less is more

my sister has a small cottage, and she loves it that way. the problem is, it's very old and could use some updating. she & her husband are thinking about ways to rennovate it and make it even more functional. and they are also thinking about potentially building a new small house someday soon. so of course she asked her big sis for some ideas and some help on the subject. in my gathering of reserouces for her i realized my blogging friends might really enjoy this information all in one place too. this is by no means a complete list, so please leave comments with additions.

would you like to explore small space living ideas online? here are several useful blogs and websites:

for homes that are 500 sq.ft. or smaller this is the blog for you: littlediggs

a fun & informative blog all about making living in small spaces more functional: small space living

who knew tiny could be so wonderful? the folks at tiny houses have it all figured out!

it's very well known by now, but still quite useful: the not so big house

extremely dedicated & jam-packed with helpful info: small house society

would you like to buy or build a small dwelling? check out these fantastic options:

tumbleweed tiny house company

tightlines, small house design

little green buildings

or are you just wanting to add to your home library? there are a plethora of great reads on the subject:

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
i'll be out of town friday-monday so i'll wish y'all a great weekend now! happy trails ~ even if it's just in your backyard.

regreen

at last ~ green resources for the long-neglected residential designers!
in the green world, residential interior designers, remodeling contractors and consumers have felt as neglected as wallflowers at the senior prom. no more.
REGREEN is the new resource for sustainable residential improvement projects. jointly developed by the american society of interior dsigners' foundation and the u.s. green building council, the REGREEN program provides best practice and environmentally responsible guidelines for design professionals, service providers, product suppliers and homeowners.
though it complements the LEED for homes rating system, it is not LEED. there are no points to earn or certification levels to achieve. what REGREEN offers instead are strategies, advice and examples for common residential remodeling project types ~ kitchen, bath and other interior and exterior living area renovations, finishing a basement, weatherizing, constructing a major addition or undertaking a gut rehab, and energy retrofits.
REGREEN is organized for use by the smallest projects all the way thru to really large ones. want to remodel the entire interior of a house? turn to the gut rehab chapter to find a discussion of the integrated pre-design issues, a definition of the project scope, strategies listed by building system, and a case study with real life examples. or perhaps all you'd like to do is replace the bathroom wallcovering. the strategy library offers suggestions on the greenest alternatives.
the final version of REGREEN will be released at ASID's interiors 2008 conference march 13-16 in new orleans {btw, is anyone here attending?}. caveat alert! the word "final" is to be used cautiously. just like the LEED rating systems, REGREEN will always be a work in progress to be improved and upgraded as users like us contribute to its content.
thank goodness the wallflowers have finally begun to dance!



{summarized from article by penny bonda at interior design magazine}

"feng shui" to the hilt

last year the design firm i work for completed a project for an apartment atop a prominent san francisco hotel. any associates who wanted a tour before the clients moved in were given permission. so we decided to make it a group thing and all went over together, just as some of the finishing touches were being completed by the contractors. the principle designer on the project and the project lead came along to give us the tour. it is the type of place you wouldn't want to see without a tour guide. and it's the kind of place only few people ever get to experience. now there is no doubt of the over-the-topness here, but i still think it's interesting to see what detailed design acumen & excellent craftmanship can come up with when the client is demanding a plush, psychadelic, disneyland, feng-shui dream house. for the sake of brevity i'm only posting a few photos here, so please feel free to jump to my flickr album for the full tour.

{the kitchen in lime green painted wood paneling with many reflective surfaces. custom island with clear glass top and custom range with built in wok, grill & steamer}

{the love-vibe purple entertainment room with a custom heart-shaped chaise for two, custom carpet to match, and a 5-screen built-in entertainment center with a small stage just in front for those wild karaoke party nights}

{the master bathroom is all emerald and sparkle ~ the mosaic silver floor tiles were installed in a custom pattern designed to match the facade of the building in the view; a chakra shower bar, tons of body jets, and a body blow dryer in the massive shower room; and the biggest custom tub i've ever seen with my own eyes includes an infinity edge that overlooks the city}

{four celestial ceilings ~ in the double high living room, in the sunny laundry room, in the ultra-futuristic breakfast nook, and in the powder room made to look like a back porch }

my barn dream, their reality

ever since i was a young girl i've thought it would be so wonderful to buy an old barn and renovate it into a home. {yes, i've blogged about this idea before} i have oodles of sketches & clippings & ideas for such a project if i'm ever lucky enough to make it happen.

so of course i was completely taken with the ny times' great article on a lucky couple who purchased an upstate barn and surrounding property for a mere $150,000 and then turned it into this gorgeous place:

he's a talented architect and she's a successful designer in nyc, and this is just their vacation home. but i don't see why such a place couldn't be a year-round residence with the right fore-thought. at any rate, i absolutely love what they did with the place ~ i'm just a wee bit jealous and so very inspired.

my new bathroom needs your help

i'm moving into a new place soon and although i'm extremely excited about it there is one huge designer challenge looming over my head.

the main guest bath is covered in what i consider the least attractive tiles ever. they are in great condition, and vintage 1960's style, so i can't complain there. but i'm not exactly a fan of pink (i really don't like it actually. and, no, the irony isn't lost on me), so it already had that against it, but the accent backsplash tiles are pretty unfortunate too.

i'm renting so there is only so much i can do. but i am so baffled by the challenge that i don't know where to start. that's why i'm reaching out to you all today with this major designer challenge.
i can paint some nice shade of taupe on the walls to tone down the white-pink contrast. i can go for a parisian-vintage theme and try to live-it-up in a think-pink way. but honestly all i want to do is paint over the top of all of the tiles and start with a neutral clean slate.

have any of you ever painted tiles? how did that turn out for you?
any great ideas for other ways i can solve this conundrum?
please help a design girl in distress!

{the shower ~ nice pepto-pink & white combo}

{the vanity ~ stained wood base with white tile countertop, pink surrounding tiles and a backsplash that really deserves a close-up ......}

.

{the close up ~ teal & periwinkle little daisies on an off-white background, surrounded by the pink abyss. sigh. i guess i just need to increase my appreciation for the 1960's bathroom design aesthetic}

.

{this is a pink tiled bathroom i re-vamped for a house flip project. the 1950's tiles had to stay for budget reasons but i painted the walls & changed out the fixtures to modernize it. this i could certainly live with. but my new bath has those contrasting backsplash tiles too. yikes!}

project progress: cpw in nyc

a new blog i've been taken with, the kitchen designer, (susan serra) just posted about nyc's new residential building on central park west. my colleagues and i just so happen to be designing a large penthouse interior build-out in this same building (no, they aren't any of the celebs that susan lists, just their soon to be neighbors). she critiques the kitchen design by the building's architect, robert a.m. stern, and although i agree with her critique i wanted to add to it by saying that most of the large residence's kitchens will be torn out and re-done to the client's specific taste once they take over the apartment. our clients are demo'ing the entire penthouse interior and we are re-designing everything top-to-bottom. it is an unfortunate snaffoo in the nyc building code for apartments that the building department will not allow a residential space to be turned over to the clients unless there is a functional kitchen & bathroom fully up to code, even though the clients intend to do an entirely different design once they have ownership. very wasteful and frustrating! anyway, i thought the coincidence was uncanny that susan brought up this building while i've been in the throws of construction documents and design detail drawings in the same place. so i'd like to build on what she wrote by sharing some photos of the inspiration and design process for our project.

(view from penthouse looking over central park ~ taken by my project mgr)

( exterior of the building during construction ~ taken by my project mgr)

and to familiarize you with the design process:

(stone and wood samples of materials to be used in the project)

(fluted wood paneling ~ it will be stained french grey and cerused over the top of the stain. it will be on many of the walls ~ the pattern will become soft and neutral when the finish is applied)

(rendering of a fireplace wall)

we also got to build a model of the entire apartment!

(model of stairs)

(model of corridor with windows)

(model of living room ~ looking towards windows)

(model of family room)



and, lastly, some inspirational photos we used to help the client visualize what the look and feel of the interiors will be: