Noce Travertine Bathroom Vanity with a Half Moon Edge Detail

BJ recently gave me quite the bundle of old job photos. So, you may be overwhelmed with MGS by Design's old job pictures for awhile here. It's kind of fun for me to go back and see what we've done.
This picture is of Noce Travertine with a 2 1/2" Half Moon Edge Detail. I really like those square undermount sinks!

Great Sink Ideas for Kitchen Islands

I ran across this great article Sink Considerations For Kitchen Islands on the fantastic Houzz website today and thought I'd share a few of the pictures here.

traditional kitchen design

traditional kitchen design by chicago kitchen and bath The Kitchen Studio of Glen Ellyn

modern kitchen design by san francisco interior designer Michael Merrill Design Studio, Inc

To read the article and see more great pictures click here.

Some CaesarStone Love...

I spent some time today swooning over pictures on CaesarStone's website. I just love looking at what people come up with! There is so much great design out there.

Here are some of my favorite, fun pictures.... all from CaesarStone's web gallery.

This Apple Martini desk that is in their San Francisco Showroom rocks!

Photo: CaesarStone

Lagos Blue is one of my favorite CaesarStone colors. The color is so similar to the real Lagos Blue Limestone. Great vanity.

Photo: CaesarStone

Beautiful kitchen in Espresso.

Photo: CaesarStone

I love the design of this Concrete colored fireplace.

Photo: CaesarStone

Blizzard CaesarStone is a good alternative for the customer that wants the look of white marble in their kitchen without the maintenance!

Photo: CaesarStone

Ruby Reflections has recycled content in the slab. Beautiful restaurant! I love the design of this counter.

Photo: CaesarStone

The Quartz Reflections also has recycled content.

Photo: CaesarStone

Which color of CaesarStone is your favorite?

Rain Forest Brown marble & Delicatus granite vanities

Well, no one sent me any questions this week.  So in lieu of FAQ Friday I'll show some pictures of a couple of vanities that we have recently installed here at MGS by Design.
This first vanity is 2 cm Rain Forest Brown marble.

These last three pictures are 3 cm Delicatus granite with a Beveled Edge Detail.  I just love this bathroom, I think it was my favorite vanity in this house.

Have a great weekend!

Bake-N-Blog.....Espresso Fudge Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing

Please humor me today while I talk waaay off topic and turn the subject to cupcakes.
I am participating in Stacy Edwards' Bake-N-Blog event today. 
I made my cupcakes this past weekend.  I originally signed up for the Coconut Sponge Cupcakes with Chocolate Espresso Buttercream, but then I noticed no one had signed up for Cupcake #1..... so I changed my selection with Stacy and ended up making the Espresso Fudge Cupcakes with Chocolate Cream Cheese Icing instead.

Let me begin with the fact that I am not a baker.  I have only made cupcakes from scratch one other time in my life.  Usually I take the easy route with a box of cake mix.  When I did make them from scratch a couple of months ago it's because I had bought a box of strawberry cake mix for my little sister's birthday (she was turning 13) and then remembered when I got home that she hates strawberry.  I didn't have time to go back to the store and so I made chocolate cupcakes from scratch....and they fell sunk.  I filled them way up with the frosting so you couldn't see the huge hole in the middle and my sister loved them because she loves frosting.
My point in telling this story is that I should have remembered that the cupcakes sunk and taken a lesson from it. 
Well... I forgot to learn my lesson. 
I think I needed to add more of whatever ingredient you add when you live at a high altitude (is it baking soda?), because my cupcakes sunk again! 

Other than that they were fine I think.  They were way too sweet for my liking, I would take out the chocolate chips that go in the batter if I were to make them again.  Also, I couldn't taste the espresso at all.  I even sprinkled some on top but I think the sweetness just overpowered all espresso flavor.  So that would be the other thing I'd change....more espresso, like double or triple the called for amount.
I chopped up a dark chocolate bar and put that on top instead of the chocolate chips.
I took my pictures of the cupcakes on top of a piece of Carrara marble, I had to tie in stone somehow!

To read about the other cupcakes made during this Bake-N-Blog celebration go to Stacy's blog for the links.
Thanks Stacy for a fun idea!

Mexican Noce travertine slab in a Powder Room

We recently completed this Powder Vanity with Mexican Noce travertine slab on the countertops.  The glass vessel sink that they selected is so beautiful, it's even prettier in person.

The slabs were 3 cm and the edge detail is 1 1/4" Square Polished.

Photos property of MGS by Design.

Gold & Silver granite vanity

Today I thought I'd show some more pictures of a project we recently finished up here at MGS by Design.

The countertops are 2 cm Gold & Silver granite, the homeowner's selected this remnant from our yard.

The edge detail is a 1 1/2" Ogee Square.

Photos by me.

Seafoam Green granite vanity

This house was pretty big, so we still have quite a few more posts about Home #4 built by Wright Custom Homes in the Salt Lake Parade of Homes.

Today we're showing the Seafoam Green granite vanity with a 1 1/2" Ogee Square edge detail.

Quite the beautiful home right?
There are lots more pictures to come!

Photos by me.

Slab Sunday: Rosso Levanto

Rosso Levanto is a marble Serpentinite that is quarried in Turkey.

In America and China serpentinites are sold commercially as marble.  So if you go into your local slab asking for Rosso Levanto serpentinite they may look at you like you are crazy.  :)

Photo source.

Rosso Levanto is a dark red colored stone with white and or cream veining.  Sometimes it can lean on the brown side and sometimes you will find slabs with a bit of green veining or gold veining. 

Photo source.

Photo source.

Other names for Rosso Levanto are: Red Levanto, Rossa Levante, Rosso di Lepanto, Rossolavane, Rosso Lavanto, Rosso Lepanto, Rosso Levano, Rosso Levante, Rosso Levantino, Rosso Levanto, Rosso Levanto Classical, Rouge Levantin, Rouge Lewanto, Roter Lepanto, Roter Levante-Marmor.

Photo source.

Photo source.

Rosso Levanto is available in 2 cm and 3 cm slabs as well as tile, carved sinks, etc.

Lagos Blue CaesarStone Laundry Room

Here are some pictures of the Laundry Room at Home #4 in the Salt Lake Parade of Homes, where we did the countertops.

The countertops are #4350 Lagos Blue CaesarStone with a 1 1/4" Square Polished edge detail. 

The homeowner selected a beautiful glass mosaic tile for the backsplash.

You can't see it in these pictures but they have two sets of full size washers and dryers in this Laundry Room.  I'm so jealous!

Photos by me.

MGS by Design announces new President

Yesterday Dan Nelson, the owner and founder of our company, MGS by Design , announced that BJ Chandler will now be the President of MGS.  Dan will remain involved with the company as the CEO.

B.J. started with the company in 2004. He has been here through the growth of MGS and knows the company and the industry well. His true talent is his ability to adapt to different people. He knows how to make you feel like you are the only client that he is working with. He is passionate about stone, people, and sales. He is committed to making MGS by Design the top stone company in the state. BJ also oversees all of our advertising. He spent 5 years in the Ad industry before aligning with MGS. His creativity also helps in the design process of your project.

B.J. is a local boy. He was born and raised in Provo. He currently lives in Pleasant Grove with his beautiful wife and four over-energized boys. He tries to sneak basketball and fly-fishing in whenever his wife gives him the OK! Anyone that knows him knows that he likes to joke around, so consider yourself warned. He also takes a fair amount of teasing from our clients and our employees for being a 6'7" pretty boy. He often gets told he looks like Superman, but he has yet to use any special powers.

Chocolate Bordeaux granite Kitchen

As promised, here are the pictures of the kitchen at the Salt Lake Parade of Homes, Home #4 built by Wright Custom Homes. 

The countertops are 2 cm Chocolate Bordeaux granite that the homeowner hand selected from Italia Granite.  Chocolate Bordeaux is a beautiful granite that has a lot of character but is also pretty neutral.

They selected a beautiful and practical farmhouse sink that was placed in the island.

 The edge detail is a 2 1/2" Half Moon, one of my favorite edge details right now. You can read more about it here.

 The Parade is still going on until this Sunday the 15th, check it out if you can!
Also, I'll be showing more pictures from this Parade Home in the next few days.

Salt Lake Parade of Homes going on now!

The Salt Lake Parade of Homes started last Friday and goes until August 15th.  It's open daily from 11 am to 9 pm.
Our company, MGS by Design, did the countertops in Home #4 built by Wright Custom Homes.  The entire house turned out so beautiful. 
More pictures of this home are coming soon....

Photo by me.

An adorable Marble Side Table

At MGS by Design if you can imagine it, we can create it.
Last week we had a client come in with a vintage side table that she had found at a thrift store.  It wasn't looking so hot that day, I wish I had taken a 'Before' photo.  It had an old rickety wood top and the base was rusty and ugly.
Our client saw the potential in this table though.  She had seen a table at Anthropologie that cost hundreds of dollars, so she was trying to replicate it for less.
We found a beautiful piece of Carrara marble in our remnant yard that was just what she was looking for.  She took her table back home and painted the base a fun color of turquoise (the color of the year!) while we got to work on the new table top.  We cut the Carrara marble on our Water Jet machine and cut a perfect 20" circle.  She chose a 1 1/2" Ogee Square edge detail for the top, which I think was the perfect choice.  We repolished the marble because it had a few nicks and scratches on it from sitting in our remnant yard.
When she brought back her base all painted up we added some wood underneath the top that we were able to screw into the table base and voila....an adorable, original side table! 

Photos by me, though I don't really want to admit that since they aren't the best photos.