Cover photograph Provided by DreamHouse DreamKitchens
photographs this page
Top: Provided by DreamHouse DreamKitchens, Middle: Provided by Madison Liquidators, Bottom: Taken by Chad Renly of Branded Exposure LLC
additional photographs DreamHouse DreamKitchens, Madison Liquidators, Porchlight, Inc., Chad Renly of Branded Exposure LLC, Spray-Net
Watch for the next issue FEB-MARCH 2025
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from the PUBLISHER
As one year ends another begins. You might think there would also be a lull in home projects, but in fact, it is the perfect time to begin planning. Is it time for a new home that has the potential to fit your needs and personality? What does financing look like? Do you need to contact multiple lenders to secure the best possible rate, terms, and pre-approval?
Whether it is new home construction or an existing home renovation, you will likely want to find a contractor to complete the work. They book up fast, so the earlier you start, the earlier you will be able to find the right one to make your vision become reality or to help figure out what it is you want. From kitchen to bath to yard to garage, there are many wonderful professionals to help you complete your project expertly and efficiently.
We hope you will refresh your memory by reviewing the content contributed to Madison Home when you begin your efforts. We have shared some great ideas, designs, and products (all of which can be found online in our archives), and we will continue to do the same in 2025. It is why we do what we do—to make that initial introduction so it is easier for you to connect with them for your future plans.
I also want to take this time to thank our readers and contributors for their support this past year and to give credit to my team, who take the chaos of my thoughts and put out a beautiful publication that readers read and hold onto for reference. I love that we can all come together to help create the place we call home. As Dorothy said, “There’s no place like home.”
Amy Johnson
True- to -Style
BY KYLE JACOBSON
Bringing a kitchen up to today’s level of functionality doesn’t have to leave the rest of the house looking like a relic. Thoughtful integration of the home’s existing design concepts provides any homeowner with a cooking and prep space that’s more intuitve and enjoyable to experience.
For this home’s 1970s mid-century aesthetic, bringing everything up to speed also meant upgrading some existing aesthetic choices. For example, the original ceiling was a drop ceiling with acoustic tile, but by raising the ceiling and implementing can lighting, mid-century design concepts become attractive focal points to rest the eyes.
“They did not have an island before,” says Rachael Parker, designer at DreamHouse DreamKitchens. “They had a U-shaped peninsula that came off one of the walls and made this long hallway; we removed this to open the space.” Post transformation, what’s configured is a model example of working triangle theory, where functionality is defined by how the sink, stove, and refrigerator interact with one another via proximity and flow.
Having a workstation sink also expands the functionality of the kitchen. When the sink is a place to prepare food as well as store and wash dishes throughout the cooking process, the needed counterspace for food prep is greatly reduced. This sink can be used for washing and cutting ingredients as well as straining without having to take over the entire basin.
Keeping the palette simple was also important to Rachael, which is why the stainless steel is kept to a minimum. “The Sub-Zero refrigerator is hidden. We decided to panel the appliances because we wanted it to be a hidden feature. Then to have some symmetry with the tall pantry off to the right.
“The whole house has original trim that’s true to the house, so we didn’t want to impede that. The thought process was to go with lighter wood that matches as close as possible and then do a complementary wood. We didn’t feel like painted cabinetry was very true to, one, the house and, two, the style. We really wanted to bring more wood in. Though it might seem heavy, that’s where the black wood came in—to kind of break that up and make it look like it was more thought out. ... Being in it, it is a warmer and inviting space.”
White Cambria countertops also help bring out the lightness of the wood, and the black breakfast bar adds a little bit of dimension to the space. Highlighting the beauty of those details and features that
are not normal in every kitchen is key to visually pulling people into a room. Even the vent hood works to add a touch of asymmetry, providing just enough flair to the focus of the kitchen.
The one choice that truly stands out is the green backsplash, which almost incidentally gives the room a sense of time as well as place. “The whole conversation started with the client wanting an emerald color of some sort,” says Rachael. “She loved emerald. She wanted to incorporate that into the house. Her first thought was maybe doing the island that color. Mercury Mosaics is a really cool brand of handmade tile, and we found these pieces. It just screamed to the green—a perfect match to what she wanted. Then we kept the cabinetry very neutral, which helped the feature of the two woods without having to add a third color in cabinetry.”
As for the side of the cabinetry where the brick meets the wood, it was important to create a transition that incorporated the brick of the fireplace in the adjacent room. The challenge that came with marrying the two was overcome by rethinking how to extend the cabinetry while utilizing the black wood as a sort of trim. The black wood also helps to pull out that warmth in other wood elements throughout the design.
A few key things were done to complete the midcentury feel of the kitchen. Most prominent is the angled wall serving as the end to some open shelving on the beverage station: a sort of exclamation point to the design. There is also a reeded glass cabinet tying in with the home's reeded glass exterior door.
The results of Rachael’s approach prove that no matter the size or layout of a room, sacrifices in aesthetic don’t have to be made to unveil the hidden potential of existing spaces. “Not everyone has this ginormous space that they can work with,” says Rachael. “But that doesn’t mean that you can’t have a very functional kitchen.”
Kyle Jacobson is a writer living in Sun Prairie
Photographs provided by DreamHouse DreamKitchens.
DreamHouse DreamKitchens 5117 Verona Road
Madison, WI 53711 608.204.7575 dream-kitchens.com
The Choice IS ALL YOURS
Rubin's Furniture is a proud Palliser Studio partner. From sofas and sectionals to upholstered beds, home theater seating, recliners, accent chairs, and more, you’ll find the very best of Palliser's product lineup at both Rubin's showrooms in Madison. Get expert advice to confidently design your custom piece with a full understanding of the features, benefits, and warranty for every product.
Rubin's Badger Lane location is outfitted with a dynamic swatch wall featuring large-scale swatches. Easily work with the wall, draping product to help envision the final look. Experience Palliser's full cover assortment and a wealth of color, pattern, and texture at your fingertips. Palliser’s industryleading Interactive Designer is a unique digital tool providing a visual representation of your personal design. In real time, select your favorite series and design your own configuration, select your cover, leg, and more! Rubin's design staff is always ready to help you design the perfect piece for your home.
THE HOME OFFICE DESK CHAIRS
BY KYLE JACOBSON
Think about every piece of furniture in your house and ask yourself which one you sit in the most. Is it a recliner? A sofa? Your bed? Well, if you work from home, it very well might be your desk chair. There is an adage advising not to skimp in quality on anything that connects you to the ground, meaning your shoes, tires, and bed. For the person spending at least 40 hours a week working at their desk, that same logic applies to their desk chair.
Knowing what to look for in a high-quality desk chair is a great place to start, and Kelly and Nick Niesen of Madison Liquidators have some great tips for buyers of all budgets and needs. The first question is always going to be who is using this chair? Is it one person? The whole family? As nice as having the world’s most adjustable chair might be, what’s more of a burden is having to recalibrate the settings every time a new user hops on.
Kelly says, “Nick is six foot four and I’m five foot five. If he and I have to share a chair, we need to find something that’s a comfortable medium for both of us.” Think chairs in a conference room. These chairs are meant to be comfortable for a range of users and often have minimal adjustments. “My chair that I use at the office is a conference room chair because I find it to be one of the most comfortable chairs. It’s easy; I don’t have to mess with it.”
If you’re shopping on a budget, a conference chair can also be ideal because the general rule is the more moving parts, the more expensive the chair. In fact, Kelly and Nick stress that if you are going to be purchasing a chair on the less expensive end, just aim for something with less mechanicals so you don’t sacrifice quality.
“The mechanisms themselves on a lot of cheaper chairs will be made out of plastic, and those pieces tend to break pretty quickly,” says Kelly. “The higher-quality chairs are going to have metal components or a mix of metal and plastic, and the overall assembly will just be
a higher quality made to last longer.” Ever sit on a chair that just slowly sinks to the ground when you are on it or one with a seat lock that fails and you almost fall over backwards? How many years do you really want to deal with that?
Odds are a chair with low-quality components also has a low-quality seat. Kelly says, “The cheaper chairs will wear much more quickly and stain much more easily. The higher-end chairs are made with commercial-level fabric, which a lot of times is going to be a synthetic material that wipes off easily, so it is a lot easier to clean. And then the foam in the seats, some of them will just be a piece of foam stuck in there, whereas some of the higher-end chairs are going to be an injection molded foam, so it’s formed to be a specific shape.”
Now, what should someone who wants a chair that can last 30 years be looking for? Kelly and Nick both suggest starting with the warranty. Many chairs from big box stores come with a one-year warranty or less, and they are often voided by conditions that seem like regular use.
Compare that to a good chair with a 10-year warranty or a great chair with a 20-year warranty, and the difference is clear. Yes, you are spending more money upfront, but you are also investing in a chair with the potential to last 30 years or more.
The benefits of buying the right chair for your body extend to your quality of life. When done right, being able to adjust armrest height, depth, and width; the tilt and tension of the back of the chair; and the seat pan’s tilt, tension, and position relative to the back of the chair all equate to a more natural sitting position with a reduced risk of developing carpal tunnel and other chronic conditions associated with prolonged uncomfortable use.
For a lot of chair buyers, the decision is going to come down to cost. Nick and Kelly recommend people who sit at their desk at least 10 hours a week should budget around $300 for a good chair and $1,300 for a great chair. Nick says, “You have to be careful spending sub $200. You don’t know what you’re getting all the time.”
If you’re in the market for a desk chair, go to a store with a showroom and sit in as many chairs as possible. Ask a lot of questions. Go into it with the mindset that you are choosing not replace your chair every two or three years. Nick says, “Ultimately, you have to buy the right chair for you. It should not be something that gives you anxiety; it should make you comfortable. It should be comfortable to sit in and a comfortable purchase.”
Kyle Jacobson is a writer living in Sun Prairie.
Photographs provided by Madison Liquidators.
Madison Liquidators
2224 Pleasant View Road, Suite 6
Middleton, WI 53562
608.831.1012
madisonliquidators.com
LIQUA-ROOF
BY KYLE JACOBSON
Asphalt shingles provide homeowners with great yearround protection through all four Wisconsin seasons, but this affordable option comes at a cost: longevity. The average lifespan of a shingle roof in Wisconsin is somewhere between 20 and 25 years. There are products out there that help your shingles fight weathering and age, but Liqua-Roof, new from Spray-Net, actually adds years to the life your shingles.
Dale Tomalin of Spray-Net says, “Liqua-Roof is a more cost-effective way to reinforce your roof and help strengthen and lengthen the life of the roof. It is essentially coating the roof with a resin and asphalt granules that will extend the life of the roof 15 years.”
If your roof is in good condition, meaning it is not cracking or curling and has not lost most of its granules, Liqua-Roof offers an alternative to replacing your roof. In addition, your roof will be tougher than before.
“It provides strong wind resistance,” says Dale. “There is no damage to the shingles up to a 110 mile an hour wind. There’s 90 percent less granule loss. It provides three times more resistance to hail; where the typical uncoated asphalt shingle can handle 20 pounds per square inch, we can handle 65 pounds. It resists fungus; there are antimicrobials in the coating, so you don’t get the green on the roof.”
Liqua-Roof is also breathable, meaning your shingles will offer the same level of comfort below the sheathing that it did previously. The idea is to make what you already have better.
After two years of engineering, the time came in 2024 to try the product out on two pilot homes. What’s interesting is the homeowners weren’t looking to necessarily add years to their roof, just to simply change the color. Much like how Spray-Net has changed the way people think
Before Now
about painting siding and transforming the look of their homes, Liqua-Roof provides the opportunity to give your roof a facelift.
On one of the pilot roofs, “She wanted to change the color of the roof,” says Dale. “The roof was not within the last five years of its life; however, the roof was red, and after she painted her house, she was stuck with ‘What do I do with my roof?’ We applied a mix of brown and white asphalt granules to change the color of her roof.”
Dale encourages customers to do their research before comparing Liqua-Roof to other products on the market. He is not trying to dissuade homeowners from going with the right product for their roof, but rather wants people to know the differences between what Spray-Net has created and what already exists.
“Other products in the area are basically rejuvenating the roof with oil. They say, ‘Spray this on, and it will extend the life of the shingle,’ which they do. They slow down the process of breakdown and UV exposure, but they do not extend the life of the roof, which is what we are doing.
We are restoring the roof by reroofing it, adding another layer of granules to the roof.”
Liqua-Roof is projected to hit the market early 2025. The product itself will inspire homeowners to rethink what is possible with their roofs, meaning more than just how often they will be replacing it through their lifetime. A house with a multi-level roof can be done in different colors for each tier. Another house with new siding can have shades of color never really seen on a roof before, including rich greens, blues, and reds, creating something truly one of a kind for that homeowner.
Spray-Net has come out with another product fitting of their value-minded philosophy, aimed at giving customers cost-effective alternatives to replacement. This means less waste in landfills and more people who cannot wait to get home.
To learn more about Liqua-Roof, visit spray-net.com/liquidroof.
Kyle Jacobson is a writer living in Sun Prairie.
Photographs provided by Spray-Net.
Spray-Net
275 Bruce Street Suite 300 Verona, WI 53593
608.471.7768
Porch light
As the largest nonprofit provider of low-income housing for unhoused people in Dane County, Porchlight, Inc. strives to reduce homelessness by collaborating with the community to provide shelter, affordable housing, and supportive services that eliminate barriers and empower the individuals and families Porchlight serves.
Porchlight owns and manages 375 units of housing and provides supportive services to assist residents in their journey from homelessness to housing stability. It provides a continuum of services that helps our unhoused neighbors transition from homelessness to housing.
Porchlight also manages the City of Madison Men’s Drop-In Shelter, the only emergency nighttime shelter for homeless men in the Madison area. Guests are provided with shelter, meals, showers, and case management services. The Shelter serves on average 255 men nightly in the summer and expands to serve 280 to 300 men nightly during the colder months. In 2023, 84,132 nights of emergency shelter
were provided to 1,616 men experiencing homelessness. To date in 2024, 74,861 nights of emergency shelter have been provided to 1,488 men experiencing homelessness.
It is with great excitement that Porchlight looks forward to operating the City of Madison’s new Men’s Shelter, scheduled to open by December 2025. This new Shelter will be located on Bartillon Drive on Madison’s east side.
For individuals with mental illness experiencing homelessness, Porchlight offers the Safe Haven day shelter on Madison’s east side. Eligible guests may access drop-in services seven days per week, including meals, laundry, showers, and case management.
Porchlight staff also provide Crisis Stabilization services to guests who present in acute crisis. Safe Haven served 602 shelter guests in 2023, and has served 625 guests to date in 2024.
Job skills are critical in promoting independence. The Porchlight Products program provides a supportive employment environment for disabled and formerly homeless individuals, where they produce high-quality food products that are sold in popular retail outlets and served in restaurants throughout Dane County.
Porchlight celebrates 40 years of shelter services with its 2024 Annual Recognition Gala, held on November 7 at Monona Terrace Community and Convention Center.
Eighty-eight percent of all contributions received by Porchlight from the community go directly back into programs that help individuals who need them. To learn more about Porchlight’s programs, donate to Porchlight’s programs, or learn more about Porchlight Products, please visit porchlightinc.org.
Submitted by Porchlight, Inc.
Photographs provided by Porchlight, Inc. Porchlight
306 North Brooks Street
Madison, WI 53715
608.257.2534
porchlightinc.org
Zipper Orb Weaver
DIAPAUSE
BY KARINA MAE
Most insects do not migrate, and even the ones that do can stay the winter utilizing a key skill called diapause. Diapause is the delay in development during periods of adverse environmental conditions. The strategy is a means of surviving predictable, yet unfavorable, weather. All our nonmigratory insects exhibit diapause during their lives—mature and healthy monarchs and swallowtails being among the few to depart to warmer zones.
Diapause can happen during any life stage and will often occur more than once as temperatures dip and rise in the spring and autumn seasons. Insects go through many life stages before they reach maturity and can enter diapause at any stage, lay eggs almost any time of the year, and graduate to adulthood on the strangest of days. Having a healthy balance of insects is extremely important to all things, as they are our major pollinators for food and crops as well as the trees that produce our oxygen and the gardens that make our spaces beautiful. This is not something that happens overnight, though it can happen generously in just a season or two by following a few simple rules and catering to the good.
During diapause, these insects need to be somewhere safe, as they are in most ways temporarily dead, unable to feed, move, or defend themselves. Their bodies produce a substance called glycol, which is akin to transmission fluid and keeps the moisture in their bodies from becoming crystalline or frozen. Without it, they would literally explode on the coldest days.
Leaving your garden debris and leaves is crucial to not only soil health, but also to the millions of microorganisms that live there. Insects lay eggs in the soil, on the underside of leaves, the crowns of plants, and in casings along the stalks of plants. They rely on leaves, gravel, rotting wood, and garden debris left over winter for their hiding place as well as for food and nutrients on the days they are awake. This fall tactic also greatly reduces your cleanup work!
Leaves and debris are helpful to leave until things warm up the following spring with days into the 60s and leaves on trees once again. Cleaning up or disposing of debris too early can take away all the hard work they did to habituate your space. Your plants will also like the nitrogen produced by the rotting leaves, exposing their crowns mid-spring, as leaf mulch is extremely beneficial
Bumble Bee
Praying Mantis
to use in the garden and relatively free—no mowing or chopping needed.
Less labor, free mulch, better soil, and more beneficial insects is better for everyone! Among those to truly benefit are the lacewings, lady beetles, praying mantids, damselflies, ground beetles, bees, wasps, spiders, moths, ants, bats, and the whole family of brush-footed butterflies: mourning cloak, Compton tortoiseshell, Milbert's tortoiseshell, question mark, eastern comma, and the grey comma butterfly. Some of these amazing insects only live 1 week, but many live for 11 months, even in Wisconsin.
My favorite pollinator attracting annuals that also make a lot of great debris are: cosmos, zinnias, salvia, pentas, verbena, snapdragons, and herbs like feverfew, dill, parsley, and lemongrass.
Other things that can greatly attract and keep beneficial pollinators around are small areas of gravel or exposed soil, as they like the salt and nutrients that can be found there. They also like semi-rotting fruit and drinking areas they will not drown in, a large rock in a basin of water, for example.
Karina Mae is the designer and team leader at Garden Search and Rescue.
Garden Search & Rescue Madison, WI 608.438.9571 gardensearchandrescue.com
Monarch Caterpillar
Mourning Cloak
Welcomes its First Resident MIDDLETON MARKET FOOD HALL
BY SKETCHWORKS ARCHITECTURE
When Sketchworks Architecture was tapped to design The Kickback, a 2,000-squarefoot bar and restaurant in The Aviary at Middleton Market, all their staff had to do was travel two blocks over from their downtown Middleton office.
The Aviary, a mixed-use residential development with apartments and a commercial marketplace, houses the much-hyped Middleton Market Food Hall. The Kickback is the first finished commercial space in the marketplace, which encompasses 5,600 total square feet, not including outdoor patios. Sketchworks designed the marketplace’s common areas (exits, restrooms) as well as The Kickback. Eventually, additional vendors will occupy the marketplace.
“The [marketplace] is inspired by European indoor markets where there are multiple food and drink vendors and gathering areas to socialize with friends,” explains Sketchworks interior designer Brittany Erskine, who worked on the design of The Kickback.
According to The Middleton Market Food Hall’s website, The Kickback has a “family-friendly environment” with a full bar, outdoor seating, and yard games. The business opened on September 6.
The open, airy design employs both warm and cool tones. High ceilings allow for copious natural light to spill in through handsome, black-framed windows. A few garage doors open the space to the outdoors, allowing
patrons direct access to an outdoor patio. A mix of materials (concrete, wood, and tile) employ texture to give the space design dazzle.
Brittany notes the “overall design is industrial with rustic and modern elements.” The open ceiling is punctuated with large, dark fans and modern circle LED lights. The poured epoxy floor is intended to “look like spilled coffee.”
For contrast, Brittany incorporated teal tones in the bar’s tiled front and used the same teal tiles in the restrooms as well. The bar is defined by a wood ceiling element above it, as well as with a linear wood accent wall behind the workstation.
To save space, Sketchworks partner Steve Shulfer notes that the bar’s storage and coolers are located in the development's underground parking level, and goods are brought up by the dumbwaiter from below.
Cardinal Capital Development executed The Aviary, which along with housing the Middleton Market Food Hall, has studio and one-, two-, and three-bedroom apartments along with a workout room, pet spa, movie theater, game room, co-working areas, and an outdoor courtyard. Steve notes that Cardinal Capital Development “has brought a lot of housing and vibrancy to a former spot that was a bit industrial in the city.”
The Kickback is just the first step to continue attracting more tenants to the marketplace. “[The owners] are
eager to get this bar and marketplace occupied to realize the vision of community gathering and amenities to The Aviary residents, as well as the neighborhood,” says Steve. “We are looking forward to seeing the marketplace being completely finished. The bar is an important first step to generate excitement and will be the catalyst for future vendors to come.”
Photographs by Chad Renly of Branded Exposure LLC.
