Tropical dreams & designs

Ultimately we all have the same goal - retired and on a beach. But I am putting that on fast forward. One of my favorite people, Elon Musk said: “Stop being patient and start asking yourself, how do I accomplish my 10-year plan in 6 months? You'll probably fail, but you'll be a lot further along than the person who simply accepted it was going to take 10 years!”

There is no reason that goals like owning and building your dream home have to come later in life. All it takes is a plan and action on that plan to get there. So, without giving away too much - here is a sneak peek at the dream I am turning into a plan.

In-progress Ravenna remodel

One of my favorite things to do is to restore and preserve history. Not always, but sometimes you find a nice little gem that is deserving of the love and care you can give to it. This little 1920’s craftsman is one of those. It has good bones and great potential for us to breathe some life and class back into it. The new owners have lived in London for the last 15 years recently purchased this property and have moved back to the States.

This is a whole house down to the studs remodel. We’re keeping the original fir wood floors, and not moving any walls. But we’re updating pretty much everything else. The most exciting part is the use of color and textures being used that will really let the early 20th-century sweetness shine through.

Every inch of this home has a comforting feeling to it. And the brief from our clients is to design encompassing that feeling. Making it new, but yet timeless in a way that you have a direct connection to the memories of the place. Pops of color and thoughtful textures, as well as respectful nods to construction styles, will be utilized to the fullest.

Playful and international looks throughout - keeping a cohesiveness in elements that pull from early mid century design.

History in the making

There are few times in life that we get to witness history. Sometimes it doesn’t affect us in a way that is profound, or it happened before we were born. Or it happens slowly and we become used to it before we realize that our world is now changed. (cue the smartphone… those are less than 15 years to the mass market.)

When learning about History we study and reference the arts and architecture. We can point to periods that have long-standing styles and direct social impacts. An easy one to point to is the Egyptians. They have had the most profound influence on humanity as a whole. Everything from their papyrus motifs to the first written language. Followed closely by the Greeks and Romans, whose further development led to buildings being constructed following mathematical proportions and what we call “Classical” architecture.

There are smaller, less noticeable changes in architecture during the dark and middle ages. These changes were mostly cosmetic and symbolic in the fact that the Catholic Empire ( not a “real” thing but an accurate description of the control the Catholic church exerted over the reigning monarchs of Europe. ) The cathedrals and churches displayed in stone the power and might of “the church” and the way our society had shaped itself.

Thinking about cathedrals most will reference Gothic architecture and rightly so… it is the most stylistically memorable. Notre Dame, Paris is quite an impressive lady. I however prefer the little know Romanesque architecture, and here’s why.

Romanesque is a style period that lasted from (contested) 600-1190AD. The overarching ( yes pun intended ) takeaway from this style is the concept of humility as an exterior and beauty within that resonates so much with me. Europe as a whole was effectively controlled by “the church” and the iconography and marketing of said church were very well executed (also pun intended). Lofty scale, with massively thick exterior walls, with little to no ornamentation. The interiors being filled with the beauty of the soul, a representation of the heavens, and as god-like as possible. The perfect allegory of the human experience.

My favorite example of this - Malmesbury Abbey. I love this Abbey because it has both Romanesque and Gothic elements. Centuries of building are on display. Even older history is buried here. Evidence of an Iron Age fort was uncovered in 1999. Material from the excavation of a coffin found in the grounds of The Abbey House in 1997 is the first recorded evidence that the Romans were in Malmesbury.

A religious site was established by Maelduf around 642, and his pupil Aldhelm became the first abbot of the Benedictine Monastery in 675. Athelstan, Alfred's grandson and the first king of all England- crowned at Kingston - was buried at Malmesbury Abbey in 935. William of Malmesbury writes 200 years later that Athelstan's body was removed from The Abbey and placed in the Abbot's garden to avoid Norman desecration.

I’ve been inside both the Abbey and the House - gorgeous and beautifully preserved you can feel the coldness of the stones permeate like some sort of frozen time portal.

I digress.

Moving on…

History and invention and technology change us and how we build. Most notably, from the Renaissance until now, buildings started becoming easier and easier to build. Albeit slowly, but we started building out of desire and not necessarily out of need. With the invention of brick and then with the invention of steel and I-beams we were racing across the land and up to the sky. Balloon framing also played a huge part in our housing evolution. (we’ll loop back to that in a bit.)

I mention those 2 materials in particular because brick buildings without any added structural support or engineering could only stand the stress and weight up to a certain height before they were no longer stable. The tallest of these buildings is the Monadnock Building.

Continuing into our future, automobiles became a driving force in our economy (again… pun intended) and drove the (god I can’t stop… I’m not sorry) housing industry to design for cars. Garages were never a thing before the 1900s and only became prevalent in architecture after they were accessible to the average consumer.

Now, most real estate in the suburbs have a standard 2-car garage. And we think nothing of it because we didn’t witness the arrival of something that changed us forever.

Modern-day 2021 has seen a very rough previous year. Obviously not as awful as the black death that swept the middle ages and brought about tiny changes in architecture like “The Wine Window” and caused so much death the society as a whole had now “vacancy” in the upper class as well as the working class… but still it was a rough year.

A tiny change that I would like to point out is somewhat PNW localized as our weather dictated our architectural designs. Previous to 2020 - there were very few dining establishments that had much in the way of outdoor seating. Patios were kind of a “hidden gem” to be sought after and discovered. If a restaurant had any outdoor seating at all, it was limited and not necessarily well designed.

Now, because of distancing and safety concerns as well as the need to keep businesses operating we’ve passed mandates that require lots of space and lots of airflow. Enter the arrival of the pop-up (balloon style of building), and what I hope to be, permanent and well-thought-out outdoor dining spaces.

While this type of architecture isn’t groundbreaking and not new to places like Texas or even California… it’s new here to places like Portland and Seattle. If social distancing and safety protocols persist, then I believe we will start seeing more long-standing structures. Some, hopefully, will do themselves justice and really embellish them so that they become destinations and we can say we remember and were a part of this history in the making. I have high hopes for some of my favorite places. Dive bars and boutique cocktail establishments alike.

Setting expectations in the Age of Amazon Prime

This is a difficult blog to write… Mostly, because even as a professional service provider I too am a consumer, and I have the exact reaction most people do to a lot of things. “What do you mean I have to wait?” “Why does this take 4-6 weeks to ship?” “Can’t I pay to expedite it?”

Well, here we are. More and more so, the consumer market as a whole is becoming more and more demanding. I attribute a lot of it to everything we’ve experienced in 2020 thus far, and who can blame us? A lot of us are still stuck in our houses due to varying levels of reasons related to the pandemic.

We’re obsessing over outdated aesthetics. Getting frustrated with a bad design layout in our floor plan or a super hard-to-reach dead space in our cabinets. We’re even focusing our anger on that tile in our shower we just absolutely hate, because that damn tile is so ugly! So, off to Pinterest or Houzz, we go; to get ideas to solve our problems.

Now, here is where it gets tricky. Over the years most of us have become accustomed to on-demand service. Most of our buying habits have shifted to online purchasing. Our trend to same-day shipping has caused a shift in the way retail businesses sell. However, this is not true of all industries.

The construction and design industry is a planned and collaborative process. It takes time. Time, resources, management, permits, logistics, scheduling, delivery, quality control, expert labor, and installation. Sure there are cheap options. But it is exactly that. You get what you pay for and cheap is cheap for a reason. Most off-the-shelf options from big box stores have something that is putting that material there in the first place. Either the dye lot is off, or it’s discontinued, or the thickness or density is not up to par. Not all products are created equal.

True quality design and construction come from experience and that experience comes with a price tag and a process that has been developed and honed. ( I will refer you to read an earlier blog post of mine that details out steps to remodeling your home. )

The purpose of this blog is not to attack anyone and is not related to any of my clients. This is a blog to simply give people who need professional services in the construction industry the proper knowledge and tools needed to help them understand how it works. Tempering expectations allows for a less stressful construction process.

Most importantly something to not just remember, but to take to heart, is that the people you are working with are people too. We are just as stressed out as you are, and we are here to help you! Sometimes things don’t go completely smoothly but that doesn’t mean the world is ending. That is not to say your feelings of frustration don’t matter. Quite the opposite, but instead of running to Yelp or Google or wherever to leave a vicious reactionary review…(and just stop doing that… small businesses suffer enough from bad reviews and most of them are undeserved.) Try instead talking with your contractor and asking what the solutions to the problem are. Instead of really leaning into your pride, I recommend trying hard to see this as an opportunity to work even closer as a team and to help each other out.

2020 has been hard. Amazon Prime Now is just about the worst. Please be kind. Don’t be a Karen. For the love of all that is holy.

Design as a team!

It’s way more fun that way.

Flat Lay Design Challenge

Flay lays are a great way to communicate a concept if not an entire selection of materials for a project. I decided to do a small little challenge with my friends and peers by challenging them to create a flat lay that embodies who they are as a person. Here is mine. Textured natural stone basalt with custom glazed ceramic from both the USA and Japan. Crystal headpiece and trinkets I’ve collected. Along with my antique Turkish over-dyed wool rug and my favorite leather stilettos.

My Condo - Farewell

I have lived in the greater Seattle area for nearly 18 years. The last 12 of them have been spent in this wonderful little gem that I slowly remodeled one bit at a time. I replaced all the flooring with engineered hardwoods and through body-colored tiles. Installed radiant floor heating. The windows are all brand new. All the cabinetry updated and all the countertops honed finish Caesarstone. Brushed brass cabinet hardware and light fixtures. And to top it all off, it’s wired for an electric car. It was sad letting this place go, but I know it will be well-loved.