What

The Projects

Remodeling our house was one of the most creatively rewarding experiences I’ve ever had. It was physically, mentally, and financially challenging, and I learned a lot and utilized all the design and project management skills I’d learned in my previous work. Take a peek behind the scenes in the case study that follows.

Sometimes a small design detail can go a long way in telling a story and making an experience or place feel special. In our guest room, designed for family, I incorporated stories from Hawaiian quilt making with design decisions and illustrated posters. Details follow in the case study below.

To me, one of the differences between design and art is that designs must be overtly purposeful and functional. For a home bar to be functional, it has to be enjoyable for residents and guests alike to easily make tasty drinks. It would cost a fortune to stock a full bar, so I tested a selected menu of tiki cocktails and classics to develop a set of cocktails and recipe book that’s easy to follow. Learn more about the bar design in the case study that follows.

Why

Context & Research

Seeking the advice of experts

This was especially true for my own home. That being said, designing for oneself has it’s own dangers. It is easy to get carried away without testing assumptions, make choices that are too specific or customized, or want for an editor with more distance. While the heart wants what the heart wants, I worked to counter the risks of being my own client by partnering with my husband as an editor and voice of reason, seeking expert advice from the cabinet maker, an architect friend, the electrician, the folks selling lights and plumbing fixtures, and my beloved crew. I didn’t have all the answers, but I didn’t have to if I could listen and then make informed decisions.

For example, a friend who is an architect gave us a key insight on a problem, I was having difficulty solving: The primary, guest bedroom, and bathroom doors faced one another in the hallway. I imagined our parents and family staying with us and wanted to find a way to offer more privacy for them, but I didn’t see a solution. Our architect friend helped me create a small foyer for the entrance to the guest bed and bath with a pocket door. This small but brilliant change meant that when guests stay, they can close the pocket door to create a private en suite bath. However, with the pocket door open, the bath is open to the hallway. Sometimes, having the right answer isn’t as important as being able to clearly articulate a problem early enough in the planning phase to get help from people who will have solutions.

How

planning, scoping & definition

Never having done a remodel before, I had a lot to learn. I found the book, What Your Contractor Can’t Tell You to be a helpful starting place, but once we really got into it, The Essential Craftsman’s YouTube Spec Home Series was invaluable. I also started visiting local home supply stores and adding information to an Airtable project I would keep throughout the process as I got better understanding of costs. (Spoiler alert: I still underestimated.) A flooring supplier and cabinet designer were particularly informative and helpful as I worked through questions about configuration, layout, materials, and costs. In many ways, this portion of the project felt like research I had completed when doing user experience design for an unfamiliar industry. I worked to grasp the basics, understand the market, and spoke to regional experts. As I did this, I started dreaming up possible directions and working through layouts with my husband.

Low Fidelity First

When I was testing cocktail recipes, I read that the bartender should always add the least expensive ingredients first. That way, a mistake in the amount of citrus added won’t impact the alcohol and can be corrected with less waste.

When doing product design, I want to show early work at the lowest possible fidelity that still effectively communicates the idea to stakeholders or tests an assumption. That way, I haven’t invested so much time and energy in an idea that the cost of changing it or generating new directions becomes prohibitively high too early in the process. When designing obstacles for robots, the slope of the ramps was important to get right. Otherwise, the bots we had may not be able to climb the ramp. Had I not built homemade prototypes and tested with kids before going to production, my ramps would have failed.

In construction, the permitting and supply chain challenges make it tempting to commit quickly to decisions that are very hard to change. Even for a relatively small project, spending extra time with plans, making sketches, taping out spaces, and refining elevations saved me great deals of heartache in the long run. In fact, it has always served me to make mistakes on paper and get enough feedback to identify them there. Don’t get me wrong, I still made plenty of mistakes, but they were greatly reduced by working at low fidelity first. Listening to the old adage repeated by my, and likely all crews, “Measure twice, cut once.” didn’t hurt either.

Building

Way back in my Carbon Five days, we didn’t have any project leads that didn’t also contribute to the code base. When I led projects there, I also wrote CSS. I’ve always found that having design or code deliverables and being part of the building process makes me better at managing. I feel more tuned into the day-to-day and more present to address inevitable changes. I find it easier to establish regular routines and build relationships. I think that is part of why I chose to paint our house. But maybe more important, I love making things. I wanted to have a hand in the work of making the idea real.

Part of the Process

Early in our project, I ended up with a role that was bigger than I intended. I wouldn’t just be designing and painting; I’d be doing take-offs, lumber runs, staffing, scheduling, managing the budget and payroll, and helping choose daily and weekly priorities. I’m so thankful I found an amazing trio of guys (thank you Matt, Buggy, & Justin) to work with me. It is accurate to say I was in over my head and I couldn’t have done it without them. What’s more, they were lovely to spend time with and generous with their knowledge.

I was also extremely grateful for the time I had spent working with the Head of Operations at Steve & Kate’s to build vendor relationships, purchase robots, manage warehouse logistics as they were shipped to all our locations, and manage budgets for Studio procurement. Those experiences were incredibly valuable when estimating take-offs and figuring out storage logistics. I channeled him in my Airtable machinations. Finally, the woman at the lumber yard who took all my orders was a true jewel. She talked me through S1S2E trim and batten availability more than once and the guys in the yard taught me a thing or two about how to check lumber and how to properly tie down a load. I think I am less self-taught than lucky to have worked with a lot of amazing teachers throughout my career.

Before & After