Rockstar Homes

Boston loves to rock, there's no denying it. We often imagine rock stars living it up in the seediest of dens, because that's kind of what the lifestyle is all about. However, in the case of Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick, his home is probably the furthest from the Chelsea Hotel that you can get. (My apologies for the poor video quality.)




A few things I took away from this:

• In contrast to a recent post where we mentioned ways that architects, designers, and homeowners can utilize small space, here we have an example of what to do with a sprawling space. I especially liked that the couple have very few interior walls. The kichen/dining room/living room concept is also a very astute and practical choice.
• This is a tall couple--so their countertops are 2 inches higher than normal. Always keep in mind who will be using the space the most. (Though I wonder what this choice does to the resale value?)
• Lower ceilings for the Nielsens translated to a 10% cost reduction!
• At one point during the feature, Nielsen's wife, Karen, comments on some of her choices by saying that a designer would probably cringe. But I say, who cares? I love design as much as anyone, but at the end of the day you're the one who will have to live with the choice you've made, so it's best to pick out the decor that suits your personal taste. 

Any thoughts? Share them with us! Leave a comment!

The Sleeping Porch

Admit it, Boston. Winter has barely begun and you’re already planning your summer. How else to distract yourself from the bitter cold that’s only getting worse? And we’re in the midst of the holiday season (thankfully we can see a light at the end of that tunnel), so my guess is your every other thought is immersed in fantasies of deep, restorative sleep. Am I right?

That’s exactly where my mind wandered while leafing through a back issue of Design New England. (It was the July/August 2011 issue, in fact—ah, remember July? Shorts and T-shirts? Were we ever that young?) The magazine featured an engrossing article on the history of the sleeping porch, a throwback to the turn of the 20^th century when such constructions were promoted for the beneficial effects of sleeping in the open air, a popular notion at the time. The sleeping porch died away as more and more houses adopted modern-day air conditioning, but this nostalgic home feature is making a comeback today. As the article concludes:

Architect Christopher Dallmus of Design Associates in Cambridge and Nantucket, Massachusetts, designed a new sleeping porch for a client who was renovating her Federal-style Nantucket house. "We put it on top of an enclosed porch and adjacent to the master bedroom, and it fit in beautifully," he says. "The owner asked that it be air-conditioned, but I hear her grandchildren like to sleep there with the windows open." 

Interested in adding a sleeping porch to your house? I found this helpful, succinct guide on how to get started. As the guide indicates, fixing up a sleeping porch can be a simple DIY project or a full-scale renovation. As with all construction projects, the more thought you put into it, the more satisfying the result will turn out to be. I particularly agree with the advice to consider who will be using the space the most--is this simply a room for one or two people, or is it more of a family space? The choice of materials here is as important as with any other project--take into consideration sun exposure as well as moisture and all the rest of the slings and arrows of the elements.

And most importantly--tell us what you think! Have you added a sleeping porch to your home? Share your stories/pictures in a comment.

Decorating for the Holidays

No matter what your religious background may be, this is a special time of year. We have the opportunity these next few weeks to take a rest and reflect on the previous eleven months, and to spend time with the ones we love. More than any other time of the year, it’s a time for having friends and family over for celebrations. With that in mind, I’m thinking about how we decorate for the holidays to make our homes more inviting.

When I was a kid, December was the time to bring the Christmas tree down from the attic. That’s right, we displayed the same artificial tree for years. Ours was nothing special. Indeed, some might say it was a bit tacky. I know that I would never display such a tree in my house today. You could tell right away that it was fake. But when I was a kid, running into the living room in my footie pajamas, diving onto the floor as if I were scoring a home run, the last consideration in my mind was whether the tree was an eyesore.

My parents worked long hours. They didn’t always have the time to drive out to the Christmas tree farm and bring back a real fir for the living room. But they always dedicated one Sunday afternoon in the year to putting up the tree and letting us kids decorate it with ornaments we made in school.

Something that you don’t often read about in articles about home decorating and design is sentimentality. To quote Robert Frost, “We love the things we love for what they are.” Sometimes we choose to keep an old piece of furniture rather than replace it because it brings back too many memories. Can you think of something in your home that you would not dare part with, even though it doesn’t exactly contribute to your decor? Share it with us! Link to pictures! Let’s get a conversation started. 

Real Wood or MDF?

Speaking of natural vs. artifical materials, a common theme here at Helping Hammer....Some people automatically think that wood is superior to medium density fiberboard (MDF) since its production is more natural than the engineering that goes into boards of MDF. But there are several advantages to using MDF in certain situations, and oftentimes (especially if you are painting the MDF) it can look just as nice as real wood.

As a recent commenter pointed out,  MDF should be avoided when finishing a basement since it more readily absorbs moisture than real woods. This can lead to mold and rot. However, say you're having kitchen cabinets made. In this case, MDF generally works nice because of the way it evenly adjusts to extreme temperatures. So, as with anything, be sure to base your decision on materials on your own specific use. Also factor in other variables such as the room where the project takes place, the possible contact the wood or MDF will have with other materials, etc.

Have you used MDF or real wood in a recent project? Let us know in the comments!

Recycled materials in home building and renovation

Probably one of the most encouraging aspects of green and sustainable practice is how cost-effective it can be. Installing energy efficient windows lowers your heating bill and helps conserve energy. Long-lasting lightbulbs, when utilized properly, can reduce waste and save you money on your power bill. When it comes to home building or renovation, recycling building materials or incorporating recycled materials into your design can translate into substantial savings.

            

I recently came across the greenGoat website through this article in Design New England.

The founder of greenGoat, Amy Bauman, collects construction materials that are being discarded and finds new locations for them. From the article: “When homeowners donate old materials to greenGoat, they get a tax deduction that can recoup more than the cost of deinstalling the materials.” So, even if your plans don’t include reusing old materials, you can still participate in this process and ultimately ease one of the highest costs of construction.

            

In yesterday’s post, I mused on the stories that accompany the objects that we own and the materials we use to build our homes. Just as certain cuts of limestone hold a prehistoric charm, re-using discarded materials like old tiles or stained glass can add all sorts of vintage appeal to a project. What’s even more alluring than the story these recycled materials tell about their own history is the story they could tell about you and your values, your concern for life and the environment.

            

What do you think? Will you be incorporating reused materials in your next project? Do you intend to donate your discarded materials to an organization like greenGoat? What about past experiences—have you utilized greenGoat, or similar organizations? How was your experience? Tell us! Leave a comment!

The Storied Stone

Sometime during Thanksgiving, I started thinking about traditions, and about the things that last well after we're long gone. I started thinking about the materials we use to build our homes.

Growing up close to a swamp, the only stones I ever saw were rocks dredged from local rivers, used as gravel. I had a hard time imagining the stone walls, compiled of stacked loaves of granite, that line the countryside of New England. As a young rock hound, with only a gravel bed as my quarry, granite was a rare find indeed. I stumbled upon smooth pebbles of quartz, which is an ingredient of granite, every once in a while. But by and large the most plentiful stones were sedimentary rocks that had been smoothed over by centuries of lying in a riverbed. 

A good number of those rocks contained fossils. The pieces I found were much too small to contain dinosaur bones, but I marveled just the same at the tiny screws of vertebrae and other prehistoric remains that had been turned, as if by magic, over long expanses of time, to solid rock. The first time I saw a piece of limestone tile patterned with fossilized ferns, I couldn’t help but feel like a kid again. Here were the remains of prehistoric life, and you could tile your bathroom floor with them if you wished. Each natural stone evokes a sense of timelessness in its own way. Granite reminds us of prehistoric volcanos erupting constantly. White marble reminds, perhaps, of Michelangelo’s David. We look at travertine and remember that this is the stuff of the coliseum in Rome. But gazing at the fronds and other bits of life forever locked in a piece of limestone can create a unique feeling of connection with the beginning of life on the planet.

If you’re choosing natural stone for your project, there must be an aesthetic reason for your choice—certain colors evoke warm and comforting feelings, the stone’s finish is pleasant to the touch, and you like the idea of building with a material that has been in constant use for thousands of years, that will never go out of style. Part of the aesthetic and charm of any material or object, though, is in its story. Whether it’s a slab of granite glittering with quartz crystals formed in the hot, violent infancy of Earth, or a piece of limestone that chronicles a short stretch of the beginnings of life, every stone has a story. Including stone in your own home, among the mementos and curios that you treasure, can only enhance the emotional investment of your building project.

Home Design with Small Space

Frank Lloyd Wright referred to Beethoven’s fifth symphony as “probably the noblest thought-built edifice in our world.” To think of a piece of music as an edifice may seem strange at first, given that the materials of music (sound and time) hardly compare to the stone, wood, and other materials of building. But every structure, whether the Empire State Building or your local supermarket, has a visual rhythm just as music has a rhythm of sound. Music is an organization and patterning of sound whereas architecture is a patterning and organization of space.

           

I couldn’t help but think of Frank Lloyd Wright’s thoughts on Beethoven when I read this article from the October 2008 edition of Architectural Digest.

           

Just as Beethoven took a handful of notes and created his masterpiece, architect Carlene Nolan Pederson worked with limited materials—five-and-a-half acres of land—and designed an expansive, modern house on top of a small knoll.

The article cites the architect’s mechanical inclinations and her capacity to solve knotty problems creatively, but I would liken this ability, as well, to the musician’s ease of improvisation. If you’re a jazz fan like me, you know that the greats only work with the bare bones of the original tune, and the fun in playing and listening is seeing what kinds of interesting problems they get into after they change things up a bit. In architecture, it’s often necessity that determines where improvisation needs to be done, but the true talent of the designer will come through in the way these problems are handled. It’s all about the quality of lemonade you get from the lemons life hands you.

           

The lesson to take home here is this: you have to work with what you have. You have a vision for how you would like your home to look, feel, and function, but there are also limited resources to take into consideration. Sure, you have to stick to your guns when it counts—but there are other times when you can use mere chance or happenstance to improve upon your ideas, or even get new ones—that’s inspiration.

           

Well, what do you think? Can you remember a time when you had your heart set on doing a project a certain way, only to change due to unforeseen circumstances? How did it turn out?