Inside/Outside: Refine Your Space - 2016

Living room in the Philharmonic House of Design by Tamra Mundia, Concept Design, Inc.

ON TREND THE COLORS, FABRICS AND TEXTURES OF 2016

NO WATER, NO PROBLEM

DROUGHT-PROOF LANDSCAPING TIPS

OUTDOOR LIVING

COMFORT IN YOUR BACKYARD

INSIDE/OUTSIDE | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | REFINE YOUR SPACE

Welcome

T

his year’s Inside/ Outside was designed to show off, well, design. In coming up with what to feature in our annual interior and exterior design issue, we talked to architects, designers, decorators, consignment shop owners, landscapers, curators and homeowners about what is happening in design this year, and how market trends are shaping what we’re putting in our homes, businesses and outdoor spaces.

In the pages of this special edition, you’ll find tips and stories about what goes on inside and outside homes in South Orange County. For interior design stories, you can read about the unique spaces local designers have worked in—from skateboard palaces to mortuaries—on page 3. On page 4, you’ll find out this year’s trends in color, texture and furniture.

Find out some options for restoring old treasured pieces (and finding them in consignment shops) on page 5. And check out photos from the stunning Philharmonic House of Design in Dana Point, which over a dozen local designers decorated, on page 6.

Then head outdoors for stories that scan everything from landscaping to sustainable home design. On page 18, you’ll learn about what you need to get building renovations approved in the tri-cities. Then, find out how to refine your outdoor areas into living spaces on page 9.

We chatted with the proprietors of FoxLin Architects about sustainable design on page 10.

And we’ll give you low-down on water-free and drought-resistant exterior design on page 11.

It’s a good time to be a homeowner in San Clemente, San Juan Capistrano and Dana Point. With average home prices hovering around $1 million dollars, the market is strong, as evidenced by the robust array of designers, architects and builders from which to choose when you undertake renovations or choose to buy or sell.

We hope you pull out a few nuggets from Inside/Outside to carry into your next homerelated project.

INSIDE/OUTSIDE | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | REFINE YOUR SPACE

A kids’ salt therapy room was designed by Prizant Design.

Photo: Courtesy

Tamra Mundia designed a professional skateboarder’s home according to his specifications. Photo: Courtesy

UNIQUE

Spaces

O

From yachts to morgues, local designers have worked in some special places

ne imagines that when a person first decides he or she wants to dedicate their life to interior and exterior design, they don’t dream about designing a mortuary. Or a skateboarder’s ping pong-centric garage. Or a fishing boat.

But those are just some of the requests that many local designers have received over their careers. And in fact, that sort of challenge is precisely what many professionals appreciate about the job—using their expertise to mold a clients’ vision (whatever and wherever that may be) into something unique and usable.

Tamra Mundia of Concept Design in San Clemente had a unique workplace design challenge on her hands when she took on the redesign of a mortuary. The emotional nature of a mortuary posed a unique challenge for Mundia—it had to be nurturing and peaceful for visitors, but upbeat and welcoming for employees.

“The fun thing is the mortuary itself we’ve designed to be calming, while the corporate side is bright and colorful and happy for the employees,” Mundia said. The design ended up having neutral grays and calming, cooler tones in the public area, with brighter, warmer colors in the employee section.

Mundia also pointed to her unique experience working with a 19-year-old professional skateboarder in San Juan Capistrano, whose request was to redesign an historic home in the city with a ping-pong room (accessible via garage door), and that all the interior colors would be black, charcoal grey, white and red—in short, you average 19-year-old guy’s entire color palette.

Meanwhile, Gerald Moskowitz of Jeddy’s Interiors in Dana Point, has dedicated the latter part of his design career to unique spaces—he’s one of the top yacht design-

ers in the country. After running a design firm in Palm Springs, Moskowitz says his yacht design business took off in the Harbor.

“I’ve been a boater all my life. I’ve got a boat in Dana Harbor,” he said. “About 20 years ago people started asking me to do their boats. … I moved here lock, stock and barrel and sold my place there.”

Moskowitz says although the yacht may be a unique place to design, many people treat theirs as a second home—and want it designed as such.

“They want it to their specifications. They want it to their likes and dislikes,” he said. “The first thing you do when you buy a home is you change the carpet, change the blinds. Well when people buy a boat of any size and value, they tend to do the same thing.”

Jeddy’s has worked on boats for local residents as well as those made by the prestigious Pacific Asian Enterprises company, which makes the Nordhavn yacht.

Moskowitz says designing and remodeling a yacht poses unique challenges as opposed to home redesign, which Jeddy’s also does. Being able to withstand the elements, but also make the yacht feel like home is where Moskowitz says his expertise kicks in.

“It can be very demanding, and it can be much more difficult than anything because of the angles and just generally things are much more difficult to do,” Moskowitz says.

As far as yacht design trends are concerned, “Most people tend to want more substantial fabrics to the environment. They want water-proof things, sun-proof things.

They want umbrella fabrics or vinyl fabrics or high-end leatherette fabrics.”

Some designers are asked by people that own specialty shops to turn their office or store into something functional for their customers. Cynthia Prizant, who runs Prizant Design in San Clemente, was proposed that exact challenge by a unique specialty therapy group.

A remodeled dining area in a yacht redesigned by Jeddy’s Interiors.

Photo: Courtesy

Cockpit cushions are on one of the yachts redesigned by Jeddy’s Interiors. Photo: Courtesy

“I did a salt therapy salon,” Prizant said. “It’s kind of a new up-and-coming health thing where it’s based on the salt caves in Europe, and they blow in this salted air through these generators into the room and it’s supposed to help people who have breathing and skin issues.”

A massive amount of salt is required for salt therapy— it’s in the air, in the furniture, and in the floors. Working with a tough material like salt and turning it into therapy rooms for children and adults was the challenge.

“The whole floor is covered with five inches of Himalayan salt. So iI did a salon that basically has a children’s therapy room and an adults’ therapy room,” she said.

“We had to consider, in terms of the materials, how the salt would affect that. We ended up doing one backlit wall of salt bricks that had LED lights behind it. And then the floors had heating elements so that the salt was also heated.”

There’s no shortage of unique places, or pieces, to design. Yachts, mortuaries and therapy rooms are just some, so open your eyes and see the magic done by local designers throughout the area.

3

INSIDE/OUTSIDE INSIDE/OUTSIDE |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| REFINE REFINE YOUR YOUR SPACE SPACE8

ON

Trend

The colors, textures and fabrics of 2016 as told by local designers

T

alking about interior design trends is a bit like sharing an opinion—it should be taken with a grain of salt. Trends tend to trickle down from producers into various media sources, then to designers. And along the way, savvy homeowners, renters and amateur designers pick up pieces of the trends and blend them with their own personal tastes.

For instance, Pantone comes out with a much ballyhooed “color of the year.” Sometimes the color is a hit—this year, the colors are rose quartz and serenity (pink and grayish blue)—and sometimes they flop—emerald wasn’t used in many designs. Other paint and design companies come out with their own trends, as well. Benjamin Moore dubbed 2016’s color “simply white.”

Then, the wheels are set in motion.

“So then what happens is a lot of the vendors, the producer of the fabrics, will produce a little bit more in those colors,” says Cynthia Prizant of Prizant Design in San Clemente. “So you’ll see in the magazines images of rooms and vignettes that are designed with those colors.”

Pantone comes out with a much ballyhooed “color of the year.” Sometimes the color is a hit and sometimes they flop.

“You’ll see once they’ve set the colors, you’ll see products along those lines that will pop up with accessories and fabrics,” Prizant said, but added, “To be honest, a lot of times they don’t become the trend in the common population.”

Indeed, many designers use trendy colors as a well-noted reference, but rely on their own training and, most importantly, the wishes of the client to guide the design.

“It’s not about what’s trendy,” says Emily Turner of Maison Blue Design Group, “it’s always focused on what clients’ personal tastes are. From a color standpoint, it’s really personal.”

Turner said that trends also tend to move slower in house design, than in, say, fashion, because people aren’t changing their home decor every day, or buying entire new wardrobes every year or so, like some do with clothes. That leads to more “classic” designs in homes; but then again what is considered “classic” is constantly evolving, and thus prone to trends.

So given that trends come and go, and are influenced by regional and personal predilections, local designers are still able to pick out some things that are popular this year.

In general, warm is out and cool is in. The Tuscan trend that was popular at the end of the last decade has softened and cooled into a palette that includes more coastal colors— 4

Mid-century modern style is on full display in the colors, furniture and fixtures in Prizant Design’s living room. Photo: Jeri Koegel

Neutrals are classic, but gray is enjoying a high point in this design by Prizant Design. Photo: Jeri Koegel

A Maison Blue design featured throwback chairs with bold lines with neutral grays, in front of a wood inset. Photo: Courtesy

blues, greens, neutrals.

Della Hayden, also of Maison Blue agrees that coastal, and it’s colors, are in—that’s partly because it’s popular in the Southern California region, but also because it’s (and here’s that word again) classic.

“The current trend in color is gray, white, navy and neutral. Those are primarily the current trendy colors, but they’re also classic, and I think that’s one of the elements everyone is trying to get to,” she said.

Aside from the coastal theme, Prizant says there is a trend toward mid-century modern in the design requests she’s receiving. It’s a sort of Mad Men-style, ’50s-era chic that is evidenced in clear lines, bold colors and material changes.

“There’s a huge resurgence of mid-century modern,” she said. “You can see it not only in the trade form, but also in [consumer stores like] Crate and Barrel.”

Walnut tones in wood fixtures are popular, but so are grayer and white-washed wood floors—a product of the trend toward gray and neutral, Prizant said. In metals, golds are coming back.

“One of the other trends is a transition from silvers to golds,” she said. “So for instance lighting fixtures, you’ll see a lot of the antique brass and golds whereas a couple years ago it was brushed silvers and nickels. I also think that’s driven by the mid-century modern (trend).”

Turner and Hayden at Maison Blue agree in the shift in trend, but are calling it an “industrial, kind of reclaimed look.”

“I think that goes back to a couple years ago and they talked about sustainable and everybody’s trying to be more

Cooler tones like blues and greens are trending this year, along with neutrals, in this design by Maison Blue. Photo: Courtesy

responsible and trying to rescue things,” Hayden said.

Turner said that no matter how influenced a design is by trends, it still needs to fit the function aspect of any design.

“They need to be multifunctional,” Turner said. “Especially in our crowded market, people are living in smaller homes, so their homes have to be especially versatile. That’s a huge part of what we do from the start is space planning, and trying to design around function.”

So the next time you’re leafing through a design magazine, watching a home remodeling show or visiting a furniture store, pick out the cooler colors, the gold fixtures and the gray woods, and decide if they’re for you—or if you’ll wait until the trends change next year.

REFINING YOUR

INSIDE/OUTSIDE | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | REFINE YOUR SPACE

Space

Using repurposed and refurbished items to elevate home design REUSING AND REPURPOSING FURNITURE AND MATERIALS

has become chic. Whether it’s because of the ubiquity of home remodeling shows on cable TV or just a general cultural push toward reuse, the desire to turn old into new is frequently requested by designers.

But the consignment collection and refurbishment business is strong on its own, with many people taking a do-it-yourself approach to home design and picking out pieces that complement the spaces they’ve cultivate. That said, a well-curated consignment shop can give the shopper ideas and inspiration on how to use unique pieces and antique gems.

Katie Dabney and Sam Gaylord own Revel, a new consignment shop in San Juan Capistrano. Inside, you won’t find items strewn about, or even placed on racks—instead, pieces collected from interested sellers are artfully mixed with dozens of other pieces to create display vignettes.

Accessories, furniture, rugs, photos and more are arranged in what look like little rooms, creating looks for interested buyers to use for inspiration.

“We are resale done right. We take care of it, and try to make it look good,” Dabney said. “We take things in and try to be creative and give people ideas on what to do with their new old things.”

Revel opened in mid-September. Dabney quit her job in

Photos of the unique vignettes and displays set up at Revel in San Juan Capistrano. Photo: Courtesy

advertising, and Gaylord quit his in finance, to open up the shop and “do something we love to do.”

“It’s a lot of hard work. It’s like moving every day,” Gaylord said.

Dabney said Revel will make house calls for consultations, and will deliver anywhere locally or ship elsewhere. She said that patrons can save up to 60 percent on retail items, and sellers get their items put in the store for 60 days. There’s also a five-day return policy on items, which other consignment stores don’t always have.

The key, Dabney says, is providing quality products at prices that don’t exclude large groups of people. That process requires an eye for aesthetic and passion for refining and repurposing items.

“It’s hopefully a little bit different here from your average

consignment store,” she said. We have something for everyone. If it’s dusty, we clean it. We try not to take things that are broken, because would you buy it? If you wouldn’t buy it yourself, we wouldn’t have it here. But everything in here has had some love before.”

There’s a bevy of other good consignment shops in the area, including 2nd Hand Treasures in Capistrano Beach.

Owners Helen and Ziad Mahshi have created a stunning showroom, that features a rotating selection of well-priced, high-quality and unique wares. At any given point, you’re liable to find something like a music machine from the early 19th century, a signed Salvador Dali print, a restored stage trunk or a turquoise stone necklace.

Whether you shop at 2nd Hand Treasures, Revel, both or more, you’ll likely come away not only with a new piece for your home, but a head full of ideas on what to design next.

INSIDE/OUTSIDE | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | REFINE YOUR SPACE

SHOWING

It Off

Philharmonic House of Design displays local flavor and design expertise

W

hat do you get when you put fifteen renowned interior designers into a cliffside mega-mansion and let them have at the design any way they wish?

It’s a five bedroom, five and one-half bath, 8,656-square-foot home that sits on a lot double that size. It’s views of the Pacific Coast are unparalleled in the region, and the design of the home blends the outdoor with the indoor. In many ways, the Philharmonic House of Design is the physical embodiment of this magazine—a look at how interiors and exteriors work as yin and yang to create a wholly comfortable and setting-appropriate home.

Now surely a professionally designed home listed just shy of $10 million in the exclusive Strand neighborhood is a bit opulent, but proceeds from tickets sold for viewings throughout May and June benefit the Philharmonic Youth Music Education Programs. This year’s home was a smash hit for viewers, as attendees were able to see the latest in design trends in the home. And even if many of us can’t afford the home—or even one mortgage payment on it— the House of Design is an opportunity to see designers on display, and a chance to take a few things from their books and put it into our own homes.

Inside, you’ll find a chef’s kitchen that would make any home, or professional, cook green with envy. A large neolithtopped island allows for many friends and family members to sit. Glass-paneled cabinets offset by white frames are both classic and casual. There are Wold & Sub Zero Appliances, Rohl & Kohler Fixtures, two dishwashers and a convection oven. The kitchen, designed by Wendy Ann Miller, is fresh and bright, and inspires the home cook to spend the whole day preparing fresh ingredients into myriad dishes.

The living room was designed by Tamra Mundia of Concept Design and opens up to the seascape just steps away from the home. Marble flooring gives way to neutral-colored furniture and rugs. The large open gateway to the outdoor living space is both a tableau and a functional way to control temperature and keep fresh air moving through the home.

The master bedroom, designed by Frank Pitman, hasmore golden, lavender and stained tones while balancing elegance with comfort. Antique, repurposed items like binoculars on a stand, a pear-shaped chandelier and a quartz stone-shaped lamp seem to both fit in and stand out. Again, the large open wall, with sliding doors, that faces the ocean is the ideal accent in color and tone.

Downstairs, a sprawling game room designed by Nancy Del Santa will keep guests occupied for hours. There’s a bar—just steps away from the straight-outta-Europe wine cellar and tasting room (designed by Barbara Mclane)—a pool table, and an entertainment setup with plenty of space to roam free and entertain. The doors open up to the pool area, which features a raised hot tub on one end of the long pool, 6

The kitchen was designed by Wendy Ann Miller. Photo: Matt Cortina

The dining room is casual but refined. Photo: Matt Cortina

An outdoor living space in the House of Design. Photo: Matt Cortina

Bar in the game room, designed by Nancy Del Santo. Photo: Matt Cortina

and a barbecue station on the other. Did we also mention the downstairs sauna and the home theater room with a projector, designed by the IDI Student Team? Or the spa/massage setup ready for a masseuse to come in and pamper away?

There’s also a clever kid’s room in the downstairs area, with a sailboat-shaped bed, a fun lighting fixture, and an oversized cartoonish octopus sculpture inset into the wall

on the way out to the pool.

Want and need—it’s tough to tell the difference walking through the House of Design. Many of the features the average folks only dream about having in their homes seem both attainable and well-placed in the house. We may not be able to afford the House of Design, but we can certainly borrow some of its rooms and put them in our own places.

INSIDE/OUT | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | REFINE YOUR SPACE

NO WATER

NO PROBLEM Creative landscaping opportunities with drought-resistant plants

S RENOVATIONS

outhern California is known for so many wonderful things and, at least, one unequivocally bad thing: drought.

Water issues have plagued the entire state for years, and climate change will only exacerbate the situation.

About 50 percent of drinking water in this area is used for landscaping, and not for drinking, cooking or bathing, according to the South Coast Water District. About 80 percent of that water comes from the Colorado River and Northern California, but those resources are rapidly dwindling as other communities across the West find ways to deal with their own water shortages.

But whether by mandate or personal choice, many Californians are finding clever ways to scale back on water use.

One such way is to plant drought-resistant and low-water varietals. We took a trip down to the stunning and very drought-tolerant gardens at Casa Romantica in San Clemente to see which plants thrive in the area.

Throughout the grounds, you’ll find plants of every color.

There’s the bluish plumbago shrub, and the red kalanchoe,

Aeonium. Photo: File

Lantana. Photo: File

also known as the “widow’s thrill.” The cotyledon looks like a spiky green elk’s horn, and the lantana comes in a rainbow of colors. The gardens fill out the palette with purple African basil, orange firecracker plants and the ivy geranium.

Remember, Southern California is a coastal desert. It’s not supposed to be able to support lush green lawns and many typically verdant varieties of plants that look good, but are water-intensive. That said, just because we live in a desert, it doesn’t mean there aren’t tons of native plants that can make your yard pop.

versus

For the permit applications and to see if you’re specific projects needs a permit, call the Building and Safety Services Department at 949.443.6347, or visit https://www.sanjuancapistrano.org/Index.aspx?page=42.

Remodels

When do you need a permit?

AT SOME POINT OR ANOTHER, it may come time to re-

model or renovate your home. At which time, you might come face to face with your city’s municipal codes regarding zoning, planning and the like.

And getting through the paperwork associated with your city’s regulations can sometimes be more of a hassle—or at least seem more daunting—than the actual renovation itself.

In general, the cities of Dana Point, San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano require you to get a permit for many improvement projects, which are subject to construction codes and inspections. This is in order to ensure the safety of the home—when your home was built, it had to meet certain codes, and you can’t just go and change them at your whim if it might, according to the city, put your home in structural danger.

In an effort to hasten the permit process, we’ve assembled some key tenets straight from the building departments of Dana Point, San Clemente and San Juan Capistrano.

DANA POINT In general, the city of Dana Point requires

homeowners and tenants looking to remodel to file for a building permit with the city. This includes renovations to bathrooms, kitchens, pools, patios, water heaters and more.

8

Firecracker plant. Photo: File

It’s important to note that some renovations within these areas are considered maintenance, and not subject to a permit: for instance, replacing a toilet or refrigerator, or refacing the cabinets. If you’re unsure of whether your project requires a permit, call the Dana Point Community Development, Building and Safety Department at 949.248.3594.

If your project does require a permit, there are a variety of forms you’ll need to fill out depending on the project. Those forms are available at http://www.danapoint.org/department/community-development/building-safety.

You should prepare to submit floor plans and prove your set-up meets energy and safety codes found on the website above. You should also be prepared to pay several fees to cover the inspection and processing costs.

SAN JUAN CAPISTRANO In San Juan, you’ll have to file a

permit for most renovations to bathrooms, kitchens, pools, patios and outdoor areas. You’ll need to get approval from any combination of the public works, planning, fire and building departments, depending on the scope of your remodel.

Those divisions take about three to five weeks to review most projects, and if the inspections pass, the city will review the project and issue a permit within 15 business days. You’ll be able to track your permit’s progress on the city’s website.

And getting through the paperwork associated with your city’s regulations can sometimes be more of a hassle—or at least seem more daunting than the actual renovation itself.

SAN CLEMENTE

For most renovations in San Clemente, you’ll need a permit. This includes all electrical, plumbing, mechanical or structural projects; installing water heaters, dishwashers, garbage disposals; re-roofing, remodeling, repairing stairs, replacing windows; and building retaining walls, decks pools and more.

To get a permit, draw up a blueprint and bring it to any relevant city division for review—in general, exterior updates need only be checked by the Building and Planning Departments.

You’ll need to submit a permit application, proof of ownership of the home, and proof of HOA approval, if necessary. Fees will need to be paid—$25 for small projects, and up to $2,000 for major additions like extra buildings or pools.

Many projects can receive approval on the day-of submittal, after walking into city offices.

To check what you’ll need for your project, visit the city’s Building Division website at http://38.106.5.200/department-services/building-services.

INSIDE/OUT | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | REFINE YOUR SPACE

OUTDOOR

Living

Tips from designers on how to create a comfy outdoor living space IT’S HARD TO IMAGINE OUTDOOR LIVING SPACES AS EVER

being trendy in Southern California—here, it’s a way of a life. But now interior designers are being asked more and more to design outdoor living spaces and to help bridge the design gap between inside and outside. We asked several designers to share some tips on designing outdoor living spaces, and we distilled their expertise into the following five tips:

A firepit can bridge gaps between indoor and outdoor spaces. This area was designed by the South Coast Plaza Stores. Photo: File

1. Plan your outdoor space like an indoor area Designers are quick to note that the main similarity between interior and exterior design is spacial planning. Make sure that nothing is too cramped, and that from a design standpoint, you group fabrics and colors that work well together. Identify key traffic areas (from bathroom to pool, or from kitchen to grill) and ensure that they are open.

2. Choose weather-hardy fabrics Leatherette and umbrella canvasses are extra popular right now and come in a variety of colors to match whatever your scheme is. These materials are weather-resistant and will be both comfortable and aesthetically pleasing for most designers.

Barbecues and the like are ideal for outdoor living. Photo: File

3. Use lighting to bridge gaps Just as you would draw in natural light in indoor living spaces, let the natural light bridge the gap between the inside and out-

side, and provide shade in spots via umbrellas or tree cover. In planning, take pictures of all areas of the intended living space throughout the day to see which areas need the most attention.

4. Let nature handle the colors Many designers, especially given current trends, will use large windows and door openings to frame the outdoors as a tableau that can be enjoyed inside. With the trend now toward neutral and cooler colors, bright flowering plants, and the natural colors of the sky draw the eye from inside out.

5. Food and drink areas can be the glue An outdoor barbecue area or bar is a great way to use your lifestyle to bridge the gap between indoors and outdoors.

You can also plan to have clear paths to indoor bars or wine cellars. It’s also trendy to purchase drink carts, for beverages always within reach.

INSIDE/OUT | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | REFINE YOUR SPACE

WHAT IS SUSTAINABLE

Design?

Q&A: Sustainable Design with Michael Fox and Juintow Lin of FoxLin Architects

W

e sat down with Michael Fox and Juintow Lin of FoxLin Architects in Capistrano Beach to talk about how their architecture firm has focused on creating sustainable, eco-friendly designs for their clients throughout the world.

Fox and Lin met as students at MIT. They’ve both written books and performed research on sustainable design, and have been teaching architecture students about sustainable design elements for years.

As their practice continues to grow—along with the need for more sustainably designed homes—we picked the architects’ brains on the current state of eco-responsible design and technology.

Inside/Outside: Your company specializes in “sustainable design.” What does that mean?

Juintow Lin: There’s many different aspects of it. The most obvious one that people usually think of is low energy design—spending less on electricity, natural gas and those types of things and finding different ways to achieve that.

The most basic way is the passive way. Orienting for solar heating or shading, basically how you position the building on the site. How to encourage airflow through the building with natural ventilation. And then what color.

There’s also active strategies, which are like solar panels, water reclamation, water recycling, all these other things.

How do homeowners interested in sustainable design mentally get over the financial burden of some of the more expensive elements?

Michael Fox: All that passive stuff is pretty easy to convince people to do because it doesn’t really cost people more money. Your space is going to be brighter, you’re going to be able to use the AC less. And all of the design kind of makes sense. The other stuff is trickier because it involves an above and beyond investment. That’s where return on investment becomes important. Yeah, you can get solar panels and you’ll pay for it for 10 years, but after that…

Lin: I actually find with the solar panels, that’s probably the most common one, that people are tending to request that because it’s so much less expensive to do when you’re doing new construction that the incentives are so high that it makes sense to do it then. I find almost everybody these days is asking for the electric car charging port and some cities are now requiring it.

But there’s other ways to be sustainable. For instance, your location, if you’re close to public transportation, the size of your home, … or the quality of the building materials.

Fox: The best thing is probably legislative change. Like the 10

A Foxlin Architects design uses active and passive ways to reduce energy usage. Photo: Courtesy

city of Carlsbad, they require that you put the infrastructure in for solar panels when you do construction. The entire city of Los Angeles requires 100 percent water reclamation.

Can we call sustainable design a trend still, or is it becoming a necessity in Southern California?

Lin: We both teach in architecture school so we’re training the next sets of architects, and in our school we have very much been talking about this. And for that reason, I think it is a long-term change and trend that’s happening, but I also think that in terms of the power companies, they also are interested in these types of things and they have a lot of different grants and programs because they realize their infrastructure is not large enough to handle this increasing need for energy.

Interior architectural design elements form FoxLin Architects, Photo: Doug Edmonds

Fox: The bigger problem is that Los Angeles is really just a developer-driven arena and if you look at, say, the housing going in by the Great Park and (South Orange County) housing neighborhoods, there’s really not architecture involved in that. Homes are plopped down by literally the thousands, and none of this (sustainability) stuff we’re talking about is accounted for, so it’s just developers. That’s where you need the codes.

Lin: Most people work in an office, and there’s a great opportunity every 10-20 years, all the existing building stock gets renovated, and every 30-50 years the buildings get rebuilt.

There is a great opportunity in this process in recycling these buildings to make change.

Are you interested in driving that change toward more widespread sustainability?

Fox: There’s this other level of active stuff that you have— window shades that are motorized and photovoltaic so that when the sun comes down, they immediately come down. So this is using technology at another step higher.

Fox: For the most part, I think you have to make green green.

There has to be financial return and incentives enough to have it make sense. Not so that people want to do it for the planet, but that it makes sense that you’re going to get a real return.

Lin: The one thing we do is we definitely promote that in our teaching. We have both gone to China and taught because there’s a big issue there in terms of energy. I’ve been there and taught sustainable design.

Fox: Juintow knows the facts more than me, but it’s really important that it’s not just about doing what you have to do or what feels good. For instance, buildings are responsible for 50 percent of all energy use, including transportation of materials.

And it’s because we have offices that are hermetically sealed, and we have ACs running all the time. We spend 80 percent of our time in buildings, and they just use a ton of energy. When you think about where does all our energy go, it’s used for powering our buildings.

Is there hope in technology to make sustainability easier for homeowners?

Lin: For instance in commercial buildings, if it’s a normal big floor, the people on the outside have different lighting requirements than people in the middle, so there’s automated systems to deal with that now so you’re not lighting the edge of the building.

Fox: The thing is with residential and definitely with commercial is it’s difficult in Orange County. Whereas if you’re in parts of LA, it’s kind of vogue to actually show off the fact that you have solar panels and you have the electric charger, and it’s a cool kind of hipster thing that you’ve done. Whereas here there’s not that awareness. It’s not really like this vogue thing and that kind of change in public perception needs to happen here. You look at all the houses on The Strand, and I just point that out because they’re all architect-designed houses, but (sustainability) is not prioritized. So it’s part of changing the mindset of the clients, not the architects.

INSIDE/OUTSIDE INSIDE/OUTSIDE |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| REFINE REFINE YOUR YOUR SPACE SPACE

LOCAL

KNOWLEDGE From the Ground Up

Recommendations for Selecting an Architect

How to Sell Your Home for Top Dollar Faster

By Stan Schrofer, Principal at Stan Schrofer & Associates

By Doug Echelberger, The Echelberger Group

1. Experience: A) How many projects has the architect completed in your community?

B) How long has the architect been working in Southern California?

Thinking about putting your home on the market? Keep your knowledge local when it comes to selling your home for top dollar faster.

How you refine your home, inside and out, matters. Here are five ways you can get more money out of your home.

By David Faylor, General Contractor

2. Resume: A) Does the architect’s resume reflect cre-

Every new building should have a firm foundation, have great windows and doors, a watertight roof and be ecofriendly with energy smart technology. Then, you can do whatever design you want on the floors and walls.

Hi, my name is David the Local Builder and General Contractor. I would like to share my recommendations when planning a new project. There are dozens of procedures along with many hundreds of details involved with getting any project to a starting point. Most times the permit process takes longer than the actual building of the project itself.

Be prepared with blueprints and bids before you undertake financing the job. How long does it take to draw plans and obtain the permits? Well, that’s a good question.

Depending on how much you are building, it requires specific tasks in order to achieve an approval from the local City Hall Building Department.

ative designs, experience, and good organizational skills?

B) Does it give you a good sense of his achievements and creativity?

FIVE WAYS TO INCREASE THE PROPERTY VALUE OF YOUR HOME

3. Webpage and Video: A) What access is provided to

1. Get a Home Inspection Why wait for the buyer to request a home inspection?

Before you list your home, hire an inspector find out about any potential problems. For a few hundred dollars, you can prepare your home for sale and have the time to fix any issues that could lower your property value.

Ask a trusted real estate professional to recommend an inspector. Hidden problems can cause serious damage— water leaks, pest infestation, electrical problems—which will result in a lower price for your home.

Most projects require eight or more of these professionals: Architect /Geologist Surveyor / Civil Engineer Structural Engineer Environmental Impact Energy Efficiency Engineer Solar Engineering Pool & Spa Design Engineer Electrical Load Calculations Plumbing Fire Sprinklers Protective Coating Specialist Structural Steel Fabrication Concrete Specialist Retaining Walls & Deep Caissons Wood/Stone/Glass Fine Finishes Interior Designer Landscape Designer Most families that build an addition onto their existing home or build a new home “from the ground up” do so on average every 8¬10 years or longer. So finding the people and parts you need could be difficult if you are new to the area or don’t know of a local team to put your whole package together. This can be a very enduring long process and educational in every aspect. Then there are the timeconsuming months just to obtain the permit.

Having the complete team at your fingertips in just one phone call can really shorten the timeframe to obtaining permits and completing the construction in the quickest amount of time. It’s your investment so have the local team with the local knowledge of each professional’s budget to fit into your particular project.

“No job is too difficult” with our reputation and experience.

Call us for a consultation on your new or existing project.

We have several architects to choose from for each building design size to meet your particular needs.

Local Builders serving South Orange Co. since 1989. Laguna Beach, San Juan Capistrano, Dana Point, San Clemente. 949¬510¬5679. Local Builders Lic. # 589688.

Custom homes and hillside specialists, challenging concrete structures, major kitchens and fabulous restaurants.

show documentation of the architect’s completed designs?

B) Does the architect have an organized webpage and/or video of his latest projects?

4. Client References: Contacting previous clients allows you to get an understanding of thearchitect’s performance and responsibility of meeting projected time frames.

5. Drafting: Does the architect provide drafting for interior cabinet elevations, ceiling, and architectural features as part of his service?

6. CAD: Is the architect performing his work in CAD (Computer Automated Drafting), which allows for easy revisions that are not costly to clients.

7. Renderings: Does the architect supply colored elevations of your project? (CAD or artist-sketched colored productions)

8. Models: Does the architect have a consultant that he has previously worked with to complete a cost effective visual model of your project, if required by HOA or owner?

9. Time Line: A) Does the architect complete projects on time, in a professional manner? B) Does the Architect have previous experience working with the H.O.A. and H.O.A. architect, and fully understands their requirements? C) Is the architect also familiar with the local Building Department and their requirements?

10. Interior Designer: Can the architect supply local creative interior designers to the clients, while maintaining a working relationship with them?

11. Landscape Architect: A) Does the architect have creative, cost efficient landscape architects available for the client to interview? B) The architect should stay active in reviewing landscape designs.

12. Contractors: Is the architect reviewing the Contractor’s bids, and providing a bid form evaluation to make a fair comparison of bid costs to his clients, with a minimum of three general contractor’s bids? This will influence the project’s savings significantly.

13. Specification Book: Does the architect have a completed specification package for each project?

14. Site Construction Inspectors: Does the Architect make job site inspections for quality of work performed by the general and subcontractors?

15. Design Experience: A) Does the architect have design experience in various disciplines that you are attracted to?

16. Insurance: Does the architect and general contractor carry professional liability insurance?

Stan Schrofer & Associates, Inc. 34932 Calle Del Sol, Suite A, Capistrano Beach, CA 92624 949-488-9595.

2. Paint the Walls Adding a new coat of paint to the walls can enhance your home’s value. It may sound too good to be true, but something as simple as paint makes a room feel fresh and new. And, buyers are willing to pay more for a turnkey home that doesn’t require any work.

To appeal to a large buyer audience, choose a shade of white, grey or another neutral color.

3. Improve Energy Efficiency Buyers will pay more for a house that is energy efficient.

Who doesn’t like the idea of saving money over the longterm? Install new appliances that require less energy. Replace old windows with new ones to prevent leaks. Simple changes can make the difference. You can request an audit from your local utility company. Identify areas that need to be repaired, so you can make changes before you list your property.

4. Work on Curb Appeal Working on curb appeal is all about maximizing first impressions. Landscaping is another area where you can make changes regardless of your budget. Start with trimming overgrown bushes and trees, cleaning up your lawn, and drawing attention with flowers, shrubs and other greenery.

Not everyone has the creative eye; hire a landscaper to design your outdoor space. An expert can select plants that are low maintenance while still enhancing your space.

5. Update the Bathroom and Kitchen As we know, oftentimes the kitchen sells the home. The bathroom is a close second when it comes to meeting a buyer’s expectations for an updated space. Whether you can afford to do a major remodel or can only budget for a few small changes, these two areas are where you should focus.

Even if you are working with a limited budget, focus on the areas that will get the most attention. Think lighting, hardware, countertops and cabinets. When in doubt, a coat of paint will always make rooms look and feel brand new.

You don’t have to spend a lot to increase the value of your home. Focus instead on spending what you can afford wisely.

You can sell your home for top dollar faster with the help of a trusted real estate professional.

The Echelberger Group is a full-service team with a list of vetted vendors to meet all of your real estate needs. As always, if you are considering leasing, buying or selling real estate, please call for a confidential appointment: 949.463.0400. Or email me at doug@echelberger.com. www.echelberger.com.

11