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Part 2 – Veals Residence, Kentucky
July 2nd, 2009  |  20 Comments

Part 2 – Veals Residence, Kentucky (PDF)

Completed Concept Design – Veals Residence, Kentucky (JPEG)

  • John Brown

    This is the completed concept design of the Veals Residence

    [img]1_shWeek19final.jpg[/img]

  • Adam G

    Huh. Again with the ‘error: no feed’ on the video. Must admit, I’m not looking forward to installing firefox. Is there an alternative trick I can use?

  • Grace

    I use Foxfire exclusively and haven’t had any problem with the video or files. I recommend it.

  • Brad W

    The video feed does not work for my configuration. Why did you change the site? – should not have to install Firefox to get Slow Home video. A bad technical decision that will cost you contributors and listeners….Please test and then publish the configurations that work.

  • Paul C

    Happy post Canada Day everyone. That was fun. John, attached is a screen shot of what I can see video wise.

    [img]screenshot.jpg[/img]

  • Meg

    I’m getting the same feed error as Paul C

  • Murray

    I’ll put in my 2 cents – I have a PC and have tried IE, Safari and Firefox – nothing works.

    I have to agree with Brad W’s comments – new visitors to this site will leave quickly.

    Hope this issue is resolved soon – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.

  • John Brown

    My apologies to everyone for the technical glitch. We didn’t make any changes to our system. I imagine that there must have been some sort of error when the files were uploaded. Our office was closed yesterday and I am waiting for the webmaster to come in this morning and straighten things out. I will keep you informed. Thanks for your patience.

  • John Brown

    I believe that we have resolved the problem with the video. Please let me know if anyone is still having troubles. You may need to refresh your screen to get your computer to clear the old version of the webpage. Sorry for the problems.

  • Brad W

    Problem solved for me. No need to apologize as problems occur. Thanks for taking our comments seriously and fixing the problem.

  • Brad W

    To get the discussion about the home going I have 8 concerns about the final design. They are as follows:

    A. The fridge door cannot open more than 90 degrees or it must open into the kitchen. Either is not good.

    B. The small space between the kitchen sink and the fridge. Doing dishes here could be a problem.

    C. The constricted entry point into the kitchen.

    D. The furniture is too close to either a hot fireplace or a TV. As well, the fireplace/TV is only 2 ft in from the hall. This area needs some adjustment.

    E. The patio door in this location could be a problem for furniture placment in the living room. This is related to my concerns in D.

    F. Seemingly small entry into shower. Especially true if a glass panel is present between the shower and the tiolet.

    G. Direct view of toilet from bed.

    H. Lack of convenient towel hanging space.

    [img]2_shWeek19final.jpg[/img]

  • Erin

    Hi everyone,

    My parents recently bought a fifties bungalow and need to renovate extensively, so this is a timely exercise! The footprint of their house is 1100 square feet and they have the same goals as the Veals, hoping to work within the existing footprint. John, I really enjoy your layout – great pre-planning for the next round of connecting to the outdoors.

    Thought I would still post my visual thoughts because I know everyone will provide honest feedback! It’s hard to distance myself from the way I like to live, which would include a connection from the kitchen/living area to the yard for BBQing, lounging, etc – that’s the direction I took with it. Thanks,

    [img]VealsResidence-proposed.jpg[/img]

  • Erin

    Brad,

    To comment on your concerns in general, I think it is definitely possible to come up with a great plan within 1000 square feet; however, there are always going to be trade offs. All of your points are good ones. This couple may decide that the layout feels too tight for them, and if they have the funds, expand the budget and the footprint (lot size permitting). The smaller the space, the more personal it often gets as you decide how to use every inch to suit your needs.

  • Terri

    It’s too late for me to contribute now (must get to work!), but I’d like to say that I think Brad has pointed out all the weaknesses in John’s plan. Overall, I felt John addressed the main points of the exercise, but now on review, just looking at the final plan, it seems that the dining space is very generous compared to the living room space. Perhaps this is not the true representation and a result of furniture scale?

    I like Erin’s plan to put the kitchen closer to the back. Even though it’s further to carry groceries, I do prefer that the main entrance not be next to a kitchen (usually); however, with the right millwork, as John suggests, this might not be made quite to be attractive as well as efficient.
    Erin’s living room looks a little squished too, though.

    Both plans have opened up the space well and provided good access to the back yard, which were the main points of the exercise.

  • Maggie

    This is my first attempt, although I visit the site regularly. I tried to leave existing plumbing and minimize the structural changes, I did add a front window though.

    I also did not have any problems with the video.

    [img]Vealresidence.jpg[/img]

  • Murray

    Here is my go. It seems not so different from the original.

    I was concerned about little to no storage and no laundry facilities, so I addressed those issues.

    I reduced the windows on the west side (strong hot sun), but added to the east and south (passive solar heat). Master bedroom also has door to the outside, as does the dining room – for later outside development and fire safety.

    [img]2_veals01.jpg[/img]

  • Terri

    I like Maggie’s and Murray’s living/dining/kitchen configurations.

    In Maggie’s plan, the kitchen island is nice, but maybe the sink shouldn’t be so visible to the dining table? Murray doesn’t have room for the counter bar, which is okay with me, but may not fit the usual plan.

    Maggie’s plan offers a master bedroom with the walk-in closet space, but with a little bit of wasted space right in front of it.But I like the ensuite bathroom door not facing the bedroom proper.

    I like the inclusion of main floor laundries in both plans. There are pros and cons to having the laundry closet either open to a hallway or tucked into an alcove beside the bathroom.

  • MichaelG

    Seems like everyone is posting their plans here for discussion. So I’ll re-post mine. John, if I might make a suggestion, perhaps it would be better to have an extra day between the introduction of the project, and the reveal of your final design. Gives people more time to work on their own ideas. 1 lunch break isnt enough time :)
    Perhaps if you have the part 1, then a room focus and then part 2, we could all try to incorporate elements from the room foucs discussion into our efforts.

    ———————-

    Without the briefing on the Veals, its a bit tough to get a feel for what there priorities are for the renovation. Is the ensuite important? Is the 2nd bedroom a guest room or a study? Is the living/dinning/kitchen a higher priority than the master bedroom? Hopefully the correct pdf is up before others have a go at this.

    So I took some liberties and did what I would like to live in, with a big budget :)
    The master and the second bedroom face onto the back garden, behind the carport. I think the second bedroom would be better as a study, but maybe they’d prefer it to be a permanent guest bedroom? The second bathroom is basically the existing bathroom modernised, and I turned the 3rd bedroom into a large but efficient ensuite that also contains the washer/dryer. The washer is purposely close to the wetroom shower/bath so. See my comment in the ensuite part 2 discussion the other day. For the window above the vanity, given unlimited budget, I was thinking of changing that to a foot tall window up high almost touching the roof, giving light and ventilation but also privacy. Same with the master bedroom, above the wardrobes. Gets some good southern light into the room, but not too much to turn it into an oven. I also added a window to the wetroom shower/bath that can look onto a private feature garden, and naturally vent out some of the steam.

    The kitchen is in the same spot as before, but open to the living/dining. The street facing wall is now a giant window looking into the front garden, with a low cabinet/millwork piece along the whole wall. I also lined up the sliding glass door off the dining area to be symmetrical to the window on the other side of the room. A silly and unnecessary expense, but I couldn’t resist!

    [img]2_shWeek19-mg1.jpg[/img]

  • Doug Roberts

    Lots of plans to consider here, so here it goes:

    1) John’s plan — I don’t mind having the kitchen near the front entry but agree with Brad’s concern about not being able to open the fridge door past 90 degrees, as with our fridge that would mean not being able to remove one of the crisper drawers for cleaning. I also agree that the living area is too cramped, and I don’t like having the guest bathroom door right next to the living area. The second bedroom is larger than it needs to be and the “walk-in” aspect of the master bedroom closet takes up more space than a regular closet but does not appear to offer much more storage space. I also agree that the master ensuite toilet should not be visible from the bed.

    2) MichaelG’s plan — Nice front entry, although front hall closet is larger than it needs to be, so I might look at changing part of it to millwork. Living/dining/kitchen configuration is nice, although I am not sure that there is enough room to accommodate the full-span millwork along the north wall. I like the master closet concept with windows above but would consider converting the middle section to millwork with drawers and maybe room for a flat screen TV. Given the relatively small size of the house, there may be too much space devoted to the master bedroom and ensuite, and I’m not crazy about the direct view into the master bedroom from the living/dining area.

    3) Erin’s plan — Good use of space for the bedroom closets, master ensuite toilet is nicely tucked away and roomy living area, but guest bathroom door now faces directly onto kitchen and not sure about having the dining area so far from the kitchen. Also, would prefer to see U-shaped kitchen to increase storage and counter space.

    4) Maggie’s plan — Nice kitchen/dining/living configuration, but master bedroom, master closet and laundry area are all too tight.

    5) Murray’s plan — This one is my favorite, as all rooms and areas are a comfortable size and no space is wasted. I particularly like the laundry area, the location of the fireplace and the fridge, and how private the guest bathroom door is from the living/dining/kitchen areas. I like having direct access to the west garden from the master bedroom, but would consider putting the bed on the south wall and having larger windows/door to the garden. I would also like to see larger windows/door from the dining area to the east garden. I would also move the cooktop to the counter beside the fridge.

    Well done everybody!

  • Terri

    MichaelG–I love your ensuite bathroom layout and the fact that the plumbing of the home is all along one section. The windows above the closet is a nice idea too. I think my only concern with the plan is the 3 ft galley in the kitchen. I think I’d be tempted to make it at least 4 ft, but I see that could be done fairly easily. I also like the bench by the front door and the big closet. (Louis posted his design of glass-doored closets some time ago–I’m sorry that I’ve forgotten the project–and I think something similar would look great here.)

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