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Posts Tagged ‘wood’

Very Small ADU with Redwood Barn Shakes

Posted in Design Projects, tagged accessory dwelling unit, ADU, barn shakes, Berkeley, curbless shower, redwood, small buildings, wood on June 30, 2025| Leave a Comment »

This ADU is 160 SF. Backyard is small and client chose not to move the ADU to 4′ setbacks and enlarge because it would make the usable yard even smaller. It was quite challenging to fit all the Accessory Dwelling Unit requirements in such a tiny space. We got the redwood shakes from Humboldt county, Doors are Blomberg and the high performance skylights have exterior shades.

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Visit to Island Remodel Project

Posted in Design Projects, tagged British COlumbia, clean lines, color, fir, Galiano Island, green, green building, houses, Kable lighting, kitchen, lighting design, passive solar, remodel, simplify, steel, wood on June 19, 2025| Leave a Comment »

My client for a remodel of a 1960s house on Galiano Island invited my family up to see the almost finished house. (a few details and exterior paint not finished yet)

The location is truly spectacular and I was very happy with the improvements that we made. Improvements included: on the practical side: tightening up the exterior envelope (including new fibercement rainscreen siding, all new windows, & insulation), upgrading to an energy efficient heating system, and adding a HRV, and then rearranging the interior extensively to simplifying and improve the transitions between spaces. The lower level was majorly improved, but it was a pretty straight forward rearrangement breaking it up into more usable rooms, guest suite, familyroom, office and storage. I didn’t include those photos.

The main event is the view to the south to Active Pass and all the way to the Olympic National Park 70 miles to the south. We spent many hours enjoying the view of wildlife and boats from the covered porch.

You can see some before shots of the house here.

View of the house from the water. we simplified the roofline and deck

View from the gate – Red windows and trim on this side to give it some personality from the road. New cedar entry porch with benches was a big improvement for easy access for all. (Old one had uneven stone steps down from driveway then back up several steps to the porch.) (I & AI added the ferns to the photo in the foreground, and strangely also a fish amongst the ferns)

BC Ferry Salish Heron with Mayne Island, Prevost Island, Pender Island, and The Olympics beyond

Long south side covered porch. We eliminated the non structural posts that went to the roof and did not miss them despite my concerns that it might look odd without some posts.

kitchen transition to living and dining room – vaulted ceiling to flat ceiling. This was a tricky structural bit for the builder because he had to modify the existing trusses and I am thankful that the owners saw the value in making the transition what it should be rather than the easiest way. Kitchen counters are Paperstone – made from recycled paper and both warm to the touch and acoustically dampening.

Livingroom – My favorite detail is the steel beam supporting the wood stove shelf

looking downtown the bedroom hallway – we made it more private but kept a slot at the top of the wall to let light through. Aimable recessed light at the end illuminates a painting.

Looking past entry toward kitchen – ceiling transition and four fir posts creating an elegant transition

Interior window detail – painted wood jamb on all 4 sides.

Relocated stairs to the lower level. (Old ones were in the prime real estate between kitchen and dining room.)

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ADU Underway Up The Hill

Posted in Design Projects, tagged accessory dwelling unit, ADU, Berkeley, eaves, housing, process, small buildings, wood, WUI on January 22, 2025| Leave a Comment »

The owner took these photos for me of our little ADU taking shape. In the first photo you can see our 4×6 rafter tails with a curve. These will get gyp sheathing above with non flammable (Hardiboard & Boral) material on the outside. No venting. (Roof sheathing is kept above the dewpoint with rigid insulation on top.) The lower eaves that are less visible will be enclosed completely. The last photo is john rabbeting one of the exposed fir beams for the interior.

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Snapshots of Remodel and Energy Upgrade in Point Reyes

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 on September 26, 2024| 1 Comment »

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.

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

Posted in Design Projects, tagged Canada, clean, fir, houses, modern, remodel, simple, steel, transitions, wood on September 20, 2024| Leave a Comment »

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.

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Bathroom

Posted in Design Projects, tagged ash, bathroom, Berkeley, color, lighting design, marmoleum, metrolighting, paperstone, wood on May 14, 2024| 2 Comments »

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.

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A Tiled Backsplash from the Forest and Island Posts from a Castle.

Posted in Design Projects, tagged ash, diamonds, eclectic, green, houses, kitchen, lighting design, patterns, whimsy, wood on March 25, 2024| Leave a Comment »

We still are not ready for a full photo shoot, but we got a chance to visit this project in Inverness over the weekend. The remodel (Bay Builders general contractor) was extensive and included many upgrades to the exterior for energy efficiency, wild fire safety and general design improvement. We got to have some fun in the interior including the green Arto tile backsplash and the handmade ash island posts with diamonds cut into them. (They match the three redwood posts on the back porch)

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Diamond Post in Ash

Posted in Design Projects, tagged ash, details, kitchen, process, wood on March 15, 2024| Leave a Comment »

Weve done a few of these in fir for interior and exterior, but this is the first one in ash. It will support a sitting area at the end of a kitchen island. Ill post photos after it is installed.

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Rafters!

Posted in Design Projects, tagged accessory dwelling unit, ADU, Berkeley, process, roof framing, small buildings, Strawbale, wood on November 12, 2020| 1 Comment »

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Photoshoot at recent project (these are just my snapshots)

Posted in Design Projects, tagged Berkeley, cabinets, details, doorways, lighting design, Oak, redwood, wood on January 21, 2019| Leave a Comment »

This recent full house remodel and additions in Berkeley turned out great. I don’t usually use so much wood, but it makes this house very cozy. More photos soon!