House Remodel Part 3...

Elegant simplicity in the kitchen By: Tessa Smith, lead designer Understated fixtures lend coziness to high ceilings As a sustainability consultant (LEED AP, Certified Passive House Consultant, pending) I have a long standing affair with mother earth, a deep-seated passion for deep green design and a constant nagging concern about energy performance.  Although the clients goals on this project were much more about finish than energy, we made every effort with every part of the project we touched to increase its performance.  Where we opened walls and replaced windows and...

House Remodel Part 2...

By: Tessa Smith, lead designer Before remodel, old roof line from streetside Although personally I very much liked the modern aesthetic of the original flat roof (a bit of a mid-century modern buff myself) Mr. Demich had been in an epic battle with it for as long as he lived there, constantly leaking and failing under wind conditions.  Not to mention not a bit of insulation in it, resulting in high energy consumption and cost.  Also, although they said this in different terms, the Demich’s longed for a more archetypal profile to their home (a form more recognizably a...

House Remodel Part 1...

By: Tessa Smith lead designer Free hanging uppers around range allow for sense of openess I met the Demich’s at a tour of homes several years ago, as we stood in my project they described wanting a similar sensation of light and balance in their own home, a small mid-century house on the water. Earthtone hues in bathroom The Demich’s needed a whole house remodel, two bathrooms, a kitchen, a great room and all the floors needed to be addressed, as well as the tired, flat roofed exterior. The Demich’s pictured coming home to a contemporary cottage retreat, soothing...

Community Resources-Get Involved...

For so many reasons, Olympia is a great place to live!  I can hardly imagine finding anywhere better. For me it’s a package deal, but the cherry on top is the people. Olympia is such a delightful mixed bag and for the most part easy to take in it’s entirety and minimally, always entertaining! Having grown up on the east coast, the loose nature of our little community suits me just fine. I’ve only lived here for 20 years, but I see many more in my future. Naturally, this inspires me to keep up to date on what’s happening in and around Olympia and to...

Should I Remodel My Home? part II...

Did you read part I? This is part II of my musings on when it makes sense to remodel. I left off yesterday with a list of general questions that might help to shape your thoughts on whether to engage in a remodel or not. If you’ve read the questions and you’re comfortable with your thoughts at this point and want to pursue a remodel, great!  Let’s assume you’re like me and have a ceiling on your budget. Let’s also assume your homes ‘bones’ are in good order allowing us to focus on the interior rooms to be remodeled. Living Room Before But first, let’s get...

Should I Remodel My Home? part I...

When does it make sense to remodel my home? The fact that you ask yourself indicates the possibility of a ‘need’. Something or lack of something inspired you to wonder. “Wouldn’t more counter space make my life so much easier?” “Is a real laundry room too much to ask for?” “A stove top that can accommodate pots on all burners at the same time! “ Whole-House Remodel Before Despite that it would be wonderful to instantly have snazzy new accommodations and appointments, we still must ask, “when exactly does it make sense to remodel?” Take a moment...

FROGBOX-A Green Moving Alternative...

This is a notable Puget Sound resource I just read about in the Business Examiner, “FROGBOX Brings Totatable Alternatives to South Sound“. FROGBOX is a sustainable alternative to the resource-rich effort of moving. If you are are relocating your belongings whether from your home or business, FROGBOX supplies movers with plastic re-usable totes that can replace regular cardboard boxes. People can order the amount of boxes needed from the FROGBOX website, FROGBOX will then deliver the re-usable boxes to be filled by you and when ready, they will come back to...

Handwoven Rugs-Responsible Purchasing...

“Green” behaviour often means making responsible selections based on the impact to the environment. Equally as critical is the social impact on how a given product came to market. GoodWeave is a company that offers a Child-Labor-Free-Certification on handwoven rugs, which allows you to know at an instant that the product is a ’socially’ good choice. Beyond being socially responsible, the rugs are gorgeous! The rugs are either custom designed to your specs, or you can choose from a vast selection of designs that were created by a variety of...

Evaluating Luxury...

As with most mornings, today was no different. I woke up to hot breath on my face and eyes loaded with anticipation. That would be Eddy, she’s an 80 lb Chesapeake Bay Retriever, determined to start each day  retrieving. Again, like most mornings, first thing we grab the ‘Chuckit’ and ball and head out to survey our small kingdom to see what happened during the night, we search for tracks from critters that  came under the field fence, and those that came over, we look at pond levels and clarity, examine the new trees, admire the weeping willow...

Recycled Glass Countertops...

Okay! Countertops are blossoming before us. Building green has been great in so many wholesome ways and has been the genesis of some very very cool products! May I introduce the extraordinary recycled glass countertops by ThinkGlass. ThinkGlass is aggressively pursuing a green standing in their manufacturing processes and end products; they have a nice pitch on their environmental position. Below is a piece off of their website which gives you an idea of what goes on behind the scenes at ThinkGlass. By the way, I recommend going to their site to look at all the images in...