The Pause That Refreshes

Back in November of 2010 a number of things in my life conspired to make me decide to put some effort into blogging.  I increased the number of posts per week I wrote, I reached out to the design and blogging community for guest posters and was able to write a few guest posts myself.  I've met some great people, learned a lot, and hopefully inspired my reader along the way.

I write this blog mostly alone, and after 18 months I need a break.  I'm not stopping ... too many things to wrote about to do that.  But it's time I focussed on a huge pile of work I have in front of me, spend more time with my family, and head up to the lake with my smokers more often.

So the posts will be less frequent, but I hope what I do write will make up in quality what I lack in quantity.

Sleek Vessels for the Bathroom

Bathroom vanities from the cabinet industry are, for lack of a better word, "bulky."  Since I work with a cabinet manufacturer, selling cabinets is good for me and my business, but there are certain instances where storage isn't an issue, and where the room in question calls for something sleek.  Today, some of the sleek new vanity sinks that have been hiding in my bookmarks file.

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The Milestone is the creation of Italian architect Carlo Colombo.  A simple marble slab morphs delicately into an ultra thin lavatory that occupies very little actual space while making a very strong visual impact.  Even the drain is a "barely there" slit in the curve of the basin.  Probably not where I'd want to shave, but a perfect fit for a powder room.

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This very industrial looking lav comes from Lago, the folks who brought us the colourful modular kitchens in my last post (a coincidence I promise). Called Steel (lost points for lack of originality) this sink can be adorned with all sorts of containers to turn the sink into a very colourful, if somewhat cluttered, washing centre.  This would be perfect for a loft apartment or kid's bathroom.  I'm not sure how strong the slanted sink would be if someone decided to climb onto it ...but at least you could bend it back into shape!

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Designers have this terrific way of coming up with words to make the mundane sound sexy and designer-y.  Patina is such a word.  If I were to look at this sink and say it was really rusty, you wouldn't want it in your house.  But if I said this sink, made from Corten steel develops it's own patina ... I wouldn't be able to keep them in stock.  Corten steel is self-rusting, and the designers from A3Studios in Madrid thought it would make a fine vanity.  Or maybe they have an aversion to cleaning the bathroom.

Serendipity - 36e8 Cucina From Lago

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Sometimes while searching out items for Useful Spaces I come across items that, while not at all what I was looking for, are just too amazing to pass up. Such is the case with the 36e8 Cucina line from Italian furniture design and retail outfit Lago.

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Think of it as LEGO for your kitchen, with a mind boggling selection of configurations and colours. The catalogue is filled with "standard" configurations, or if you're so inclined you can download the shapes from their website and play with your own design.

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The curious amongst you may be wondering what I was looking for when I came across 36e8 ... new bathroom sinks.  Next post.  I promise.

NKBA Guideline #3 - The Distance Between

In this installment of Design Tips, we're going to look at  NKBA Guideline #3. You may have already had a peak at the pictures below and thought "It's the Kitchen Triangle!!" ... and you'd be right, mostly.

The concept of the kitchen triangle was developed at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 1944, not so much with the cook in mind but as a means to standardize design and thus reduce cost. This doesn't make the Triangle a bad thing.  In fact the Triangle is an excellent place to start when designing an efficient kitchen.  But it's not the only way, and that's an important concept to keep in mind.  Your designer may create a kitchen for you that employs the Triangle, but also adds to it.

Guideline #3 is really about the workspaces in the kitchen and how they relate to each other.  In a kitchen with three work areas for example (sink, stove, fridge), the total distance between each work centre should total no more than 26 feet (9.5 metres).  Furthermore, no single distance should be less than 4 feet (1.47 metres) and no longer than 9 feet (2.74 metres).

So what about a kitchen that has more than three work centres?  What about the coffee machine?  The deep fryer or grill?  How about that second sink on the island with the extra dishwasher?  Pretty soon that triangle is starting to look like a trapezoid or hexagon. 

Relax.  The same rules still apply.  What's important here is not the shape, but the proximity of each work centre to the other.  Sometimes you may have two work centres you use together all the time ... a coffee maker and a beverage fridge (for cream, Irish or otherwise).  You'll never get 2 work centres to make a triangle, but if the two items are further apart than 9 feet ... even 4 feet ... you're going to need running to shoes for all the travelling you'll do!

Another hiccup in this rule comes when you introduce and island into the equation.  As you'll see in the drawing on the left, one of the legs of our triangle gets interupted by the island.  Think about running between the cooktop and the fridge and imagine how bruised your hip could get.

In a perfect world that island should cut into the path no more than 12" (30.5 cm).  However, it should be noted that avoiding this situation is not always possible.  We try, really we do.  But sometimes you just run out of room to work, or moving the cooktop towards the left side of the island (the simplest solution) will break some other guidelines we haven't addressed yet.  There's a lot going on in your kitchen and sometimes something's got to give. 

Illustrations (C) NKBA.org

NIM - Transfer Cutting Board

Imagine you've just spent 15 minutes slicing and dicing your vegetables for a stir-fry or soup, and you're ready to transfer them into the pot.  Trouble is the edge of your cutting board is square and the pot's edge is round.  If you're like me quite a bit of your slicing and dicing ends up somewhere other than the intended destination.

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German design firm chris&ruby has developed a simple solution to the problem.  It's called "Transfer" and once again shows how a simple modification in an already workable design can make something work even better.  If you'd like a Transfer for yourself, they're available on-line.

The Church of LEGO

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In 2011 architectural firm LOOS.FM designed a temporary pavilion for the Grenswerk Festival in Enschede, The Netherlands. The structure, named Abondantus Gigantus, is made up of concrete blocks (Legioblocks) that surprisingly resemble the famous Lego bricks.  Once they're painted in the classic Lego primary colours, the connection is unmistakable.

The pavilion makes a connection between something grand and overwhelming (the church and its size) and something playful, simple and comprehensible (Lego). Due to the Legioblocks’ increasing global popularity, this building may serve as an example for all that may be possible.

Things You Wooden Do In A Bathroom

Sometimes these blog titles just write themselves!

I normally don't post pictures of clients' homes until after the remodel.  But this bathroom was just so jaw-droppingly shocking I had to share it with you ... with permission from my clients of course.

I'm not sure where to begin: The grey bathroom suite (at least it wasn't pink!)?  The delicate spindles between the bathtub and the toilet?  How about using the bidet as a magazine rack, instead of ... well ... you know.  But I think my favourite quirk of them all is the floor ... it's hardwood ... fir to be precise.  And if you look really closely you see that the finish has worn of the floor, right in front of the toilet.

All together now:  EWWWWWWWW!

According to the client, the original owner became physically unable to use the bathroom downstairs so needed to relocate the bathroom to the main floor.  Putting a suitable floor in the new bathroom didn't seem to cross their mind.  No worries ... this beauty of a bathroom won't be around much longer.  We're incorporating the space into a new kitchen!