I’ve been thinking a lot about what makes some restoration projects actually work while others just feel like expensive band-aids on old buildings. Part of it comes from living in…
You know, after thirty-eight years in the same house and seven years volunteering with our church’s building committee, I thought I’d encountered every type of contractor out there. Regular contractors,…
I’ll be honest – I’d never heard the term “regenerative design” until about a year ago. I was deep in one of my late-night research sessions (you know how it…
I’ll be honest – I never thought I’d get into restoration work. But when I was hunting for a home office setup that could actually support decent productivity metrics, I…
I got a call last month that really got me thinking. It wasn’t about my kids’ school this time – it was from a mom in our neighborhood whose company…
Last month I was tracking down some workspace inspiration and ended up in the lobby of this massive tech company downtown. They had this incredible living wall installation – probably…
I had to Google “biophile” the first time someone used it to describe me. This was about two years ago during a productivity-focused Slack discussion where I’d shared some photos…
Last month I was driving around Austin’s east side looking for a decent standing desk on Craigslist when I spotted this warehouse with “Restore Design Center” painted across the front.…
# Finding the Right Restoration Design Centre: What I’ve Learned from Fixing Old Spaces You know what’s weird? I never thought I’d become the person my friends call when they…
Last month, I read an article about a developer in Montreal who wanted to gut a beautiful Art Deco bank building rather than restore it. Got me thinking about how…
# Discovering the Hidden World of Habitat for Humanity ReStore Design Centers NEW_TITLE: How My Random Thrift Store Visit Changed How I Think About Sustainable Design You know how sometimes…
Okay, so there’s this thing that happens when you walk into certain spaces where your body just goes “oh, thank god” and relaxes in a way you didn’t even realize…
Last month I had to take my wife to a new specialist about an hour from home. I was dreading it – you know how those medical office visits go.…
Honestly, some of my best productivity improvements have come from workspace experiments where I spent maybe $200 total. I’m not kidding. While people obsess over thousand-dollar ergonomic setups and smart…
I never thought I’d be the parent who gets excited about classroom lighting, but here we are. Last month, I found myself sitting in my daughter’s third-grade classroom in Portland,…