I had the privilege of assisting with the hoisting to second floor and installation of this nice big south facing window on Friday.

John and Oscar leveling
Posted in Design Projects, tagged addition, Berkeley, construction process, McBride Construction, passive solar, remodel, Window on October 9, 2016| Leave a Comment »
I had the privilege of assisting with the hoisting to second floor and installation of this nice big south facing window on Friday.

John and Oscar leveling
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Accolade Constuction, additon, Berkeley, indoor-outdoor, McBride Construction, passive solar, process, remodel, San Mateo, south, sunlight on August 23, 2016| Leave a Comment »
This one involves a small addition and reworking the back of the house to better connect with the backyard nature and southern sunlight

Berkeley Remodel/Addition
and this one gets a new master suite on top and a reworking of the entire house. The south-facing back of the house also gets a lot more window and door to connect to the yard and sunlight.

San Mateo Addition and Remodel
Stay tuned for more exciting developments.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, color, design process, details, doorways, Garage, hand drawing, sketch, small buildings on July 8, 2016| 1 Comment »
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, details, historical styles, humor, monster, whimsy, wood on May 31, 2016| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, cedar, closet, connection to yard, inside-outside living, kitchen, pantry, poet's corner, roof deck, small buildings, storage, utility on April 19, 2016| 1 Comment »

kids enjoying the roofdeck
This Poets Corner remodel with small addition turned out great. (Thanks in part to the good taste of the owners and the skill of Coleman Building.) Nancy Kalter came with me to the house warming party and took some house in action shots. It was afternoon on a very sunny day.
First here is the before and after first floor plan. (Roof deck remodel upstairs (plan not shown) is big enough for the whole family to sleep out under the stars and also a vegetable garden!)


Here is a small collection of before shots:
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, cedar, copper, copper pipe handrail, decks, houses, roof deck, steel on January 5, 2016| Leave a Comment »

Copper Handrail, cedar fence & gate, Copper gutter and downspout above

Cedar slat railings above and below, energy efficient wood-clad windows and copper gutter and flashing.

In addition to lots of improvements on the inside of the house, this project makes vast improvements to the interface between the house and the yard. Such improvements then inspire the client to make big improvements to the garden itself – A new stone patio, pathways, and many new plants.
The roof deck above is built strong, ready to hold the most practical kind of living roof – a vegetable garden in pots and planters!
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, kitchen, lighting design, pantry, remodel, small house, walnut on September 8, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Lighting from Metrolighting and Crafts, Custom cabinetry by Freedman & Chesley, Emeryville, General Construction – Accolade Construction, Palo Alto, Interior Decorating – Ballon Studio
This remodel included rearranging the entire floor plan (1055 SF), vaulting the living room ceiling, All new windows, stucco, venitian plaster throughout, insulation, lighting, plumbing, adding a bathroom and pantry, and a curvy concrete deck. A very cozy and efficient little house for a downsizing couple with kids off in the world. Ample storage is key to living in a small house. Many different strategies were employed from pantries to closets with barn doors to custom cabinets.
Hobbit door from Real Carriage Door, Handrail prefabricated by Architectural Metalsmiths, Richmond, Stone veneer on porch & steps by Accolade Construction.
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, efficiency, houses, interiors, kitchen, LED lighting, lighting, lighting design, pantry, small buildings, storage, utilitarian, value, wood on July 26, 2015| Leave a Comment »
The most important component of this project was rearranging things to make the most of various spaces in a small house. There had been several strange additions over the years that made for a lot of wasted space.

Looking east in this spacious new kitchen with fir cabinets, vaulted ceiling, corner windows, LED lights,
We added about 65 SF and way more storage. The old kitchen was actually a hallway with constant traffic flow through the work area. Now traffic stays away from the main work area.

Kitchen before addition and remodel
1) New closets in the master bedroom 2) More efficient laundry room by moving one door and adding shelves and counter 3) Water heater moved to exterior and utility room converted to pantry 4) Kitchen expanded to keep the traffic out of the work area 5) Easy attic storage created

Nice Big Pantry

Vaulted ceiling creates room for a large pendant light

We also added an attic access stair for even more storage!
Photo Credit – Nancy Kalter-Dills
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, framing, houses, kitchen, process on July 20, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, framing, process, small buildings on June 4, 2015| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Design Projects, tagged additions, Berkeley, process on February 3, 2015| 2 Comments »
Greenfield Builders is building the addition before tearing into the existing kitchen. The roof will be installed this week!
Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, cabinets, curves, kitchen, process on October 27, 2014| Leave a Comment »

This is the unfinished kitchen of a creative scientist. I helped him with many aspects of the design, including these shelves, but he and the builder are a creative force to be reckoned with. The shelves curve in plan and get bigger as they go up. The cabinet maker will return to rebuild the center three verticals with angles like the end panels. I will post another picture. Still to come a curvy peninsula and new countertop and floor. I will also get pictures of the whole kitchen when it is finished.