YUMMY!

Kitchen remodel with 60" Gas Professional Stove for a food writer. Maple cabinets, slate floors, granite counters w/ 1.5" round bullnose edge= YUMMY!

You can tell that this is a cook's kitchen. I put in the signature shelf at the back of the back-splash to put condiments up off the counter, for easier cleaning. The hood is bigger then the stove by 6" on either side, so that grease is better handled. The upper cabinets have glass in them so the cook can see what they contain. The floors were slate because she had 3 dogs that trashed the former wood floor. The slate really held up to the constant movement in the kitchen around the central island!

Solutions in Up-Lighting

Up-lighting above the upper cabinets of this Victorian's kitchen remodel I did, gives the room a sense of being washed with light.

Lighting in a kitchen is so important. It is the heart of the modern home, where everyone gathers. Even if you don't have tall ceilings, if you can get in some in-direct lighting under the upper cabinets, it gives more lighting. LED stripe lighting is a cost-effective way to get more lighting onto the work surfaces. And the more lighting, the better.

If youhave tall ceilings, then definitely use LED up-lighting above the upper cabinets, to wash the ceiling with in-direct lighting.

3D Modeling helps visualize a Kitchen Addition in Mill Valley

Here is a CAD generated 3D model of the proposed Kitchen addition to the back of the house

Here is a CAD generated 3D model of the proposed Kitchen addition to the back of the house

From more of a head on angle

From more of a head on angle

And from the left side

And from the left side

Here is an example of some studies I did for a client to help visualize how the kitchen addition could look. The slanted roof up helps to capture the Western facing views of the mountain top ridge that is currently blocked with a down sloping low roof eave.

Happy Holidays!

Wishing you all a wonderful Holiday!

Here is our house up in Friday Harbor, San Juan Island, WA all decked out for the Holidays. The great room has a vaulted ceiling with a scissor truss above, but we added the cross beams as a way to break up the space and add lighting. The Coast Salish lived in "Long Houses" on our Mitchell Bay 5,000 years ago for the summer months. It was "communal living" at its finest with partitions off the main space for each individual family that shared the Long House. So the house I designed on Mitchell Bay has one huge open space with the traditional Long House in mind. We rent it out as a vacation rental on VRBO.com ( https://www.vrbo.com/344649 ) with 4 bedrooms (2 mini-Masters facing Mitchell Bay West). It is great for a family vacation, where everyone can hang out in the huge kitchen and enjoy sunsets off the central deck facing West. Much cheaper then renting 4 hotel rooms! Blessings to all for the New Year!

,

Small Windowless Bathroom Solution

,

Small Bathroom Solution: Glass Pebble Floor adds a nice texture and contrast to the dark slate border. Even though this bathroom has no windows, the visual interest gives it character. Also the dark slate might be counter-intuitive about what to do in a bathroom with no windows, but it actually gives the small space a sense of security and refuge. The pebbles flowing into the shower give the room a sculptural feeling.

Hot Powder Rooms

Don't be afraid to punch out a color with a Powder Room. Here we have an integral colored plastered wall powder room. The sink is a real Chinese antique table with a stone insert and a carved green marble sink. The black anodized faucet is wall mounted and has a matching towel bar. The mirror is custom Cherry with pegged corners. The flooring is green slate. You might think that using green & red is too Christmas like, but it actually does not come off that way at all. Red and Green are complimentary colors.