Pear Tree Apartments (Cape Girardeau, MO) to Receive a Face-Lift Via Finishes Selected by Cindy Buchheit from Unique Ambiance

The thirty-six unit apartment complex known as the Pear Tree Apartments, located on N. Kingshighway in Cape Girardeau, MO, has reached its fifteen year mark and the owners are ready for a fresh new look. 

Over the past few years they've been working to upgrade the interior finishes, fixtures and appliances, with assistance from Cindy Buchheit owner of Unique Ambiance; hired to select these upgrades. 

Improvements to the roofing, has led the team to switch gears and refocus their efforts to the exterior. A fresh new look will be mastered by painting all of the buildings and installing new fixtures. 

Please keep your eyes pealed as the progress is under-way. 

Current view of the Pear Tree Apartments

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Perryville, MO Mausoleum

A mausoleum... This is for sure one space I never in a million years thought I would ever be designing. This is a new concept for Perryville, but the concept has been around for centuries. Mt. Hope Cemetery already has one mausoleum and the one I'll be helping the committee with will make their second. 

Thanks to Dave Richardet, from Richardet Floor Covering, he picked up on the fact they needed some assistance selecting and pulling together the interior and exterior finishes and threw my name out there. 

I met with three members of the committee last week. They went over the finishes that they have selected so far, the options I had to chose from, the materials that still need to be discovered, the subs working on the project and the look they're going for.   

Although a small project, this is a new and exciting challenge. All of the surfaces thus far are hard and have no sound absorption; so sound dampening finishes will seriously need to be taken into consideration and implemented tastefully.  

Early stage of the Mt. Hope Cemetery mausoleum in Perryville, MO. 

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Laminate Gone Wild

Companies like Formica and Wilsonart have really stepped up their product options and finishes in the last few years. Usually people have used this product as just an inexpensive countertop option to meet their budget; hoping to change it later down the road.  

These companies have 'opened the can' on new looks and ways to use their product and it's now ok to think of these products as a long term economically priced option. The imagery on the new laminates look more like real granite than ever before.

Residentially speaking... Whether match your countertops up against the wall and island vs going with something more subtle against the wall and select one with more movement for your island; rest assured it'll look great. 

Commercially speaking... I've recently worked with a countertop shop on the FSCB job in DeSoto, MO that is making the teller stations, free-standing and wall mounted tables, a drink station and some occasional end tables out of laminate. By using the same laminates over and over throughout the building it will seem unified and will coordinate to give more of a customized feel. 

I've seen where different projects have used sheets of laminate for wrapping a furred out chase wall to look like stone. This is a good way to break up a long monotonous wall. I just suggested to the Discovery Playhouse board and director to use the laminate sheets as a waiscoting in the restrooms or down the hallways to ease the pain of cleaning or having to touch up paint. 

A couple of months I made my way across the state to Joplin, to my surprise, I found a new way to use this fabulous product- wall art, dividers or just a dramatic affect. 

Thank you to Formica and wilsonart for allowing all of us to stay in budget while looking good at the same time. Please do not hesitate to use a finish like this for your next project. One of the websites showed that you can now take a picture of an image, send it to them and they'll print it on the laminate for you. The possibilities are endless. 

Laminate layer over layer to show depth. 

uniqueambiance.com

Two toned laminate to show depth.  

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The Finishing Touches

In the past couple years I've worked very hard with one of my clients to help her and her husband design their new home on Royal Lake Drive, here in Cape Girardeau, MO. 

The process to design and build might seem like it only takes a year or so, but to truly wrap up all of the details could take years. Once a residential client has moved into their new/remodeled home they normally want to take a break because the construction and moving process has been so consuming of their time and money.    

I'm so excited to be at this point; with this client. The home is beautiful already, but by adding new personal effects like family photos and a sentimental collection of oil paintings; things are really starting to look finished as you view the space from room to room.

I truly believe that the process of accessorizing should not be skipped when trying to finish a space. In college I was taught that accessories should actually be budgeted into a project, but realistically it never happens. This is unfortunate, due to the fact that I have several jobs still suspended out there that could just use a few wall hangings, lamps, books or plants and they would be finished. 

Oil on canvas stretched and hung in a quiet corner. A carefully selected custom frame added to an oil painting in the dining room. (The frame pulls out the black in the chairs and the brushed nickel from the lights.)  Photos printed on canvas, gallery wrapped and hung in a collage. My client was amazed at how much math actually goes into figuring the right height to hang each piece. 

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'Hangout' Bar on Broadway - Unique Ambiance hired to add NEW finishing touches

I've recently been asked by the owners of the new HANGOUT bar located on Broadway to help with finishing touches on a new paint color to help brighten things up, additional lounge furniture and new wall hangings. We already played around with changing the furniture layout while I was there for my initial visit. We couldn't contain ourselves while brainstorming, so we just pushed up our sleeves and started moving furniture.  

I can't wait to see which way we decide to go on the wall hangings and the additional seating. Either way it will dramatically change the look of the entire place.  

Current interior view of The Hangout Bar on Broadway in downtown Cape Girardeau, MO. 

uniqueambiance.com

Current interior view of The Hangout Bar on Broadway in downtown Cape Girardeau, MO.

uniqueambiance.com