By JAMES and MORRIS CAREY
For AP Weekly Features
Some of the new products at the recent
International Builders Show were real atten-
tion-getters, and any one of them could be a
"must have" for your next project.
Composite and synthetic materials have
entered virtually every aspect of the build-
ing industry. Some products are more like
the real thing than are others.
Synthetic lawn is one category that's
"growing" rapidly, and with good reason -- it
looks and feels like the real thing but requires
none of the maintenance headaches. No
watering, mowing, thatching or fertilizing --
and best of all, it remains green all year long.
And synthetic lawn isn't just green in
color, it's environmentally "green" as it reduces
pollution caused by gas-powered lawn equip-
ment, conserves water and helps prevents
fertilizers from running off into the water
supply.
However, be prepared to lay down some
"green" for this green -- it runs about $3-$5
per square foot, installed. While that might
seem pricey up front, during its 10-to-15-year
life span, it could mean significant savings
on water, fuel, fertilizer, mowing and main-
tenance.
Fixing your hair or shaving after a steamy
shower can be impossible with a foggy mirror.
You might even have to spend more time
blow-drying your mirror than your hair.
That was before a company called A
Bright Idea introduced its clever new Fog
Free Reflections, a defogger made of ultra-
thin flexible carbon panels that mounts behind
any size mirror to quickly eliminate shower
steam, condensation and mist.
Small electrical copper conduits are safe-
ly sandwiched between ultra-thin flexible
carbon/Mylar panels. The device connects
to an existing light fixture and begins defog-
ging whenever the light is turned on, using
about as much energy as a 75-watt bulb.
Though new to the U.S., this fog-bust-
ing technology has been installed in many
hotels and spas in Europe.
It's available in several sizes and can be cus-
tom-made. On average, it costs less than
$100.
One of the fastest-growing building-relat-
ed categories is home storage and organization.
Into that realm comes SpaceLift, a sort
of cable car that transports items to and from
your attic storage space using a remote-con-
trolled platform that rides along tracks on a
stairway.
It enables you to load materials on the
ground or in the attic and move them from
one place to the other without breaking any
more sweat than comes from pushing a but-
ton.
As with conventional fold-down ladders,
the SpaceLift stairway disappears into the
ceiling when not in use. When the stairway
is deployed, the SpaceLift platform remains
stowed in the attic, out of the way of the
access hole, providing easy attic access. When
activated, the platform, suspended by four
steel cables, moves into position above the attic
access hatch and is lowered to the floor along
the stairway tracks.
The SpaceLift costs $2,995 (plus instal-
lation), which, compared to the cost of long-
term storage, could end up being a bargain. A
similar version uses a vertically traveling plat-
form without stairs and lists for $2,295.
Need more room? Look between the studs!
That's the company slogan for In Wall Cab-
inets.
Its clever line of recessed cabinets are
made to fit perfectly between the studs of a two-
by-four wall. The cabinets, which look cus-
tom-made, can be used where there's no room
for a traditional freestanding cabinet.
Some suggested uses include a display or
"curio" cabinet (with optional lighting); coat
rack with umbrella storage; liquor bar or wine
storage cabinet (both with decorative glass
storage); display cabinet for sports memora-
bilia; and billiards cue cabinet.
There are smaller versions that can be
used as a dart board closet or medicine chest,
or as a cabinet for billiard balls, CDs or fire-
place tools. One might even be used as a
pantry for canned goods in or near the kitchen.
The cabinets are available with or with-
out doors; in solid oak or maple; and in five
stained finishes or unfinished.
Installation is easy: Just cut out an open-
ing in the wallboard between existing studs
and fasten the cabinet into it. But be sure
there isn't any plumbing, electrical or mechan-
ical works in the wall or you're in for an
unpleasant surprise.
In Wall Cabinets range from $150-$490
depending on size, finish and options.
What's New at International Builders Show
By John Balzar
(c) 2006, Los Angeles Times
Not so long ago, just a few years in fact, America
seemed determined to rid itself of all remaining traces
of one of its most extravagant lapses in taste. But those
who were out to cleanse the landscape of the last of "Tiki"
style didn't count on the likes of Sven Kirsten, "Bam-
boo Ben," Kevin Bullat or Jeff "Biff" Butler.
Paradise, you see, doesn't always answer to fash-
ion. Sometimes, our Earthly fantasies of paradise lead
in another direction entirely.
So you stand in the mood-lit living room of But-
ler's suburban tract home and behold a molded concrete
Tiki that bulges out of his fireplace like a colossal pot-
bellied stove almost as tall as you are. With glowing red
eyes the size of taillights, the Tiki breathes fire from
its mouth.
Intermittently, gouts of steam snort from its nose.The
centerpiece of a fanciful room in which Atomic lounge
meets Universal Studios, this, you say to yourself, is
why Tiki style survived after all.
It's a worldly matter: establishing a world apart
from the world outside. Mr. Butler, a mai tai, if you
please.
Escapist to the extreme, Polynesian pop caught
on in California and spread across the country more than
half a century ago as a mild, rum-and-luau rebellion
against conformity. Then, people sobered up. Tiki bars,
Tiki bowling alleys and Tiki motels fell to the wreck-
ing ball. Backyards were cleaned of those old fishing nets
with cork floats and bamboo torches. Few people gave
a nostalgic thought to the lacquered puffer-fish lamp that
used to decorate the den or the abalone-shell ashtrays
that Grandpa used to snuff out his unfiltered Pall Malls.
But tropical dreams have proved more durable
than other flights of stylistic fancy. Today, perhaps to
the surprise of people who don't accept Picasso's maxim
that "Taste is the enemy of creativeness," the Tiki bar,
the Tiki totem, the Tiki mug and Tiki decor have staged
an exuberant comeback. Evidence of rising interest in
things Tiki can be found in most states, but California
remains, as one might expect, the center of mainland
energy.
Three close-by houses in different Orange Coun-
ty neighborhoods offer a glimpse at the stylistic possi-
bilities that occur when people decide to stay home
and let their imaginations do the long-distance traveling.
At a bend on a stolid suburban street in West-
minster, a low-slung rancher looks something like
Grandma's house. In fact, this was Butler's grandparents'
home -- a gently aging house distinguished from all the
others only by a lime-green Tiki face painted over the
garage door.
But cross the threshold and Grandma no longer
comes to mind.
"It's like a sanctu-
ary to me. It puts my
mind at ease. It's my
escape from normali-
ty," says Butler of his
wildly rendered retro-
lounge Tiki decor.
The overlapping
spirit of Postwar Mod-
ernism and tropical
primitive remains a dis-
tinct offshoot of Tiki style. A graphic artist, Butler's
rendition blends bold animal-print chairs with a red leather
streamliner sofa and a vintage tucked-Naugahyde cock-
tail bar, along with Tiki stools and decorative art includ-
ing primitive carvings and vivid midcentury lounge
prints by artist Josh Agle, better known as Shag.
To effectively seal Butler's domain from the elsewhere,
sliding glass doors have been replaced with wood and
painted, like the rest of the room, to resemble a fortress
of red stone. Noon could be midnight in this far-out realm
beyond the comprehension of Mapquest and Google's
satellite imagery.
Through the sliding doors lays Butler's bedroom
in which a pair of 8-foot tall, illuminated faux-stone Tikis
loom as if on sentry duty for "Raiders of the Lost Ark."
A Murphy bed is tucked out of sight, opening up the
visual space and highlighting the mysterious warmth of
Polynesian thatch walls, crown molding of bamboo
poles and a skylight filtered by tropical matting.
Butler's father scrounged many of the furnishings
at swap meets. Friends helped with the work. A one-
time roommate, an unemployed artist, paid the rent
with a knowing paintbrush.
Butler reaches for words. "Tiki is used in art as a
reminder of our primitive side. Hot rodders use it sym-
bolically. For surfers, it reminds them of Hawaii. There's
mysticism to it, and it's theme park-ish .... The Tiki
Room was always my favorite place at Disneyland. I guess
I was looking for a place that would blow your mind,
where I could entertain my friends. I'm also an artist,
so I just let it go."
"It's kind of like an addiction, it builds on itself,"
Bullat says with a grin. Naturally. That's the thing
about fun. A little hardly seems enough. And way too
much is just about right.
K
C
M
Y
K
C
M
Y
4
March 2006
Today's Home
The Citizen, Auburn, New York
The Citizen, Auburn, New York
Today's Home
March 2006
13
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Today's Home
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190 Years Young
