Are you ready for this:

At first glance I said to myself, I’m not ready for that. I guess it was like a little introspective moment because the more I thought about, the more I thought… well maybe. Whoknew?

I’ve known for quite some time that I could be converted to the dark side, er. I mean, modern design. And the fact that I love color is no secret.

The more I looked, the more I realized that this picture embodies a few principles I’m sold on.

1. Use color – no explanation needed.
2. Use available space – The built-in obviously takes advantage of a void behind the wall beyond while taking nothing from the room.
3. Use contrast in materials – How about the knotty wood floor! Did you know that the more knots in the wood, often the less it costs? Finish it with a high-gloss finish and it’s beautiful.
4. Lots of light – also self-explanatory, but this space rocks the idea!
5. Clean lines – hard to see in a close-up picture, but one of the things I love about contemporary design is the opportunity to carry lines through various spaces. A small example is how perfectly the counter in the built-in aligns with the opening between rooms.

The Modern Cheap Kitchen

One of the cardinal rules of selling remodeling work or just about anything else is “never say cheap”. Inexpensive is fine. Cheap is an insult. So I meant inexpensive:

This is the same house. These cabinet doors are SO simple to make. You can do it yourself, I swear.

All it takes is some good plywood with the top veneer in the wood species of your choice, some pre-glued “edge banding” you apply with the same iron you use on your shirts, and some decent quality concealed hinges.

It looks great, costs little (depending on the wood species), and makes for an easy remodel of existing kitchen cabinets. Put the extra money into great appliances.

So there you have it. A modern small space with inexpensive but beautiful components.

Are you ready?

- RG

images: Sunset.com

5 almost great ways of using every nook and cranny for efficient and beautiful storage.

Here’s the deal — I live in a really small house.

If you’ve been to my blog before you know the story. We were going to add-on, life happened, budget flew out the window, addition plans change.

So I live in this small house of 1000 square feet with two growing boys, two dogs, a hedgehog, some lizards, and couple of tortoises…oh, I almost forgot… and one saint of a wife.

Living in a small house, I decided to click on a link in a newsletter from BHG.com that said “Add Storage to Every Room“.

The picture above is the second one I saw. I hate to be rude to the venerable BHG, but that is not great storage. The space under the TV is “alright” storage, but that closet isn’t even worth talking about (but they do). That’s not what I need. I need much better than that!

I Need Serious Storage Ideas For Small Spaces

Of Course, I already sort of have them (the ideas), but seeing that picture made me want to go see what I could find. I went on the hunt for great small space storage ideas. I mean great!

I have to tell you, not all hunts work out. I found some good ideas, but great? You tell me.

Here’s what I found:

Idea #1 – Build a corner bookcase.

I have a spot that we’re planning on building a corner seating unit (like a window seat) with bookcases above. I think it’s a good idea. This picture isn’t exactly my style, but it shows how much stuff can fit in a corner. (roomlust.blogspot)

Idea #2 – Put more storage under the beds.

I’m doing the boys room soon and it needs ultra storage efficiency, but it also has to look cool. This photo again, shows a great idea, but not the look I want. The storage under the floor might be a little farther than I want to go. (urbansardines.wordpress)

Idea #3 – Totally max out wall space in the living room.

I have to tell you, I was getting frustrated by this point. Yet another great idea, but just not my style. The idea of getting a whole ton of storage on the wall around our couch sounds like it ought to be part of the plan. (hgtv.com)

Idea #4 – Put the kids bed in the sky!

Finally, one I like. All this needs is a serious dose of color and we’d be looking good. I should have saved this one for the upcoming post on beadboard! Check it out. By putting the kids bed up high, tons of floor space is opened up.

They need less headroom than you think. We traveled all over in a motorhome where the kids bed was in about a 30″ tall space! They loved it. I’ll be incorporating this idea for sure. The lights on the wall…I think I’ll do that as well. (crookedbrains.net)

Idea #5 – Use Custom Built-Ins Often

I finally decided to just sneak in a picture of what I’m doing in our bedroom…to the furniture. Lots of custom built-in stuff. Kim says I have to get further along before I’m allowed to show pictures, but I snuck in a tiny corner just to give you an idea. Hopefully the little piece of pillow will give you a frame of refrence.

This is maximum use of space. See the door hinges? You can’t really get closer to the door than that! I’ll show you when it’s all done how I deal with the casing on the door. The space above the bed will get doors and there are built-in cabinets below the open shelves you see.

We’ll wrap it up and paint it all pretty within the next couple of months.

Do you have any great small storage space ideas or photos you would like to share? I’d love to hear from you in the comments!

I’ve built-up quite the backlog in the “to-read” stack. I’m speaking metaphorically, of course, because there is no actual stack, we’re talking a cyber-stack here.

Maybe what I’m missing is a great place to read my stack. And since it’s so big, and I’ll be there so long, maybe I also need a table nearby. This way I can keep provisions such as food and drink close at-hand. I might even jot down a note or two… maybe even use real paper.

One of the more prolific in-box fillers, BHG.com, provided me with a little inspiration this morning. And they introduced me to a new term at the same time.

Banquette – pronounced “bank-ette”

I won’t go on about how a bank-ette would be more than sufficient for my account, or even a micro-bank, or a piggy-bank.

But what is interesting is what I found when I started searching for more of these, which heretofore I would have called “built-in booth style seating”. It seems like banquette is a bit more stylish term and maybe not quite as “booth”-like.

I’m a huge fan of the picture above, which was posted in a forum conversation about this very subject, here. This whole look works great from the floors, to the awesome open walls, to the shelves above the windows. The seating itself looks like a great place to sit and look out over the water view.

What About Booths?

I was too lazy to look-up the real definition of Banquette, but I noticed in many pictures that they didn’t really meet the picture in my mind of a “booth”. The banquettes seem to have built-in seating on one or two sides, combined with chairs. Booth’s on the other hand generally use all built-in seating.

Like this one by Kitty Hawk, NC architect Chris Jenkins:

I love the feel of a booth. Cozy and comfortable. I read in the above linked forum thread that some people felt that the seating would be restricted or problematic in a situation where there wasn’t a server bringing everything to you.

I don’t agree. We had a small booth style dining area in our motorhome and we all loved it. Both for eating and just for sitting. I want one of these one day.

Here’s more:

How cool is this? I could sit in there all day (possibly with slightly altered ergonomics). This can be purchased at the very interesting website Bars, Cigars, and Brew or you can make it. Look close…it’s just wood to begin with and worked into art.

Or from the always awesome CoastalLiving.com:

Love the seafaring style of the table and the light fixture, and I really think the three sided arrangement would be ultra-comfy. Who among us doesn’t truthfully want the huge three sided or circular booth at restaurants, even when we’re alone or in pairs? Big booths are sporty.

Built-In’s Rock

I love built-in stuff. I just think it makes great use of space and looks incredible. Banquette’s or booths, by any name are great built-in’s. While I was looking around, I came across this picture again:

Which I originally found at Houzz.com and used as the basis for an entire post:

A Perfect Space Saving Kitchen Window Seat

The post details much more than just the built-in, talking about a number of great DIY projects in that kitchen.

Have a great week!

This one is a perfect 10 if you ask me. I found the picture at one of my favorite haunts Houzz.com, and the kitchen is by Valerie Pedersen who works in the SF Bay Area.

Wow! I love, love, love it! I was searching for window seats and I came across this shot. I really love the built-in seating (storage inside would be cool). And while we’re talking seating… I love that bench seat too! The whole thing just works for me.

A Closer Look

I see much more than just the seating here though. One great thing about this kitchen is that it’s timeless. not much here is going to be outdated in five years. The white cabinets and black granite look awesome with that white subway tile wall splash.

(trivial info: traditionally, the “backsplash” was only a few inches above the counter. When the whole wall between the upper and lower cabinet was done it was referred to as a “wall splash”… not so much nowadays)

I also love the farm sink in this kitchen. To me, the whole kitchen almost has to be designed around a farm sink for it to look right. This one looks great! Great faucet too.

Great Trimwork Too

One of the other things that make this room look great is the use of “normal” but beautiful trimwork.

• Standard 5.25″ Crown
• Simple window casing
• Upgraded, but simple, baseboards
• Small Crown on upper cabinets

Some Great DIY Ideas Here

When I look at this picture, I see a list of individual projects that most beginners can handle.

• Painting – the biggest thing in this picture almost gets missed. That is a great contrast between wall color and cabinet and trim color. You can do that right now in your house!
• Light Fixture – the next step-up the DIY difficulty ladder is installing a cool light fixture. Installing a fixture is something you can learn to do with a Google Video search. It makes a huge difference (just don’t skip the “turn off the breaker” step)
• Cabinet Hardware – Maybe easier than the light fixture is to change out your pulls, knobs, and hinges. Heck, once all that is off, maybe you want to spray paint your cabinets!
• Run that trim! You can so do this! Start with the easiest thing, probably the window casing; maybe the baseboard. When you want to try crown molding, do that little crown on the cabinets first so you can figure out how to hold it upright in your saw for easy angle cuts.
• Build A Window Seat! – Once you get your skills to the point where you can run that crown, you can tackle the window seat. Then you’ll be in high-style!

Have fun!

I wrote a quick post this weekend about towel warmers, which I would say are a “luxury” component of a bathroom. And… I’ve had pretty bathrooms on my brain ever since. So I dug-up some pictures (or am I supposed to call them “images” now?).

3 Beautiful Bathrooms

Clean, Cool, Traditional

I found this bathroom inspiration at BHG.com, and it’s full of details I love.

• Tile on the ceiling is nice and the angled pattern is a nice touch.
• That brick-style tile pattern is called “running-bond“… lingo.
• I love the way the wainscot goes so high up the wall.

Plenty of room in this retreat, or so it would seem!

• I’m totally loving the built-in window seat with drawers in the base.
• And I’m loving the glass doors too!
• The trimwork around the windows is even more impressive. Very nicely done.

• And the panels on the front of the tub…if anyone talks to Rhoda, tell her about this.

Simple, Colorful, Classy

• Great Color – I really like this shade against white trim!
• Cool fixtures and hardware – can make a simple bathroom pop!
• And of course… I like the trimwork. Big base. Wrapped window!

• Nice Floor – going against the grain using wood in the bath.

Bright and Comfortable

• The shutters are the first thing I notice. I really love the way they did the window in four sections. You can open the top for light and keep the bottom closed for privacy.

• Overall, this bathroom is just really put together well. Everything works! I like the linen rack and the rug.

Hang-On to Inspiring Photos!

As a remodeling contractor and designer, one of the most useful things a client could do to help me understand what made them tick, was to give me a folder full of pictures they loved. It really helped me to come up with a design that was “just perfect!”

Keeping a “dream file” for each room in your house will help you really develop a sense of exactly what you like and don’t like so that when the time comes, you’re not forced into making a split-second choice. And if you keep your eyes on the goal, the time when you just sit back and enjoy a warm bath in a new retreat will come. No doubt about it!

Want To Talk About It?

I’m always forgetting to answer questions in the comments.  I’m sorry!  It’s not because I don’t want to, just something about the way it works, the process of getting an email, logging into the blog, navigating to the comments…etc. Plus I don’t know if you ever remember to come back and look!

Facebook is working much better to facilitate a real discussion about remodeling. I would love to talk to you there about bathrooms or whatever else you want to talk about. So far this weekend, a couple of readers have gotten involved there and I’m excited about it. Come check it out, it’s fun!

Remodeling Guy on Facebook or Follow me on Twitter

And of course, comments rock too! Have a great week!

Bath #1: BHG.com Bath #2: DIYIdeas.com Bath #3: Sunset.com

Watch the Big Game in Style

In honor of the Superbowl, I went out in search of some great creative ways of working the TV and related paraphanalia into a good design.

Anyone who’s ever arranged a living room before can tell you that it’s not always that easy! Especially with the older TV’s which were big and bulky. Newer flat panel versions help the design, but are rough on the wallet!

I’ve picked out a few different styles to show you.

Clean and Neat

I really love the picture at the top of the post (except the little speaker on the floor under the TV). It’s an easy thing to build some drywall boxes and order a couple of glass shelves from the glass man.

The brick wall looks great, but it would look equally stunning with a bold accent color on the wall main wall. If you like this look, it’s an easy one to make happen. You could have this done in a couple of weekends!

What About the Kids?

That was my question when I got to liking the top photo too much. A super clean decor is hard to maintain when there are people actually living in the house!

One idea is to give the kids an area of there own! Build a small entertainment center in a play room and they can play games or watch movies out from under foot!

I really like the curved front of the unit shown here. It allows the recess in the wall to be only about 16″ deep, but still brings the shelf out far enough to hold an old fashioned tube TV in the center.

If you wanted to build something like this you could leave the fronts open and use baskets. Curved doors are hard to make, but they can be ordered online.

Bookcases

One of the great advantages of the newer flat panel TV’s is that they can be incorporated into the design without being the focal point.

The Nester and I had a few words recently about whether or not all the chairs should face the TV.

You can see in this design that the TV isn’t the main focus of the room. This works out well here and the TV is set high enough that the furniture is out of the way when viewing.

I Wheely Don’t Watch Much TV

Get it? So, for that reason, I love this little contraption. Roll it out of the way when not in use! This way it becomes a nice table against a wall that doesn’t have to be right in the best “viewing” spot all the time.

Just keep your floor covering in mind! Something like this could actually cause some dented tracks in hardwood flooring.

Build It!

If you’ve got the tools and know how to use them, or want to learn, this is a cool unit above that you can build from plans bought online. These are available for about $10 from plansnow.com .

Buy It!

I found this at Crate & Barrell. It seemed a little steep to me at around $600.00 but it looks great! If you look close enough and grab your tools, you could have a good start by halftime!

You do have a pile of lumber around in case of emergencies don’t you?

Enjoy the game!

photos 2-4  – www.bhg.com

I’ve been thinking a great deal about small spaces lately. That surprises me given that I’ve made most of my living by making houses larger!

Family of Four in 1000 sf?

It might have to do with the fact that my family has recently moved from a house of about 3000 sf to one of only 1000 sf. And we LOVE it!

Not that we couldn’t use a little more. I’m sure I’ll be putting my room addition building prowess to work on this place before long. But I won’t be tripling the size when I do. I’ll probably bump it to about 1400 sf or so, that’s it.

The other thing causing me to think this way is the whole state of the world today and the impact it has on remodeling and construction work in general. I wrote a short article recently on the economic trends of 2009; you can read it here.

I’ve had a ton of experience trying to squeeze space. Here are a few principles to follow:

Keep It Clean!

The small bathroom above is a great example. The smaller a space is, the less clutter it can handle without really messing with your mind!

My first suggestion is that you probably don’t need half of the stuff in any given space: get rid of it!

My second is to use built-in’s that cover up your stuff.

I see some storage solutions that do a great job of giving you a place to put something but a horrible job of hiding it.

Simple cabinetry can be used to work wonders in small spaces. This clean built-in combines the bed itself with the closet and storage.

Make it Bright!

Natural light makes a huge difference in the feel of a small room (or any size room for that matter). Get natural light from two sides when you can. One of the biggest things that make our small house work well is an abundance of light. It doesn’t hurt that we can see a few miles across the harbor!

Use Every Square Inch!

Storage is everywhere if you look for it. How about the space under the beds? Is it really well utilized? Even if you have those plastic storage bins made for sliding under there, they really don’t take full advantage of the space.

Consider having a custom bed made, or better yet, make one yourself! Don’t know how? Just email me and we’ll figure it out together! For now, until this blog is so huge I just can’t do it…I’m offering to help for free!

There are so many other places too! What about the huge volume your sofa takes up? Or the dining room table? Take one look at the inside of a yacht or a motorhome and you’ll see that good small space design does not waste space…ever!

I found this great photo showing the use of an attic space for a sleeping room. This isn’t possible on many newer homes due to the use of pre-engineered roof trusses. But if you live in a home that is conventionally framed (often in Northern Markets or older homes) and has a steep roof pitch, there may be a simple room addition right over your head!

 If You Must Add-On!

Make it small! A room addition doesn’t have to involve months of work. There may be a perfect spot on your home for a simple little “bump-out”. Maybe you can even avoid footings and slabs altogether by doing a cantilever “bay window” type addition. Take a look at this cool job:

If you have a small space project you’re considering, or have done, I would love to hear about it! I would love for RemodelingGuy.net to be an “interactive” kind of place where I can help you with your real needs.

Feel free to comment below, and if you like, use the Share This feature to tell others about our new blog!  Thanks!