Inner City Kitchen Renovation

Posted on: September 21st, 2010 | 24 Comments

It’s Wednesday, September 22, 2010 and for those of you who were unable to watch the LIVE broadcast last evening, click on the player below. In this workshop, John and Matthew take you through a kitchen renovation to a 1970′s “west coast” style house that their architecture firm “housebrand” did a few years ago.

To see photos and the floor plan of what the house looked like before the renovation, click on the images below.

To see what the house looked like after the “housebrand” renovation and to see the final floor plan, click on the links below.

We want to remind everyone that our next LIVE broadcast is tomorrow, Thursday, September 23 at 8am Pacific, 9am Mountain, 11am Eastern and we will be reviewing all the submissions for the “Single Sided Kitchen Design Challenge” from Monday! There is still time to submit an image of what you think would make a difference in Han’s apartment/ loft unit in Vancouver. You can upload your response to the site on Monday’s post or you can email it to john@slowhomestudio.com. We have gotten a lot of responses but are still looking for more!

  • Mid America Mom

    Life got in the way of LIVE viewing!

    I love the explanations of the reveals. But I do have a hard time visualzing it from the drawings Matthew. I am still unclear what the TOP edge of the tile looks in the end with that gap size (and I bet NO ceramic due to coloring of that edge?)

    Do you happen to have a model/mock up of this that you show clients? Not sure how well it would photograph but it may do the trick.

    The client sure must like blue- what a bold choice!

    Mid America Mom

  • Matthew North

    M.A.M. – thanks for the comments – you have inspired me to re-draw this detail in a easier to understand way – so I will be posting it to the site later!

  • BradW

    For me, the interesting thing about this project were the cost trade-offs. That is reality. It is very rare to find a project where cost is not a major issue. Here, ideally, the whole house would have been done to create a uniform look but…$$$.

    I think the stairs have been improved tremendously but there really is no substitute for going new here and it would have been money well spent as the kitchen turned out fabulous. (I admit when I first saw it I did not like the stove island or the pantry/fridge wall blocking the rear entry but lots of great detail really make this kitchen pop)

  • BradW

    [img]shdp91.jpg[/img][img]shdp92.jpg[/img]

    In April 2009, this was the first design project I worked on at Slow Home. Looking again at this case study brings back some good memories. I tip my hat to LP, PC, JB, MN and others who really have done some great work here…

  • Mid America Mom

    ***Anyone today missing our blog? You may want to join in the conversation over at the 100k house blog ****

    An excerpt “.. These are people that demand quality, that save and sacrifice to have the best, that research and question before any purchase. Yet, they almost invariably live in houses that perform worse than a middle school orchestra (sure there are some good ones but come on, for the most part there are few things worse than an amateur string section)… ”

    http://www.100khouse.com/2010/09/21/high-performance-houses-for-a-high-performance-world/

    *****
    As you recall their (Postgreen) 2.5 project won a slow home award in Philadelphia.

    Mid America Mom

  • Paul C

    I remember this one as well, thank you Brad W.

    John/Matthew,
    Much was made of the budget constraints, are you able to share what WAS the budget amount and what did it include? To clarify a detail, was MDF was used on the stair wall or just the cap?

  • Li-Na

    I am nowhere close to catching up on all the episodes I missed but couldn’t stop myself from jumping ahead and watching this one because of the intriguing “after” pictures.

    Thank you Matthew for your explanation on the reveal!! I have noticed this detail in many pictures but no one’s ever drawn it out and explained how it was done before. Please do post a clearer drawing of it to the site if you have the chance.

    I have been mulling over getting a glass panel inserted into my home’s stairway wall so I was excited to see something similar in this project. Like your clients, I would love to have glass and steel stair railing but the cost…oh my. ;-) Are there any safety concerns with having a glass panel like this as part of the stair railing? I’m having a tough time convincing my husband to go for it as he wonders what would happen if someone happened to trip on the stairs and made a grab for it. Thoughts?

    I’m also interested in the answer to Paul C’s question on whether MDF was used for the stair wall or just the cap. :-)

  • Terri

    Li-Na,
    Nice to see you back on the site again! I think I know the answer to the question regarding the balustrade in this project. Matthew said that they just “clad” the spindles with MDF and then capped with MDF again, using the same tricky reveal technique.

    Matthew,
    I’m looking forward to that drawing, as I’m not absolutely sure what the 1/2″ above tile/backsplash surface is…just the two by four of the actual inner wall? It seems that you are saying that the tile and granite composite are cut to not fit exactly under the cap but within about 1/2″ so that the imperfections aren’t visible at the top edge of the finishing material (tile/gran comp) once the cap, which also projects a half inch, is in place.

  • Paul C

    Terri,
    Thanks for picking up on that. I went back and listened to that portion again and yes, the existing spindle/rail was clad. That is a somewhat unique approach. I wonder how the joints have done overtime.

  • Li-Na

    Hey Terri, yeah, RL bit me in the a$$ as I mentioned in my other post. ;-) I’m somewhat nonplussed that folks here remember me to be honest! :-)

    So if I understand you correctly, does that mean that the spindles are still in there? Just covered up by sheets of MDF? If that is it, I am in awe of John and Matthew’s money-saving scheme!

  • Matthew North

    Eric is going to post my sketch of the wing wall detail – hope it makes sense!

  • Matthew North

    Paul C – I’m not able to reveal the exact budget amount – but I can tell you that it was typical for this type of renovation (as in just a kitchen and not an entire “house gut”). The stair guard and cap were made of mdf – no drywall.

  • Eric S.

    [img]kitchenwalldetail.jpg[/img]

    Here’s the kitchen wall detail.

  • Matthew North

    Li-Na – the spindles are still there – just covered up! Also, the glass panel is really secure – they are well anchored into the guard and will withstand a fall into them.

  • Paul C

    Matthew,
    I fully understand and respect that. I would offer though, if at all possible going forward there should be some specifics with respect to cost, especially when it comes to case studies. It could be qualified (ie. Calgary dollars, Toronto dollars etc, you get my drift) but I think having that little dose of reality might be helpful.

    Not much in detail is said about this subject but how do you see cost relating to a slowhome or slowhome reno?

  • Terri

    Matthew (and Eric!)
    Thanks very much for posting your detailed drawing. I now know exactly what you meant!

  • Matthew North

    Hi Paul – yes, I think that some more discussion of cost could be introduced – let me give that a think with how this could be done without having any privacy issues. Thanks, as always, for the comments.

  • Paul C

    Matthew,
    While you are thinking on that I will add this to the mix. I think the topic of cost needs to be from a much wider perspective. While anecdotally it would be interesting to understand the costing on previous projects (and it would), I think having a concise breakdown or understanding of costs as they relate to a slowhome (if that can be quantified) is crucial in advancing the slowhome movement.

    As a comparison, there are some general assumptions that can be made if someone wishes to pursue a highly energy efficient (net zero for example) type of home over an atypical (likely fast) home.

    This could turn into a much broader discussion when one starts talking costs. What constitutes fast and slow when discussing interior and exterior finishes for example….

  • Leo

    Hi guys. It’s been a really long time since I’ve been to the site, since things got busy. I can now personally attest that yes, costs can and indeed do spiral out of control!!! We are now less than a month away from finishing our home renovation (for those who remember back that far), about 3 months overtime. And that doesn’t include any landscaping, or interior decorating. I won’t talk too much about budget, but let’s just say my retirement is deferred. It is very difficult to control budgets when there is always something that you like but is just a little more expensive than what you counted on. Is the house beautiful? Yes! Did it turn out perfect? No. An architect informed me that clients usually figure out how to design a house well about the third or fourth time they try it. (There is no way in hell my marriage could survive that.) Anyway, glad to see that people are still keeping up with the site, and that interesting things are still happening!

  • Paul C

    LEO!!
    So glad to hear from you and that your project is moving along. Look forward to seeing at some point some before and afters :-)
    All the best.

  • Leo

    I’ll be glad to. But not sure where to post. This forum really should be dedicated to the topics at hand

  • BradW

    Leo – You should feel free to post anytime on the blog but you could always email John Brown…

  • Steve in Van

    BradW, I quite like your second design above that integrates the rear entry corridor into the kitchen space — it’s very open to the stair area. I assume that’s a tall shelving unit screening the kitchen from the dining room and conversation pit. A regular swing door might work better here than a slider on the exterior, but otherwise I think this is great!

    On J&M’s plan, I’d like to understand the design thinking behind the glass shelving piece better. The idea was intriguing — a tall, glass cabinet providing both translucency and screening — but with back-painted glass, it’s a solid object. And all those fussy hinges. If one wanted a solid object, why not finish it the same as the hanging cabinet?

    Maybe the pantry/fridge wall or other features tie the look together, but these photos suggest there are three bold, uniquely finished, furniture pieces in this room. Does the design hold together in practice?

  • BradW

    Steve in Van – thanks, the assumed tall shelving unit was envisioned as a walnut/rosewood cabinet for dining storage and art display but it could be many things…also interesting comments about the remodel…I find myself liking the space more now than when I originally saw it a year ago…at first glance it looks like one too many tricks were used to detail and finish the space…also the initial brief included a desire to open up the back hall yet it remains relatively narrow and closed off in the redesign…