Breakfast Bay I have always loved sitting in breakfast bays, eating breakfast, and reading the paper. Â These days, the object in front of me is often an iPad or other electronic device, but the wonderful feeling of a breakfast nook is always the same. Â Of course, breakfast bays with windows on three sides will be the brightest. Â Depending on the orientation of the house, the sunlight streaming in can be dramatic. If there are some interesting views, that is a [...]
Kitchen After This Greenwich cottage needed a great kitchen, a second-story patio, a new bathroom and laundry, and a garage. With a small home, little changes make a big difference, like this cottage renovation. With the help of some very engaged clients, we worked as a team to make this cottage renovation a jewel of a project. A cottage renovation makes a huge difference to the way that home lives. Cottage Kitchen Before Kitchen Close-Up [...]
Dining Room with Red Chairs In an age where family time has been shortened by screen time, and we eat most of our meals on the go, dining rooms can bring us together. A dedicated dining room can change the atmosphere of a meal and provide a special grace to dinner time. I have a large dining room in my own old farmhouse, and we do enjoy more formal meals there. In our house, the dining room is [...]
Efficient Pantry Pantries are the unsung heroes of the kitchen. They can be a larder or a home for seldom-used appliances. They can also be a staging area for a dinner party or a quick place to make a drink. In practice, most pantries are a combination of those things and change depending on the occasion and the season. Unless you live next to a world-class market, they can also be the difference between being able to cook [...]
Pool and Pool House Contractors are working to finish projects before the snow falls. Some projects may begin in the fall, but care must be taken to ensure materials are protected, and the ground can support the foundation. Building in the winter has its challenges, but some of the advantages can be more available materials and subcontractors since the high demand has passed in the spring and fall. Warmer winters have opened the doors to more uninterrupted construction [...]
Simple Bedroom/Porch Addition Recently we have encountered a spike in construction costs. We have seen this happen several times over the course of our practice, and it is always a shock when the established cost of building a home or an addition is no longer possible. We have found that there are multiple reasons, but the main ones are the scarcity and accompanying inflation of building materials and the increasing construction costs of each building trade because they [...]
All Metal New Home Roof On a renovation we completed a few years ago, the metal(tin) roof had a stamp on the back, and the installer gave a 25-year guarantee. The roof was a little worse for wear but was not leaking. The guarantee expired in 1905. For most of us, the expected life of metal roofs are beyond our expiration date.  Since the cost of a cedar shingle roof is comparable to a metal roof, I am [...]
Fireplace with Wood Storage I admit it, I love to look into fireplaces and let my mind wander. That constantly changing display of flames leaping and dancing can keep me enthralled for hours. Better yet, it is the perfect background for gatherings and quiet conversations. Fireplaces are often are part of the core of the home. Restored Study Fireplace Sunroom Fireplace Office Fireplace Stone Fireplace Adirondack Style Fireplace [...]
View to Pool and Pool House Our clients recently completed this Berkshire pool house. It is a fun destination that can double as a guest house as well as a place to play pocket billiards or just relax. The porch facing the pool includes phantom screens, which can come down with the push of a button and completely keep the bugs away. After a sauna and a quick swim in the pool, a glass of wine on the [...]
Chicken of the Woods(Laetiporus sulphureus) (Edible-though not everyone can tolerate it) During the early days of the pandemic, I spent a lot of time working from home and taking breaks walking around our property. I found a treasure trove of Morel mushrooms and immediately picked them, made delicious soup, and added them to omelets to everyone's delight. Then this summer, while my family was in the Adirondaks, I picked up a couple of books on mushrooms and went [...]
