Outdoor Inspirations for the start of SUMMER

This month, in celebration of sunshine finally appearing in Minnesota (!) and the unofficial start of summer, I'm sharing a few nature-inspired ideas for you - enjoy!

Bamboo garden design inspiration 

Wouldn't it be great fun to create a smaller version of this for your garden?

This impressive arched bamboo pavilion was created by a Brooklyn studio to raise awareness about a Taiwanese forest under siege. The Forest Pavilion has 11 vaults--each more than twice as tall as a basketball hoop--that soar wildly over a central meeting space in Hualien province, Taiwan. 

The pavillion is made out of bamboo, which, unlike trees, grows fast and can be harvested without harming the plant. The architect used freshly cut green bamboo, flexible enough to bend, and tied together with stainless steel wire. The bamboo was then inserted into steel pipes & welded.

The Forest Pavilion was conceived for an arts festival organized to promote preserving the landscape as a forest. “In recognition of the cultural diversity of the region, the pavilion’s vaults, each one presenting a unique ‘gateway’ into the meeting space, sought to formalize this diversity and suggest an opportunity for unity in support of a greater environmental benefit,” the architects said.

Can you believe these beautiful pieces are ceramic? 

Photo by Sylvain Deleu Copyright: Nuala O'Donovan

This Irish ceramic artist, Nuola O'Donovan, combines regular pattern with the characteristics of irregular patterns and forms found in nature. Each element of the pattern is individually made, the form is constructed slowly over a period of weeks or months. 

Photo by Sylvain Deleu Copyright: Nuala O'Donovan

According to her Artist Statement, the finished forms are 'a result of an intuitive response to the direction that the pattern takes as well as the irregularity in the handmade elements of the pattern.'

Photo by Sylvain Deleu Copyright: Nuala O'Donovan

"My decision to research patterns and forms from nature stemmed from my interest in the narrative quality of irregularities in patterns. The history behind a scarred or broken surface is what fascinates me," says the artist.

A Few of my Favorite Things

I haven't blogged in awhile, so I thought I'd touch a bit on a few different topics this month... here we go!

Plywood - a New Idea in Flooring

I love the recent trend toward plywood flooring. They are an inexpensive option and yet can have a beautiful grain to them. I was recently in Anna Maria Island and there were plywood floors in the coffee shop that I frequented. Theirs were stained dark green, but I really liked them. I love the natural plywood ones with coats of polyurethane  - it makes the grain really pop. There are all different types of plywood and different hardwoods used to make the plywood.  Cost, of course, varies a great deal depending on the type of floor you choose. 

Here are a few options I've seen online - I found other ideas for plywood flooring on Houzz too - check it out here.

I really like the plywood that has been cut in 12" strips.  Photo: hindsvik.com

Love this high gloss shine!  Photo: livemodern.com

These wood grain patterns add interest & detail. Photo: curbly.com

CFLs, Dangers of Mercury - and Switching to LEDs

I like to do the right thing environmentally, but  I absolutely hate the light given off by CFLs. Not to mention, I'm sure people throw them in the garbage - which is a no-no because it adds mercury to the environment. I can only imagine how many CFLs are sold by IKEA every year that are later thrown in the garbage.

Why all the fuss? Well, I did some research and this is what if found: CFLs contain about 5 milligrams of a neurotoxin called mercury. An EPA-funded study found that one gram of mercury deposited in a 20 acre lake is enough to contaminate the fish and make them unfit to eat. The reason mercury is so dangerous to humans, wildlife and the environment is that mercury is toxic in many forms and can easily transfer from air to soil and to water. The recycling industry estimates that in 2007 about 400 million CFLs were purchased in the USA but only 2% were recycled. That's 320 million CFLs in the trash.

So recently, I ordered the new Switch LED 100 watt bulb to try. It is a first that it comes in a 100 watt.  It is very pricey now and I will definitely only be buying one for now, but like all new technology, the price will eventually go down. At the current price it will take me at least 6 months for payback but hey, it's for science and the environment!

The 75-watt Switch bulb is dimmable, can be used in a recessed fixture or in an enclosed fixture, in damp locations and lasts 25,000 hours. It looks most like an Edison bulb and could even be used without a shade.

Which do you prefer?

Designing a Dream Closet - Storage Solutions for You, too!

I recently helped a client repurpose a spare bedroom into her dream closet - what a fun project! The nearly 100-year-old home still boasted the original 10-inch baseboards, which we freshened with creamy white paint and used new molding to match pieces damaged over the years. 

The walls are painted sunny yellow and a large window brings in plenty of natural light. We installed shelving to house stacks of sweaters, plenty of hanger rods for shirts, blouses and jackets, and shoe rack to keep her favorite kicks within reach.

Basement Project #11: Finishing Touches on Cabinetry & Flooring

Cabinetry and the Oil vs. Latex Paint Debate

One of my incentives for remodeling the basement was to create storage for those infrequently used items—such as kitchen appliances (mixer, corn popper), items bought in bulk, vases, light bulbs, wine, wrapping paper and ribbon—and enclosing them in a cabinet so they wouldn’t gather layers of dust that has to be removed before you can use any of them. My new space has pantry storage shelves, a base cabinet with drawers, wine cellar, and a closet to hold items we will take to and from the cabin such as golf clubs, coolers, paper products, etc. For the first time ever my basement is organized and I know where to find things.


I chose to do all the trim and cabinets in white to keep the basement as light as possible and because I don’t plan to ever change the color. It’s easy to repaint a wall but not cabinets and trim.

In the past I would have used oil-based paints to enamel the cabinets but I have become a believer in latex paints. Not only are they much more durable than in the past but they are a healthier choice and better for the environment. Using latex also saves a lot of time. It dries so quickly that you can paint an hour after applying the primer and only a few hours later for the second coat.



I’m thrilled with the cabinets but I did have to spend many hours priming and painting them. In addition to the cabinets there are six doors—to the cat litter room, closet, laundry, bathroom, plant room and mechanical room—that needed to be painted. I am grateful to my friend Dianne who graciously lent a hand when she realized I was completely overwhelmed with the amount of painting that needed to be done.

Of course I would have preferred to paint a
floor like this tile floor in Vietnam!

Concrete Floor & The Stain vs. Paint Debate

Once the cabinets and trim were painted I turned my attention to staining my newly poured “virgin” concrete floor. To warm up the room I wanted a “marbleized“ look of brown tones or possibly a mixture of rust, green and brown.

I soon found out that even though it was new concrete, I would need to etch the floor with an acid product so it would properly accept the stain. I used acid on concrete many years ago without proper ventilation and nearly killed myself with the fumes. I didn’t want to do that again so once again I turned to Natural Built Home for a healthier and more eco-friendly solution. I bought a latex etching product and three colors of latex stains. I watched the U-Tube video on staining floors and it looked so easy—yeah right, just like the ceiling install had looked easy! I choose an obscure area of the floor to experiment with the samples. No matter what I did the results weren’t good.


Luckily Dan Wolf, a paint and wallpaper professional, happened to be here. He told me I was crazy not to just paint the floor. So I bought three colors of Porch and Deck paint from Benjamin Moore. After experimenting for hours on pieces of drywall and on the floor of the workout area, I decided that I didn’t have the skill, practice or training to end up with the blended effect I hoped to achieve.

Instead, I painted the entire floor in Midnight Sky—the same deep blue color I used to set off the Moroccan pattern on the Murphy bed panel—and I’m very happy with it.

Floor Finishing Tip: Even though Porch and Deck paint is supposed to be tough, I recommend finishing the floor with a final protective coat of polyurethane.

Finally I can put the jute rugs down that I bought from IKEA and the rubber mats I purchased for the workout area.

The flat-screened TV is hung and the treadmill is in place. I’m hoping to have time soon to take advantage of both of them. 

There are only a few things to be done: Finish the plant room/ dog washing room, tile the walls of the laundry room, help my husband finish his wine room and do some interior decorating of the room.

Almost there…

Basement Project #10: Ceiling Decisions or Hitting the Roof

My original cost saving solution for the basement ceiling was to spray paint the joists dark grey so they would “disappear”. I have also seen basement ceilings that were spray painted white. But when I looked at all the electrical wires running through and all the valves for our in-floor heat on the main floor I decided it was necessary to cover the joists with ceiling material.

There are not many options really—either drywall the ceiling or use a suspended ceiling or a combination the two. I felt it was important to have access to those valves, gas shutoffs and miscellaneous wiring, so a suspended ceiling seemed like the logical choice. But given that my ceiling height was only 83 inches high I was reluctant to drop it another 6 inches or more with a traditional suspended ceiling. Plus, I’ve never particularly liked the look of those ceilings. The main room in the basement actually had one when we moved into the house. I immediately removed it because it was damaged and dirty and seemed to close in the space. (Ha! You are probably wondering why I bothered, given how horrible the rest of the room looked! But in my mind it was a quick improvement.)

While researching ceiling products I concluded that a direct mount ceiling offered the best solution for my basement. I wouldn’t lose valuable ceiling height and the panels would still be on a “grid”, making them removable if necessary. Plus, the video made it look so simple. For the grid I decided to use Ceiling Link, a PVC plastic material that is Class A fire-rated. When combined with the panel I only lost 1inch of ceiling height. Yay!

In their defense, ceiling panels today are better than the old versions. They can be made of rigid vinyl or recycled material, making them lighter than the traditional. Both can be Greenguard certified. Many are Class A fire rated.

There are a lot of panel options. Most are now 2’x2’ or 2’x4’ instead of the old 1’x1’. This saves installation labor and provides a more uniform, less “busy” look. I chose the 2’x2’ Armstrong Sahara 273 panel which looks like an updated suspended ceiling panel. It has a fine texture and doesn’t look like the old panels with the holes in them. They are a commercial weight. The deciding factor though was that they provide a 50% sound reduction, something we really need because right now you can stand in the basement and hear people whispering above in the foyer. Without a sound barrier the 42-inch TV we are installing in the basement would become a major nuisance for anyone on the main floor. The panels are available through Lowes, but there is a four-week wait for special orders.

Enthusiasm reigns  (at first)

So, finally it was time to tackle the ceiling. The walls were painted, the Armstrong panels were delivered and sitting in the basement and I couldn’t put it off any longer. “It should be easy!” I’ve said that many times only to realize it was a lie!

My friend Mark came over to snap some plumb lines across the ceiling and to get  started.

Trying to set the level so it is level

Mark carefully laid out the ceiling and then began to hang the first row. Although he is 6’3”, nearly the height of the ceiling, it didn’t make installation any easier for him. Constantly looking up and working over your head is difficult. Because the joists rolled along every which way it was impossible to hang the tiles directly onto the joists and make them level. A notorious perfectionist, it wasn’t long before he became totally frustrated. 

Rented Rotary Laser Level--a life saver

I rented a rotary laser level and he used that to try to level down the rows. It did not work like he hoped since the joists dip in places and blocked the laser’s beam. Since Mark is a good friend who has already spent many hours working for nothing on the basement, I finally told him to go away and forget the ceiling project. Who needs that stress?  

The opening to the stairwell determined
the height of the ceiling

I used the level to mark a level ceiling line around the room, beginning with the lowest point of the ceiling, which was the stairwell. It determined the permanent height.

Shimming one door 1.5 inches above another

The plumb line grazed the top of one doorway but was 1.5 inches above another. It crossed in front of one of the windows and was above another window. Obviously perfection has no place in an old basement!

Almost complete!

It took at least four solid days of shimming and measuring to finish. Getting the track up was miserable enough. Cutting the tiles with a blade and then sliding them into the tracks while tiny, sharp particles from the panel fell into my eyes was another kind of miserable. 

As is true in all kitchen and bath design, every 1/8 inch made a difference as to whether the tile would slip into place or the cross piece would sit on the track. I had to move down several recessed lighting cans at points where the ceiling was shimmed down 2 inches from the joists. It was a thwarted process at every step. 

It did not turn out perfectly but I have to admit, I am thrilled with the result. However, I would NEVER do it again. It was by far the hardest work I did in the basement — or at least it ranks right up there with the horrible asbestos removal! 

A direct mount ceiling is a good choice for new basements with level joists, but older basements like mine are still waiting for a more satisfactory system. 

Basement Project #9: Abracadabra...from Closet to Powder Room

Front Hall Closet....
and soon to be powder room

I knew the basement would be a major project, but I thought the main floor powder room would be a snap. After all, it’s a small space and the existing wood floor could stay. I planned to redo the wallpaper, hang the sink, add a toilet and call it a day. Needless to say, it didn’t turn out that way…

Demolition

One wall almost done

As mentioned previously, the new plumbing required extensive lath and plaster removal. The two interior walls and the small outside one came down easily and made me over confident. 

Early Sunday morning, the day before the plumber was due, I tackled the final wall, assuming I would be done in time for Meet the Press at 9 AM. Smashing into it I was greeted with a nightmarish downpour of vermiculite insulation—almost certainly containing my old nemesis, asbestos (see Basement post # 4). I realized then that our house is built with “balloon” construction meaning there are no sill plates all the way up to the attic. The walls are basically an open, unobstructed runway between the first floor and the attic. 

Demolition tools (+ muscle)

I frantically stuffed newspaper up between the studs to stop the flow. I was wearing a mask because of the plaster dust but was totally unprepared for more hazardous material removal. I gingerly got out of the room and sealed off the space so asbestos fibers couldn’t float into the rest of the house. I knew from previous experience that I had a big job ahead of me of bagging, boxing, and bagging again. Needless to say, there was no Meet the Press or leisurely pancake breakfast that morning.

Ultra Touch insulation and
the roughed in ceiling fan 

Original horsehair insulation
and some cellulose, before
the vermiculite deluge

Insulation and Sound Barriers

We knew from an earlier energy audit that insulation would be needed. There was a scant 1/2” layer of horsehair and disintegrating paper in most of the home’s walls. I decided to use Ultra Touch insulation again for the powder room wall because it insulates well and also mitigates sound well. We created another sound barrier in the interior wall with framing.

In Floor Electric Heat

It made sense for such a small space to install in floor electric heat. I ordered a mat from NuHeat that fit the space exactly. The electrician checked it when it arrived, and again after the mud was spread over the mat in preparation for installing the tile.

Painting the ceiling metallic gold

Floor Tile, Drywall and Ceiling

After that it was just a matter of installing the natural limestone tile, putting up and priming the drywall, and painting the ceiling.

The Master, Dan Wolf,

preparing to wallpaper

Wallpaper

Once again I gravitated to Moorish designs for the walls. I found a beautiful “natural” wallpaper made from mulberry bark with beautiful lattice-like designs stamped on it in gold, a perfect complement to the brass sconces. When Dan Wolf, the paper hanger rolled it out small bits of the mulberry wood flaked off it, leaving white spots on the dark brown paper. I had considered hanging this paper myself but I’m sure I would have completely ruined it. Dan is skilled, with 40 years of experience, and it was a difficult job even for him. Besides working with fragile paper he had to maneuver in a ridiculously small space. Somehow he got the design to come together perfectly at the corners despite the fact that the walls have an inch difference between the top and the bottom of the wall. Amazing!

The paper is up, floor is in and 
refinished baseboards back on.

Woodwork

A job/cost I hadn’t considered when planning the project was re-staining and varnishing the old woodwork. For 90 years the sun had been beating through the window, fading the once-rich colors of the molding and woodwork. It was also nicked and worn from use. It would have been a shame to put up that lovely wallpaper and not have beautiful woodwork alongside it. 

Fixtures and Fittings

Unpolished sconce on left,
polished on right

Selecting fixtures for a 3’ x 4’ powder room (formerly a closet) is challenging. Years ago I purchased a pair of sconces at the ReUse Center (which I’m sorry to say no longer exists) knowing they would be perfect for a powder room. They are solid cast brass, and beautifully made. I paid a mere $50 for them. 

Will it all really fit...
and a person too?

Two years ago I got a Vitra sink at an International Market Square (IMS) sample sale for a terrific price. It’s the perfect size, and eliminates the need for a countertop and vanity. Unfortunately, the sink has to be installed on an outside wall where adequate insulation is a concern, so the pipes had to be run inside the room instead of inside the walls. This sink wasn’t designed for exposed pipes coming up through the floor – and even if I could afford brass pipes it would be too much brass for such a small space. So I still need to figure out a way to cover the pipes. I will probably have a woodworker build a little wood “skirt” to hide the pipes. 

It took some time to find just the right single-handle faucet for the sink. Most are more contemporary than I like and often only available in chrome or bronze. I wanted brass to complement my brass sconces. I fell in love with the Henry faucet from Waterworks. It’s a tad more stylistic than I wanted but it has a brass living finish, meaning it will develop a lovely patina over time. It has a single cross handle that adjusts the water from cold to hot as you turn it, a wonderful feature.

Because the front closet is such a teeny space, a wall-hung Gerberit tank with Duravit toilet bowl proved to be a perfect fixture. Because the tank is housed inside the wall, the bowl extends less than 20” from the wall, which is 6” or 8” less than almost any round front toilet. It has the added bonus of hanging above the floor making cleaning easy. (I know what you are thinking, but it won’t break off  the wall, they are designed to withstand 800 pounds!)

Mirror

After the sconces were hung there wasn’t much room above the sink for a mirror. There are some gorgeous and unique mirrors available but I found that the ones I loved were far too expensive. So I decided to repurpose a frame from an old tapestry I had. It goes perfectly with the gold stamped wallpaper. David Radtke, a local woodworker, cut it down for me. Glass Art Design added a mirror, wiring and blocking to make it stable enough to hang. Being able to improvise is an important skill when remodeling and designing. 

Finishing Touches

The powder room is almost finished. It still needs some color so I am on the lookout of some fabulous, bright piece of art for the wall and some “just right” hand towels in bright colors. The large window and mirror in such a tiny space make it a difficult room to photograph, but I will post final pictures soon. The powder room transformation is a success!

Meanwhile, back in the basement…the ceiling is being installed; another success, still in the making. Stay tuned…