THE EVOLUTION OF OUR DECK - PART ONE

 THE SNUG

When my parents built their final home it included a back porch open on two sides to the backyard. It completed the perfect rectangular footprint of the house. It was nothing more than an elevated slab and corner post to support the roof.  As simple as it was it was my Mom’s secret indulgence. I don’t know that she ever explained it to my father. It was her insistence which lot she wanted to build on. The subdivision was very new.

When they bought there was only a cul-de-sac and the beginnings of three or four streets. At the time our street was barely a block long before it dead-ended and drifted off into farmland that would eventually be developed with a paved road and sewer and electrical lines.

Mom’s lot choice would command a view all the way across the lower part of the development to the lake and then to Madison’s most famous piece of architecture, the capital. She loved that view, a view she could see from the covered open porch at the back of the house. 

After my brother opened his first stained glass studio she would have him install a large picture window with leaded glass panels in what was our family room so she could also enjoy the picture of the city from inside the house when winter made it impossible to sit on the porch and enjoy her favorite view. 

Eventually, as the neighborhood continued to expand with new home construction the lot behind our house was purchased and a modern two-story home was built cutting off most of her view of the capital. She never stopped regretting the loss of her view. 

Eventually my parents enclosed the porch turning it into a three season, well in Wisconsin more like a two season, sitting room. Windows were added, the walls and ceiling were clad with bead board paneling. Wall-to-wall carpet was laid down over the concrete slab. It was sweet but drafty with leaks and some rot occurring over the years. 

After tackling the basement our next task was now focused on fixing the sitting room. Back at our country house in the Catskills our living room was divided by an arch into two areas: the larger was the gathering/entertaining area while the other was more intimate, cozy with a fireplace and where we sat to read a book or watch the snow through its picture window. Our British friend Adam titled it our snug in reference to a small sitting room or den. The name stuck and has now carried over to our home in Wisconsin.

The first thing was to tighten all the leaks with all new windows and new sliding door. While replacing the window and sliding door on the back wall we discovered the wall was pretty much rotted out.

We needed to replace the entire wall. An unexpected expense but then again what reno doesn’t come with unexpected expenses.

Next we had added a  wall of bookcases and surrounded the space with a lower set of bookcase and additional shelving above the windows for storing our book collection and to Rick’s chagrin my obsession with collecting globes and string balls and globes and marble busts and more globes…

The floor was going to be our biggest question mark. Re-carpeting would only be another trap for mold. During the snow months or the mud months or the rainy days of summer, well just about anytime, one of us or the pups was going to be tracking mud over the snug’s floor. As much as we tried to teach the dogs to wipe their feet before coming in it was an impossible task.

Our solution was to repair all cracks and resurface the floor and finally paint it with an epoxy paint. It still gets muddy put so far nothing that a mop can’t take care of.

Every day lounging on the chaise and reading a book or writing another blog entry I can take a moment and admire the new view outside the snug. What we created is fodder for a few more blog posts.

DESIGN TIP: WHAT TO LOOK FOR WHEN LIGHTING A ROOM

 SEE THE LIGHT

For me personally lighting is everything in a well-designed room.  Relying strictly on a single overhead light source is glaring and harsh and relegating some of the room to darkness.

Scattered pools of light provided by lamps is a far more comfortable and frankly flattering way to light a room. So have plenty of lamps in the room to control brightness and darkness.

Also, over a dining table a pendant on a dimmer is usually best. 

IN-FLOOR HEATING PROS; WELL MOSTLY CONS

 WE ARE NOT IMMUNE TO MAKING A MISTAKE

Most "how-to "blog posts are a testament to successes big and small. They are conceived out of a passion for the writer to impart pearls of wisdom hopefully to either make your life easier or at the least more interesting. If that's what you thought this blog was going to be stop now or be prepared to be disappointed.

Just prior to the quarantine we signed a contract with a local contractor to do some fairly major work on our home. Then when Covid hit we were stuck having to move forward having signed a contract and paid a bulk of the upfront money with no way to really back out. We decided to go for it with a set of Covid rules: mask always, try to keep the six foot distance, disinfect all surfaces and say a little prayer at the beginning of each day. Luckily we had a contractor with the same set of rules.

We decided to put the downstairs renovations as the first item on our list. We had basically turned our lower level into an apartment for our daughter but ever since we relegated her to the basement she seemed to be constantly plagued with a runny nose and a scratchy throat. Turns out the heating system my parents had installed in the basement when they built the house and before they converted it from an unfinished basement to a family room/fourth bedroom and bath was to install that system's venting in the concrete floor. When the system was on it blew heat up into the room from below along with god knows what else because when it was off it became a trap for dust, dirt and a good bit of mold. After forty years of accumulation it was what we found out to be the cause of Emmy's constant cold.

We started by having the carpeting ripped out

and then we had the old system sucked out and sealed but that was going to mean we were going to be somewhat heatless down under with the only warmth coming from the heat radiating from the floor above. After minutes of research we decided to redo the entire lower level with an in-floor heating system divided into zones and overlaid with ceramic tile.

Previously when we redid the bathroom we had a similar system installed. It worked perfectly inside the small contained bathroom toasting up the floor on those cold Wisconsin winter mornings. Our daughter being somewhat of a polar bear didn't mind that the rest of space was relatively unheated. We were able to install this forty square foot system for a fairly modest fee. The cost of doing the family room, bedroom and bar was not going fall into the modest category. It was not going to be something to sneeze at but with Rick's southern sensitivity to any temperature below Caribbean it seemed like a worthwhile expenditure.

Now after having sealed off the old system and with a bare concrete floor staring at us and our contractor it was time to bring in a heating specialist to begin the task of adding the in-floor heating system. We had dreams of heated slipper less feet floating off to the laundry room unfazed by the previous cold of before.

The process is complicated beginning with leveling off the concrete floor. Once that was completed the padding is laid and then the coils are put down.

All of this needs to be wired and connected to a set of thermostatic controls and each of these steps needs to be inspected after which reports need to be filed for quality and insurance purposes.

Once all the inspections and guarantee information had been submitted and approved the new tile floor could be laid and the heating system controls could be calibrated, set and turned on. Toasty feet ensued.  Rick was a happy boy until the gas and electric bills started coming in.  We, of course, thought there must have been some sort of a mistake. As part of our neighbor's job, who works in the billing department for the local gas and electric provider, he was responsible for highlighting spikes in charges and we were one of the customers he flagged. We had skyrocketed.

What the heating system company had failed to tell us was that a floor heating system is no substitute for general heating system and will automatically begin trying to heat the slab it was laid on. Our contractor, the floor heating company and the inspector's all knew we had closed off our previous in floor system but none of them warned us that the new system was not meant as replacement heating system but only as means of giving us a toasty path to walk on provided the room was already being heated by another system. 

We've gone through negotiations with all of the people involved but all we've received is a series of people throwing their hands in the air and pointing their fingers at everyone else. 

The system remains turned off. We are now debating our options. Lesson learned. No matter how much you think you know; you just don't know it all.

DESIGN TIP: WHEN AND WHERE TO USE A RUG

CARPETING AND RUGS

Okay, perhaps this is a bit personal but I have a real philosophy about carpets and area rugs. (Oh, so now he's a philosopher) Yes. I use area rugs over hardwood or hard surface floors to help define areas and yes, here size definitely matters. Furniture should comfortably fit on your rug.

If it doesn't fit entirely on the rug with some room to breath, it should at least sit partially on the area rug. Grouping furniture around a too small area rug where none of the furniture is positioned on it just looks like you were unable to afford the right sized rug.

I am not a fan of wall-to-wall carpeting but I do allow some forgiveness when it's used in a bedroom if the client is elderly or impaired and fearful of tripping or falling on an area rug, or if there's a cultural reason. 

Another pet-peeve - carpets, fiber carpets underneath a dining table is a real no-no for me. Consider hygiene. A high-end mat that is cleanable or an artistically painted floorcloth can be stunning alternative. Another option is a large mat such as Chilewich or one of the new washable rugs.

 

DESIGN TIP: READ THE ROOM

 HOW TO NEGOTIATE SPACE

As in art so in interior design scale is important.

A small room crammed with oversized furniture and accessories not only reads wrong, it feels wrong.

Remember you not only sit, dine or sleep in a room but you must enter it and traverse it comfortably.

Likewise a large room spread out with diminutive furniture can make you feel a bit like Gulliver in Lilliput. 

Sometimes all it takes is a little reorganization and space planning to make a room feel full and comfortable.

DESIGN PROBLEM SOLVING

PASSING THE TEST

When a client's requirement for landing their project includes taking a test and passing it you know you've come up against a client that's done their homework. A recent client had purchased a pied-a-terre on the upper Westside and as a way of deciding on a designer they gave each prospective designer the problem they needed solved. What they had purchased was a converted condo that had been reconfigured from a three-bedroom unit into a two-bedroom with a new open plan kitchen and family room and a large great room. Their problem was their children. Both of their children were grown but would be coming to visit on holidays and vacations. Their older daughter was now engaged and their younger daughter was a single recent college grad. When they all came to visit they were worried about the younger daughter getting short-changed with sleeping arrangements and this is the problem they asked us to solve.

Our solution was to take the great room, a long narrow space, and visually divide it using rugs and furniture into three distinct conversation areas one of which we suggested doubling as a sleeping area when that extra bedroom space was needed.

Part of the solution was already built in. The west wall of the great room included built-in storage that could be used as a place to store luggage and provide hidden closet space.

The bigger part of the solution was how to allow the space to function as a great room but when needed to convert into a sleeping area with as much privacy as possible. In the area furthest to the south end of the great room we proposed incorporating a sleeper sofa. The sleeper sofa would back up against a console that separated it from the central conversation area. 

Here's what we did. Along with our manufacturing team we designed the console incorporating a top that lifted up.

Once lifted it revealed a panel with the same wall covering used in the entryway. This tied together the great room and the entry while providing a temporary divider and creating a separate bedroom. 

At the same time this created a separate bedroom. while allowing a . This allowed it could become a temporary divider when raised creating a separate bedroom in the great room.

The concept worked and we won the job. Now with everything installed their daughter doesn't feel like a fifth wheel and the client loves the solution.

Design is constantly a task of solving problems with well thought out and stylish results.

DESIGN DO's & DON'Ts - PILLOWS

 PILLOWS, PILLOWS, PILLOWS

Okay, I have a pet peeve, okay I have a number of them. Too many pillows on a sofa, chair or bed drive me absolutely crazy!

Providing a few pillows for yourself or guests to sit forward on a sofa or chair allowing their feet to touch the floor is not only good but hospitable.  However having so many pillows for someone tall or long legged is maddening! And frankly they take up all the seating.

One more thing, I don't care what you see on DIY television shows never, and I mean NEVER "karate chop" your pillows; it's an amateur move