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Slow Home Studio
Slow Home Studio is an educational resource for people wanting to live a more sustainable, higher quality kind of domestic life. Our goal...Video Episodes:
1 Views
14:43:55 09/16/11
9 Views
14:59:27 09/14/11
Corner Pantry Problems
[LESS INFO] 9 VIEWS | ADDED 14:59:27 09/14/11
The corner kitchen pantry is a ubiquitous feature of most fast houses. Although they promise a sense of residential grandeur and cooking efficiency, the reality is often much less interesting and effective. In most cases they’re really nothing more than a marketing tactic designed to improve the look of the feature sheet rather than the functionality of the kitchen. There are two main problems. First, the shape and size of the typical corner pantry doesn’t provide a very effective storage space. The shelves are usually too deep and the floor area too small. The second problem is the outswing door. It’s situated at a 45 degree angle to the rest of the kitchen cabinetry and the clearance required for this door to open can reduce the size of the kitchen island or push it too far away from the other counter surfaces. Both of these issues far outweigh the illusion of value that most corner pantries provide. Watch the video to see John and Matthew analyze the corner pantry problems in two fast house kitchens.
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05:00:12 09/12/11
Granite And Stainless Steel– Giving The Illusion Of Value In Kitchen Design
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 05:00:12 09/12/11
Is there a new home or condominium project on the market right now that doesn’t have granite countertops and stainless steel appliances prominently featured in the sales brochure? Don’t get me wrong, there are certainly no inherent problems or flaws with either product. In fact they’re used by many of the best architects and designers to create beautiful, functional kitchens. Unfortunately, however, in too many other situations granite and stainless steel have been reduced to little more than marketing devices meant to give only the illusion of value and design quality. They’re used to distract the homebuyer and mask over the careless layout and detailing of the kitchen as a whole. Learn more about this fast house problem by watching John and Matthew analyze two badly designed granite and stainless steel kitchens.
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16:12:42 09/09/11
How To Lay Out A Small Kitchen
[LESS INFO] 8 VIEWS | ADDED 16:12:42 09/09/11
As with so many things, size doesn’t really matter when it comes to kitchen design. In fact, many large so-called ‘gourmet’ or ‘trophy’ kitchens are actually very inefficient and difficult to work in because there is too much space and too great a distance between each of the appliances. Remember, the most optimal dimension for the work triangle connecting the refrigerator, stove, and sink is between 42” and 60” and this can easily be accommodated in a small kitchen. We think that the two most essential design considerations for a small kitchen are the location of the appliances in the space and the distribution of the counter space. We generally recommend placing the refrigerator in a back corner of the kitchen. The stove should also typically be placed on a wall. If the kitchen has either a peninsula or island, we think that this is a good place to locate the sink. To learn more about how counter space distribution affects the quality of small kitchen design, watch John and Matthew discuss the five most common small kitchen layouts.
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04:25:06 09/07/11
Design Strategies For Integrating Refrigerators Into Kitchen Cabinetry
[LESS INFO] 12 VIEWS | ADDED 04:25:06 09/07/11
It wasn’t that long ago that your appliances travelled with you. Buying a new house meant packing up your old refrigerator, stove, and dishwasher and installing them into your next kitchen. This wasn’t too critical for stoves and dishwashers because they usually come in standard dimensions. But refrigerators vary in both width and height and most kitchens had to be designed to accommodate just about any possible size. The result is the typical bad kitchen design detail of a refrigerator sitting in an oversized gap in the cabinetry. The good news is that those days are largely behind us, and most appliances stay with a house when it is sold. However, there is still a legacy of badly designed cabinetry detailing around the refrigerator. Fortunately, a little care and attention paid to this small aspect of kitchen design can make a huge difference in the quality of the overall outcome. To learn more, watch John and Matthew discuss some of the key design considerations for integrating both traditional 30” deep refrigerators as well as the new counter depth-variety into kitchen cabinetry.
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14:43:28 08/31/11
The Importance Of An Efficient Kitchen Work Triangle
[LESS INFO] 3 VIEWS | ADDED 14:43:28 08/31/11
The work triangle in a kitchen is defined as the distance between the sink, the refrigerator and the cook top. In a well designed kitchen, the dimensions of any one side of the work triangle is a minimum of 42" with a maximum dimension of 60". These dimensions minimize the travel distances required by the cook and create an efficient kitchen plan. With the rise of super-sized trophy kitchens, the common sense rules of good design seem to have gone by the wayside. The appliance triangle is often a forgotten fundamental, with appliances haphazardly arranged with no consideration of maximizing efficiency and functionality. Have a look at our examples of some bad kitchen designs and see of you can spot the problems before watching the video.
19 Views
15:25:36 08/29/11
Do You Know What’s Wrong With This 3 Bedroom House?
[LESS INFO] 19 VIEWS | ADDED 15:25:36 08/29/11
This 3 bedroom 3 bathroom bungalow is currently being advertised for sale by a small homebuilding company in Florida. On first glance the house design may look pretty good. Dig a little bit deeper, however, and several big problems emerge. First the good parts: 1. The house is well proportioned with almost all of the principal spaces facing out to either the back or the front yards. The one exception is the third bedroom, which is located behind the garage and, unfortunately, only looks into a side yard. 2. The two car attached garage does not dominate the front of the house. The dining room and den also face the front street. 3. All of the principal spaces are well proportioned to fit furniture and have good windows for daylight and natural ventilation. 4. The back terrace is covered. This reduces heat gain both on the terrace and inside the house, which is important in a hot climate like Florida. 5. The guest bathroom is located in a private but accessible location. It also doubles as a change room for a potential backyard swimming pool. Despite these good things, however, we think that there are 5 major design flaws in this house that seriously affects how well it will work on a daily basis. Can you identify them? Watch the video to see our description of what’s wrong with this house. These kinds of design problems are really annoying and they are difficult, and expensive, to fix after the house is built. Fortunately, modifying the design before construction would be relatively easy and result in no increased cost. All that is really required is a little more care and attention being paid to the quality of the design underlying the house.
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04:25:09 08/26/11
The Best Height For Your Light Switches
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 04:25:09 08/26/11
In many houses, there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the placement or height of the light switches. Too often, they are installed where it is convenient for the electrician to run the wiring without much thought for optimizing home owner functionality and visual continuity. Standard light switch height in North America new construction is 48" to the center of the switch. We think this is too high. At 48", it is in the primary visual field of the wall and if not perfectly placed, may impede art work placement or just look distracting. We think the standard height should be lowered to 32" to the center of the switch. This is what we install as standard on all of our projects at Housebrand. While this may seem really low, this height will allow art work to be properly placed above any switch. We also think that light switches should be ganged together as much as possible into "control panels" so you are able to adjust all the lighting for an entire room or rooms from a single vantage point.
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14:44:17 08/24/11
What Can You Do About Your Stippled Ceilings?
[LESS INFO] 0 VIEWS | ADDED 14:44:17 08/24/11
One of the most universally hated spec home details is the stippled ceiling. Also referred to as "knock down", "textured" or "popcorn" ceilings, this is sprayed or trowelled on finish to a drywall ceiling that saves builders a lot of time and money because the ceilings do not have to be mudded, taped, sanded, primed or painted. However, what saves time and cost up front to the builder causes years of visual angst for the homeowner. So, if you have stippled ceilings in your house what can you do about them? There are a few options to deal with the stipple. The first and least expensive is to paint them - usually by spraying them. At least this will make sure the color matches the rest of the wall and trim colors in the house. The second option is to scrape them smooth and then paint them. A skilled drywaller can do this and achieve a decent result. The third and most costly option is to install another layer of drywall on top of the stipple and finish the ceiling smooth, the way it should have been done in the first place. Or finally, choose your battles and only place new drywall where you absolutely need to, like over the kitchen island, and then just paint out the rest.
1 Views
04:05:04 08/22/11
Innovative Shower Details By Shed From Seattle
[LESS INFO] 1 VIEWS | ADDED 04:05:04 08/22/11
Seattle based architecture and design firm, SHED, uses a well placed skylight and window to create a light filled shower box. With every square inch of this converted garage in limited supply, there was no opportunity for a spacious en-suite shower. Instead, the architects inserted a large angled skylight and a side window into the small bathroom to dramatically alter the perception of size and increase the visual connection to the outdoors. The glass wall tile extends full height up three sides of the angled skylight cut out and seems to end sharply against the view of the sky. This makes the framing of the skylight box and shower stall merge into one. On the side wall, just outside the line of the shower, a tiled window ledge extends out and then into the stall shower creating some functional storage space. This is a very three dimensional approach to shower design where every surface is detailed to be highly functional and visually crisp. To see more about this project, watch the video.
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04:05:06 08/19/11
How To Detail Bathroom Floor And Wall Tile
[LESS INFO] 3 VIEWS | ADDED 04:05:06 08/19/11
Bathrooms, particularly master en-suites, have become luxurious retreats in many new and remodeled homes. Floor and wall tile selections and installation can make or break the design success of a bathroom, so it is a good idea to consider a few rules of thumb before you choose your tile. Choose a larger format tile for the floor. Twelve inches should be a minimum dimension in any one direction. Use the floor tile on the tub deck and surround. Make sure the grout lines align as they up the face of the tub deck skirt and onto the tub deck. Lay out the tile to avoid small cuts – maximize full tile placements. If possible, use the same floor tile for the shower curb and the inside of the shower floor. If there is a shower bench, use the floor tile on the bench as well. Choose a wall tile that is a different dimension from the floor tile – for example if the floor tile is a 24 inch by 24 inch square tile, use a small mosaic or a smaller sub way type tile on the walls. This way, the grout line dimensions will never need to match as the tile transitions for floor to wall. If the wall tile is the same or similar in size to the floor tile, and the grout lines do not match, it will look visually incorrect or poorly installed. Try to end the wall tile on inside corner. Outside cuts of wall tile can look messy, crooked or even discolored. Even the most skilled tile setter has difficulty ensuring a good installation on an outside corner. Watch the video to see some examples.
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15:25:32 08/15/11
How To Detail Cold Air Return Grills
[LESS INFO] 6 VIEWS | ADDED 15:25:32 08/15/11
Like bath fan covers, most residential cold air return grills look cheap and flimsy and can be a source of visual angst for any design conscious home owner. Cold air returns are critical to the operation of a home’s heating system, but from an architectural point of view, they can really miss the mark. They are often made of off-white plastic or thin metal and are mounted in visually inappropriate locations like above the line of the baseboards or in the middle of a wall. The solution to this problem is to design the cold air returns so they become part of the trim work in your house and not leave their placement to the whim of the furnace installer. Most millwork and carpentry suppliers stock a wide variety of inexpensive wood or MDF-like cold air return grills. These grills come in a variety of styles ranging from modern to more traditional and easily integrate into the baseboards of any house. They can be stained or painted to match either the hardwood or the wall colors. They work best when they are slightly thicker in profile than the baseboards, creating a slight return from the grill to the trim. And, of course, they need to be easily removable for cleaning and maintenance.
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16:37:10 08/12/11
Ugly Bathroom Fan Covers And How To Avoid Them
[LESS INFO] 2 VIEWS | ADDED 16:37:10 08/12/11
In response to our recent Design Minute about shower drain technology, long time Slow Home viewer Susan Bernstein posted a comment on our Facebook page, calling out for a much needed improvement in the design quality of other every day finishing details like bathroom fans and cold air return grills. Her comment reads: "Having just finished a whole house reno .. I am amazed at how many details haven't quite caught up to design .. case in point .. air return covers and the one I stare at every day and wonder WHY???? bathroom fan covers. There's a big hole in the market here. These finishing details are so important and so overlooked." Susan is so right. Most of the bathroom fan covers available on the market today look like they were designed in the 1970's with cheap plastic contours and bad color choices. Given the significant advances in other building products like plumbing fixtures, flooring and appliances, one would think that something as ubiquitous and necessary as a bathroom fan would also be catching up to current design thinking. So the question is, what options do we have if we do not want to ruin our bathroom ceilings with an ugly looking fan cover? We were able to come up with one idea to replace a standard bathroom fan with something a little more seamless. Watch the video to find out what it is.
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04:10:10 08/12/11
Designing Teju’s Living Room
[LESS INFO] 3 VIEWS | ADDED 04:10:10 08/12/11
Our final task for helping Teju with the design of her new home in Pune India is in the living room. In the last post we proposed a solution for the dining room that included a built in banquette beside the stair to the second floor. With that done the original living/dining space can now be used just for living room furniture. There are three steps to the design process for this room. The first is to define the circulation zone through the space. We think it should be located adjacent to the dining table and the existing concrete column. The second step is to define a focal point for the furniture. We think that this is best accomplished with a piece of built in millwork that wraps around the existing column. The television is mounted on the front side of this unit facing the living space. A storage unit in the back extends the length of the unit and blocks the view of the bathroom from the living room. The final step is to arrange the sofa and chairs around this focal point. We propose a cushioned ottoman instead of a coffee table to provide additional seating for guests.
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04:05:04 08/10/11
A Banquette Dining Table Solution For Teju
[LESS INFO] 1 VIEWS | ADDED 04:05:04 08/10/11
In our last post we introduced Teju, and the design challenges he is facing with his new home in Pune India. Today we are going to suggest a solution for the dining room. In our previous analysis of the floor plan we noted that the main space is labeled as a combination living/dining room. Like many houses in North America, however, this is a misnomer. The reality is that this space is not well suited to accommodate the furniture requirements for both living and dining. It is simply too narrow and short. To make this space work properly we think Teju needs to relocate the dining table to another part of the house. Fortunately, there is a hidden opportunity by the stair. It is located in a two storey volume that opens up to the second floor. This part of the floor plan is not currently being assigned to a specific use and is probably intended for circulation. Our suggestion is to redesign the handrail of the stair with a piece of built-in furniture to create a banquette style bench for the table. This means that the dining table can be placed close by the stair and still allow a zone of circulation. Watch the video to see our design solution. In our next post we will discuss our ideas for the layout of Teju’s living space. For more design videos visit: www.slowhomestudio.com
119 Views
04:10:13 08/08/11
A Design Problem From A Viewer In Pune India
[LESS INFO] 119 VIEWS | ADDED 04:10:13 08/08/11
We were very excited to have recently received an email from Pune India. It was written by Teju, a regular Slow Home viewer. He had a few questions about the design of the new house that he is currently building and he sent along the floor plans. The following is an excerpt from his email: “Dear John and Matthew, I would like to discuss our house in Pune, India with the Slow home community. Attached are our proposed plans, This is a new build (11 storey structure with our unit a duplex at ground floor) and the construction is reinforced concrete (the most common technique in India) with brick walls. We are a family of 5 with our son and my mom and dad staying with us. We have a lot of relatives and friends staying close by, so guests with kids will be very common at our place. Our main issue right now is the location of the dining table. There is no obvious location for it and somehow looks like it is floating anywhere in the room. We are considering the option of having a moveable dining table which can be moved into the garden area for parties. The second issue is the living room layout. It needs to be flexible enough to accommodate 6- 10 people. I was inspired by some of your past few design minutes with mill work and dining area and staircases in focus and have come up with few options myself and would eventually like to share those too”. For exclusive video and resources about today's video visit: www.slowhomestudio.com
09/16/11