April 28, 2013

Phase I: The KITCHEN #2 - How Intending Multi-Use Improved What We Had Grown Accustomed To

So when I was figuring out what to do with my kitchen in the wee hours last December (See that post in a new window here), I realized that I could use the badly placed center island to advantage ( No, really?), and separate the multiple work areas of my "Vortex Kitchen."


(Whenever I discuss space planning, I'll always show you where that room lies in relationship to the rest of that floor. It's wise to keep the bigger picture - called  thinking about adjacencies- in mind as you rework a room so you understand where people will enter from or will want to travel to. )

Step #2 Planning for Multiple Meal Prep 

So here's a large room plan showing how my kitchen originally laid out:



  .

In this BEFORE picture to the right of the fridge and hallway wall, you see there was absolutely nothing on the wall. (I'll tell you that the kitchen's heating vent is in the center of the floor right there.)

Granted, I must have access to and take  into account anything over the heat, but still! Wasting four feet of floor space and an entire wall with nary a shelf in any kitchen is unforgivable. This is an overt example of wasted  or unused square footage. we have them all over our house, but really don't see them. When you want to modify your home for the better, or find places for new uses, finding these precious unused inches, and feet, should be one of the first things you look for as you walk around your house.

It doesn't take much to make big changes:
As you saw in my Kitchen Step #1 post about what I actually did,( "A Touch that Spoke of Story".), I added the chimney and the cabinetry on that wall. 

So now I added the narrow butcher block counter. It's the logical completion to a new cook prep station. With an inexpensive heat flow director ($5), and a careful choice about what counter works there - notice the raised open grid shelf for recycling below - I have created a comfortable place for another person in the kitchen, without heating anything I might worry about. Plus, it's right by their shelving! 
No push out or big remodel.

In phase 2, I'm wiring in an under cabinet light. I added two GFCI appliance outlets now, so anyone can plug in that 2-unit electric cook unit  tucked into the corner of the counter that I decided I'd use instead of another drop-in range. Less costly, way more flexible.


Now notice in my  plan above how my 13.3 cubic ft medium fridge does not fit into the alcove made for it. It's wider by maybe an inch or so. Painfully close. So it sits forward of the alcove. The fridge door doesn't open fully to remove the bins for cleaning, and it creates a bottleneck whenever we move anything from the great room beyond the glass sliders next to the dishwasher into the kitchen - moving the piano from the great room to the living room was no fun! But we've managed. It has been there for so many years that I don't think about it anymore.

But that's the point. See here where I've put things in the kitchen years ago and have used them this way ever since.

When I decided that I wanted more people sharing my kitchen, I realized that I had positioned our appliances to serve only two cooks. Us. Even though this kitchen is large enough for more many cooks and helpers.

More importantly, just thinking about the new intention allowed me to see places that were natural as new work stations. Places I didn't see before. It is easy now to move things out of the area and rethink the shelf contents for what people would need as they work there. I put the measuring tools on that low shelf and the drawers right there have prep utensils. Plus, the small appliances are now tucked into the dark corner that's least likely to be used for work, out of the way but still within easy reach.

In the last picture below, you see how I moved the microwave over, and put the breadmaker we only occasionally use in the Hoosier in the dining room. It can be brought out and plugged in wherever it's needed by whomever is baking. Flexible and responsive.

Last thing - I threw an area rug down in front of this new space - an invitation - and moved one of the butch block cutting boards over. Voila, another work area- and it already has under counter lighting!

The intention you bring to the room, even subconsciously, gives you that end result! So the more you decide the use, the more you'll get exactly that.


 So now my kitchen looks like this plan:

April 27, 2013

The Stuff Behind the Staging

Being in the midst of remodeling feels a little like being a character in a performance. It feels like I'm playing a role, ...or pretending.

Pretending to be clean. Pretending to be organized. Pretending to strive for a more simple, aligned life and inviting others to share that with me. The common spaces of the house we share, and their own suites and storage areas have open spaces on the shelves, have little organized boxes for utensils, has all the herbal teas together on one shelf, and the Assam teas on another.

But my bedroom (where they cannot see) is like the prop shop of a theatre with its working disarray. Thermometers and band-aids, the boric acid eye wash, arm and knee supports, and ace bandages spill over their containers into piles of design magazines I still have to sort through. Extra vacuum bags are thrown on shelves that are already full of emergency earthquake food storage, with that box you grab as your most important papers.

My new studio has all the furniture in its right place, and my art and reference books are in the shelves, but placed haphazardly, so I cannot find what I need. For much of my storage, I have not yet made the decisions about what goes where, so they sit in bags on the floor in front of where they might live.

But this is what's in the place where the new shelves will go that will hold all that disorder:

 This is my new master bathroom: the deep soaking tub, my vanity and one wardrobe, the linen cabinet, and the flooring....plus some boxes of books that might actually get to stay here.




Here's my tub sliding doors, and the tile and grout for the tub and backsplash, the shower head, the vanity sink, another wardrobe, still to be assembled.... 
.....you get the picture.

It's hard to live with and in. But then I remember that during phase1, I lived with this for weeks to give the crew the space to work efficiently,...





so I can have this now:
I will look at this picture of my new wonderful studio and seating area, and remember that the fuss and clutter are so worth it. And when I finally get to use my deep soaker tub and master bath, that new wonderful transparent wall will have the space to hold my backless bookshelves that let light tease through.And when THAT happens, I will sort through my overspill...and simplify, at least to some degree, down to what I really want to keep. It will be real movement towards what's important to me.





April 22, 2013

Phase I: The KITCHEN #1 - a Touch that Spoke of Story

So what actually happened in our kitchen? I altered only three things actually. 

First, I created a focal point, which I'll talk about in this post. Then I did the major rethinking to space plan for multiple users- so important if you are sharing a room. Lastly, I didn't paint!  Instead, I accidentally but happily found a palette that worked with the original cabinet color. Saved the dollars, and felt okay about the "not-quite-terra-cotta" orange lower cabinetry. But I will talk about that later.


Here's where the kitchen lives on our first floor. Notice there are rooms all around it, so no windows offer direct natural light into this continually-used home workspace.

Step #1 Tie the Modern Kitchen to the Story

First change I did was to give my kitchen a story focal point, just as I had in the dining room with my harvest table. In the BEFORE pictures below, you see a nondescript modern, and anything but 1908 kitchen. 


Since my story is Modern Farmhouse, I could leave most of it, but how to bring in one element that expressed the country aspect?


It was an inexpensive change, one I've wanted to do since I moved here. I recreated the existing chimney! 

What?


Do you see  the chimney here in the BEFORE shot of the pantry, fridge wall? It's that drywall covered column against the pantry doors. I know it's our chimney because you can see the other part of the chimney chase on the other side in the old laundry that is through the door. (You can also see the black dot marking the chimney chase on the plan above.

But could I just uncover it? Was that chase now a metal column or the original brick?  I hear water running inside the chase from an upstairs bathroom, but didn't know where the pipe was located - kitchen side, laundry side, inside or in front of? 

In the end, not knowing what I would find and not wanting to spend money filling in the gap that removing the wall would create in the flooring I was going to keep, I decided to recreate the chimney with thinly sliced, real brick (called Slim or Thin brick these days). I researched the many, many brick colors and then TJ and I picked one that went with the California Western Victorian period, that we also liked. (Remember, make the house story one you love.)

Here's how it happened:  
 
The wall came off, and yes, the 18" x 18" brick chimney is indeed there. You can see the original stove pipe hole too. Also, there are pipes running up the right side. If I'd hoped to use the original chimney, I'd be dealing with that plus the 4" gap in both my subfloor and finish floor. Building on top of what was there was the right choice.  

The archeologist in me immediately imagined the original design. Was the cook stove against the wall right here, or sticking out into the heart of the room? The bricks are widely, coarsely spaced with messy mortar between, and that's true-sized timber framing around it, so my guess is that it was covered up originally. The chimney was utilitarian not meant to be seen. Heh, well now my house will have an exposed chimney!


Cement board establishes the original profile and a hearty chimney size, giving us a strong surface onto which we can adhere the brick.

Authentic materials offer wonderful texture to our very digital world. Our homes are the perfect place to have materials we want to touch. That feel like hearth and home literally. This thinly molded brick is real brick, but it is 1/2" thick and comes with corners and flats. Looks substantial, but at one fifth the weight.




                                

 Finally, mortared and washed, here's my new original chimney, below.  






My contractor wanted to put the matching upper cabinet I made for this wall up first and then brick around it, so it was all tied together.

                                                 But instead, I insisted that he build the full chimney first, then mount the cabinet right up against the brick, so it looked like the chimney came first, long ago, and had always been there. Then the cabinet was added later onto it.




 To add some fun and bit more back in time feel, I also had Tim bury an hand-hewn railroad nail in a course of mortar, high enough to hang some period or playful piece.  Ideas and images for what might fit are welcome!
I am pleased that I was able to bring the house story into my kitchen with one piece, but I was careful to do it with real materials and textures. I didn't play at "old." I used authentic finishes to recreate it.
 
(To see a slideshow of these pictures, click on any picture in the post.)

April 21, 2013

Spring Cleaning

I organized a group clean today. Sunday.

I decided on a late morning 2 hours, figuring everyone could sleep in, and still have all afternoon to do as they wished. I tried hard not to overplan the task, but this morning I offered and even pushed a little to do it to music. It's a cover really. I have no experience or clarity about dividing up the tasks, and I'm trying to balance my push and organizing with the proverbial "spoon full of sugar."

While I coordinated our date and time last week, I suggested an ordered list to work top down. Then today I just suggested each person do a room. TJ said he'd do the kitchen, but when no one specifically wanted any other space, I assigned rooms. I provided multiple buckets and rags, spray bottles of our fresh smelling cleaner, and offered everyone rolls of paper towels. We were off.

I admit suggesting a task order satisfied my need to tell everyone what I wanted done. "Start by knocking down spiderwebs and ceiling dust." (That's something even my professional cleaners never consistently did. Granted, they were a cooperative of small Latina women, and while I loved how well they cleaned, the tops of my 6-foot bookshelves didn't get cleaned every time either.) So now, by giving everyone the direction to, "wipe all the bookshelves, including the tops, and picture frames", I was saying "I want you to be sure to do this." 

But I sounded nicer.

I don't have multiples of everything. We are sharing the ceiling duster, the window cleaner and two brooms, and that actually is a good thing. It keeps us interacting with each other, even as we work our own rooms. Like a wolf pack rubbing shoulders as they run."Oh, you're here. I feel that."

Two great things happened. Well, many things actually. My house is Spring clean and without saying so, we all decided to leave the curtains pulled back and the blinds pulled completely up so the sunlight fills the rooms.

And everyone found their own rhythm as their own style of cleaning took over. It worked well. They asked if they wanted direction, and I was aware of the different work patterns. Some were systematic. Others were not. Some stayed to their room. Others wandered beyond, and helped in the next room, or wandered outside finding another I'll-just-clean-this-too  task. Setting the two hours as cleaning time gave everyone a framework to keep going, and allowed enough deep cleaning by our five people of different cleaning levels to make a nice difference. We felt like we had a clean house. And we did it together.

For me, what was best beyond it happening really well together, was cleaning didn't overwhelm me. This is a big house. I don't do all I want to do because there's just too much. Today, I took the downstairs bathroom and the laundry room, and with only two rooms to focus on, I could really drill down and clean them. I wiped the washer and dryer inside and out, and was able to wash the filter and scrub away the grunge that builds up in the curved corners of the metal lids and agitator that no one has time to worry about. I did that for my housemates who use someone else's appliances. And I did it for me.

We have Phase II construction starting in 3 weeks, and all this pretty clean will get messed up. Hell, the stove got splattered during dinner tonight. But then we will come together again in June to clean away the dust and grime of our new place. Together. It was the best cleaning day I've every had!
 



April 20, 2013

April 1, 2013

The Gift


While we sat at dinner last night I heard the vacuum cleaner turn on upstairs. 

Being Sunday, I assumed it was TJ’s son doing his weekly chores in his room. You know, the quick electric broom sweep around anything that's fallen on his bedroom floor. But it went on too long. Then the to and fro motor sounds told me the landing was being cleaned, methodically. Definitely not Raj. 

Melissa? She offered to do it  a few weeks ago when we asked for a dusting in anticipation of a new housemate’s arrival. But we hadn’t asked today at all. (In fact, I was planning on coordinating a group cleaning day one Sunday mid-April to see how that felt and get us all into the habit of sharing the task.  ‘Fraid it’s too many years a mom, and project manager.)

As I cleared the table, the clunk of the heavy machine was being worked down the treads. Twenty minutes later, Stephen carried the vacuum back to the laundry room. 

“Wow, Stephen, what a gift! Thanks for doing the stairs and landing.”

So here’s the thing: He shrugged in a surprised way as if to say, “Huh? Well, as long as I was vacuuming my suite…yeah, of course. No biggie.”

I tried to explain that living in this household with just our own kids meant cleaning was a “learn-to-maintain-yourself-if-you-ever-want-to-be-independent” lesson. Always. It was perpetual parental push (or a give-in and just get it done) exercise. And it was the norm for so long that I was totally surprised by Stephen's choice to do more. What was needed in the moment. 

There was this emotional rush through me…   “Yeah, this is what it feels like to live with other adults in my house. Even ones who are my kids’ peers. People who have lived on their own for even a bit take possession of and pride in their space. And yes I may be more welcoming than some other owners, but I tell you, we’ve lucked out!

I sent them both a thank you email this morning to return the emotional rush, ...just a little.