MPM # 31 - To Grandmother's House We Went!

Since the late 90's, my sister and I have made the trek out to our Mother's for an "Annual" Bake-a-thon. Usually, we do it in late November or early December and at various times through the years, others have joined us, but more often than not, it's just the two of us with Mom baking up a storm. My sister is in charge of chocolate making - a craft we started doing waaaaay back in the early 80's. My sister has carried on the tradition as although she's probably one of the most impatient people I know, she's the only one with enough patience to hand paint chocolate inside the molds. I usually take one too many things on and get frustrated and a headache and my Mom always, always makes butter tarts. My sister and I have added our own little helpers to the mix and our nephews have participated a couple of times too.


I usually cook up a Christmas craft for us to do and we always find time for a game of Scrabble.


This year, however, my sister and I aren't baking at all and the butter tarts aren't getting made. Don't worry - Mom is still alive - none of us have the motivation or bother to bake. We all work too much and don't get enough time to spend together. So Grammy is baking up a storm with two of her grandkids (TroubleMaker and my niece, TroubleInventor - who are actually now sitting in the living room reading a book together) - although all the baked goods are prepackaged cookies and squares, they are still having fun.

I'm sitting at Mom's kitchen table writing on my laptop








and my sister, bless her new found patience, is HAND writing one of her stories.







Mom is cursing her 30 year old oven that only seems to be problematic when we're home visiting and the "Helpers" are sitting in the living room reading stories.

I think Santa (and our husbands) will forgive us this once...

Here is my Menu Plan for the week... It's been a bit troublesome putting it together - no idea what I feel like making (I'm a little overdosed on cookies)... A few of the recipes I'm going to make up as I go along so I'll come back and post them (update to this post) once we've eaten them.

December 13 to December 19

Monday Hamburger Rice ScrambleHamburger Hash
Tuesday Egg Salad Sandwiches
Wednesday Chicken breasts w/ Twice Cooked Garlic Potatoes
Thursday Crock Pot Stew
Friday Tacos/taco salad
Saturday ???
Sunday Ham & Scalloped Potatoes

Breakfasts
Cereal, toast, bagels, muffins, Pancakes, Bacon & Eggs

For more great menu planning ideas and resources, check out the Org Junkie's Menu Plan Monday!

Hamburger Hash
1 lb lean ground beef (frozen or thawed)
1 rib celery, diced
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced
1 can mushrooms
1/2 green pepper, diced
1/2 red pepper, diced
1-2 gloved garlic, mined
1/4 onion, diced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 cup sour cream
2 tbsp flour
1 cup beef bouillon (or water)
salt, pepper, parsley, oregano, paprika

-In a large frying pan, cook ground beef. If frozen, add 1 cup of water or beef broth, cover and cook until broken apart and nearly done. Do NOT drain
-Add all vegetables (including canned tomatoes & their juices) and a good sprinkling of salt & pepper. Add 1 to 2 tsp parsley, 1 tsp oregano and about 1 tsp of paprika.
-Simmer until carrots are tender.
-Combine sour cream and flour in a bowl until well combined. Add several tablespoons of 'sauce' from frying pan to sour cream mixture. Then dump all back into frying pan, lower heat and simmer until thickened.
-Serve with rice or egg noodles.
Note: this was very tasty for a 'toss together' dish. My Husband thought it would be better suited served with egg noodles. TroubleMaker and his friend (who was over for dinner) ate very well and said it was "REAL GOOOOD!" You could add more onions but I cut way back because it was our dog's birthday and he got a good helping of it on his kibble (and onions are BAD for dogs). Enjoy!

We-Design-Day: Getting Down to Business!

I hope you found the interview sheet helpful in mapping out an idea of where you are hoping to take your project. It can be difficult to put into context what you want to see. It’s very easy to get hypnotized by pretty rooms in pages of magazines or on the design shows on TV. A lot of what we’re working through goes on behind the scenes on those shows too and design is often a work in progress, built through layers of sketch-trace, napkins, and scraps of paper. Window dressings and paint colours play a role but understanding the function of the space is important because it will ensure that it all works together as a space – and that it’s not just a collection of pretty vases and floral balloon valances.

Many of the things you read (on line and in print) will suggest you get design magazines and put together a collage of your design style – this works if you understand that you will likely not end up with that room. That exercise serves the function of finding out what you like (and what you don’t). It helps you find out if you are a modern contemporary or if you’re more a traditional Victorian (or any of the other styles out there). One thing I’ve learned over the years is that those magazine photos are carefully and deliberately orchestrated – ever notice that there are never any cords or light switches visible? The light is always perfect and never dark (or too bright). I liken them to the magazine ads of the “top models” – never a blemish or a line or dimpled thigh – rooms, like models, are perfected before being put to print. Unless you have studio lighting and a degree in photo-retouching, our rooms won’t function like that.

Budget also does a long way in dictating our design style. I’ve worked on million dollar (office) projects that put in bottom line systems furniture because there was no money left after the glass curtain wall was installed and the premium mechanical system put in place. Why? Because the interior environment doesn’t always get the credit it deserves. The function of an interior space is as important as the envelope of the building but if your house leaks heat from the windows, are you more likely to spend $2000 on a sofa or put the money towards new windows?

Write your goal:

Create and open and inviting family space that is comfortable, flexible and that promotes creativity.

That sounds simple, doesn’t it?

Since we are embarking on the season of wishes and lists, we are going to chill out from the rigid design guidelines and dream a little dream… Get a blank sheet of paper or a cool ruled sticky note. List on it all the things you want in your space – this is your design room wish list – list everything you want to see in your space and within reason, place budget concerns aside. This is a wish list; we’ll deal with the practicality of white carpet with a toddler later!


















Now get another blank piece of paper and with your room in mind, let’s draw some circles that represent the zoning. Zoning is a word used when you section off a space. Here is a look at mine – I’ve taken all the areas we need (and want) in our space and allotted a certain size bubble for each one. These are not to scale – we’ll refine them next week. Right now, we are just conceptualizing the space. Each bubble, although not to scale, should represent a realistic amount of space – meaning that if your largest activity in your kitchen is dining, the bubble needs to be in proportion to the smallest task.



In my bubble, you can see the "family/play" space takes up the largest amount of space as it will be the primary function of the area. Next week, we'll look at refining it.






This week, you'll need to do some homework! Get another blank piece of paper and start measuring up your room. Draw the basic shape first and then measure the walls. Depending on how detailed you want to get, we can do scaled drawings too - this will help with furniture arrangement.

If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an email! See you next week.

We-Design-Day: Program your Space!

How did your interview go? Were you a helpful homeowner or did you find yourself less than forthcoming? It’s hard to know what you want and whether what you want is attainable. All sorts of thoughts have to go into the discussion when you are the designer and the client and often, there is a lot of second guessing!

I’ve been doing this design thing for years and although my clients often have an idea of what they want, I help think of the things they don’t see (life & safety, building code issues) and help flush out ideas and guide things along (and often, I know what questions to ask). It’s easy for me to say “I want to put up a wall here and build a custom shelving unit.” Because I’ve taken woodworking courses and detailing courses so I do know how to both draft the plans and build the piece. I know heights and proper dimensions and the necessary clearances for hallways and how far your table should be from the wall.

Whether or not your interview went well, let’s work together to see if we can get a few more ideas on paper. I’ve used a myriad of different styles of documents throughout my career to capture these details. More often than not, I end up just taking notes while meeting with the client, jotting down things they say or wishes they express. This morning, in fact, I was out on a job for my ‘day job’. I just took a piece of paper and listed the key points they mentioned. It’s hurried and fast and I’m likely the only one who could read it but I know (usually) what I meant!

I know what to ask (and I learn more each day) and I want to share with you so you too can figure out what you want. Before we get into colour or finishes or even drawing the space, let’s take a look at some basic questions you can ask yourself. Feel free to download and use this document – but please, don’t use it or alter if for your own commercial use. It is property of my company and was developed by me and is shared with the understanding it’s only for your personal use. Thanks!

Residential Client Interview Worksheet

Once you've filled out the interview sheet, you've got the start of your program! Add to that any information you shared with yourself last week and we can get going on starting the analyzing and formulating some preliminary design work based on the information we've gathered!

MPM #30

Holy cow, it's November 29th! Can you believe that? Where did November go?!

This past week was good, except TroubleMaker was quite sick for most of it! Although I am glad I was able to take time off to stay home and take care of him (and nurse my cold back to normal). Our menu changed just a little bit as Saturday night I went for dinner with my super fantastic "other" Mother (aka Mom #2, aka the Woman who finally tamed my Dad). ;-) After the dinner, we attended Bedouin Bedlam and OMG, if I wasn't already totally addicted to my belly dancing class, I would be now and I'm wondering how I can sign up for MORE classes!! What a fantastic evening of dance!

The menu highlight from last week was the Bacon Cheeseburger Roll Ups and after a rather yummy lunch out with my Husband and TroubleMaker on Thursday, we bumped the menu around and I didn't try the Italian Chicken (if you did, let me know how it was). This week is all about yummy Winter comfort food... Enjoy!

November 29 to December 5

Monday Meat loaf with oven potatoes
Tuesday Bacon & cheese scrambled eggs on toast
Wednesday Crock pot Beef stew w/ biscuits
Thursday Chicken & Mushroom Linguine
Friday Tacos/taco salad
Saturday Pizza Party!
Sunday Crock pot meatballs on Spatchel

Breakfasts
Cereal, toast, bagels, muffins, Pancakes, Bacon & Eggs


For more great ideas, recipes and lots of links, check out the Org Junkie's Menu Plan Monday. Have a super week and see you next week!

We-Design-Day - Interview Yourself!

After our brief look at the History of Design on last week’s We-Design-Day, I’m anxious and really excited to work through the ‘process’ and get into construction phase of my project! But I know I have to slow down, plan carefully and prepare. The easiest way for a project to go off the rails is to get too ahead of one’s self and get lost in the excitement. It may seem long and labourious to work through and understand the steps but after we get through this project, the next one will fly by!

Since I’ve been doing what I do for several years, the process is pretty much automatic but as I decided to revise our original renovation plan to accommodate the numerous lifestyle changes we’ve had, I decided to go back to the beginning so I can share, explain and work through the design process step by step. This shouldn’t be taken as an exhaustive lesson – it’s just my understanding and observances of the process I use.

During my training, I learned a two phase, eight step approach – this isn’t necessarily the way all designers work but it is the method I know and have employed on the majority of my projects.

We’ll start by looking at “Phase One – Analysis”. The four steps noted in the above diagram are pretty simple; this phase is the programming and planning. It is all about learning the (design) problem, understanding the problem, defining the scope and establishing the parameters (of the project).

As I worked on this week’s edition, I contemplated the value of describing each of the steps mentioned above and then working through them… but since there are a myriad of good texts on the subject and a wealth of information already on the Internet; I decided to just work on the process here. If you’d like additional information, let me know as I’ve got some information written that I’d be happy to share.

When a person decides to make a change, it is obvious to them why. They are tired of the look, the function of the space doesn’t suit the present need or perhaps their family has changed and they need more space.

About five years ago, I started looking at making changes to the family room in our basement. I know I had floor plans and a preliminary budget and even had a mock-up of the colour boards but because it was so long ago our needs have changed.

We’ve gotten married, had a baby and my husband has changed careers. So many changes to our lives and our lifestyle make our initial plans out of date with our current needs! So I need to step back and reevaluate my plan. I’ve found that although I can do charts and checklists and matrices in my initial programming, one of the most effective tools I’ve ever used to tour the space with the homeowner (in the case of a residential project) or sit in a meeting room and discuss plans, ideas and ‘wish lists’ with commercial clients (and of course, tour a space if it’s a renovation). Spending ten minutes listening to someone can tell you an awful lot about a person and how they use and see a space.

So I ‘toured’ my basement with me, the homeowner. Below is that conversation…

“This is our basement – excuse the mess… it’s usually a little tidier!” I bend over to pick up a kid’s sock, a toy car and a piece of wooden train track. All of which I toss into a red plastic toy bin. “Ugh – the carpet, sorry – it’s a bad combination to have kids and carpet!” I look at design me and shrug. “This is the main space and this is the only TV in the house. We spend the majority of our time down here – watching TV, listening to music, playing with our son.”

”Is it just the three of you?” Design me asks.

“And our dog, of course! My Mom comes in every so often and my mother in law stays over at Christmas.”

”Do you have parties or entertain?”

“Oh no. Not really. Kids birthday parties, Christmas dinners and we hosted our wedding reception down here!”

”Wow!

“We play darts and a have a few drinks too – we’d like the area to be multi-use and heavy on the kid friendly. It has to be flexible too. Comfy for relaxing and pretty casual. Our cat breaks anything she can knock over. If you look in here, this is presently my husband’s office. He works from home and does all his photo editing and such here. As you can see, it’s full with his equipment and we’d like to move him to my office across the way and make this room part of the main room with my sewing and design studio and a family computer area.” I’d lead Design Me across the small hallway and open the door to my current office.

“This will hopefully be my husband’s new office space and table top photo studio. Oh – we also need to accommodate the odd photo shoot in the family room too… And we need prop storage. His main computer will be in here too. We also have a queen size inflatable bed we set up for guests as this room currently also doubles as a guest room.”

”Would you consider dual purpose furniture?”

“Uhm… Ideally, no – most of it is junk that breaks down after too few uses!”

***********

So in just a few minutes, I’ve gleaned the following:

Multi-use
Kid friendly
Entertaining/games space
Toy storage
Sewing area/storage
Quiet office/small scale studio
Spare room/guest space

From the tour, I’ve also noted that the family has a lot of books and CD’s – all presently well stored but deconstructing the space will require a relocation of the books. They also have several guitars and an electronic piano – I’d ask more about both and how the family sees them in the space.

The thing I have learned in my years in the business is that for most renovation projects, the homeowners (or store/business owners) have a good idea of what they want but often lack the ability or even the desire to pull it all together and they second guess their choices and decisions. No one really knows how a space is used then those who interact with it daily. A designer can look at the space objectively as they have no attachment or preexisting ideas of how the space should be used. Pairing an open eye with the intimate knowledge the homeowners bring, often work very well in creating a well planned space that will fulfill the needs and goals of the client.

A designer can also bring a sense of reality to a project. From a home owner’s perspective, I want to pack in a whole bunch of stuff in what is really a fairly small and already defined space – more than the space can realistically handle. Adding too much will cause confusion, clutter and will not bring the relaxing environment the ‘client’ wants. This, I already know, is an answer I don’t want to hear – I want everything packed in, but it won’t work and I’ve been arguing with myself about it for too many years now.

So, take a tour of your space and see what you learn. Be “you” the homeowner and “you” the designer and see what your space tells you.

Next week, we’ll look at starting to sort out what you’ve learned and developing the program.

A Life of Daydreams

While perusing the blogs over at The Organic Sister’s Inspiration Monday, this post got me thinking about how I’m just wading along in the water, waiting for my life to start happening. Like Cynthia at A Life Profound, I’m very tethered to reality and the obligations that I must uphold for my family, my son, and to keep my place in the world. But every single day, I dream. If I didn’t have my day dreams, I’m not sure how I could survive.

I day dream continually throughout my waking day – dreaming about all the things I can do when I get home, the writing I can do at my lunch hour and coffee breaks at work. I dream about our RV and camping. I dream about the aspirations and desires I have to start my own home-based business and how I have loftier ambitions to get back to designing with Blue Door Interiors (my design company).

I see inspiration here and wonder how I can make such beautiful art. I see my friend creating his own Graphic Novel and am inspired by his talent and his drive. I see my own husband’s beautiful photography and wish that he had time to do more.

I wish I had more time to do more baking of delectable treats with TroubleMaker. I wish I was more organized and that my house was tidier.

But then while surfing channels last night, TroubleMaker and I came across this and I got a face full of perspective and as my son swayed to the beat and tried to sing along, I realized I am here, I am alive - and so is my son. And we can continue to dream and plan...

And that, my friends, was the truest inspiration of my week.

MPM # 28

What a good week. I think I've 'invented' the best soup in the world - I tossed a bunch of stuff into a pot (as I usually do) to make my Minestrone and this week my friends, I hit the mark and I wrote it down!

Reviewing our menu this week, I 'chickened' out (hahahaha) and didn't make the Angel Chicken but we did try Beef with Snow Peas and it was good but do try the sodium reduced soy sauce as it was very salty (and I used none of the extra salt called for). We also decided we'd pair it with spring rolls and plum sauce to compliment the salty. Saturday night I went all out and made Ginger Beef, sweet & sour ribs and fried rice!

November 22 to 28

Monday Bacon Cheeseburger Roll Ups
Tuesday Fettuccine Alfredo with ham
Wednesday BBQ Beef Sandwiches
Thursday Chicken nuggets & fries
Friday Chicken Salad Sandwiches
Saturday KD & fishsticks
Sunday Italian Chicken (Slow Cooker)

Breakfasts
Cereal, toast, bagels, muffins, Pancakes, Bacon & Eggs

Fettuccine Alfredo
1/2 cup margarine
1/2 cup milk (or cream)
3/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper

Melt margarine and cream over low heat. Once melted add salt and pepper and then cheese. Heat well but do not boil. Serve over freshly cooked fettuccine noodles.

Italian Chicken
3 med chicken breasts, boneless & skinless, cut in half
1-15oz can pinto beans, rinsed and drained
1- 14oz can diced tomatoes with basil, garlic and oregano
1-9oz package frozen artichoke hearts
1 can sliced mushrooms
1 package vegetable soup mix
1 can cream of chicken soup
1/3 cup Italian salad dressing

1. Combine beans, tomatoes, artichoke hearts, mushrooms and soup mix in a large slow cooker. Place chicken on top. Stir together condensed soup and Italian dressing, pour over chicken, spreading evenly.
2. Cover; cook on low heat setting 5 to 5.5 hours. Transfer chicken to serving plates using tongs or slotted spook. Stir artichoke mixture in cooker, spoon over chicken on plates. Makes 8 servings.
Original recipe from Better Homes & Garden's Special Interest Publication Slow Cooker Favourites 2008

Ginger Beef
From the Best of Bridge: Grand Slam
1 lb. flank steak
2 eggs, beaten
3/4 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup water
vegetable oil
2/3 cup grated carrots
2 Tbsp. chopped green onion (or more to taste)
4 Tbsp.(1/4 cup) minced ginger root (or more)
4 cloves garlic, minced
3 Tbsp. soy sauce
2 Tbsp. cooking wine – Chinese rice wine or dry sherry
2 Tbsp. white vinegar
1 Tbsp. sesame oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp hot chili oil or crushed red chili flakes

Slice steak while partially frozen into narrow strips. Mix beef and eggs. Dissolve cornstarch in water and mix with beef. Pour ample oil in wok. Heat to boiling hot, but not smoking. Add beef to oil, 1/4 at a time. Separate with a fork (or chopsticks if you’re talented) and cook, stirring frequently until crispy. Remove, drain and set aside. (This much can be done in advance)
Put 1 Tbsp. oil in wok. Add carrots, onion, ginger and garlic and stir fry over high heat. Add remaining ingredients and bring to a boil.

Sweet & Sour Spare Ribs
2 racks of short spare ribs
1/2 cup flour
1.5 cups brown sugar
1.5 cups vinegar
3 cups water

Combine flour, brown sugar, vinegar and water. Whisk to combine. Slice ribs into small individual pieces. Toss in sauce. Cook at 325 F for 2 to 3 hours until meat is done and receded from Bone. Can be halved and freezes well.


For more great ideas, recipes and lots of links, check out the Org Junkie's Menu Plan Monday. Have a super week and see you next week!