This year for Christmas presents I am knitting a few scarves for special gift giving. My Grandmother taught me to knit when I was 5 and I have continued to knit on and off over the years. I love going into yarn shops and feasting my eyes on all the colors and textures available. On my last trip to the yarn shop I was captivated by this most exquisite shade of teal blue. It is a blend of wool mohair and silk, and knits up as soft and light as a spider's web. I love working with bamboo needles. This scarf is super easy. Cast on as many stitches as you need to make the scarf the width you want and then just knit every row until it is long enough. For this season extra long and very narrow scarves seem to be all the trend.
Happy Knitting If you have any knitting projects on the go please leave a comment [here]. PS I am going on a plane trip...does any one know if knitting needles are allowed through security??
Fine Homebuilding has a new article on the future of framing house plans. For many years we have been framing houses basically the same way. And this way is not necessarily the most energy efficient or material efficient. The article makes the following recommendations to increase energy efficiency and to reduce material and labor costs at the same time:
use 2x6 wall framing at 24" o.c. (in lieu of 16" o.c.)
use 1" rigid foam insulation in lieu of traditional sheathing
eliminate headers where they are not necessary structurally - where they are necessary size them properly (it is common practice to use the same size header throughout)
eliminate all the corner framing - let the drywall hang loose or use clips
use header hangars in lieu of jack studs
eliminate one of the top plates
I happen to agree that all of these ideas are good energy savings tips. Some builders however would argue that they are not necessarily cost savings. For instance eliminating one of the top plates may complicate the drywall installation. Eliminating the wall sheathing means using other methods to ensure shear strength. So before you implement any of these ideas on your new house make sure you talk through the implications closely with your builder. I also suggest having a residential structural engineer look at your new lightly framed house to make sure it won't tip over when the big bad wolf blows on it.
Lately I have been getting inquiries for modestly sized new home designs that feature main floor master bedrooms. A search of the web reveals a gazillion main floor master bedroom plans - but most are massive or ugly or both. So I decided this might be a good opportunity to design a new plan fitting this unique need, and to illustrate for you a little bit of the design process at the same time. So let's get started.
The design process I use typically involves the following phases:
Programming
Schematic Design
Design Development
Construction Documents
Today we will start with Programming. Programming really means just identifying a list of functional needs and qualities that you would like to see in your home. I'll start with a list that reflects the kinds of requests I have been receiving.
Modest plan size - as close to 2000 square foot as possible.
Open floor plan - Living, Dining and Kitchen spaces very connected with each other.
Mudroom with space for hanging coats and sitting for putting shoes on.
Laundry space should be on the main floor.
A main floor master bedroom with walk in closet and bath. The bath should have a walk in shower, but not necessarily a tub (the days of the jacuzzi tub seem to be over).
Spaces that are functional, but not over sized.
A reasonable sized entry porch.
A screen porch with spaces for eating and sitting.
A main floor powder room.
Possibly a den or away room - if space allows.
An attached 2 car garage - possibly with some additional storage space.
2 additional bedrooms on a second floor.
A shared bathroom for the 2 upstairs bedrooms.
A basement that could allow future expansion space.
Beautiful home but not overly complex. Should be reasonably economical to construct. The house plan should be simple, yet unique.
That's a pretty good list for now. But I wanted to leave room for your thoughts. So please feel free to comment. Did I miss anything? Throw your 2 cents in.
Next posting I will update the program with your relevant comments - and we'll see some initial design thoughts.
Books are such a wonderful way of personalizing your space. Who doesn't love to be surrounded with all this wonderful inspiration. I think rooms with bookshelves are some of my most memorable spaces. Everyone feels comfortable in these rooms and they are rooms where you want to linger. I have a girlfriend who has a monumental bookshelf in her dining room. I always love to sit at the table across from the bookshelf so I can peruse the shelves between the dinner conversation.
"Five years from now, you’re the same person except for the people you’ve met and the books you’ve read." — John Wooden
I have categorized the following pictures of bookshelves into 7 sections:
1. Bookshelves in Living Rooms
Bookshelves in Living Rooms - Dominio
Bookshelves in Living Rooms - Poliform
Bookshelves in Living Rooms - Homes and Gardens
Bookshelves in Living Rooms - Domino Magazine Bookshelves in Living Rooms -BHG
2. Bookshelves with Library Ladders
Bookshelves with Library Ladders - Interior Design Alberto Pinto
Bookshelves with Library Ladders - Interior Design Tom Scheerer
Bookshelves with Library Ladders - Diane von Furstenberg source unknown
These bookshelves line the stairs up the third floor of the Fallingwater house designed by Frank Lloyd Wright. Bookshelves in Stairs - picture via Flickr
What is your favourite room to display books in? Please let me know by leaving a comment.
COCO Before Chanel is a new movie by Warner Bros just released in Vancouver. Coco Before Chanel stars Audrey Tautou, the French actress, who I love best in the movie Amelie. It was shot in Paris and Normandy. Many decades ago André Malraux predicted “From this century, in France, three names will remain: de Gaulle, Picasso, and Coco Chanel.” Not even the mythomaniac Gabrielle “Coco” Chanel could have anticipated how her legacy would persist triumphantly into the next millennium. I, for one, am going to be first in line at the box office for Coco Before Chanel. I will take my classic Coco Chanel handbag (which I bought in Paris when I was studying Interior Design) with me to the show.
In character as Coco Chanel, Audrey Tautou reclines in the designer’s private apartment on her famous voluptuous suede sofa, above her Paris couture salon. Karl Lagerfeld made her classic Chanel suit specially for the film Coco Before Chanel. Vanity Fair February 2009 Photo by Brigitte Lacombe Coco Before Chanel - Movie Review
The Chanel logo is an overlapping double 'C' - one facing forward and the other facing backward, and comes from the name Coco Chanel. "Coco" is the nickname frequently used for Chanel founder, Gabrielle Chanel. Coco Before Chanel - Movie Review
Audrey Tautou stars as Coco Chanel in "Coco Before Chanel." Warner Bros. Photo Coco Before Chanel - Movie Review Classic Coco Chanel Handbag Coco Before Chanel - Movie Review
Please let me know if you have seen the movie and what you think about it by leaving a comment.
I have had many clients in the past tell me they want a bay window. Sometimes I have been a bit reluctant to the idea because I have seen so many bad examples. The image below is a very typical example of the contemporary application of the bay. To me this just looks like they cut a hole in the wall and slapped on the window unit. It just doesn't look integrated.
Don't do this!
On the other hand my recent trip to the Napa Valley area reminded me that the bay window can be a beautiful design element when properly integrated with the architecture of the house plan. Here are a few examples on mostly craftsman style houses - all discovered in the town of Napa.
Square box bay instead of the typical angled sides. Simple shed roof with exposed rafter tails and supporting brackets. Shingle siding wraps the box out.
Here the bay walls simply extend up until they meet the roof overhang, which is deep enough to receive them. The continuous trim above the windows and the cedar shingles also help to integrate the bay properly with the house. The brackets below help to give the bay a sense of support.
Here is an angled bay window fitting below a square gabled form. This gable integrates with the house in much stronger way than our "don't do this example". Also note the small window below the bay. This completes the composition and reinforces the idea that the bay was not an afterthought.
My favorite bay window example in Napa. You can tell the designer spent a lot of time studying the form and detail to properly integrate with the house. Beautifully executed!
