Step out of your comfort zone: take risks
Everyone advises you to step out of your comfort zone and take risks. Even when consulting a horoscope, you read: “Now is the time to be a little fearless and go after the unknown.”
Moving Kitchen Plumbing? No Problem!
As DIY Ally, I’ll gladly delve into the issue of moving kitchen plumbing. The other day, I received an email with the subject line “dumbfounded duplex in Minneapolis.” Having signed up for the initial consultation, a client was asking for “help with generating ideas.”
Upcoming Project: Planning for a Kitchen Remodel
As a DIY Ally, I am always on hand to help with a layout for an upcoming project. This particular kitchen remodel is no exception. A couple came to me with the following request: “Our main goal is to open up the kitchen to the adjoining dining/living room area in order to take advantage of…
Start Every Project with a Floor Plan
The importance of starting with a floor plan cannot be emphasized enough. A new client writes: “Hello Alla. We have been renovating a house we bought last year, and our next project will be the front porch. The basic concept is to turn the current sunroom into 2/3 open porch and 1/3 mudroom/entry way. We…
Making Furniture, David Gale, and Experimentation
Over the last 30 years, I’ve been making furniture that doubles as art for my own consumption. In college, I built it myself, but after practically cutting off a tip of my thumb, I started to rely on fabricators. That’s how I met David Gale; it was in 1989, right after I moved to LA…
Practicing Mindfulness or Living in the Moment
Last weekend was spent with the family. It’s been a long time since we were all together — in one place. Long anticipated, finally a blissful opportunity of revisiting favorite spots and living in the moment, without any concern for the past or the future. It’s up to us to bask in the glory of…
A Fieldtrip to the Getty: Handrails and Guardrails
Architect Richard Meier says: “If you’re ever seriously depressed, just get out of bed and go to the Getty.” Depressed or not, it’s a marvelous place to soak in beauty as it is expressed in every single detail, down to handrails and guardrails.
Space Planning 101: Creating a Functional Foyer
This week’s blog post falls into the category of “keeping it organized.” So, I feel perfectly justified talking about space planning. Creating a functional foyer is the first step in organizing space thoughtfully.
My Plans for IKEA’s Sunnersta Mini-Kitchen
IKEA’s new Sunnersta free-standing mini-kitchen is ideal for my garden room. Maybe to someone, it’s “the no-commitment kitchen,” but I love it. It was just unveiled as one of the brand new designs in IKEA’s 2017 catalog, which claims that this tiny thing offers “all the function of a full-sized kitchen with just a fraction…
Architecture 101: 11-step Method
Establishing Children’s Architecture Workshop in 1995 meant embarking on a journey that shaped the course of my life as well as career. A young mother and a newly licensed architect, I aspired to make an impact and become a better parent in the process. Years of hands-on teaching architecture experience enabled me to invent the…