Sunday, February 21, 2010 at 11:54AM haiti, haiti relief, housing, method homes, pb elemental, prefab, shipping container in architecture, design, eco Sunday, February 21, 2010 at 11:45AM I'm not really sure when the nesting mode of becoming a mother begins but mine has officially started and I'm barely into my 2nd trimester. Yes, it's official! My husband and I are expecting our first child in July; a little baby girl. Being the total preparer that I am, I was anticipating craziness and non-stop bitch mode but alas I've been very mellow and my bitchiness has been kept to a minimum.
As you know, my husband and I have been camped out at my in-laws for over a year and with limited space we've decided to turn our bedroom into a warm and inviting (for lack of a better term)"parent-baby" space. Since we won't have a seperate nursery I've begun to purge and re-orgazine to make space for our new arrival.
First things first, our bedroom looks like a bomb went off! There are so many things that need to be purged and sorted and sent away to new homes. Hopefully, I'll be able to make some money off of some of the stuff in the process.
As I (or should I say "we") tackle new projects, I'll post the before and after pics as well as resources for each.
Now, back to my disaster area...
Baby Bubba's 1st photo. Isn't she sweet!
Sunday, January 3, 2010 at 12:00AM While catching up on some "blogger" reading, I came across a fantastic piece by local Seattle artist Tina Randolph. Tina is quite talented; not only is she an accomplished artist but also a commercial and residential designer specializing in Venetian plaster, cement and wax. She literally has transformed some of Seattle hottest spots, such as Sun Liquor Bar, Top Pot Doughnuts and Via Tribunali.
What I'm most excited about is the piece below! I'm jealous and want one for myself. Leah over at Revival Home & Garden is fortunate to have this in her home and I just need to know how to get one for myself. From what I understand {via Revival} Tina made this piece a steamroller! Adding even more provenance to this beautiful piece.
Revival owners, husband and wife team Leah & Chris have a fantastic shop newly located within the Capitol Hill area in Seattle. The shop is absolutely inspiring; just walk in the front door is enough to get your mind racing. If you live in the Seattle area or are just in town for a visit, you should definitely check them out. They even offer design services!
Now, only to get in contact with Tina...I promise an update!
Image [via] Revival Home & Garden 1517 12th Ave. Seattle, WA 98122
P: 206.763.3886
artist, interior design, tina randolph in cool finds, decor, design Saturday, January 2, 2010 at 12:00AM Happy New Year everyone! It's been a quiet & restful day here at the ocean house in Friday Harbor. Yet, my mind is raising as I begin once again to gather inspiration for our new home. Today I've been focusing primarily on interiors and came across a fantastic article originally posted on one of my new favorite blogs Habitually Chic.
The article features Jenna Lyons, the SVP Creative Director at J. Crew. I first read the article on Jenna in Domino but prefer the Living etc (a UK design magazine) article better. Jenna's home is a perfect mix of old and new. I personally love her style. It's a fantastic combination and hope to create a similar vibe in our new home.
Jenna Lyons Home: The Complete View posted: 8/20/09
I don't mind when different magazine's publish the same home if they reshoot it and use different photos. I love seeing the changes a homeowner may have made and also with different styling. It's fun to see rooms or areas that one magazine left out but another decided to shoot. So that's why I was excited to see Jenna Lyon's Brooklyn brownstone on the cover and featured in the September 2009 issue of Livingetc from the UK. I'm sure you all remember that Jenn's home was also on the cover and featured in the November 2008 issue of Domino. Melanie Acevedo shot the home for both magazines and one of the cute things you'll notice is that Jenna's son Beckett has grown from baby to a toddler in the Living etc photos! I also found some photos on the Levenson McDavid Architects website. I think the combination of all the photos gives you a really good look inside this fashionable abode! Enjoy!
A romantic shot of Jenna and her husband in the entry that appeared in Domino.
In the Living etc photo Jenna mentions that the entry is painted in Off Black oil eggshell by Farrow & Ball. I love all the tiny little shoes lined up! So cute!
The architect's photo of the living room gives you a full look at the room and all the way to the back.
The living room as styled and shot for Domino. Love the pale grey walls and accents of black and yellow! In reality, the zebra rug is not layered on top of the other area rug.
Friday, January 1, 2010 at 2:19PM A look at the social and monetary benefits of green demolition.
Photo courtesy Second Use
When demand for new homes skyrocketed during the baby boom, buildings that obstructed growth were quickly cleared out by bulldozers and backhoes. Sixty years later, mechanical demolition is still the fastest way to remove unwanted structures. The downside of this history is that construction and demolition waste now takes up a quarter of all landfill space. For a number of Northwest companies, the benefits—both monetary and environmental—of returning to hand deconstruction are clear: The centuries-old process of meticulously dismantling a building reduces waste and produces a wealth of reusable—and resalable—materials, from doors and windows to lumber, cabinets and fixtures.
The deconstruction-and-salvage process can recycle up to 98 percent of a dismantled building, cultivating materials that owners can reuse in their new construction or donate to salvage retailers. Local businesses such as The RE Store, Second Use and Earthwise Architectural Salvage offer tax receipts, cash or in-store credit for the donations. “Though deconstruction is up to 10 percent more expensive than demolition, home- owners can receive thousands of dollars back in tax credits,” explains Jason Darling, The RE Store’s education and marketing coordinator. “In general, people come out really well.” Salvage retailers sell the reclaimed items cheaper than new products, attracting designers, homeowners, architects and builders who are looking for sustainable materials and vintage gems.
Jon Alexander, president of Sunshine Construction LLC (206-782-4619), has specialized in green building for 18 years. He has used deconstruction and salvage services on about 35 projects, including the first local home to earn a Five-Star Built Green rating. “Without deconstruction and salvage, the projects wouldn’t have received five stars,” he says. Through the years, Alexander has taken part in a budding local salvage and deconstruction industry while watching the growth of green building nationwide. “We haven’t exactly invented deconstruction and salvage,” he notes. “The Romans salvaged Greek structures.” Still, the idea is spreading.
Seattle can now issue demolition permits separate from once-associated construction permits. Given the time for deconstruction, builders and homeowners can recycle materials, producing less waste and providing salvage retailers with more bargain treasures. Careful consideration, it turns out, is more valuable than speed.
| Earthwise Architectural Salvage 3447 Fourth Ave. S., Ste. E, (206) 624-4510 This for-profit company will go into homes and bid on materials. The owner can choose to receive a tax donation receipt, cash or store credit in exchange for materials. Proceeds from the sale of donated materials benefit nonprofit companies such as EarthCorps, Historic Seattle and New World Villages. Second Use 7953 Second Ave. S., (206) 763-6929 This for-profit company is a partner of Habitat for Humanity, operating as its field-service wing. Second Use consigns the materials and issues tax donation receipts for contributions to Habitat for Humanity. The RE Store 1440 N.W. 52nd St., (206) 297-9119 Materials given to the nonprofit are treated as donations that can be deducted from taxable income. Owners may determine the value of a donation, or The RE Store can assist in the evaluation. If a donation is worth more than $5,000, an independent third party must certify its value. For further information on the deconstruction industry, as well as a calculator to determine how a deconstruction project can save environmental resources and money, visit deconstructioninstitute.com. |
Friday, December 25, 2009 at 5:03PM 
Rugged Bruny Island, off the southeast coast of Tasmania, is about as far away from Rochester, New York, as you can get. Just ask Amy and Bob Tait, who call both places home. Plane-hopping from Rochester to Chicago to Los Angeles to Sydney and finally to Hobart, then driving two hours south and catching a ferry will get you there in about 30 hours. A long haul for a vacation? Perhaps, concedes Amy, but nothing a good novel, an in-flight movie, and a glass of wine can’t fix.
During a “once in a lifetime” trip to Australia a few years ago, the Taits fell in love with picturesque Tasmania, Australia’s southernmost island state. Back in the States after their sojourn, Amy—whose background is in real estate—surfed the Internet looking for Tasmanian properties. She found 500 acres on Bruny Island up for sale and before you could say “advanced search” had flown halfway around the world again to check it out in person. “As soon as I set foot on this property, I knew it was the one,” she recalls. “It doesn’t reveal itself to you all at once, there is just so much to discover.”
Like all pioneers, the Taits then turned their thoughts to shelter. They found the Hobart firm of 1 + 2 Architecture, and began a long conversation with directors Mike Verdouw, Cath Hall, and Fred Ward. According to the architects, the out-of-towners were extremely receptive to notions of a contemporary, sensitive response to the rugged waterfront site.
“Initially they came to us and asked for a log cabin in the woods,” Ward recalls. “We explained that here we don’t really call it ‘the woods’ and that we don’t really do log cabins. They were very open to our suggestion that the house be a contemporary Australian response.”
The design—resolved via countless emails and conference calls—was largely driven by the remoteness of the location, which called for complete self-sufficiency.
The Taits’ site has no municipal water, power, or sewer connections, so the architects had to balance their clients’ modern needs with certain practical considerations.
“It’s all new to me,” admits Amy, who is grateful that an onsite caretaker keeps things ticking when they’re not there. They got most of their wishes—hot tub, dishwasher, clothes dryer—but had to agree to a smaller one-level house instead of a larger double-story design. “There was some compromise on their part,” says Ward. “We couldn’t have heated a really big volume.”
The house observes passive solar design principles, and most of its power comes from six photovoltaic cells mounted on a disused shipping container parked in a sunny clearing about 100 feet from the house. The architects angled the solar panels on a tilted roof to make the most of the intense sun in this somewhat ozone-depleted region. “We like to recycle where possible, so the shipping container was a good cost-effective option,” says Mike Verdouw.
Rain collects in two 2,600-gallon tanks nestled in the shade near the house and the water is channeled underground, via four-inch conduit, into the kitchen and bathrooms. Portable gas cylinders fuel the hot-water system and the cooking appliances. Bathroom and kitchen waste is collected underground and processed in a septic tank before being dispersed around the garden via a network of subterranean trenches. Rod Cooper, who designed this passive system, encouraged the Taits to plant native shrubs along the trenches, as the plants absorb the nutrients from the waste and the rest seeps into the earth or gets evaporated by the sun and wind.
Lightweight, inexpensive, low-maintenance building materials were deemed essential, especially given the site’s access difficulties and the foul weather during construction. The structure is a combination of galvanized steel and timber on a raised steel sub-frame floor, and the exterior is clad in oiled timber planks. Inside there’s low-fuss plasterboard, polished hardwood flooring, and neutral-toned carpet.
At present, the Taits visit their remote island hideaway once or twice a year to steal some quiet moments before heading back to work, school, and other commitments in Rochester. Eventually, they plan to scale things back and make much more time for Bruny Island. “The seasons are opposite, so we’ll be able to have summer in Rochester, then a second summer in Tasmania,” says Amy, with more than a hint of glee. [via]
dwell, tait modern, tasmania in architecture, design, eco Monday, September 28, 2009 at 6:39PM By Eric Ruthford
Post Globe
Kate Martin has been wanting to build a backyard cottage at her home in South Greenwood for six years. The 51-year-old mother is in favor of the idea of cottages in Seattle both because she wants to allow her two teenagers to live there as they get up to college age, and because it increases density without changing the character of the neighborhood.
"In Seattle, we have way more single-family housing than most cities, and that's a tough way to be a city," she said. "We could stand to have a few more people living on those lots." The Seattle City Council is now considering legislation that would allow homeowners to build a small detached structure on their yards, but not everyone is in favor of it. The Laurelhurst Community Club has raised objections to the Seattle City Council, saying that backyard cottages would increase demand for on-street parking, and take away privacy from neighbors. Club President Jeannie Hale told the Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee of the City Council at a recent meeting that allowing these buildings would hurt the character of the single-family neighborhoods. "We would like you all to consider that all neighborhoods are not the same. One size does not fit all in our city," she said. "Some areas, urban villages, need to have increased density," she said. But, she added in a written statement to the council, allowing the detached buildings is "essentially duplexing single-family neighborhoods." A pilot program has allowed backyard cottages in Southeast Seattle for the past three years, and the proposed legislation would allow them all over the city. The cottages, or detached accessory dwelling units, as they're called in the text of the legislation, would be allowed on lots larger than 4,000 square feet, and owners would still have to adhere to the rule that no more than 35 percent of their lot could be covered by a structure. Councilwoman Sally Clark, who is the chairwoman of the Planning, Land Use and Neighborhood Committee, said that cottages won't amount to duplexing because the maximum number of unrelated people who can live on the property will remain the same at eight. Also, the property owner will be required to live in one of the structures at least six months out of the year. "The desire is not to create two rentals, it's to help someone pay their mortgage, or to get older on their property, or to make a room for a son or daughter moving back home," Clark said. At a meeting of the Planning, Land Use and Neighborhoods Committee on Wednesday, council members discussed how stringent the standards need to be on the cottages, debating the number that can be built each year in the city, whether parking will be required, how many square feet the cottages can have in their floorplans, and how tall they can be. Councilman Tim Burgess expressed some concern about neighbors' privacy. The city's Department of Planning and Development needs to be able to do more than just offer helpful suggestions for how to protect neighbors' privacy when planning where to put windows on the cottages, he said. "I'm worried that we're going to create an adversarial environment with no solution. And then people are really going to be ticked off," he said. One homeowner, John Stoeck, 47, of the Pritchard Beach neighborhood, is building a cottage now on the site of an old garage. He said he's enjoyed designing it, and he's planning to search for a renter when it's finished. "I think it can be a positive thing to add density without tearing down houses and putting up apartments or condos. It's one way to preserve basic character of the neighborhood," he said. One challenge he predicted for people wanting to convert garages into cottages is that the cottages have to have a certain amount of setback from property lines, and most garages are too close to property lines to fit in to the standards. He was able to get city to sign off on his cottage, but the permitting process made it more difficult for him. The proposed legislation is scheduled to come up at a meeting of the Planning, Land Use and Neighborhood Committee on Oct. 8 at 9 a.m. at City Hall. More information on the backyard cottages legislation is available on the city's Web site at: http://www.seattle.gov/dpd/Planning/Backyardcottages/Overview/
Sunday, September 27, 2009 at 1:02PM 
A recent trip to Ikea for home basics—pots, pans, plates and storage—made us remember how much fun it can be to browse through the epic collection of funky, functional design offered by the Scandinavian superstore. This wall hanging has been a favorite since we saw it at ICFF in May. Designed by Hella Jongerius, it's one in a series of three panels inspired by Swedish fairy tales, hand-woven as a part of a program between Ikea and UNICEF.[via] Each panel is hand-embroidered by craftswomen in India, making each wall decoration unique. They're only available in-store, but worth the trek to check them out.
Designed by Hella Jongerius for Ikea
Price: $49.99 US$
hella jongerius, ikea, ikea ps mikkel, unicef in cool finds, decor, design Friday, September 25, 2009 at 1:26PM It's a pretty exciting day over at The Prefab Project! Today I was nominated in the Home & Food category for the 2009 Love! This Site Awards over at DivineCaroline. I'm proud of my lil' blog but need your help.
To vote for The Prefab Project just mozy on over to the DivineCaroline site and VOTE, or click on the badge at the top of our site. You do have to register but what's five minutes of your time to support a friend?!?!
Big thanks for your support!
Thursday, September 24, 2009 at 9:00PM If you know me than you understand my love for eBay, especially for vintage & antique items. It truly is the first place I turn. I have several sellers I purchase from but one of my new favorites is artcollector-usa. Don't be mislead by the name. They offer furniture spanning multiple eras and styles. When searcing for that something in particular, remember the end result. What do you want it to be? Most of the items have some sign of age but overall they're in pretty good condition, considering.
I recently purchased two items from artcollector-usa, one because I fell in love with it and the other because I needed it. "Need" is such an easy term to use when justifying a purchase but hey, I "needed" dining room chairs. Yes, yes...the set of four mid-century modern chrome dining room chairs mentioned previously are officially mine! I won them about a day ago (on where else?) eBay from artcollector-usa. I don't have my house yet but when I do at least I'll have something to sit on!
When shopping at artcollector-usa, feel free to request a shipping quote before bidding on an item. You can easily do this directly through their eBay store. They offer free packing and shipping is very affordable but vary greatly by item.
Another favorite of mine is Housing Works Auctions, which is non-profit organization which provides assistance and support for those battling homelessness as well as those with HIV & AIDS. It's a fantastic organization based in New York with shops across the city, as well as an online. Since, they're based in NYC they get fantastic items coming through the doors; all at amazing prices.
Shopping here is always a pleasure but there are a couple of things to keep in mind. 1) Their auctions usually run for about seven to ten days depending on the item. 2) Each auction has specific shipping information, so be sure to check what's open to you before purchasing. They provide pick-up, local movers only & FedEx, although FedEx is not available on all items, so if you're not local pay close attention.
Well, that's it for tonight. Enjoy!
