Michael Graves Warehouse Home in New Jersey

Irwin Weiner ASID - There are a handful of superstar architects and designers. Of course, Michael Graves is one of the few, and I was just directed to his Dwell video interview where he talks personally about the discovery and renovation of a Tuscan style warehouse in Princeton, NJ that he looks forward to returning to whenever he's able to get off the world-travel merry-go-round.

Photo: Ben Hoffman for Elle DecorIt's instructive to see where creative people live, knowing that the design elements of their own homes will help them recharge and get on the creative path once again. Mr. Graves' home features privacy, clean lines, beautiful landscaping and gardens, and soothing water features. I'd be happy to trade homes with him at any time! Visit the Michael Graves website for more information on this legendary designer and his work.

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Do-It-Yourself Video - Handy Kitchen Fix-It Tips

Irwin Weiner ASID - When I saw this reader-submitted video of a woman who takes charge of the power tools in her home and goes to work building and remodeling her kitchen, I had to lie down. Way too much energy! But watch today's featured video from The Family Handyman, and you definitely will get some great DIY or professional remodeling ideas for how to turn your kitchen into a more usable, handy, functional space.

Click on these links for 10 Tips for a Happy Kitchen Remodel and 4 Weekend Kitchen Upgrades - and for our Design2Share readers, I know it's been awhile since the last installment of my own kitchen remodeling videos - but I promise to put them up soon. (And the good news is that the remodeling and settling in is almost complete.)

 
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Irwin's Kitchen Remodeling: the Demolish-and-Wait Phase

Irwin Weiner ASID - The ground has now frozen hard and is sometimes getting dusted with snow outside our country house in rural Pennsylvania. We're now approaching Week 6 on the project, and demolition has been completed on the walls and floors of our kitchen, back entry area (which has served as our laundry room and catch-all storage area with large old-fashioned potato bins), and a small powder room. Our contractor and his son and step-son banged and pried and pulled and hauled away at surfaces to take off the new and bring it down to the bare bones.

It's exciting to see the layers of old brick veneer taken off the kitchen wall, discover old boarded-up windows, and see the rough electrical and rough plumbing put into and through the walls. In these two videos, you'll see the progress we've made.

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Irwin's Kitchen Remodeling: Scope of Work

Irwin Weiner ASID - We're a bit behind in catching up our readers on the progress of our home remodeling project in rural Pennsylvania. We really miss our kitchen, and the novelty is fast wearing off of having to eat out all the time on the weekends when we're in our weekend house. Part of our Weekend Therapy is to plan a meal and cook something spur of the moment, so we'll be happy when it's all over. In this video, I'll take you through our emptied kitchen, laundry room, and powder room and describe the scope of work - and next week I'll show you two videos with substantial progress made on the project. Whenever homeowners begin an extensive remodeling or renovation project, however, always plan for the process to take longer than you expect. In our case, this is holding true and we expect to be without a kitchen through the months of January and February and sometime into March. It's the nature of the beast, even though every contractor we interviewed told us the job would take only 6 weeks. 

 

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