Modern Interior Design For A Net Zero Prefab : About Reuse

While I embrace clean cutting-edge new modern design, I also adore any opportunity to reuse and repurpose old items in another way, and am happily recycling many reclaimed items for our own modern prefab green home.

We really shouldn't be dragging out furniture to the net zero prefab modern house yet while the interior is under construction.  I know better, I do. Just know that.

Our most recent find was a teak modern Danish bed we found in Restore (RVA's Habitat for Humanity's salvaged materials / donated items outlet), now recycled into our bedroom in the still-unfinished prefab green home.

Now that we're installing a wood stove, I am going back to my original idea of that south-east space: grouping floor pillows around the more casual comfort of the wood stove, surrounded with old Popular Mechanics books, Countrywide Magazines, and "How to do XYZ" books where you can lounge around and... learn how to do stuff.

Facing the "view," the south end of that room will be more "ring in the cocktail hour!" - More formal, here you will find hardbound vintage books on mid-century architecture, style, as well as books on off grid living and prefab architecture.

I began to look for some modern floor pillows for the area around the wood stove. Within minutes, I discovered one modern retailer that was selling a floor pillow for...
$590. 
To throw on the floor. A pillow.

Mod retailer: You are kidding me. Oh but you aren't. You're selling $590 *floor* *pillows* and you're not embarrassed?!?

A friend jokingly responded: "Are we in the wrong businesses? We should look at floor pillows again...sounds like there's potential!"

You need to know that $590 floor pillow was UGLY.

Floor pillows. *A* floor pillow for $590.
And it would just get stained, scuffed, worn out being scraped along a floor... there must be a better way to create a floor pillow that is stylish, inexpensive, modern, yet durable.
I stewed a moment, then came up with a solution:  


1. Ok. 1st you get some scrap wood. Build a mod, sleek, low frame (preferably with a handle, and yes it needs a bottom).  For ours, I will reuse some of the VMI basketball flooring to build a low, 2"-ish high frame. 

2. Fill the frame with rows of tightly rolled old clothes that now have holes (I have 10 shirts that just died after ONLY fifteen years of use, *sob!*)...  It will give a modern effect of Missoni-ish lines/fabric while reusing clothes you can't even donate to a thrift store! The more different fabrics, the more interesting and mod the pattern!

3. Pack it in tightly so it's sleek and smooth and there ya go:
A high-end, modern, chic and didja hear it was by the *coveted brand* Green Modern Kits DESIGNER free floor pillow! ; )

[Now I can use my fave shirt (which I still never threw out despite 6+ holes, reused, at the net zero SIPs prefab!)]

THIS JUST IN: Related in being adverse to waste:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/nyregion/06about.html
Trending topic: Clothing retailer H & M destroys unsold clothes in lieu of donating. 
What a SHAME, what a waste.
I jokingly reacted with, "Think of all the *floor pillows* they coulda made!" but really, when you think of all the needy schoolchildren... WHAT A SHAME.... What a WASTE!

 

Modern Reused Bed For A Modern Green Prefab Home

We had hot soup at my parents, on an icy, sleeting, miserable downpour of a winter day.
As you could see in the previous post, even the chickens wanted to come inside!

And even better than the delicious soup, we left the children behind!
What to do with the freedom? 

Honeychile we hot-footed it to our favorite Richmond thrift stores, to browse lazily without having to scold and watch and hurry the little ones!

At Restore (RVA's Habitat For Humanity recycled and reused material goods store on Roane Street) we found a pristine Danish modern bed made of teak with drawers underneath to reuse, recycle into our modern prefab green home! We were so pleased with its simple, clean modern lines, the simplicity, the functionality, the practical uses for our bedroom in the prefab green home and... that it cost...
$349.

It did.

We also found a sink!

At another local thrift store we found some large, hardy wine and beer glasses with a thumb print design for 75 cents apiece.

Again, this is in keeping with my careful, treasure hunting philosophy that it is more fun, more stylish, and more sensible to reuse and recycle than buy out of the box.  Seriously, think of the modern prefabs / homes you visit: What are they furnished with? Ikea. Not completely dissing Ikea, but... my home looks like my home because it has no pattern, and why the heck not reuse and hunt through thrift store's treasures so they don't end up in landfills? Serious fun, folks, but it also takes patience and planning.

The patience and planning and scouring for good modern furniture finds is so much fun, and so worth it... we don't look like everybody else, and I love that by shopping at Restore in RVA, I am not only recycling and reusing materials but helping a great cause, affordable housing.

Enjoy! Here's the bed!


And here's more on Restore in RVA:

"Why Should I Shop at ReStore?
Shopping at ReStore is an adventure! Every day we have new inventory to choose from, including furniture, flooring, architectural items, cabinetry, fixtures, wallpaper, appliances and more—at prices up to 90% below retail!  Some items are new, some gently used, and others come from deconstruction.  Not only can you find some beautiful items and great bargains, but you are helping the environment and low-income families at the same time.

It is estimated that Virginia landfills will reach maximum capacity in the next 5-10 years. Approximately 20% of these materials are construction and demolition debris.  In fact, a single Virginia landfill can receive over 50,000 tons of such materials in one year."

 

Another Net Zero Off Grid Weekend In The Prefab Modern House Kit

After a week of rain, the sun broke out and the skies were blue as we headed to the net zero prefab modern house kit!  Still with no systems installed, our net zero off grid prefab was cozy, and lovely to visit.

I know better but I did it anyway: I am starting to slowly drag furniture out there, knowing full well the construction dust that will soon ensue.  Years ago my Handsome Husband discovered this stackable bookcase in a thrift store. He thought it terribly expensive ($30), but loved its soft curves and that it was solid wood.

It was then reused in my home office, then reused in an infant's room, now to be reused by all of us in the prefab house!  I will give it a fresh coat of paint this spring, but in the meantime it anchors the east side of the south room, beginning the interior design and use of that area as I envisioned: the reading corner. 




When I thought we would have a wood stove (no longer necessary as we installed radiant heat in the polished concrete foundation), I mentally placed the stove against the center wall, then a circle of floor pillows and books within cozy, languid reach.  The bookcases you see are open on each side; so I envisioned mid-century Popular Mechanics, books on "How to do XYZ (insert something fun, educational, practical here)" and Countryside Mags facing the casual reading area, then on the other side of the bookcase and facing the south view grouped with the more adult furniture, you can discover high design / architecture magazines and books.

I am still mentally working on these groupings... In the meantime the bookcase will stay against the wall and be a bookcase / kitty cat climbing cave for a certain 5 year old.

The purple Steelcase chair was found for $3, a 1970s contract furniture piece. We have two in purple, and two in mustard.

I added books that we have been collecting:

- Mid-century volumes of encyclopedias and United States history for children (the illustrations are *incredible*)

- Old Countryside Mags (full of reader tips and wisdom!)
- Mid-century Popular Mechanics (again, the graphics rock AND it's fun to learn!)
- Lots of Civil War and Virginia history books, written from many perspectives
- A large volume on historic Charlotte County
- Brochures and guide books on cool Virginia state parks and history sites to visit
- The usual Dwell and Metropolis Mags

Without my having to explain my interior design intent, I turned around and the furniture and area were being used exactly as I imagined.

On Saturday we emerged out of days of cold and rain to see highs of 60ish, and dropping into the low 40something. (40-42)  Inside the modern prefab, *still without systems*, we arrived to find the temperature reading 62; and, after an evening of 40ish, awoke to find the house at 59.

We will further insulate the passive solar prefab by adding foam around the exterior of the foundation before infilling the earth around the prefab house, and adding sealant around the windows before finishing the interior walls.

Next we will add more recycled, reused furniture little by little, bringing something out with each trip; and of course start the interior walls and systems.  We thought our first quote for finishing the off grid electrical / plumbing to be high, so we are still gathering quotes. Stay tuned...

 

Wanna See My Basement? A Preview Glimpse Of Modern Design Crafty Finds For Our Off Grid Modern House!

Shhhhhhh!
C'mere!

Want to see my BASEMENT?

Aw, ok, maybe it's not that exciting to YOU, but for ME, it is the depository of years of thrift store crafty finds that we will recycle and reuse in our off grid passive solar house kit.

We will start in my lovely, dusty pantry, where I am on my last jar (sob) of brined tomatoes from the garden (and check out the beautiful Amish pepper jelly! I love that stuff!), head on down the stairs where Handsome Hubby has been rearranging and cleaning all day, to view the disheveled and in-dire-need-of-repair-but-glorious reclaimed finds.

Well, guess we have quite the project while we ready for the house kit completion!
: )

 

VMI Basketball Floorboards Are Invading!

For those of you interested in reuse of local materials, my husband is SO obsessed with the VMI basketball floorboards we purchased to line the interior of our modern off grid zero energy house kit that he actually took a day off of work to go out there and play with his giant crossword puzzle, trying to put the VMI logo pieces back together, because he can't stand the thought that there is a logo in that pile o' floorboards.

Yes he did.
And yes I'm rolling my eyes.
Enjoy.

 

Modern House Kit Update and The Saga Of VMI's Basketball Court Continues!

Anyone here like puzzles?

'Cause we're gonna be putting together 5,000 square feet o' VMI basketball court soon... think of it:

The Challenge!

The Fun!

This is better than the crossword in Sunday's Herald Tribune!

Or not.

Any-hoo, Handsome Husband went out to check on the house kit progress, bush hogged the field, and unloaded the VMI floorboards. The rest of this post are his words, hence the sudden dignified tone. Enjoy.


"I got up at 6 am, made coffee and hit the road to approve the foundation preparation and receive the VMI Basketball Floor delivery.


As I was emptying out the shed for the floor the plumbers pulled up and I handed them the PEX tubing I had ordered. I began bush-hogging but Ron, the general contractor, soon arrived and we approved prep work.


(Radiant Heat And Off Grid Foundation Video:)



I returned to the tractor for an hour and the flooring arrived. We have a 20x20 shed and the fork lift was too tall/big so we ended up getting the plumbing crew, which had just finished installing the radiant heat loops, to help and were done within an hour.


(VMI Floorboards Unloading Video 1 of 3)



(VMI Recycled Boards Video 2 of 3)



(VMI Wood Reused In Prefab-ulous House Video 3 of 3)
(Copeland's note: Oh. My. Gosh... can you believe we were actually thinking we could just rent a U-Haul and drive to Lexington, load the wood *JUST THE TWO OF US*, drive to the land, and then UNLOAD it?!?!? Soooooooooooo grateful to Bill Miller of ZellerMiller Companies, a VMI alumni who heard of our plight and used his construction connections to help, Bill Miller SAVED US by putting us together with these people to deliver the wood.)




I invited everyone to lunch, and as we left I noticed a flat tyre on my car - upon return to the site the delivery guys hadn't left yet and raised the car with their forklift so that the tire was changed quickly.


When I finally made it to lunch we spoke about alternative energy and it turns out that the plumbing company has done several geo-thermal projects."






















(Copeland's note: Psssst! Check him out, Mr. German-techno-music being a *total* boy and driving around the house kit listening to country. He is having waaaaaaaaaaaay too much fun out there!)

 

Craft... and Crafty. Affordable house kit find- natural, reused, recycled wood.

From the second David Day's fabulous casa ti house kit design was laid before me, I have dreamed, imagined myself in my future home. Which bedroom will be whose? Where will the dining table go? How to furnish it?
(Luckily, for myself, an avid thrift-er, I have kept an eye out for good finds and amassed a basement full o' furniture over the years with which to trick out our prefab-ulous house. Here's an example of just a few o' the things I've collected & reused over the years!)

I have imagined all sorts o' frugal, crafty solutions for the interior wall. See, drywall just doesn't "do it" fer me; I like natural, I like patina, and, even the green alternatives for drywall were a little too smooth for me. (Watch out, there's Bryan Adams in them thar link!)

So when a friend on twitter messaged me that a historic college, Virginia Military Institute, had torn up it's maple basketball floorboards and was auctioning them on GovDeals.com, I *jumped.*

Let's just say... those salty builders bidding against each other had no chance. In the last 12 seconds, I swooped in and stormed off with over 5,000 square feet o' solid maple history.

So our casa ti interior will now be lined with beautiful, durable, historic maple boards, reflecting my passion for history yet maintaining a natural, modern design.

Now lissen here, you crafty VMI alumni or lovers of reuse: I am not going to need 5,000 square feet o' boards. Certainly I can find ways to use it all, but if anyone is interested in adoring the history and natural beauty of this maple in their own home, direct message me. : )

 

Architectural Salvage: Reuse, Respect. No Perfect Prefab Affordably Touches The Unique Elements of Salvage.

There are elements in our modern casa ti SIP house kit that I envision like the old bridal tradition:
"Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue."

As much as I appreciate turnkey prefab, there's something in my farming Virginia soul that insists upon reusing items from the past, within our architectual structure.

Using the latest green building technology, merged with timeless passive solar design, I now begin to focus on the interior. In my mind, I meld industrial modern elements with nostalgic reused materials:

• the sophisticated strength of a poured, polished concrete floor (which also collects thermal mass, and with fly ash, reuses local byproducts!)
• juxtaposed with the natural embrace of sustainable pine walls
• deft, no nonsense modern lines of built-ins
  
• the faded tales told by old wooden doors through whom how many hands and lives passed through?
• And if we're lucky, a special, plain, reused farmhouse or commercial sink.

Strolling through research, I came across CoolStuffIsCoolStuff.com and other neat architectural salvage sites. I will be sticking closer to home and shopping locally at Caravati's, but did want to mention a special site, Second Chance. There, not only do they repurpose materials and give old buildings new life, but they also give people another shot at opportunity and learning valuable skills.

From their web site, here's what they say:

"Job Training
Second Chance is working with low-income residents of Baltimore to train them in a wide variety of skill sets, ranging from carpentry to craftsmanship. Our goal is to create skilled workers making a living wage with benefits for themselves and their families.

Through the use of public and private funds, we teach our workers to safely deconstruct a building without damaging its historic elements. They become self-supporting members of the community with new skill sets.

At Second Chance, we believe that second chances are not just for buildings, they are for people, too. "

Like the bridal saying, sometimes "something borrowed" might mean borrowing on the strength of community and pooled skills, and recognition that when community comes together to help others succeed, we all benefit.

Whether it be good friends helping out for a few weekend hours as we work on a house kit project together, helping my family but where the structure and land will be a benefit to all our friends, or craftsmen investing their time in training someone new to later help them on future projects and rely on them as part of their paid, skilled team.

Sometimes, pushing ahead with the advances of cutting-edge green building technology, what we also need is a good ole fashioned barn-raising.

 

Honey Do!

This is the fun part: Finally, I am creating the "honey do" list of... stuff my HUSBAND needs to do so that as soon as the casa ti is finished we can put it all together in the interior quickly. Interior design choices are an area where people can take deliberate steps to reuse, recycle and reduce their lifestyle while creating a welcoming environment they will happily share with friends and family.

(Ooooookay, maybe I'll help him a little... : ) )

Fortunately, through years of using eagle eyes while thrift shopping and scouring local yard sales, we have squirreled away some fabulous, recycled finds. But now we need to buff 'em up, and have 'em ready and waiting for the move.

Recycled / reused items include:

• A precious 1950's blonde desk/drawer for my daughter's room $15
• A long, simple yet formal Owen-Suters mahoghany dining table $150
• Dining chairs - you won't believe 'em till ya see 'em but they're so simple and mod and beautiful $15 a pop
  
• Knoll couch found in an antique store that specialized in "Virginia colonial" $65 Bwha-hahahaha!
  
• Two matching coooooooooool open ended rounded corner bookcases, veddy mod $30
  
• A Danish 1950s china cabinet $100
• 12 piece silverplated flatware- an entire set from the 1960s $65
• A plethora of assorted dishes / serving pieces / bowls etc. Hmmm... I have no idea the actual cost as I've been collecting that stuff for years but I assure you they were cheap, cheap, cheap!
• Various recycled lamps (I'm sure I can spare a few in here ; ) ) $10-ish bucks a pop
  
• Awesome coffee press of unknown origin but makes like 18, yes, 18 cups! Woo! $5
• Cool 1970s fabric art piece I bought at a yard sale for $15
  

And now, to look for and try to find in our local reuse stores like Habitat For Humanity's Restore and Caravati's:

• A cool tub (more on that later because there is a feature David Day designed that I need to be careful of when choosing a tub plus it needs to fit with a composting toilet in that space)
  
• Plain sink for the kitchen island (more on that in a later post)
• Marine stove top (propane powered since the house is off grid)
  
• Juice glasses for thirsty-clamoring-for-water children!
• Wine glasses for, um, thirsty-clamoring-for-wine adults!

So... sweetie-my-dearest-husband... that's all we have to do!
Get on it!
; )

 

Crazy Interior Finish of SIPs Walls Idea: Recycled "Art"

This is what happens when my husband goes away... he really does keep me sane, you know.

Until recently, I could brag that our office only used *at the most* three reams of paper a year.

And then the children went on a drawing binge.

It's driving me bonkers- on one hand, I cringe, "Don't waste paper!!!" then cringe at myself: "How dare you call their artistic pursuits wasteful?" So I stack the drawings in a corner, guiltily...

Today I was pondering over how to finish our casa ti interior.
I've always envisioned it with sleek, organic, simple plywood, which I thought would look really good with the more industrial concrete floor.

But I like to consider all options, and even published a post on how to make SIPs stew.

And then I thought... "Why not recycle those drawings?"
They are mainly scribbly ink drawings on notebook paper left over from college days, or grabbed from our office shelf.
So the overall effect would be clean, white, but with scribbles and occasional bursts of color...
I could easily attach it directly to the SIPs walls, then maybe minwax / add beeswax over it once hung... just for... fun!

I still see the end result eventually being plywood... but to reuse the paper and childrens "art" for our house? Fantastic!

 

Coffin Couches

By the time you read this, it will be my birthday.
I'm ugly and old as dirt.

So, in honor of the sands of time passing, imminent doom and whatnot, I thought I'd show you these *recycled* coffin couches.



You know, I'm still a goth girl at heart, and I'm certain the Addams Family would approve.

Read the hilarious commentary here:
http://gadgets.boingboing.net/2008/04/28/coffincouchescom-rec.html



And the website: http://coffincouches.com/

"We at Coffincouches.com have the mindset of thinking "Green" and we know it is different but we strongly believe in recycling. Our niche happens to be 18 gauge steel coffins which we collected from local funeral homes primarily in Southern California. It is a health and safety law that funeral homes cannot resell used coffins to the general public. We approached funeral directors with the attitude of recycling. These coffins are not used for burial due to slight cosmetic inconsistencies. They are reconfigured and modified resulting in a finished product - a unique one a kind coffin couch. If you notice (although it may be too small) the six cast iron heavy duty legs are embossed with the universal biohazard insignia. The reason we utilized this sign was because safety was our utmost concern. If you are not aware, once a human body is placed in a coffin it is considered biohazard tissue. The legs have the embossed insignia for precautionary reasons in the event body fluids are exchanged on these coffins. Perhaps you would feel safe knowing that you are in designated biohazard scene!
Ha!!"

Ha, I like these guys! There's something... a touch o' green, goth, rockabilly in 'em.

 

Modern lighting... and recycling

I am searching for lighting.

We have been fortunate to find most of our lamps in thrift stores.

But I have been thinking of the casa ti we're building... and darned it, I'm itching for a little design! So, yes, I haven't even started construction, but this girl's got lighting on the brain.

I ran across a site, that has a great selection: http://www.gnr8.biz/categories.php?cPath=1_20&page=all

What I like about their offerings is that the lighting is modern, yet not too cutesy whimsical, or too "let's just copy something retro" and that there are a lot of affordable products. Would I *would* like to see are more environmentally friendly offerings... readers, do any of you have suggestions for these manufacturers to replace the polyether that is used in so many affordable, attractive lighting designs?

Here is one I could totally see over my dining table:



Love how the part that hangs down is at an angle so that you could easily see your fellow diners instead of, like many low hanging lamps, obscuring them.

And of course, just for fun, this train of thought led me to walk around snapping pictures of our own locally recycled lamps, ALL previously owned before finding their way into our household!

Here they are!

We actually have tons more in the basement in storage... it makes you realize *how much* you can do / decorate through recycling! (Pretty much any of the furniture you see was recycled as well) In fact, doing this just made me realize... I have never bought a new lamp! ... and... Wow, I have a lot of lamps!































Oops I forgot some:

(And yes, I'm realizing... I have a

WHOLE

LOTTA

LAMPS!)




Maybe I *don't* need to go lamp shopping after all... Geez Louise!