Storage Room Reorganized (part 1)

Posted on January 27, 2012 by
planboder_etter

The next home improvement project on the agenda (after finishing the project Stairway and Storage Renewal) was the reorganization the other storage facilities in the basement. The starting point of this area looked like this: Picture to the left: overview of storage area, looking towards storage room III; Picture to the right: looking the opposite direction towards the laundry room with a glimpse of storage room I to the right Our storage facilities were at the time divided into three small rooms, as shown below to the left. By tearing down the dividing walls the room was opened up allowing … Continue reading →

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Stairway and Storage Renewal (part 2)

Posted on January 26, 2012 by
Storage area 1 026

Practically finished and ready to reveal I started this project in April 2010 with a declaration of war on procrastination. Well, the race was a bit closer than I had hoped, but at least I got the area from looking like the picture on the left to the picture on the right, so who cares that it took 6 months instead of 3 weeks? From the beginning until the end of the project quite a bit happened. The stairway was transformed from the gloomy picture on the left to the fresher looking ones to the right and below. Amazing what … Continue reading →

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Stairway and Storage Renewal (part 1)

Posted on January 25, 2012 by
storage area2

We had this area in our basement which we’d allowed to become a deposit area for stuff there really wasn’t room for; for instance: garbage(!), building materials (our excess hardwood floors mysteriously ended up here), shoes, clothes, etc. This was in addition to what was not there by accident: boxes with light bulbs, ski gear, suitcases, sleeping bags and so forth. This area was situated next to the family room in the basement which was used as a guest room on occasion. This situation had continually gotten worse until the situation became unbearable – just see for yourself! There was … Continue reading →

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Spirit of the Home by Jane Alexander

Posted on January 23, 2012 by
Spiritofthehome

Subtitle: How to make your home a sanctuary Author: Jane Alexander, written 1999 One of the most beautiful books on home improvement that I know is this pearl of a book called the Spirit of the Home. Reading this book starts you on a journey which may take years, guiding you towards your true home. It is a book to get lost in; be inspired by; come back to again and again; fall in love with; get angry at; and find useful information in. Sprinkled as it is with great pictures taken by Tim Goffe there are several approaches you … Continue reading →

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Our Major Home Renovation (part 3)

Posted on January 22, 2012 by
theden_after_alt

In part 1 and part 2 of this series I mentioned that we got a water leakage in our basement the same month we moved into our new home. Actually the water came into the house twice within a couple of weeks due to a period of heavy rainfall. The water flooded the communal pipes in the road making the water recoil into several of the basements in the neighborhood, including ours. It came up through the valve in the laundry room, slowly filled this room and eventually flooded the whole basement. Although this was a nice way to get … Continue reading →

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Our Major Home Renovation (part 2)

Posted on January 21, 2012 by
Bildebank 063

In august 2007 we moved into our new home with a four weeks old baby and craftsmen coming and going all the time. It was a pretty chaotic few months until we finished rebuilding it just in time for Christmas. By then we had three new rooms and had renovated just about every existing room in the house. Now our house has five bedrooms, two home offices, a den in the basement and a hobby-room on the first floor, in addition to the common rooms on the ground floor – and a brand new bathroom which I designed from scratch. … Continue reading →

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Our Major Home Renovation (part 1)

Posted on January 20, 2012 by
newattic

When we were househunting, in Norway back in 1997, I knew it the moment we walked into the house; that we had found our new home. I suspected our friends and family thought we had lost our marbles, buying a house labeled “a renovator’s dream” with a baby on the way and no handyman tendencies to speak of, and perhaps they were right. Fortunately for us I am an architect and I started making the new house plans right away. We were also lucky to get a hold of carpenters quickly to do the rebuilding and renovation for us. Our … Continue reading →

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The Essential House Book by Terrence Conran

Posted on January 19, 2012 by
41N4TP7G4ML._SL160_

I recommend to anyone interested in home improvement, a book by Sir Terrence Conran; The Essential House book – the comprehensive source book to home design. It’s a perfect read for anyone who is open for some great advice and enjoy looking at gorgeous pictures. In the first part of the book, a sense of place, Conran gives an introduction to the basic concepts of the home design. You get acquainted with form, patterns, color, room and light, as well as a closer look at the importance of history and tradition. What constitutes a home? – he asks, but he … Continue reading →

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We’re building a new house, how do we make it our dream home?

Posted on January 18, 2012 by
newhouse

Ask the architect: Hello, we’re a family of six planning to move out of our current home once we’ve built a new house in the garden. Could you give us some advice on what we should be aware of in this situation? How do we turn it into our dream home? Answer: Planning and building a house from scratch gives you a unique opportunity to get it just the way you want it. Therefore the most important thing to do is figure out what you want! Naturally you also have to consider the restrictions, such as the physical environment of … Continue reading →

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Replacing the Garage with a Two Story Extention

Posted on January 17, 2012 by
elevation-section

A preliminary project I did for a family of six with four children from newborn to preteen. The problem Their situation was that they had outgrown their house and some of the rooms were too small (kitchen, bathroom and laundry-room). They needed more space for a new main bedroom and bathroom. They planned to finance an extension in part by building a rental apartment in the basement. In their (then) current situation they had a double carport/ garage at the side of the house, which they considered repurposing into rooms for living. A close up of the situation between the … Continue reading →

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