Congratulations to Canada's Women's Soccer Team -- 2012 Olympic Bronze Medalists

As we celebrate Team Canada's 1-0 win over France in women's soccer this morning, we thought this would be the perfect opportunity to introduce you to the Monarch Kitchen and Bath Centre Under 9 Rep soccer team. Members of the Pickering Soccer Club, the girls are shown here sporting medals after a tournament last month in Milton, Ontario.

Congratulations to our new (and future) Olympians!

Monarch Kitchen & Bath Centre's Under 9 Rep Soccer Team, shown after a tournament in Milton, Ontario.

Another Fabulous White Kitchen Design from Monarch

This Toronto kitchen design combines the beauty and practicality of stainless steel appliances and hardware with clean white cabinetry.

 

Reduce Your Ecological Footprint During Waste Reduction Week, October 17th to 23rd

www.eco-business.ca

As an active member and proud supporter of Durham Sustain Ability's initiative EcoBusiness, Monarch Kitchen and Bath Centre encourages you to take the first step in reducing your ecological footprint during Waste Reduction Week (WRW).

"We buy a wastebasket and take it home in a plastic bag. Then we take the wastebasket out of the bag and put the bag in the wastebasket."
                                                                  ~ Lily Tomlin

Organized in Canada by a coalition of non-government and not-for-profit environment groups from each of the 13 participating provincial and territorial jurisdictions, Waste Reduction Week is intended to raise public consciousness about waste and its environmental and social ramifications. The goal of the week-long program encourages people to get involved and act now to sustain our planet for future generations. 

From WRW's Business Resource Kit (downloadable here):

What can you do? Everything! Waste reduction starts with every individual, every business, taking responsibility for their consumption and waste. By following the hierarchy of the three Rs (Reduce-Reuse-Recycle) you can make a significant impact.

Visit the Waste Reduction Week website at www.wrwcanada.com for a list of resources that can help you perform a business waste audit, assessment of your community and more!

The Back to School Backpack Program: Helping Durham Region Families Send Their Children Back to School Prepared

For many parents in Durham Region, the struggle to feed, clothe and house their families is ongoing. And when September rolls around, there is often no room in the budget for new clothes, let alone backpacks and school supplies. 

At this time every year, a group of dedicated volunteers solicits the help of the school board and various businesses throughout the Region to ensure these families are not forgotten and children in need of assistance return to school with a new backpack filled with school supplies.

Angie Baglieri has been involved with the Back to School Backpack program for five years and is saddened to see how the need continue to grow each year. "I've heard stories of parents trying to keep a roof over their heads. Every month, they have to choose between buying food or paying the hydro bill; buying a backpack and school supplies or paying the gas bill. This program is necessary and it helps."

Monarch Kitchen and Bath Centre is proud to support the Back to School Backpack program again this year and encourages other local businesses to do the same.

"The school board has partnered with us to identify the supplies necessary and approximated the quantities of filled backpacks required," explains Angie. "With 100% of donations directly allocated to the program, your donation will ensure that children in our community have the tools they need for a successful school year."

The Back to School Backpack program has obtained the services of a local supplier who will provide age-appropriate, filled (pencils, pens, crayons etc) backpacks for $13+tax per bag. For Ajax, Pickering, Clarington, Oshawa, Scugog, Whitby and Uxbridge, the combined total required has been determined to be approximately 2,000 units.

To ensure all students begin the school year prepared, volunteers will begin delivering the backpacks to schools during the week of August 29th.

"Our fundraising goal again this year is $20,000," says Angie. "This amount may need to go up...I've seen it in the past."

Businesses wishing to donate to the Back to School Backpack program are asked to call Angie Baglieri at 905-721-8878 or email angiebaglieri@yahoo.ca. All donations are issued a receipt from the United Way.

Monarch Kitchen's Showroom Makeover: Countertop Installed!

Monarch's framed white kitchen display
in their Durham Region showroom

Monarch Kitchen & Bath Centre's Pickering showroom makeover is almost finished. If you haven't been into our showroom lately, why not drop by and take a look?

Interstone Marble and Granite has just installed the stunning granite countertops and--after the painting is done this weekend--the white framed kitchen showroom will be complete.

And just in time--Monarch's 30th anniversary celebration is just over a week away. We hope you'll stop by on Saturday, June 11th between 9am and 5pm for some refreshments, live musical entertainment, wine tasting and lots of great product giveaways.

Granite countertop by Interstone Marble & Granite

Why Summer is the Best Time to Renovate Your Kitchen

No matter how well you plan for the disruption of a major kitchen renovation, there's nothing that quite prepares you for the inconvenience of preparing meals and doing dishes in a temporary kitchen. As the heart of our home, the kitchen is more than the place we eat our meals, it's the central gathering point for most families. 

Booking your kitchen renovation during the summer months has its advantages.

You Can Eat Outside
Polish up the patio set, turn on the portable CD player, set the table and VOILA! You've got yourself a temporary kitchen away from the dust and mess of your kitchen renovation.

You Can BBQ
Eating at restaurants and bringing take-out food home is not only expensive, it can be tiresome as well. With the Internet at your disposal, you can discover numerous creative ways to use your barbecue to grill meat, poultry, seafood and vegetables. 

You Can Grab a Breath of Fresh Air
With any renovation, there will be dust. You can close off rooms, shut doors...but the dust will follow you--except outside. Grab a book, your laptop or a deck of cards and head outside for a breath of fresh air. (Opening your windows to let a fresh breeze in also works better in the warmer months!)

You Can Hit the Road
Why not plan a summer road trip or vacation to coincide with your kitchen renovation? You may not be able to avoid living at home during the entire period of upheaval, but you can reduce the amount of stress your family feels by planning to be away during some of the "messier" periods of your renovation.

Monarch Kitchen & Bath Centre Celebrates Earth "Weekend"

Last year, approximately 60% of Ontario residents turned off their lights for Earth Hour.

Were you one of them?

A global initiative designed to raise awareness of climate change, Earth Hour began in Australia in 2007 and spread quickly throughout the globe by 2008.

According to The World Wildlife Fund, last year 128 countries showed their commitment to saving energy and leading greener lives by celebrating Earth Hour.

This year, Earth Hour will take place on Saturday, March 26th from 8:30 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. local time.

At Monarch Kitchen & Bath Centre, we're upping the ante and will be holding an EARTH WEEKEND.

Our lights will be off from Friday, March 25th at 5:00 p.m. until Monday, March 28th at 9:00 a.m. Only essential lighting will be turned on during business hours on Saturday.

You CAN make a difference.

To learn more about Earth Hour, visit the Earth Hour website.

What is Melissa Foley's Favourite Design Trend for 2011?

 LED Lighting

"One of the growing trends in kitchen design today is LED lighting," says Monarch designer Melissa Foley. "LED lights are about 10 times as energy efficient as incandescent bulbs with the same light output. This means high efficiency, low energy use and less maintenance for the homeowner.

Photo courtesy of Richelieu Hardware

"LED lights also last approximately 100 times longer than incandescent bulbs and 10 times longer than a fluorescent tube.

"In the past, the downside to LED lighting was that the colour temperature was more similar to a fluorescent light, and they did not give off the warm lighting tones of an incandescent," Melissa explains. "However, as technology advances, more and more suppliers are catering to the design world and finding ways to create LEDs with a warmer colour temperature.

"At Monarch, we have installed LED lighting in many of our clients' homes and they couldn't be happier! We have a variety of lighting options available and can help you decide which works best for you and your space."

Looking Back: A Monarch Kitchen & Bath Centre Client on What She'd Do Differently

One of the first things many homeowners do when considering a major renovation project is seek the advice of friends and family. After all, who better to trust than someone who's been through a similar experience before?

Janet Boccone, a Monarch Kitchen & Bath Centre client who had her kitchen redesigned in 2008, updated her Dream Kitchen Reno Diary blog recently and had this advice to offer:

Regrets? Lessons? Advice?

February 28, 2011

A good friend recently asked me if my husband and I regretted any of the decisions we made while designing our kitchen a few years ago.

She is considering gutting her own kitchen and starting over and wanted to know what we'd learned; what, if anything, we would change and most importantly...would we do it all over again?

I told her, without hesitation, that we'd do it again. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE my kitchen. There is not a day that goes by that I don't think Wow, what a gorgeous space. Lucky me!

Would I change anything? Maybe just a few of the appliances...and maybe not for the reasons you might think...but more on that later. I did have some advice to share.

PLAN your cupboard space

If you're using a professional kitchen design company (and I highly recommend it), your designer will design the overall layout of the space and help you make hundreds of decisions--from cupboard and countertop materials to lighting and paint colours. One of the most important decisions you will make has to do with the setup of your cupboard space. Do you want drawers or shelves? How many of each? How big or how small? Where will they go? (You get the idea.) This is both an exciting process and a terrifying one. If you're redesigning your kitchen, chances are you'd like to organize your space better. I know that was one of my top priorities. I was sick of bending over and leaning into cupboards. I wanted great big drawers and lots of them!

My regret: I wish I'd planned the rest of my shelves (mostly the upper ones) out better.

My advice: Take the time to think about what you'll be storing where. Don't just assume everything will fit.

LISTEN to appliance salespeople

I have a five-burner gas cooktop with a brushed stainless steel finish. It works like a charm and I love how gas offers instant heat. It was love at first site when I saw the cooktop at the store. So blinded was I by its beauty, I ignored the saleswoman when she said to me "It can be a little difficult to clean." Oh, phooey, I thought. I'll never let this thing get dirty! I'll wipe it clean every night. And I did. And I still do, for the most part. But you know what? It's impossible to clean. I've tried everything and it no longer looks anything like it did in the beginning. I'm thrilled by its performance but disappointed in its declining appearance. My husband says I should get over it! And I am...more or less...because I am pleased with how well it works.

My regret: I should have listened to the saleswoman. Because even if we bought the same cooktop, my expectations would have been more realistic.

My advice: Decide beforehand how important this kind of thing is to you. And listen to the salespeople.

FIND a temporary home for your pet
We were very lucky to have someone to look after our dog when the teardown and construction got really intense; however, if I were to do it again, I'd try and have him out of the house even more. A house under construction is a danger zone--for humans and for pets. Your stress level during this time--even if every last little thing is going smoothly--is high. We are capable of understanding what's going on. Our pets are not.

My regret: Our dog is an important member of our family and I should have considered his needs, as well.

My advice: Find your pet a temporary home with someone you trust.

Monarch Kitchen & Bath Centre Encourages You to Ban the Bottle

If the majority of the water you drink comes from store-bought bottled water, it's time to reconsider what you're doing to your body, your planet and your pocket book.

In Solvie Karlstrom's article Tapped Out: The True Cost of Bottled Water, she explains that "not only does bottled water contribute to excessive waste, but it costs us a thousand times more than water from our faucet at home, and it is, in fact, no safer or cleaner."

To better understand our nation's obsession with bottled water, take a few minutes and watch The Story of Bottled Water, by The Story of Stuff Project, co-produced by the Polaris Institute. While the narrator refers to conditions in the U.S., Canadians will be able to easily recognize their own bottled water habits in the film.