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By Tim Blackwell | Feb 3, 2016 America’s kitchens and baths continue to be a little bit country and a little bit city, with built-in conveniences that extend to the family pet. Transitional styles dominate bath, kitchen trends for 2016 with room for pets Transitional-style architecture and neutral colors were popular in 2015 and are expected to remain in vogue this year, according to the National Kitchen & Bath Association ’s (NKBA) annual survey. Also, simplified storage in both rooms, plus pet access in kitchens, are in demand. Bridging the gap between classic and contemporary, transitional designs are moving the needle from what’s been more modern design in recent years. Contemporary looks still remain desirable in bathrooms, but kitchens are reflecting various styles that include the past and present, and even industrial and farmhouse looks. Color-wise, neutrals remain the colors of choice, and two-tone designs are adding flavor t...

When Esther Recio and her husband, Maximiliano Visconti, decided to downsize, they looked toward the sky. Last year, the couple sold their three-story Victorian in University City and put down stakes in a high-rise flat at  Cityview Condominiums in the Art Museum area . The couple loved their century-old home, which they’d owned for 13 years, but it had become too much house. “We had completely gutted and rehabbed it. But we had one floor that we never even used,” says Recio, 49. The couple also grew weary of homeowner tasks, such as raking leaves and shoveling snow. They desired an “easier life,” so a condo made the most sense. Recio, who is from Salamanca, Spain, met Visconti, 45, who hails from Cordoba, Argentina, when the two were undergraduates at St. Joseph’s University. They married 16 years ago . CAMERON B. POLLACK Cityview Condominiums on Hamilton Street in Philadelphia. (CAMERON B. POLLACK / Staff Photograph...