan and Vancouver, British Columbia.

That’s six cities in four provinces—all home to a company that

looked for a moment as though it would be undone, in a stroke of

painfully literal irony, by a batch of faulty glue.

t may not be a coincidence that Floform’s rolling expansion

has coincided with the addition of natural stone surfaces—

like Cambria natural quartz—to its product line. It was in

2003 that Floform began fabricating and installing granite coun-

tertops. Quartz was added in 2004 and, in the five years since, has

become the fastest-growing part of Floform’s business.

“Granite has different lines,” says Sherritt, referring to the

stone’s natural ridges and weak spots. “The things that make

granite beautiful are also what make it unpredictable. Quartz is

easier to work with and it’s stronger than granite.”

The desire to gain as much knowledge as possible about this

new product inspired Sherritt, in late 2005, to send 12 employees

I

Cambria UniversityCraftsmen from Floform—along withabout 200 other quartz dealers—have all sharpened their skills at Cambria’sone-of-a-kind training institute.

You wouldn’t know it by looking, but a non-descript building in St. Peter, Minnesota,houses the facility where more than 200North American quartz dealers have senttheir fabricators, foremen, and sales teamsto hone their very distinct craft. Fourteenmiles from Cambria’s main plant in LeSueur,it is the headquarters of Cambria University.

“The University is all about business train-ing. I’m responsible for making sure our programs are meeting the trainingneeds of our partners,” says Cambria U Operations Manager Doug Wilson.Dan Kortuem, former Cambria U Operations Manager and now Project Man-ager, Fabshop by Cambria, agrees: “Whatever [our partners] need, we can doit,” he says . He isn’t kidding. Cambria University’s curriculum is built toinstruct North America’s quartz dealers on every facet of the design, fabrica-tion, installation, marketing, and selling of the surface. The university, as itstands today, officially opened its doors on January 1, 2006, though Cambriahad been offering less formal training courses for a couple years prior to that.

At its inception, there were three basic courses: one for fabricators,one for installers, and one sales course. But the University’s course cata-log grew to match the needs of Cambria’s partners. The university nowoffers seven courses, geared toward everyone from office-bound busi-ness owners to hands-on installers.

Structuring course work around Cambria partners’ day-to-day needs isthe university’s specialty. “We have a core program, which we publicize,” saysWilson, of the U’s fluid approach to partner training, “but if one of our part-ners needs to customize a course to fit their needs, we’ll help them with that.”

This occasionally means going out into the field to work with dealersin their own facilities, as instructors did a couple years ago to help crafts-men at Floform get the best use of their own equipment. Wherevercourses are held, Wilson and Kortuem take a great deal of pride in theirinstructors, whom Kortuem refers to as “practitioners of the art” of quartzfabrication. The typical Cambria U instructor has hands-on experience inseveral steps of the quartz process; a machine operator has worked infield measurement, and knows what each job has to do with the other. It’san appropriately holistic approach to teaching a long and careful process.

The approach is working: 81 companies visited the U in 2008 alone.That’s up from 72 in 2007 and 62 in 2006. And from all of these compa-nies, Cambria University has raked in a grand total of zero dollars intuition money. In a show of Cambria’s commitment to lasting, ethicalpartnerships, all classes are offered free of charge to Cambria partners,whether there is one person taking the course or a dozen. Talk about alesson in customer service. “I would say Cambria U is an innovation initself,” says Kortuem. “I know of no one with a system like ours.”

tion (ISSFA). It was through ISSFA

that he met Luke Moore of Seattle-

based fabricators Fineline Pacific. The

two struck up a friendship and, in

May 2008, Sherritt became a partial

owner of Fineline. The former

accountant with the ‘little’ entrepre-

neurial streak is now a partial owner

of businesses in two countries. The

deal means increased resources for

both companies, and it will deepen

the well of experience for Floform;

gangbusters as the last few years have

been for the Canadian company, Fine-

line has been fabricating stone for a

decade.

But all this growth doesn’t mean

Sherritt has lost touch with his prede-

cessors’ spirit. Frank Dyck, now 75,

still comes by the office from time to

time, often bearing donuts, to see how

things are going. “I’ve been known to

pick up a few dozen donuts and then

not eat any,” Dyck says, alluding to

the crowd he draws when he pops in to

Floform’s Winnipeg store. “Everybody knows me. I avoid going

too often because everybody wants to talk to me. I’m wasting too

much production time. I shouldn’t loiter around. They have a

business to run.” There is, for the record, an audible smile in

Dyck’s voice when he says this that suggests he won’t be handing

off his donut-buying duties any time soon. This should please

Sherritt, who is more than happy to have him around: “He’s

proud of what [he and his brothers] started and he should be.”

The Dyck brothers can also take pride, one hopes, in the fact

that traces of the business they started 48 years ago remain, and

aren’t likely to disappear any time soon. “We have at least half a

dozen craftsmen with forty years of experience,” Sherritt says.

“Forty years…” he repeats the number as if he can’t quite get his

head around it, as if this man with three separate accounting

degrees might have made a mistake in his math. “They’re fan-

tastic people,” he continues. “They can work here for as long as

they want.”

If the past has taught Sherritt anything, it’s that the future

will be unpredictable. It’s the people around him who carry the

more important lesson: that there are few attributes more valu-

able—in business or in life—than the ability to endure.

35

to the then brand new Cambria University. (See sidebar, oppo-

site.) Taking part in Cambria’s specialized fabrication, installa-

tion, and sales courses, Sherritt’s staff learned their product inside

and out. “That experience was important to us because we were

brand new to the stone game,” says Sherritt.

In the past three years, Sherritt has sent nearly 40 employees to

Cambria U and the number continues to grow. “Once a year we

send a sizable group,” he says. Cambria has reciprocated by send-

ing their own instructors to Floform’s fabrication facility, to work

with fabricators and installers in their own space with their own

equipment.

This back-and-forth is indicative of the strong partnership

between the companies. Sherritt, for his part, sees several bene-

fits to the relationship. “I like that they’re North American

made, the quality of their training, their colors—Cambria’s color

palette is fantastic. They have the best colors for our market.

When you open boxes of other colors and theirs, people gravitate

toward Cambria.”

If Sherritt and his staff were new to the stone game in 2003,

they’re something like seasoned pros in 2009. Sherritt now sits on

the board of the International Solid Surface Fabricators Associa-

Gerald Schade, Floform’sinstallation manager forthe Winnipeg region,applies Gorilla Gripclamps to ensure a secureand level fit at the joint oftwo soon-to-be-installedCambria surfaces.

36

All Inc. stands by its name. The St. Paul, Minnesota-based kitchen products distributor is

the one and only place you need to go to create, remodel, or simply improve your kitchen.

The company boasts what may be the largest kitchen-related showroom in the entire Mid-

west—more than 18,000 square feet of cabinetry, appliances, countertops, sinks, faucets,

tiles, and furnishings virtually guaranteed to satisfy almost any homeowner’s wildest

dream. And, of course, All Inc. is one of Cambria’s largest retail partners.

The company is the creation of two brothers, Mark and Jim Rutzick, who co-own the

business. They built All Inc. out of their father’s existing business, which dates back to the

1940s. The elder Rutzick had built a sizeable business operating washers and dryers in

local apartment buildings. “When I decided to join the family business in the late ’80s, I

was looking for an opportunity to do something different,” says Mark Rutzick. “We had a

relationship with General Electric (GE) since we bought laundry machines from them.

So I just started going to apartment buildings selling refrigeration and replacement appli-

ances,” he explains. His brother Jim eventually joined him and they formed All Inc. in its

current configuration in 1988.

The company’s path to its current

positon of prominence has not

always been smooth. “A couple of

years ago, we were prepared to

merge with another company, but at

the last minute, it fell through,”

Rutzick recalls. “The other company

walked away and ultimately was liq-

uidated.” With the home construc-

tion and remodeling market in free

fall, the failed merger put All Inc. in

some difficulty. “We had to close two

showrooms and scale back the busi-

ness,” Rutzick says. “It was a sort of

‘come to Jesus’ moment for us.” In the face of such setbacks, many

companies might have chosen to go conservative and avoid any

kind of risk. But in January of last year, when All Inc. received an

opportunity to acquire several new lines of kitchen and home

products, including Sub Zero and Viking, the Rutzicks essentially

chose to go on the offensive, investing additional funds to add

showroom space to accommodate the new lines, burnish the com-

pany brand, and do whatever it took to maintain the company’s

reputation for quality and service. That gutsy decision and the

philosophy behind it—invest in

quality, maintain your standards, or

get out of the business—have res-

onated with consumers and business

partners alike. (“We really

impressed some of the representa-

tives from the big suppliers like GE,” Rutzick notes.) And the

added investment is obviously paying off. “We are now the biggest

kitchen remodeling distributor in the region and are very well

positioned going forward,” Rutzick says.

While the average homeowner looking to remodel his or her

kitchen, or just seeking to upgrade cabinets or appliances, cur-

rently represents the smallest slice of All Inc.’s business, Rutzick

says the company goes out of its way to bring these consumers in

and make the kitchen remodeling process as easy and painless as

Building on a business started by their father, Mark and JimRutzick have built All Inc. into one of the largest kitchen andbath dealers in the Midwest. BY C H R I STO P H E R F R E E B U R N

All Included

Dealer Details

37

possible. (Apartment manage-

ment companies, general con-

tractors, large-scale home-

builders, and small single-home

contractors make up the bulk of

the business.) “We have kitchen

designers here so we will

design entire kitchens for con-

sumers from A to Z and put

them in contact with any of a

dozen or so contractors whom

we deem reliable,” Rutzick

explains. All Inc’s designers

can take a kitchen’s measure-

ments and enter them into a

computer-aided design (CAD)

program that will create a

three-dimensional rendering of

the kitchen. The designer and

homeowner can then use the

rendering to explore how dif-

ferent design options would appear in the new kitchen.

Rutzick takes pride in the fact that All Inc. offers an enormous

selection of Cambria products. “We believe we have one of the

largest selections of Cambria displays in the marketplace,” he says.

Part of that pride comes from the fact that Cambria is a Minnesota-

based company as well. “Having Cambria manufactured and head-

quartered in Minnesota is pretty exciting for our state,” Rutzick

says. “But while we always like to support local companies, we

stock Cambria because the quality of Cambria products has created

huge demand. We are excited to have Cambia on our showroom

floor. It gets a lot of attention,” he adds.

According to Rutzick, All Inc.’s relationship with Cambria

began some years ago when Innovative Surfaces, a countertop fab-

rication company based in Hastings, Minnesota, brought Cambria’s

products to their attention. Now Cambria products abound

through out All Inc.’s massive

showroom. “We have this beau-

tiful Cambria countertop with a

chiseled edge,” says Rutzick.

“Most consumers we encounter

haven’t seen a chiseled edge on

Cambria—they’ve done it to

granite for years—and it’s a

beautiful look,” he explains,

noting, “A lot of people don’t

even know what it is because it’s

so unique.” The rough-hewn

chiseled edge appears on more

than just kitchen countertops,

according to Rutzick. “We also

have a Cambria bar that’s very

exquisite which also has a chis-

eled edge. We just think it’s

very special.”

Visitors to All Inc. can view Cambria products in a variety of

different kitchen and non-kitchen settings. Rutzick says that great

care was given to creating the perfect environment for homeown-

ers to see kitchen products. “When you walk into our showroom,

it’s a very soothing environment,” he says. “We have light jazz

playing in the background all the time and the lighting is

designed to mimic what the typical homeowner would find in his

or her own home.”

Rutzick notes that he expects All Inc.’s retail business with

individual homeowners looking to remodel their own kitchens to

increase dramatically in the next few years, in part because of the

consumer interest Cambria products attract. “We have the best

environment for them to see Cambria products in realistic

kitchen settings, which gives people a good idea of how it will

ultimately look in their homes,” he says. “That’s a big advantage

and it brings people in.”

As demonstrated byhis massive show-

room featuring a widevariety of kitchenproducts, Mark

Rutzick (relaxing nextto one of his manyCambria displays)strives to make All

Inc. a one-stop shopfor builders andconsumers alike.

Stuff of Dreams

Accessorizing your home with beautiful but useful objects can be an easy and stylish way to add color, texture,and character to your favorite rooms. Here we present a collection of exceptional items for your consideration.

Elegant Extras

1 2

1 . W I L L I A M S S O N O M A H O M E S O L I D C A S H M E R E T H R OW($298.00; wshome.com; 50” x 70”, 4” fringe)Designed for luxury lounging, this throw has theexquisite softness and warmth of pure cashmere; awaterweave pattern adds subtle visual texture. Dry-clean. Imported. May be monogrammed for an addi-tional $6 charge.

3 . KO H L E R K A R B O N A R T I C U L AT I N G FAU C E T($990; us.kohler.com)A kitchen faucet serves a multitude of functionsand the Karbon Articulating Faucet is versatileenough for all of them. Engineered to hold anypose, the Karbon offers a complete range of motionthrough its five pivoting joints. Extend the faucetcompletely to fill a tall vase, lower it into the sinkfor food preparation and cleanup, or position it any-where in between; the Karbon allows you to guideand lock in water flow with absolute precision. Foldit compactly out of the way when it’s not in use. Or,if you’re looking for a conversation piece, don’t.

3 . FA R M H O U S E D U E T P R O(Approx. $2,400 – $4,000 depending on dealer and finish; nativetrails.net)Add a unique and functional work of art to yourkitchen with a pair of striking hand-hammered cop-per sinks from Native Trails. Available in brushednickel and antique finishes, these basins are easilymaintained—much like Cambria countertops—withmild soap and water. Recent studies have shownthat copper has remarkable natural antibacterialproperties, which actually kill bacteria such as E.coli in a matter of hours, while stainless steel andother traditional surfaces may allow them to sur-vive for weeks. Elegant, safe, durable, easy to main-tain—Native Trails basins will add style to yourkitchen for years to come.

4 . V I K I N G F U L L- H E I G H T W I N E C E L L A R(Dealer information at vikingrange.com)Different wines must be cared for in different ways,as any serious collector knows. Luckily, this 30”-widecellar can accommodate the needs of 150 of yourfavorite vintages. The exclusive TriTemp storage sys-tem provides three independent temperature zones,preserving different types of wine at optimal servingtemperatures. Each zone is adjustable between 43and 65 degrees Fahrenheit and the electronic con-trol center constantly monitors the temperature ineach zone while maintaining a 60-percent humiditylevel. While the cellar’s ultraviolet-resistant glassand black interior protect wine from harmful light,and bottles are stored horizontally to keep corksmoist, you can still show off a label or two: Convert-ible shelves and low-intensity interior lighting areexcellent for bottle display.

4

3

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5 7

6 8

Stuff of Dreams5 . K I TC H E N CO M P O S T C R O C K($24.95 for crock, $5.95 for filters; homesteadhelpers.com)Everybody knows that composting does goodthings for the environment and the garden, butwith this ceramic crock, it can also do downrightelegant things for your kitchen. The one-galloncrock is much more pleasing to the eye than astandard plastic bin and, thanks to its glazed inte-rior, it’s also stain resistant, meaning you won’tneed to replace it any time soon. Simply tossscraps and leftovers into the pot and empty it in thecompost heap when it’s full. The crock’s impervi-ousness to stains, along with the charcoal filters(included, with replacements sold separately) alsoensures that going green doesn’t require bringingunfortunate odors into your kitchen.

6 . R E I S E N T H E L M I N I M A X ILO N G H A N D L E B AG($8.99, reusablebags.com)This versatile shopping bag expands from miniwhen closed and compressed (5.5" x 2.5" x 2.5")to maxi when open for use (25" x 15.7" x 10.4" /capacity: 26 lbs). Designed in Germany, thesebags are especially popular abroad, in countrieswith bans or restrictions on plastic bags. Its sleekdesign features long handles so you can carry itover your shoulder, and it is made of rip-stoppolyester for extra strength and longevity. TheMini Maxi Long Handle bag neatly folds into itsown zippered container, with a bit of room tospare for keys or other small items. The containeralso has a clip to attach to a key ring, belt loop orother "hookable" surface. Put one in your glovecompartment, desk drawer, coat pocket, purse orbackpack and you’ll always be prepared.

7. ACC E N T S BY C A M B R I A(CambriaUSA.com; contact for pricing)Available in complementary colorsand fashioned from the same quartzas Cambria countertops, this line ofhome accessories provides addedcharacter to rooms already outfittedwith Cambria surfaces. The Accentscollection’s cabinet knobs, drawerpulls, paper towel holders, andswitch plates for electrical outlets,phone jacks, and light switches allowfor style continuity with Cambriacountertops. Items like cheese plates(shown) and coasters, meanwhile,bring a touch of Cambria class to anyroom in the house.

8 . B E A R C R E E K G L A S S O C E A N S I N K(Small: $1,795; Large: $1,895; bearcreekglass.com)Every bathroom has a sink; the BearGlass Ocean sink, as the company’sweb site puts it, is a focal point. Anorganic take on more modern, uni-form bowl sinks, the Ocean is hand-crafted, meaning yours will be entirelyunique to your home. Made from 100percent recycled glass, the sinkranges in size from 16" to 19" acrossand 4" to 6" deep. Available in 10 dif-ferent colors, ranging from clear toblack, and with custom colors avail-able upon request, the bowl can befashioned to lend an artisanal touchto any décor.

9. A S C A S O D R E A M E S P R E S S O M AC H I N E($750; ascaso.com)Whether it’s a latte, cappuccino, or straight shot of espresso, the AscasoDream’s 16 BAR water pump has the power to extract every bit of flavor fromyour favorite gourmet coffee. The machine works with ground coffee or ESEcoffee pods, and the professional grade frothing tip, pressure gauge, andportafilter allow you to brew café quality espresso drinks at home. The topsurface of the machine, with a metal rail designed to hold nine cups, evendoubles as a cup warmer. But there are pleasures beyond the coffee: TheseDream machines, at once retro and new age, are works of pop art in them-selves. Ascaso’s “Crazy” collection features the Ladybird, available in red oryellow with black polka dots, and, as shown here, the Cow.

10. WO O D M O D E A N D S H OW P L AC E WO O D F I N E C U S TO M C A B I N E T RY(Retail locations, products, and pricing information available at showplacewood.com & wood-mode.com)There is no better companion for a quartz countertop than beautiful customcabinetry. Look no further for yours than these two fine cabinet makers. Billedas “employee owned” and “environmentally responsible,” Showplace WoodProducts allows customers to select their “skill level”—from “I’m real new atthis” to “I know what I want”—and provides them with the appropriate amountof guidance from there. Showplace works with all the classic species of wood:maple, cherry, hickory, and oak—as well as lyptus, an exotic hardwood sustain-ably grown on environmentally managed plantations in South America. WoodMode, meanwhile, uses kilns in its own highly integrated manufacturing facility to dry their lumber to optimum moisture levels for a variety of homeapplications. The same level of finesse and attention to detail is maintained byWood Mode’s craftsmen through the multi-step finishing process, so the cabinets in your home will be tailored precisely to your tastes and needs.

9 10

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The roots of our company go all the way back to 1943,

when Stanley Davis, the grandfather of our CEO and

President Marty Davis, purchased a small business in

St. Peter, Minnesota, called the St. Peter Creamery. In

1959, at age 19, his son Mark began driving the new

bulk milk pickup route for the factory. Mark’s four sons each began

working in the growing family business while in high school, driv-

ing trucks, filling barrels, and learning first-hand the values of

hard work and innovation that continue to contribute to the success

of Davisco Foods International to this day. After more than 60

years, Davisco still brings an exceptionally professional approach

to the business of food processing.

We founded Cambria in 2001, allowing us to bring Davisco’s rich

heritage into an exciting new industry. It took extraordinary vision

to recognize how making cheese could prepare us for producing nat-

ural quartz surfaces. But in just eight years, we’ve been able to par-

lay our manufacturing expertise into one of the country’s fastest

growing businesses. On a daily basis, Cambria relies upon critical

lessons from our dairy business—commitments to innovation and

efficiency, attention to detail, the critical role of longstanding rela-

tionships—to build and grow the new enterprise.

Partnership is a fundamental value at Cambria. It is not a term

we use lightly—it is the mindset and motivation for how we run

our business. We have known all along that the path to success in-

volves partnering with companies just like ours: small businesses

made up of dedicated people. Together we maintain integrity, pur-

sue excellence, create opportunities for growth, work hard, and re-

mind each other that we are all part of something bigger.

Our relationships enable Cambria to build passion for our brand

outside our organization. Our partners learn about our dedication

to quality, the nature of our people, and the strength of our product.

Cambria fabricators transform Cambria into magnificent counter-

tops and our installers become our bridge to the consumer. All are

master craftsmen.

TOGETHER WE REMAIN ABSOLUTELY COMMITTED TO:Innovation: We drive innovation through attention to detail. This

focus has enabled Cambria to develop an industry-leading color

palette. Exceptional colors don’t happen overnight, but require a

team-wide commitment to exploring new avenues. New colors in-

volve both employees and partners, who bring valuable perspec-

tives. This input, combined with new technology and ongoing

research and development, yields a dynamic quartz color palette.

Not only do brilliant Cambria colors unite our team, they also ul-

timately inject our brand with a distinct advantage.

Knowledge and learning: Continued learning has always been

a priority. At the center of this knowledge-sharing initiative is

Cambria University, located in Minnesota, where employees,

fabricators, installers, and partners visit to learn about our brand,

our culture, and our products, and about how to improve their pro-

duction processes and how to best promote and sell our products.

The Coreof Cambria

With its roots in the family dairy business, Cambria has always retained a passionate commitment to talented people, to key relationships, and to excellence in every phase of its business.

43

Quality: Quality is a bottom-line issue at Cambria. But it means

more than manufacturing a great product. Our pursuit is detail-

driven in order to enhance quality at every turn. This means that

our facilities aren’t just clean, they are immaculate. We don’t re-

spond with speed, but with urgency. Our people don’t simply

work hard, they also look and act in a professional manner at all

times. Quality is built into the Cambria culture. It supports our

brand, strengthens and maintains our relationships, and keeps us

focused on excellence.

Vision: Because we’re a family business, we can have long-

term vision. We’re not a “ninety-day dividend” company. We

can take a patient approach to our business, allowing expertise

to develop, relationships to gel, and people to grow. Cambria’s

people and partners, linked together by a common passion for

our product and our brand, remain dedicated to our fundamen-

tal mission to create the best natural quartz products in the

marketplace.

Team Cambria: (above, l. to r.) Bruce Gebhart, General Manager; JeffHovanec, VP Business Development; Mackenzie Weldon, Market Represen-tative; Matt Davis, Executive VP, Business Partner Services; Marty Davis,President and CEO; Kathy Ordahl, Market Representative, Jim Ward, CFO.The dragon logo (left), like the company name, has its roots in Wales, theancestral home of the Davis family.

Cambria production facility lobby, Le Sueur, Minnesota.

44

TheColors of

STRENGTH &DURABILITYCambria is 93% natural

quartz, one of the hard-

est minerals on Earth. In

fact, Cambria is twice as

strong as granite.

MAINTENANCE FREENo sealing, polishing or

reconditioning is

needed. Simply wash

with warm water. It’s

that simple. Plus, unlike

granite, Cambria will re-

sist stains from

common food items

such as coffee, tea, and

wine.

FOOD SAFEUnlike granite, Cambria

has been certified by

NSF International as

safe for use as a food

preparation surface. Cam-

bria is nonporous, and

therefore nonabsorbent,

making cleanup easy and

preventing food and

moisture from penetrat-

ing its surface — the

main source of growth

for harmful bacteria.

ALL NATURALCambria is created from

pure natural quartz, an

extremely hard stone

crystal. In fact, quartz

is one of the hardest

non-precious stones that

can be found in the

earth’s surface.

GUARANTEEDAs the only producer of

quartz surfaces in the

United States, Cambria

is covered by a Lifetime

Limited Warranty.

For more information

and to locate a dealer

near you, visit

CambriaUSA.com.

AshfordTM BradfordTM BrownhillTM ChathamTM CranbrookTM KensingtonTM LancasterTM

THE QUARRY COLLECTION

With an eye-catching and industry-leading palette, Cambria has just the right colors, eitheralone or in combination with others, to enhance the look and feel of your home environment.Samples can be ordered online or at your local Cambria kitchen and bath retailer.

NottinghamTM OxfordTM Park GateTM PrestonTM ReadingTM SheffieldTM SomersetTM

SouthamptonTM SuttonTM VictoriaTM WindsorTM

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Cambrian BlackTM CherrybrookTM DoverTM FieldstoneTM HazelfordTM OakhamptonTM SussexTM

THE DESERT COLLECTION

WhitehallTM YorkshireTM COMING SOON: Exciting new colors in Spring 2009!

Bala BlueTM Brecon BrownTM Bristol BlueTM Burton BrownTM Caerphilly GreenTM Cambrian GoldTM Cardiff CreamTM

THE CLASSIC COLLECTION

Cardigan RedTM Carlisle GreyTM CarmarthenBrownTM

Coswell CreamTM Flint BlackTM Hyde ParkTM New CastleTM

Oxwich GreenTM Snowdon WhiteTM Stafford BrownTM Talbot GreyTM Tenby CreamTM Welshpool BlackTM Wilshire RedTM

Cambria

46

TheBeautyof Cambria

As evidenced by the flood of submissions received for the Cambria Lifestyles Contest heldin 2008, Cambria’s distinctive quartz surfaces are rapidly growing in popularity. The 13winners will all appear in our sumptuous 2009 calendar. To view this year’s winners, visitCambriaUSA.com and click on “2009 Lifestyles Contest Winners.” To submit your ownCambria design for the 2010 contest go to CambriaUSA.com/lifestylescontest.

2009 CAMBRIA LIFESTYLES CONTEST WINNERS

47

Grand Prize / January (opposite)RESIDENTIAL MASTER BATHROOM Fallston, MDCOLOR: YorkshireTM

DESIGNED BY: Blue Arnold, CKD CBD - Kitchens by Request, Jarrettsville, MD

February (above)STETSON MANSION KITCHENDeLand, FL COLOR: BrownhillTM

DESIGNED BY: Alice Designs For You, LLC Jacksonville Beach, FLFABRICATED BY: Discover Marble & GraniteOrlando, FL

October (left)CAFÉ CAMBRIA Air Canada Centre, Toronto, ONCOLOR: VictoriaTM, YorkshireTM, & CherrybrookTM

DESIGNED BY: ZAS Interiors, Toronto, ONINSTALLED BY: Quartz Surfaces Toronto-Mississauga, ON

48

In all my years in the business, I’ve seen

every design mistake. So, with new clients I

tell them to sit down in their space with a

glass of wine, a cocktail, or a cup of coffee

and write down adjectives to describe the

pace and feeling that they want to achieve in

the room. Then they edit that list down to

just five or six words, which become the cri-

teria for making all design decisions. If the

goal is a “practical, functional” dining room

in a home with young children, for example,

then glass-top tables and pure white carpet-

ing would be poor design choices. A “cool,

sleek, light, and open” kitchen, on the other

hand, might call for more glass and stainless

steel as well as neutral, light-colored coun-

tertops. This method helps me justify my

style choices to my clients and for the do-it-

yourself designer it helps keep them on

track so that they don’t end up buying things

on impulse that are out of scale or the wrong

color for the space.

Billy Beson , A.S .I.D., is CEO of the Min-

neapolis-based interior design firm Beson

Kading Interior Design Group.

KnowYourAdjectivesTaking the time to define the most critical goals you have for your interiorspaces will help you avoid a wealth of design mistakes.

By B I L LY B E S O N as told to REED RICHARDSON

Beson chose Snowdon WhiteTM Cambriacountertops for his condo near Palm

Beach because “white is the color ofthe whitecaps on the ocean andbecause a neutral room indoors

makes the colors outside really pop.”

Last Look

CAMBRIAPresident and CEOMARTIN DAVIS

Director of MarketingSUMMER KATH

Communications SpecialistJAYME MADSON

PUBLISHING PARTNERTouchpoint Media, LLC Chief Executive OfficerSTEVE FARBMAN President JIM MCEWEN Senior Vice PresidentDAVID JENSEN ControllerLINDA ALLISON

EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief MORIN BISHOP Art Director BARBARA CHILENSKAS Managing Editor REED RICHARDSON Senior Editors/Writers CHRIS FREEBURN MAX BERRY Photo Editor ALAN GOTTLIEB Production Manager WADE MARTIN Production & Sales CoordinatorGINA KRUSEMARK Contributor JILL KIRCHNER SIMPSON

PHOTOGRAPHY CREDITS: COVER: Dominique Vorillon; page 1 (both): Courtesy Cambria; page 3: Dominique Vorillon; page 4: Courtesy Cambria; page 5: Peter Dazeley/Photographer’s Choice/Getty Images; page 6 (bot-tom): Courtesy Cambria; page 7 (top): Courtesy Cambria; page 10 (bottom left): Michael Arnaud/Beateworks/Corbis; page 10 (bottom right): Johnny Bouchier/Getty Images; page 12: Beat-han/Corbis; page 13: Stockbyte/Getty Images; page 14: Courtesy Cambria; page 15: Courtesy Cambria; page 16 (top left and top middle): Elizabeth Whiting & Associates/Corbis; pages 16-17(bottom): Courtesy Cambria; pages 18–20 (all): Dominique Vorillon; pages 22–23 (all): Dominique Vorillon; pages 24–31 (all): Gil Stose; page 32: Ian McCausland; page 34: Courtesy Cambria;page 35: Ian McCausland; pages 36–37 (top): Susan Gilmore; page 36 (inset): Brandon Rowell/Courtesy All Inc.; page 37 (both): Brandon Rowell/Courtesy All Inc; page 40 (bottom right): Cour-tesy Cambria; page 42: Courtesy Cambria; page 43 (top): MMG/Todd Buchanan; page 43 (bottom): Courtesy Cambria; pages 46–47 (all): Courtesy Cambria; page 48 (top): Courtesy Cambria.

CAMBRIA STYLE is published three times per year by CAMBRIA, 11000 West 78th Street, Eden Prairie, MN 55344. Copyright © 2009 by CAMBRIA. All rights reserved. Reproduction inwhole or in part without the express written permission of the publisher is strictly prohibited. The publisher assumes no liability for products or services mentioned herein.