A Different Kitchen and Sink

This is the kitchen sink...

This is the kitchen.

They are close but not what you would expect. This is an old European kitchen that was remodeled and I just thought the location and the style of sink were unique. My wife and I were just talking about different ways to breakdown the kitchen space. It's probably not for everyone but it's different and I'm cool with making the space work for you and your lifestyle.

Photos via Living Etc.

Abandoned Architecture

It's great architecture that at one time was filled with a ton of love I'm sure. I saw this post yesterday and it made me think that as sad as it is that these buildings will most likely be torn down (hopefully salvaged to some extent) we can still take some of the passion and pass it on. These houses definitely speak to the craft of building and architecture. The details may be masked by a lack of upkeep, but I can promise you that the craft lives on. This photo was taken from a site called 100 Abandoned Houses. It's an interesting site. I guess you could say it's bittersweet.

Kitchen Balance

A new house with amazing craft. I was in a kitchen yesterday discussing a face lift renovation and all I kept thinking was how monochromatic everything appeared. I came back to the office to do a little research and stumbled on this sweet gem. This design team did a great job with balance and texture in this kitchen. So you have the smooth lime washed oak floors complimenting the washed painted finish of the cabinets. Then you have the cypress (running just three quarters of the way) up the walls and picking up the texture in the hand hewn beams in the ceiling. The play on blacks and whites with the counter tops, pendants and paint just finishes it all off. You can pull it off with similar colors. You just need to get creative and find that balance which they totally did in this example.

photo via Atlanta Homes and Lifestyles

Tree House

Oh yeah. We'll build you a custom designed tree house. I have a client that came to me from this sweet friend and decorator, Amanda. He recently purchased a house on this killer lot with a ton of trees so we're in the process of getting the design finalized and approved. We started with the sketch above and when we're not filling out paper work for the township, we're getting ideas together. Stay tuned. There are some pretty sweet tree houses out there but this one will be unique in it's own way.

Delightful Blogs

I just received word that we made it on Delightful Blogs, a great site devoted to great blogs. Pretty cool. They claim to 'cut the blog smog' but showcasing blogs that they think are amazing. And, I'm honored to be part of the directory.

If you are enjoying Craft1945 and want to rate the blog, I'll buy you a beer or just really appreciate it. And, check out the other sites on Delightful, they do a great job.

Thanks so much,

Tim

The Fire Pole

It's Fire Prevention Week just in case you were wondering. As a builder and remodeler I'm a total freak about smoke detectors too. Anytime you renovate your home you're required to comply with that code and I'm all for it. Anyway, my sweet wife found out about an Open House at the Fire Station so we took the little nugget and both sides of the family and had a great time.

It got me thinking though about the fire pole and how we could incorporate it in the next house. This particular station did not have one but I think it's one of the coolest things. We did a couple different renovation projects for a badass athlete (now retired) a few years back. His father was a firefighter back in the day and one thing he wanted for sure when we were planning the project was a traditional fireplace - no prefab here. He knew how to build a fire and was proud of it. We also kind of joked about a fire pole but it just never made it into the plans. Obviously not the safest item if you have small kids but it would be sweet if you could sneak it in somewhere. Maybe a closet or even in a Library.

Look for an open house if you have the opportunity this week and give these guys some love. They do an amazing service to the community, they're extremely proud and it's educational for everyone.

photos via LAFD Museum and RDT Ventures LLC

Santa Lucia Preserve

In 2008 we attended the wedding of Brooke and Paul, friends from college days who we don't see often enough. The wedding was at the Santa Lucia Preserve outside of Carmel, California. They had an amazing wedding including a relaxed family style rehearsal dinner, a ceremony under a natural cathedral of Redwood trees and the reception was in a bad ass barn (top photo).

The Santa Lucia Preserve is an exclusive private community that is 20,000 acres and has 300 homes. I was going through some old pictures and started researching the actual houses on the property. They are all unique and have sweet architecture.

This one takes on a more modern look as opposed to the farmhouse style of most of the common buildings on the grounds. There's a really nice blend of indoor and outdoor living with the large window wall that opens up to the kitchen. And I like how the metal fireplace chase makes a statement. It works so well with the crisp lines and pewter colors of the exterior materials. The outdoor living is a total must if you are lucky enough to reside in a place like Santa Lucia.

(top images by Tim Capaldi, last image via Santa Lucia)