Santa Cruz County Launches New ADU Toolkit

We have a strong belief in Aging in Place and building smaller, more quality living environments, so we are excited to see the County of Santa Cruz embracing the new ADU (Accessory Dwelling Unit) guidelines.  They now offer a new website toolkit that helps owners plan an ADU.  Please feel free to contact us if you want any guidance or assistance in planning, designing and building a ADU.

Here is an excerpt from our County newsletter:

"By providing more affordable housing and giving longtime residents a chance to age in place while earning income and increasing housing supplies, we believe accessory dwelling units (ADUs) can be a more-than-incremental part of the solution to our housing shortages. Toward that end, the Board has made it easier to build ADUs and the Planning Department has put together a toolkit where homeowners can check whether their parcel is eligible for an ADU. You'll also find planning, design and financing guides, fee estimators, FAQs, and more. Please visit http://www.sccoplanning.com/adu. "

Shaping Your Life...Emotional Architecture

“There’s nothing more important than architecture. It creates your world and influences how you feel both mentally and spiritually...It’s not a question of whether a building makes us feel good or bad. It’s about being moved. That’s what the word emotion means. What we feel is the sense of intensity, passion and involvement. It’s something that goes very deep.”
— Daniel Libeskind

#TheLovers #emotionalarchitecture #luisbarragan

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#emotionalarchitecture #luisbarragan

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At a Tokyo flea market / / / / #fleamarkets #tokyo #display

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Stunning Tudor Style Home Renovation - Not To Be Missed...

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This was a whole house remodel that we recently completed.  This design + build project started with the client inquiring about new countertops.  It quickly blossomed into a whole house remodel including a new laundry room, three bathroom remodels and a beautiful kitchen remodel The construction project included removing a load bearing wall in the kitchen, relocating the laundry room, creating curbless showers in the two upstairs bathrooms, and designing and building beautiful touches throughout.  We want to thank so many people for their amazing contributions including Julia at Plumbed Elegance, Isabelle at Illuminee, Alan at Built In Distributors, Kate Falconer for her amazing photography and all our talented subcontractors.  Their creativity, vision and technical knowledge helped shape this beautiful home. 

Click here for a slideshow tour under our Projects.

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Tile Shopping - Master Bathroom Remodeling Fun

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Tile choices can be one of the most important decisions you can make during your remodel - and the most overwhelming.  Our latest master bathroom remodel is a mixture of affordable porcelain tile and some absolutely stunning waterjet cut tiles from Walker Zanger.  Important advice - make it fun!  

AN INTRIGUING READ…"SHOP CLASS AS SOULCRAFT. AN INQUIRY INTO THE VALUE OF WORK"

We find this an intriguing read....

"A philosopher/mechanic's wise (and sometimes funny) look at the challenges and pleasures of working with one's hands

Called "the sleeper hit of the publishing season" (The Boston Globe), Shop Class as Soulcraft became an instant bestseller, attracting readers with its radical (and timely) reappraisal of the merits of skilled manual labor. On both economic and psychological grounds, author Matthew B. Crawford questions the educational imperative of turning everyone into a "knowledge worker," based on a misguided separation of thinking from doing. Using his own experience as an electrician and mechanic, Crawford presents a wonderfully articulated call for self-reliance and a moving reflection on how we can live concretely in an ever more abstract world."

"Shop Class as Soulcraft"

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A GLIMPSE INTO YOUR FUTURE … HOME AUTOMATION & ELECTRONICS

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This is from the Adorne collection from Legrand...lighting controls, outlet strips, home charging stations, music and more... We love the outlet strips with interchangeable slots for outlets or USB plugs, iPad/iPhone Dock, and more. 

Check out the Legrand Adorne Collection.

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A TREE'S JOURNEY - CRAFTING A CUSTOM BED

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While working on our clients' bathroom remodel last year, a redwood tree fell in their backyard. Here is the journey to creating a beautiful redwood bed and table.  We coordinated having the tree moved to Boulder Creek where it was cut into slabs.  We then cut the redwood slabs to the proper sizing and sent them off to Jackel Enterprises to kiln dry them.  Andi Orsini meticulously crafted the bed.  Our client generously donated the additional redwood slab to our new office for our conference table.  Here is the journey from the fall to the stunning furniture.

Designing a Small Home Addition

Here are a few of my favorite 3-D renderings from our latest design project.  We are working on a small kitchen and dining room addition that adds a third bedroom, maximizes space, community, organization and creates a beautiful space for a family of four to live, thrive, entertain, and grow. We extended the addition out toward the front yard to create connection to their amazing front yard.  They now gain a whole new entertaining space outside as well.

Farm style island and built in dining nook

Farm style island and built in dining nook

Bed nook - a great way to maximize space in a small room and create a cozy space to wind down.

Bed nook - a great way to maximize space in a small room and create a cozy space to wind down.

Bedroom nook

Bedroom nook

Entry bench and custom niches

Entry bench and custom niches