Search Results for: dining room
living + dining reveal
Ok, disclaimer – the living and dining room are not 100% done. From a construction standpoint they are finished, but we still have lots of smaller things to complete. For the dining room, this means new chairs (we now have our hearts set on Eames fiberglass shell chairs in mustard with maple dowel and chrome legs – I’m sure we could find that on Craigslist…) and possibly a new DIY table. For the living room, we’re hunting for a large rug to go under the new couch and coffee table and one (or two!) Eames LCW chairs. Then there’s the media cabinet that needs to be built and art to be put on the wall (some we own, some we have ideas about). Of course the barn doors and loft ladder are still MIA, but one of those projects is in progress and the other is next in line.
Point being, it’s going to be a while before the spaces are truly done, but we figured we’d at least show you where we’re at now and then continue to update photos as things progress. (I’ve also been trying out my new camera lens. It’s a huge improvement over the old one, but I still have a ton to learn.)
We designed the dining room and pendant location so the table could work in its long position (as shown) or be shortened or turned 90 degrees. In the event that we have a big dinner party, we can scoot the couch down and add our fancy card table extension (hey, nobody knows when there’s a tablecloth on top!).
The couch and coffee table are from BoConcept. It was our first time purchasing something from them and we had a really great experience. Both the sales team and delivery crew were fantastic. The reason we went with a BoConcept couch is that they are highly customizable but not as expensive as other options we looked at. For our piece, we chose the configuration, size, fabric, legs and arm rest width (there is a lead time, for us it was about 3 months). We chose a sectional to provide a bit more seating space and help define the living area from the dining area. The fabric is a dark brown felt. We are trying to teach Bailey to stay off the new couch and while he is good about it when we’re at home, simple forensics show that he’s not so innocent when we’re not at home.
We still have our old dining chairs. Blah. I looked into buying new gray slip covers as a temporary fix a while back, but IKEA has changed the seat size of this chair so the new covers were too big. Oh well, the slip covers were also $40 a piece so I was glad not to spend $160 for a temporary solution.
By varying the ceiling shapes, we provided definition between the different spaces. The vaulted ceiling and skylights create a more open-feeling, brighter space, while the lower ceiling and exposed dark joists in the living room lend a cozier feeling to the living space.
After demo, we found the word “Carkeek” written on one of the living room joists. After a little research we discovered that there used to be a Carkeek lumber mill north of our neighborhood. Fun fact.
Our new coffee table is also from BoConcept. This is actually the first coffee table we’ve owned so we’re pretty excited about it, let alone its magical properties. Behold!
Extra storage plus couch-dining capabilities (which I think is funny considering the dining table is a few feet away). It’s still mostly empty but we’re planning on stashing magazines, coasters, and other odds and ends in its cubbies. It would also be an excellent place for remotes…if the TV was in this room. Instead, the pile of remotes sit on a chair in the flex room. Oh well.
Bailey kept forcing his way into shots, such a prima donna.
The flex room/bedroom is serving as a TV room for the time being. We moved our old couch in there and did our best to hide the college-era TV stand. Actually, of all the places we’ve lived this is the first time we’ve ever had a second bedroom and it’s a luxury we’re still getting used to.
Lots to do still but it feels great to finally be at a point where we can think about the little details and finishing touches. You never know…I might even get crafty.
bathroom wall art
It took way longer than expected, but the bathroom art project is finally done! [Which means the bathroom is finally DONE!] Inspired by a post on Apartment Therapy last fall, we put together a little project constructed of “on site”, post-consumer recycled content.
First we waited several weeks until we had used, collected enough material. Then we scored the TP rolls and cut them into sections of varying widths.
We then sprayed all the pieces with a low-odor clear matte spray to protect the cardboard from any moisture laden air. Because we thought the bathroom needed a little mustard yellow, we painted the inside faces of a few.
Next we carefully arranged and re-arranged the pieces on our dining room table before gluing them together. [This is part of the reason the project took so long. Art was sharing a space with eating and most of the time eating won.] We also thought the composition would be a nice complement to our leafy shower curtain pattern.
The whole assembly is fairly light weight and is held on the wall by a series of pins. We opted to hold it off the wall a bit to create more interesting shadows.
And here is the straight-on view. This project cost about $8 (one small tube of acrylic paint, two cans of clear finish, and let’s just say the cardboard was “free”). We love that it is somewhat raw, a little delicate, and definitely edging on playful.
the office + workshop
First of all, thank you for the encouraging comments from our last post. It’s nice to know there are still people reading the blog (though apparently no one in our families…ha!). As we continue to brainstorm new ways to use the blog as a platform for sharing about Studio Zerbey, it seemed appropriate for our next post to be something that blended our home and work lives.
So, I present to you – everything you maybe didn’t realize you needed to know about our new office and workshop! What normally would have been a series of blog posts, we compressed into one. (So pour yourself a cup of coffee and settle in!) I think we’d forgotten how long we’ve been mulling over what to do with the garage and then once we finally made a decision – just how long it took to complete construction!
A bit of backstory first – when we bought our house in 2006, one of the major selling points was that it had a 2-car detached garage. (Ok, technically a garage and carport, but two covered parking spaces.) For Seattle, this is huge. If you have a driveway, let alone an actual garage, it’s considered a luxury. Although we had no actual plans to park a car in the garage, we were looking for a house with some sort of space to store the woodworking tools that Kyle inherited from his grandfather. The garage portion was built in 1910 (same year as the house) and the carport was added in 1965. At some point (presumably the same year), a foot or so was added to the garage length and the whole thing was covered in white aluminum siding and teal trim.
As you can see, things really didn’t change much between 1965 and 2017. We continued to use the garage as shop space and the carport quickly became a protected area for materials, lawn tools, miscellaneous crap, etc. (But daaang, look how nice that grass was!)
Although the house always seemed to be the priority, we knew we’d eventually need to do something with the garage. In 2013, we blogged about changing the roof form and converting the carport into a multipurpose space. Then, in 2015, we changed course and decided what we really wanted to do was convert the structure to a DADU (Detached Accessory Dwelling Unit). This scenario would have crossed a lot of “wants” off our list, but ultimately, it was too expensive. We often advise our clients that although a DADU can be a great solution, you are still building a small house in your backyard. And with new construction costs starting at around $300/SF in this area, it adds up quickly. And we weren’t even planning on renting it out. So, we hit the pause button again.
In 2016, we took the baby step of consolidating our offices within the house. Although it was nice having our own spaces, we soon realized that we weren’t collaborating as much as we would have liked. So I moved up to the loft and we shared that area for awhile. It was cozy and workable, but we knew it was time to get serious about our next step. The growth of our business was starting to feel constrained by our space. We needed somewhere for eventual employees, we needed a space to meet with clients that wasn’t our dining room table and most importantly, we needed better physical boundaries between work and home.
We looked at rental properties in our area, but a lease would be expensive and we knew we wouldn’t have the same creative control over the space and it wouldn’t necessarily be a long-term solution. Around this same time, we also briefly considered selling the house and doing something different, but it felt like it would have been a financial and psychological setback to do so without first improving the garage. We also considered just bulldozing that whole structure, but recognized that the building – as ugly as it was – was still valuable. And with current codes, we couldn’t just build something new in the exact same spot. So we went back to the idea of converting the carport into an office space and set about coming up with a design that was as simple, flexible and as cost-effective as possible.
From a land use standpoint, the garage is what you would call an “existing non-conforming structure”. We could keep what was there, but we’d be limited to how we could expand the structure. There are rules about locating structures within certain distances from your property lines as well as how much of your rear yard a detached structure like this can occupy. I could dive into a lengthy land use code analysis, but here it is in a nutshell – the only way we could expand the footprint was to add on to the front of the carport. So that’s what we did. We kept a reasonable walking path between the deck and the new office wall, but we needed that extra square footage to create a functional office and conference room. In the garage, we re-framed the roof and raised the height to the maximum allowed for accessory structures. (If we were building this as a DADU, the height restrictions would be different.)
The layout itself is fairly simple. The office has desks on each side, with space for up to 4 workstations. The conference room beyond can be closed off a with a pair of pocket doors. The shop space is utilitarian with a storage loft above (making up for some of the displaced space in the carport). The rooms are also designed in a way where the structure could be converted to a DADU in the future. Basically, the office would become a living/dining area and the conference room a bedroom. We’d install a door from the office into the shop, which would become a small kitchen and bathroom. Although we have no plans to do this conversion anytime soon (if at all), we wanted there to be the option if our needs change down the road. We’ve found that people are surprised we didn’t include a small bathroom in the initial scope but extending our sewer line and running water would have been costly and our main bathroom is just inside the house. We also toyed with the idea of doing a mini fridge or small kitchenette and the need just wasn’t there when we’re literally a 5 second walk away from our kitchen.
Even though we moved away from the DADU concept, we still feel strongly that this type of space would be valuable to future owners as well – whether used as an office or simply a bonus space for hobbies, crafts or reclusive teenagers. (Wait, that might BE US one day!)
In the winter/spring of 2017 we finished the drawings, got the permit (thankfully it qualified for the over-the-counter kind!) and that summer demo began! I was about 6 months pregnant at this time. We thought the bulk of construction would be complete by my due date. It was not.
To save on costs, we took a hybrid approach to construction. We hired a contractor to do the shell of the building and then coordinated the HVAC installer, electrician, drywall company, floor finisher and painters ourselves. Kyle installed the hemlock ceiling, wainscot, doors and windows, interior trim, drawers and counters, work stations and shelving. Essentially, if it involved wood, Kyle did it. Did I mention we also had a newborn during this time?
The concrete slab in the carport wasn’t in great shape and replacing it was the best option. This also allowed us to properly waterproof underneath and install an electric radiant floor system. A majority of the wall framing remained intact, but proved challenging in that it required a lot of extra work to get level and plumb.
Can you spot Bailey?
The photo above shows how the original garage was extended to the left at one point. This wall took a lot of nail pounding and many, MANY shims before we could drywall over it.
Our framing inspectors were pretty ruthless. 🙂
The baby came, Fall came, but we kept at it.
We even recruited some helpers!
On the outside, we used hardipanel for the workshop siding. This was a cost-effective choice, especially since three of the four sides are barely visible and we were required to provide a 1-hour fire rated wall on the sides against the property lines. Although hardi gets a lot of flack for being ubiquitous, we were able to use it in a modern and limited way. The panels were then painted to match the house (Benjamin Moore “Iron Ore”). The roof on the shop is a corrugated polycarbonate product with a translucent version over the middle section to act as a homemade skylight. We kept the old garage door and applied a few coats of the same stain used for the wood siding. On the office side, we went with 1×2 clear cedar siding, stained a dark brown-gray and installed over a rainscreen system. The door and wood windows are clear fir and we did a membrane roof with gray metal fascia, gutters and downspout.
On the inside of the office, we did a concrete overlay for the floor, with a maple plywood wainscot for added wall protection. The cabinets in the conference room are IKEA kitchen cabinets. The smaller drawers hold our half size drawing sets while the larger ones hold office supplies and samples. The counters are maple plywood with Forbo furniture linoelum on top. The floating shelves are maple plywood and Rakks brackets. In the office space, we used an ELFA shelving system with maple plywood shelves. We used Forbo bulletin board in the conference room and behind the workstations for extra pin-up space and added acoustical properties.
The desks and conference table are a temporary solution. We did maple plywood (with the same OSMO finish as everything else) over simple folding tables. We’ll eventually make upgrades but the reality is that we needed to get it done. We’re also using our vintage Eames chairs in the conference room and those will eventually get replaced or we might just get new dining chairs. Instead of a projector and screen, we opted for a wall-mounted TV to use during meetings. (Coincidentally, it also gets used a lot by our older kids during pockets of time when they’re out in the office before or after school.) When the pocket doors are in the closed position, the space is acoustically separate but still gets plenty of natural light through the frosted glass doors and clear transom glass above.
Before moving out into the space, we did a LOT of purging. We took a close look at exactly what we needed to keep and what could go (mostly old books, samples and office supplies). We’re still experimenting with how to fill all these glorious shelves, but I’m sure that will come with time. It just feels so much better to have more elbow room, head room(!) and room to grow.
Can we pause for a moment to appreciate that acoustically sealed transom glass? Kyle even matched the hemlock ceiling boards around it for a seamless look.
The shallow shelves in the conference room serve as display space for samples. Rather than having everything tucked away in drawers, we can now display our favorite materials in a way that is more conducive to sharing with our clients.
And that brings us to where we’re at today. Although we’ve been working out of this space for awhile now, we finally took the few remaining steps (and photos!) to get it done (enough…for now…y’know). This space truly is the best of both worlds in that we still work from home but our work is a separate building away rather then just a loft ladder. I think the biggest surprise has been just how QUIET it is. We’ve even used the office as an impromptu (kid-free!) gathering space on nights and weekends!
Architecturally, we like that the office + workshop relates to the house without mimicking it. Although we were constrained by the land use code and our budget, we were able to come up with a clever solution that meets our needs while also providing flexibility for future use. In Seattle, there is a real concern about the increasing population and what can be done to meet those needs while creating better density. Even though we decided not to do a rental unit at this time, providing useful work space on one’s property can be part of the solution. (Note: there are specific rules and regulations about what kind of work homeowners can conduct from their residential property.) In a similar vein to small space living, we’ve created a work space that requires no commute, reuses an existing structure, relies heavily on natural light and employs an efficient heating and cooling system. It may not work for everyone, but in an age where many people work from home at least part-time, we think there’s a real need for creating a nurturing space that isn’t the spare bedroom or the left side of the living room couch. True, most of us need little more than our laptops to work remotely, but having a dedicated space that’s not an afterthought can do wonders to create healthy boundaries between work and home. Society’s needs have clearly changed since our house and garage were built 109 years ago, but there’s excitement in re-imagining how these old houses can continue to thrive – not just in the energy efficiency upgrades and new paint, but in the very way we function in our day-to-day lives.
a modern dadu
Happy Sunday! Let’s get this week started off with a little garage talk, shall we?
Oh, don’t let that rendering above fool you – she’s still there – our little 1910/1965 hybrid of embarrassment.
Nearly a year and a half ago(!) we wrote this post about our plans to remodel while working with the existing structure, keeping it mostly as a shop space. Well, that obviously never happened and maybe it’s for the best.
Because we’ve been thinking – what if we did something like that first image instead?
Since the arrival of our second kiddo, we’ve given more thought to the future of our business and how we could continue to grow and work (effectively) from our little house. And although there are a lot of perks that come with working from home, it’s become pretty clear that we’re going to eventually need more space and separation. So, we considered leasing or buying a space and even looked at a few potential properties. But nothing felt quite right and ultimately we decided that because we have to do SOMETHING with the garage/carport we might as well make it our office. (If there was an easy fix to make it less hideous, we’d probably consider that but…well, there’s really not.)
But not just an office. That’s not how we roll y’know – it would be an office and a shop space and an apartment. Shazam! Ok, technically speaking – it would be a Detached Accessory Dwelling Structure. In other words, a DADU! Attached dwelling units (think basement apartment) have been allowed in Seattle for a long time but the detached versions are still fairly new. There are specific Land Use guidelines that govern the development of these structures but Kyle has read the code inside and out and came up with a new solution that we’re both pretty excited about.
Originally we were hesitant about investing in a more significant remodel (i.e. second story) when we weren’t sure we’d actually rent it out. (Still seems kinda weird for someone to live in our backyard, right?) But when we started thinking more about the primary use being our office space it made more sense.
So this is how it would play out – most of the time the structure would be used as our office (with the capacity to add 2-3 employees). The existing garage would stay as shop/storage space and the carport would become our studio space (and include a modest kitchen). The upstairs would have a bathroom, conference area and materials library. If we had family in town or weekend guests, they could stay upstairs (the conference table slides out to the deck and a murphy bed folds down in its place) and be up and out before the work day started. Later, if we were to sell the house then the structure could be used as a stand alone rental unit, office or guest cottage. (The lower level would become kitchen/dining/living and the upper level bedroom and bath.)
The goal is to maximize the efficiency not just for our current needs but for future use as well.
Click on floor plans to enlarge.
From a design standpoint, the biggest challenge was how to work with the existing structure to create a two-story solution that was not overbearing in scale or costs. The current garage is non-conforming in that it is too close to the north and east property lines. We don’t have to change what’s already there, but a second story would have to comply with current setback requirements (minimum of 5′). DADUs are also limited to 800 SF, so doing a full second story wasn’t really an option anyway. Other challenges included where to put the stair, providing privacy and minimizing the structural complexity with only a partial second story.
The solution we came up with limits the addition to over the carport only, allowing us to work with the existing bearing walls and footings. (Kyle already completed some exploratory digging and got the ok from our structural engineer that the existing footing could accommodate the additional load.) A new stair would be added to the front of the carport, where we’re not limited to setback requirements. A deck on the north side (over the existing garage) would provide some private outdoor space for the apartment. The existing concrete slab, footings, wall framing (including that sweet garage door!) and some roof framing would remain, saving on costs and preserving the original structure’s grandfathered status. We also gave careful thought to window placement, realizing that we didn’t want the windows in our kitchen to look directly into the building and vice versa. This solution places the windows mostly on the south side and northwest corner, letting in plenty of natural light but limiting direct views.
These moves help break the overall massing into two forms, with proportions that now feel appropriate for our backyard. The material palette would consist of vertical stained cedar siding, economical exterior grade plywood, wood windows and a corrugated metal roof. Aesthetically, we don’t think that this structure needs to match the main house, but that they do compliment each other. The proposed palette achieves this while still giving us the freedom to explore new ideas and materials. I think it goes without saying these days, but we’d also like to implement as many sustainable strategies as possible. Obviously the big ones include creating more density on our lot and reusing an existing structure. Other features would include a south-facing vegetated trellis (to grow edibles), a cistern to collect roof run-off (and then use for irrigation) and pre-wiring for solar on the south-facing roof.
Now that we have a design that we’re happy with, we’ve been looking into financing options and talking to different contractors. Ideally, we’d hire out the job this time around but we might also consider acting as our own General Contractor or adding some sweat equity if we need to reduce the overall budget. That said, we’re also trying to approach this as a case study project – achieving a creative design solution on a reasonable budget. The DADU was legalized largely as a means to deal with increased urban density (everyone wants to move to Seattle!) and we’re excited to explore what this could mean not only for our family but for all the other potential DADU projects out there.
Finally, what would this project mean for our house? Well, moving our Studio Zerbey headquarters to this new structure would free up space and (hopefully) give us back some breathing room. (Our baby sleeps in the dining room, remember?) While the girls are still little, we’ll likely keep the attic loft as a satellite office space (I’m sure they’ll totally claim it later). My office (aka our basement guest bedroom) would probably be used as a shared sleeping space for Avery and Lillian, keeping the current nursery as a play area. (With the DADU, we’d no longer need a guest room.)
We’re hoping to move forward with construction this year. Our projected workload is such that we need to seriously consider hiring 1-2 employees in 2015 and we just don’t have space right now. It’s an exciting project for us, not just because it will be the last big thing to cross off our remodel to-do list (plus the basement bathroom and laundry room, ugh!) but it will also be a big step in the growth of our business. Unlike our home, where we had less carte blanche and were working within tight budget and phasing constraints, this will also be an opportunity to do something that is a bit more reflective of our design sensibility.
So, onward!
small space living with two kids
Back in May, I wrote about our ideas on how we planned to incorporate two kiddos in our small house. Now that we’re 3+ months into this dual kid routine, I thought it would be fun to stop by and update everyone on how we’re faring.
For the most part, we’re all cohabitating surprisingly well. I took these photos this weekend (and apologies on the quality, our DSLR died while we were in the hospital with Lillian (of course!) and it has not been replaced yet) and hopefully they have that “sorta cleaned up but definitely didn’t stage anything” quality to them.
We didn’t want to make any major changes to Avery’s room right before or after her sister arrived, so we waited till last week to convert her crib to a toddler bed and move the glider and ottoman downstairs. Although she’s been able to easily climb in and out of her crib for a while now, she’s been such a solid sleeper that we didn’t want to rock the boat. But then Christmas came and went and quite frankly – we needed more space for her toys (she had four different Christmases this year!). So by moving the glider out and converting the crib, we were able to keep a spot to read books together while also freeing up more play space. After her first nap in the new bed, I found about five books and a dozen more stuffed animals with her but hey – she slept! We keep her room pretty dark so maybe that’s helped but overall we were pleasantly surprised that the transition went as smoothly as it did.
One thing that we also started doing in the past year is rotating out books. Each month I’d buy a few more and pretty soon it was out of control and too overwhelming for Avery. So I moved all the baby board books to storage and put the remaining half (mostly the books that I just needed a break from!) in the fauxdenza. Although we don’t have any checked out at the moment, we usually also have 10-12 library books in the rotation too. (Pro tip – I used to impulse buy popular children’s books but instead I now check them out from the library first. If the book is still a top pick when it is time to be returned, then we go ahead and buy it.)
Before Lillian came, we added the two top drawers to the wardrobe and tried to purge as much as possible. We use the bottom three drawers for toys and the top two for pajamas (for both girls), blankets, sheets, sleep sacks, swaddles, burp clothes, etc. The hanging rod is getting a bit cramped for both girls, but there are some things that could get folded if needed. (Each girl also has two drawers a piece in the dresser.)
Also, my sisters got Avery and Lillian dolls from Hazel Village for Christmas. I hadn’t heard of the company before but am totally in love.
For the first month or so after we brought Lillian home, we had a stack of swaddles, burp cloths, diapers and wipes in the living room with a makeshift changing pad on the dining room table. Now that we’re in more of a schedule and not constantly feeding and changing diapers, we were able to return the living space to what it looked like before. Well, except for that damn swing. But I don’t care because that thing is MAGICAL. Both Avery and Lillian have napped for hours at a time in it so therefore it stays. For a few more months at least. 🙂
When we bought this coffee table, we raved about its hidden storage but little did we know it would one day be filled with art supplies! The coffee table actually spent some time in the carport (when Avery was learning to walk and for a while afterwards) but is now used mostly as a base for Duplo villages and a vessel for crayons, playdoh, paper and stickers. The unanticipated design feature is that the pop up “lids” are just tricky enough that Avery can’t open them by herself, making it the perfect spot to store things that you don’t want your toddler to have free reign over. 🙂 (The dark blue part also opens up and is where we stash old 24″x36″ drawing sheets that Avery uses to draw or paint on.)
Avery still uses the Stokke Tripp Trapp (it had a harness that we’ve since removed). I’m not sure yet what we’ll do once Lillian starts eating solids – we still have and love our Inglesina clip-on chair (in fact, Avery used it up till she was about 2!) and I just recently saw that they sell a snap-on tray which I WISH I WOULD HAVE KNOWN ABOUT before. So maybe we’ll just use that or maybe we’ll get another Tripp Trapp? We could transition Avery to a regular chair with a booster but I have yet to see an option that would fit well on the Eames fiberglass chairs. 🙂 Although, if Lillian is as messy of an eater as her sister, I could also see myself getting the small IKEA highchair with detachable tray. Apparently they’re easy to hose off in the shower.
For the first month or so, Lillian slept in a bassinet next to our bed. It was nice to have her close to me, but our bedroom is so compact that it also meant I didn’t have a nightstand during that time. And although I was feeling pretty positive about the bassinet the first go around, it’s not been as durable as I would have liked and even though it can be used as a lounger for older babies, neither girl seemed to love it so it’s back in the crawl space and will probably be sold at some point. Or maybe my feelings for it were just clouded by my COMPLETE LOVE of our mini crib. (Yes, that’s probably it.) We bought a used Bloom Alma mini crib from Craiglist and it has been fantastic. (In an interesting turn of events, the people we bought it from later became clients!) Even used it was still an investment, but I can say that we’ve been super pleased with the design and quality of construction so far. We haven’t had a need to fold and store it yet, but we do push it all around the house on a daily basis and the thing is solid.
Although I originally thought that we’d put the mini crib in my office/satellite nursery, we’ve found that it’s more convenient to keep it on the main floor. During the day we keep it at the foot of our bed (and she occasionally naps in there) and at night we roll it out into the dining room. Yeah, our 3-month old has been sleeping in the dining room for the last few months. And folks, it works. She’s far enough away that I don’t wake up to every little squeak, but close enough that I definitely hear the “I’m hungry!” cry. (And really, I’d hear that cry no matter where she was. It’s humorous to think that we actually used a monitor with Avery.) Eventually we’d like for both girls to share a room but it’s not going to happen until Lillian is consistently sleeping through the night. Even though Avery doesn’t wake up from small baby cries in the middle of the night, I think she would wake up if I was coming in and out of her room.
The mini crib is also just a great place to put her down if say…I need to take a shower. My only hesitation with going the mini crib route was that it was a big investment for something that may not be used that long. Based on the reviews I’ve read, most kids tend to outgrow it by the time they’re 12 months and since she’s been in the 75th percentile thus far for length, we’ll be lucky to make it that far. So what’s our solution once that happens? Not sure yet – we have a few ideas, some of which would be the result of a complete reshuffling of spaces (more on that soon!) but bottom line is that I’m sure there is a solution that will work just fine. After all, we didn’t expect that her nursery would be that spot between the table and the pantry but it is and it works.
The bathroom – not a lot of changes besides the addition of a step stool and tiny potty. We are not actively potty training yet, but started the propaganda several months ago. (The potty was purchased shortly after we found out we were having another girl. It was that purchase where I caved on the color pink.) And confession time – we hide the potty in the shower when we have client meetings at our house.
After searching for a aesthetically pleasing option, I found this step stool which is locally made in the Seattle area. Initially we wanted something that could fold up and be stored, but it really hasn’t been a big deal so far. Avery is still about a half-inch too short to fully reach the faucet handles, but I think it will serve us well for a long time (and it’s better than her using the toilet as a step stool!).
The one thing I underestimated when designing our kitchen was the amount of space we’d need for baby/toddler paraphernalia. We now have an entire drawer in our island dedicated to plate, bowls, sippy cups, straw cups, bibs, place-mats, snack cups and who knows what else. Actually, I’m convinced that The Cup Conspiracy is the real problem here and if you’re a parent you know what I mean. Most cups are ok, but each one lacks in some department so you keep trying new cups hoping to find that perfect one (that doesn’t leak, mostly) but in actuality it DOES NOT EXIST. So then, you’re left with a drawer full of cups and broken dreams. Or something like that. The moral – I try hard to do my research and make smart decisions to limit the amount of STUFF we have but this one got away from me. (Fortunately, I’ve been a lazy pumper (for better or worse) this time around and so we’ve been able to avoid a lot of bottles.)
Finally, here’s a few low-light photos of my office that I took today. Having the glider and a few other baby things down there definitely makes it feel cozy and is more practical since I typically have Lillian with me in the mornings. On the ledge is our surplus stash of baby board books that were recently retrieved from the crawl space. I know, I think I might have a problem. But with your first kid you just kinda acquire stuff over time and it isn’t until you bring it all back for #2 that you realize how ridiculous the situation is. I’ll probably go through and purge a lot of these books and then put half away until we grow bored with the others. I bought that Skip Hop activity gym to replace the more obnoxious Fisher-Price one we got for Avery but of course(?) babies have strong preferences and Lillian loves the Fisher-Price one. Sigh.
Miscellaneous gear: not pictured, but there are few other items that are worth the space they take up. We received a Boppy lounger and used it often during the first few months. She’s starting to roll and outgrow it now but I’d say still worth it. (I’ve also heard you can just throw a blanket over a Boppy nursing pillow but maybe not as effective?) We also own the ubiquitous Bumbo and it’s small and light enough that it gets moved from room to room. The jumper that we bought for Avery just came out for the first time last week and is easily stored under the couch or in the coffee table when not in use. There’s really no great space in our house for the carseat, so we just keep it on the bench next to the TV. It’s only a matter of time before it stops coming inside so we’re ok with the temporary solution. The stroller situation, however, is less ideal. We bought a double tandem stroller which I really like but it is kind of a beast and the only place it seems to fit is in the car. That works fine most of the time unless we need the extra space and then it just goes in the house. We also still own our Chicco umbrella stroller (it’s great for travelling) but use it so infrequently that it lives in the basement. (Fun fact: I bought that particular stroller because it reclines all the way back and thought Avery could nap it in while we were out and about or traveling. Well, that didn’t happen so much but we did find that it was AWESOME to put Lillian in (fully reclined) during airport layovers.)
So that’s how we’re managing with two little ones. It’s usually a little chaotic (I snapped the photo below while trying to write this blog post, Avery managed to turn my office upside down in approximately 2.5 seconds), but in a good way. We know that Lillian is still a baby and that the true test is yet to come but we’re staying optimistic. Although there are certainly challenges with living small with little people (such as acoustical privacy and isolating messy activities), I’d say one major advantage is that Avery can have a lot of independence without us worrying that she’s getting into trouble (since we can always at least hear her). I remember having a conversation with other moms expecting their second about what their toddler would do while they breastfed and it’s been a total non-issue with us. Avery simply plays like she would if I was unloading the dishwasher or doing something else. And even though she can create a ridiculous mess in no time at all, limiting what we own in the first place makes it pretty easy to return things to order at the end of the day.
Phew, ok – what are your strategies for living small with kiddos? I want to know!
Want to read our past posts on living small with a baby? Here’s one from when Avery was a newborn, when Avery was six months, and then a more thorough round-up right before she turned one.
Psst…we’re wrapping up schematic design on the garage/carport remodel and plan on sharing it here soon!
