We-Design-Day: Home Evaluation - Ready, set, GO!

Thanks for checking back in with me! I wanted to take some time to let everything we've covered settle. Not only is this a lot of information to digest, it's a lot to prepare too so I want to make sure I cover the right things and make my documentation and information as thorough as possible. Furthermore, I like to share additional resources and in order to do that, I have to make sure they are valid and correct!

This week, I want to look at how we start to put all the things we've learned together. We know all the parts and the roles they play in our home and now we need to start putting them in a workable format. I like spreadsheets for this – there is software available for things like this – but the flexibility a spreadsheet offers and the ability to expand, adapt and customize it makes it my preferred choice. Before we get there though, we need to ensure we've got a workable document that we can insert our inspection notes and findings and record our evaluations. Additionally, the we need to document conditions with pictures or sketches. This is an essential piece of our report as we need a written record in order to plan our budget and develop a proper project scope.


Design Tip: We need to know what we have in order to define the parameters of our project.

To ease in the development of your scope, I've created a worksheet for you to document your findings. Feel free to print it off and use for your personal home evaluation document. This is the first piece in your "Evaluation Kit".

Tools for your Evaluation:

Home Evaluation Worksheet (direct link to the PDF being hosted on my ScribD account)
Camera
Canadian Wood Frame Construction Book

The book isn't essential but I would highly, highly recommend it for anyone (in Canada, anyway) that does any DIY, home renovation or design work. Having this book when you're hiring a contractor is helpful too. It provides a broad overview of the residential construction process and highlights very important factors that every homeowner should know. It was the “go to” reference guide for me when I was in design school and it is still an industry “go to” guide for practicing architects and designers. If you find a second hand copy, pick it up – the building code changes every few years but most of the fundamentals to wood frame construction remains fairly constant, thus making even an older copy of this book useful.

Once you've printed off the worksheet and have your trusty camera in hand, it's time to go back through your house and look at all the features we've discussed since January! I'll be back next week with the start of my home study to share with you and please feel free to email me any questions you may have about your own study!

Christmas Countdown Day 3: Pretty Little Packages!

Have you always wanted your presents to be ones of envy - not necessarily because of what was inside, but because of the beautiful wrapping! I always envy store displays with bounds of curl ribbon and bouncing bows but have the Yowly One around but a permanent ban on everything curly.

The hot "bow" item this year are toys affixed to the package. In theory, I think this is an okay idea, but knowing my own son's propensity for stopping at the box, I'm not sure we'd ever open the actual present if I put a toy on the outside! I like the idea of putting little Christmas touches on the packages - baubles or ornaments that can be saved and hung on the tree for the next holiday season.

First, I took a simple piece of ribbon, tied it to the present and tied on a floral stem of holiday berries. It adds some interest by breaking up the linear line of the package. It also is likely more economical than store bought ribbon or bows - if you hit a big box craft store at the moment, all the Christmas floral stems are 70% off - stock up now and use them next year as present toppers!

Sometimes you get an odd shaped package - this one was perfectly square so wrapping it was challenging because just how much paper did I need? Well, I had too much! So I used a roll of tulle I had left over from a wedding project and tied a length around the present. Not only is it "cat" friendly, but it hides the not so lovely wrapping job! Attach a pretty ornament and you've got a gift that gives again next year.

I love bows - that is no secret so I love wrapping up a present and topping it with a beautiful bow! I love looping some ribbon around a box and topping it with my perfect bow. I also like the simplicity of the gold bow on my glass boxes - just take a meter or so of ribbon and wrap it over itself, tie with another short length of ribbon and in seconds, you have a nice bow that adds a lovely touch to any package!

Sometimes, we don't have all the lovely ribbon or embellishments, so why not a pinwheel bow on a child's gift? If you had a scrapbook brad, a hole punch and stick, you could turn your bow into another great toy for the kids! Here is a great instruction for making a pinwheel bow from MelangerieNYC!

Candy canes, pine cones from a tree or a few cookies wrapped with cling wrap and a length of ribbon all make interesting and thoughtful gift toppers. Look around your house and what do you see that might liven up those presents?

Thanks for stopping by today - only two more days until Christmas Eve! Tomorrow, I'll share a couple of tried and true holiday appetizer recipes and then on Christmas eve, I'll share a little Christmas Magic for the kids!

We-Design-Day: An Introduction to Ergonomics

With the first We-Design-Day project nearing completion, it is time to start looking at how to make the new 'family' computer workstation usable, friendly and organized. The office space in the studio will be used by all of us. Me, my husband and TroubleMaker. Additionally it is likely that visitors will use the station as well (to check email or surf).

It is open to the rest of our family room so the space is always in view and always accessible. This is a risky endeavor for me. As some of you may have come to realize, I am... Well, I'm a clutter bug. I attract clutter like honey attracts bees. It doesn't seem to matter how often I purge and organize, whenever I turn around, more clutter and piles have appeared and I never can quite figure out how. Well, I have a theory, but I don't quite understand how bunnies could be responsible...

We have limited layout space. We have one 24"x39" table butted up to a 24"x60" table. This is our flat work surface. I also have a 24"x39" table on castors to wheel around when extra space is required - at tax time and my husband's company year end. I just have to make sure I don't pile it three apples high with papers!

There are a few things a person can employ when designing their own work space. Now, I know the tables I purchased and our existing chair aren't exactly perfect specimens of ergonomically designed furniture but with other devices, we can work to make the space more comfortable and usable.

Keep in mind the people who will be working in the space and these considerations:
1. How tall are the users?
2. Do they were glasses? (Bi or trifocals will also add another level of complication)

A workstation can be flexible and adaptable. Adjusting chair height and the position of the monitor can often be enough to make a station usable for people of varying heights and sizes.

Posture is a key concern, especially when one spends much time at a computer. Ergonomically, often the correct position is uncomfortable as we've become so accustomed to having poor working posture. The rule of thumb is:
The computer workstation should allow you to sit with:

• head held upright to follow the curve of the spine
• arms held horizontally with an approximately 90-degree angle at the elbow
• wrists in neutral position
• thighs parallel to the floor so that the hip angle is 90-degrees
• feet should be supported by a foot rest or the floor so that there is a 90-degree angle at the ankle

As a right-handed person but a left-hounded mouser, I can also tell you it is essential to ensure your forearm is supported while using the mouse. Avoid pressure on the wrist - those gel wrist rests are garbage - toss them out! I spent a good long while drafting at a kitchen table on a plastic lawn chair (in a design office, no less) and it trashed my arm.

I've been asked about office chairs. I've specified chairs for a variety of people and at a variety of price points. Chairs, like footwear, glasses and blue jeans, change with the season. What is the hot seat (haha) this year is different than it was ten years ago. But like blue jeans, glasses and shoes, they all have basic principals that never change much regardless of the colour or style.

Here is a link to some basic chair terminology.

Chairs have several parts. Some move, some don't. They all provide support and hopefully, comfort. Choosing a chair is a personal thing. I once had a client who wanted the cheapest, most basic chair she could get out of the office supply store catalogue and I've had clients have me bring in 10 different chairs to 'test drive' before committing to a model.

Basic Steno Chair

Teknion's Contessa Chair

Herman Miller's Aeron Chair

The latter two pictures are the "hot" items at the moment. I've sat in both and both are great seats. The Aeron is "the" chair and it is a great chair. It comes in sizes (a first for a chair, I might add), has a breathable mesh back and seat and is truly a comfort to sit in. It retails for around $900 CDN. The Contessa is Teknion's answer to the Aeron. It is a good chair too, nice comfort and a good fit. It too has a price point around $900 CDN.

I don't know about you, but that's a lot of money for a chair. That said, I have a super nice executive chair in my husband's office. But that's because I got it at a design fundraiser for a SONG! My office chair is a $50 Staples special.

Before making a decision, it's important to identify how you will be using the chair and anything specific about your physical need. I am tall, I like a deep seat pan and a waterfall edge. The seat has to adjust up and down (height) and have adjustable arms - even though I don't use them, not having them makes me feel like I'm falling out of the chair!

Want more info? Looking for some additional help in setting up an ergonomic workstation?

Ergotron
Ergotron Workspace Planner
Ortho Info

Aeron Chair Image courtesy of Gabriel Ross
Contessa Chair Image courtesy of Teknion

If you have any seating questions, feel free to send me an email or post a comment and I'll do my best to help you out! Thanks for stopping by and see you next week!

We-Design-Day: How do you solve a problem like...

How much light do I need in my work space?

Today, I'm going to explore more about lighting design. If you remember this post, we discussed the types of lighting - today, I want to get a little more in depth about how we can use those lighting ideas and how you can employ them to creatively, aesthetically and functionally design the lighting in your home or office.

As always, first we must cover a bit of terminology (put your learning hats on)...

Lumens the unit of measure of light output - traditionally defined as one lumen equals the same amount of light put out by one candle
Wattage determines the energy used by the light*
Light output how much light a light source will generate
Colour Rendering Index a measure of how precisely an artificial light source displays colours
Colour Temperature colour temperature of a light source indicates the colour of the light put out by the source and is measured in degrees Kelvin (the lower the value, the warmer the light put out. Higher values are cooler. Incandescent bulbs are lower (more yellow) as where fluorescent bulbs (especially traditional ones) are more blue
Efficacy is the ratio of the lumens produce to wattage consumed (or used)

*We all know bulbs are sold by watt - 40, 60 or 100 watt (incandescent) and now we've got 15, 22, 32 (and many more) in fluorescent bulbs. This number does not equal light output by the bulb (or brightness of the bulb). This number - the wattage of the bulb - only specifies the amount of energy used by the bulb each and every time the light is turned on. To measure the brightness, we have to use Lumens. Additionally, looking at other factors, like temperature or colour rendering index of the brightness quality will also aid us in selecting the correct lighting for our homes.

The next step is to examine the space we are designing the lighting for and the activities that will be going on in the room. All rooms in our homes have different requirements and needs based on the function of the space. There are variables we can try to accommodate when developing our plan.

Who is using the space and how is their eyesight? As we age, our eyes require more time to see things and we require much more light to see. The type of tasks being done are also a key factor as to "how much" light will be needed.

Professionally, I have used a set standard when doing lighting designs and similar principles and guidelines should be employed. When we look at lighting as a whole, standardized light levels can be (and have been) employed. Naturally because every situation is different, the levels can be adjusted to meet the needs of the space, client and design.

Here are some averages to give you an idea:
Space Recommended Light Output (lumens/square meter)
Kitchen 300 - 550
Living room 300 - 500
Home office/workshop 500 - 1200
Dining Room 200 - 350

During my research, I happened upon a gem of a resource. It is a simple and effective planning guide for lighting! Provided for free download from our friends at the Office for Energy Efficiency with in the Department of Natural Resources Canada, is the Home Lighting Design Guide Pocketbook

I'm going to wrap it up here for this week - there is a lot of information to digest and because its a big subject, it is important to take the time to sit back and think through the space you are going to be illuminating.

References:
Natural Resources Canada
Home Depot Canada
TCP
BC Building Info
MegaVolt
Image courtesy of Outdoor Wedding Lighting

52 Week Challenge: Week 25 - RVing made easier! The Power of a List

I know I said I wasn't going to post this week, however, it occurred to me on the drive home from my Mom's last weekend, that I needed to get my act together regarding our upcoming vacation. I have six days before we leave - and I work five of those days and I'm meeting with a client one night this week so that leaves me Sunday to get it together...

I like lists. I love making lists, I love following lists, I love striking things off my lists. I'm a list-o-holic and I get it from my Mother. She likes lists too. She is probably the only person I know who itemizes her dinner lists so she doesn't forget to serve anything. We were at her house today for a Father's Day barbecue. She had a list - and as she got everything out, she checked it off. It was awesome and just a little inspiring!

How do I prepare for this? I make lists. Lists for what clothing we need, toiletries, food, activities, regular gear, things we need to get, toys, books, crafts, staples. There are lots of lists to be made and a bit of shopping we need to do. I have to (well, I don't have to but I do) bake for the trip - cookies are a must, granola bars, snack mix, trail mix, dog treats...

I don't have a fancy template for my lists and they aren't necessary organized in any particular fashion but I know, without a doubt, that I couldn't plan a successful trip without a list. Even the trip to my Mother's, which I've made a 1000 times, is generally done with a list... Especially if it is an overnight trip! We dared the turn-around trip without a list... And guess what?

We forgot our fur-son's food!

So, how do you organize? Are you a list junkie like me? Do you wing it?

This week, I decided to ORGANIZE my lists - what a good idea, I say! I pack the same things all the time - so why not create a master set of lists to use to make my life easier...

This week, I'm going to share with you two of my lists. The first is an RV Checklist - we have a motorhome and although it is essentially a duplicate of my bricks & sticks kitchen, I feel more secure knowing that I've double checked all the essentials before I leave. I also know the other list I can't live without is my clothing/activities list.

I've created both in a handy-pdf for everyone to download an enjoy and use to make your next trip a little more organized! Please note, the preview looks a little weird, when you open it, it is better but I'll need to revise the font type.
RV Checklist_Basic Inventory



Of course, these aren't exhaustive lists and I've already thought of 4 other things to add to the RV list (walkie talkies, matches, barbecue lighter & tongs) but it's a start and oh-so-pretty!

Clothing Checklists

Do you have a list? Are you a list keeper? Do tell and share what works for you! I'm linking up this week to the Org Junkie's 52 Week of Organizing. Thanks for stopping by and come back soon!

MPM # 47

TroubleMaker's Dinosaur Cake - made with love by me, his Mom!

I’m having a difficult time recuperating from the Week of TroubleMaker’s birthday. I just can’t seem to get into my regular groove. It probably doesn’t help that spring has finally arrived in Alberta and the only place I want to be is not inside! We’ve been getting to +7 Celsius during the day and after a long and snowy winter; I’m ready to bare my arms to the sun! We were even discussing the possibility of trying to please the Sun Gods a couple of weeks ago as the sun had seemingly taken a permanent vacation from these parts.

In attempt to “Green” up my menu planning, I started looking for a digital solution that would allow me to plan a month at a time but still give me the flexibility to look at it in weekly sections. My general practice was to use this menu plan I custom created two years ago when I returned to work after my maternity leave. This allowed me to plan breakfast, lunches and dinners a week at a time and create a weekly shopping list that I could take with me to the store so that I could refer back to the menu before checking out and ensure I had everything required for the menu. It has worked great for us. When I do my month, I sit down with four or five copies and plan. This also allows me to bulk shop and hit sales and coordinate it all with our pay cheques.

The problem is that it isn’t very Earth friendly. Although I do write in pencil, I recycle the menu each week with the trash (I could erase and reuse but I need something time efficient too). This practice seems logical but I want a greener option that makes planning easier and still provides me with a menu I can stick up in the kitchen for quick and easy reference. Along with the planner is my spreadsheet of meals with needs updating often (as I try to include one to four new recipes monthly). So here is my needs assessment:

Green
Flexible
Easy
Hard copy-ready

I have looked at various ideas – chalk board, white board, magnetic board but I’ve found faults with each. Chalk dust is an issue for me (both mess and allergy wise), white boards invariable get TroubleMaker giddy with excitement and his hands black with felt and I have a very large repertoire of meals – too many to make a magnetic board with magnetic dinners feasible.

I’m not certain that one specific solution is the answer. I did find many great ‘online’ planners that I can download and use but then there is always the paper print out. Additionally, of the digital planners I tried, I felt they were not flexible enough and too difficult to edit or modify – even with my computer programme saaviness. The answer? Well, I haven’t figured that out yet but I did decide to try and custom create something that will work for me (and hopefully others) that incorporates ease of use with flexibility. No two people cook the same, nor do two people plan the same so I think it be a challenge but definitely worth the attempt!

This week, I muddled through while my husband played the 75th round of “Monster ‘gucks” with TroubleMaker. I rushed through and made a grocery list for them to take on their Shopping Adventure today.

And since I’m writing on Tuesday and not Monday (or Sunday), I can review the Monday night “new recipe” from Monday night. First, I continue to try the recipes from Kraft’s Canada as they are simple and easy. I don’t always like the fact they push their products but I do understand that’s the whole point, but my disappointment doesn’t come from that. It is actually because everything is so bland in taste and they seem to forget key points like adding a little sugar and some Worchester sauce to canned tomatoes in order to temper the acidity. So, as always, I made it as the recipe said and then add my own enhancements to make it palatable.

Just so you know I seasoned my chicken breasts with salt, pepper, basil and oregano (both sides). I also added about a ½ tsp of sugar, 1 tbsp of Worchester sauce and a good amount of the same seasonings I used to season the breasts. I ended up added about a ¼ cup of sour cream too in an attempt to control the heat of the red pepper flakes – I used red chili pepper flakes and it made it a bit too spicy for TroubleMaker. Oh, and added a diced red pepper. We also served it over spaghetti because I don’t care for rigatoni. I used fresh Parmesan, Asiago and Romano blend cheese and some marble cheese (as I was out of mozza).

April 5 to 11
Monday: Chicken Pomodoro
Tuesday: Boston Brutes
Wednesday: Bacon Cheeseburger Roll-upsThursday: Omelets
Friday: Nachos
Saturday: Enchilada Casserole
Sunday: Crock pot roast beef

How do you plan your menu - any tips, tricks or ideas? For more great ideas, check out the Org Junkie’s Menu plan Monday!

We-Design-Day: Fitting it In

Please pass in your homework… Just kidding! How did it go? Did you get stuck measuring or did you get lost? I used to find the whole measuring a space thing daunting and I can’t begin to tell you how many times I’ve had to go back and re-measure… Even now I have to go back to a job site every so often and get one dimension I’ve forgotten!

I have some cool tools for you to download and use… First, I’ve got a nifty ruled piece of graph paper – this will help you plan your space well and get things ‘to scale’ – so you can see just how much floor space your partner’s 42” television takes and figure out how big a couch you can fit in your formal living room. Next week I’ll share some printable furnishings you can download and cut out too!

Everything is scaled to ¼” = 1’-0” – this means that one square on the graph paper actually measures ¼” but it represents 1’-0” (or if you’re a metric kind of person, that’s 1:25 scale). This will be helpful in the coming days and weeks when we start talking the ‘fun’ stuff – furniture selection and layout.

Because I’ve been down this road before, I did my measured drawing of our basement years ago and because I use a computerized drafting program, I drew it in that. However, I recently noted a few ‘issues’ with my original measurements. I plotted (the fancy term for printing) my drawing and measured it again. As you can see, I have a few little problems with my original drawing and how the space actually measures (note the interior wall measurements in the space labeled “Existing Office”). Inside the room it measures 9’-5-7/8” but the wall in the family room is 6’-10-1/4”. As it turns out (and I don’t know how I missed this), our master bedroom projects out from the house – which means the foundation should match this. It does but I didn’t seem to notice that when I drew the original plans. This caused me much confusion when I measured the basement a few months ago!

But now I’ve got a nice measured plan, drawn to scale, and I’ve also got my preliminary bubble drawing that I’ve further refined and worked it into the space I have. A good way to do this is to overlay your scaled room drawing over your bubbles. Then you can redraw your bubbles, fitting them better in the space you’ve got to work with.

This was a difficult task for me. I have so many different things I want to accomplish in our space that it doesn’t all want to fit. It’s about juggling, shifting priorities and deciding if any of the functions I want to have happen can happen elsewhere in our house. If you look at the drawing below, I scaled down my bubbles to fit the space I’m working with and the dashed lines indicate major traffic paths. I already know I want to take one of the walls out (the one separating the ‘Design Studio’ from the Family area. I also know it’s a non-load bearing wall.

Please, please, please – do NOT remove any walls in your home until you consult with a professional. A structural engineer is the specialist you’ll want to consult if you are removing walls. Taking out a load bearing wall can cause the collapse of your house. I am NOT certified to make decisions on what wall can be removed.

Now that I’ve figured out my general layout, I can start working on my solution. Furniture layout, fixtures, finishes – all will come in to play soon.
Your homework this week is to make a list of all the things you have presently in the space. Identify what you’ll be reusing and if you plan on getting any new pieces. With the templates I’ve provided, draw your room to scale and start playing with the layout. Move the furniture around, play with your space.

A few important things to think about when laying out furnishings:
1.Access to power (for electronics, lighting)
2.Circulation space
3.Leaving adequate space between pieces of furnishings
4.Lighting
5.Views/lines of sight
6.Door/room openings (not blocking)
7.Mechanical considerations (cold air intakes, heat registers, radiators)
8.Swings – doors, appliances, etc

There are, of course, specific concerns relating to bathrooms and kitchens – drop me a line if you have any additional questions about those spaces. I’ll be tackling bathroom and kitchen design in upcoming We-Design-Day articles.

Next week, we’ll talk about budgets (and I’ll post the furniture templates)… I’ve kind of been putting the budget talk off as it’s the ‘un-fun’ side of design!

BDI Quarter Inch Graph