We-Design-Day: Thinking, rethinking and thinking again

Every so often I've experienced the 'doubt' and it does usually surround my own projects (for our home). The less residential work I do the more I doubt my ability to do residential work. For some bizzare reason, planning labs, offices and the like is far easier - perhaps because it is just one project of many. My home is mine and the choices I make impact a greater audience.

*sigh*

I did have 'the talk' with my Husband about budget and true to our usual dance, he said "What does the project need?" and I said "I knew you'd say that!" and I explained my desire to design a project to a budget and not budget to a design. This is causing me many mixed feelings because I want more than we can afford. But with our budget in mind, I'll be planning a project to fit.

This week has me finalizing (or trying to between play sessions with TroubleMaker) the measured plan of our basement as welln trying to find just the right solution. This morning, my husband and I sat around discussing his needs for his office and studio. He was able to further help me refine and define his needs. I've got a better understanding of just what he requires which does simplify a few things for me and what I need to squish into our family space.

I also need to take a careful look at the ceiling. Our ceilings downstairs are suspended with accoustical tiles. Not exactly a designer's dream but they are simple and easy to work with. We have a few wacky bulkheads to deal with. One of which I have no idea what purpose it serves. My plan is to take down some of the tiles and see if the one is actually necessary or if I could replace it during the renewal. I also need to improve the lighting in both what will be in my new sewing studio as well as in the library area. I'd like to improve the lighting in the family room as well, however, my main focus will be the area in which we work.

A photography studio has special lighting needs that generally aren't met by general room lighting. My husband has a series of soft boxes and hot lights that he uses for table top work (like the pictures he did here) as well as his portraiture (seen here). He does need good task lighting around his office space. Furthermore, we will be moving all the prop storage into his new studio and that area will require special lighting as well - likely I'll use unit mounted lighting to provide the best direct light so we can see what we're selecting.

Think about your space and the tasks you do. For my sewing studio, I already have incandescent fixtures mounted to my sewing table. These are postitionable so I can focus them on the task at hand (whether sewing a piece or threading a needle). I need more general lighting for cutting and the other crafts I do. We'll be having a work centre in the Sewing studio and I need to ensure adqueate lighting there as well. I have an issues with shadows and must think about those as well.

One of my first renovations was to our kitchen in our condo. I picked two halogen fixtures that had three positionable lights. They provided very decent light - except when I was standing at the counter doing anything! Because the light was so bright (and very hot, I might add) my body cast huge shadows and I was always turning and shifting to allow the light to get past me.

Here are some lighting basics.

The typical types of lights used vary with the application. There are fluorescent, halogen, LED, incandescent and compact fluorescents. My personal opinions aside, each light has an appropriate time and place. Think about the work you are doing and what you need for lighting to see. Think about the time of day that you will use the space and what (if any) access to natural light you have. Take the heat the lights give off into consideration - as I mentioned, halogens are HOT. They have a good light rendition but they generate a lot of heat! Fluorescents of old caused many problems for people (flickering) but the new ones are much better and there are even 'true' light bulbs that replicate day light.

I'm not 100% familiar with LEDs but I do know I personally have difficulty with them. I cannot see accurately with them and the light itself is muddy and I see flickering and fluttering when I look at them. My husband read recently that it may be caused in part because they only emit on certain wavelengths and our eyes see the full spectrum. I know the are environmentally friendly but my issue with them is, the colour rendition aside, is that if one light burns out on my string of Christmas lights, I must replace the entire string... And that's a green thing I can't wrap my head around.

Come really close and I'll tell you a secret... Compact fluorescents drive me nuts. First, the colour rendition is horrid. never, ever, ever try to pick a paint colour in the presence of a compact fluorescent! Second, they flicker like mad (to me). Third, they are STILL a fluorescent and contains mecury - which requires special disposal procedures.

Incandescents are the oldest and most commonly used light for residential applications. They are not eco-friendly but they do have a nice light (albeit a bit yellow). And they can be turned into some pretty cool crafts once they burn out!

I'd hope I'd have another download for you this week, but with all the holiday fun, I didn't get it printed out for this edition.

Have a great week and feel free to send me any lighting questions!

MPM#33 - An Appy New Year!

Before I get into my post, I must announce with a HUGE helping of pride, my husband's website. The majority of the images I post are taken by him via his company, Blackstone Images... Well, this Christmas our/my gift to him was his own website! It is very early and extremely preliminary but I'm just SO pleased to post a link to HIS site... Blackstone Images

Ahhh... Another Christmas has come and gone and our house was a hive of fun and activity! We had an excellent and even moderately relaxing Christmas. Santa answered TroubleMaker's request for a Race Car Game and we've all become very good at racing the little cars around the track at high speeds! His Gran made him some awesome new clothes and he's got more socks then me and his Dad put together!

We got the chance to visit with some family we don't see often at my Mom's on Boxing Day and I ate so much I had a tummy ache!

Presently, I don't feel much like eating so I'm quite glad I planned this menu weeks ago! We'll be playing it pretty casual around here this week. Between building new (train) layouts and racing cars, there won't be much time for cooking!

Enjoy your week and Happy New Year! We are doing our first "Appy" New Year - we're getting together with our friends and are all bringing 2 or 3 of our favourite appetizers to share!

December 27 to January 2

Monday Chicken Nuggets & FriesTurkey & Ham Sandwiches
Tuesday Assorted subs
Wednesday Spaghetti & Meatballs
Thursday Chicken Nuggets & fries
Friday An "Appy" New Year: Crock Pot Spinach dip plus 2 yet to be determined!
Saturday ??
Sunday Pork Roast with Brown Sugar Glaze

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!

Fun Sock Friday (The Christmas Eve Edition) – How to Make the Perfect Bow

It’s just after eight on Christmas eve morning. I’ve been a busy little elf so far this morning… Buns are rising, ham is in the crock and I’m stopping for a sip of juice before tackling the rest of my to do list.

Over the past week or two I’ve been working on my bow making skills. I must admit I have a bit of a ribbon addiction and I have rolls and reams and spools of ribbon just waiting to be made into something. I’ve bought the majority of it because I love the colour or the texture but some has been purchased because I knew it would make a perfect bow. Four and a half years ago when I got married, I thought I’d perfected my art of bow making but it’s been a long time and when I sat down to transform the lovely Christmas ribbon into bows, I couldn’t remember my tail from my nose (hahaha). So in my chair I sat, ribbon in one hand, wire in the other and thought… I twisted and trimmed, tried and retried and then it happened.

Now I realize that I likely did not “invent” this bow, with so many talented crafters and artisans before me, they likely happened on the recipe long before I did but this is my attempt and I hope you find it makes as splendid a bow as I did!

Materials:
Wired ribbon (I used 12’ (about 3 metres) of ribbon to make the bow illustrated)
Florists wire (24 gauge) on paddle
Scissors
Wire snips









Cutting your bow

1.Decide how big/full you want your bow













2.Snip this length, allowing ½ to 1” extra for overlap














3.Cut three of this length (illustration used 20” for this)
4.Cut two more – one inch (1”) shorter (2 @ 19”)
5.Cut one more – one inch (1”) shorter than the previous (18”)
6.Cut nosing – 4 to 7” (depends on how you wrap it)
7.Cut tails – decide on how much hang you want on one side, cut 2x (leave one long piece)

Putting it all together
1.Pick up first long loop, overlap and fold loop in half to mark centre point. Pinch centre point in with overlap (accordion the pinch).









2.Using florists wire, wrap 2x around pinch, pulling very snug to secure (DO NOT CUT WIRE)

3.Repeat step #1 with next 20” piece, place immediately below first wrapped loop and wrap 1x snuggly with wire






4.Repeat with final 20” piece and place below second wrapped loop and wrap 1x snuggly. Wrap all three loops once or twice and pull tight. DO NOT CUT WIRE





5.Pick up first medium loop (19” piece) and repeat step one. Lay this pinch atop the foundation bow layer. Wrap wire around 1x.






6.Repeat with second medium loop and wrap 2x around, pulling snuggly.





7.Pick up small loop piece (18” piece) and repeat step one. Lay this pinch atop the middle layer. Wrap 2x to secure.





8.Pick up tails and fold in half. Place below all loop and secure.






9.Cut about 8” of wire from florist wire paddle and set paddle aside.









10. Take nosing and loop around middle of bow. Leave it loose and overlap at back of bow.









Using wire, loop around and secure nosing. Form a loop in the wire and secure to itself (for the hanger)












11. Fluff up the bow and viola! The perfect bow!



I just love crafting and I’m so glad I have this to share with you!

A huge thank you to my photographer extraordinaire and fellow blogger for helping me with the photography for my first tutorial. I can tell you the hot lights are HOT but they made the pictures just pop. I love you and thank you!

**So excited to be sharing this with Blissful & Domestic and her Friday Linky Party!**

All images used with permission. All images copyright Blackstone Images

We-Design-Day: Money Talks

There is something funny about talking design budgets just days before Christmas… But budgets are important – whether it’s a redesign, a lipstick & eye shadow makeover or a new build we must all look at what we can afford versus what we wish we could afford.

I’ve worked on projects both ways – where we designed the budget around the project needs and where we had a set budget and we designed the project to fit. Of course, unlimited or ‘unset’ budgets are the best because you get to cover all the essentials and design the space as it’s really needed. The reality is, those projects don’t come around often (if at all) and it’s very easy to have champagne taste on a Kool-Aid budget.

One of the questions I get asked often is what should my budget be? There are of course all kinds of formulas that I could put out there but the essential thing to remember is to spend what you are comfortable with. I would never want to see a client stretch their budget to a point of being uncomfortable or have them later regret the money they put into their home because they spend 20 years paying it off. Conversely, you do often get what you pay for and if you spend $400 on a couch and it falls apart six months later, it wasn’t a good investment either.

Budgets often rely on scope. If you are doing a new build, you want to ensure your money is spent where the investment will be best realized. Windows, adequate insulation, good heating and cooling and quality construction are always essential. Next, decent appliances (if you cook) followed by floor coverings. Making sure the things that stay with your home are good quality will always help your resale. Window coverings are a good investment but one must always take resale (of a home) into account with any fixed furnishing. Spending thousands on window coverings will not see a return if you resell your home.

Life cycle costing is another area to look at. Spending $4000 on a sofa may seem extreme but if you have the sofa for 20 years and sit on it daily, that works out to $0.54 cents a day. Granted, very few things last 20 years and we all know the family with the wine coloured velour sofa with matching chair! That’s where style comes into play – if it costs $4000 but you don’t want to own it in 20 years, maybe it’s not worth the investment. Furthermore, from an environmental stand point, if we all owned our things for 20 years, our landfills wouldn't be so crowded! I like to reuse as many soft furnishings as possible. Slip covers; paint and other tricks can extend and revive the life of well worn pieces. If the mechanics are still good, new foam and fabric can revive a great sofa or chair. Recycling pieces and searching for used items can be a good idea too. It’s taste and style dependant and if you’re patient, you’re likely to find something fab at thrift stores too.

For our home renovations, I usually come up with a pretty detailed budget, go to Management (my husband) for approval and then begin the project. This time, with money tight, I’m going to set a budget first and design towards it. Or design within the confines of a strict budget – depending on how you look at it.

Electronic spread sheets can be a great tool for design projects. You can record purchases or preplan your budget and have it do the math for you. This helps you keep an exact tab on the spending and allows you to categorize purchases. Next week, I’ll share a template with you that you can use to track your project.

As promised, I’ve got a nice downloadable for you. I’ll release these in phases over the coming weeks (as they take time for me to make – if you’re hurried, you can download a DWF viewer and use a search engine to find more free AutoCAD blocks). This week, I’ve got kitchen and bathroom fixtures (sinks, tubs, etc). All scaled at ¼”=1’-0”. You can print on card stock and cut out. Then begin to work arrangements on the graph paper I shared last week.

Happy holidays and Merry Christmas! I’ll be back next We-design-day with more downloadable furniture blocks and my budget spreadsheet.

Kitchen & Bath Fixtures

MPM #32 - The Holiday Edition!

The countdown is on at our house – four more days of work for me and then CHRISTMAS! Now, I am a Christmas lover but since having TroubleMaker, Christmas has renewed meaning and has revived my faith in the holiday spirit. Seeing my son so very excited about everything festive has played a major role in my joy with the season. Hearing him holler from the backseat of the Jeep “KISSMISS LITES” and excitedly exclaim his joy at the snowman on the carton of eggnog, and enjoying his exuberant shouts of “Santa” at anything with a beard and a red hat.

He’s finally come to terms with the fact he is truly the only one in the house who wants a ‘new race car set’ and has reluctantly agreed that Mommy does not want a race car set and neither does Max (the dog) or Tsarina (the cat). And although Daddy may enjoy playing with his race car set, it’s unlikely that he really, really, really wants one too. His friend, “Narrow” does not want a race car set either although I’m not sure I’ve managed to convince TroubleMaker of that – how could a little boy his age want anything but?

Our house is getting more festive looking each day. Although I started decorating in late November, I’ve finally gotten around to putting the finishing touches on different things. I still need to figure out where I’m going to put the 10 extra sets of lights I’ve managed to accumulate over the past 2 years (I’ll blame Mommy brain – I have each year made a ‘rush’ to the store to buy more indoor lights for our upstairs tree – only to get home and realize I did the same thing the previous year and evidently, the year before that too)… I have; however, after all my years crafting, found the secret to the ‘perfect’ bow (I’ll make one tonight and take pictures and share on Fun Sock Friday).

I hope your home and family the warmest of Holiday Wishes and all the best for the coming New Year.

~”Use what talents you possess; the woods would be very silent if no birds sang except those that sang best.” Henry Van Dyke~

December20 to December 26

Monday Baked Potato & Leek Soup
Tuesday Gramma’s Homemade Macaroni & Cheese
Wednesday Shepherd’s Pie
Thursday Egg Wraps
Friday Mom’s Crock Pot Ham, Gramma’s Buns, assorted cheeses, pickles & olives
Saturday Turkey breast roast, Vegetarian Stuffing, Broccoli & Cauliflower w/ cheese sauce, mashed potatoes & gravy
Sunday at my Mom’s for Boxing Day Family Dinner

Breakfasts

Cereal, toast, bagels, muffins, Pancakes, Bacon & Eggs, Gingerbread Waffles

For more great menu planning ideas and resources, check out the Org Junkie’s Menu Plan Monday – Holiday Edition!

PS Ok... So it's Tuesday but I meant well!

Gingerbread Waffles
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ginger
1/3 cup shortening
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup molasses
1 egg unbeaten
1 cup sour milk

Stir together flour, soda, salt & spices. Cream shortening and sugar; gradually blend in molasses. Stir in 1/2 cup dry ingredients. Beat in egg. Alternately add remaining dry ingredients and milk. Bake in waffle iron at low heat. Makes 20 portions.

Vegetarian StuffingLacto-Ovo
1/4 cup margarine
1-1/2 cup chopped onion
1-1/2 cup chopped celery
1 tsp sage
1/2 tsp thyme
2 tsp veggie or Chicken boullion
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
16 slices bread, cubed
1/2 cup water

Heat margarine in pan. Add onioins & celery. Saute until softened. Mix in next 5 ingredients. Turn into large bowl (making sure to get all the marg). Add cubed bread and water. Stir until well combined. Cook in a casserole dish at 325 for an hour or so to let flavours blend. Can also be done in crock pot - cook on low for 3 hours or so

Gramma's Buns
2 tbsp yeast
2/3 cups sugar
1/2 cup lard
3 eggs
2 cups water
3-4 cups flour

Add enough flour to make a stiff dough. Rise once, punch down & let rise. Make walnut sized buns and let rise. Bake @ 375 F for 15 minutes.

Fun Sock Friday – let’s start a revolution

I’m certain you’re asking yourself “what the heck is fun sock Friday?” – Well, it’s a new things I want to try here at Barefoot Deliberations and was inspired by a memory (of mine) brought forth from a conversation with a new coworker.

Let me tell you the story of me and Fun Socks.

Many, many years ago, like most young adults starting out own their own, I didn’t have much. I worked in a warehouse picking and packing orders. It was grubby work and the ‘dress code’ was stuff you didn’t mind getting dirty. Since I’ve never been much of a clothes horse, I had very little to wear. I started having to wear my boyfriend’s “hand-me-downs” – old sweat pants and t-shirts. However, I always went barefoot (in my shoes) and owned no socks. This job required socks and closed shoes because of the risk of injury from falling objects. I did have a pair of shoes but no socks… So I had to wear HIS socks. And I wore them until we separated three or four years later.

And then I was single and my sock fixation started. Within a week of separating, I owned seven new pairs of socks. By the first month, I owned nearly 20 pairs of socks. Primarily, they were just plain socks but I started seeing some cute ‘fun socks’. With prints and animals and stripes…

When I met my husband, he was horrified that I ever wore my ex’s clothes and so started the tradition of sock giving… Every Christmas since we started dating there have been socks under the tree for me.

Warm socks, striped socks, printed socks, argyle socks, camping socks, summer socks, fuzzy socks and pom-pom socks. Socks of every colour, material and style have graced my sock drawer in the past 12 years and I’ve loved and worn every pair.

But I’m a professional now and for the past 8 years, my primary sock of choice has been plain black trouser socks and the pretty Christmas and ‘just because’ socks sit unworn and unloved. Then one Friday morning it happened… I had no clean black socks to wear to the office. The only pair of Fun Socks that I had that was even close to work worthy was a pair of striped ‘jail’ socks my sister had brought back from Alcatraz. I got to work and of course, everyone noticed my very noticeable socks and I said it was Fun Sock Friday and so my tradition of wearing Fun socks on Friday’s began. I tried to start a revolution and get everyone I knew to wear Fun Socks on Friday but like the pet rock, after a couple of weeks, I was the only one who wore them.

Meek and sheepish, I backed off too and decided that the month of December would be my Fun Sock Friday time and I’d wear my ever-growing collection of Christmas socks.

Fast forward through a wedding, a baby and a new job and a conversation last week with my coworker and I decided to revive Fun Sock Friday... But in a slightly different forum (and form, I suppose).

I know we all have something – be it socks, electronics, singing ornaments, or a closet full of beads that we want to share with the world. I want Fun Sock Friday to be a potpourri of things you love. I know this is vague and nondescript and I’m sure we’ll refine as we go along but let’s play!

This is new and as far as I know, original. Share here and spread the fun but please don’t host your own Fun Sock Friday.

Fun Sock – the Guidelines
1.Fun Sock Friday is about sharing. Posts should be original, posted on Friday’s and mention your participation in your post. I’ll try my best to ensure my post and the linky are up by 9am Mountain.
2.Share something you love – craft, photo, person, song, collection – it can be anything but it should be something done by you because you love doing it!
3.Posts should be “G” rated and family oriented– no adult content or graphic images, please.

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