Blog

Brief Introduction by CTD: JAM Bakery is elevating our gift-giving game. We have been adding their customized, CTD-logo cookies to our client, vendor and partner gift boxes with huge success. Their cookies are so delicious and creative most people won’t share them when asked (ahem,...

Remember that “roped off” room just off the entry with the “don’t touch” fabrics, antique coffee table and wallpaper that made you dizzy if you looked at it for too long? It was the formal living room and it’s transformed in look many times over...

Here at CTD, we’re introducing four different blog series that we hope will share insights into the world of design, introduce our favorite resources and local businesses and help prepare you for the journey of transforming your home and designing its potential   … all...

Back in 2015, Julie and I traveled to Las Vegas for the combined KBIS/IBS trade show (Kitchen and Bath and International Builder Show) and the Las Vegas Market (furnishings). It was our first trade show event and after two and a half days of non-stop...

Basements are not terribly common in California homes. Subterranean in this state makes us a little squeamish (earthquakes and all) and, of course, why build ‘rec’ rooms and extra space downstairs away from the natural light when we have twelve month access to the outdoors? ...

You just got off the phone with your Mom. She’s coming to see you at Thanksgiving…and staying until New Years. You put aside the scary thoughts about the duration of her visit and think about all the house projects you’ve been meaning to tackle. Can...

A Backdoor Oasis Lightens A Family’s Physical and Emotional Load At one of our kick-off meetings with a client years ago, I asked a simple question, “Where do you enter your house?” Her response reminded me just how complicated that answer could be. “From the...

Patience and tolerance aren’t the only things being tested right now. Cooped up with our families and their daily habits has shined a bright, blazing light on our homes and how they are either supporting all our needs or falling way short of supporting any. ...

We are “making decisions, while driving through a fog, with imperfect information and everyone in the backseat is yelling at us.” – Thomas Friedman, opinion columnist We had just hired a full-time designer who we adore and were scouting more office space (same great location)...

You know you’ve missed the point of this season when “believe in the magic of christmas” just becomes one more thing to add to the “to-do” list. We self-impose these lofty expectations, grand-standing gestures and traditions wrapped in bows of perfection. It exhausts more than...