In today’s episode, we are reviewing the floor plans of our recently completed Housebrand house that will be featured throughout the month of February for our “on location” segments.


This three storey, 3,000 square foot home features a sunken courtyard on the lower level and a main floor terrace off the living and dining rooms taking advantage of expansive views to the west.


The plans are organized around a central service block that runs up all three floors. The service block houses the laundry and mechanical on the lower level, the kitchen pantry and guest bathroom on the main floor, and the master en-suite on the upper floor. The stairwell is unusual in that it forms an “L” shape around the outside of the service block. The living spaces on the main floor are organized around the kitchen which is located in the center of the plan and on the lower floor, a family entertainment space and guest bedroom suite face towards the west facing sunken courtyard.


Today’s Slides:

We are very excited to announce that for the month of February, Slow Home will be on location in one of our most recently completed Housebrand homes. The house, designed and built by John and Matthew, is a 3,000 square foot infill house in one of Calgary’s established inner city neighborhoods.


This house is located on a standard 50 by 125 foot lot with a rear detached double garage and has been designed to optimize its front facing west orientation. The main floor has a raised exterior terrace that faces towards the mountain views to the west. The lower level, about a half a storey below grade, has an exterior sunken courtyard to take advantage of the west afternoon light. The east facing rear yard has a large deck off the main floor family room as well as a garden.


Over the course of the month, John and Matthew will be taking you on a tour of the interior and exterior of the home looking at the overall design concept as well as zooming in on some of the most interesting technical and construction details.


Today’s Slides:

John and Matthew look at how a project by Battersby Howat effectively combines a staircase with millwork storage.


























Today’s Slides:

Today John and Matthew profile a staircase design by Cary Bernstein Architect in San Francisco.


























Today’s Slides:

John and Matthew look at successful examples of millwork storage solutions implemented into staircase designs.



Slow Home Studio will be back with a brand new episode on January 27th!
















Designers showcased in today’s episode:


splyce design build
Marcy Wong Donn Logan Architects
YH2 Architecture
Battersby Howat
Nimmrichter CDA

Today we profile the variety of ways in which a glass guard can be detailed.


























Today’s Slides:

Today we look at how homeowners can design stairs for decks.


























Today’s Slides:

John and Matthew look at how “Step-Ups” can be used as architectural details in a home.
























Today’s Slides:

As “Stair Month” rolls on, John and Matthew discuss ideas on how to design front entry stairs.




























Today’s Slides:

In the conclusion to our case study we reveal the solution that we came up with to create a functional staircase to the third floor loft space in this remodeled 1920′s inner city house. The trick with the redesign was to relocate the stair to the center of the plan to take advantage of the headroom clearance in the center of the upper loft attic space. Because of the pitch of the roof, if the stair was located along the edge of the house (or on top of the existing stair to the main floor) it would require a complicated landing, turn condition or dormer detail to make the head room clearance work properly.


In addition, due to the narrowness of the house and the need to fit three bedrooms and two full baths on the second floor, the design had to be worked out to the inch, meaning that we had to design a very slim drywall guard and minimize the overall width of the stair itself.




Today’s Slides:

In the first of two parts, John and Matthew look at a challenging staircase remodel encountered during a recent project.



























Today’s Slides:

“Stair Month” continues at Slow Home Studio as John and Matthew discuss how glass and metal guards can be detailed.



























Today’s Slides:

John and Matthew discuss the variety of ways open stairs can be designed.



























Today’s Slides:

John and Matthew discuss the variety of ways open stairs can be designed.



























Today’s Slides:

January is “Stairs Month” at Slow Home Studio, and in today’s segment John and Matthew introduce us to the wide variety of closed stairs commonly found in homes.











Today’s Slides:

Designing bookshelves for a study can be an expensive and daunting task that more often than not finds a homeowner sacrificing natural light for the sake of more shelf space. Today we share design tips on how to provide natural light to a study and save money on remodeling costs.












Slow Home Studio will return with brand new Design Minutes on January 2, 2012.






Today’s Slides:

The tile around en-suite roman tubs has to be one of the worst detailed areas in many “builder” type homes. Typically, two or three rows of tile are randomly applied to the drywall above the tub with no clear logic as to the chosen height or how the tile ends. The end result is that the en-suite is very cheap looking, even if an expensive tile is used.


The design lesson to take away from this is that tile always looks best when it ends against an inside corner. In an en-suite with a roman tub, this condition can be created by building out a 2 X 4 wall above the tub so the wall tile has a clean and deliberate drywall edge to stop against. The end result is that the bathtub will have a built in look and will be well integrated with all the adjacent tile surfaces.


Slow Home Studio will return with brand new Design Minutes on January 2, 2012.


Today’s Slides:

In response to a viewer question, John and Matthew look at alternatives to the standard corner pantry.
















Slow Home Studio will return with brand new Design Minutes on January 2, 2012.






Today’s Slides:

In the final segment of our three-part series on the LG House by Louis Pereira of thirdstone inc. [^], John and Matthew showcase the innovative design of the home’s upper floor.





LG House by thirdstone inc. [^] Part 1


LG House by thirdstone inc. [^] Part 2
















Today’s Slides:

In the second segment of a three-part series on the LG House by Louis Pereira of thirdstone inc. [^], John and Matthew look at the main floor design.





LG House by thirdstone inc. [^] Part 1






















Today’s Slides:

In the first segment of a three-part series on the LG House by Louis Pereira of thirdstone inc. [^], John and Matthew highlight the work done to the home’s outdoor Living spaces.


LG House by thirdstone inc. [^] Part 2






















Today’s Slides:

Instead of using MDF or a hardwood baseboard in the wet areas of your home, such as a bathroom, laundry room or mudroom, consider using a tile baseboard. Tile is more water resistant and durable and if detailed correctly, can look really sharp.


First, you need to use the same tile as the floor tile for the baseboard. Ideally, it should be a larger format tile (12 X 12 or larger) and should be a solid color throughout – so either a natural stone or a porcelain (a glazed ceramic will not look very good unless it has a factory edge).


The grout lines from the floor tile should extend and line up with the grout lines of the tile base board. We also recommend tiling the toe kick of any millwork in these wet areas. The tile baseboard height should be matched to the height of the toe kick of any millwork so there is a continuous datum line that runs on the walls and then under any of the millwork – usually this means the tile base will be about 4 inches in height.


Today’s Slides:

Today we look at design strategies used to transition between flooring types.


























Today’s Slides:

John and Matthew discuss the pros and cons of sliding and French doors.


























Today’s Slides:

For this episode we are zooming in to look specifically at the joint between the vertical and horizontal trim pieces around a window or door. A lot of houses have a 45 degree angled miter joint as their trim detail but we don’t think this is a good idea. With wood frame construction, there is movement to be expected in the frame of the house over time, and this can result in splits or cracks appearing in the trim if the joint is mitered.


Window and door trim does not like to be mitered. Instead, trim wants to be framed in solid pieces with an expressed expansion joint. With either wood or painted MDF type trim, the trick is to have the carpenter slightly ease the edges between the individual trim pieces to make an intentional looking joint. If there is any movement, then the shifts will occur within this joint and will not look like the paint is cracking or the trim is splitting.


Today’s Slides:

This is our second episode looking at how to properly detail window mullions and transoms. Our example today looks at a smaller room, in this case the master bedroom. In this room, the transom line was set both to match the height of the headboard and not to block the view to the exterior when either sitting or standing in the room.


It is important to consider the height of the ceiling when placing transom lines into the glass. With an eight foot ceiling, like in this space, and the head height of the windows set at a standard six foot eight height, if the transom line was at the top third of the window, it may obstruct the view to the exterior. Therefore, it was set at the bottom of the window and aligned with the height of the headboard to integrate it visually with the rest of the space.


Today’s Slides:

Continuing on from our last episode about window detailing, today we are going to look specifically at mullion and transom placement. Mullions are the vertical divisions, while transoms are the horizontal divisions in the panes of glass and are used to reduce the overall size of the sealed glass units as well as to integrate openers into a window system.


Window mullion / transom placement has to work from both the interior and the exterior. From the inside it is critical to place the mullion / transom in a position that does not obstruct your view to the exterior when either standing or sitting. It is often most desirable to have the panes of glass be as large and as unobstructed as possible, so the mullions or transoms in the glass should be kept to a minimum. It is also very important to have any horizontal transom line follow a consistent datum line throughout the room or visual field, particularly as the windows turn corners. It is also important to note that operable windows have an additional thickness of framing around them, called the sash, and therefore opening windows work best if they are placed at the top, bottom or sides of any large window composition.


Today’s Slides:

More often than not, window placement is determined during the exterior design phase of a house. This can cause visual alignment problems from the interior if door and window heights do not match up in individual rooms or around corners. The trick is to work both from the inside and the outside at the same time and apply a few simple rules of thumb to set your window and door heights.


First, the head height or top of the window, should be the same in any given room or visual field. Typically this is about six foot – eight inches off the floor with an eight foot high ceiling or 8 feet off the floor if the ceiling is nine or ten feet tall. The sill or bottom height of the window can vary within a room and still look visually correct, but the head heights have to be the same, especially as windows turn a corner.


To align a door with an adjacent window, it is important to measure the entire height of the door within the frame, as the frame height will be higher than the slab size. Make sure the window head heights are set to match the top of the door frame, so the interior trim can align. This is particularly important with sliding, French or folding doors, as their sizes vary and are often a few inches taller than the height of the operable portions.


Today’s Slides:

Shower niches are a great way to slip in some extra storage for shampoo bottles and bath products without taking up the precious little space inside the shower stall. Built into the depth of the wall, they require some skilled attention to detail in order to make them look sharp and well finished.


The real trick is to create a neat tile edge all around the outside corners of the niche. To make things easier on the tile setter, a good idea is to create a durable frame, either in stainless steel or maybe a solid surface counter product like quartz, and line the edges of the niche with this material. If this edge is extended about half an inch past the face of the tiled wall, then the tile setter will have a nice easy joint to butt the wall tile up against. This will prevent the tile installation at the niche corners from looking sloppy and crooked.


Today’s Slides:

A good way to display photos, artwork or other personal effects without producing a lot of clutter is to place them into a display niche. These cut outs in either millwork or drywall are specifically sized for display, should be top lit and are designed as architectural focal points.


An end gable on a kitchen millwork wall or island is the perfect opportunity to add a display niche to what would otherwise be a blank surface of paneling. It is also possible to create niches on drywall corners or integrate them into a window frame.




The most important thing to remember is they need to be sized and proportioned to snuggly fit the objects on display. Generally, niches should be smaller in size than the field or surface they sit on. Also, they need to be composed to extend and balance the architectural lines in the space and be part of an overall composition.


Today’s Slides:

In the final segment devoted to Linebox Studio’s Ottawa townhouse remodel, John and Matthew look at the work done to home’s bathrooms and bedrooms.


Linebox Studio Townhouse Remodel Part 1


Linebox Studio Townhouse Remodel Part 2














Today’s Slides:

In the second part of our three-part series on an Ottawa townhouse remodel by Linebox Studio, John and Matthew dissect the work done to the home’s kitchen.


Linebox Studio Townhouse Remodel Part 1


















Today’s Slides:

In the first of three segments, John and Matthew look at the living room and entry spaces of a townhouse remodel by Andrew Reeves of the Ottawa-based architecture firm Linebox Studio.






















Today’s Slides:

Designing bookshelves for a study can be an expensive and daunting task that more often than not finds a homeowner sacrificing natural light for the sake of more shelf space. Today we share design tips on how to provide natural light to a study and save money on remodeling costs.


















Today’s Slides:

A barn door can add an element of “cool” to a home interior, but there are several critical details that must be properly executed otherwise the door will have limited functionality.


First, as most barn doors are custom made, it is critical to size them correctly. They should be a minimum of 3 inches wider than the opening on both sides to properly conceal the door way. There also must be enough wall space on the travel side of the door to store the door when it is in the “open” position, without having it stick out past a corner or into the passage way by more than a few inches.


The track must be designed to properly support the weight of the door and there should be sufficient blocking in the wall because barn doors can weigh up to 500 pounds. If you want to add a valence to conceal the track, make sure it is removable so the door can be adjusted or leveled if necessary. There also should be a stopper set into the track to prevent it from rolling off on the end!


Finally, there needs to be a heavy duty floor guide installed to keep the door stable and level as it opens and closes. There is nothing worse than a heavy barn door that rocks back and forth as you are trying to operate it.


Today’s Slides:

Today John and Matthew answer a viewer question on how to remodel windows.


























Today’s Slides:

In today’s segment, Slow Home Studio highlights a hillside home in Los Angeles by architecture firm Standard.

Tree house / Standard by Nico Saieh – Archdaily.com

In response to a viewer question, we are zooming in one more level with fireplace design and looking at the best way to layout the finishing tile and position the grout lines. This is more critical with larger format tiles as the grout line locations can have a major impact on the completed visual effect of the fireplace detailing.


The basic rule of thumb is you want to maximize the use of full tiles. If your tile size is 12 X 24 inches, then you want to use as many full tiles as possible, keeping the number of cuts and grout lines to a minimum. If possible, try to avoid having a “sliver” or short-cut row of tile anywhere in your layout. If you do have a short-cut row, try shifting the entire tile layout up or down to distribute the difference between the top and bottom of the composition. And finally, you may need to center the tile layout on the fire box as opposed to lining the tiles up with the outside edge of the unit as this sometimes makes a narrower row of tile in the center, which can look like a mistake.


Today’s Slides:

A gas fireplace is really an appliance that is installed against a wall and then drywalled over. More often than not, the joint between the face of the fireplace unit and the drywall is covered with a row of tile. The typical builder solution is to have one row of tile surround the fireplace, but as all Slow Homers know, this can end up looking cheap and unfinished.


There are gas fireplace units that are available on the market that have a “zero clearance” edge, meaning the finish material, like tile or stone can come right up to the edge of the glass of the fireplace. Then, by extending the tile on a larger surface area and creating an overall composition, the fireplace unit will look more integrated. The downsides to a “zero clearance” fireplace is they are more expensive and can be more difficult to install than a typical front venting unit.


If you have a front venting unit, try to choose a tile that is either black or darker in color to make the grills blend more easily. Then, try to use a larger format tile or stone to minimize the number of grout lines. And finally, try to extend the tile surface area to cover a larger portion of the wall and create a composition, rather than simply putting that ubiquitous ring of tile around the face of the unit.


Today’s Slides:

In this Design Minute, Matthew North shows us the design details that went into the construction of the fireplace inside John Brown’s townhouse.

The dreaded corner gas fireplace has long been one of the prime targets of attack from the Slow Home front. The reason the corner gas fireplace is such a bad idea is that it shifts the focal point of the room to the corner and often prevents an effective furniture arrangement.


Furniture groupings in living spaces work best when they are organized around a focal point like a fireplace, television or view. Sometime back in the 1980′s, designers and builders began to set gas fireplaces on 45 degree angles in the corners of the living spaces sending the design world into a downward spiral that we are still trying to get out of today.


Gas fireplaces need to be thought of as part of an overall composition, and not as an appliance that is drywalled into a corner. Gas fireplaces work best when they are positioned to center on the furniture grouping and properly relate to any other features in the room such as a window, built in storage or a flat screen TV.


Today’s Slides:

Today John and Matthew look at the bathroom of a timber-framed home designed by architect Marcus Lee in London.

“Slanted and Enchanted by Dominic Bradbury” – Dwell.com

A towel bar or toilet roll holder placed in the wrong location can significantly reduce the functionality of a bathroom as well as drive a home owner crazy. Placements for towel bars, toilet roll holders and robe hooks need to be considered during the concept design stage of a bathroom project and should not be installed as after thoughts.


Towel bars should be mounted 42 inches above the floor and should be sized to maximize the available space. They should not be installed behind door swings. A “hotel style” towel bar with a rack for storage can be installed above the toilet – it just needs to be mounted a little higher at 48 inches above the floor so the towels do not hit the toilet tank.


Robe hooks should be mounted at 70 inches above the floor and if there are two, they should be spaced at least 9 inches apart. Robe hooks are also great for towel storage if a towel bar is not possible due to space limitations.


Finally, toilet roll holders should be placed away from view, preferably on the inside edge of the vanity or on the back side of a drywall return. They should be mounted 8 inches below the height of the vanity top parallel to the edge of the toilet bowl to make sure they are easily accessible.


Today’s Slides:

Vessel sinks are very popular in contemporary bathroom design. However, there are a few important details to consider to make sure the sink is placed correctly and the tap is compatible with the sink.


The first detail to consider is the height of the vanity. Typically, a vanity is 32 inches off the floor, but because a vessel sink sits on top of the vanity, the height of the cabinet may need to be lowered so that sink is not too high.


The second detail to consider is the location of the tap. Some vessels allow the tap to be top mounted on the sink itself while others require the tap to be mounted behind the sink on the counter. If the tap is top mounted, you need to make sure that the lever handle does not hit the mirror or backsplash when the tap is turned on. If the tap is mounted behind the vessel, you may need a deeper counter top to make everything fit front to back.


Finally, you will need to make sure that the vessel and tap are compatible so there is not a lot of splash created when the water hits the sink. This is particularly important for wall mounted taps. Ideally, these should be mounted so the spout is no more than a few inches above the rim of the vessel after the sink is installed.


Today’s Slides:

The tile around en-suite roman tubs has to be one of the worst detailed areas in many “builder” type homes. Typically, two or three rows of tile are randomly applied to the drywall above the tub with no clear logic as to the chosen height or how the tile ends. The end result is that the en-suite is very cheap looking, even if an expensive tile is used.


The design lesson to take away from this is that tile always looks best when it ends against an inside corner. In an en-suite with a roman tub, this condition can be created by building out a 2 X 4 wall above the tub so the wall tile has a clean and deliberate drywall edge to stop against. The end result is that the bathtub will have a built in look and will be well integrated with all the adjacent tile surfaces.


Today’s Slides:

One of the biggest complaints about the typical “builder” bathroom is a lack of functional storage space. One effective design idea is to include a “bathroom pantry”, which is simply a tall millwork unit that is larger than a medicine cabinet but smaller that a linen closet.


A bathroom pantry can sit above the counter to the left or right side of the sink – or on both sides as our example shows. This still allows for some counter space in front of the pantry, but will provide deeper and more functional storage than a typical medicine cabinet. Ideally, this type of above counter bathroom pantry should be at least twelve inches deep.


Another option is to make the pantry deeper by bringing it out the full width of the bathroom counter, which would be about 22 or 24 inches deep. If the toilet is next to the bathroom counter, this millwork volume will also provide some physical separation between the sink and the toilet. This deeper type of unit also allows for linen or towel storage as well as the possibility of a “tooth brush” storage garage at the counter level.


Today’s Slides:

One of the most luxurious bathroom features is a steam shower. However, there are a series of particular construction details that must be executed properly in order to have a functional and long lasting installation.


The steam unit generator is a piece of mechanical equipment that is installed by the plumber. It needs to be located within close proximity to the shower itself and must have easy access for cleaning and maintenance. It generates heat, so it needs to be placed in a vented space and also requires a hardwired electrical connection.


The shower enclosure itself needs to be finished with a special water proof membrane on all surfaces that is specifically designed to handle the extreme temperature and humidity conditions. Regular shower drywall is not sufficient. A high performance epoxy tile grout is also recommended instead of a standard sand and cement grout.


Other important details include ensuring the ceiling of the steam shower is tiled with a slight slope to prevent excessive condensation from building up. Also, the shower glass needs to be installed tight on all sides and sealed with a gasket to prevent the steam from escaping. And finally, any bench or ledge structures must be built out of non-wooden material such as concrete block or styro-foam.


Today’s Slides:

Bathrooms are very wet environments, and this can cause damage to the interior finishes or lead to the possibility of mold growth over time. One important design consideration if building new or remodeling a bathroom is how to regulate this high humidity level.


The first step is to make sure you have a good bath ventilation fan. But even more important is to ensure that the fan is properly exhausted to the exterior of the the home and not just into an attic or plenum space. You may find it surprising how many bath exhaust fans simply expel the moist bathroom air into the attic above and not directly to the outside!


The next step is to add either a timer or a dehumidistat to the fan controls. A timer will engage the fan to run for a specified length of time and then shut itself off. The theory is that if the fan runs for twenty or thirty minutes after showering or bathing, the humidity level will return more or less to a normal level. Of course, this is a bit of a guessing game.


A dehumidistat takes humidity control one step further. It is a wall mounted device that actually measures the relative humidity of the bathroom air and directly engages with the fan switching. It will run the fan until the humidity reaches the desired pre-set level – which for most homes should be
around 40 or 45 percent.


Today’s Slides:

San Francisco based design firm Terry & Terry Architecture have included some very innovative small bathroom design details in a recently completed remodel of a mid-century ranch house.


The first idea worth noting is the use of a frosted glass partition panel as the diving wall between the toilet and the shower stall. This increases the amount of room in the shower because the glass wall is much thinner than a framed or tiled partition wall.


The second detail to look at is the teak decked floor in the shower. This removable grate fits over the entire shower base and seamlessly blends the shower stall with the hardwood in the rest of the bathroom.


The third detail is the use of an operable window in the shower stall. By using a metal clad frame and then installing a powder coated metal sill, the entire window installation becomes suitable for a wet environment while also providing light, a storage shelf and ventilation.


And finally, the floating vanity and mirror allows for the wall tile to extend wall to wall and floor to ceiling. This makes the bathroom appear larger and the surfaces more integrated. The off-set sink placement also allows for a very functional bank of drawers for storage.


Today’s Slides:

A shower bench can elevate the design of your bathroom, particularly in a steam shower, where it may be desirable to sit and relax for some time. We have some ideas with how to include a shower bench in both a large or a small shower stall.


If you have a bathtub as well as a shower, try to place the shower next to the tub and then extend the tub deck into the enclosure of the shower to create a bench. This will make the tub and shower feel more integrated. One detail to pay close attention to is to ensure that the tiled shower bench inside the shower has a slight slope to prevent water from pooling on the surface.


If you have a smaller shower stall, a flip-up teak bench may be a good idea. These are wall mounted shower benches – the one shown here is from Water Works – and they look good in both the up and down position. One side note, you have to make sure that there is enough blocking behind the tile to securely support the weight of the bench.


Finally, if your tile work is already complete, you may want to consider a small free-standing teak bench. There are standard and corner units available on the market. Teak is naturally water repellent and stands up well in a wet environment.


Today’s Slides: