Ice Cream

A Sweet Guide to Lansdale’s Best Ice Cream Spots

by Uncategorized

It’s ice cream season! After long days remodeling homes in the summer heat, our crews love to indulge in cool, creamy treats — and we have strong feelings about our favorite spots!

From old-fashioned ice cream parlors to modern creameries dishing up unique flavors, Lansdale has fantastic local options for an icy summer indulgence. Here are some of our top picks for the best ice cream around town:

Freddy Hill Farms

In addition to their family-friendly fun center with mini golf, driving ranges, and batting cages, Freddy Hill Farms dishes up delicious homemade ice cream. Using milk and cream from local dairies, their ice cream has an incredibly rich, creamy texture. Be sure to try one of their fruit-swirled flavors like peach or raspberry.

Merrymead Farm

This family-owned farm and dairy has been a local favorite for decades, serving up some of the richest and creamiest ice cream around. Made with milk from their own cows, Merrymead’s ice cream is incredibly fresh and flavorful. From classic flavors like chocolate and vanilla to unique seasonal offerings like blueberry and pumpkin, their ever-changing menu keeps things exciting.

Sundae World

Sundae World is an old-fashioned ice cream parlor that will transport you back in time with its nostalgic vibe. In addition to hand-dipped scoops in a wide array of flavors, they’re also known for their thick milkshakes, sundaes, and banana splits. Be sure to try one of their signature creations!

The Main Freeze

Soft serve, soda floats, hand-dipped cones and more abound at this affordable Lansdale staple. Keep tabs on their Facebook page for specials, donation nights, and discounts!

 

No matter your ice cream preferences, the Lansdale area has something to satisfy every craving. From old-fashioned scoops to modern rolled creations and premium small-batch flavors, these local spots are serving up some of the best, cold, sweet treats around this summer.

Large Shower

Home Remodeling Planning Checklist

by Remodeling Tips

You’ve decided to go with a design build firm for your home remodel, and after some careful decision making, you’ve found a perfect team to work with. You’re closer than ever to your dream home, but there will most likely be a gap of time before your design is created and construction begins — and that’s a good thing. This pause is your opportunity to think through all the details of your project so you can easily communicate your needs and wants with your designer and ensure your finished home is perfect.

Here’s how to make the most of this time while you’re waiting to get started:

Create a Houzz Ideabook

If you don’t have a Houzz profile yet, sign up right away! Houzz is free, easy to navigate, and extremely helpful for both homeowners and the designers they’re working with. You can browse pictures of inspirational home remodels and save your favorites to your Ideabook. Once you save an image, you can even type in notes about what you like in the picture — whether it’s a color palette, your dream shower, an ideal countertop material, or whatever else catches your eye. Ideabooks make it easy for your designer to pin down your personal preferences and style.  

Large Shower

Develop a Wish List

Once you feel thoroughly inspired, make a wish list. Remodeling your master bathroom? Think about what kind of showerhead and fixtures you’ll want. Do you prefer a double or single vanity, standard subway tile or oversized? When you’ve come up with what makes the bathroom of your dreams, prioritize. Think about which items are your must-haves, nice-to-haves, and only-if there’s-money-left-in-the-budgets.

Make an Appliance Guide

If you’re refreshing your kitchen, consider the size and features needed for your appliances. Perhaps you already have a state-of-the-art refrigerator you don’t want to let go of, you’d like a separate cooktop and oven, or you absolutely need your dishwasher to be whisper-quiet so it doesn’t wake up your sleeping toddler. Appliances should be decided on and ordered very early on in the process so they can be delivered at the right time. Changing your mind or waiting to decide could cause a delay — or even a price increase.

Panel Fridge
Bright Kitchen

Research Windows & Doors

Make some time to visit local showrooms and take notes about specific windows and doors you like. Write down if there’s a certain series you’re drawn to and which features you’d like to include. A space-saving pocket or barn door could be a perfect touch in your new home office, or you may fall in love with the natural light potential of a picture window.

Investigate Lighting

While you’re at the showrooms, don’t forget to check out lighting showcases as well. Lighting choice isn’t just about style — there are several new functional options to consider, like under-cabinet, statement, or recessed. You may also fall in love with statement lighting that will become your room’s focal point.

The more thought you put in at this stage, the happier you’ll be with your remodel in the end. This is an exciting part of your journey — so have fun, enjoy, and as always, contact us if we can help in any way.

Blossom Cafe

Sustainability and Style in Skippack’s New Coffee Shop

by News

The charming village of Skippack, PA, is home to many incredible restaurants, chic boutiques, and fantastic celebrations. Until fairly recently, it only lacked one thing — a gourmet coffeehouse. Now, thanks to Blossom Café and Custom Craft, the Skippack area has a wonderful place for coffee, community, and carbs.

Blossom Cafe

Blossom’s owner, Michelle Buckman, sees opening the shop as giving back to the town that’s given so much to her. It hasn’t been an easy feat, however. She was determined to serve excellent coffee and baked goods, but beyond that, she hoped to build a place where people could comfortably gather while taking in the quaint village. She was especially set on the shop feeling organic — like it had always lived inside Skippack’s beloved flower shop, Floral & Hardy. She had plenty of ideas on how to make the space beautiful and inviting, but only one name to bring it to life: Custom Craft.

Michelle Buckman

Lowell Steinberg, owner of Floral & Hardy

with

Michelle Buckman, owner of Blossom Cafe

Our team built a stylish and sustainable oasis inside Floral & Hardy that complements, rather than competes with, the floral shop. Similar elements were threaded through each store to keep it feeling cohesive, and very little of the florist changed. In fact, they were able to stay open during construction with minimal disruption — a feat all the more impressive considering that Blossom was built from Floral & Hardy’s old counter. This meant refurbishing the existing one into the perfect coffeeshop and building an entirely new and bigger counter for flower arranging and purchasing.

Blossom Cafe

We furthered the organic and natural feel by installing a quartz counter and brick-like tiles on the walls, while Michelle added stylish touches like a moss frame and a reclaimed wood menu holder. Sustainability is particularly important to Michelle — Blossom’s serveware is largely compostable and the shop features repurposed materials where possible.

Blossom Cafe
Michelle has worked with Custom Craft on many projects in her home, so she knew we’d deliver fine craftsmanship and unmatched service on this passion project. She’s thrilled with the final look and feel of the shop and excited to see what its future holds. If you’re in the area soon, pop by for a quick sip — or stop and smell the roses while enjoying a sweet treat!
Blossom Cafe

Click the link below to follow Blossom Cafe on facebook, or click the cup of coffee to check out their website!
french door wall oven

Save Space with a French Door Wall Oven

by Remodeling Tips

french door wall ovenWhen it comes to designing kitchens, creating a safe, congestion free environment is always one of our top priorities. One of the most troublesome spots we address is the area around the oven–particularly when the oven door is open.

Traditional oven doors open from the top and extend about 20″ into the kitchen floor space on average. These drop-style doors force cooks to navigate around, and bend over, hot oven doors to get items in and out. Whilst the cook is tending to the oven, foot traffic in the immediate vicinity comes to a halt. To avoid this sort of congestion, we endeavor to place this style of appliance strategically. Because the oven needs to be located within easy proximity to the refrigerator, as well as the sink, this can create challenges and design limitations–especially in smaller spaces. Fortunately, appliance manufacturers have recently begun offering ovens with French doors which open in the middle.

When open, French doors take up significantly less floor space making them much easier for home chefs to maneuver around. In addition to their space saving benefits, French door wall ovens are easier on the back. Cooks can easily place and remove large sheets or roasting pans without awkwardly bending over a hot oven door. French doors are also easily opened and closed with one hand. In short, French door wall ovens provide home chefs with a safer, more convenient meal preparation experience.

We incorporated the GE Café Series 30” Built-in French-Door Single Convection wall oven (pictured here) in a project we recently completed for homeowners in Plymouth Meeting, PA. Follow this link to view the project photos. If you are curious to learn if a French door wall oven would be the right solution for your kitchen, give us a call at 610-584-0665. One of our designers will be happy to answer any questions you may have.

blog

Custom Craft Designers Visit AD Design Show in NYC

by News

Visit to the AD Design Show Yields Sore Feet and Design Inspiration

blogBack in March, Custom Craft Designers, Julie Novak Stafford and Brittany Murray, visited the 17th Annual AD Design Show in New York City. This perennial event showcased the latest in residential design products, and offered a look at emerging design trends from brands large and small.

Our attendees were dazzled by elaborate displays of home related products, from accessories, to art, appliances, flooring, lighting, tile, counter tops, hardware, home tech, and room furnishings. The event also featured giveaways, tastings, book signings, seminars, culinary demonstrations and more.

It’s a good thing our design duo wore comfortable shoes to the show, because the AD Design Show was vast, encompassing exhibits from over 400 companies. Suffice to say, Julie and Brittany returned from the experience tired, but brimming with ideas to incorporate into future projects.