Posted in Design Projects, tagged bathroom, boxes, fir, furniture, plywood, pyrography, redwood, whimsy on April 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Prototype #1 is finished with a bit of pyrography – a prehistoric winged creature.
Apologies to customers waiting for treasure chests, this one has become my toilet paper storage box. As you can see there are many uses for such a chest. Soon we will have prototype #2 underway.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, dog, furniture, humor, isba, painted plywood, process, whimsy on April 20, 2011| 2 Comments »
Sometimes, when working in the driveway, people stop by to check out the action. I think John is explaining the cabinet to our curious neighbor here. He now has all five boxes assembled and primed. Here are a few more pictures of the process. Even though these boxes are painted, the woven corners show through and add a nice detail. Stay tuned for the final product.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged color, drawings, furniture, process, whimsy on April 11, 2011| 1 Comment »
John Mcbride has this piece under construction as I write. I’ll post some more photos. It is intended to complement this tiled tub surround.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged alternating tread stair, Berkeley, children, color, copper, copper pipe, houses, interiors, kitchen, lapeyre stair, lighting design, Lofts, passive solar, small buildings, small spaces on April 9, 2011| 2 Comments »
Last week Akhila gave me a tricycle tour of her crib.
She recently commissioned deedsdesign for an addition including a master suite, expanded kitchen, and family room. Popping up the roof just a few feet allowed for a vaulted ceiling and high windows over the kitchen and an attic loft over the master. The kitchen is on the north side, so the high south windows provide southern sunshine while leaving room for enough cabinets on the north wall. (click on the thumbnails to see enlarged drawings)
The dining room gets a lot of southern sunshine and has french doors leading to the deck.
The Lapeyre stairs provide easy access to the loft above. We enclosed the loft with low walls to hide any boxes stored up there, but added open railings for the last 18″ or so. This way the required 42″ tall “guards” don’t seem so tall and a bit more light circulates.
I didn’t get any photos of the loft itself, but it has built-in shelving and a fir plywood floor, finished with polyurethane. (As you can see the project isn’t quite finished yet)
The homeowner waited for me below while I toured the loft area.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged boxes, fir, furniture, green, plywood, redwood, rope, salvaged on April 5, 2011| 2 Comments »
I’ve made progress on the prototype. The lid is installed. I fashioned a hinge out of retired spectra running rigging from the 5o5 Bar-ba-loot (pictured below). The hinge needs a little fine-tuning, but I like the Xs. I handcarved the curves in the lid. Nice soft fir makes for easy carving.
Treasure chest Post 1 Treasure chest post 2
Posted in Design Projects, tagged birds, humor, Oakland, value on March 27, 2011| 3 Comments »
It is often a challenge to think of good solutions for a problematic design puzzle on a tight budget. 
Like modern art!
Its not in the budget to underground the utility lines, so the plan is to install birdfeeders…..and with any luck the mess of wires will fill with birds of all sorts.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged boxes, fir, furniture, process, redwood, salvaged, wood on March 26, 2011| Leave a Comment »
After gluing the box together, it needed some sanding.
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The lid is made from two fir 2×6 scraps and a redwood 2×4 scrap that John brought home from his job site. Better than average specimens, with fairly straight, tight grain; they are probably from appearance grade stock. I did not have a planer on hand, but they were pretty straight and flat. I used my new jointer to make edges flat and perpendicular to the faces. I also used the jointer to clean up the faces. (This is usually accomplished by a planer) Then I glued and clamped them together as shown in this photo.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged ash, bamboo, color, kitchen, lighting design, marmoleum, paint, Piedmont, whimsy on March 24, 2011| 2 Comments »
Last year I redesigned this kitchen for an artist in Piedmont. She, of course, had a lot of design input including the colorful paint choices, the glass pendant lights, recycled glass & concrete countertops, and bright colored marmoleum flooring
Deedsdesign measured the existing space and worked out the most efficient layout for the new powder room, laundry, and kitchen. A wall was removed, opening the kitchen to the dining room, space under the stairs was utilized for a walk-in pantry, and an island with a curved ash counter for eating breakfast with the newspaper was added. The lighting design includes LED recessed cans over the sink and stove, LED undercabinet and overcabinet lighting, and colorful pendants. Full extension drawers in the lower cabinets provide convenient storage for most things, including recycling, trash, and compost. A few bamboo upper cabinets and open shelves provide enough space for dishes.
CLICK to enlarge
In addition to the kitchen, we revamped the old brick fireplace,
adding tile, a gas insert a wood mantle, and angled bamboo bookshelves on either side. I wish I had pictures of this part. Here are some drawings:
Construction by Canivet Construction, Cabinets by Eby Construction.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged furniture, process on March 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »
We have started work on this avant-garde TV cabinet for a client in Alameda and are awaiting more sunshine to proceed. Please see this post for a 3d rendering of the piece. I am looking forward to photographing the entire project when we go to install the piece in a few weeks. Stay posted!
Posted in Design Projects, tagged box, box joint, boxes, furniture, plywood, process on March 19, 2011| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Design Projects, tagged cabin, exposed beams, fibercement, fir, lighting design, mendocino, metal, philo, recycled, redwood, salvaged, small buildings, vaulted ceiling, wood on February 22, 2011| Leave a Comment »
I recently paid a visit to the little cottage in Philo that I designed a few years ago. I was happy to see that the owners were using the cozy little space and had decorated in good taste. I took a few pictures since I only have photos of the unfurnished rooms on my website.
Finally they moved a couch into the little cabin…and lots of other things too
The builder took the liberty to use some of the 100 year old salvaged redwood siding from my house in Berkeley to make this cute little vent cover
Still no art on the tall southern wall. stay posted. I think a painting will be installed soon
The loft above has been furnished too! complete with a painting of bruce lee and sheer curtains!
Posted in Design Projects, tagged graphic design, sailboat art on February 21, 2011| 1 Comment »
deedsdesign 