Turning a Calgary Apartment into a Slow Home – Part 3

Posted on: May 2nd, 2011 | 5 Comments


Today at Slow Home Studio, John and Matthew exhibit all the fantastic remodeling ideas submitted by Slow Home Studio Viewer’s attempting to transform Jodie’s apartment into a Slow Home. Tune in Wednesday to see how John and Matthew would renovate Jodie’s home.

  • Jesse S.

    I’m really looking forward to Wednesday.

  • Jodie

    Hello John and Matthew,

    Thank you for your comments today.

    What did you think of Francis’ second design with the closet being accessible from both sides?

    Looking forward to Wednesday
    Jodie

  • Brad W

    In defense of the dogleg entry which several people proposed including myself and Matthew (what does he know? :) ) hated…two reasons for it – it is an attempt to get more wall space in the living room in order to create a focal point whether it be a bookcase, a wall composition or a place to put a TV; the second reason is personal style – ideally, I do not like looking directly from the entry into the living space.

    It was nice to see a bit of a return to the early days on the site and I really like how the segment is programmed over multiple days giving people a chance to contribute and building some suspense waiting for John and Matthew to reveal their solution.

  • http://slowhomestudio.com Matthew North

    Hello Jodie – I think Frances has done a great job with her plan submissions. The idea of a two sided closet is an interesting one. In Frances’ scheme, it would work better for me if the double sided closet was larger than the hall closet. I imagine the hall closet would take the function of the entry closet for coats and shoes. The double sided closet would be the bedroom closet – opening on both the hall side and the bedroom side would make sense if you wanted access to your clothes from the bathroom. I could see this being detailed more like a free standing piece of millwork – so it looks like a cabinet and breaks up the hallway space in an interesting way. I am curious to hear other Slow Homer’s thoughts on this one.

  • http://slowhomestudio.com Matthew North

    Hi Brad W – trying to get a better defined entry space without a view directly to the living room is a real challenge in this scheme. I think it is one of those cases where no matter what you do, something is going to have to “give” due to size and geometric constraints. I don’t think there is a right or wrong answer here. Getting the focal point of the living space working and creating a functional furniture arrangement is perhaps the most critical design consideration in this exercise – I would argue this is more important than even the kitchen layout or entry details. To respond to your second point…….John and I have been so happy with all the plan submissions and feedback for this project – and we are loving all the comments and posts from all the new people! We will be introducing the next design project for the group to try on Friday!