development – amd architecture – the daily delights by katrina berg

(photos of AMD Architecture projects)

Like much of the country, local home prices have stopped appreciating, and even dropped lately. The prices had appreciated so much over the last couple years here that it seems impossible for us to ever build the home that we’d like to live in the rest of our lives.

My husband and I are always on the lookout for homes. Living in a small town with older homes is fun because there are so many character rich homes out there. The problem is that they just haven’t met our needs. I have such problems with my already osteoporosis bones and surgery-happy legs, that stairs are just not an option for me. As difficult as this past pregnancy was, being on one level sure made a difference. Most of the cute older homes have stairs, and sometimes bizarre ones at that with odd tread sizes, triangle shapes, etc. We adore the dramatic ceilings in many of these homes, but when my 6’3″ husband can’t stand up in a basement or attic room, we have another problem.

So with that and our desire for a more green/efficient home, we feel that our best option is to design and build our own home. Of course we will have help, but i hope to do most of the designing ourselves. I chose our architects a while ago: AMD Architecture.

Founded by principal, Angela Deanin ’97, AMD Architects have been designing green in the residential, corporate, second home, and remodeling realms. Angela has also written Green by Design: Creating a Home for Sustainable Living, where she “shares the environmentally responsible design principles she holds dear. Her goal, in the book and professionally, is to make green building and healthy living accessible for everyone. Emphasizing the notion that green is not a menu of add-on options, but a design philosophy that integrates aesthetics, budget, function, health, and enjoyment.”

I’ve enjoyed keeping an eye on their online portfolio. Our plan is to design our home as much as possible on our own (preliminary drawings, concepts, etc.), and then take it to Angela and her crew to finalize it (construction documents, etc.)and make sure that it is as green and “off the grid” as much as possible. It’s nice to have time to design and dream. We talk about our home nearly everyday. I’m learning more and more what we need, want, etc. Just hope it’s not too far away :).

Tonight, we had a long discussion about the Laundry Room. Where it should be (near the bedroooms, or away from the bedrooms), and how big it needs to be to work efficiently. See, I dry the clothes for 5 minutes (enough to loose wrinkles) and then hang everything on hangers and rods after that. I can hang 4 large loads at a time. I feel it’s my way of being green, but we also go through fewer clothes as I no longer worry about shrinkage. The towels and linens get to be dried in the dryer, though if i had a nice clothes line, they’d get hung also during nice weather…one day :).

So why, when we spend so much time in the laundry room does it so often get over looked or given such small square footage? In our condo, we had the cabinets distressed (they look beautiful), the flooring redone with a nice light oak, and painted the walls a soothing lavendar shade. It was a great laundry room. Since we’re renting our curent reseidence, I won’t paint it, but it’s nice and large, has a great place for sorting, and hanging laundry. A good model to follow. We’ll keep discussing the laundry room…:)