deedsdesign

Snapshots of Remodel and Energy Upgrade in Point Reyes

September 26, 2024 by sarah

Looking down on the big room – I love the flooring – It is existing, structural tongue and groove fir subfloor, but it was lighter and kind of pickled with dark marine grade caulk/ filler between the boards. We thought of putting new flooring on top, but the boards were so nice and long, which is unusual these days. Once we put on the dark stain the super nice figured grain popped and we loved it. The indirect LED strip lighting atop the collar ties also worked out well. The electrician did a great job and knew to stop the lights a bit shy of the ends to minimize bright spots. (This photo accentuates the bright spots)

Before shot of the flooring/ structural subfloor with younger Èowyn.

I had a goal to be very particular about the clips for the shower glass. So often the clips are not given much thought and they ruin the simple clean look. (First I tried to talk the builder into no clips at the bottom, recessing the glass into the curb, but they were not game to try this detail. The green floor tile is Arto and the shower floor and walls is Fireclay.

Èowyn likes the big window looking into the woods

I was proud of this built-in brass towel bar. (Kind of wish the electrical devices were more orderly/ aligned and in a real photo shoot Id probably not have a used towel. Oh well)

High tech- low tech – this is the bidet/ heated toilet seat controller and also the handmade wood toilet paper holder with a found gnarled stick.

Another custom brass towel bar – this one with ash. You can also see the cool grain in the floor and the mudroom floor tile by Arto. I thought I maybe specified too many pegs in the mudroom, but every single one was being used on the day I was there.

Another picture of the green hex Arto tile transitioning to fir flooring. The decorative cold air return cover for the forced air system is in the base of the linen cabinet – painted white to match the cabinet.

We had fun with the sun rays over the back door (replacing glass that just caused the mudroom to overheat) and John McBride carved us some more diamond posts for the new covered porch. (Porch is the only addition to the house)

This is a photo of the architect’s dog tracking water into the clients recently finished house. Also a photo of very nice green (Elder Green by Arto..photo doesn’t do it justice) tile floor in the entry that can take a little water no problem.

This is another view of the big room. Big bifold doors connect the space to the garden and orchard to the west. Ample lighting in the room is provided by indirect LEDs shining up and cable lights for task lighting over the kitchen and dining room. You can’t see all the added insulation in the roof and air sealing and new windows and doors to keep the space warm in the rainy season.

Here you can see the ash diamond posts at the end of island that match the redwood ones outside and also the tiled backsplash..somewhat random but also a pattern.

A view of the mudroom – pendant by Metrolighting and painted shelving, pretty mushroom Arto tile floor, splash of color in the stained glass (fabricated by Feral Studios, designed by yours truly)

I’m not going to bother with the not so nice before shot, but I was very happy with the lighting in this room after construction – Three of these large pendants from Metro Lighting in Berkeley.

Posted in Design Projects | Tagged bathroom, bespoke, design, diamonds, fir, green, home, houses, interior design, Inverness, kitchen, LED, lighting design, patterns, Point Reyes, Porch, tile, wood, wood-carving | 1 Comment »

Some More Snapshots of Recent Remodel on an Island in British Columbia

September 20, 2024 by sarah

My clients sent me a few photos last week!

This photo captures the four fir columns with foyer with slate floor to the north, bedroom and bathroom wing to west, living and dining to south and kitchen to the east. While most walls are simple painted surfaces, the four columns add some warm fir wood and organize the space.

The ceiling transitions from vaulted in the kitchen to flat elsewhere, and the wall between living and hallway stops short of the ceiling to allow for privacy and natural light beyond the wall. (Most of the windows are on the south side)

Living room with woodstove supported by an exposed steel beam and sheetmetal shelf… wood storage below.

Here are a few more photos: 1) Lower floor TV room – nice the way the TV disappears into the dark wall. 2) Primary bath curbless shower 3) Burnt orange Powder room with interior window to adjacent skylight 4) Looking in from the front door 5) Dining room 6) Kitchen – Kitchen features paperstone countertops and dark cabinets…a cantilevered island seating area and the best view in the house.

The initial concept was to remodel and possibly expand the kitchen, relocate the stairs down, fix the funky half wall between living room and hall….improve the primary suite, but we ended up doing a fair bit more. The sunroom was a bit too sunny with all those skylights, and it didn’t have any insulation in the roof, so we made some big changes there. (switched to high south windows instead of the skylights)

The big updates to energy efficiency are not evident in the photos.

There was a lot of good teamwork on this project between the very involved owners, the local builder and architect and myself.

Below are some before and after plans, then a few before photos.

Posted in Design Projects | Tagged Canada, clean, fir, houses, modern, remodel, simple, steel, transitions, wood | Leave a Comment »

Living Roofs in Norway and Denmark

September 18, 2024 by sarah

We (myself and John McBride) collected a few photos of living roofs in Norway and Denmark. Starting with traditional details from the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History in Oslo, then some modernized, but very similar details that we saw everywhere we went in Norway, then one very modern example in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Starting with a traditional detail – with layers of tree bark for a waterproofing membrane

They hold the facia in place with tree branches! Looks kind of funny here.

A more recent example near Tonsberg – has metal clips to hold the facia, a modern waterproofing membrane in place of the treebark, and a bit of metal flashing in evidence

Another recent detail with elegant joinery instead of clips to hold the facia. I’m not sure about drainage…whether it just spills over when necessary…or something more sophisticated.

I think the lower part is a wooden gutter. Decorative clips hold the facia which holds the earth and plantings.

This little changing room near a lake needed a bit of maintenance. I dont think having trees growing out of the roof is intended.

We stayed in this house near Oslo with the same basic roof system

Water passes into a gutter with chain drains in some spots.

And we slept a night under this living roof on a hut in Langedrag Nature Park. It also had some saplings growing out among the grasses.

Almost all the buildings at Langedrag had the same sort of roof.

We walked across Copenhagen to see this cool ski hill atop a waste to energy plant (in the background)

Posted in Found Objects, Information | Tagged BIG, copenhill, denmark, details, europe, green roof, joinery, living roofs, norway, oslo, scandanavia, traditional details | Leave a Comment »

On the topic of Courtyards

July 10, 2024 by sarah

Also in Copenhagen we went on tours of some of the newly developed mostly residential areas…in particular, Nordhavn, which used to be a port and is now mostly apartments. Our tour guide told us that this and other newer parts of Copenhagen are built on what was once water. She mentioned that the master plan included both green space and blue spaces for enhancing the human environment – regular parks (green) and all sorts of connections to the water and uses of the water for transit, swimming, boating etc. (blue) Lots of mention of environmental certifications, and we also toured a very nice recycling/reuse facility. Nesting sites for 3 species of bird were incorporated into the roof of one tall building. The courtyards and other outdoor spaces, (blue and green) were mostly quite nice. We were wondering about impacts on the greater environment, wildlife, of expanding over the water…and how they were preparing for sea level rise. Multi family housing is already more energy efficient than single family houses, but we were told that most of these buildings incorporate many environmentally conscious features, but that wasn’t the focus of the tour. We did tour a very nice recycling and reuse facility serving the neighborhood. The entire waterfront is public space available to all residents and non- residents.

perhaps not very functional for playing or otherwise occupying, but still very nice

Playground on parking garage roof and two of the taller apartment buildings in background

side of parking garage and stair up to the playground with another playground at ground level

water interfaces under construction still…but already in use.

Posted in Found Objects, Information | Tagged blue space, copenhagen, courtyard, green space, housing, parks, planning, sharing space, urban design, water | Leave a Comment »

interior shared courtyard

July 6, 2024 by sarah

quite lovely…including a basketball/ soccer court and various nooks for sitting, dining, gardening…hanging laundry…but we rarely saw people using the space.

Posted in Found Objects | Tagged cohousing, copenhagen, courtyard, denmark, garden | Leave a Comment »

A Couple of Small Space Tricks from Copenhagen Apartment

July 4, 2024 by sarah

First trick – if you barely have room for the bed best to have the foot accessible so two can access. (If only one side)

Also two small comforters rather than a big shared one makes it easier to not disrupt the other person when you go to bed late.

Second – small bathroom trick that seems common in Scandinavia – the whole bathroom shower

in this one the toilet gets washed everytime you take a shower! (best if the tp is protected from splash)

This apartment also has a great shared private courtyard in the back. Ill post some pics tomorrow.

Posted in Found Objects, Information | Tagged small bathroom, small spaces, tiny house | Leave a Comment »

Another Project from a While Back

May 23, 2024 by sarah

Ive been sorting old photos lately. 🙂 This was one of 2 bathrooms part of a full house remodel. It was fun to design the sliding barn-door mirror that opened to reveal a window (to the back yard) Built by Canivet Construction and John McBride (Working for Canivet as a carpenter)

Posted in Design Projects | Tagged bathroom, concrete floor, details, duravit, fir, glass tile, houses, privacy, Rockridge, sliding mirror, sliding panel, tile | 2 Comments »

Translucent Floor

May 15, 2024 by sarah

I visited a ten year old project yesterday. This client commissioned me to design a translucent floor in her dark entry hall. There was already a skylight directly above.

Posted in Design Projects | Tagged Berkeley, houses, light, remodel, small projects, translucent floor | 2 Comments »

Bathroom

May 14, 2024 by sarah

I just realized that I never added this recent bathroom remodel to my digital diary. I wish I had a photo of the tiled shower surround because it is really pretty, but here is the vanity.

The countertop is Paperstone (FSC certified and also acoustically and thermally more like wood than most counters, but very durable) The bright purple floor is Marmoleum. The cabinet and mirror frame are ash. The light is from Metrolighting in Berkeley. The white rectangle is a secret cabinet. 🙂 There is space under the vanity for scale, stool, & waste bin….even a basket of bath toys.

Posted in Design Projects | Tagged ash, bathroom, Berkeley, color, lighting design, marmoleum, metrolighting, paperstone, wood | 2 Comments »

A couple more snapshots

April 18, 2024 by sarah

These two are of the mudroom with pendant light from Metrolighting in Berkeley and stained glass fabricated by Feral Studios in Oakland, cabinets by Wood Art in El Sobrante..door by Acosta Woodworking, Richmond, floor tiles – Arto (Los Angelos) Studio Series. The builder is Bayside Builders (Marin). Whew. Design by me. There is space under the shelving for a rolling cart with food dehydrators…or boxes..other large objects. (Still waiting for real photoshoot. )

Posted in Design Projects | Leave a Comment »

More Photos from our Island Project

April 3, 2024 by sarah

The clients sent me these photos from their recent visit to the project.

Im excited about the vaulted ceiling and the transition to the flat ceiling beyond. High south facing windows to the left are still covered in plywood

This photo is looking back towards the entry (Defined by four 6×6 fir posts) and the kitchen (vaulted ceiling)

Another shot of the kitchen (high windows covered)

The view to the south is hard to beat!

Posted in Design Projects | Tagged framing, kitchen, process, vaulted ceilings | Leave a Comment »

A Little Project

April 1, 2024 by sarah

An old client wanted to create a small enclosed office to hide the books and papers and also give her some acoustical and visual separation from the loft -family room. It was important not to block the light from the two windows at that end of the loft. Nice craftsmanship by Steve Coleman Builder.