Motionspace Architecture + Design PLLC of Seattle, Washington Receives Houzz’s 2012 ‘Best Of Remodeling’ Award

First-Ever Survey & Analysis of More than 1.2 Million Members Reveals Top-Rated Professionals and Current Design Trends from Across the Country

Seattle, WA — March 19, 2012 – Motionspace Architecture + Design PLLC of Seattle, WA has been awarded “Best Of Remodeling” 2012 by Houzz, the leading online platform for residential remodeling and design. Motionspace, a firm that specializes in residential design, was chosen by the more than 1.2 million registered members of the Houzz community.

The Houzz “Best Of Remodeling” award for 2012 is given in two categories: Customer Satisfaction and Design. Customer Satisfaction award winners are based on homeowner members who rated their experience working with remodeling professionals in 12 categories ranging from architects, and interior designers to contractors and other residential remodeling professionals. Design award winners’ work was the most popular among the 1.2 million members, also known as “Houzzers,” who saved more than 16.5 million professional images to their personal ideabooks via the Houzz site and iPad/iPhone app.

“Looking at other architect’s work is a great way to generate new ideas for your project. We’re honored to be recognized by the Houzz community for having inspiring work and having so many people add our projects to their ideabooks,” said Nazim Nice, the Principal Architect at Motionspace.

“With 3.5 million monthly unique users and 80 million monthly page views, Houzz has rapidly become the largest community of active remodelers, providing homeowners and design enthusiasts with first-hand advice from Houzzers who have been through the renovating and decorating process,” said Liza Hausman, Vice President of marketing for Houzz. “This is a real stamp of approval for Motionspace from the Houzz community and we’re thrilled to welcome them to this elite group of ‘Best Of’ winners.”

With Houzz, homeowners can identify not only the top-rated professionals like Motionspace, but also those whose work visually aligns with their own design goals. Homeowners can also evaluate professionals by contacting them directly on the Houzz platform, asking questions about their work and evaluating their responses to questions from others in the Houzz community.

The powder room in our Capitol Hill Basement Remodel was featured in an article on Houzz.com

2012 is shaping up to be an exciting year for us! We are starting this year with the greatest number of new home projects we’ve ever had, along with a number of remodels and additions. In Kent, Washington we have started the master planning of a nine home gated community. See the video below. The actual home designs have not been developed yet, so the blocky homes are just ‘placeholders’.

We’ll be starting construction soon on a home in Auburn on the Green River. This is a project that has taken several years to permit, but with such a beautiful site, I have a feeling the end results will be worth it. We’re designing two new replacement homes north of Green Lake as well as a 20′ wide modern single family home on Queen Anne (see image below).

As we progress in the design and construction of these projects we’ll be sharing more info. I hope everyone has a wonderful 2012!

While many of our projects are larger jobs like new single family homes, or second story additions, once in awhile we’ll take on smaller jobs like these two bathroom remodels.  We started the design process by identifying problems that needed to be solved and understanding our client’s goals. Both of these clients needed more storage space but also wanted to increase the functionality of the space while creating a modern and warm atmosphere.

STORAGE ISSUES
To gain more storage space we designed the vanity in one of these bathrooms to continue into a blind corner so larger items (like that 24 pack of toilet paper from Costco) can fit under the sink. In the other bathroom, additional storage space for smaller items was needed close at hand. We took advantage of the large wall space above the vanity and broke that down into separate wall mounted medicine cabinets flanking two mirrors. In the vanity below, drawer space was maximized by making the cabinet under the sink as narrow as possible.

LUXURIOUS MATERIALS
Often the first thing that is noticed when entering a bathroom is the tile work. In both bathrooms we choose to accent one shower wall with a particularly special tile. Other tiles were chosen for the vanity back splash, the bathroom floor, the shower floor, and the shower and/or tub surround. TIP! When choosing bathroom tile, there is a fine line between creating a sophisticated appearance and creating something that looks more like a tile showroom. If too many different tiles are chosen that do not coordinate with each other it can quickly start to look like a tile showroom. Try to limit the number of different tiles to about five in a bathroom, and some of these should be similar to each other (like the shower floor could be a smaller version of another adjacent tile).

To see more images and read more about these projects and twenty four other projects visit our project gallery.

One of the questions I am asked most frequently is, “when should we get started on our project?”  Well, that will vary depending on which building department will issue your permit (if required) and the type of project you want to construct.

Let’s first begin with how long the design process may take. If the project is smaller like a kitchen remodel or bathroom remodel, and either has no structural changes or minor structural changes, then the design time would likely be about 2-6 weeks.  A larger project like a room addition that involves an architect and a structural engineer will likely take 6-8 weeks to design. An even larger project like a whole house remodel or second story addition may take 3-4 months to design. Most of my clients who design a new house from scratch take over 6 months to go through the process.

Building department review times will vary depending on the jurisdiction. Many small projects can get over-the-counter permits, or permits that are issued within one or two weeks. Larger projects should allow 8-12 weeks for review and one round of revisions with the City or County.

If your goal is to start a project in 2011, be sure to leave enough time for design and permitting. If you intend to start a construction project this Spring or Summer you should start the design process now. This is especially important for weather sensitive projects like second story additions, or other projects where good portions of the home are open to the weather.   If you would like to discuss your project please give us a call at (206) 204-0490 or use the contact form on our website.

A friend sent this photo to me from an actual house in Orlando, Florida (no photoshop magic here!). I thought it was too funny not to share. It’s clear that some people get into the holidays more than others. So, we hope that your holidays are filled with as much holiday cheer as you desire!

I never thought I’d see the day where we use a tile that is literally peel-and-stick, but these Stainless tiles from Aspect save you from all the hassles of backerboard, thinset and grout.  They are sold in a 3×6 subway tile size, and can be purchased in either long or short grain (the direction of the brushed finish). By mixing long and short grain you can create patterns without changing the material.  They are available in four different finishes: 1) brushed bronze 2) copper 3) champagne or 4) stainless.  According to the manufacturer, they are made of 60% recycled material and 99% of the manufacturing waste is recycled.

Most people probably don’t think about their roof much, that is, until it starts leaking. One of the most common causes of roof leaks is around roof penetrations, such as plumbing vents.  Typically a plumbing vent is a PVC plastic pipe that penetrates through the roof.  If your roofer does a good job, they will fabricate a custom piece of copper or lead flashing to fit over this pipe and extend under the shingles above.  However, most roofers end up relying on cheap rubber pipe boots that degrade in the sun, crack, and then eventually fail (sometimes in only a few years).  If your home already has these rubber pipe boots, you may be wondering what you can easily do to keep them from leaking.  There is a new product called Perma-Boot that easily slips over an existing PVC pipe and rubber pipe boots. Since it overlaps the joint at which the pipe boot and PVC vent come together, it sheds water away from the vent. The best part of the Perma-Boot is that installation takes minutes. There is no shop fabrication of flashing. There is no need to remove existing flashing and try to find replacement shingles.

Effective June 1, 2010 Hunter Douglas, America’s largest manufacturer of custom made window coverings, stopped selling their products through online retailers. So when a client of ours asked us to provide blinds for his project, and we realized our usual online source could not provide the blinds we wanted, we went ahead and opened an account with Hunter Douglas.   So now we can offer all our clients the latest blinds and the highest contract quality products from Hunter Douglas at about the same cost as some lower quality blinds available through online retailers.

I was recently talking to a client of mine and she mentioned that my dog, Cooper, is on Angie’s List.  I had submitted a photo of him to Angie’s List for their pet issue in early 2009 but never heard back from them.  Little did I know he’s been making the rounds on their website and in their newsletters!

I feel pretty fortunate to be able to bring my dog to work with me.  He does put in long hours when I have to work late, and he ‘helps out’ whenever possible.  Here is an short slide show of a typical day for Cooper.