Communicating and Working With an Architect

Successful Design With an Architect

I recommend it all the time, "Hire an architect, best money you will ever spend". However, this only holds true if you are able to communicate your needs to your architect and that architect can then translate those needs into a pleasing design. With some careful planning, you can make this happen.

Interview Several Architects

This will be a relationship that goes on for a period of time - maybe longer than some romantic liaisons. Make sure you feel comfortable with the person you are hiring. Ask lots of questions! How and when are they paid? Do they help with each stage of the design process? Do they have an in-house designer? Do they manage the entire project? Do they pass along discounts from vendors?

Take a Field Trip to Look at the Architects Work

Communication is important but not the entire picture. Ask for references and take the time to go and look at these professionals work. If you are a traditionalist at heart you do not want to hire an architect that does almost exclusively modern design.

While visiting these references ask about the overall experience and any advice these homeowners might offer.

Write Down What Does NOT Work in Your Current Home

Before you dream, before you wish, be honest - What isn't working? Do the kids walk in the front door and drop their back packs and shoes in the middle of the floor because there is no where to put them? Are you one bedroom short? Does a fight ensue every morning because you all share one bathroom? Are you checking the mail each day for a pay check because you feel like hired help, stuck back in the kitchen, cut off from your family? 

These should be the issues that are addressed in your new plan.

Create a Wish List

This is different from what currently does not work. This list should include your dreams (even if they seem somewhat impossible). For example, many row house home owners wish for more light. But with windows in only the front and back of their house (and neighbors who would take offense at having their homes bulldozed) this seems an impossibility. However, a clever architect might come up with a light well in the middle of the home, thus eliminating the need to anger the neighbors. 

Wish lists help architects add the details that make a design both engaging and personal.

Write Down What is Important to You

Is spending time with your family your number one priority? Do you entertain a lot? Does working from home keep you from coming unglued? Are you an avid gardener or nature lover?

Your priorities offer an architect insight into your needs - things you may not even realize.

Take Inventory 

Whether it is a whole house renovation or just one room, make a list of the items you plan to have in each area.

What furniture stays? What do you plan to store in each room? Is there a special painting or piece of art you want to be a focal point? Consider things you plan to acquire.

If it is a kitchen renovation, make a list of EVERYTHING stored there, from the silverware to the crock pot, and don't forget the paper towels.
Talk to your architect about where to place your furniture - this can be very important in deciding where to place doors (pocket or regular) and windows.

The most successful designs include a place for everything!

Do not expect your architect to read your mind or know your habits. This relationship is just like a good marriage - Communication is KEY!

Decorating and Storage solutions for Small Homes

Living Big in Small Spaces

For those of us that live in smaller homes, making the space work can be tricky, especially if you have a family. Let's face it, we are a society that collects "stuff" and it is hard to keep that "stuff" from taking over our homes. While storage is always an issue in tight spaces, there are also decorating tricks to make compact homes feel more comfortable. Between storage and good design, modest spaces can live large.

Build it in When Possible

Bookshelves
Take them all the way to ceiling when possible. Remember, most bookshelves need only be 8"-10" deep. They can also store a lot more than books.

Beds
Instant coziness, just add a built in bed. Great for tiny kids rooms!

Benches
They can fit in the tiniest of spaces and open from the top or front. So many thing can be tucked away here - shoes, hats, gloves, extra paper towels, the crockpot...

Under Stairs
Often wasted square footage, the area under stairs offers amazing storage possibilities: rolling shelves, lockers, pull out coat closet.

Think Vertically
Cabinets or Shelves in Space Above Doorways
Often only 10" deep, these shelves actually disappear from the sight line. This is a great way to create storage in small kitchen or bathroom as well.


Storage Baskets Above Cabinets
In small spaces, don't overlook one square inch, especially above your head. Tucking things away in baskets and boxes keeps everything looking tidy.


Steal the Inches Beside a Staircase
Speaking of inches, it only takes a small amount of space to store platters, magazines, cookbooks...

Eliminate Bulky/Large Scale Furniture 
Oversized furniture, especially upholstered pieces, have no place in a small room. Look for furniture that has clean lines (nothing over stuffed). Many companies now carry "apartment size" furniture.


Show off Your Floor Space
Being able to see under furniture gives a feeling of spaciousness - think legs, especially on upholstered pieces.

White Window Treatments

Be it curtains, shades, or blinds, white brightens, adds light, and increases space.

Furniture That Does Double Duty

Chest of Drawers as Bedside Tables
You need a table here anyway, why not make it one that also stores your socks and underwear.

Ottoman Under a Table
Extra seating when you need it hidden away under a console or coffee table. Extra storage for hats and gloves or a great place to rest your feet.


Benches
They don't have to be built in to be useful - storage and seating all in one.

Storage Side Tables
Baskets with lids, old luggage, storage barrels all make excellent side tables especially when paired with a chair with legs.

Storage Bed
With so many options on the market, these are a fabulous solution for off-season clothes and items that are not often used.

EDIT, EDIT, EDIT!

Let's face it none of these things will make any difference if the "stuff" continues to come in and nothing goes out. The KEY to living in any small space is to edit your belonging. As William Morris said, “Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful.” 

1920's Garage Remodel

Vintage Tri-Fold Garage Door Remodel
Believe it or not, our family loves this old garage (located across the alley from our backyard). When we bought it over 10 years ago it had it's original tri-fold sliding garage doors (very similar to an old carriage house). These doors are unique because either end can open like a regular door or the entire panel of three doors can slide back - very cool!

However, as much as we loved them, these doors had seen better days - the issues went well beyond peeling paint.

In fact, the holes in the doors had finally grown large enough for the alley cats to move in. We had to accept they were beyond repair. Lucky for us the heavy iron track, that the doors slide on was still intact. So... my sweet husband painstakingly built new tri-fold doors. Take a look...

He used durable cedar and stainless steel bolts to give the new doors a modern, industrial flair. To finish it all off, he painted the trim painted Benjamin Moore's Sherwood Green. Isn't my husband amazing?!?!

Now our 1920's Capitol Hill  garage looks like we love it!  Stay tuned for the planters and

 new light fixture coming this spring

Floral and Chintz in 2014

Everything is Coming Up Flowers
Confession time...  I love chintz! I always have. My personal decorating style is clean and neutral but my dream vacation home is full of FLOWERS. So, I must admit, I am thrilled to see floral patterns returning to the home decorating scene in 2014 - and the modern twist is refreshing.

 Daring choice - chintz wallpaper in a kitchen!


Blooming bedrooms...


Add a little pop to the dining room.


There are some amazing floral wallpapers coming onto the market.


Maybe you don't feel daring enough to put chintz on your walls, start with a settee or chair.


More chintz dining room chairs.


For those of you feeling less modern and more English country, chintz is, and always has been a stand-by.


I want these stairs!!!

While I look outside at the cold and snow, these floral spaces make my heart soar. Come on admit it, doesn't this blooming trend make you smile?