miscellaneous

• Getting More Out of Small Spaces

  

  Note: this is a guest post and consideration was received for its
  publication. Creative commons licensed photograph by Jeremy Levine
  design.

  Compared to other markets, finding spacious and affordable
  housing in Denver isn’t that difficult. Still, there are a
  lot of benefits to living in a smaller space. Financially
  speaking, smaller spaces are cheaper. They also force you to
  evaluate not just what you already own but things you think you
  might want to own—which keeps you from spending money on space
  suckers on a whim (another financial boon).

  How smaller spaces are cheaper:

  • Smaller spaces simply cost less across the board than larger
    spaces.
  • A small home is cheaper to insure.
  • Smaller spaces are easier to heat and cool, so your HVAC
    system doesn’t need to work so hard or use as much power.
  • Smaller spaces are easier to light properly (and natural
    light goes further within them) so your electric bill will be
    lower.

  You can see why it’s financially beneficial to go smaller,
  especially when you’re concerned about your financial health.

  At the same time, it’s understandable that you’re attached to the
  things that you’ve collected. You worked hard to bring those
  collections together. You’re proud of them. You don’t necessarily
  want to give them away or sell them or toss them out. So what do
  you do?

  1. Figure Out Some Creative Storage Options

  We’ve talked about how to
  make the most of the space in your bedroom. Apply these same
  concepts to the rest of your house. You’ll be amazed at how many
  things can double as storage containers (and artfully so at
  that)!

  2. Store Things Off Site

  Do you really need to keep your Christmas decorations on hand all
  year round? Do you really need to keep every single book, movie,
  vase, art print, tchotchke, etc within sight at all times? Do you
  really need your winter clothing to be taking up space in your
  closet in the summer? These are examples of things that can all
  be stored off site in a storage unit. Storage units have come a
  long way from the dank holes they used to be a decade ago. Now
  they are affordable, secure and most are even climate controlled
  (check
  unclebobs.com for deals in your area). This is important for
  an area like Denver, where we get all of the seasons and they are
  all intense.

  Either way, you are probably going to have to
  pare down, at least a little bit. Go through your home and
  look at everything you own. Consider each item carefully. If you
  haven’t used it in the last twelve months and it doesn’t have
  significant sentimental value, you can probably get rid of it and
  not miss it too much.

  Instead of simply tossing out the things you decide not to keep,
  though, why not sell them? Put them up for sale online. Have a
  yard sale. Use the proceeds from the sale to finance your storage
  unit and a few of the artful storage containers we talked about
  at the beginning of this article.

  The truth is that living a comfortable lifestyle doesn’t require
  lots of space or lots of things. If you’re creative you can make
  a small space feel and function the same way as a large space.

• Tips on How to Light Up Your Living Room

  

  From time to time, we allow a company or craftsperson we know and trust to place a sponsored post here at Hewn and Hammered. This particular piece is from Bunning's Warehouse, a dependable supplier of lighting for a wide variety of residential projects.

  Lighting is a very important element when it comes to creating the atmosphere of a room. Here are some tips to assist you light up your living room.

  Planning and preparation is a big ingredient when it comes to a successful project. Some people decorate a room and only late in the piece, do they think of lighting, but if you can have it in the equation at the beginning, it will assist you greatly. Not just in terms of fixtures, but in terms of having an electrician set up the wiring to accommodate your needs.

  Your lighting needs are going to be contingent on how you use the room. This will be determined by things such as the amount of people in your family, their age and the way you entertain. As the living room is a room that requires versatility so too, the lighting in the room will need to be able to fulfill a variety of functions. So bear this in mind.

  As opposed to pendant lighting which a lot of people have traditionally gone for, wall lighting will make the room rich in light. This is great in terms of making the room very friendly and warm as well as creating an atmosphere which is conducive to entertaining.

  If there are things in the room such as a piece of art that you would like to draw attention to, don’t be afraid to highlight it or them with a spot light. Strategically placed spot lights can create a very powerful affect.

  As can lamp shades, which apart from providing light can help contribute to the aesthetic of the room. High quality lamp shades can be very expensive so pick one that is within your budget. The same applies to chandeliers which will add depth to the room. Certain pieces can become the centre piece of the whole room and depending on the atmosphere you want to create, this could be one way to go.

  If there are times when you don’t want all of the light on, you may rely on some smaller more subtle plug-in or task lights. A table lamp work wells for this scenario and be very effective. Something that people fail to remember is to avoid placing a lighting fixture next to a wall. If you don’t, you will find that much of the light will be wasted.

  Feel free to utilize as many different types as you need. Blend task and ambient light as well as lamps to form the combination you are looking for in order to create that right feel for the room.

  Remember that installing a dimmer provides you with instant flexibility and is great if you would like some mood lighting.

  While you may be blending different types of lighting, you need to be sure that the theme you are working on creating is consistent. All of the fixtures need to be in-sync with each other. If you are doing it yourself and without a decorator, make sure you keep this in mind.

  Another great way to add some color to an otherwise bland room – or, alternately, to complement a very colorful theme that you already have – is to use custom-sized perspex sheets from Simply Plastics. Often overlooked, these sturdy and archival plastics – which are really more like glass in that they don't fog, bow or deform over time – can be used as window inserts or in a wide range of other places to add a splash of bright color. They come in a wide range of colors, transparency/opacity levels, and can even be pre-cut to almost any size you can imagine.

  You shouldn’t be afraid to experiment and change things up. Trial-and-error is a sound way to find the successful living room lighting combination you are looking for.

  sposored post • image by acrylic online

• infographic: repair vs. replace

  

  Our friend Adria Saracino at PartSelect recently constructed this useful infographic to help you decide "what to do with your broken appliance – repair or replace" (click the link for the full interactive infographic)?

  I can attest to its usefulness; I recently had a problem with my previously-excellent Kenmore dishwasher. This wonderful device, which has made my life so easy for 3 years now, suddenly decided that it was finished cleaning dishes on the top rack. It deigned – although I worried that this might be temporary – to clean dishes on the bottom, but not the top. After a $120 Sears service call, all was fixed: it was a matter of mineral deposits from hard water clogging up the nozzles, nothing a quick acid treatment couldn't fix.

  However, many times we don't have the luxury of paying $100+ for a service call when a new appliance might be only twice or three times that cost. Who knows how long the fix would last – would it be worth paying a third of the cost of a new appliance for 1 year or service, when for the full price you could have something that would work a minimum of three – and ideally close to a decade?

  This chart can help you answer these questions and more!

• Greene & Greene’s Gamble House – in Lego!

  

  Grant Scholbrock lives in Portland, Oregon, and – if these photographs are any measure – is one of the greatest Lego architects of our time. His focus includes architecturally significant and unique skyscrapers in the United States, landmarks across the world (check his photostream for a terrific White House and Taj Mahal), as well as important Arts & Crafts homes.

  After his earlier (and beautiful) Robie House model, Grant decided to build a tableaux of the Greene brothers' Gamble House in Pasadena. After Three months worth of work and at least 500 blocks – which included a trip to Los Angeles to visit the real thing (Grant took numerous photographs of various details to supplement the images he found online; this was his sixth trip to visit the building), the piece is finally finished. He's had several requests for various Frank Lloyd Wright buildings, and hopes to someday complete a model of the Blacker House, especially if he's able to visit it during the 2010 Pasadena Heritage Weekend.

  See more photographs of this project – and many others – in Grant's Flickr stream. And, if you're so inclined, Grant and I would both like to know what you'd like his next project to be – do you have any favorite buildings that would lend themselves to this kind of model-making?

• Greene & Greene and Christopher Nolan’s Inception

  Inception, the new Christopher Nolan film about psychic espionage, includes a number of scenes in an extremely striking, obviously Greene & Greene home. Scenes in a hallway, dining room, kitchen and back yard show off cloud lift cabinet pulls, green ceramic mosaic tile in the kitchen, and Japanese-inspired lamps (and a front door with some very interesting stained glass inserts) that could be made by the Greenes or very talented imitators.

  Does anyone know which house this is? It may be right on the Pasadena arroyo, if it is in that city, as the backyard is gently sloped down away from the back porch. I've heard much of the film was shot in and around Pasadena, so that gives a bit more weight to the idea that it's a real Greene & Greene, rather than a set.

• The Craftsman: issue 3

   
  

  The third item in our continuing series is Volume 1, number 3 of The Craftsman: December 1901 (3 meg PDF).

• Qu3stions.com

  The main reason things have been slow around here – and I don't just mean as slow as they've been for the past year since I became a daddy, but really slow – is that I've been working on interviewing folks for Qu3stions.com, a new short-form interview blog. So far I've talked to technologist Anil Dash, journalist Chandler Burr, and typographer Gerald Lange; today's interview is with Thy Tran, a chef-instructor and food writer in San Francisco.

  Know any especially interesting folks who would make a good interview? Post their names in the comment below, or drop me a line at the email link above.

• 10 Ways to Green Your Home Décor

   

  Editor's note: The following comes to us from our friend Jay Chua, and while it's not expressly for owners of old homes or aficionados of the Craftsman style, there is enough good advice here that I thought it might be interesting for Hewn & Hammered readers.

  You'll find people all across the planet that are making greener lifestyle and product choices. In their home construction choices, things like insulation and other building materials are now available in green options and have little to no impact on the environment. Not just in the building stage, there are plenty of ways to choose green when it comes to home décor and you may be surprised at the benefits those choices deliver to you and your family.

  1) A Breath Of Clean Air
  

  It's becoming more widely known that the manufacturing methods of the past resulted in poor air quality in our homes. The glue and formaldehyde used in the construction of inexpensive furniture was unhealthy and off-gases were a culprit of many carpets. These elements, combined with inadequate ventilation, contributed to the rise of Sick Building Syndrome (a condition known as SBS).

  Now, more natural products are available for your home that won't result in unhealthy air. Choose sea grass, sisal and alpaca wool carpets or invest in wood furniture made from sustainably harvested timber to create cleaner, fresher air in your home.

  2) Get A Green Light
  

  Change up your old light bulbs for a more energy-efficient, cost saving green improvement. Switching from incandescent to CFL (compact fluorescent) bulbs can result in a savings of up to 75% on your lighting costs. Since they contain mercury, CFLs are handled with care and are still not the optimum choice for a green home.

  A better option will soon be available with LED (light emitting diode) bulbs. Industry experts and designers are rushing to develop a bulb that meets quality and efficiency standards while staying within a practical price range for homeowners. Once there, choosing LEDs that last for decades will be the greener choice and save you even more on hydro bills than CFLs.

  As an outdoor option, solar lighting systems are a smart choice. They collect the sun's rays during the day and light up your gardens and yard from the evening and on through.

  3) Trees Lend A Helping Hand

  Planting a tree or two will help with your home's energy usage. By providing shade around windows in the heat of summer and as a block against the cold winter winds, both deciduous and evergreen trees are beneficial. They will help with air quality since they absorb carbon dioxide and transpire water through their foliage. Attractive trees that are taken care of and growing well also increase your property value.

  4) Fire Up The Barbecue

  There's nothing quite like a good grilled meal. Not only does it taste great, but your air conditioner will get a well deserved break without the additional heat created by your stove. Laze in lounge chairs and a wooden swingset, soaking in the summertime in your backyard while shrinking the amount of energy used inside.

  5) Fresh Air Is Welcome and Healthy

  After a long winter of heating your airtight home, it's a good idea to open up the windows and allow a breeze through. The healthy cleanse of fresh spring air is not only cost efficient, it's a welcome change. Make sure you have removable screens to keep it simple and safe.
  

  6) Landscape For Water Conservation

  You can have an environmentally conscious yard with xeriscape design. These techniques involve water conservation using native plants, rain barrels and other methods of reducing water usage. Not only will you conserve with this type of yard, but the rising costs of water won't affect you as much and you'll save money.

  7) Buy Furniture For the Long Run

  It may cost you more up front, but quality, well made furniture that is built to last is the most intelligent choice. Inexpensive pieces turn into disposable waste that will pile up in the landfill, harming the environment and needing replacement. When you buy solid, wood furniture built with sustainable timber like Western Red Cedar (editor's note – and, of course, oak!) you are getting better overall value and heirloom quality. Red Cedar has natural properties that resist pests and rot without any chemicals, sealants and preservatives.
  

  8) Harmony Is A Sweet Sound

  With green home décor, you are more apt to feel a certain harmony in your home. You will be at peace with the planet with nature scenes and earthy colors that feel balanced. Wood furniture and elements like counters, floors and cabinets will create a warmth and grounded atmosphere. Fill the yard with the same touches, a wooden swingset and benches wait for you to come and spend some time relaxing.

  9) Reduce Potential Foreign Conflicts

  As petroleum-based products are created using oil that is often sourced from foreign lands, a heavy dependency on such products can be harmful to the pursuit of peace. Eliminate or reduce the amount of plastic you buy and you will reduce the need for foreign oil. Help to work for peace by opting out of plastics.

  10) Manage Our Planet Responsibly

  Although our imaginations may think otherwise, we only have one home planet and it needs to be handled well. Reduce the negative effect you have on earth by making changes in your family. That way you are responsibly managing your home and planet.

  Think of all the benefits of making your home décor greener. From a healthier family, to saving money on utilities and contributing to a better global community, going green around the house is an excellent choice.

  About The Author

  Jay Chua, the publisher of PorchSwingSets.com, spends his time outdoors and loves being close to nature. Jay lives with his wife Deisy in Vancouver, Canada, the ideal place to enjoy gardening and travelling together. Since he's often busy designing backyard retreats, Jay loves to relax on a double glider swing where a good book and a coffee are even nicer shared with his wife. At PorchSwingSets.com you can check out sustainable, eco-friendly outdoor furniture and the best swing sets on the market.

• downsizing Extreme Makeover: Home Edition

  The last time I wrote about Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, I got in a lot of trouble. People wrote me plenty of nasty emails, telling me that I was, variously, a "grinch," an "asshole," an "overprivilidged idiot" (sic) and that I was "totally out of touch with reality." All because I was trying to make a point about both historic preservation and long-term thinking – that it could be cheaper to restore an old house in the long run than build a new one, especially when building a new one encumbred the homeowner with increased property taxes that have, thus far, caused several recipients of these new homes to lose them. And, self-centered greedy jerk that I am, I suggested that the real purpose of this television program is not to do good for folks who deserve it but to give free advertising – not to the local contractors who do the work, but to the national homebuilding firms who may "donate" materials and expertise or the big box stores that provide all the nifty new made-in-China hardware and drywall.

  So you can imagine I felt a bit vindicated by Dawn Towapka's article in the Wall Street Journal this past week, which explores the various and very sad issues recipients of these dream houses have had – everything from bad loans and defaults to property taxes they can't afford to pay. Luckily, the comments on the WSJ article aren't nearly as obnoxious as those I got, nor do any of the folks leaving comments wish violence on the author, as was the case with two that I received.

  …But after the cameras have gone, another trend has been developing:
  Homeowners struggle to keep up with their expensive new digs. In many
  cases, the bigger, more lavish homes have come with bigger, more lavish
  utility bills. And bigger tax assessments. Some homeowners have tapped
  the equity of their super-sized homes only to fall behind on the higher
  mortgage payments.

  The show's producers say they are aware of the problem and are making
  changes appropriate to current economic reality: downsizing.

  Back in the boom, the makeovers got a little out of hand because of
  competition among home builders aware of the free publicity that came
  with the show and who tried to outdo previous projects. These days, the
  show is backing away from the boom-era showpieces. We "scaled back,"
  says Conrad Ricketts, an executive producer for the show created and
  produced by Endemol US.

  Still, it's a neat idea. I'd love to see a show like this that connects with local markets a bit better: restoring and, if necessary, expanding already-existing homes using small, same-area contractors who really need the work; using recycled and repurposed materials via local nonprofits or, for example, Habitat for Humanity's Re-Use stores; sticking to sustainable woods and US-made parts. It might be a little more expensive in the short run, but nothing worth doing is easy – and it'll certainly save a lot of heartache and cash over time.

• time out for Bagcheck

  Sorry I haven't been posting a whole lot here; I've been busy with a few other projects. One is yet another expression of my unfortunate materialism: check out bagcheck.net. I'll try to get moving on Hewn & Hammered again this coming week!