tools of the trade

I'm back!  I know it's been awhile.  Life has been moving on and we had put off building our next house till (hopefully) now.  Sketching and dreaming about it for 2 years, I finally started to draw it up in Cad over the winter.  Using ArchiCad on a MacBook Pro, I've been able to design the house in 3D.  Starting with our program requirements, lists of desires and site opportunites, I worked out a preliminary plan and then experimented with different forms and roof types.  Going back and forth between sections, plan and model and lots of sketching on trace paper, a "Schematic Design" was reached and now we are in "Design Development". The basic house shape has been determined, but now comes the flushing out of details, materials and refinement of windows and structure.  So stay tuned and I will begin to share our process all over again!

Brixton Builders is a general construction company with a specialization in residential projects. Established in 1997 by Neil Chapman, Brixton Builders past projects include new custom homes, entire house remodels and additions, extensive kitchen and bath remodels and small commercial tenant improvements.  With over 20 years of experience in construction, Neil brings a thorough knowledge of building and materials to every job.

In 2010 Brixton Builders completed the Karina house which is featured extensively on this blog as well as some photos of past kitchens and the Genesee house.

fences and gates

Here is a collection of gates within fences. We had put a fence in next to the Karina. Nothing fancy. Some of these shots and those I'll post later this week, were taken as inspiration, but cost ended up dictating that design.

happy new year!

I woke up this morning dreaming about our next house. We are not sure when we will actually build it, but I have started to design it. Some of my first thoughts are how I want the space to feel. Open, airy, spacious yet cozy, warm, light filled, efficient, comfortable, inspiring, beautiful. How to make a home feel like your favorite old sweater while at the same time the feeling when you put on that new outfit you look fabulous in. To wake up everyday smiling. I actually do have that in our place now, when I wake up with the sun and not the alarm.

So through the gate I go and I'm looking forward to sharing my process again...much in the beginning is drawing inspiration from the world around me.

kitchen bar top

The kitchen bar top is a major feature of the design of the Karina kitchen and one of the trickiest to pull off cohesively because there are many different materials coming together as well as it being a part of 3 rooms. We chose Lyptus butcher block for the counter top because of it's warmth and similar richness as the floor.
We could have continued the drywall onto the 1/2 wall from the living room side, but I wanted to continue the front paneling of the peninsula around the side.

To keep costs down and to make it more simple to build, we did not wrap the Lyptus top into a L shape, but changed materials to a painted trim top. The 1" trim top dies into the 1-1/2" thick Lyptus, while allowing the skirt trim directly below to wrap and be continuous to become like a window sill detail as it goes into the living room.

That same skirt trim turns the corner and then dies into the backsplash. The backsplash is the Chroma countertop material. We changed the outlet color to black and used stainless steel covers to better go with the counter & appliances.


Getting the right height was important...one for perch-ability (see the last photo), but also mechanically so that outlets could be included in the backsplash. Neil built a 41" high wall + the 1-1/2" counter. This is the right height to lean against. Even though there is enough overhang to pull a bar stool up to it, we thought of it more as a lean-against counter and buffet. It also hides dishes and the counter when sitting in the dining area and living.

please have a seat

This is one of 700 photos I took of the Karina in the last days before we closed on the sale. I have been going through my photos recently coming up with the top 40-50. I can't put my finger on why, but I really like this shot. Maybe it's because I'm sitting down so the point of view is more relaxed.

next up - the empty lot

It’s been 8 weeks since we sold the Karina. I didn’t realize that I needed the break that you all may have noticed I took from the blog. I hadn’t planned on it, but that’s the way things happen sometimes. A break not just from the blog, but just from thinking about the house and garden. As much as I loved creating it, it also felt wonderful for the perfect buyers to come along and make it their home.

I must admit though, it didn’t take me long to start sketching out the next house. I thought I would need a longer break, but it has already started to form in my head. I wake up thinking about it and I daydream about the details. We still own the lot next door to the Karina. That’s one of the reasons why we ended up selling the house, it was just too much for us to carry financially…2 ‘Seattle’ lots and a new house…well too much in this economy. This next one will be smaller and I’ll do a custom design. I have more time to invest in the design, since we do not have a construction start date in mind. There are still lots of unknowns, but I plan on keeping up with the blog. Not just talking about this next house, but sharing other projects and details that relate to home design.