A New Project - Brian's Condo

I started a fun new project at the beginning of December that's kept me so busy I havn’t had a chance to post about it until now. I was hired by a bachelor client to completely furnish and outfit (with all the essentials),,,,,an entire condo from scratch. The condo itself is 2 years old but has never been lived in - it was just purchased this past November by my client, Brian. For him its a chance to start fresh and move into a brand new home completely tailored to his needs, reflecting his personality and lifestyle. For me,,,,,well, I've been given the challenge of furnishing this entire condo for him in just 2 months with a budget of $20k.

The only items the budget excludes is design fees and........the flat screen tv's. While its not a huge budget, its one I think a lot of people can relate to - but it gets eaten up pretty fast so every dollar has to be planned for maximum value. At this point things are well under way and over the past few weeks I've sourced, purchased and ordered many of the main pieces. In the upcoming weeks I'll be racing against the clock to get everything else purchased, delivered and in place for February 1st.

THE CONDO is a 2 bed, 2 bath unit measuring approximately 1000 s.f.. Its appointed with fairly generic builder's finishes, the kitchen has upgraded granite counters and stainless steel appliances, but the rest of the condo is pretty standard. I like that the walls are all white and that there's lots of natural light. But you might also notice,,,the unit is made up of many odd angles, a common theme in new buildings which unfortunately makes for a lot of unusable space.

View of Front Entry

View of Living Room Area from Dining area.

Master Ensuite

Guest Bath

THE PLAN: For this initial move-in phase, we're not planning any new construction or on replacing any existing finishes. We will be replacing light fixtures, faucets and cabinet hardware, other than that,,,,the budget is entirely all for furnishings and accessories. The living room has to accommodate a large (very large) flat panel tv and the second bedroom has to accommodate a desk and a sofa bed. Based on that criteria I prepared several furniture layouts for Brian's review before we settled on the furniture layout below. Somethings may be slightly changed or tweeked along the way but this is the direction we're headed.

With the furniture plan agreed upon I set about sourcing and selecting items that would work together and create the kind of vintage modern style we were looking for.  We don't have the budget or timeline to do much, if any, custom work so with the exception of one or two pieces already on order, everything else I purchase for Brian needs to be in-stock or readily available.  This is when it becomes a real hallenge to create spaces that are unique and not 'catalogue' looking.   In the weeks ahead I'll post about each of the individual rooms,,,,,the before pics, the concept plan and after photos.  In the meantime, here's a sneak peak of the design concept for the dining area.

Construction Speak

1920's French Drafting Table by Restoration Hardware

Currently on my wish list for my next studio space.  As proficient as I am with CAD I love to draft and sketch and render by hand whenever I can.  I gave up my old drafting table several years ago during a move but I miss having one so much that I plan to make room for one in my next space.

Whenever I meet clients for the first time regarding a renovation project,,,at some point before the meeting is over, inevitably I always get asked this same question, “is your husband a contractor?”   I smile and politely say no, wondering to myself why everyone asks me that.   They always seem surprised that my answer is no.   I do admit, it would be a match made in DIY heaven,,,,,,but sadly, no I am not married to a contractor, nor was my father a contractor (usually the next question).

Just recently, when a client asked me that question yet again,,,,I laughed and commented that I didn’t know why everyone always asked me that, and she looked at me and said bluntly, “well you speak construction speak - I assumed you must be married to a contractor ”.   Huh, all these years and I had never thought that was the reason. So after 16 years as a professional interior designer,,,,spending most of my time on construction sites designing and overseeing new builds and renovations, wearing steel toes more than stillettoes,,,,, its interesting that people would assume I must come by my knowledge of construction thru my ‘husband’ ?  Strange thing is,,,, I can’t imagine how any interior designer could work in the industry without knowing ‘construction speak’.  After all, we design how interiors are going to be built, and are responsible for preparing detailed construction drawings that are code compliant, and ensuring they are complied with, wouldn’t it be strange if we didn’t know how things were constructed! 

Typically my days are spent on job sites that look like this (below), reviewing installations and meeting with the trades and or contractors.

A client's gutted kitchen gets all new windows and new window seat.

Often when I’m talking with clients or presenting design drawings to them, they’re not familiar with some of the terms that are noted.  Learning the terms that the trades use has just been part of my job and using basic industry standard terms when it comes to drafting notes on drawings is key to communicating the design intent to the team of people working on the project.  

Here are some of the most basic terms, in no particular order, that I get asked about most frequently, sometimes because they’re noted on the design drawings, other times in its spoken context. These are just off the top of my head and aren't by any means 'industry standard definitions', just my own understanding of them. 

AFF = Above Finished Floor: 

This is a critical note on plans and elevations, typically during a renovation when all the rough-in work is being done the floor consists of the subfloor material only or a floor that will be replaced with new.  But at the rough-in stage, I have to instruct the electrician, the plumber, or the window installer etc.,,,exactly where I want that light fixture mounted or those wall faucets placed.  If I give them a dimension, it has to clarify whether this is based on the subfloor,,,,,or the finished floor, which could be 1/2” to 1-1/2” higher.  The notation A.F.F. after a dimension indicates this intent and the fact that the additional thickness of the proposed new flooring needs to be factored in.

GFI = Ground Fault Interruptor:

(or as I usually refer to it,,,,‘Good F*n Idea”!)  

This is a type of electrical outlet that’s mandatory for electrical outlets that are within 3’ of a water source.

O/A = overall:  

This refers to a dimension, meaning end to end, top to bottom, or front to back, this dimension means its all inclusive, regardless of jogs, bumpouts, posts etc.

O.C. = On Centre:

This refers to a dimension and that the measurement is referring to the centre of something, ie; a drain, an electrical outlet etc.

CL = Centre Line:

Refers to location or placement of something with regards to where it should be installed or aligned in relation to the room or cabinet etc., whatever objects it intersects.

MDF = Medium Density Fibre Board

SPF = Spruce Pine or Fir

U/S = Underside

ABS:

Black rigid plastic pressure pipes used for plumbing.  If you really want to know, it stands for Acrylonitrile-Butadiene-Styrene but most people can't pronounce it or spell it so its never called anything other than ABS.

P-Lam = Plastic Laminate

CH = Ceiling Height

L.F. = linear foot

CFM = cubic feet per minute

OSB = oriented strand board:

Not to be mistaken for particle board.  BTW, this make for an inferior subfloor, use plywood.

VOC = volatile organic compounds 

Knock down:

Remove rough spots on a surface by sanding or scraping

2 Gang, 3 Gang, 4 Gang:

Multiple switches or receptacles in one box.

J-box = junction box

Robertson = A Square Headed screw

Uniquely Canadian and ......universaly frustrating if you happen not to have  a square tip screwdriver handy.  Its good to know your Robertsons from your Phillips when your handyman or installer asks you to hand him one!

Phillips = Cross Headed Screw 

F*n Slotted = A slotted head screw

A slotted head screw.  Yes it may take two hands to centre the screw and the screwdriver might slip out of the slot,,,,but hey, in a pinch you can also use the tip of a knife, a dime, a nail file......

Hard Wire: 

A wire to wire connection, meaning the device has no plug.

Rough-in: 

to provide the plumbing pipes and electrical wiring that service a fixture and installed so its ready for hook-up of fixture,  but is not the fixture or device itself.

Skim:

To apply a smooth finish coat of mud or plaster

Pink (n):

Refers to the insulation.

Pink it (v):

A nail hole filler compound that goes on pink, dries white.  I find it really cracks a lot over time though.

Rip:

To cut lengths of panel product, mouldings or lumb etc. down in size

Board:

Slang for drywall,,,ie’ gypsum board, blue board.

Blue Board:

Moisture and mildew resistant gypsum board faced in blue paper.

Reveal:

A construction or millwork detail that refers to a recessed gap, intentional and predetermined, its a design detail.

Factory Edge:

The pre-finished edge on a material as made by the mfg.

Dry lay:

To mock-up or temporarily lay out floor tiles.

Fish:

To feed new wire or cable thru existing structure to its new location.

Swiss Cheese:

This is usually what your ceiling and walls look like after your electrician or home automation technician are finished their ‘fishing’ expedition. Typically they use a 4” diameter hole saw to remove the drywall where needed and save these ‘discs’ of drywall so they can be screwed back in the hole and patched. (ok so not a technical term per say but I use it all the time!)

Hole Saw:

Big round circular drill bit.  

Box:

Electrical conduit box, this is where the wires are pulled to, then the actual outlet or switch device is hardwired within this box.  Boxes are sold for either new work (new construction) or old work (existing walls/ceilings) applications.

Flush: (not the toilet!)

To install flat to something or level with something, ie; flush mount.  Also refers to a flat surface, ie; flush doors.

Slab:

A sheet size of a solid material such as stone or marble but also refers to poured concrete.

Blocking:

Or dead wood.  Wood reinforcement on or behind the wall board to provide extra support for wall mounted items.

Strap:

to strap something is to install a nailing strip, (to accept nails or screws) for fastening board material.

Pull-string:

Literally string, installed from the source panel to the device location in lieu of cable.  This allows for easier telephone, speaker, network or tv cable to be installed after the walls and ceiling have been closed up (meaning you'll have no swiss cheese!) The installer simply attaches his cable to the end of the string and pulls it thru,,,,,hoping the string doesn't break.

Camera it:

To camera your sewer or plumbing lines means to drop a video scope into a pipe to inspect it and survey its location.

Core Drill:

To drill a hole thru or partially thru a concrete slab, to remove a section of it.  This is typically not allowed in condo renovations as it compromises the structural integrity of the slab, being the subfloor and structure that supports the unit above.    Usually if core drilling is allowed it must first be reviewed and approved by a structural engineer and the property managers.

Trench:  to dig up your concrete slab in your basement thru to the ground beneath.

+/-

Referring to a dimension on a plan, this means its acceptable for this dimension to be an inch or 2 more or less than the number stated.

Template:

To site measure for a custom fabrication ie; marble counters or glass shower enclosure.  Work must be completed to a certain point before its ready for templating.

As Built:

Refers to the current existing built conditions of a space, which are not necessarily the same as the builders plans or the design drawings on hand.  Once a project is underway, the actual as-built dimensions always need to be verified against the dimensions on the proposed design plans.  Never build or design anything from a plan without verifying the as-built.

This is just a very general overview of some basic terms,,,,,,and each particular aspect of construction has its own specific set of jargon, ie; framing, drywall, stairs, tile setting, mouldings, doors and windows etc.. and in future posts I’ll elaborate on some of those terms.  In any case, my advice to anyone who's contemplating hiring an interior designer to oversee or advise them on the renovation of their entire house or even just one room,,,,you really should hope they speak 'construction speak' no matter who they are or aren't married to!   

My Condo Renovation - Design Drawings

After - The Final Layout

DESIGN DRAWINGS:  Part of what I’d like to use this blog for is to share some of my work, not only before and after photos but also the design drawings, sketches and inspirational concepts. They represent all the months and sometimes years of work that have had to take place before those lovely ‘after’ photos can be taken.  For past projects, I’m going to start by going back about 6 years, or about as far back as the files date on my current computer.  Anything older than that,,,,and I’ll have to start digging thru the boxed archives.  Which i’m sure I’ll do eventually but in the meantime,,,,, I’ll start circa 2003 with one of the oldest living projects on my hard drive now, it also happens to be the FIRST time I had the opportunity to design a home for myself!   If you haven’t read my earlier post or seen some after photos of my condo you can check it out here.  

BEFORE:  When my boyfriend and I decided to buy a place together, our search for our ‘dream’ home didn’t last long, I don’t even remember how we ended up looking at condos, that certainly wasn’t my intent,  but it is true when they say that location really trumps everything else..... and, that men really don’t like change.  Did I mention this condo we bought was located directly below the unit my boyfriend was renting at the time.   Oh yes you could say,,,we searched high and low for our new place. ; ) 

 

And this is the condo we bought .......

The combination Living Room/Dining room featured a stippled popcorn ceiling, cheap, plastic like laminate flooring, ugly aluminum windows,,, and a stunning view.

The kitchen 'Before' - viewed from the Living Room.

Despite the kitchen was 20 years old, it was in like new condition.  The condo had only one previous owner, a single male and the unit was immaculately well kept.

Guest bathoom and Master Ensuite below, vintage 1983. 

The master ensuite.  

DEMO:  And about  one week after taking possession,,,,,this is what our condo looked like!

The blue stripe on the wall was where the old kitchen was.

THE AFTER SHOCK:  This is the stage in every reno project when the homeowners feel overwhelmed with anxiety, it marks the beginning of many sleepless nights.  Your home, typically your single biggest investment, has suddenly become a pile of rubble and you can't imagine it ever being livable again within the time frame or budget you've allocated.  

It was after the demo stage that most of the design plans for the condo got reworked and finalized.  We discovered all sorts of conduit and telephone/cable risers in places we didn’t expect, right smack dab in the middle of our new wide open plan living spaces.  Discouraging to say the least.  They weren’t indicated on the base building plans that the management office had provided so we had no idea what we'd find once the walls came down.  And when they did, I had to quickly figure out how I was going to work around all these obstacles without chopping the place up again and building bulkheads everywhere. All that conduit you see hanging down from the ceiling and sticking up thru the floors,,,,had to stay, but i wanted clean, high ceilings.

Despite all those 'surprises' I was excited to see the place demolished.  Aside from the view, there was nothing I liked about the unit.  I hated the layout.  The tiny kitchen on the interior of the unit was completely enclosed with full height walls, essentially blocking a spectacular view - which made no sense to me at all.   As for the 45’s, I can’t even begin to tell you how much I hate 45 degree angles (I’ve always thought they’re a lame way of trying to making something fit that otherwise doesn’t fit - and people might think its a ‘creative’ solution, but i think it just looks like something was lopped off.)   And then there’s that interior bedroom with sliding patio doors,,,,,and the fact that there was no balcony.

Here’s a look at the demo plan - it shows what the existing layout was like when we purchased it, and everything we planned to remove is indicated by dashed lines.  Basically, we stripped it back to the concrete shell leaving only the plumbing stacks and conduit in place. 

PRELIMINARY PLANNING: Before we even submitted an offer to purchase the place, I took a site measure, drew up the plans and starting sketching.  We had to satisfy ourselves that we could make the space more useable for us, and do some quick estimating on the costs and time involved.  This only took a day or two.  Below are some of my really rough sketches (and I mean rough), probably done in a coffee shop.  Despite how rough the sketching looks, when i look at these now i can clearly see my thought process and how the final plan evolved.   I always freehand sketch dozens of ideas before I ever start to draft anything up on the computer, i had piles of these rough layout sketches.  To this day, that condo remains one of the most challenging spaces I ever worked on.  A huge angled wall, very little wall space,,,,foor to ceiling glass,,,,,,furniture placement was impossibly awkward.  I never was completely satisfied with the layout but for us, it was a a big improvement to what was there before.

SKETCHES:  We wanted to maximize the views of course, I love to cook and have dinner parties so I wanted a kitchen that was condusive to entertaining large and small groups, I wanted undercounter, side by side washer & dryer set up, not a tiny stacked unit squeezed in an even tinier closet,,,I wanted a separate cozy tv/library area, a small home office space and an entry way that was inviting, private, and could accommodate 3 or 4 people comfortably with lots of storage for coats and boots.

PARTITION PLAN:  Here’s the final partition plan which shows where all the new walls, cabinetry and bulkheads were to be built.   The Den area ultimately underwent a second phase of construction a year or so later when we added walls and doors to create a more separate tv/bedroom and office area (shown in the final layout at the top of this post). 

OBSTACLES & SOLUTIONS:  The circular columns you see in the front entry and beside the kitchen island were my solution to concealing vertical risers that housed telephone lines for the floors above.  These were fibreglass like columns that came in two half round pieces which the drywallers tape and mud together. They looked like the large round support piers you often see in high rise condo's and lofts which was much more authentic looking to me than building a small drywall box around them, now they became an architectural feature. They weren't classical greek columns, they were simple, plain cylindrical unadorned columns. They actually look like they could be part of the structure and to me they had this nautical feel about them too.  There was another set of oddly placed risers that you can see in the Den, about a foot and a half away from the wall.  I decided to have a wall built out enclosing them with a second matching wall built to the left of it so that it created a nook.  We outfitted this nook with a lower cabinet to house a large colour printer, then a tv cabinet above that on a pull out swivel shelf and recess pocket doors, then a small upper cabinet above the tv housed the tv receiver box and dvd player.  The size of the nook was designed so that we could fit ready made Ikea cabinets within it, the walls and the cabinetry were the same white colour, in the end it all looked like custom built-in cabinetry and you'd never know the entire thing was built to conceal some conduit. 

KITCHEN DESIGN:  I love to cook and the newly designed kitchen was truly one of my favorite kitchens I’ve ever cooked in.  I really like the single lineup against the back wall, if i could have added a second prep sink to the island it would have been ideal, but that wasn’t possible.  It took me a while to get used to the size of the island,,the day the concrete counter was installed, I couldn't help but think it was so big it looked like a landing strip, the only thing missing was a stripe down the middle.  It was big.  But I adjusted to it quite fast and once the rest of the space was furnished it didn't seem so big anymore.  It was awesome for entertaining, we always had 3 or 4 people sitting at the counter enjoying wine and cheese while I cooked and chatted. On a daily basis we ate all of our meals there and it was great having a flat panel tv mounted on the opposite wall. 

Here’s a look at some of the kitchen elevations.

HIGH & LOW:  The entire renovation was an excercise in mixing standard off the shelf stock products with custom elements and details. The kitchen is a great example.  The cabinets were all from Ikea but I custom finished the cabinetry in a dark brown stain and the pantry and fridge cabinets I painted in white ( back in 03/04 they didn’t have as many door options as they do today).  I went with a counter depth fridge and had full gables istalled on the sides with a cabinet above to give it a true built-in look.   From the money i saved by going with stock cabinetry, I splurged on good quality stainless appliances and then pretty much everything else about the kitchen was custom.  Custom concrete counter top on the island, a stainless steel back counter with integrated custom single bowl sink, custom back painted glass backsplash, custom stainless steel floating shelves and stainless steel back panel on the cooktop.  Which all took an incredible amount of precision planning and co-ordination, the smallest oversight or miscalculation easily becomes a really costly mistake.

I had no choice but to drop the ceiling over the kitchen to accomodate electrical conduit so i designed a low profile, two tier bulkhead that looked like it was integrated with the design of the kitchen, it followed the shape of the island then returned back to the wall so it lined up with the range and rangehood.

DETAILS:  When i look back now, I’m surprised at how much custom work went into the condo because we really had a modest budget.  I'm also surprised at how much the marketplace has changed and the range of products that are now readily available at big box stores that we didn't have just 6 years ago.  In addition to the custom elements we installed in the kitchen, some of the doors, all of the baseboards and casings and even both vanities in the washrooms were custom made based on my own designs.  Some of those designs were planned before construction started,,,some were designed on site and sketched up by hand.

A custom vanity designed of a stainless steel frame and concrete countertop.  The wall tile pattern wasn't finalized at this point.

A custom floating vanity in the second bathroom which also served as a powder room so I wanted it to look more elegant and not so utilitarian bathroomy looking.  The wall tiles that were installed were actually 12 x 24.

Above is a detail sketch of a concealed bracket for the floating vanity.  Although I prepared an elevation with written notes that illustrated the design intent for the floating vanity, the contractor and cabinetmaker needed more direction on exactly how to make it work.  And I'm always prepared to do that with anything I design.  In addition to this custom steel bracket I also provided 2 different options for ready made brackets from a hardware supplier. 

Both of these casing and baseboard profiles I’ve used a few times since this project.  I couldn’t find a supplier who had these profiles in these sizes so my contractor just milled them for me.   Today I still don’t know of anyone who makes a paint grade baseboard in this profile that’s less than 7-1/4”.  But i’m pleased to say that Brenlo recently added a new casement profile to their catalogue and its exactly like this one I’ve been having custom made. 

Just think, all of this and we havn't even touched upon colour, finishes, lighting, fabric or furniture!!!   My next and final post on this condo renovation will feature more of the after photos and the House & Home photo shoot.