Kitchen: Before skylights

It’s mid-July and I’m listening to cars driving through puddles on the highway outside our office.  Thanks, rain, for the beautiful scenery around here, but you make it kind of dark sometimes.  To maximize natural daylight inside a home,

Kitchen: After skylights

even on cloudy days, skylights can be a wonderful thing.   We recently installed 6 skylights in a client’s 70’s era home in a forested area.  We used skylights sized to fit between the existing rafters so that expensive structural modifications were not required.  And we always install skylights with low-E, argon gas injected dual glass panes to keep heat inside in the winter and outside in the summer.  As far as the clients with the 70’s ranch are concerned, their home experienced a dramatic transformation… like night to day.

Here’s another example of how our clients’ travel experiences were incorporated into their home.  These folks have traveled all over the world, but they have a particular affinity for the art and architecture of Japan.  We learned this very early in the design process, which prompted us to take a trip to the Portland Japanese Garden to research appropriate design details and construction methods.  This is where the picture on the left was taken– at the Sand and Stone Garden.  I think that picture shows a bit of similarity to the picture on the right, which is the completed entry to the home.  It took some effort to get those irregular stepping stones recessed into the Maple flooring, but it was very rewarding to see the clients so happy with this one-of-a-kind detail.  

–Emma

Are you thinking of remodeling in the next few years?  Everyone has different personal and financial considerations for their project but there are a few shared reasons to remodel now:

 1^st  A remodeled space can add energy, contemplation, functionality, and beauty to your life now.  These are the spaces we specialize in.

 2^nd  Interest rates are very low and lenders are loaning to clients with good credit.  In fact, interest rates are so low they likely only have one direction to head long-term…up.  Closing lead times are a bit longer so early budgeting with a design/build professional is a good idea.

 3^rd  U.S. News and World Report (backed by MoodysEconomy.com) rated Corvallis to have the 4^th highest housing price appreciation of any market in the U.S. over the next 10 years.  So a remodel of your existing home can be enjoyed now and expected to maintain value going forward.

 If you are thinking of remodeling in the next few years and would like a beautiful, meaningful, functional space…give us a call.  We’d love to hear about your project.

 -Joel

This is the title of an interesting essay by Mathew B. Crawford published in the New York Times Magazine.  He makes an eloquent case for the value of meaningful work and entrepreneurship.  I won’t provide any further synopsis (he describes the folly of that task!), but I wanted to post this link because it struck a chord with myself and Joel.

I was a straight-A student in school but knew from an early age that I wanted a career creating tangible things.  My school skills and love of architecture naturally directed me to architecture school, but once I was there I was shocked at the lack of reality to be found in the curriculum.  I switched course to design/build entrepreneurship and haven’t looked back. –Emma

Joel:  I grew up on a small farm on the Oregon coast.  I learned early on the satisfaction of working with one’s hands to create the thing envisioned in one’s head.  One of my favorite early memories was building a fence with my dad.  We would lay out the fence, walk the woods to select a downed cedar tree (left over from logging many years prior), use levers and pulleys to move the tree to open ground, and then split amazingly straight fence posts.  Next we dug the holes, braced the posts plumb, and tamped rocks around the posts-using the axle shaft of an old car.  By the time we had stretched the fence and stapled the wire to the posts we had a fence you could strum a tune on.

I still enjoy seeing this fence performing its important function after a couple decades residing in the inhospitable coastal environment.

It’s been many years since I last built a fence like that but I still apply the simple lessons to all our projects:  Plan the details, build something you can be proud of, and enjoy the process of creating.  –Joel

We attended the Oregon Remodeling Association annual awards luncheon in Portland yesterday and I’m happy to report some good news:  We won two Outstanding Remodeling Achievement awards!  We won one in the category of Residential Interiors Over $100K and another in the category of Residential Exterior Specialty (for an elaborate entry gate we created.)  Here is a picture of each winning entry:

Winner: Residential exterior specialty

Winner: Residential interior over $100K

We were also recognized for our win earlier this year of NARI regional Contractor of the Year in the category of Residential Interior Over $100K.  We are the only company in the Corvallis area to win an ORA award this year.

If you have dreamed of living in an award-quality home please contact us.  We’d love to chat.

–Emma

When a client hires us to design their remodel, my goal is always to create a space that has personal meaning for the client. To accomplish this I need to pay close attention to all indicators of what is meaningful to the client—the experiences they talk about, the objects they display in their home, the books they read.  I have found in a number of our projects that something in a client’s travels has emerged as a significantly meaningful experience—an experience they would like to enjoy in their every day life.  In this first part of a series, I’ll show one of our projects and reveal the travel inspiration behind it.

This bathroom remodel was inspired by nature.  Specifically, the red rock canyons of Utah.  Like a narrow canyon, the bathroom is a vertical, geometric shape naturally lit from above.  The walls envelope you with a red glow and the green slate floor provides cool relief like the Virgin River through Zion National Park.

In a mass market world, we provide a one-of-a-kind experience fitted to your needs.  No more and no less.  What dream do you have for your home?  Whatever it is, I would love to help that dream become reality.

–Emma

While listening to Aretha Franklin belt out “R.E.S.P.E.C.T,” the thought crossed my mind: Why are we able to work well with clients from such an amazing diversity of backgrounds?

Well, Aretha (and earlier, Otis Redding) were on to something– it all starts with respect.

Our clients know that because we respect what’s important to them we will work hard to give them what they want. Your priorities are our priorities. Whether it’s a design that soothes your soul, or a space full of energy. Our clients are able to feel comfortable traveling and living their lives during the construction process knowing that professionals are hard at work on their project.

If you’re looking for a design and construction firm that will respect you and your project goals, contact us. We’d love to get to know you.

-Joel