Your kitchen is beyond amazing!! You did an incredible job!! I LOVE that you're turning your passion into a business. I did the same thing, starting an online business to teach Photoshop Elements and photography. If you ever would like some tips/suggestions for getting more visible online with social media, or even how to improve your website (no offense meant, I promise), feel free to contact me. This is a free offer, not a solicitation for business. My business is Everyday Elements http://everydayelementsonline.com and I'm leaving my FB page in the optional link. Here is a link that might be useful: Everyday Elements

Hello, You make an excellent point. Most peoples understanding of the remodelling industry amounts to that of a childÂs understanding what goes into making a thanksgiving dinner. Intimidation around the professionals in its mildest form can simply come from the fact that they are the builders, designers, architects, etc, not Mr. and Mrs. Home-Owner. It's what they do for a living, and while the average person would like to make simple suggestions, they're smart enough to know they often don't have the experience needed to validly challenge the GC or the architect etc. There are, of course wonderful professionals out there doing a great job and who care very much not only about the project but also about their clients. In my experience, it is most often the wives who are largely left to manage the project, and interact with the pros. Theirs is a special brand of anxiety and it is very typical for communications to break down. Regardless of her best efforts and intentions, bravely interacting on behalf of her spouse and whole family, within the visceral world of construction is daunting... for anyone. Having someone they can lean against and help them to: 1. Ask the (silly) questions that need to be asked anyway, 2. Make sure everyone is on the same page... literally (documentation)! 3. Develop greater confidence around their particular preferences, and have the pros design around them rather than the other way around, ...Is tremendously effective in decreasing the all too typical (and unnecessary) stresses of home-remodelling.

I have been captivated by small homes for a long time. However, I think that homes like these are really more experiments or studies in minimalism. Yes a few people have "lived" this way for extended periods of time. But seriously, even if you went in with an iPod and a laptop with all paperwork like bills and banking online you still don't have enough space to be practical. I've personally pared down my wardrobe and still can not put my pants, shirts, suit jackets(3)and winter jackets(2)and shoes(4 pair)into one 1950's closet. If I did, everything would be squashed and wrinkled. The kitchens are so small all you could really do is warm up food, not really cook. If you have to turn to rented storage or a storage shed to store sporting equipment, luggage, etc. you really haven't accomplished anything because you still need walls, a floor and a roof to store those items I mentioned, which I believe everyone can agree are not exactly luxuries. Bottom line, they are sort of like those homes of the future Disney used to feature in some of their exhibits. Interesting but not truly practical. With that being said, I agree that too many people are living in spaces far too large for their needs and own way too much "stuff". But, practicality kicks in somewhere and 100sf is a bit small. What I would really like to see are more real world examples of attractively designed homes around 500sf to 900sf sited on adequate lots in neighborhoods designed to accomodate such homes. Here in Columbia, the City made one attempt at a "smaller" home neighborhood and it appears to be a flop. The houses are ugly, the neighborhood layout is absolutely awful, the site lines have you looking right into adjacent homes. And, they are expensive. I'll try to take some photos and post them. ~Scott~

It's important in cases like this to check the biases of the people doing the writing. These folks are approaching the problem from a stated priority of the primacy of energy efficiency, passive houses (i.e., ones that don't require energy for heating and cooling, but use mass, shade, sun, etc.), and other environmentalistic factors. The author said the following in response to someone who quoted the GW line on hoods. Note how it dismisses the need for getting rid of HOGS if it means using more energy. You are correct that a 700-cfm fan will do a better job removing grease, smoke, and cooking odors from your home than a 200-cfm fan. But there is no getting around the energy penalty. If you operate a 700-cfm fan during the summer in Houston, you will inevitably be pulling in 700 cfm of hot, humid outdoor air into your house. One way or another, that outdoor air will need to be cooled by your air conditioner every time you operate your exhaust fan. Most participants in the discussion admit that the simple solution if someone wants to adequately vent is to open a window (and let the HVAC do its thing on it eventually). Some, who work with high volume hoods, have good ways to provide adjusted make-up air without oddities or bother (but, of course, money to do it right). Even though I am very interested in conservation in general, in specific I think that there's a forest-trees situation here. Having the kind of tight house they're aiming for is a bad in itself. An air-leaky house will likely not have backdrafting problems or develop vacuum conditions. It also means that you're not relying on a high tech system for your fresh air, even if you keep all the doors and windows shut. It means that you have a fighting chance against potentially dangerous chemicals that may get into your air. It means you can smell the wildfire before your house starts burning. It's much more in tune with the earth. Of course, it's an energy suck, which is why they're fighting it, but at some point there has to be a balance. There is a happy medium where you don't have cold drafts rippling around your ankles in the Winter, but aren't buttoned up so tight that your hood can deprive you of oxygen and suck the ashes out of your fireplace. It's true that if you're heating or cooling your home, you'll have to heat or cool the same volume of air as you're exhausting with your hood. But is that really a reason not to have a working hood? I don't think so. And if you add the energy (and water, waste water treatment, and cleaning supplies) spent on laundry, cabinet cleaning, window washing, and all the other consequences of not having a good exhaust fan, are you really saving that much? For all that they're wringing their hands over having to have a system to treat the make-up air (and one that likely cannot use passive energy flow to do its thing), I wonder if having a drafty house might not be more efficient than having a heated/cooled/dehumidified make-up air system. :)