Holiday Time - Beautiful Kitchens!

Kitchen Addition for young family with a Herb Farm home business

A wood stove, built-in bench, and Mexican tile make their kitchen cozy for gathering together

     It's holiday time again with cold, dark evenings encouraging us into our kitchens to cook warm meals to share with family and friends, bake cookies and other traditional holiday treats to give away and indulge in, and gather around our tables with candles lit to express gratitude for all we have.
    In the spirit of the holidays, I thought I'd share some of the beautiful kitchens I've had the opportunity to work on with my clients. Kitchens truly are the heart of the home and show the personality of those who live there. Some of the photos were taken after the owners had been living in the space, and some just as construction was completing, and varying styles and materials are shown. I hope you enjoy!

Guest House ready to graciously host family and friends with the kitchen open to the great room

This Kitchen Renovation is clean and modern to compliment an un-cluttered retirement

                  Remove the walls around a galley kitchen to allow the company to interact with the cook

This kitchen was re-done before I was hired to design a bedroom addition, but I love the "flipped" layout (no window at sink here!) and the quadruple sliding glass doors facing the yard

Here the sink is in the island with a tall side to hide the dirty-dish clutter from dining area view

Kitchen renovation and new deck with a Hudson River view at this weekend home

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!! Cook something and give it to someone you love <3

Adding Space by Detaching the Garage

After almost half a year hiatus from posting, I'm back! Happy 2015 Everyone!

I want to try to steer this blog into a new direction.  I won't be following the chronological progress of one project, like when the New House Next Door to my house was being built and this blog was born, but rather, this blog can be a bit more "free form", talking about lots of different architectural projects and ideas.

Today's Topic: Pulling the garage out of the house

Some clients want an enclosed or covered space for their car(s) and have never had one, and hire me to design them a garage or carport. But some clients have a house with an attached garage space and when they wish their home had a bit more space, rather than designing an addition, we can redesign this unfinished garage space to become part of the house.

In some cases the garage becomes a a studio or work space. Sometimes a spacious master bedroom suite is created. It can be a family room or exercise space- whatever is needed. In this way, the living space of the home is increased relatively inexpensively. And then we design and build a new detached garage to provide storage for the car.

New  Garage on Left, Part of House that was Garage on Right, Porta-Potty in the Middle

 Depending on where they are placed on the site in relation to the house, detached garages can help define outdoor "rooms". They can be set back (a requirement in many zoning codes) so that the home and it's front door are primary, and the car doors are secondary.

If the owner is always going to arrive home by parking inside the garage, then this new space and how it's doors are arranged in relation to the house entry will become part of what architects call "the entry sequence." This coming and going can be made pleasant by good design, positively affecting our day. Or, if poorly thought out, it can detract from our happiness, possibly by being too cramped or too abrupt. (click HERE to go to my website and read about re-designing an entry sequence in "Transition Zones")

Entry Sequence: Pergola Connects Garage to House, Garage Has Covered Side Door

 Detached garage buildings can be placed on the site so they are hidden from view inside or they can be placed so a window inside the house frames a view of them. Usually the style mimics or coordinates with that of the house, but the opposite can be true, as well. Choosing paint colors or trim details that don't mimic the primary structure can add uniqueness to the new building. Detached garages can look like a quaint, charming cottage, or a rustic wood shed, or a modern, functional box, depending on the owner's style. Unlike most attached garages, they are not just trying to blend in or be invisible - they are "design-ful" in their own right. (I just made up that hyphenated word!)

Two Car Garage Built Beside a Ranch

I cannot find the source, but I remember hearing the saying that the attached garage is the "un-invited guest who never left" in American homes. Click HERE read my previous "soap box" post about why garages are better detached than attached to our houses.

Final Electrical

Now that the floors and walls inside the New House Next Door have all been finished, the electrician has been on site installing the final electrical fixtures and outlets. I learned that the sub contractors like electricians and plumbers that come in after the floors are finished work in their stocking feet! The inside needs to be kept clean, so all workers now remove their outside shoes before entering.
 

Inside Garage

Barn Light being installed outside garage

 Because the garage is detached from the house, the electric runs underground to that building, and comes up out of the ground outside the north side door. These wires were pulled through the underground conduit, which was placed and buried last fall, and the garage was fitted with light fixtures and electrical outlets.

Exterior Lights are required by every door

Outside, light fixtures are placed near entrances, and convenience outlets on porches, etc. The cutest idea that was implemented was the "Christmas Light" outlet - placed up high around the front porch roof. :)

Lighting in Bathrooms over mirrow

Shoe-less Electrician installing outlet in kitchen island

Light Fixtures are required over stairs

Floor Outlets can solve furniture placement dilemmas in large rooms

 Inside, special outlets in the floor and kitchen island have been installed, as well as all the light fixtures. The building code is quite specific about light fixture and switching locations - especially at stairs and hallways - so that one can easily get around without having to fumble in the dark. The code is also quite specific about the distance between outlets, so that extension cords don't become a safety hazard. (did you ever live in an old (not updated) place where there is one outlet per room?!)

Lots of folks like to grumble about the building code - or government rules in general - and some even try to "get away with" evading the code- but these rules are there to protect health and human safety and the more I work in this field, the more I try to impress this upon my clients. Of all the sub-contractors on the job site, I think electricians are the ones I've learned from most frequently about some code requirement.

Sheathing Part II

When the weather (and holiday schedule) has allowed them to work, the framers have been finishing the wall sheathing and applying the roof sheathing. The new house next door was all decked out for Christmas in red and green!

(Red) Advantex roof sheathing over the trusses on the second floor (because they are 2'-0" on center and need a material that is rated to span that) and (green) Zip sheathing on the low, stick framed roof over the kitchen and dining room (where the framing is 16" on center).

Both of these sheathings are a bit more high-tech than plain old plywood. (though not as high tech as the Zip-R wall sheathing that has integrated rigid insulation as well) The red or green color is actually an integral water management membrane, so a separate one is not needed. Dan, the contractor, likes to use these products because of the time savings. The guys install it once and don't have to go back over the entire area again to apply roofing paper or house wrap.