Issue link: http://digital.canadawide.com/i/1506758
S E P T E M B E R 2 0 2 3 | 43 Kitchens Vicostone products are stain and heat resistant, with only mild soap and warm water required for clean-up. "Application options are only limited to your imagination, with many clients choosing to use quartz on their backsplash or shower surrounds, for a seamless and grout free option on vertical sur- faces, as well as horizontal," says Meeker. "Vicostone is proud to have many environmental certifications, such as NSF, Greenguard Gold, Declare, as well as a 15-year limited warranty." Exotic Stone Ltd. has been working with design- ers and suppliers to create outdoor living kitchens and JD Singh, owner, says the company can accom- modate stone counters for any budget. "We get requests for all types of outdoor projects, from a simple barbecue surround to working counters to full, state-of-the-art chef kitchens. We have also done firepit projects." Singh explains while the colour choices vary, most often people are looking for dark tones that are less affected by weather. "We use the Dekton counters that are simple to install so we work with cabinet designers to get a perfect fit for customers." CABINETRY Grass Canada Inc. recently introduced a state-of- the-art drawer system – the Vionaro V8. "The V8, a revolutionary new drawer box system, is a wood drawer box substitute that is the thinnest double wall drawer box system on the market," says George Pavlov, regional sales manager, Ontario. "This innova- tion means the system reduces the footprint that the drawer box occupies in the cabinet. The V8 drawer system is only eight millimetres, compared to previ- ous drawers, which would have been up to 1.25 inches away from the inside of the cabinet. The compact aspect maximizes the internal volume of the cabi- net, and creates more storage in the actual drawer." With the constantly decreasing footprint in multi-unit homes, saving every millimetre means extra room and this makes a difference. "With an increase of 20 percent, that's a lot of space and over the length of a kitchen, this gives the homeown- ers extra room for books, spices, or other items," he says. The V8 comes in five heights and is available in three colours. Sean Gerolimatos, director of research and development at Schluter Systems North America, notes that countertop trends have moved towards large thin tile format, eliminating the traditional grouted look. To accommodate this new fashion, Schluter offers the Kerdi-Board, an extruded foam board with a polystyrene core. "Our Kerdi-Board for kitchen countertops is either one-and-a-half or two- inches thick, and are easy to cut," he explains. "This creates a waterproof, flat, ready-to-tile substrate, which saves a lot of time during installation." Gerolimatos adds that using their profiles with the larger tiles creates a smooth transition for the front of the countertop as well as the transition to the backsplash. "This also enables installations sim- ilar to undermount sinks using stone countertops, but the same result can be done with tile." Another Schluter product that is enhancing kitchen designs are stylish metal shelves. "These are either stainless steel or powder coated aluminum Vionaro V8 drawer system from Grass Canada Inc. Stylish metal shelves from Schluter Systems North America. 1 - 3956 Quadra Street 250-881-1001 • www.exoticstone.ca Timeless elegance Timeless elegance ExoticStone_AWARD_1020.indd 1 9/30/20 11:13 AM