I recently had the pleasure of meeting Eric Storm and Beth Meredith of the design firm Living Spaces. Eric and Beth stumbled across my site and invited me to lunch to discuss ADUs.
Without going into too much detail, we had a great conversation about the ADU program, it’s shortcomings, and how the city could tweak [...]
There’s a real movement afoot to design sophisticated “sheds” as part of the back yard. These range from small, functional buildings to elaborate artist’s spaced and spare bedrooms. Here are just a few great examples.
Milton Studio, by Timber Design Limited:
Check out the interior!
Here’s a few vendors and solutions for mounting a TV to a wall (Omnimount SB1 + 4N1M):
The 4N1M sell for around $150 through Radio Shack. The recessed box (SB1) sells for around $90 at Amazon.
I’m interested in the idea of using glass panels on the inside of the house to allow more light and create a sense of space. Here’s one idea where the bedroom would have a bank of windows looking into the main living area. Patrick suggested looking for some used industrial windows, which is a great [...]
Here’s Communitecture’s first round of “polished” floor plans, based on our two-hour meeting and review of rough design ideas (see previous post).
Patrick presented two second-story options; Raina and I quickly decided on this option. Images (below) open GIF files. Scalable PDFs are below (text links)
First Floor (PDF)
Second Floor
Patrick will use these plans, as well [...]
A list of infrastructure and other needs for the shop area:
“Mechanical room” for air compressor and dust collection. Requires ventilation an 220v power for both machines
110v electric drops in ceiling
Duct work for dust collection
220v power for table saw, planer and joiner (currently they are 110v but can be rewired). Route cords through floor or [...]
I found a fantastic website with some amazing architectural works (Olson Sundberg Kundig out of Seattle). Here’s just a sampling of some ways to handle the division of space:
I like how these screens divide the space while allowing natural light to pass through. At night, the doorway can be closed and serves as a diffused [...]
I’ve really grown to enjoy our bar area - it fosters conversations and provides a nice counter for food during a party. One thing I don’t like about out kitchen is that the stove and cooking area faces a wall. It would be nice to change this so that the chef could interact with guests. [...]
I found a great article in the magazine “Small Homes” (a publication of Fine Homebuilding).
In the article, “A Low Budget, High Impact House,” Designer Chris Stebbins talks about the advantage of building with standard-length materials. This house, for example, is built in multiples of 8-foot increments. The overall size is 24′ x 36′. Smart design! [...]
Design Within Reach (a somewhat ironic name if you’ve ever shopped there) put together a great contest on small apartment design. Some highlights below:
Click the photo to see the video of the space in use. It’s great!