Week 41
A wood floor of the ages
Often, the seed of an idea begins from a photograph. The client and I came across an inspiring photo of a wide plank, rustic, caramel wood floor. Finding the picture can be the easy part. We tracked down a wide plank reclaimed barn wood white oak, and working closely with an accomplished artisan floor company, we began the process of experimentation to achieve our desired outcome. The first step was to decipher what we were all extrapolating from the photograph. Everyone sees through a slightly different lens of perception, and when they translate their perception into words, there is a chance for a “lost in translation” moment. When the team looked at the test samples together with the finisher, the best feedback present in the room was non-verbal—a shrug of the shoulders, a short nod of the head, a thumbs-up, a relaxation, or a soft out-breath.
And so, through a patient process of fine-tuning, we arrived at an approved sample. To achieve the sample, the wood was slightly bleached to get a uniform color and then went through a series of staining, sealing, glazing, and varnishing. The finished floor in the empty bathroom was alive and timeless, as if it could have come from many centuries. The room felt complete before anything else was in it, a special reward for all those involved.
The Wood floor for the Ages reinforced that a beautiful outcome isn't just about finding the right material but about a thoughtful, collaborative, process of "experimentation to achieve a desired outcome." It demonstrated that a well-chosen, well-executed foundational element can bring a sense of wholeness to a space on its own, producing deeply satisfying and timeless results.
Week 42
Windows
There's a room in a coastal art gallery in our county with a striking design. The eighteen-inch high windows are only a few inches above the floor. This clever placement enables privacy from the parking lot outside while allowing the delicate perimeter landscape to seamlessly enter the room space. A low sculpture sits directly on the floor, visually joining with the outdoor greenery. Crucially, the wall space above these low windows remains entirely free for hanging paintings—a perfect example of lateral thinking. Standard window placement would not have allowed any of this to happen.
If that gallery were a two- or three-story "passive building," these low windows would be perfectly paired with windows in the highest part of the building. Opened on a warm summer evening, they would allow the convection of cool air to enter at the bottom, with hot air escaping at the top, facilitating natural ventilation.
We once had a very intuitive client who, before I joined her project, had already done some remodeling work. On either side of her wood fireplace, she added low windows, similar to those in the gallery. Now, sitting on the sofa in front of the fireplace, the windows are at the same level as the flames, creating an eye-level theater of fire and daylight—a truly captivating experience.
Week 43
Lighting: A few Illuminating ideas
The chandelier looks perfect, hovering over the dining room table in splendor, the candle-like light bulbs evoking a bygone era, inviting the guests to take their seats for a festive celebration. The hostess notices how dimly lit the table is and how difficult it is for the guests to see each other. She switches on the two mini recessed cans on either side of the chandelier, and the whole table setting comes to life as if the chandelier were doing all the work.
Lighting comes in three categories.
Task lighting has a specific purpose, such as illuminating a kitchen work area, a painting, or a hallway. In a hallway, the recessed fixture can be angled to light up paintings. Task lighting by default also provides “General Lighting”. These days, most residential lighting is recessed cans.
Accent lighting can serve both aesthetic design purposes and task lighting, such as bathroom sconces, dining room chandelier, and hall sconces.
General lighting, typically ceiling lighting, is commonly found in warehouses, factories, and supermarkets. The only place it belongs in a home is in the garage or a workshop.
Good lighting design is crucial. Dimming and lighting control systems add to the versatility of the lighting, enabling the creation of different scenes, such as the TV-watching scene and the entertainment scene.
Bedrooms are often insufficiently lit. A single center light provides poor perimeter lighting, making the room feel smaller. Lighting the walls and paintings with perimeter recessed cans provides adequate lighting for the whole room and makes the room feel larger. Accent lighting, such as bedside lamps, creates a warm and intimate atmosphere in the bedroom.
You can always dim a light or switch it off, but you can’t switch on a light if you don’t have one.
Hallways are often neglected, but they are more than a path from A to B. A combination of recessed cans with gimbles, sconces, and pictures can transform a hallway into a warm and welcoming space.
Week 44
Home Technology and Audio Video
A smart home is a house equipped with technology that allows devices and systems—like lighting, security, heating, and entertainment—to be controlled remotely or automatically. This is done by connecting devices to a network using Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, Zigbee, or Z-Wave, which allows for control using a smartphone, voice assistant, or automation rules. More and more devices connect to a cloud server via the internet, so you can control your home or get notifications from anywhere.
It is essential to work with a specialist who can listen to your needs.
I want to touch on two areas that offer everyday variety and flexibility.
Lighting Scenes
Lighting Scenes are a way to instantaneously create different functionality and ambiance. Remember the story of our hostess who notices how dimly lit the table is and how difficult it is for the guests to see each other? Instead of switching on the four mini recessed cans separately from the chandelier, there could be a scene button part of a six-button switch plate that is engraved to say "Dining." Another button could switch on a different combination of lights with varying dimming levels for general "Entertaining." Likewise, another button could switch on all the recessed lights at full brightness for house "Cleaning." A fourth button could be set for "Morning” coffee on the sofa. And, of course, there's always the button that says "Nighttime" for when you are having a midnight snack. The final button could be used for "Landscape” lighting.
Invisible Speakers
Invisible speakers are designed to be heard and not seen. Installed behind paint, plaster, and wallpaper, they offer an immersive audio solution, providing outstanding performance while preserving the surrounding design's aesthetic, particularly where traditional speakers are unsightly or take up inconvenient space.
Week 45
My favorite Art experiences
I'd like to share five art experiences with you, presented in chronological order.
The Andy Warhol flower paintings show at the Tate Gallery were a departure from the images of Campbell’s Soup Cans and movie stars. The scale and the garden of colors of the repeated prints were exuberant.
The giant Mattise collages also at the Tate Gallery had the same scale impact as the Warhols. However, unlike the Warhol printing factory, I could imagine Matisse, in his wheelchair at the end of his life, full of joy, cutting out pieces of primary-colored paper and guiding his assistants to paste them onto the canvases on the wall in front of him.
Visiting the Musée d’Orsay, my primary objective was to view the world's most extensive collection of Impressionist paintings. Paris and the Impressionists go together in Paris like croissants and café au lait. Going room by room, I eventually reached the Monet gallery. It had already been a great adventure, especially seeing the Pissarro paintings. Seeing all those Monets together took the experience to another level. I wasn’t prepared for the next gallery, an extensive collection of Van Gogh's works. I was transfixed. I hadn’t realized there was another level beyond the Monets, but there was.
I was unprepared for the Uffizi in Florence. The Botichelli gallery, one sumptuous masterpiece after another, was like multiple courses of dessert before the main course. Yet, like Van Gogh gallery after Monet, Michelangelo's painting, Doni Tondo, eclipsed the Botticelli experience.
I had followed David Hockney’s work since seeing a large show of his work during my early years at St. Martin’s School of Art. I had a collection of books from different periods of his work. I had seen him speak in London and seen Mozart's Magic Flute opera in San Francisco, for which Hockney designed the sets and costumes, as well as a retrospective show in Los Angeles. The show of new work at the De Young Museum in San Francisco surpassed the other experiences. It had the scale and celebration of the Mattisse collages. The landscapes of Yorkshire were evocative and minimalist-impressionistic in a way only Hockney could achieve. Halfway through, I was so overwhelmed that I held onto Marie to prevent myself from hitting the ground.
Week 46
Creative Feedback Loop or Gordian knot
The design team, with the client, had created storyboards of surfaces and colors, furniture, and fixtures for a whole house, carefully crafting the narrative over numerous meetings. To celebrate this milestone, the client innocently threw a party for family and friends and asked for feedback: "What do you think?" Some of their friends and family offered opinions, such as, "I don't like that," or "You should do this instead." The feedback entangled the proceedings by splattering random, unhelpful content into the mix. The input was out of harmony with the work that had already emerged. The next morning, the clients awoke full of anxiety.
The key takeaway from these scenarios is to assemble a small team of trusted advisors who work together in a creative feedback loop. They maintain coherence by protecting that emerging vision from well-meaning but unhelpful influences, avoiding being tied into a Gordian Knot.
Week 47
The Story of Camille and the kitchen
With our new client, Camille, we were working on a large and complex project that required us to develop a unified aesthetic. Our early focus was on the kitchen. I knew that the kitchen was to be the heart of the house. Camille was an excellent cook, and with four children, the gratitude metaphor—of breaking bread together in the communal, nurturing heart of the home, centered around shared meals and conversations—perfectly expressed the intention. Even the layout of the kitchen was well understood: there was a dedicated baking area, a pasta-making zone, three sinks, and plenty of prep space. At the center of it all was a communal island that accommodated the whole family while still providing ample prep room. What was still unknown was the aesthetic.
Camille and I decided on an exploratory trip to the San Francisco Design Center showrooms. I was in an observing and listening role, and Camille was in an expressing role.
At the first kitchen showroom, exhibiting four complete kitchens, Camille paused at one and said, "I love this kitchen." The kitchen had a powerful French aesthetic, and we both felt comfortable enough to move on. Half an hour later, while in another showroom, I had some doubts about my conclusion. "Camille," I said, "let's go back to the kitchen showroom. I have some questions."At the showroom, I asked if she liked the Egg and Dart crown molding, the columns that support the range hood, the French iron hardware, or the cabinet panelling. To each question, she answered in the negative. Confused, I asked her what she liked about the kitchen. “The color,” she said as if I were a mind reader. Guess what color the kitchen became? The lesson is clear: always ask for a detailed explanation of what someone says they like. It will be a good learning opportunity for everyone involved. More recently, a client sent me a folder with over 200 images that inspired her. After a glance, I knew it would be impossible to interpret anything that would genuinely help the process. Although images can be very instructive, they can also easily mislead, as seen in the showroom kitchen. A detailed explanation is always required; otherwise, "nobody is on the same page."