A few months ago I stumbled upon a blog that was documenting the transformation of the little shack that could. Justin Marr has taken on quite the project with the challenges of deadlines budgets and a lot of DIY. I asked Justin to tell us a little more about what he is doing. You have to see these images, the work they are doing and continue to do is so modern simple and beautiful. The rest of this post will be in Justin’s own words. Make sure to click “READ MORE” to see it all.

We recently purchased the house as a short-sale. This short-sale lived up to its myth: 5 months to close. We had plenty of time to design… lots of help.. and many many sketchup models. The house is small but has a fair amount of outdoor space. Along with a massive canary palm, the front has a very large patio with views to the east. The lot is full of plants, cactus, various succulents…

Our 850 sq ft bungalow needed *work*. No kitchen. No bath. No flooring in parts of the house. Windows broken. etc. The type of loan we secured required we make the house *habitable* within 30 days… added pressure to ensure all pieces were in order.

Our goal: create a simple, efficient, well-designed space we could call our own. We wanted (and needed) to open up the house, both inside and out. We sorted out 3 very different outdoor spaces: An extroverted space that opens to the east (front patio), a private courtyard that is only accessible from downstairs, and the back yard (a we bit pedestrian).

We replaced a non-functioning aluminum door with a larger single-slider that pockets into the wall. A table that I made a few years back is used for eating, entertaining, working, reading, and food prep (when needed)… in no particular order. The kitchen opens out to the living area: Ikea cabinets, a remnant piece of ceasarstone, and sourced appliances and hardware (from ebay and craigslist). We purchased a used sub-zero from craigslist for a $100 bucks. We tricked stuff out: like the aluminum toe-kick (a remnant from a local kitchen store) and our DIY chandelier from Lindsey Adelman.

The front-window was replaced with the same slider as the pocket door. Eventually, a deck will be added at floor height to extend the living area. We refinished / white washed the original oak floors, sealed with bona naturale for a supa matte finish.

The bathroom layout was tricky. We needed to keep it open and clean. That meant, no storage under the sink. Keep *stuff* floating: sink & toilet. Terrazzo from DalTile in the bathroom and 4×12 subway tiles from a local company. A friend built a cabinet to fit a narrow space + match the newly refinished oak floors. An operable skylight makes for good ventilation and light. Lesson learned: next house, go skylight crazy!

The house started to take shape when we cut off the eaves and added the parapet. Not only form, but the function of rain water flowing into your backyard wreak havoc on your basement during an el nino season. But that’s somewhat sorted with rain water now flowing thru scuppers (eventually thru downspouts) to keep water away from the house.

Days are numbered for this little garage…

What’s next?
- a few games of petanque
- a deck
- a fence + landscaping

A special thanks to plastolux for keepin’ it modern!

You might want to book mark this site as they have just hit a major milestone in the project, but there is sure to be plenty of modern goodness and inspiring design in the future.

http://blog.unit3a.nu/

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