Well, due to some unexpected developments, I am pushing up my move in date for my office!!
For those of you who have been following this, you'll know that at the moment, I have floor joists, vertical posts, plywood floor (not yet secured) and a desire to get stuff done out here, that ranges from simmering to flaming hot. Today it is flaming hot - so to speak.
The unexpected developments involves my father now being home full time again. There were some problems at the college, he and the dean reached an amicable agreement, and he's back to being retired full time.
And I am not under the gun, but under the cannon to get a host of things done in the next week, and must work uninterupted as much as possible.
So, this morning I am sitting on said platform - putting in my time. It's 55 degrees (f), slightly breezy, and clear at the moment. All in all, it's not unpleasant. Actually, thanks to lots of layers it's sort of sweet. (In that "I'm a hearty woman" sort of way)
I'll post pictures later.
Wish me luck!!
Oh - naming of the office space. I need a name for it. Something that I can call it that will reflect it's character, and not be too over the top.
Current ideas are:
The Estrogren Hut (I live with 3 men and 4 dogs - I deserve a girl place)
The Fortress of Gurlitude
The Shed of Productivity
The office (boring!)
The Pirate Ship (thanks to my son James)
The Pod (thanks to the husband)
Deep Space Mine (ugh)
MySpace (Already taken by some web page)
OKay,.... must be productive... back to work!!
PLEASE SEND IDEAS FOR NAMES!!!
Showing posts with label Sheds and little houses. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sheds and little houses. Show all posts
01 November 2007
16 September 2007
Garden Offices in the News - sort of...
From USA Weekend - the magazine insert to our Sunday paper...
Sometimes the inspiration just keeps coming... I'm just a trend setter, I guess...
We're out to set the footings this afternoon!! Update coming tonight, if I can move...
Enjoy! in the meantime!
Getting away from it all (without leaving)
Homeowners squeezed for space are turning to cozy "cabins" they can build in their backyards. These affordable, DIY units are extending our living space like never before.
By Jeffrey Ressner
As a single mother living in Austin with her 16-year-old son, Sydney Rubin adored the architectural style of her 1952 two-bedroom bungalow. But she desperately needed more space for a home office. Adding a new room would have run about $40,000, and at least double that to convert her carport. Either way, the renovations would have compromised the home's original design. Instead, Rubin came up with a novel solution: a tricked-out backyard cabana that transformed her garden area into an idyllic workspace.
"They're less expensive than an addition and a great way to escape from loud family life in the main house."
"I know it sounds flaky, but it's a really inviting, happy-looking structure," says Rubin, who bought the upscale cabana online after mulling over her various options. The 140-square-foot unit took a couple of workers just five days to build using prefabricated materials, including gorgeous tight-knot redwood panels. Total cost: $22,000. Now she has a home office, a garden feature and a conversation piece.
"Every time someone comes over, they ask the same question: 'Where can I get one?' "
These days, the answer is easy. Prefab cabanas, or "cabins," as people also call them, experienced a resurgence in the 1970s, and in the last few years several companies have popped up selling hip backyard lodgings perfect for art studios, meditation rooms or guest quarters. Keep in mind, however, that traditional "bonus room" additions generally are more sturdy than cool prefab modules and may deliver a better return on investment when reselling your home.
Although separate structures like these often are used for storage, they also can offer homeowners a real refuge -- a different room in which to work, play or just relax. It's almost like having a vacation home in the backyard. The units range in size (100 square feet and up) and are detached from the main residence and immobile. "A new trend definitely started in the building industry," says Casper Mork-Ulnes of Modern Cabana, the maker of Rubin's cube and one of at least a dozen firms offering the nifty single-room nooks. "They're less expensive than an addition and a great way to escape from loud family life in the main house."
Garden rooms in general have become a popular concept as homeowners seek ways to expand exterior living and leisure spaces beyond wooden decks. Some daring folks are experimenting with cargo containers; others park gleaming Airstream trailers in their yards. Jo Stougaard of North Hollywood, Calif., pitched a large canvas tent in her garden, decorated it with safari gear, framed Hemingway photos and African knickknacks and now often hosts fun dinner parties there -- that is, when guests aren't sipping martinis inside a nearby Tiki hut, which serves as yet another outdoor room.
Sometimes fun is trumped by function: Richard Cornelius of Cincinnati spent nearly $10,000 on a Cape Cod-styled mini-home that he uses to hide his swimming pool equipment.
Popular for many years in England, the too-cool garden-room trend got a spark here in early 2004 when Gen X-slash-Y craft magazine "ReadyMade" published a cover story featuring a $1,500 super-shed by California designer Edgar Blazona. With its corrugated metal siding, large glass panels and Eames-era charm, Blazona's MD100 (named for its 100-square-foot size) became an instant classic -- practical yet prudent, retro yet relevant. When "ReadyMade" began hawking the construction plans for $35 online, they quickly became a big hit.
"I call it an adult playhouse," says Christian rocker T.D. Oakes, 32, who built an MD100 on his Lexington, Ky., property over two weeks last September for $3,000, using off-the-shelf material from Lowe's and The Home Depot along with a cheap cordless power tool kit.
Candace Locklear, who lives in the East Bay hills near San Francisco, says building an outdoor room was "totally worth it." She and her husband had considered landscaping their yard, adding sod and a koi pond, but instead built a hip "modern playhouse" for their young daughter. Not only did the construction project bring them closer ("it helped us realize what great partners we really are"), but they've become the most popular parents on the block.
Blazona, a former Pottery Barn designer who offers larger backyard structures at ModularDwellings.com, thinks the market for outdoor rooms is good but says "it's hard to create a true product that can be made anywhere" because each municipality has different building laws and codes.
Dave Kimball, whose New Hampshire firm Shelter-Kit has sold prefab barns and homes since the 1970s, sees his business expanding, especially for the basic $9,975 "Unit One" mini-cabin, which can be used in backyards or combined with optional decks and porches to create larger residential structures. "Our business was exclusively in the Northeast, but now we're all over, including Texas, Idaho and Montana," Kimball says.
And why not? Single mom Rubin says the pre-fab units offer a pretty fab way for homeowners to get back to nature: "These aren't tiny trailer homes; they're beautiful objects surrounded by greenery. I'm in my little room, looking out over the garden, watching squirrels climb up an oak tree. It's far better than any other office I've ever worked in."
Go to top
HouseSmart By Lou Manfredini
The practical side of building a backyard escape
Check with your local building department to see if these types of structures are allowed, and if so, what requirements you must meet. You may need to submit a building plan and survey to show where it'll be located on the property.
Position the structure in a way that avoids problems such as water pooling down in low spots. Consider a gravel base or raised concrete slab to keep your new unit high and dry.
Make sure the design of your new cabin or shed has some kind of visual relationship with your home. Not only will it make a great companion element, it'll keep your neighbors happy, too.
Add some basic amenities to the unit. Having a few electrical outlets, some lighting and even indoor plumbing can be a real plus. (Check out the BioLet toilet, a composting unit that uses no water, at biolet.com.)
Lou Manfredini is OurHouse.com's "Mr. Fix-It" and a contributor to NBC's "Today" show.
Go to top
What's your style?
1. Cottage All that's missing from this elegant mini-home, which even boasts a steep gable roof, is the white picket fence. It's a sweet spot for overnight guests, or maybe a great pool house.
2. Pavilion This octagonal "home extension," designed by Michael Graves for Target stores, makes a great breakfast nook or library. Use more glass walls and it's an awesome greenhouse or artist's studio.
3. Modern dwelling Marketed under various brand names, such as "modern cabanas" or "metrosheds," these fun retro designs are perfect for a trendy playhouse or an urban home office.
Cover photograph by Jean-Yves Bruel, Masterfile
http://www.usaweekend.com/07_issues/070916/070916build-cabins.html
Sometimes the inspiration just keeps coming... I'm just a trend setter, I guess...
We're out to set the footings this afternoon!! Update coming tonight, if I can move...
Enjoy! in the meantime!
Getting away from it all (without leaving)
Homeowners squeezed for space are turning to cozy "cabins" they can build in their backyards. These affordable, DIY units are extending our living space like never before.
By Jeffrey Ressner
As a single mother living in Austin with her 16-year-old son, Sydney Rubin adored the architectural style of her 1952 two-bedroom bungalow. But she desperately needed more space for a home office. Adding a new room would have run about $40,000, and at least double that to convert her carport. Either way, the renovations would have compromised the home's original design. Instead, Rubin came up with a novel solution: a tricked-out backyard cabana that transformed her garden area into an idyllic workspace.
"They're less expensive than an addition and a great way to escape from loud family life in the main house."
"I know it sounds flaky, but it's a really inviting, happy-looking structure," says Rubin, who bought the upscale cabana online after mulling over her various options. The 140-square-foot unit took a couple of workers just five days to build using prefabricated materials, including gorgeous tight-knot redwood panels. Total cost: $22,000. Now she has a home office, a garden feature and a conversation piece.
"Every time someone comes over, they ask the same question: 'Where can I get one?' "
These days, the answer is easy. Prefab cabanas, or "cabins," as people also call them, experienced a resurgence in the 1970s, and in the last few years several companies have popped up selling hip backyard lodgings perfect for art studios, meditation rooms or guest quarters. Keep in mind, however, that traditional "bonus room" additions generally are more sturdy than cool prefab modules and may deliver a better return on investment when reselling your home.
Although separate structures like these often are used for storage, they also can offer homeowners a real refuge -- a different room in which to work, play or just relax. It's almost like having a vacation home in the backyard. The units range in size (100 square feet and up) and are detached from the main residence and immobile. "A new trend definitely started in the building industry," says Casper Mork-Ulnes of Modern Cabana, the maker of Rubin's cube and one of at least a dozen firms offering the nifty single-room nooks. "They're less expensive than an addition and a great way to escape from loud family life in the main house."
Garden rooms in general have become a popular concept as homeowners seek ways to expand exterior living and leisure spaces beyond wooden decks. Some daring folks are experimenting with cargo containers; others park gleaming Airstream trailers in their yards. Jo Stougaard of North Hollywood, Calif., pitched a large canvas tent in her garden, decorated it with safari gear, framed Hemingway photos and African knickknacks and now often hosts fun dinner parties there -- that is, when guests aren't sipping martinis inside a nearby Tiki hut, which serves as yet another outdoor room.
Sometimes fun is trumped by function: Richard Cornelius of Cincinnati spent nearly $10,000 on a Cape Cod-styled mini-home that he uses to hide his swimming pool equipment.
Popular for many years in England, the too-cool garden-room trend got a spark here in early 2004 when Gen X-slash-Y craft magazine "ReadyMade" published a cover story featuring a $1,500 super-shed by California designer Edgar Blazona. With its corrugated metal siding, large glass panels and Eames-era charm, Blazona's MD100 (named for its 100-square-foot size) became an instant classic -- practical yet prudent, retro yet relevant. When "ReadyMade" began hawking the construction plans for $35 online, they quickly became a big hit.
"I call it an adult playhouse," says Christian rocker T.D. Oakes, 32, who built an MD100 on his Lexington, Ky., property over two weeks last September for $3,000, using off-the-shelf material from Lowe's and The Home Depot along with a cheap cordless power tool kit.
Candace Locklear, who lives in the East Bay hills near San Francisco, says building an outdoor room was "totally worth it." She and her husband had considered landscaping their yard, adding sod and a koi pond, but instead built a hip "modern playhouse" for their young daughter. Not only did the construction project bring them closer ("it helped us realize what great partners we really are"), but they've become the most popular parents on the block.
Blazona, a former Pottery Barn designer who offers larger backyard structures at ModularDwellings.com, thinks the market for outdoor rooms is good but says "it's hard to create a true product that can be made anywhere" because each municipality has different building laws and codes.
Dave Kimball, whose New Hampshire firm Shelter-Kit has sold prefab barns and homes since the 1970s, sees his business expanding, especially for the basic $9,975 "Unit One" mini-cabin, which can be used in backyards or combined with optional decks and porches to create larger residential structures. "Our business was exclusively in the Northeast, but now we're all over, including Texas, Idaho and Montana," Kimball says.
And why not? Single mom Rubin says the pre-fab units offer a pretty fab way for homeowners to get back to nature: "These aren't tiny trailer homes; they're beautiful objects surrounded by greenery. I'm in my little room, looking out over the garden, watching squirrels climb up an oak tree. It's far better than any other office I've ever worked in."
Go to top
HouseSmart By Lou Manfredini
The practical side of building a backyard escape
Check with your local building department to see if these types of structures are allowed, and if so, what requirements you must meet. You may need to submit a building plan and survey to show where it'll be located on the property.
Position the structure in a way that avoids problems such as water pooling down in low spots. Consider a gravel base or raised concrete slab to keep your new unit high and dry.
Make sure the design of your new cabin or shed has some kind of visual relationship with your home. Not only will it make a great companion element, it'll keep your neighbors happy, too.
Add some basic amenities to the unit. Having a few electrical outlets, some lighting and even indoor plumbing can be a real plus. (Check out the BioLet toilet, a composting unit that uses no water, at biolet.com.)
Lou Manfredini is OurHouse.com's "Mr. Fix-It" and a contributor to NBC's "Today" show.
Go to top
What's your style?
1. Cottage All that's missing from this elegant mini-home, which even boasts a steep gable roof, is the white picket fence. It's a sweet spot for overnight guests, or maybe a great pool house.
2. Pavilion This octagonal "home extension," designed by Michael Graves for Target stores, makes a great breakfast nook or library. Use more glass walls and it's an awesome greenhouse or artist's studio.
3. Modern dwelling Marketed under various brand names, such as "modern cabanas" or "metrosheds," these fun retro designs are perfect for a trendy playhouse or an urban home office.
Cover photograph by Jean-Yves Bruel, Masterfile
http://www.usaweekend.com/07_issues/070916/070916build-cabins.html
08 August 2007
I was almost giving up...
I have found that over time, I get to the point on things when I am just ready to give up...
And go to Lowes and buy some atrocity, that my neighbors would tolerate, and I would "make due" with... something really grim like this:
That the gods smile upon me, decide I've struggled with frustration long enough and show me the way out.
Honestly, the more exhausted and wits end I am, but not quite giving up, the richer the reward. I don't expect it, but I always feel grateful when it happens. . .
So this morning, instead of diving into the Project Summary I was supposed to be drafting I jumped over to my friend Alex's sight on "shed working" and found that though he's gone on holiday (it's vacation), he's left me a gem. It's a link to a site that is the inspiration and fun that I needed... Called Simon Dale's low impact woodland home.
DUDE!!!
This is IT!!!
It includes the building instructions, and thoughts on how to do this without spending a fortune!!And then I sent the post to my awesomest friend Sue, who totally gets the low impact hobbit hole thing and she's thrilled too. I even sent it to Tim, the engineer, who said it looked good, though he's concerned about the heat here in Georgia with the straw bale construction... Honestly, just having SOMETHING would be great, and having this would be amazing.
It will be smaller, but I'm INSPIRED AGAIN!!!
I can't dive into it too deeply yet, Russian Arctic Stakeholders to analyze and then a Transboundary Diagnostic Analysis for the Caspian, but those should wrap as the weather cools a bit here...
anyway, I'm thrilled and once again, feeling energized and optimistic. And ready to go start digging holes in the back yard!!
02 July 2007
Update...
WATCH THIS SPACE!!
Soon - updates on:
Doors! Doors! Doors!
Wood! Wood! Wood!
Plans! Plans! Plans!
Serindipity ABOUNDS!!
Okay, I'm super crazy busy at the moment - but soon! With photos! I promise!!
Soon - updates on:
Doors! Doors! Doors!
Wood! Wood! Wood!
Plans! Plans! Plans!
Serindipity ABOUNDS!!
Okay, I'm super crazy busy at the moment - but soon! With photos! I promise!!
25 June 2007
Serendipity and little houses.
Well, a day plus later and things continue to evolve.
First, my niece sent me this about a new type of insulation made from mushrooms.
I'm not sure it's viable at this point, but in a cave it could be like growing my own! And I do love mushrooms on my pizza!! (now if they's just make a solar powered pizza oven! And I am sure "they" do)
Second, Alex at Shedworking gave my page props! DUDE!! That is awsome! (and fun to see my "office" on someone else's blog)
Third - I am a strong believer in serendipity, if you're open to it, and let it happen, and IF it is supposed to, things fall into place. So here's a case in point. Today, my 17 year old son and I were hanging out. Just finished lunch and dropped by our local (favorite) coffee shop Jittery Joe's. I wanted to grab a cuppa, and also snag some of their Morning Ride Organic Dark Roast. (It's fine coffee and organic)
So as we are standing in the coffee shop the guy behind us places his order as we finish paying. I hear James cheerfully say hello and I turn around to see Brian C., a family friend we've known since our kids played soccer together as 5 year olds! Brian is a true Athenian, and a lot of fun. We spent many a frosty spring morning cheering our kids like true "football hooligans". Brian knows lots of folks in town and we caught up. Just as we were getting ready to say our farewells, I mentioned the "fortress", because it struck me that Brian might have an insight. I don't know why, I just did. It turns out that Brian is a big fan of "little houses" and has several books on the subject. (He's even agreed to lend them to me!!) He's interested in the project too, and seems to have both a grasp of what I'm trying to do, and the same passion for such spaces as Alex (of Shedworking) has and I seem to quickly developing. I got more of a jolt from that side trip to Joe's and I can't wait to get my hands on the books!! Even if it's just some ideas, that's what I'm looking for.
Serendipity I tell you. Karmic equalizations works.
(and getting to hang out with my 17 year old? PRICELESS!!!)
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