Concept to Finished Kitchen

In the very beginnings of the design process for the “L” Shaped House we spent considerable time planning the kitchen area. In this blog posting from February 2009 we included a photograph of a kitchen that both Deb and I found pleasing. The image below presents the concept kitchen and the very real space in a before and after format.

Interior Photos of the “L” Shaped House

After a little more than one year of living in the “L” Shaped House I’ve decided to take on a project to photograph all of the interior rooms. As the kitchen is the main gathering point in the house it makes for a fine starting point. The first photo below shows our mixer on the countertop in the back corner with the Cambria island out front.

The next photo shows the view of the island from the doorway leading to the breezeway. Here we see archways leading to both the dining area and the foyer inside the front door.

The last photo shows the kitchen and dining area from the far corner of the dining room table. Here we can see the archways separating all of the first floor rooms in the open style Mike Kloti envisioned in the original plans.

Fixtures…Railings and mirrors

From the very beginning of this project we have we have tried to be thoughtful about providing for handicapped accessibility in our new home. The first floor of the “L” Shaped House is specifically designed to accommodate persons who cannot navigate steps. The full bath and “convertible”  music room make first floor living a comfortable possibility. The photo below shows the first floor bath after Paul installed grab bar railings on the wall adjacent the toilet and shower. The inside shower wall will have railings as well.

The next photo shows Helen’s room with her new IKEA mirror mounted on the wall above the dresser. Paul has been mounting mirrors, hooks, and bars all over the inside of the house for the last couple of days.

Appliances…Day 3

Paul Winters worked yesterday installing the Faber Synthesis vent hood on the wall above the cooktop in the kitchen. The first photo below shows the newly installed hood, double oven, and cooktop all in place along the end wall of the kitchen. As we stood at the cooktop last night both Deb and I got the feeling that we asked to have the hood mounted a little too high on the wall.

So…

We turned to my old friend Adobe Photoshop to “see” what it might look like with the top course of subway tile removed and the hood mounted 3” lower. Unfortunately for Paul (and Matt Sletten) both Deb and I like the lowered hood better.

Click on the image (below) to see an animated version of the two photos…

Mike Kloti…Now on Facebook!

Our friend Mike Kloti has set up a Facebook page to help promote his home design business. He has added a link to the “L” Shaped House blog as well as links and photos to a few other projects. Be sure to check out his new Facebook page and pass on his contact information to anyone considering a remodel project.

The Backyard…It's all about the Dogs!

The “L” Shaped House is going to be a “dog friendly” place!

The mudroom, breezeway deck, and backyard dog run are specifically designed to accommodate dog ownership and meant to enhance the lives of our four-legged family members and any of their friends who may come to visit. The first sketch below shows the elements of the “dog friendly” design. The dog kennels will be housed in the mudroom which is connected to the breezeway deck and backyard dog run by a dog door in the outside wall. Wren and Phil will have un-fettered access to the far end of the deck and dog run when they are left behind. The deck area will be partitioned with a set of flexible barriers (bungee-corded cargo netting) that can be moved about to expand or contract the dog area. The ramp will lead to a fenced dog run covered in a specially engineered artificial turf product from K9 Grass. Waste will automatically drain away under the surface of the grass and be carried out beyond the back yard in the 4” PVC  drain pipe already in place for the downspouts.

The dog kennels will be placed under the counter at the end of the mudroom in front of the wash down area. The dog door is a double flap Endura Wall Pet Door from the Pet Door Store.

    

The (crude) Photoshop creation below is meant to give a reasonable idea of the scale and placement of the dog door, ramp, and fenced run outside the back breezeway entrance.

The final drawing is the engineering sketch I put together to help the (somewhat reluctant) landscape crew and K9 Grass guys understand exactly what I want. I think that everyone is going to be especially happy with this unique element of the “L” Shaped House!

The Fireplace…Choices

As we move toward finishing the “L” Shaped House we have to finalize some important choices. The choice in front of us right now is selecting the stone to be used in the living room fireplace. Adobe Photoshop is a wonderfully useful tool in an situation like this. The two Photoshop creations below show the fireplace area adorned with two cultured stone color selections from Owens Corning.

The first is  Drystack Ledgestone in Mist…

the second in Chardonnay.

The screenshot below shows the Adobe Photoshop file open on my computer. I started with a carefully framed photo of the fireplace and added individual bits of the decor on separate layers. This allows me to not only position things like artwork above the mantel but also “paint” the walls and “carpet” the floor. Each layer may be toggled on or off making it easy to switch between different elements with the click of a mouse. Items like the bricks, hearth, & mantels are copied from the manufacturers website and then pasted into the “photo”. It is surprisingly easy and provides a fabulous way to…“look beyond what you can see”.

A special thank you goes out to my nephew Matthew Ecklund…without his patient counsel I could never have come this far!

Garage elevation trouble?…Not really

The garage floor elevation change and consequences.

As the foundation rose from the footings in the garage an issue that required attention popped up. The plans called for a final elevation that seemed problematic given the grading plan approved by the natural resources department at the city. After careful consideration Paul Winters decided to adjust the garage floor height (and driveway elevation) making it easier to comply with the new plan. Both the problem and solution are difficult to understand and best illuminated with the aid of some sketches and diagrams (as luck would have it...a specialty of mine).

First the problem. The drawings called for a garage floor elevation that would have required the extreme rear corner of the driveway apron to be raised 41". Raising the grade to that elevation would negatively impact not only the strip of woods separating our house from the neighbors to the East but also the big maple tree right behind the garage (click on the sketches to see larger versions).

Next the solution. Paul chose to have the garage floor poured at a 16" lower elevation than called for in the plan. This change provides relief in the extreme rear corner requiring a more manageable 25" of additional fill. The reduced impact to the grades that comes with this change will provide many benefits including the preservation of the strip of woods between the properties and the big maple tree out back.

But...of course...there are some significant consequences that come with a change of this magnitude.

First; (and most important) is that the elevation change requires the stairways into the house to include at least two additional treads. This affects both the height and the length of all three stairways that rise to the house from this grade. The two sets of stairs inside the garage have already been extended and now both consume some additional floor space. The stairs to the (yet to be built) breezeway porch will need to be adjusted. The lower grade also requires the doors to be set lower in the front wall of the garage adding a space above the doors and exposing more of the cement blocks at the bottom. This results in a “not insignificant” change to the look of the front face of the garage.

Second; the ceiling height inside the garage has increased by the same 16". This means that the first three stalls will have a ceiling height of 12' 4" and the last stall will measure 11' 4". The two windows in the back wall of the garage will now stand 16" higher from the floor (a consequence of our desire to maintain a consistent  look on the outside). Operating the windows will probably require a stool.

All of this raises some obvious questions. I've decided to pose and then answer these questions in an "interview" form here. Please feel free to add your own comments or questions below.

Question: What do you think of this change?
Answer: I honestly like it...a lot! The increased ceiling height in the garage is fantastic. It makes bringing my 4-post lift "home" from Loretto a more practical proposition and will provide more lift height for the jib-crane. The changes to the “look and Feel” of the garage face are not bothering me very much. We placed the garage at the back of the lot specifically to hide it from view as we made the front more approachable. Folks on Amy’s deck will be the only people to see the front of the garage and the changes here will ensure that the narrow strip of woods between the lots will continue to obscure even that limited view. Furthermore…I think the front face of the garage is going to look great!

Question: Don't the changes to the stairs cause problems?
Answer: Eliminating the ramp to the mudroom entrance is probably the most significant change, but I'm already convinced that a lifting mechanism inside the front service entrance will provide better accessibility and replacing the ramp with stairs frees up the back corner of the garage nicely.

Question: How in the world did this happen?
Answer: This is a natural consequence of a process that relies on information from at least three sources, includes changing requirements, and is under time pressures. The surveyors recorded the site contours on the survey, Mike took that data and placed the house on the grade in CAD, JLM then worked out the grading & landscaping plans.  The changes the city required us to make to the original grading plan (before approving the building permit) came after nearly a month of discussions that included quite a few possibilities. We incorporated the changes they requested into the plans and quickly turned the demolition and excavating folks loose. It is very hard to keep everyone completely informed in a process that works like this and it is especially complicated to analyze all the possible consequences of changes to the grade.  On top of all this I was tired of the delays and pushing everyone hard to get going on the project.

Question: Who's fault is it?
Answer: No one! Mike Kloti worked from a grading plan that we could not use in the end. The city has perfectly legitimate reasons for the changes required. Furthermore the changes result in fewer trees and less vegetation being removed (a good thing all around...I think). JLM's grading and landscaping plans served at least two masters and certainly bears no fault.

Question: Would you do things any differently next time?
Answer: Fortunately I hope to never have a "next time". I’m sure that I’ll be done participating in any house building after The "L" Shaped House is complete. I'm pretty sure that this experience will only strengthen the already strong JLM Design Build team.

Question: Ok…You say there are no villains. Are there any heroes?
Answer: I'm going to give Paul Winters a lot of credit! He stepped up and made a tough call right in the heat of battle. He presented it to me clearly & carefully in a timely fashion, and patiently helped me to understand both the disease and the cure. This is exactly why I wanted Paul to build our new home!

The exterior color poll

We plan to use Hardie Board siding on the exterior of the new house. The “Farmhouse” style points us toward white window exteriors and trim. The siding will be HardiePlank lap siding (Select Cedarmill) with a 6 inch reveal. We may choose to paint the siding and trim a “custom” color later but would like to use a standard color as we build the home. I have added a poll near the bottom of the right-hand column on this blog where you may register your preference by voting. The examples in this posting are screen-shots taken from the  James Hardie website (where you will find additional “standard” colors).

Accessibility

We are paying attention to accessibility issues. A home that accommodates first floor living is important to us even though we plan to sleep on the second. The current plan provides ramp (no steps) access to the first floor through the garage. The music room (study) will easily convert into a bedroom if necessary. The full bathroom on the first floor completes the first floor living contingency.

The Book Nook

Another desired interior element is a space at the top of the stairs to be used as a “Book Nook”. The latest design has an archway that opens to a space with built-in desks at each end (with book shelves above).  The open area beneath the window might house a comfy couch and table.  We envision this space being used as a study area for the kids as well as a scrap booking spot for Deb.

The “Open” floor plan

We decided early on that we wanted an “Open” floor plan (especially on the first floor). The living room is one large space. The Kitchen and dining room are separated by a wide archway. Mike has paid close attention to the sight lines on the first floor. From the kitchen sink you will be able to see out the front, back, and side of the house. The living room provides views to both the front and back yards. From the north Music Room door you will be able to see straight through the Dining Room bay window, out to the Porch and beyond. From the south Music Room door you will be able to see out the Laundry Room window. Architecturally this is known as "layering" and increases the overall sense of expansiveness.

Kitchen plan

We’ve spent a lot of time designing the kitchen. Three different layouts have been considered. The kitchen shown in this plan view represents our current thinking. The first photo is a (reversed) image from a magazine article we found that is very close to what this plan will look like. The three marked-up photos show some of the design elements we plan to incorporate. Finally the diagram at the bottom shows a 3D view from the cabinet design software.

Follow this link to see our New Home Ideas photo gallery hosted at SmugMug.

Interior style ideas

The “Farmhouse” style will be carried to the interior spaces as well. This collection of photos (taken from a variety of sources) show some of the elements we would like to have in the interior spaces. One of our desires is to have a “real” mudroom.

Follow this link to see our New Home Ideas photo gallery hosted at SmugMug.

New home on the lot

The home is shown on the survey in these sketches. The first shows the home placed (precisely) on the survey. The second is a (preliminary) landscaping plan that shows the position of the new driveway and garage apron.

New Home Style

Deb decided very early (actually before we started) that we would build the new home in the “Farmhouse” style. The home will have a large porch across the front with a screened-in section occupying about one third of its length. The homes pictured here each have elements of the style we want.

Follow this link to see our New Home Ideas photo gallery hosted at SmugMug.

New home (remodel) plans

The planning process resulted in a plan from Mike Kloti. The home depicted in these drawings will hopefully rise from the existing foundation as we move forward.

Design refinements

As the the plan progressed Mike built upon the “L” shaped house and finally arrived on a plan we could all live with. The plan preserves the existing basement, puts the garage behind the house, and takes full advantage of the wonderful front yard. The home will have approximately 3400 sq. ft. of finished space, four bedrooms, four baths, and a big front porch.

The first designs

We determined that the existing foundation and utility connections are in good shape. The decision was made to preserve the basement floor and walls but add two courses of blocks to raise the ceilings (16 inches). A careful examination of the lot and survey along with discussions with builders, friends, and our designer convinced us that the plan that puts the garage on the East side makes the most sense. This orientation allows for a bigger garage and provides the opportunity for a walk-out basement.