Floor Plans

I washed some dishes today. That's about as much progress as I've made on the house as a whole.

In better news, though, I think I've solved the downstairs floor plan issues--in a way which won't require me to purchase very many new pieces. Let's start with the old layout. I've added in some color to make this whole process easier. The red dots mark the flow of interest through the room. The yellow line marks easy lines of travel--the S.O. is remarkably tolerant of my design adventures, wherever they may take us, but he has three rules (1)light switches must be easily accessible, (2) furniture doesn't go at an angle, and (3) it's easy to walk from point to point. So, I wanted to make sure that the new design didn't disrupt the major traffic pathways marked in yellow. On the new floor plan, blue marks the new items that I would have to buy.

This room is large enough to accommodate multiple uses, which is good, because it does. The design dilemma is that the room's primary use is watching TV. The S.O. and I throw a weekly dinner party and Heroes-watching party every Monday night for, usually, between 8 and 15 people. So, I need a lot of seating that faces--or can be easily brought to face--the TV. Other than that, both of us use it to study--in his case, that means using the computer; in my case, that means spreading stacks of papers over (often) the floor. I also want to expand the "entertaining" potential of the space by creating multiple conversation areas, room for guests to congregate, and easy access to drinks--I'd prefer to keep drunk people off the spiral staircase, thank you very much.



Problems: The first thing you see when you walk down the stairs is the collection of mismatched chairs. I like them all on their own, but the overall impression is rather overwhelming. Having the couch on the wall opens up the space and makes it easier to create a larger conversation seating area, but it makes it more difficult to relax and watch TV without straining your neck. The "bar" is, as you can see from the Before pics, more of a place to set moving boxes than a place to set drinks.

***

This new floor plan, I think, preserves the good things about the present layout while fixing the trouble spots.



The drop-leaf table is a family heirloom, so it's going to stay in the space--flipping it around means that I can use it as a bar instead of a table. Of course, bars are supposed to be counter height, but if I switched to counter height (a) it would make the ceilings look even shorter and (b) I'd have to find a new home for my lovely pair of Maui chairs, and that's just not going to happen. I can store supplies in a buffet on the wall behind the table and use the table to mix and serve drinks. That also frees up that whole wall to display art. Yay!

The desk and bookshelves are very functional as-is, so I've left them alone for now. Although, I have moved one of the cantilevered chairs into the space between the bookcases and the staircase. If I'm feeling extra extravagant, I might splurge and buy one of those cute little library stools to make a footstool/table.

The couch and the other cantilevered chair will remain pretty much where they are now, with some new pieces to make a more comfortable, and less visually taxing, seating area. I'll add a left-armed chaise to enclose the seating area and replace the current coffee table with an upholstered ottoman which can double as extra seating (especially for playing video games, which require you to be right in front of the TV, and close enough for the cord to reach). I'll replace the coffee table with smaller, strategically placed side tables. Adding an area rug will help solidify this seating arrangement and hide the ugly carpet.

This new layout will easily sit 12 people to watch TV, but also allows for three different conversations during parties. I'm excited, too, that it won't require purchasing many extra pieces. I have a tendency to overload a room with furniture (everything you see in my Before pics was once jammed into a 520 sq ft one bedroom, after all) and I want to avoid that here. I have the space, I want it to feel like it.

Now, all I have to do is figure out a color scheme for the whole mess, and actually get rid of the pieces I don't need...

Week One: Pic spam!

Before photos are posted on Flickr (link in the sidebar).

After typing up such negative descriptions of the space, I thought I'd take a moment to talk about some things I own that I really like.



Man Walks on Moon
My grandmother saved this newspaper (like she saved just about everything else). When she passed away, I found it in the back of a filing cabinet and thought it was just about the coolest thing ever. It isn't in the best shape, as you can see, but it is a wonderful combination of family history and world history. My mother surprised me by having it framed and giving it to me for Christmas in 2005. This won't be in the outbox anytime soon.



Beaver skull
I found this while hiking in the Olympic National Forest when I was a kid. I have a wide assortment of skulls, bones, and assorted interesting rocks, but this is by far my favorite piece. Did you know beavers have orange teeth?

Obsidian idol
Seriously, I think this guy weighs about fifteen pounds. The body is obsidian and the feather headdress and mask are painted clay. I'm not quite sure which South American diety he's supposed to represent, but I like the statue a lot.

Handmade ceramic bowls (on the mantle upstairs)
I picked these up at a college fund raiser years and years ago, and I really love them. In the past, I've used them as fruit holders and drip trays for the plants, but I think they're about ready to embark on a new life. As what? Well, maybe the Cure can help me figure that out.

IKEA Tylosand couch (in downstairs living room)
When you're my age, living on practically nothing in a college town, even IKEA is amazing. I was the first of anyone I knew to purchase a couch, instead of picking one up off the street after spring term ended. My friends thought I was crazy. Why pay for something to sit on, when you can get it for free? This is the most comfortable couch I have ever come across, however, and it has the extra advantage of sleeping two overnight guests--the couch itself is roughly the size of a twin bed, and if you lay the back and side pillows on the ground, it makes an additional full bed. It's like having two sofa beds, but without the extra hundred pounds of steel springs!

Books (everywhere, really)
I love books, and I love my books. I read quite extensively, but I'm very picky about which ones I keep--which is why I've managed to keep the collection so small. The shelves downstairs are all books that I feel it's important to have on hand; either reference books, rare(ish) books I couldn't find in a library, or fiction books that I will reread. Upstairs is my signed book shelf, small but growing--I have signed books by Gene Wolf, William Gibson, Storm Constantine, C.J. Cherryh, and other people you've probably never heard of. :)

Art
Most of my collection is prints, but there's one signed limited edition print of a painting by Michael Whelan, and a few original pieces I've picked up--a collage my sister made, and a painting I found in the trash.

As you might have noticed, I love interesting objects, books, and artwork. I would like everything in my home to showcase these curious objects. I would love to have a beautiful home, but more than that an interesting home.

All aboard the AT Fall Cure!

Alright, I'll admit it. I'm a sucker for group-based activities with time limits which make me do things I've been meaning to anyway; NaNoWriMo and I are old friends. And so it should come as no surprise that I'm hopping on board the Apartment Therapy Fall Cure (link in the sidebar).

"Before" pictures will come when the Cure is officially underway on Wednesday, the 5th, so for now you'll have to content yourself with a few images from what will become my style tray. I'm not going to try and source these, because most of them were saved during moments of web surfing which ended in "ooh, pretty..." but most of them are from AT.


I'm a sucker for large geometric shapes, blank floors, and huge windows. I don't know if I'd like to live in a space this austere--I am prone to clutter, after all--but it sure is beautiful to look at.


This space strikes the balance between a clean, airy style and a functional space. It is, if I remember the House Tour correctly, a part-time art gallery full-time home somewhere in California.


I love the unabashed (but also unpretentious) blending of modern and traditional furnishings which respects the individuality and integrity of each piece, and I love how they come together to shape a space which seems preeminently livable. I'm also partial to multiple seating areas.

That these are all images of living rooms, reading rooms, and gathering spaces suggests to me that these are the areas I should focus most on during the cure. That there are very few stylistic similarities between these three of my most ogled house photos suggests to me that I've got my work cut out for me in the weeks to come.

My Eco Footprint (their capslock, not mine)

CATEGORY (ACRES)
FOOD (4)
MOBILITY (0)
SHELTER (6.2)
GOODS/SERVICES (4.2)

TOTAL FOOTPRINT -- 14 acres

IN COMPARISON, THE AVERAGE ECOLOGICAL FOOTPRINT IN YOUR COUNTRY IS 24 ACRES PER PERSON. WORLDWIDE, THERE EXIST 4.5 BIOLOGICALLY PRODUCTIVE ACRES PER PERSON. IF EVERYONE LIVED LIKE YOU, WE WOULD NEED 3.2 PLANETS.

I understand that this sort of thing is horrifically unscientific, but it's still rather alarming. Changing only one answer--the dwelling size radial from "500-1000" to "1000-1500"--increased my total footprint from 11 acres to 14 acres, and my planet need from 2.4 to 3.2. Either way, this quiz ranks shelter as my most taxing drain on the planet.

Obviously, this is not a good thing.

Initial Observations

I've never liked raising my voice, and I'm sure the neighbors don't appreciate it either, but it's easier to raise my voice to talk to the S.O. than it is to walk over to where he is sitting. I'm having trouble training myself out of this habit, and it's only been a little while.

Having two bathrooms means purchasing twice the toilet paper because I get paranoid when I see only half the expected stock-pile of extra rolls under the sink.

Living Large

This is an experiment in large-scale living.

Yup, you read that right.

My first place was a 400 sq. ft. studio--which might sound expansive to those of you tuning in from NYC, but in the suburbs surrounding Seattle some homeowners have bathrooms larger than that. When I move into the city proper, my student-sized budget again limited my housing options and my S.O. (significant other) and I ended up in a 520 sq. ft. one-bedroom.

So while I've been a proponent of small-scale living for most of my adult life, I have embraced living small without any idea of what it feels like to live large. This year I will change that. This blog will chronicle my experiences of living in a two-story, two-bedroom, two-bath 1300 sq. ft. apartment for 365 days. Will I like it? I don't know. More importantly, will I go back to small space living after this year is over? I think so, but we'll see how I feel eight-months from now. I might become addicted to closet space, after all. Stranger things have happened.