Search Results for: dining room
5 months without a kitchen
All in all, life without a kitchen has gone better than expected. (Disclaimer: we did break down about 10 days post-demo and installed the dishwasher.) It’s sort of like the dorm days, but Easy Mac has now been replaced by Annie’s (or Amy’s) mac’n’cheese and a side salad. Way more refined.
We’re getting by with a make-shift kitchen in our basement, which basically consists of an old drafting table, a microwave, coffee maker, assorted small appliances and shelving below that acts as our pantry and dish storage. Our dining room table/home office is a lopsided card table and 2 chairs.
But back to food. I’ve really tried to resist the frozen entrée route, but we do use the microwave a lot. Who knew you could make pasta in the microwave? It takes a little finessing but it’s totally edible! (Gnocchi is a bit trickier. I’m not sure I’ll try that one again anytime soon.) Speaking of pasta, did I mention that we eat copious amounts of mac’n’cheese? On this night we dressed it up with cherry tomatoes from the garden and fresh cracked pepper.
We also eat a lot of foods that don’t involve cooking. Sometimes I just put together a plate of crackers, cheese, apple slices, almonds, and whatever else is lying around. It’s easy and it’s fast.
For breakfast we’ve been eating a lot of cereal or granola with yogurt and fruit.
For weekdays, I’ve taken over a shelf in my office’s kitchen for breakfast and lunch items. Fortunately, my office also has a fancy espresso machine. Double shot button – oh we’re good friends.
But don’t kid yourself, we’re definitely eating out more too. We’ve also been known to order pizza from time to time. One of those times may have involved eating pizza in bed while watching old episodes of Arrested Development. It happens.
Now that we’re at the 5-month mark though, I’m done experimenting. If it takes more than 20 minutes, I don’t want to do it. I’m holding out for the real deal. Our new range is just sitting there, under a sheet, taunting me. It’s whispering words like “broil”, “roast” and worst of all…convection.
So what do I miss the most right now? Mostly I miss baked goods and things that can be “fresh out of the oven”. [Oh my gosh I want chocolate chip cookies so bad right now!] I also miss having friends over for meals, making something from a cookbook, and lazy Sunday morning breakfast.
Oh, I also miss lazy Sundays.
progress report: week 15
Week 15…Week 15?!?
Well, it certainly feels like it.
We’ve had a few set-backs in the last week and are still (almost) knee-deep in electrical work. The power part has been pretty straight forward, but the low-voltage, cat 5, cable, etc. is a different story. And even though we put together an electrical plan, we’ve found that this is very much a design-build process for us. The advantage to having free reign over our open walls is that we can do whatever we want. The disadvantage is that we can do whatever we want. For instance, in order to determine the location for the speaker outlets in the living room, we had to revisit and finalize the layout for that space. This meant that we had to commit to a furniture layout which meant we had to decide on a couch. So what could have been a 2 minute decision turned into an evening (or two) of messing with the SketchUp model, looking at various couch options and dimensions and analyzing the audio and visual impact of different speaker sizes and locations.
We’re tired. It’s week 16 now.
I also haven’t taken any photos because there just isn’t a lot of physical evidence of our progress.
But we’re determined to stay strong and see this thing through! And we’ve also come to terms that “finished” will be a very loose term when it comes to our September 18th deadline.
A few other items to note from the last week:
1. We were in the South Lake Union ‘hood on Sunday so we stopped by Velocity Art and Design. They had an Eames rocker on display (something I’ve been coveting for a long time) and it was one of the newer, muted colors. So I sat down, gave it a rock, and decided…I didn’t really like it. I’m sure the shell is the same size and shape as the old fiberglass models but it just didn’t feel the same. And the plastic just looked…different. So I’m still holding on to the fantasy that I’ll find an old one on the side of the road one day, with a free sign on it. The good news about this unfortunate discovery is that we’re now thinking more seriously about doing Eames side chairs for our dining room table (we were a little hesitant before, not wanting to go over our Eames quota y’know).
Even though we had found a nice sectional from BoConcept, we both were eyeing the Modernica Case Study daybed that was on display. In our old layout, a daybed in the living room would have been the perfect thing, but now that we’ll have lots of sleeping area options it isn’t real likely that someone would need to sleep in the living room. But it still looks cool and is actually pretty comfortable. Decisions.
2. We’re starting to get numbers for drywall…which is making us realize just how much we have to do before that can happen. Not only do we need to finish the electrical and insulation and vaulted bead board ceiling, but we also have to do all of the door and window trim and install the reglets where the bead board meets the drywall.
3. We figured out the audio system! We found a simple solution that will meet our needs – a pair of tower speakers for the living area and a 2-channel all-in-one player that gets the job done. We’ll also run speaker wire for a pair of future outdoor speakers. Phew.
4. We extended our electrical permit. It was inevitable.
And so we continue. Eye on the prize, eye on the prize. And by the way, thanks for all of the encouraging comments. It truly keeps us motivated.
trends in residential architecture
A few days ago, Kyle sent me this from the American Institute of Architect’s website. The article mainly talks about a modest turnaround beginning to take shape in the residential sector (woohoo!), but it also looks at specific trends and patterns that have been gaining in popularity. Since many of the items directly relate to what we’re doing over here at chezerbey, we thought we’d bring up the topic up and see what others thought.
1. Houses are getting smaller – not a shocker, but it makes us feel better about opting not to add on to our 800 SF footprint.
2. People want accessibility and flexibility – the most significant decision we’ve made at chezerbey is to knock out walls and open up the floor plan. Now…I’m hesistant to say that any ol’ open floor plan is successful though. While it’s nice to have visual connection between the “public” spaces of a house, it’s also a good idea to use materials, light and volume to provide distinction or a sense of hierarchy. For instance, at our house we felt that keeping a consistent ceiling across the space would produce a bit of a “bowling alley” effect. By vaulting the ceiling over the kitchen and dining room, we were able to bring in more light and provide more volume in a space where you’re mostly standing up. For the living area, we chose to add some richness and texture to the space by exposing the wood joists. Additionally, the lower ceiling height (as compared to the adjacent vaulted ceiling) gives people a sense of coziness and refuge, which makes a lot of sense for the area with the most comfortable furniture!
Along with an open plan, we’re also designing for flexibility. By doing a series of sliding barn doors instead of swinging doors, we can easily change the feel and function of the spaces depending on our needs. The new room we created from part of the old living room will have a generous doorway and direct connection to the living area which means it could serve as overflow living space, an office or a guest bedroom. The new loft space could also transform as needed.
Although our house’s main spaces are all on one level, it’s not exactly accessible (and granted, this trend is likely a result of the aging baby boomer population). While we probably won’t be leaving our construction ramp up long-term, there are some options to create better accessibility in the event it was needed.
3. People want to spend more time outside, but not maintaining fussy yards – Ok, so we haven’t really done much in the way of property enhancements besides take stuff out (shrubs, decrepit picket fences and excessive amounts of concrete), but we definitely have plans to address many of these topics. Seattle loves its low-maintenance, drought-tolerant landscaping (it usually doesn’t rain at all during the summer months) and we’ll be more than happy to minimize our lawn/mulch and embrace the natives. (And once we actually have things that need watering, we can easily add a couple of rain barrels to our existing downspouts.) We also have big plans for a deck in the back (and, if our friends had their way – a hot tub), with a grill, seating and maybe even an approved fire pit for those cool nights. We’re also big into blending the indoors and outdoors – which drove our decision to install 4 skylights and open up the back of the house to the backyard.
So what do you think? Does the AIA have it right? We seem to be addressing most of these issues in our own home as well as our professional projects. I would have been curious to see a poll regarding the growing trends in efficiency – something that looked at the demand for better windows, higher r-value insulation, more efficient appliances, renewable energy, etc.
All images were found here.
decisions, decisions: steel ledges
Although it may seem a little premature, we need to make a decor decision. Back in January, we posted some images of our sketchup model that showed a slim black line running from the kitchen backsplash, through the dining room and into the living room. This black line is intended to be a steel ledge that helps visually tie the spaces together and serves as a multi-purpose storage/display system. (For instance, in the kitchen it will hold spices and other commonly used small items and in the dining and living room it will be a display space for pictures of Ferraris artwork, bud vases and whatever else captures our attention. )
And now that we have everything opened up, we need to install a row of blocking to attach the ledges to (this isn’t completely necessary but will give us more flexibility as we won’t have to depend on stud locations or use drywall anchors). But what ledges to use? We’ve seen a couple of versions floating around the interwebs, and came across two we liked from West Elm and Room&Board.
We tracked down one of each, knowing that it would be important to test out in person. On the left is the West Elm version. It’s 3.5″ deep, 1″ tall and comes in lengths of 2′, 3′, and 4′. The price is about $12-$17/linear foot and it comes in just the brushed finish. The Room&Board option on the right is 5″ deep and 2″ tall and comes in lengths of 3′, 4′, 5′, and 6′. It costs anywhere from $17-$23/linear foot and comes in either natural or stainless steel.
The R&B option is appealing because it comes in longer lengths which means we wouldn’t have to join shorter segments together. But it is also bigger and more heavy-duty than we really need.
The West Elm ledge has crisper corners and the proportions fit our space and application better. The downside, we’d have to butt a couple runs together to work with our design. We were also worried about potential flimsiness, but both products seem really solid and well-constructed.
Ultimately, we’ve decided on the smaller, West Elm ledge. We’re not crazy about the slotted fastener holes, but the idea is to actually put stuff on the ledge so maybe it’s not a big deal. We could also cover the holes with a small piece of fir trim. Hmm, we’ll have to revisit this later…when we actually have finished walls.
progress report: week 8
Typical Seattle, Memorial Day weekend was mostly rainy and cool – perfect weather for working on the house. And napping. And watching TV in bed. What it wasn’t good for was installing skylights. Fortunately, we got a surprise break (sun break that is) on Monday afternoon and were able to quickly change the day’s game plan.
1. Not counting those pesky skylights, we are done with framing! On Sunday, Kyle and Dustin finished up installing the rest of the miscellaneous blocking as well as furring out the old kitchen wall. For whatever reason, that wall was framed with actual 2″x3″ studs and was thus out of plane with the adjacent walls. This job entailed string lines, laser shooting, and lots of furring strips – but she’s done!
2. With framing more or less done, it’s time to move on to electrical! We’re looking forward to this because even though it can take a bit more brain power, it’s a lot less messy than framing and is easy to do on weeknights. The first and most important step was finalizing the electrical plan. Now, when we moved into our house in ’06, we had an outdated electrical panel and 7 outlets. That’s right, 3 outlets in the living/dining room, 3 in the kitchen (one for the fridge, one for the oven, and one for everything else!) and one in the basement. Kudos to the previous owners who must have had a very small electrical bill, but we needed to bring things up to at least the 20th century. Before we moved in, we hired an electrician to update the electrical service to the house, install a submeter in the carport, and put in a couple of outlets in the bedroom. Since then, we’ve gotten by with extension cords and power strips. But now is our chance to design and install a much more functional layout – and we’re not talking about just plunking in a few more outlets. It’s time to modernize things, with data, audio and cable, more (and better!) lighting and switch locations that actually make sense!
Here’s the plan we worked up. This allowed us not only to finalize the design, but became a shopping list of sorts.
On Saturday, after 3 hours at Home Depot and 17 phone calls between the two of us (I stayed at home to price check things online and verify dimensions or other requirements that we forgot to check), we were armed and ready. The electrical will be a task in itself, but thankfully the minimal amount of rough plumbing is done and the mechanical system was installed with our future layout in mind.
3. On Monday, I assembled the kitchen island frames so we can know exactly where to place the pony wall that will run behind the cabinets and house a couple electrical outlets. (There will also be a custom, open shelving unit that goes on the left side, which will hold the microwave and Bailey’s bowls.)
5. We weren’t expecting it, but Monday afternoon brought some sunshine! We took advantage of the weather by cutting a hole in our roof.
Insta-light!
Cutting the hole and installing the skylight was the easy part. After that came the tedious chore of pulling the surrounding shingles, installing flashing, and then re-shingling the surrounding area. We still have two more to put in and they’re both twice the size of this one. But it will be worth it, in fact, it already is. Even with the single skylight the amount of natural daylight in stunning. Plus, once we have drywall up it will be a light-reflecting great room of glory. That’s right, glory.
This skylight also frames a view of our neighbor’s cedar tree. Sometimes, nature has to be borrowed.
We’re hoping that we’ll get a little more nice weather this weekend so we can truly cross framing off the to-do list. But since Junember seems to be in full force, I’m not too optimistic.
