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, Chad Renly of Branded Exposure LLC
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Shorter days, school supply shopping, and the final summer vacation are all signs that fall is fast approaching. Another sign may be right in your own yard. Those plants that popped up in May or the ones that you planted to welcome spring are looking a little tired or overgrown—like my own behemoth hydrangea! But instead of seeing fall as the end of a growing season, you can give it another boost. Karina Mae of Garden Search & Rescue shares her obsession with fall colors with some great ideas to give your yard another blooming life.
If you are like me, each spring invigorates you to tackle projects, like clearing out the things you no longer use or need and getting your house in order. Then as fall rolls around, you wonder where the months went and why your projects barely made it off the ground. It is not too late! DreamHouse DreamKitchens goes into detail about a master suite renovation from our last issue, focusing on the master closet. At first glance, it may seem like something that you can only dream of, but when you read through, you can see how a creative closet design can save bedroom space in a very practical way.
Are you still working from home on a full-time or part-time basis? For many of us, we are still looking at ways to create a beautiful, yet practical home office space. In this issue, we focus on desks with Madison Liquidators.
The closing in of winter’s colder temperatures and shorter days means more downtime. Rubin’s Furniture spotlights their available IMG Comfort relaxers to show you that a chair can, indeed, be a well-deserved luxury.
If you are considering future home projects, are wanting to reduce your monthly payments with debt consolidation, or have other financial needs, Julie McGaw from Summit Credit Union has some great information about why utilizing your home equity may be the best path to achieve your goals.
Finally, Sketchworks Architecture shares another great business design project, this one to help Event Essentials expand with a new 80,000-squarefoot facility.
Whatever your constructive or downtime plans, be sure to keep picking up our issues for inspiration from the incredible people who can help make your home dreams come to life.
Amy Johnson
Partner with a dedicated, local Mortgage Loan Officer who will get to know you, answer all your questions and be right here as needed to help you make decisions you feel great about. You’ll get updates and support every step of the way.
Shop for homes with confidence with a free, 15-minute preapproval!* You’ll know exactly how much you can afford and your estimated monthly payments.
Plus, with Summit, you’ll save big on closing costs. Hello, extra savings! See for yourself why we’re the #1 Mortgage Lender in Wisconsin! ** Go online to make an appointment or apply, give us a call or stop by.
Making Room
WITH A MASTER CLOSET
BY KYLE JACOBSON
Reach-in closets have long been a bedroom staple, determining layout and how often you have to rotate seasonal attire. But an ongoing evolution in what a closet can be is giving homeowners new ways to stay organized, utilize space, and even change their outlook on life.
Chris Schmidt of DreamHouse DreamKitchens says, “People are looking at master suites as the place where I start and end my day. If you can have a good start and end, if you have a great space to rest your head and keep your things organized and get yourself ready, it is amazing how it changes a day and your outlook on life.”
Though this homeowner’s closet was designed specifically for their needs, the lessons have universal applications that should excite every homeowner. It starts with the versatility of the 32mm system. From shelves to rods to door hinges to drawer slides, everything works off the 32mm system, in which holes are spaced 32mm apart in the closet framing. Everything can be switched out and moved around as needs evolve or if the home changes hands.
Open displays give this homeowner a personal shopping experience every morning, with the benefit of every item being the right size and every accessory fitting their style. It used to be that handbags were kept inside a silk bag hidden away in a drawer so as not to collect dust. With a master closet, these homeowners are not forgetting about favorite items that would otherwise have been stashed in the corner of a reach-in closet amongst shoes and a duffel bag.
“Having things displayed keeps people a little more organized,” says Chris. “When you have a shirt that you
are unsure fits anymore or you wore it only once and it is buried at the bottom of a pile, it will sit there for years until that day you get rid of stuff, going through shirt by shirt. If you were to see it every time—hanging up and obvious—you would ask yourself more often, ‘Why do I have this? I don’t need it.’ So you hand it down. People are more organized when things are displayed openly.”
One of the most significant space alterations for this homeowner was removing a wall that split the closet in half, making the two separate closets feel small. After being opened up, the space feels much more inviting. “It
creates a great open common space where you can fold laundry, you can lay your bag out and pack your clothes,” says Chris.
The master closet is assuming the role of dressers and hutches in older bedroom layouts. “It seemed to me in the ’80s and ’90s era of homebuilding, you did not see a lot of natural light in bedrooms. Now, rooms are getting a little quainter, but they are making the space feel open and vibrant by bringing in natural light. When you add a window, you eliminate the option to put something there.”
Perhaps most intriguing is that a master closet is not an out-of-reach luxury. Rather, it is a reimagining of how we
use space in our homes. Think about the space you have reserved for boxes of clothes. With a master closet, your wardrobe is slimmed down more regularly to eliminate the need for boxes. Consider the space you reserve for a hobby, like sewing. Some homeowners have incorporated a large cabinet space with a sliding drawer for a sewing machine. Others have eliminated their laundry room by bringing the washer and dryer into the closet, literally maximizing efficiency. A master closet full of clothes also works great for soundproofing a coffeemaker.
With a master closet, homeowners also have a separate area for brilliant lighting that will not wake up a partner or spouse. And if you do not need much lighting, or are looking to up your display game, low-voltage LED
lights can be used in the cabinets without worry of a fire hazard. The cost to have those lights on year-round is negligible, though Chris would still recommend a switch or motion sensor.
“People are glorifying the experiences they have when they go on vacation and feel great,” says Chris. “When you wake up in a hotel room, you get most everything done in the bedroom before you event get out the door. People have the same idea in their homes these days.”
Work, family, hobbies, whatever it is we do every day, there are so many things we actively think and stress about. These homeowners are living with the confidence
that every morning and evening are going to be as comforting as they are consistent, and it is all thanks to rethinking the function of a closet.
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 HOME OFFICE DESKS
BY KYLE JACOBSON
As working from home has become more common, having a designated home office setup is essential to being productive and comfortable. But what does that look like? Some people need room for stacks of reference and log books; others need only enough space for a laptop and a cup of coffee. Whatever your needs, there are some key factors to keep in mind before fenging your shui.
Kelly and Nick Niesen, owners of Madison Liquidators, stress the importance of high-quality materials that can last, travel, and adapt to whatever someone’s
situation might be. Many commercial lines use a “highdensity particle board encased in layers of craft paper and resin all fused together under high heat and pressure,” says Kelly. “It also has a PVC edge banding. The industry can get a little confusing because laminate is a general term. Melamine is another one. It has more to do with the material they are using versus how it is put together.”
“It tends to look new forever,” adds Nick. “You can expect 10, 20, 30 years of service out of a midrange commercial office desk in your house.”
A lot of people like the look of solid wood, like a maple, cherry, or walnut. Though this can be a fantastic choice, it is important to consider a few drawbacks before spending the money. First off, wood scratches, so keeping that surface blemish free might be more stress than you would prefer. Second, wood is heavy... really heavy. Nick’s doctor purchased a very nice desk for his home office only to find he needed to call Nick again to move it after purchasing a new home. Lastly, wood is expensive. For all its beauty and charm, getting an authentic slab of nature that has been shaped into something truly one-of-a-kind means paying for the work that went into it every step of the way.
Going too cheap comes with its own brand of headaches. Sure, cheap is great for something that’s temporary, but if the goal is to have a home office for more than a year or two, those lower-quality screws and shrink-wrapped particle board will eventually show their grade. In the end, the home office should be a place where time is valued, so spending any of it worrying about a desk falling apart is not worth the cost.
Another thing people do not think about is what happens when their needs change. What if I have an L-shaped desk and suddenly my partner needs to start working from home? By purchasing trusted and proven lines of
office furniture, the worry of having a mismatched home office is nonexistent. That L-shaped desk can become a T-shaped desk that looks like the pieces were bought together, future proofing your purchase in ways you have never considered.
There are also a larger variety of sit-stand desks out there than you might guess. In a world where too many people are spending too much time sitting in a chair and staring at a screen, why not get everyone on their feet? L-shaped sit-stand desks can be part of a larger assembly, blending into other desk components when lowered to chair height. And thanks to the rigid structure of a higher-quality sit-stand desk, options include filing cabinets that connect to the desktop and a higher degree of cable management for people with desktop computers and multiple monitors.
For nontraditional at-home offices, such as those of artists and woodworkers, there are some products worth considering as well. A stand-only desk can be great for working on a project that requires moving around without having to hunch over, combining the reliability of a workbench with the functionality of a desk.
Perhaps the best solution for people who work at home minimally and need a space to work is a folding wall-mounted desk. It attaches to either an existing desk or on the wall to flip up and lock in when needed. Surprisingly, these little workhorses hold anywhere from 175 to 220 pounds.
With so many options, it can be hard to know where to start. Kelly says, “If someone is not seeing exactly what they are looking for, speaking with a commercial sales representative would be their best route. So much of what is available is modular and flexible and customizable.” A sales rep can be your most important resource for making the centerpiece of your home office exactly what you need, from intern to CEO and hobbyist to maestro.
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
Achieve Your Goals LEVERAGING YOUR HOME'S EQUITY TO
by Julie McGaw
Home equity is the difference between the amount you owe on a mortgage and what your home is worth. It is essentially how much of your home you own. For example, if you owe $150,000 on your mortgage loan and your home is worth $200,000, you have $50,000 of equity in your home.
Not only does home equity increase as you pay down your mortgage, it can be bolstered as the value of your
home goes up. However, equity can fall if the value of your home drops faster than the speed at which you’re paying down the balance on your mortgage.
Equity is an important financial tool and one of the greatest benefits of owning a home. Often, people think of using home equity only for the purpose of buying a new home, but there are many ways to use equity to reach your financial goals.
Photograph provided by DreamHouse DreamKitchens.
You can leverage home equity products, like a home equity loan or home equity line of credit (HELOC), to borrow what you need when you need it. The beauty of home equity lending is the unparalleled flexibility that other lending products simply can’t match.
A home equity loan will give you access to a lump sum of cash at a fixed interest rate, while a HELOC gives you access to a revolving line of credit at a variable interest rate.
When inventory is constrained, many homeowners use home equity for renovations that increase their
home’s value, curb appeal, and salability down the road. This could include the bathroom or kitchen remodel of your dreams or an expansion, such as the addition of a four-season room.
In addition to home renovation or repairs, there are many other uses for home equity loans. Another common use is debt consolidation, particularly paying down something, like high-interest credit card debt, at a lower rate. According to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, Wisconsin ranks 42nd for credit card debt in the nation, with $5,888 as the average debt in the fourth quarter of last year. The flexibility
Before
Photograph provided by DreamHouse DreamKitchens.
Photograph provided by DreamHouse DreamKitchens.
Photograph provided by DreamHouse DreamKitchens.
After Before
Another potential use for home equity is investing in educational goals or college tuition.
to leverage your home’s equity to consolidate debt may be an attractive option to improve your financial well-being.
Investing in educational goals or college tuition is another potential use for home equity to provide upfront funds or funds over an extended period. You should also consider eligibility for direct federal student loans and repayment responsibility.
A benefit of a HELOC over a traditional home equity loan is that you can access your established line of credit without impacting your credit score with each advance. With a traditional home equity loan, you need to reapply each time you would like to access additional funds.
Depending on your financial institution, you should be able to find great home equity rates, fast turnaround, and low closing costs. Your lender may also have loan repayment tools available to help calculate potential
loan payments. Access to HELOC funds or advances can typically be done online, via card, or by check.
It is important to explore your options and choose the right type of home equity financing to meet your unique situation and goals. Before deciding on any home equity choices, speak with a loan specialist to help you carefully weigh the pros and cons of each option.
Julie McGaw, vice president consumer lending, provides financial education on behalf of Summit Credit Union, a not-for-profit financial institution that offers home equity loans and lines of credit, mortgages, and more.
Summit Credit Union
608.243.5000
summitcreditunion.com
PERSONALIZED
Comfort
Rubin's Furniture proudly offers IMG Comfort relaxers. As their names suggest, these relaxers are designed to provide you with blissful comfort and relaxation in a space-efficient and stylish design to complement the theme of your living area.
Upgrading your manual relaxer to power means it has never been easier to achieve true, quality comfort, all at the touch of a button. Receive a motorized footrest and backrest for a smoother recline, allowing comfort on demand. Combined with our luxuriously padded higher-grade foam cushioning, which cradles the body, and our highquality construction, we present to you a relaxer which is there to support you and your body.
Upgrade to Power+ for the highest level of comfort and create your ultimate chair for relaxation. Comfort…but personalized.
Items sourced from Rubin's Furniture. rubinsfurniture.com
Birch Tree
Obsession with FALL COLOR
BY KARINA MAE
When cold nights return and the summer feeling is fleeting, many of us crave that lasting garden setting. Fall is a great time for planting to ensure you keep the garden color party dancing. There are tree, shrub, perennial, annual, and even bulb additions that can endure many cold nights. Even just one or two can really add that third or fourth season element you need.
Statue canopy trees, like red or orange maples; a unique larch, my favorite; or an ancient ginkgo, can really add strength and structure to the garden or yard. They tower over the rest, lending an upward glow that can leave us mesmerized. Understory gems, such as the birch and the crab apple, can sprawl and spread some autumn light to the lower canopy or take over some taller stature if allowed. Of notable mention is the river birch, exfoliating cinnamon bark capped in fresh green leaves that turn and sway until they crest a golden yellow. This smaller tree loves to dwell in your rainwater or depression site, drinking all that water. Regardless of your addition, these grand beauties will stand the test of time, adding structure and providing shade.
Shrubs that provide stunning displays and graduating levels of fall show, as well as summer privacy, run the gamut of shapes and sizes. Favorites include the fall-blooming witch hazel, highbush cranberry, gray dogwood, hydrangeas, mounding honeysuckle, Bronxensis forsythia, beauty berry, and blueberies. These delicately branching foundations shift, shape, and soften the mid-story, offering flowers and interest at eye level. This stance, combined with a frostsparked ongoing leaf change and hard-to-come-by
Gray Twig Dogwood
Snapdragons
Asters
things, like purple leaves, flowers after frost, or berries that last through February, make these additions seem like staples. Planting many or a few, you will not be disappointed.
While the gaze has been mesmerizing looking up and out so far, let’s not forget the importance of the herbaceous floor. There are some solid stunners that can provide volumes unknown from their previous state. Grasses, like little bluestem or red Shenandoah switch grass, can provide color pallets that stand to rival any winter white. Late bloomers, like monk’s hood, asters, or anemones, can dapple our grounds with flowers well beyond the rest. They remain abuzz and ahum with beneficial pollinators and an upright presence that makes us feel winter could not be farther off. Some posture their change in leaves of the most dazzling hues, like Huechera, Geranium, Epimedium, and Amsonia, standing until the hardest frost has hit for the second or third time. They can flow or sway across the garden in swaths or singularly as they dazzle the days away between frost and snow.
I can happily report a few annuals that also buck up and handle our Wisconsin winters with gusto! Snapdragons
have won my heart over, seeding out happily and even showing perennial quality in their spring growth from dormant state. Yes, left over winter, they march into the cold with their heads held high and buds on the way. Other continual bloomers include dahlias, flowering kale, and reliable pansies, which are also likely to return in the spring. These annuals can lend the fill for the spaces that mean the most to you or spill out of the planters you just can’t quite let go of yet.
Fall crocus is the most popular bulb addition for autumn. They are planted in the fall, so you often wait one whole year before blooms, but once they start, they are off! It is an enchanted purple that seems to come from nowhere and surprises you annually.
I hope you find some additions among these that make your gardens sing until the bitter cold sets in. Happy frost dancing! And don’t forget to leave the leaves for all your pollinators until late next spring.
Karina Mae is the designer and team leader at Garden Search and Rescue.
Garden Search & Rescue Madison, WI 608.438.9571 gardensearchandrescue.com
Narrowleaf Blue Star Amsonia is a delicate backdrop to these pink anemones.
Larch
Red and Orange Maples
The Fall Color List
Anemones Anemone x hybrida
Asters Asteraceae
Barrenwort Epimedium *
Beauty berry Callicarpa americana
Birch Betula (nigra) *
Blueberry Vaccinium caesariense *
Bronxensis forsythia *
Coral Bells Huechera
Crabapple Malus *
Dahlias Dahlia
Fall crocus Colchicum
Geraniums Geranium
Ginkgo Ginkgo biloba
Gray dogwood Cornus racemosa *
Highbush cranberry Viburnum triloba
Hydrangea Hydrangea
Kale Brassica oleracea (Acephala Group)
Larch Larix *
Little bluestem Schizachyrium scoparium *
Monk’s hood Aconitum *
Mounding honeysuckle Diervilla lonicera
Pansies Viola x wittrockiana
Red or orange maple Acer rubrum, Acer saccharum
Red Shenandoah switch grass Panicum virgatum
Snapdragons Antirrhinum majus *
Willowleaf blue star Amsonia tabernaemontana *
Witch hazel Hamamelis virginiana *
* author’s favorite
Exploring EVENT ESSENTIALS
by Sketchworks Architecture
When the worldwide pandemic hit in 2020, the need for in-person events—whether a wedding, corporate meeting or expo—came to a screeching halt. Luckily, the industry has bounced back with gusto, with 88 percent of companies circling back to planning in-person events as of 2022, reports travelperk.com. The benefits of connecting with family, friends, and colleagues in person are many, including better team productivity, relationship-building, and connectivity.
Madison-based event-rental business Event Essentials has felt the ebbs and flows of the industry, and with the uptick of events once again, it was time to expand their facilities to meet that need. Sketchworks Architecture already had a relationship with them having worked on previous projects dating back to 2015, including designing an addition to their existing warehouse and logistics facilities. Back then, discussions were already being held for a future showroom expansion at their current site or selecting a new location.
“The company had outgrown their current facility and wanted to expand their rental offerings while providing a better customer experience with custom displays and a more cohesive office space,” explains Sketchworks partner Brad Koning, AIA. “Their current facility had different departments on two levels and limited area for office expansion.”
In 2022, Brad started working on the next phase, which included designing and constructing a brand-
new, 80,000-square-foot corporate office, showroom, and warehouse. Construction began on the new building, adjacent to their former facility, in June 2023 and was completed in May 2024.
The majority of the building consists of insulated, tilt-up concrete panels, which were cast and tilted up on site, saving transportation and labor costs. “[These panels] create a low-maintenance, high-efficiency building envelope,” says Brad. Transom windows located high on the warehouse walls allow natural light into the space to reduce the need for artificial lighting with daylighting controls.
The building’s exterior is wrapped in neutral colors, including gray, black, and white, with touches of wood accents; the interior reflects this aesthetic as well. The reception area has a wood feature wall with Event Essentials’ logo and green furnishings. Picking up on the natural feel, houseplants are thoughtfully placed in employee work areas, on shelving throughout the building, and near windows to soften spaces. High ceilings, copious windows, and recessed lighting also lend employee work areas a decidedly uncorporate feel—in a good way. No fluorescent lighting here.
Employee relaxation areas encourage collaboration and gathering. The conference room and break room showcase refined, neutral spaces with wood accents and comfortable, stylish furnishings. The break room has booths with upholstered benches instead of just round tables—a nice touch. A kitchen island offers seating for five people.
“We worked closely with Event Essentials to create a modern, elegant design for their office space and showroom ... to provide their customers with a customizable vision of their event,” says Brad. “The interiors have truly been a collaborative effort, and they appreciated the thoughtful attention to detail to those special areas, such as the main reception, conference room, and employee break room. Developing a building that matches Event Essentials’ goal in both design and functionality has been the fruit of that labor.”
Photographs by Chad Renly of Branded Exposure LLC.
