re-energized by design challenge
Kyle and I know a thing or two about home energy efficiency. When we bought our house 6 years ago, it had leaky windows, no insulation in the walls, ancient appliances and a heating system that should have been replaced 20 years ago. The first couple of years were rough (hello wool socks!), but we gradually made improvements – increasing our efficiency while decreasing our monthly utility bills. But instead of separating energy efficiency from design, we chose to integrate the two with every project we undertook – from the big picture reorganization of our floor plan to the types of light fixtures we purchased. (In fact, that’s why we have a whole page dedicated to our efforts.)
Even though chezerbey has been completely retrofitted, the Seattle area is filled with older homes just like ours and that’s why I’m excited to be a part of Re-Energized by Design, a local “design show” style competition put on by Puget Sound Energy. Starting in January, I’ll be working with one of the six Re-Energized by Design contestants in a series of five room-by-room makeover challenges. The goal is to combine creative home design with energy efficiency, while working with a limited budget and time schedule. At the end of each challenge, a panel of judges will evaluate each space and choose one contestant to be eliminated from the show (that’s right – PSE will be filming each challenge and creating a series of “webisodes” to be released online). The homeowner who makes it to the end will win $5,000 plus the prizes they’ve picked up in the previous challenges (thanks to sponsors like GE and Electrolux).
If you are a Washington State PSE customer and want to enter, better get on it – the deadline for entries is next Wednesday (10/31)! To enter, upload a photo or video of your home and explain why you’re excited to combine great design with energy efficiency.
I’ll be blogging about each of the five challenges (bathroom, office or garage, living room, laundry room, and kitchen) right here on chezerbey, so look for that next Spring. But for now – it’s all about selecting the right contestants. So go enter for you chance to win awesome prizes, cold hard cash and TV stardom. (Bonus – if you enter by next Monday, you’ll have a chance to win a $50 gift card to a local restaurant!)
[Note: PSE is compensating me for my time with the challenge but they’re not telling me what to say. I’m just an architect who loves a little friendly competition, especially when it involves improving the way someone lives in their home.]
three months!
[Thanks for all of your supportive comments on last week’s big announcement. It was a tough but exciting decision for us and your enthusiasm means so much!]
In other news…Avery is 3 months old today!
This past week we were in Oklahoma for my sister’s wedding. (Post to come!) It was a trip of many firsts for Avery: flying, meeting new family (including two cousins born this year!) and leaving her with my parents for extended periods of time. We were out of our element for a whole week, but we did it (and we had fun!).
This month’s photoshoot included a semi-happy baby, a finicky camera and overcast light. I debated re-shooting, but decided to embrace reality instead.
Also, Baby Gap skinny jeans. I could no longer resist.
New parents are often told that the first three months are dubbed the “4th trimester” – a time when baby is most happy living in an environment that resembles the womb. As we transition from “newborn” to “baby” we’re starting to see more frequent milestones – the discovery of a foot, grasping a stuffed animal and even a few rolls! Today I removed the insert from her carseat and packed away more of her newborn clothes. I think my sister-in-law summed it up best about her own son, “I can’t believe he’s already 4 months old and I can’t believe he’s only 4 months old”.
See Avery’s two month post here and her one month post here!
studio zerbey / plus one
Well, not a lot of dull moments in the Zerbey house lately.
Yup, Studio Zerbey just doubled in size.
When I formed Studio Zerbey, we knew there was the possibility that Kyle and I might join forces at some point and well, here we are! This was certainly a big decision (Kyle had been at his previous firm for over seven years and had strong ties to the people he worked with) and something we gave considerable thought to – weighing the pros and cons, the risks and the advantages.
Initially, we had reservations about working together. Sure, we like each other (a lot, actually) but we also thought it was important to have our individual work lives. Then, during one of those nights when Avery was sleeping peacefully and I was not…it hit me – we’ve been working together for years. The week after our first date (11 years ago!) we teamed up on a studio project and continued the trend throughout school (although sometimes it was swapping help on structures homework for proofreading a Baroque term paper). In the 8 years that we’ve lived in Seattle, we’ve critiqued our portfolios, coached each other through the Architect Registration Exams and most importantly – acted as both architect and general contractor for our home remodel.
We can do this.
Making the decision to be self-employeed small business owners (with a newborn!) was not an easy one, but we feel confident it’s the right one. We’ll have to redefine what our own family/work balance will be, but I love the idea that Kyle will now get to spend more time with Avery. (Bailey, on the other hand, is still confused about the new baby and why he can no longer spend his days sleeping on the off-limits couch.) We know that this next year will be a time of focus and hard work, but we’re no strangers to that lifestyle either.
Kyle has some exciting projects that he designed and is bringing to Studio Zerbey, including a new house in the Mid-Century Modern Hilltop neighborhood east of Seattle:
A new home near Carmel, California:
And (in collaboration with Balance Associates) wrapping up construction for a new home in Missoula, Montana:
Want to see more? Check out the new and improved Studio Zerbey website! (Thank you Anna!)
Finally, a big thank you to everyone in our lives (especially our clients!) for your support and encouragement along the way. Kyle and I are both so excited and motivated about this new adventure and we look forward to sharing it with you.
Studio Zerbey – officially open for business!
nursery update + baby stuff
We’re about 2 1/2 months into parenthood, so I thought it would be a good time to update you on how the nursery (and related baby products) are working out for us.
In general, the nursery is great. Its proximity to the living areas hasn’t been an issue and actually served as a secondary hang-out space when family was in town to visit. (These photos were taken a few days ago, without any tidying up or staging first.)
Although I was wary of the dresser size, it’s worked out just fine. I like having a little counter space next to the changing pad and the drawers provide adequate storage for diapers, wipes and clothes. The wardrobe isn’t terribly organized but it’s functional and I like that everything is easily accessible.
I moved our old IKEA full-length mirror next to wardrobe – Avery likes to “stand” on the edge of the dresser and check herself out and sometimes I lay it horizontally on the floor during tummy time. I’m also happy to report that the air plants are still alive! I water them about once a week and they seem happy enough in their glass vessel homes.
Avery hasn’t exactly tested the limits of the IKEA crib, but I have no complaints thus far. (Bailey never could figure out how to get his tennis ball out from under the crib.)
The original plan was to build a bench/cubby for under the window to hold toys, books, etc. That project didn’t get done in time but now I’m not so sure we really need it. More importantly, this is some of the only available wall space left in the house so I think we might need to preserve it for larger toys (custom-designed dollhouse? what?) down the road. I’m not a big fan of keeping the stroller in here, but I think with a little tweaking we can find a good place for it in the mudroom. (I also didn’t take into account the baby monitor in the nursery design, although I think I can come up with a way to put it on the dresser while discretely running the wires that go to the movement sensor.)
Many people advised us to get the best glider we could afford and they were right. I spend so much time in that chair and it has held up remarkably well to both frequent use and frequent projectile spit-up. If you have a comfy chair or couch it may not be totally necessary but this is the only non-Eames chair in our house. I’ve also found a few uses for the squirrel coat hook, like the k’tan or bath towels. Avery likes to stare at its silhouette but I remind her frequently that squirrels are not to be trusted.
In addition to a simple and functional nursery, my other pre-baby goal was to acquire only a minimal amount of baby “stuff”. I did a ton of research and since many of these items directly relate to living in a small home, I thought I’d share with you all what’s working and what’s not.
1. The Bassinet:
Even though our house is small, we planned to keep Avery in our room for the first month or so. We didn’t have enough space for a pack ‘n play so I looked for more compact options. Although a co-sleeper would have probably fit between our bed and the wall, I liked the idea of something that could be multi-purpose. One day I came across one of those “Best New Baby Products for 2012” lists and saw this Rocker/Napper from Tiny Love. Although it was new and didn’t have much in the way of personal reviews it seemed like the perfect thing for us (I also liked that it wasn’t too colorful or obnoxious.) The rocker is essentially a bassinet that reclines up to a semi-reclined position (for babies with acid reflux I’m guessing) and then to a lounge chair of sorts. It has a rocking base with kickstands on both ends, which I found to be quite handy. The rocker has a vibrate setting and also comes with a removable mobile (that plays a few songs and lights up). The pad isn’t plush, but comfortable enough. It doesn’t have a removable cover so I opted to wrap a receiving blanket around it for the inevitable spit-up.
The pros – it’s lightweight and easy to move around the house (we even put it in the back of our car for our road trip last month), the different functions keep her entertained and at different phases of development (she’s just now batting at the mobile) and it was fairly inexpensive.
The cons – it doesn’t fold down or disassemble easily (not great for travel), Avery nearly outgrew it as a sleeper by the time she was 8 weeks old (this is in part because she was swaddled and thus had her legs stretched out) and the mobile comes out but doesn’t rotate freely to different positions.
All things considered, I’d use it again for sure.
2. Baby Carriers:
As far as baby-wearing goes, there seems to be two categories: the sling/wrap (like the Moby, K’tan, or various other products) and a more structured carrier (like the BabyBjorn, Ergo, Beco, etc.). Most of the structured carriers aren’t designed for newborns, so we’ve relied mostly on our K’tan these first few months. (We do have a used BabyBjorn “Comfort” but have only used it a couple of times as she’s not quite big enough just yet.) Lots of people love the Moby wrap, but I was a little intimidated and instead registered for the K’tan. The idea is similar but a bit less complicated to put on (or so it seems). Avery is small enough that she’s easy to carry this way and almost immediately falls asleep – the few times she’s freaked out on me I’ve put her in the K’tan and she quickly calmed down. Like most wraps, there are a half-dozen or so different positions that can accommodate your baby as she gets bigger and has better control of her body.
(The photo above was taken at the Seattle Design Festival a few weeks ago.)
3. Strollers + Carseats:
Truth – I was intimidated by strollers. I remember being about 5-6 months pregnant and spending a Saturday morning watching stroller reviews on YouTube (and subsequently rolling my eyes at myself). Although people seem to make a really big deal about these little rolling carts, I was relieved to find that there are some well-built (and affordable!) options out there. After much research and polling of other parents, I decided to go with both a stroller and stroller frame.
Avery can’t really benefit from a stroller till she’s sitting up on her own, but I liked that the Baby Jogger City Mini seat could lay flat (also makes great lakeside lounge chair). Other perks – it easily folds down for compact storage (critical for small houses like ours), it’s well-built, comes in pretty colors (like brown!) and will accommodate Avery until she’s 50 lbs. (at which point she better be walking on her own two feet). It also has a decent storage basket (important for things like clothes shopping) can go off the beaten path without being a full-on jogging stroller and has a gigantic sun shade (which I’m hoping will also serve as an umbrella of sorts…when it actually decided to rain again). The downsides – you have to buy a separate “parent console” to get luxuries like cup holders and the handle height isn’t adjustable.
For quick errands and walks I opted for a stroller frame that’s compatible with her carseat (a Chicco Keyfit 30). The girl loves to sleep in her carseat so it’s a real benefit to be able to move her from the car to the stroller frame without waking her up. I bought the coordinating Chicco stroller frame (very similar to the more common Snap ‘n Go) and it’s been great. It has a big basket (which I’ve used as an impromptu grocery cart), two cup holders and a compartment perfectly sized for an iPhone. (The handle also rotates 180 degrees which makes a world of difference squeezing into crowded restaurants.)
I registered for the Chicco Keyfit carseat because it was affordable, got good reviews and everyone seemed to own one. I have no complaints – it’s easy to use, durable and comes in decent color options.
4. Misc. Products That We Love:
Finally, here’s a rundown of some miscellaneous products that have been true lifesavers:
WubbaNub pacifier: Avery’s “lamby”, our friend Erica brought this to us in the hospital and it gets used every single day. We do not leave the house without it.
Fisher-Price swing: I resisted a swing for a long time but finally caved about a month ago. After a formal Facebook poll, I ended up with this Fisher Price one, purchased used on Craigslist (from another little Avery!). It’s gigantic but not nearly as obnoxious as some of the other ones out there. The one thing the Tiny Love Rocker doesn’t do is swing and this contraption does the job forward to back and side to side. It also plays a few ditties, has a spinning mobile and a mirror for self-reflection. Best of all – it plugs in to the wall so NO BATTERIES. I know it’s only a matter of time before it will have served its purpose and is back on Craigslist so we don’t mind it too much.
Sleep Sheep: my parents got this for us and I had no idea how much we’d rely on it. Basically it’s a stuffed animal that makes different white noise sounds – a stream, rain, the ocean and whales. We never use the whales – that’s just creepy coming from a sheep. We have the smaller travel version but it seems more than adequate for home use. (We also have a Munchkin white noise machine and image projector which we’ve just started using and is equally mesmerizing.) The idea of course is that white noise mimics the sounds from inside the womb and helps them fall asleep. Admittedly, it has also helped me fall asleep on more than one occasion as well.
Bath Sponge: when we were remodeling the kitchen we joked about having a sink big enough to wash a baby in. Maybe it’s old school, but it’s worked beautifully so far. We just use a $6 bath sponge – that and the pull down sprayer on the faucet makes bathing very easy. (Note: we also have the Puj tub. I was really excited to use it but the reality is that our kitchen sink is too big and our bathroom sink too small for it to work well.)
Other products that we love? For one, anything by Aden + Anais (we have their swaddles, burp clothes (which can also be used as bibs) and crib sheets). We also get a lot of use out of our Boon drying rack, Angelcare monitor and Skip Hop crib mirror. Oh, I can’t believe I nearly forgot – The Miracle Blanket. We started out swaddling Avery in the Aden + Anais blankets but switched to TMB (we received a couple from people who obviously knew what was up) when she was about 4 weeks old. It works so well that we haven’t dared put her to bed at night without it. To put it bluntly, it’s like a baby straight-jacket. That concept felt a bit uncomfortable to me at first but she seems to like it and hasn’t Houdini’d her way out yet.
The one thing I haven’t needed (yet) – a diaper bag. I’ve been sporting a fashionable ziploc bag of necessities that gets shoved into my Orla Kiely purse and that’s worked fine so far. (I know things will change when she gets bigger and starts eating solids and playing in the dirt.) Actually, I’d love to upgrade to an Orla Kiely diaper bag but man oh man they’re spendy!
Last but not least…birth announcements! Our friend Jenny (owner of Wendu Ink) designed and produced these gorgeous letterpress announcements to commemorate Avery’s birth. I love them. It’s always such a privilege to work with a designer who just gets it.
(Thank you Jenny!!)
Ok parents, are we all on the same page here? Any must haves that aren’t on our list or advice on living small with a baby? Suggestions for 3-6 month old essentials that we should stock up on?
Disclaimer: I haven’t been paid or perked for any of these products…just thought I’d share my experiences in the hopes of helping out some other parents-to-be!
studio zerbey / 1201 boulder
In the last few years and especially since the announcement of Studio Zerbey, I’ve received several inquiries from friends and fellow blog readers about design services. Typically, they’re homeowners who want to tackle their own remodel but need a little guidance first. The only glitch – they usually don’t live in Seattle. So, a deal-breaker huh?
Nope!
Unlike others in the design field who can easily work with clients all over the world, architects tend to keep things local. And for good reason – when working with physical and permanent structures, having an architect who is nearby makes a lot of sense. But it’s not totally necessary. (In fact, most of mine and Kyle’s experience is working with clients on projects outside of Seattle.) The truth is, not everyone has access to architects in their town or sometimes it’s hard to find a right fit. When it comes to your own home, design is an incredibly personal process and it’s important to work with someone who understands what the goals are and can help you achieve them.
There is also the common assumption that architecture can only be afforded by a certain few and well, that’s simply not true. Part of my drive to start Studio Zerbey was to debunk this myth and show how architects can play an important role on projects of all shapes and sizes.
Case in point – earlier this year, I had the pleasure of working with a couple in Colorado on their recently purchased 1940’s home. I think the process is a good example of how an architect (oh, like myself…) can work remotely and provide non-traditional services.
The homeowners, Leslie and John, bought this cute little home in Boulder last year. Although it certainly has a lot of charm (both inside and out), the layout didn’t make sense for the way they currently live. (In fact, one of the reasons they contacted me was because their floor plan was so similar to our original layout.) They also knew that the house required non-cosmetic updates (some more immediate than others) and that those updates could have an impact on future design changes. Like many homeowners, they plan on remodeling via a combination of DIY and hiring the work out. They also plan on living in the home during the remodel so the idea of phasing became very important.
The challenge – come up with a holistic design direction that could be broken up into phases as time and budget allow.
Even though Leslie snapped the above photos with her phone shortly after moving in, it helped me realize that 1) they already have an eye for good design and 2) we could push things in a more modern direction. (Woohoo!)
After some initial discussions, Leslie and John sent me additional information and photos of their home so that I could put together a proposal. For their immediate purposes, they needed help with establishing a general design direction (mostly in the way of floor plan layouts) as well as a game plan for how the project could be phased and what materials and products they might use.
In a typical remodel, the architect goes to the home and takes “as-built” measurements of everything in order to verify existing conditions and create digital drawings. For this project, instead of traveling to Boulder the clients and I agreed to handle everything remotely. So with the help of photos, videos, real estate documents and the homeowners themselves, I was able to put together this floor plan showing their existing layout (the blank dimension strings were a homework assignment for Leslie and John to help me verify that I had drawn the plan accurately):
It’s very similar to our original layout, isn’t it? (Their house is a smidge bigger, allowing that second smaller bedroom.) Leslie and John also have a full (but mostly unfinished) daylit basement, which allows some additional flexibility and a great space for staging or temporary living during the remodel process.
After collecting lots of information and producing baseline as-built drawings, my next step was to come up with several schematic layout options. Armed with trace paper and pencils, I came up with 6 different layouts based on both the needs of the clients as well as practical elements, like existing load-bearing walls and window and plumbing locations. In a way, I approached the process as if it were my own home.
Like chezerbey, their home is modest in size so every square inch counts. Primarily, they needed more functional bedrooms and a living/dining/kitchen area that was more cohesive. They also wanted a better connection to the basement and more efficient storage throughout (especially for coats and boots in snowy Boulder).
After reviewing the different layouts and discussing them back and forth via email and phone conferences, Leslie and John narrowed it down to one scheme that could be explored further (yes, we dubbed it the “chezerbey” scheme). Although this scheme involves more dramatic changes, it was the one that made the most sense for the way they’ll use the space. (They were also ok with losing one of the dedicated bedrooms since they still have their entire basement to utilize.) While everyone was on board with the general direction, we wanted to experiment a bit more with the central knuckle of the home and how a small office could be incorporated next to a new master bathroom.
These two variations also show (because of their existing roof form) how the ceiling could be vaulted over the living/flex zone or the kitchen/dining zone. The challenge with taking down walls and opening things up is that you lose that precious real estate for furniture. That’s why, like in our own house, I proposed a stair cabinet or “fauxdenza” (thanks Anna!) to help make up for the reduction in wall space. Another element that I love (and wish we had in our house!) is the full wall of storage in the kitchen. The two variations show that this could be divided up any numbers of ways depending on what the needs are (all pantry or a mix of storage and display space for example). Finally, while having some type of mudroom at the entry was critical, we played with whether this included a bench with cubbies and exposed hooks or something more like a coat closet.
After a bit more discussion, the two options were ultimately combined to create the final floor plan you see above. Although no square footage was added to the home, reconfiguring the spaces achieved a number of things:
Finally, because replacing the original wood windows is high on their priority list, I helped Leslie and John come up with a strategy for how they could have that work done first without negatively impacting future projects on the inside of the house. (We’ve also started a conversation about different basement layouts and a potential pre-fab garage/shop in the backyard.)
Working with Leslie and John has been a great experience and cemented my desire to help other homeowners with their own funky layouts and design challenges. If you think Studio Zerbey could help you out, let’s talk!
