Turning a Calgary Apartment into a Slow Home – Part 2

Just a quick rearrangement of the kitchen to get the ball rolling.

Brad W – I think your plan would be very simple to execute. I think the kitchen location is ideal because it changes the orientation towards the living spaces and will make it feel like one big room – in a 470- sq ft unit, this is critical. The column imbedded into the end of the island makes good architectural sense. I am wondering if there is an opportunity to change the location of the bedroom door, get a larger bedroom closet and consolidate the two hall closets into one. I am also very curious to see if any other Slow Homers post a scheme before Monday. I would love to see them!

Hello Again Frances,

this is so much fun!

reworking the bedroom door is a key idea, I do find in need an entryway. What about a closet that is accessible from both allowing some flexibility.

Moving the kitchen around and having an eating counter would be great.

And the millwork could be full size as I don’t (and won’t) have a TV

working in a desk is also needed

So much to think about

I’ve gotten a lot out of this site and thought it was about time I try to contribute to one of these design segments. I realize this is an intensive redesign due to the kitchen relocation but of the versions I did it appealed to me the most.

I have made the decision to minimize the kitchen in order to maximize the living/dinning areas, I view this compromise as appropriate in such a small unit. See the attached example for an excellent representation of what I have done but with the addition of a DW and an 18″ drawer base which are both pretty critical I think as they provide the counter space to work as well.

I quickly discounted the idea of keeping the bed in the living area and instead went with a very small bedroom that doubles as an office space when the murphy bed is closed. Slide the desk chair to the left and drop the bed down in the evening. Entry closet is millwork with a sliding panel that doubles as the bedroom door, not ideal but things are tight in this place! I would do a high rod for hanging coats and lower drawer bank with key landing on top.

The bookshelf separating the dinning and living areas is open to the dinning side and is of millwork standing 36″ tall with a slab top of some kind. This could provide cookbook storage and pantry/canned good storage for the kitchen and may be built with integrated sliding doors if wanted. There is a small niche of bookshelves at the wall end that face the living area, these are on the end of the floor to ceiling millwork storage that faces the dinning table. The bookshelves facing the living room would be an ideal spot for both books and audio components. The floor to ceiling storage has sliding doors and the interior can be configured in any way desired depending on the storage needs.

Something that struck me as important in this plan is although in a basement unit this plan provides a window on each space a person would occupy save the bath and kitchen counter. This should provide a lot of natural light for most everyday tasks.

I just saw the comment that there is no need for a TV, oh well, substitute a nice piece of art for the TV in my plan;)

so many great idea’s!

You have rearranged the space in a way that has never crossed my mind, it is exultant. The bedroom storage and murphy bed are a clean use of the room. I am interested to here thoughts on the kitchen. I like it because I am not a big cook and the kitchen is not taking up too much space. What about sliding doors in front of the kitchen to close the door when not in use?

I also like the front door with the sliding door into the bedroom. Because the space is small currently I have taken the closet and bedroom door off. But the sliding door allows me to slide the door to open the closet when company comes and close the bedroom door. Although they would be looking at an office if the door was open.

Useful and precise storage is key

Thank you

thank you for redesigning with my comments in mind.

This is an eye opening experience
Jodie

In response to the question regarding a sliding door to hide the kitchen, it would be pretty easy.

I would pull the fridge out 6 inches so it would be on the same plane as a long sliding panel that matched the kitchen cabinetry. This panel would rest along the wall in the hall when open and when closed butt up against the edge of a fridge with integrated custom panels such as a Bosch or Sub Zero thus taking on the look of a solid wall yet still providing access to the fridge for a quick drink or snack. I’ve never seen this before but I think it would be very cool, the wall/fridge could be matching millwork to the rest of the apartment, stainless steel or could be a huge art mural that when closed completes the image. The fact that you have that long hall to accommodate the length of panel needed is what really makes it all possible. The fridge would disappear even more than in my kitchen (see image) because it would be monolithic without the oven or the sliding glass doors to delineate it’s location.

Hi Frances GF,
I’m glad you modified your plan the way you did, as I’d thought a desk was a good option in that location beside the kitchen. Your plan mirrored my initial idea, but I wanted to participate, so…
So glad we’re doing some design exercises again! :D

Terri,

I struggled a bit with the table as an island in my plan as well. Like you mention, however, I agree it works best. I think it could serve dual purposes as dining and additional work space if needed.

Hello Jodie and all,

This is my first graphic contribution to this site, and I’ve had a great time looking at the graphics already presented and I would like to share mine, although a little late!!!

I was careful to follow Jodie’s instructions as to trying to respect heater location, columns and not moving the bathroom. There would be some reformatting of the heaters to be done on my plan, but it is minimal and I don’t feel that it should be a great problem.

The living area is small but could feel larger at the expense of not putting the first bank of built-ins in the storage pantry as you enter the kitchen and moving the door to the bedroom with it. It would be a client choice.

Although there seems to be a lot of circulation, it is combined with part of the living space, the flexible space and circulation leading to the kitchen.

The kitchen should be plenty big; I read a comment that Jodie is “not a big cook”. Also I feel a dish washer is not necessary in this case.

Well hope to get feedback and in particular Jodie’s comments.

Oscar

Hi Terry Chicago,

I enjoy many things about your design. the front entrance, currently it is not well defined and has a tendency to float through out the hallway.

Having the desk extend from the kitchen means desk space but added counter space if needed while cooking. Or a sideboard for company

Would you have the desk the same height as the counter top? This would be taller than a traditional desk but could have the same cabinet drawers and/or doors as the kitchen.

And the table – do you see this as a higher height table or traditional height?

Thank you for posting
Jodie

Close off the studio/bedroom door and make a closet (however sliding closet to access closet still on both sides of each wall. Put all kitchen appliances against main window wall and have cabinetry go over fridge to eliminate wasted storage space. Purchase smaller dishwasher to fit under present sink/change sink to half deep to allow for diswasher/other side sink to be larger sink to reduce appliances and introduce more counter space. Introduce another storage unit/murphy bed along main bedroom wall to create a full square space. L shaped furniture on wheels. Change closet into a island storage unit to be used as a work table. New bedroom door with frosted pocket window door. Pocket door in bathroom with frosted window to allow more light.

Hello Jesse,

I like the hand drafted graphics that you have included, if I had my drafting table available I might even do these sketches by hand. I feel that is more personal and feels less technical, and quicker; however I will share how I did my recent posts.

I recently figure out a way to input graphics, following is how I’ve done it.

1- Click on the Image – Save as JPEG or Bitmap in to your computer

2- Bring into your graphics editor and erase areas that you don’t need, making sure that you don’t erase the areas that cannot be moved in the design, I use Corel Photo paint, and Windows Paint works as well.

3- Import into your CAD program, I prefer DataCad (11, 12, or 13) also so can use VIZIO; I am sure that there are other programs.

4- To scale it, I used DataCad to adjust the scale. In Jodie’s plan that she provided, there were several dimensions that I was able to use as a go by to get to the approximate scale.

5- I make changes as necessary in DataCad.

6- Save changes as a PDF as if to print at 1/4” or 3/8”. In Adobe Acrobat (Adobe Acrobat Pro 8 in my case) I open the saved PDF file and then save out as a JPEG. With the following settings; File Settings to Maximum, Conversion resolution to 300 pixels / inch.

7- Load into Disqus, for us to enjoy and comment.

Hope this helps, and would like to also hear from others to see hoe they produce their work.

Oscar