Tile Floor – Size in a Shower

Tile Floor in Shower

Here is a little tip to keep in mind when you are selecting a tile floor for your shower. Make sure the tile is relatively small. The reason might not seem obvious at first. A shower floor needs to have a slope so the water will flow toward the drain. Puddles in a shower floor are…

Read More

Green and Sustainable Building in Historic Old Town San Diego

Historic Green

Passive solar design, green and sustainable building are not new inventions. Who would have thought that we would be returning to the house design principles of more than a century and a half ago? I was in San Diego recently and visited the part of town they call Old Town San Diego. I don’t think the buildings…

Read More

Green Roofs

Green Roof

Green roofs are roofs that have grass of other plant materials growing right on top of them. The theory is that the roof will stay cooler and reflect less heat back into the atmosphere. There was an interesting article in the Raleigh News and Observer today. It was about how the local Universities are going…

Read More

Does Granite Pose a Radon Danger?

Granite Counter

Radon is back in the news. Radio personality Paul Harvey, the New York Times, and other news outlets reported recently that granite countertops pose a threat of emitting radon gas. Radon gas has been purportedly linked to risk of lung cancer. The Marble Institute of America has responded with a scholarly report essentially saying that the…

Read More

The Ceiling Fan Strobe Light Effect

Ceiling Fan

Here’s a small, but important tip for placement of recessed lights in ceilings.     If you are placing a ceiling fan in the ceiling of a room and you plan on using recessed lights in the ceiling, make sure to keep the lights well away from the blades of the fan. If you don’t do this,…

Read More

A Bright Look at Dimmers, Light Switches and Plate Colors

Light Switch

I had a client ask me about light switch type, color and what I thought about dimmers. One question was whether or not the Decora style switches, those are the ones with a wider, flatter, rocker type of switch, were “expected” in a high-end house. I told them that I have some clients who like the…

Read More

Design Your Dream House with a Purpose

Dream House Purpose

If you asked me what the single most important quality a good house design should have, I would have to say that there must to be a “purposefulness” to the plan. A key to this purposefulness is to be sure your house design has an understandable concept. There are many good and effective organizing concepts,…

Read More

Electrical Outlets in Baseboards Might Make Sense

Electrical Outlet

Some parts of a house never seem to be in a good place. Electrical outlets (the place where you plug in the cord) are often in obtrusive and clumsy places. Many times you don’t have a choice because the National Electric Code requires outlets where you don’t think you really want one. But the Code…

Read More

Iron Railings Versus Wood Railings

Metal Railings

I’m often asked about what kind of exterior railings are best, wooden or metal. Like most questions, the answer depends on what your objectives are. If you are simply looking for the least expensive railing, then wood is the answer. Most any carpenter can build it and wood is considerably cheaper than metal. Wood might…

Read More

Designing a Jewelbox

Jewel Box

Have you ever noticed how great athletes make the difficult things they do look so easy? This is what you want to achieve in your house design. I have often said that designing a house well is much more difficult than designing an office building, even though a house is much smaller.Designing an office building…

Read More