Best of South Sound Contractors...

Pretty exciting news first thing Monday morning! It appears we took the highest place in The Olympian newspaper’s on-line poll for  “Best of South Sound” contractors. What is Best of South Sound? Best of South Sound is an annual special section published by The Olympian that showcases businesses chosen by the community as the “Best of South Sound” for the previous year. How does it work? The Olympian’s readers may vote online from February 8th until March 8th. Each reader will be limited to one ballot and one vote per ...

Stylish Universal Design-Shower Drain...

Shower drain, not the most provocative subject unless there’s a problem. That said, this note just in from our interior designer, Diane Gassman, who among other talents is a Certified Aging in Place specialist which means she is very capable of creating beautiful, barrier-free environments particularly in kitchens and bathrooms. Now, back to the shower drain. This particular one caught my eye mostly because it has really nice clean lines. Gone are the days of the circular drain with the rough cut tiles attempting to circumnavigate the perimeter. Quick Drain USA...

Lego Kitchen Island...

…A little Sunday afternoon design inspiration. I just spied this super cool Lego kitchen island in my most recent copy of Dwell magazine. It may not be for everybody, but you aged Lego fans know who you are… Read on: Lego Island Story by: Miyoko Ohtake Photo by: Celine Clanet Step back, Jacobsen, Utzon, Kjaerholm, Wegner, and all you other great Danes. When it comes to Danish design domination, the unrivaled champ is undoubtedly the almighty plastic brick—Lego. Billund, Denmark, could easily be considered the prefab capital of the world: Each year, its...

Mike Reynolds-Authentic Architecture...

I’ve always been interested in folks who pursue the ‘unexpected’ and if it’s ‘functional’ all the better. I met Mike Reynolds, architect, sometime about 25 years ago. At the time, I was traveling around the U.S in the style of most motivated and insolvent young folks, one adventure to the next. I had always been interested in building science and nature, which can often times seem mutually exclusive. During that particular adventure, I was  interested in seeking out non-traditional residential buildings. That year, I met folks who lived...

Passive House Design-The Heating System...

We talk about Passive House quite a lot and will likely continue since it’s one of our favorite subjects. I’m excited to report that Tessa, our designer, has three Passive Houses in Design Development right now and we receive questions daily from folks cruising the web. The Passive House ‘buzz’ that is starting to happen is very energizing for all of us at The Artisans Group! I have a favorite question that gets asked in response to when a person discovers that a Passive House requires no heating system. No heating system is so revolutionary a...

Construction and Demolition Debris...

At The Artisans Group, we are always looking for ways to reduce our jobsite waste and to avoid putting anything in the landfill. For you DIY’ers out there, it may be useful for you to know some of our local resources where you can dispose of your project ‘waste’. Our Preferred Approach Recovery 1 Tacoma, WA (800) 949.5852 This one works great for construction site debris, but the scope of their work is much broader than just that. A pretty cool outfit, worth a look at their site. Reuse Building Materials To purchase materials for a project or to drop off...

Fuel Cells: The Bloom Box...

This is an interesting article on the next generation of de-centralized fuel cells… like much of technology, it won’t be long before we all have our own clean power sources generated right at home!… I hope. Christian Science Monitor. Click here to link to the original article. By Husna Haq Correspondent / February 22, 2010 It’s being hailed as the Holy Grail of clean energy: a refrigerator-sized personal power plant that produces energy cheaply and cleanly and may one day replace the traditional power grid....

Green Home Guide-USGBC...

The US Green Building Council recently launched GreenHomeGuide.com. For homeowners or potential homeowners (those seeking their next home) who are making the move to green, this site is a good clearinghouse for answering many questions, it’s also a great aide towards helping a homeowner to ask good questions. The site features exclusive content written by experienced working professionals from across the nation, many architects, designers and other industry folks. The first page opens up with a rolling set of relevant and provocative questions all pertaining to some...