recommended reading

It’s no small thing to go from this:

to this:

Undertaking a home remodel or new construction project is a daunting task, but there are many resources available that help clarify the entire process.  Several informative posts from around the blogosphere have caught our attention in recent months.   As we move into a new year, we’d like to share several of them.

We love Build LLC’s blog.  They’ve taken the time to document details of construction and several of their posts last year have focused on specifics, like demolition, everything you ever wanted to know about a concrete pour, and notes on what to watch for when using an existing foundation. (Admittedly for most of us, none of this is terribly interesting until it’s your concrete pour and your dime.)  To see all of their technical posts, visit here.  Perhaps a little more fun to dream about–especially as we are enveloped in a winter wonderland here in Utah–is how to create a landscape plan.  (One of my favorite discoveries when we moved to Utah from Seattle a decade ago was Red Butte Garden. Visit their website for information on native Utah plants.)  And the reality check? Construction IS expensive, though a potentially great investment if done right that will yield priceless benefits for years to come. For the grand finale of the year, Build Blog posted an evaluation of a case study home they wrapped up, complete with costs and timeline.

We recently learned of this blog, an online photo library of construction details with an equally extensive index to browse, i.e. cedar shingles, radiant flooring, and even a green wall is documented. Because this blog is out of the Northwest, some construction practices will be different due to the climate, but it’s still a very helpful resource in understanding the level of detail in a well designed construction project.

Houzz.com also has several idea books and articles on topics of interest to homeowners.  Their photo library continues to grow, now approaching 1 million, up from 250,000 earlier this year.  We’ve blogged about them before, but are including a few links here that may be of interest to our residential clients, including contractor tips, elements of green building, and tips on how to work with an architect.

Residential Architect recently published an article on the color forecast for 2013 and top design trends of the past year–fun to browse through.  A couple of other color resources we’ve discovered in recent months, both from Sherwin-Williams: chip it that allows you to take any photo from around the web and create a color palette from it,  and this color tool app. Though colors often look different on a computer monitor, it’s at least a starting point.

And a little food for thought if launching into a residential project.  Though we missed the Wall Street Journal’s article about a recent study of how families live in their homes, Dan Gregory  blogged about it here.  Seriously worth considering before drafting up a wish list for a new home.

In November, we heard a seminar from these Canadian architects at the Residential Architect symposium in Chicago. They are producing an entire video library with advice on just about everything to do with home design. We love their “slow home” design philosophy in response to the mass produced “fast homes” of the past few decades.  Pretty entertaining stuff and we’re amazed (and grateful) at their stamina and commitment to educating the general public about basic design principles.  Kudos to them.

If you have any favorite online resources related to home remodeling and construction, we’d love to know about them.

Happy New Year!

We received an e-mail today announcing that Sarah Susanka’s book, Not So Big Remodeling has just been released in paperback.  So why are we posting that here?  Well, a few reasons.  We’re seeing an uptick in calls about potential remodeling projects and consider this book an excellent resource for visually showing and explaining “not so big” principles of remodeling, something we espouse. The “not so big” way seeks to maximize a home’s potential by working within the existing footprint, creating a bump out, or adding on just a little.  Hundreds of photos illustrate these concepts,  and honestly, who doesn’t love a good before and after photo?  One of our projects, (our own home) was featured in this book and reminded me of the process we went through when we decided to remodel.  Warren’s design utilized unfinished attic space, reconfigured existing spaces, featured a bump out in the dining room and a modest addition to the rear of the house, adding only 450 square feet to the footprint of the house (see first two before & after photos below). Not So Big Remodeling is available at the Salt Lake City Public Library and online. (more…)

In Salt Lake many of our neighborhoods are full of beautiful homes built several decades ago.  While they are loaded with charm, they are often impractical for today’s lifestyle and technology, leaving homeowners wondering whether they should renovate their property or move. The November 2011 issue of Fine Homebuilding has an article every one thinking about renovating should read.  “12 Restoration Blunders” identifies pitfalls to avoid  when planning for a remodel.  One in particular caught my eye: Mistake #9: Ignoring Historic Tax Credits.  In Salt Lake, there are 10 national historic districts (the city website only lists 8; the Yalecrest and Liberty Wells neighborhoods should also be listed on the registry).  The author of the article writes, “Historic-rehabilitation tax credits are the largest incentive available to residential homeowners in the United States, even larger than the sacred mortgage-interest deduction.” We couldn’t agree more.  In the past 2 years, five of our projects have qualified for this tax credit, including our own office space.

Another helpful resource  to those considering a remodel is a publication put out by the Utah Heritage Foundation. Celebrating Compatible Design: Creating New Spaces in Historic Homes features beautiful photos and drawings of homes throughout the Salt Lake City area that have utilized good design to create functional, contemporary homes that are compatible with their surroundings and retain the historic character of the home.  The book explains the hows & whys of good design and looks particularly at compatible additions, dormers, and garages. If you’re considering a remodel in Salt Lake, you will want to get a copy of this book.

Another book worth reading is The Face of Home: A New Way to Look at the Outside of Your House, by Boston architect Jeremiah Eck.   He writes,  ”When people describe houses they tend to think in absolute terms, using labels that don’t always completely fit…. Well designed houses are often a mix of styles because following one style to the exclusion of all other possibilities can lead to a sterile, predetermined look–a house in a particular style, yes, but one with no real style of its own” (80).

Eck shares 5 principles, or hallmarks, of good design for home exteriors. There’s a progression to the order of the principles that build on each other.  He shares several case studies of homes–lots of beautiful, detailed photos–that illustrate the principles from across the nation, from urban neighborhoods to seaside vistas. (more…)

For people thinking about remodeling or building a home, there’s an abundance of great resources available.  One such book caught my eye recently.  The title alone was enough to lure me in:  The Simple Home: The Luxury of Enough, by Sarah Nettleton.  I knew when I read the description on the inside flap that I would be reading the entire book:

“A simple home puts us in touch with the simple pleasures of life:  the warmth of winter sunlight, the scent of flowers through an open window, a family meal at a communal table.  By learning to appreciate the ‘luxury of enough,’ we can delight in the simple abundance of our homes’ most basic pleasures.  Finding your own simple home reflects the wisdom of good choices, the elimination of non-essentials, and the celebration of restraint.. . . Along the way, you’ll realize that it isn’t so much the things you put in your house that bring you joy as it is the way the house allow you to revel in the simple pleasures of life.” (more…)