Everyone’s a critic

This kitchen was featured in a post about a modern home listing in Portland over on Jetson Green.

At first glance, the abundance of wood finish is great:  it’s warm & provides  good contrast with the stainless appliances.

Look a little closer & things stand out. Like, where can you store anything in that kitchen? 3 wall cabinets, 1 blind corner base cabinet, 1 drawer under the microwave and 1 single door base cabinet?

Granted, there may be more storage outside the edges of the shot.  And sink cabinets don’t count b/c of the amount of sink guts, disposal, & it’s usually the designated garbage and detergent zone in most houses.

Lines & Clearances

What happens when you need items out of the drawer under the microwave and that corner cabinet simultaneously? Or how about getting into the dishwasher when the oven door is open?  That is a busy corner with all the appliances scrunched into it.

As far as lines go, I love the horizontal orientation of the wall tile.  But the variation of vertical vs. horizontal pulls on the cabinets is visually noisy.

The shelf over the window at the sink & the window itself are nice touches. I wonder why the wood banding above the tile on the sink wall does not continue over the tile at the range hood?

WWED? (what would ecomod do)

• continue the wide wood trim above the wall tile along the range side wall, interrupting it at the vent;
• either darken or lighten the wood on the cabinets or on the floor, but not both, to gain some contrast;
• add horizontally oriented wall cabs over the sink for added storage. I’d line them up with the glass doors on the corner wall cabinets to continue that visual line;
• swap the positions of the DW and the single door base cabinet to help unclutter that corner;
• find a way to incorporate more drawers (40% more storage with drawers over doors, kids!).

Steel + Reclaimed Riverwood = Welcome.

I always wanted to design & build my own dining table. I wanted it to be long (76″)  & semi-narrow. That way we could seat a good size group, & the tightness of the table width at 28″ would encourage conversation.

As with all things envisioned, I couldn’t find what I wanted off the shelf, so off I went, to make this.

We started with 2″ square tube steel for the frame. I wanted the legs to poke through & be flush with the top. On top the frame we set a full 2″ solid reclaimed heart pine top.  This thing weighs about 100 pounds. So dance away on it.

That wood was pulled from the Cape Fear River, where it had hung out on the bottom for hundreds of years. It’s really  beautiful – a mix of tight & loose grain, divits & notches.

A few thumbnails from the fabrication adventure (yes that apron is 3 sizes too big for me) and the table’s current natural habitat – in our kitchen.

*Editor’s note: This post was lost when we revamped the site about 3 months ago. Here it is again for those who may not have seen it the first time.*

Walking the Talk with Ikea Kitchen Design & Installation

We designed & installed our own kitchen last November. The old one was 14 years old, and I needed an Ikea kitchen to use & show off.  So here it is, with custom wall cabinet doors, a wine cubby, some floating shelves & some really happy owners.

Kitchen: Before

Cramped. Dead end. Dark. Raised panel tiredness. Not inviting. Small. Insanity provoking.

Kitchen: After

Open circulation. Well lit. Ample storage. Energy Star appliances. Green finishes.  Easy to use, even with multiple people, dogs & cats. Great kitchen design for parties.

The Design: Before – After Modern Kitchen

I can say firsthand that living in & using this kitchen daily for 6 months now has been a pleasure, to say the least. It’s modern, usable, easy on the eyes, and the oven & dishwasher doors no longer hit each other.

If you’re ready for a modern kitchen, we’re ready for you.

Work with what you have

Susan over at the IKEAFans blog posted about an article in the International Herald Tribune about how design thrives during tough economic times. As Susan so aptly puts it: “Necessity is the Mother of Invention, no?”.

There’s no doubt that constraint breeds creativity, whether it’s lack of space, material, money, or time. And it *is* possible to create good, durable design under those conditions, which are all present in a depression.

Modern is already green

What I love about modern, simple design, is that it lends itself so easily to being responsible to the planet. Heck, minimalism is one of the modern design camp’s most very favorite words! And so should responsible be.

Generally speaking, modern = clean lines = less materials for detailing. And less materials means less energy to fabricate. It also means less weight to ship, especially if it’s flat packed.

Lucky for us, IKEA® embodies all of those aspects of design at an affordable price. Unsurprising, since its roots are in frugality without sacrificing culture.

Soft spot for the pre-cursors

Susan also brings to light a book called Livable Modernism, by Kristina Wilson, about how interior designers responded during the depression. Early pioneers of American modernist designers combined the avant garde with middle class taste to create products for the middle class during the depression. (Also, I had no idea that the buffet party was a Depression-era invention!)

This book is totally on my wishlist, since it recognizes designers like Russel Wright and Donald Deskey – designers who preceeded the usual attention hogs like Frank Lloyd Wright and Corbusier, but are equally deserving of recognition.  Color me crazy, but I have a soft spot for folks who set the stage for the credit grabbers after them. (Like Eileen Gray, for example, before Corbu.)

What if?

Wonder how it would have fared had IKEA® (it was founded in 1943) been around during the depression?

Jetson Green: Prefab is not the answer to affordable, modern, green homes

Easier to reach, easier to clean

There are plenty of good things about wall mounted bathroom vanities. And as with anything green, there are varying shades. Here’s what’s good about getting the cabinet up off the floor:

• less material is used to construct the cabinet itself: it’s not as tall, and there’s no legs or base, which saves material on both counts
• it maximizes usable space with the cabinet. Take a look at any cabinet in your house. There is a huge amount of unused space above whatever is sitting on the floor of the cabinet. Why not shorten it up and save some cost?
• no base means no toe kick, no worrying about where big feet will go while standing at the sink.
• it makes it easy to clean the entire floor
• if it’s a small bathroom, there’s space under the vanity for a waste can
• in the unthinkable event of a water overflow, everything in the vanity, as well as the vanity itself is out of harm’s way. Unless it’s a really REALLY big overflow, and in that case, you might want to move to the mountains.

Where to look?

[s p a c i f y] has a very good selection of modern wall mounted vanities for prices rangings from about $800 up. Shown above is the Simone Ceramic vanity for $799.

DESU Design just goes to show that simple, beautiful and green can coexist beautifully. The Inversion Bowl (left) is made of certified renewable cellulose fiber and resin. The white material for HUG (right) is similar to Corian or Avonite, and looks equally clean & elegant.