Design Blog
Thoughts & Musings
The client was so excited to get their Master Bathroom done. Apparently, the cabinet installer did not look at my drawings.
I am submitting this, so that clients can see the problem in advance and make sure that the cabinet installer does not go rouge on them. This mistake can be corrected, but the holes will have to be patched with a matching wood putty….
After Powder Room sports a wonderful wood base with a fish bowl and wall mounted faucet.
Vintage 1950’s Pink Bathroom BEFORE. The end of this bathroom was sliced off to create a powder room with the rest of the bathroom turning into a Laundry Room.
Laundry Room After- got turned into a serving pantry.
Laundry Room Before- the washer /dryer got moved to another area, so that this area could be used as more of a side entry into the house. I think that the darker flooring would have looked better with the dark cabinets, instead of the lighter patched pine look…..
I designed this store in 2018, got built in 2019. The panels next to the back-lite name of the store, are real seaweeds laminated between 2 sheets of plexiglass 3 FORM- Seaweed = Long, intersecting, blades form this playfully unpredictable pattern that lets you enter the life aquatic.). They were also supposed to be back-lighted, but the budget did not allow.
You can see a blue patch on the angled back wall. That is glass mosaic tiles with a waterfall. That was my idea to create a “Spa” like atmosphere. The owner came up with a line of cosmetics that were all organic, and made in the USA. It was her dream to have a store in the Cascade Mall.
Because the client ran out of money, I suggested using “IKEA” storage units, instead of custom cabinetry. It worked!
You can see from my drawings, that the design was not fully implemented.
I did a 3D model of the store, and interior elevations of the new features.
New lighting was added, and a treatment room was carved out of the back storage area.
I did not design this house- a couple came to me to help them with the windows, and I wound up helping with refining the layout of all the rooms, doing the electrical plans, door & window schedules. The husband is an engineer and had already submitted the drawings for permit. We also wound up moving the building on the site, as a huge tree was where they wanted the entry. I cautioned them about building too close to a large tree- they consulted an arborist, and moved the building away. My 3D program took his 2 D drawings into 3D with not much work, and they could see the siding and roof color and trim - all as they wanted it. Lastly, I did interior elevations of the main spaces, to help them envision the cabinetry. They wanted to see how the Timber Trusses would align with the windows from the inside. The last photo shows a peak inside the house to show how the Timber Trusses work with the windows. They started out with curved trusses, but getting the curved windows was a custom order and much more expensive. I helped them refine their design for the better, and define the look of the entire house by the window design and adding the chunky double columns to the entry.
Waterside View is actually the rear of the house, but illustrates the window wall for the views.
Side view of the covered deck with outdoor fireplace and slanted walls of the entry.
Front entry has a view right out to the other side to see the view when you walk in.
Side view shows the large deck.
My favorite part of the project is the indoor pool with green wall!
I think that swimming with this Green Wall backrgound will make the whole pool experience-no?
This is my second A-Frame addition Project- always very challenging to come up with a design that works and adding a staircase to replace a spiral stair for second floor access is paramount.
The back of the house has the Master Bedroom and bath addition with the new staircase.
Adding 3 shed dormers to the second floor give accessible egress windows and a shed dormer pop-out on the 1st floor, gives the kitchen and Dining room new space that is full height.
This is the front entry side of the project. The bulk of the additions of a Master Bedroom , Laundry and office are on this side with a new 2nd floor bathroom for the 2nd floor bedrooms.
For a lower floor Pool Room under a deck with a 12’ ceiling height, I am proposing a greenwall.
Winter days in the Pacific Northwest, are rainy and grey. What better way to charge up your batteries, then swimming a greenwall of oxygen generating plants?
Hoping that the Greenwall idea can be implemented in a cost effective way- basically you hang up black bags on the wall t(that are made for this purpose) hat are filled with planting material and ferns with an automatic watering system above that drips down and a trough below that re-cycles the water. Very low maintenance once it gets established.
View from inside the kitchen with 2 smaller windows flanking the stove.
I was trying to get the client to open up the covered side deck to the kitchen, buy adding a bar that connected to the kitchen to allow interaction with guests…… but it got axed, so the kitchen will remain cut off from the side deck entry, but will have peek-a boo lower windows instead.
Here is how the side window could have looked.
Here is how it looks with 2 smaller side windows on either side of the stove. I had suggested moving the stove to the island and having the sink by the pass-thru window, but that did not fly…..
Here is what a quick study shows it would have looked like from inside the kitchen with a large connecting window with a counter and stools for guest to inter-act with the hosts….alas, not happening.
One nice thing about 3D modeling, is that it gives the client, the opportunity to really understand what the project will look like. This is a study for the house entry, to see what it will look like on the site model.
The client wanted to see the house on the site model with the view.
I envision having planters (with tree ferns) made up that are integral to the benches that flank the entry, made up of lightweight concrete panels.
Working on making the entry a signature element of the design- like walking into a spa. It has a clear welcoming element with the angled walls that will probably be clad in concrete light weight panels.
