Saturday, May 29, 2010
A New Place to Dwell
There's an awesome new mag on the block with a focus on modern architecture and design. The magazine is beautiful and IMHO much richer in content than Dwell. And the web site is chock full of awesome articles and content. Check out their web site here:
http://www.metropolismag.com/cda/
Great stuff!
Friday, May 28, 2010
Upstairs Remodel - After Shots
Here are a few shots of the main living area after the remodel. Need to note that this was all superficial work that we were able to do ourselves. Ripping out the carpet, painting, removing the drapes and changing the light fixtures added synergy to the design of our new kitchen and created an updated look throughout the main living space. There are tons of things we'd still like to do in terms of finishing but if you squint it all looks just about perfect - for us anyway. Despite the fact we had to pull our rugs due to our puppy's propensity to piss, it pretty much fits our hectic family lifestyle to a T - and the open floor plan and central kitchen entertaining area is perfect for parties and family gatherings. Now if we only had budget for the upstairs bathroom...
Upstairs Remodel - Before [ - Doing it on the Quick and Dirty
While undertaking the monumental job of the kitchen remodel, we simultaneously looked at changing the look of the entire upstairs, which includes 3 bedrooms, a bath, kitchen, dining area and living room. The house was well cared for but sorely in need of an update. Carpeting throughout the main living areas was just wrong. The paint colors were off and heavy drapery gave the space an outdated persona much in need of a makeover. On top of this, we had to deal with a glittery-disco popcorn ceiling finish that screamed old-school cheese.
The first step was to peek under the carpet to see what we were dealing with. The gods were in our favor as we discovered oak hardwoods under the carpeting. Despite the less-than-stellar condition of the hardwoods they were a huge improvement over the carpeting. To stay in line with our green approach to the remodel, we carefully removed the carpet and rolled it up. I posted an ad on the free stuff section of Craigslist and within the hour someone came by and picked up all the carpeting, saving space in the land fill and saving the purchase and subsequent manufacture of new carpeting.
With the carpeting out of the way, we carefully removed all the nails and staples from the floor and then got to work on the paint. The first step was the popcorn ceiling. Rather than taking on the painstaking and potentially toxic job of scraping off of the popcorn [mid century popcorn finish is notoriously laden with asbestos] we were advised from some 'expert' friends to simply paint over the popcorn glitter finish with a neutral paint. We borrowed a paint sprayer for this job [a must!] and worked those deltoids in covering up the old disco finish. The results looked awesome and changed the look immediately. We then selected 3 different shades for the upstairs main area, adding transitional tones as the eye progresses throughout the home.
Separate colors were chosen for each bedroom, with the master also having a complimentary accent wall color to draw focus to a large head board painting above the bed.
Finally we changed out the old school lighting throughout the upstairs, choosing directional spots with dimmers to maximize the impact of our art collection.
The photos here show the before...a nice homey feel but not the slick modern look we were looking for...
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Kitchen Remodel - After Photos
Sink, countertops, hardware and lighting by Ikea.
Silestone Kitchen Island countertop from Home Depot.
To read about the project see my previous post.
Modern Kitchen Renovation - After
In order to take down the walls and closets our engineer friend told us we needed to reinforce the header, a large beam that essentially spreads the load of the roof to the walls. We got him to do all that and build in the new partial wall we decided to construct in order to save money by not having to rewire almost everything, allowing us to keep light switches and circuits in the same places. Our contractor friend Chris was really smart about suggesting ways to cut costs and be conscious of the remodel footprint. He reused much of the timber from the demolition and not only saved us some money but also a tree or two.
While undergoing the pain of the usual remodel woes - over time and over budget - we lived on a mattress in our basement, the laundry room, our makeshift kitchen. Fortunately our dear friend and accomplished home remodel guru Daniella Conchita Consuela [hereby known as DCC] advised us to keep the fridge from the old kitchen and put it in the laundry room. This ended up being more than convenient during the remodel and saved us a ton of grief due to some hard decisions on appliances that really made the kitchen come together - again, grwat advice from an awesome friend. Which brings up a good point. Talk to your friends about your project, especially those with experience. It will save you great pain.
After demolition, and base construction the fun part started - designing the space and choosing materials, appliances and hardware. We chose Ikea cabinets and hardware as well as cut costs by going with Ikea Formica on the kitchen counter. Ikea was also our choice for the faucet and sink apparatus, while the dishwasher, fridge and gas range were all from Sears - a smoking deal We paid to have gas put in to the kitchen - another solid recommendation since we love to cook. I had never had gas before and I can't say how much this was worth the couple hundred bucks to put in the line. Another friend recommended to also get the line put out to the patio, so we have a natural gas grill and never run out of fuel. It rocks.
For the backsplash we used this fake stainless steel from Ikea. it ended up looking great with all the stainless appliances and saved us big dollars for not having to tile or install stone.
Finally the hood was form Home Depot as were the dark porcelain tiles, paint and odds and ends. Home Depot loved us. Finally our plans called for a nearly six foot by six foot island in the center of the kitchen. We simply stacked Ikea cabinets against each other and then sunk, what was for us big bucks, into two large slabs of warm buttery colored silestone to top off the very center of our home. Another place where it paid off to invest the few extra dollars we really didn't have, but money we didn't really have, well spent.
For the fridge our dear friend, DCC advised us to spend a few extra dollars and get a counter depth fridge. Because kitchen cabinets aren't as deep as standard refrigerators a standard fridge would stick out like 6 inches or something. It would not look slick, custom or modern like the look we were going for. The caveats to these models is they do cost more but you also lose storage space. So, keeping the other refrigerator was critical in order to have the storage needed to feed a family of four, two dogs and guests over all the time. Since the old fridge was only a couple years old it was efficient and met our goal of being as light on our remodel footprint as possible.
For anyone attempting to design and assemble an Ikea kitchen...you can do it yourself like we did...but be prepared to make at LEAST ten trips back and forth. Our first trip back was because after painting the ENTIRE interior of our top floor, I decided that the dark red cabinets we picked out wouldn't work and that we'd have to go with a more neutral color. It ended being the right decision but was a little frustrating. :-)
So about 45 days and $20,000 later we transformed our kitchen and subsequently the entire house. If you lok closely here and there, you can see the mickey mouse job on some things...it was our first time and for a lot of it we really didn't know what we were doing, but with the help of some smart friends and a lot of elbow grease and take out food, we created a modern look for our Mid Century home that perfectly meshed with our lifestyle, opened up the view of Lake Washington and the Cascade foothills and now serves as the cornerstone of our daily lives.
While undergoing the pain of the usual remodel woes - over time and over budget - we lived on a mattress in our basement, the laundry room, our makeshift kitchen. Fortunately our dear friend and accomplished home remodel guru Daniella Conchita Consuela [hereby known as DCC] advised us to keep the fridge from the old kitchen and put it in the laundry room. This ended up being more than convenient during the remodel and saved us a ton of grief due to some hard decisions on appliances that really made the kitchen come together - again, grwat advice from an awesome friend. Which brings up a good point. Talk to your friends about your project, especially those with experience. It will save you great pain.
After demolition, and base construction the fun part started - designing the space and choosing materials, appliances and hardware. We chose Ikea cabinets and hardware as well as cut costs by going with Ikea Formica on the kitchen counter. Ikea was also our choice for the faucet and sink apparatus, while the dishwasher, fridge and gas range were all from Sears - a smoking deal We paid to have gas put in to the kitchen - another solid recommendation since we love to cook. I had never had gas before and I can't say how much this was worth the couple hundred bucks to put in the line. Another friend recommended to also get the line put out to the patio, so we have a natural gas grill and never run out of fuel. It rocks.
For the backsplash we used this fake stainless steel from Ikea. it ended up looking great with all the stainless appliances and saved us big dollars for not having to tile or install stone.
Finally the hood was form Home Depot as were the dark porcelain tiles, paint and odds and ends. Home Depot loved us. Finally our plans called for a nearly six foot by six foot island in the center of the kitchen. We simply stacked Ikea cabinets against each other and then sunk, what was for us big bucks, into two large slabs of warm buttery colored silestone to top off the very center of our home. Another place where it paid off to invest the few extra dollars we really didn't have, but money we didn't really have, well spent.
For the fridge our dear friend, DCC advised us to spend a few extra dollars and get a counter depth fridge. Because kitchen cabinets aren't as deep as standard refrigerators a standard fridge would stick out like 6 inches or something. It would not look slick, custom or modern like the look we were going for. The caveats to these models is they do cost more but you also lose storage space. So, keeping the other refrigerator was critical in order to have the storage needed to feed a family of four, two dogs and guests over all the time. Since the old fridge was only a couple years old it was efficient and met our goal of being as light on our remodel footprint as possible.
For anyone attempting to design and assemble an Ikea kitchen...you can do it yourself like we did...but be prepared to make at LEAST ten trips back and forth. Our first trip back was because after painting the ENTIRE interior of our top floor, I decided that the dark red cabinets we picked out wouldn't work and that we'd have to go with a more neutral color. It ended being the right decision but was a little frustrating. :-)
So about 45 days and $20,000 later we transformed our kitchen and subsequently the entire house. If you lok closely here and there, you can see the mickey mouse job on some things...it was our first time and for a lot of it we really didn't know what we were doing, but with the help of some smart friends and a lot of elbow grease and take out food, we created a modern look for our Mid Century home that perfectly meshed with our lifestyle, opened up the view of Lake Washington and the Cascade foothills and now serves as the cornerstone of our daily lives.
The Kitchen Remodel - Before
Why anyone would want to re-live a kitchen remodel is beyond me - but I think this just reiterates just how crazy I am. When we first viewed our home to be, the first thing that popped into my head was the rip out walls and gut the kitchen. Floral patterns just don't do it for me. And for any modernist, the only flowers you should ever see are fresh cut or those in your garden. So upon taking ownership we immediately went to work on the demolition...but here are a couple before shots...
As you can see the entire kitchen was enclosed, wrapped in walls, closets and finished in a lovely lil' ole lady floral wallpaper...it HAD TO GO!!! And so, we moved into the basement, set up our kitchen in the laundry room and called our engineer buddy to plan our remodel.
Labels:
360 modern,
Home Depot,
ikea,
Kitchen remodel,
renovation,
Sears,
silestone
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Nothing Like Following Yourself
As my blog takes shape I can't help but marvel at the one follower who has picked up on my genius. Me. I like to say that I'm always one step ahead of myself, so the fact that I'm following myself makes perfect sense.
Now I'm really going to rock myself and go back in time about 30 months ago when we bought our 1960 Modern-inspired typical 2-story block house - that's what I like to call them. Moving from the junction in West Seattle wasn't easy, but the only thing we could afford in that neighborhood was a sub 1000 sq ft war box. So we started looking in South Seattle, where large neighborhoods sprung up during the cold war, spurring on a plethora of modern residential architecture. We loved the neighborhood, the people and the homes and after looking at over 75 homes we finally found our place. It was a rock solid 1960 home but definitely needed the queer eye - this was going to be work.
Labels:
360 modern,
home,
mid century,
modern,
real estate,
renovaton,
South Seattle
ModMan - Explore Modern Home Design on the Cheap!
Well this is my first post all about slicking up yer pad all Dwell-like for not a lot of cash. Seriously...Design Within Reach? Give me a break but I can't afford to fork over $800 for a casual chair - I have kids and dogs and life to pay for. That doesn't mean our house needs to look like turds on a plate - although our one dog would eat that shit up.
As my posts unfold, I'll talk about places to look, looks to place and finds to keep and divulge some secrets about creating your own look for not much bank. I'll show you a few of my finds, many for less than a dinner out and some for less than a cheeseburger. We'll explore both interior and exterior looks and how to go mod in ways that are as green and as easy on the environment as they are easy on the green in your wallet.
As my posts unfold, I'll talk about places to look, looks to place and finds to keep and divulge some secrets about creating your own look for not much bank. I'll show you a few of my finds, many for less than a dinner out and some for less than a cheeseburger. We'll explore both interior and exterior looks and how to go mod in ways that are as green and as easy on the environment as they are easy on the green in your wallet.
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