construction Archives - Erickson Zebroski Design Group

Small Master Bath – Borrowed Space

By Chet Zebroski

While working on the American Clay installation in our soon to be Den/Guest Room, we discovered loose tiles in our Master Bathroom shower. There was no way around it, the Master Bathroom was to be our next excursion into transforming the style and use pattern of our humble ranch home.

Sarah Susanka has received notoriety for promoting the concept of living small in her book “The Not So Big House”. It’s an observation contrasting developed space, small versus large, focusing on what makes a home special. She puts forth that it’s not size so much that makes a place special, as it is it’s function, detailing, and relation to adjacent spaces. The main point being: invest money on details and relationships, not necessarily on square footage.

Her work and observations flowed perfectly into and beyond the training we received while working at JSW/D, coauthors of “A Pattern Language” (another book on the study of successful design patterns). JSW/D wrote a follow up to Pattern Language titled “Patterns of Home: The Ten Essentials of Enduring Design”. It’s a book focused on successful residential design patterns only. A link to the residential design patterns list can be accessed here.

Using these guides as a foundation for decisions, we saw an opportunity to improve our sense of space by enlarging the doorway into the bathroom and borrowing space from an adjacent closet and under the existing roof eave. This is an example of the tactic “borrowed space”. In one case, by enlarging the size of the door from 24″ to 64″ we gained a sense of space from the hall. In another, by extending into an adjacent closet and under the existing roof, we take advantage of those elements and evolve their function with a new use pattern for our daily activities.

This is the wake up room. The place where we spend time preparing to meet the day. In a small space such as our bathroom, we worked to minimize visual clutter to maximize a sense of tranquility. So, we took care to choose each detail carefully, assuring a pleasant space. Though the selection phase was slow and deliberate, the end result is that each and every element was chosen by us, with no exceptions. It was worth the effort in the end.

We got some positive press from Fine Homebuilding in their Fall/Winter 2007 issue when we completed this aspect of work. Here’s a copy of the article below in pdf form. (Reprinted with permission © 2007, The Taunton Press, Inc.)

June 18, 2016/by Laurie Erickson

Garden Gate – Recycled Heat Register Grill

Garden

By Chet Zebroski

One of the things we’ve learned to enjoy over the years is seeing traditional architectural design merge with contemporary design aesthetics and production values. A lesson we learned from Barbara Winslow, while working at JSW, was her ability to honor traditional architecture while merging with our casual California atmosphere. She consistently brought into her designs recovered artifacts such as doors, panels, tiles, which would take a significant place in the new design. Her method reminds us of work from other artists who spend much of their time researching and learning traditional methods in order to evolve their newer concepts and techniques, merging the two.

With that in mind as we developed the gate to our rear yard, it was inevitable that something old would be within the new gate. In this case we discovered a beautiful rusty old heater grate and realized it would make the perfect peek-a-boo spot to see beyond.

Enamored as we are by the combination of curved and squared shapes, the grate takes on an arch top frame to match the arched top of the gate which is surrounded in it’s squared frame.

To carry on with the aesthetic we used an iron locking door set instead of typical gate latch. The combination seems to have been made in heaven! Well, to some anyway!

Respect, Recycle, Reuse is the catch phrase of the day for us. Not everything has to be brand new as we remodel our nest. We wish you happy hunting as you rummage through the many new venues warehousing these valuable artifacts for your next project!

December 30, 2014/by Laurie Erickson

Home Design – Natural Daylighting

Home

By Chet Zebroski

Once the water intrusion, air infiltration, and insulation solutions were installed in our crawl space, we moved our attention onto interior improvements. With the desire of opening up circulation and providing natural light into a dark hall, we started by removing a door and related framing to allow additional daylight to enter the hall space from the Living Room.

We considered adding a skylight for natural day light, but the roof form over the hall where we’d like to place one is way too complicated. So, we came up with the idea of borrowing light from a bedroom window and feeding it through a large display niche into the hallway.

What happened is that while contemplating a solution for gaining natural light in the hallway, a friend/client and I bartered an exchange. I did some design work for him, and he did some glass blowing for me. His work actually inspired the concept of the niche in the hallway instead of a skylight because we needed a place to display his art.

It occurred to us that by using a niche as a light-source / display-space in the hallway, we could also expand the niche on the bedroom side and provide a built-in cabinet. ~and, avoid the hassle of putting in a skylight. We wanted to make improvement to the bedroom, too. So, it’s kind of a two-fer.

We love built-ins and the charm they bring to a home. So, game on!

By removing a door and related framing from a hall entry, and providing a source of light from an adjacent bedroom’s window via a large niche, we provide natural daylight into what was once a dark hallway. These pictures should be self explanatory…

July 28, 2014/by Laurie Erickson

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