​The goal of this post is to save you money.  Maybe a whole bunch of money.
 
I get to meet a lot of people – almost exclusively inside their homes – and many of them tell me they need more space.  I hear a near-constant chorus of “If only my house were bigger.”  Some of those people do really need more space; most though just need to think about their house differently.  It’s easy to get tunnel vision about your house – you spend so much time there that it’s hard to imagine the dining room being anything different than overflow storage, or your coat closet not being a pantry.  In fact, just this past week, a potential client, Tina, called me to talk about an addition she thought she needed.  ​

In October of 2023 I said to my wife, Katherine, "Hey, what if I had an after-school class to teach kids about architecture?" 

I don't remember her exact reply, but I'm fairly confident it was something like, "that is such an amazing idea, you're so generous with your time, and smart, and talented, and handsome, and funny, and I can't believe I'm so lucky as to have married you." 

​I'm fairly confident that's what she said.  It seems like something she would say...

​When Gavin Rossdale wrote Machinehead and included the lyrics that inspired the title of this post, he was in all likelihood talking about indoor air quality.  Right? 
 
OK, probably not.  But Bush’s mid-90’s disinterest in indoor air quality doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk about it today.  So let’s do a quick overview of what indoor air quality is, why you should care about, and a few ways to make it better.

​It’s November 23rd, 2023, Thanksgiving Day, and you’re hosting.
 
As you scramble to read recipes and negotiate oven timing between your turkey and sides, your guests start to arrive.  You run to the front door for some quick pleasantries but leave the hosting to your spouse as you quickly retreat back to the kitchen.  

(and 3 tips for having a better design experience)

We recently had a chance to participate in a blog post with Redfin.  You can check it out here:
www.redfin.com/blog/finished-basement-with-low-ceiling-feel-larger/ 

​With 2021 here, I’d like to take a minute - I’m tempted to quote the Fresh Prince of Bel-Air theme song here, but I figured the first line of the blog post wasn’t the best spot to lose anyone who isn’t up to speed on their 90’s pop culture trivia – nah forget it, I’m doing it – I’d like to take a minute, just sit right there, I’ll tell you all the design trends you might see this year.  Still with me?  OK, we can move on.

​In it’s never ending quest to give us shows we didn’t know we needed, Netflix launched Tidying Up with Marie Kondo earlier this month.  Was it a coincidence that a show geared toward keeping your home clean debuted in unison with your new year’s resolution to get your life in order?  I’m gonna go ahead and say that the folks at Netflix planned that one pretty carefully.

Have you ever seen The Bachelor or The Bachelorette?  If not, here's an overview:  It's a dating show where the the entire season leads up to the star of the show, an attractive single person who just hasn't found love yet, proposing to another attractive single person who just hasn't found love yet.  What's interesting about it, other than the drama created when a bunch of strangers are cut off from the world and offered free booze, is that we've seen a lot of marriage proposals.  And almost all are pretty much what you'd expect them to be - "I've loved going on this adventure with you.  I'm so happy when we're together.  I love how smart and funny you are.  I can't imagine my life without you.  Will you marry me?"

Before popping the question, a list is given.  The star of the show tells their soon-to-be fiancee all the reasons why they've fallen for them, and then asks the question we've been waiting 11 episodes to hear.
​
Wouldn't it be weird to just start with the proposal?  "Hey thanks for coming, wanna get hitched?"  In remodeling though, this is kind of the way most people do it.