Wood floors, Australian style

Reader Elisabeth (who's from Melbourne) and I had a small sidebar conversation in the comments after yesterday's post about wood floors.

Wood floors tend to be pretty regional and I asked her what were popular woods in Australia. She responded that she thought Spotted Gum's the most popular wood floor in architect-designed homes. I was intrigued by her description and I'd never heard of Spotted Gum. So I dug around and learned a thing or two.

What's called Spotted Gum is actually Corymbia maculata, a kind of eucalyptus that grows in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales.

It makes a beautiful floor.

Thanks Elisabeth!

What other regional hardwoods are lurking out there I wonder.

Back to work: I need to specify a new floor

I'm back to work as of today and I'm picking up a project where I left it last weekend. I'[m working on a design for a large, historic home in an old neighborhood in Tampa. It's a pretty grand home and it was built some time in the 1920s. The renovation centers around a kitchen but it involves the entire first floor.

Over the course of the last 90 years, the home's endured some pretty unfortunate revisions and renovations and at some point, someone thought it would be a good idea to remove its original heart pine floors.

Heart pine

I am recommending that we use another wood for the floors and since the home had heart pine in it originally, it would make sense to use heart pine for the new ones. However, the original heart pine on the stairs and on the second floor is 90 years old. It's also cut to an unusual dimension and matching it would be a whole lot more trouble than its worth. I'm recommending that we use a different wood species all together. But which one?

It's a somewhat formal space and my impulse is to go for walnut immediately. I'd love to see a really wide, like 18-inch-wide, plank and our pals at Carlisle Wide Plank Floors will go up to 20" wide on some of their species. Wider plank floors will open up the rooms affected by this renovation and since their scale is rather large, using a wide plank will allow more emphasis to be placed int he coffered ceilings and other wood details that are original to the home.

I know I don't want to use an exotic so much as I want to use something unusual but still in keeping with the character of the house. There are a host of other traditional species that get used so rarely any more that their effect is pretty arresting.

Here are some highlights from Carlisle Wide Plank Floors.

Antique chestnut

Ash

Birch

Hickory

Eastern white pine

Quarter-sawn white oak

Rift cut and quarter sawn white oak

Rift cut white oak

Is there a particular kind of wood floor that resonates with you? If you could pick any wood species to use in your home, what would it be?

Sub-Zero/ Wolf plant tour and seminar day two: I don't want to leave.

As was the case yesterday, today was a whirlwind of activity. Only day two was dedicated to Wolf Cooking appliances.

The people on this trip with me are all designers and all of us know the product line pretty well. So we didn't spend a whole lot of time reviewing model numbers and hearing product descriptions. That was good. So since everybody here has a basic understanding already, we could talk about more advanced uses and installations and then talk with the engineers and developers about what Wolf has planned in the coming model years. I'll be talking about some of these new products as they get closer to their release dates but suffice it to say that there's some pretty cool stuff coming from Wolf in the near term.

To get the day started though, we did a thorough walk through of the Wolf plant. The Wolf plant was a real education and for me, the real highlight of this trip. I know already that Sub-Zero refrigeration is the best in class. It was great to see up close how Wolf earns and maintains its reputation for stellar quality. Each and every component that comes out of that factory has been built from the first screw with the end user in mind. Everyone in that factory is fully aware and committed to making the best ranges there are. Their pride in their work shows through.

As an interesting anecdote, a Wolf range, as heavy as it is, never touches the ground as it's being made. They are born on the wooden pallet they're delivered on. Despite the fact that the ranges are on casters, they never use the casters in the factory. What I found interesting too is that each and every cooking appliance that comes out of that factory has been turned on and run through its various cycles at least once before it leaves the factory and Wolf keeps a record of each of those tests. Fascinating.

I met with a few members of the marketing department today including Paul Leuthe, Sub-Zero/ Wolf's Marketing Manager. Over the course of the next few weeks and with the marketing department's help. I'm going to be writing about the specifics of why a Sub-Zero/ Wolf appliance package is such a smart buy and what makes them such good appliances. This is a company that won't cut corners as a matter of principle and it makes them a very welcome anomaly. It's kind of inspiring to have been immersed in a company for the last two days that knows that there's a right way to build something and then just does it.

So stay tuned, I'll have more substantial information in the coming days and weeks. I promised. In the meantime though, I have some more shots of the Westye Bakke Center where this seminar's been held. Yesterday I showed some of the test kitchens, lounges and lobbies. Most of the public spaces in that building were designed by Jamie Drake. Jamie Drake also designed the main dining room where we've been having meals since yesterday. And man, what meals! I haven't eaten this well since... well... ever.

The building itself was designed by Zingg Design, Inc. A Madison-based architectural firm. The marketing department also promised me some of their real photos of this place and I'll run them as soon as I get them. The scale of this building is such that it really does need a real camera to photograph it. So without further ado, here's how it looks to a point and click:

After I get home tomorrow and consolidate my notes, I'll be writing more about this experience in Madison. In a lot of ways, it confirmed a lot of what I already knew about sub-Zero/ Wolf. It wasn't without its surprises though and I learned a good deal more than I thought I would.

I can't thank Cathy Bame from the Westye Group enough for nominating me. I need to mention Janet Salls, also from the Westye Group, for being such a great guide during my stay. And of course, the entire group here in Madison. It is always a pleasure to meet the people behind the brands and in this case even more so.

If any of you out there have any specific questions about either of these great brands you'd like to ask, please leave a comment here or send me an e-mail, I'll get back to you with specifics as soon as I can.

Again, the websites: Wolf Appliance and Sub-Zero Food Preservation.

Sub-Zero/ Wolf plant tour and seminar day one: Wow.

I spent almost the entire day yesterday at Sub-Zero/ Wolf's Westye Bakke Center and at the Sub-Zero plant itself. I couldn't take photos of the production floor and although I understand the reasons why, it's an amazing place. It was heartening to see an American factory staffed with enthusiastic people who were committed to the products they make and who were treated as valuable assets by their employer. Sub-Zero's daunting reputation for high, high quality starts on that factory floor and everybody knows it. It was inspiring.

Next door to the factory is Sub-Zero/ Wolf's Westye Bakke Center, a training facility and kitchen appliance wonderland that I couldn't quit photographing.

Between their high tech, multimedia showcase auditorium and more fully connected and fully staffed kitchens than I could count, I was on sensory overload all day. Never have I eaten so much good food to absorbed so much information in a single day. Tomorrow's all about Wolf cooking so it'll be more of the same I'm positive.

Being here in Madison completes a bit of a circle for me. Six years ago, I had the honor and pleasure to meet and get to know (and work with) Bill Draper from Draper DBS. Bill Draper is a cabinet and furniture maker without peer so far as I'm concerned. He was also the first member I'd met of a very small group of kitchen and bath people who've achieved superstar status. Draper's an inspiration and he was the first person I'd ever known who encouraged me to treat my career development as a true brand development. I took his advice to heart and look at me now. Hah!

Anyhow, when I met Bill, he had just finished a big project here in Madison. It was a lounge and dining room in Sub-Zero/ Wolf's Westye Bakke Center. He showed me his drawings and showed me some photographs and I was amazed by what I saw. It was an Art Nouveau lounge featuring some of the most amazing hand carved wood I'd ever seen. At the time I thought to myself, "Man, I would kill to see that lounge in person, but I'll never get to Madison." Never say never kids. Never say never.

I spent about an hour running my hands all over the most incredible hand carved wood I'd ever seen this afternoon and I was pinching myself the whole time. Six years after having seen the plans for the place, I was finally standing in it. Here are some photos of the lounge and the formal dining room attached to it.

I really need a decent camera. Oh well.

There were two really dynamic and huge kitchens that Sub-Zero/ Wolf use for training people like me hands on. The two kitchens are adjoining and although they are done in really radically different styles, I knew immediately that they were Mick De Giulio projects and sure enough they are. Mick's another of the handful of kitchen and bath people who've achieved superstar status. I haven't met him yet but there's plenty of time.

I noticed that in the lobby and in one of the De Giulio kitchens there were some tell-tale glass sculptures that I couldn't help but recognize as Chihuly and sure enough, that's what they are. I keep running into his work. I have to admit that it took me a while to warm up to him but after having spent so much time at the Chihuly Collection at home, I'm really warming up to him as an artist.

I had some really high expectations for the Sub-Zero portion of this seminar and I wasn't disappointed int he least. Sub-Zero is best in their category by a long shot and they are that for a very good reason. Nobody does refrigeration better.

Tomorrow's all about Wolf cooking appliances and I'm looking forward to it. I get to cook my own lunch tomorrow and I'm sure it'll be the highlight of this visit. Although, strange though it may sound, I'm really looking forward to touring the Wolf factory tomorrow too. So on Wednesday morning, I'll post about my day with Wolf and I'll get some more shots of the Jamie Drake-designed portions of the Westye Bakke Center too.

So many thanks to My amazing Sub-Zero/ Wolf rep Cathy Bame for nominating me for this trip and thank you Sub-Zero/ Wolf for showing me such a good time since I arrived yesterday.

If you guys have any questions you'd like to have answered about Sub-Zero/ Wolf, ask them here in the comments or drop me an e-mail and I'll take it from there. Once again, those websites are Sub-Zero Preservation and Wolf Cooking.

Are today's college graduates ready for the working world?

My post today is part of a project called the Blog Off. A Blog Off is a sort of a group post. In this case bloggers from all walks of life all write about an agreed-upon topic and the topic for this one is just what you see in the headline, "Are today's college graduates ready for the working world?" Go to the website letsblogoff.com and you can get more information about this Blog Off's participants and you can keep up with Blog Offs to come. We even have a button.






OK, back to the question at hand. Are today's college graduates ready for the working world? You know, the world where you use a w-4 calculator to manage your paycheck. I say not really but not for the reasons you hear usually. I say no because no 22-year-old is really ready for adulthood and no 22-year-old ever has been. The process of growing up and into an adult self takes a long time and the older I get the more I realize that it's a process that never really ends.

But I think questions such as today's get asked for reasons that have nothing to do with the young people at any given moment. I think the act of asking that question comes from an anxiety on the part of the people asking and it's an anxiety as old as humanity itself.

Hesiod was an 8th Century BC Greek poet and a contemporary of Homer's. Nearly three thousand years ago he had this to say: "I see no hope for the future of our people if they are dependent on the frivolous youth of today, for certainly all youth are reckless beyond words. When I was a boy, we were taught to be discrete and respectful of elders, but the present youth are exceedingly wise and impatient of restraint."

Three millennia after Hesiod, not much has really changed. Every generation looks down at the youth following them with some sort of generalized disdain. Every generation gets judged as lacking by whoever's running the show at a given moment in time.

I'm a Generation X and we were given that name by author Douglas Coupland who wrote an article in 1987 for Vancouver Magazine. His article, Generation X, lamented the lack of cohesion and identity among us post-Boomers and the name stuck. We were called latchkey kids in elementary school and as young adults we were judged to be slackers. To the Baby Boom under whose shadow we toiled thanklessly, we were useless and lazy. We had no drive, did too many drugs and would never amount to anything.

My generation's in charge now and in my generation's popular estimation, Generation Y is everything we were accused of being. The once bitterly resented Baby Boomers have become allies in the quest to hold onto our relevance as the first signs of age discrimination start to show their ugly heads.

It's on another front that Baby Boomers and Generation Xers tend to agree, and that's the near deification of the Greatest Generation. The Greatest Generation were the Boomer's parents and our grandparents. They fought the Second World War and lived dutiful, quiet lives. At least that's the popular image.

When the Greatest Generation were teenagers, the popular opinion of them wasn't quite so great. In 1935, Columbia University president Nicholas Butler summed up the grave youth problem. "Day by day the newspapers report one grave crime after another, one moral delinquency after another, and one dereliction of duty after another."

Journalist Maxine Johnson traveled 10,000 miles studying this new "Lost Generation," the title of her 1936 book. Everywhere she found teenagers "confused, disillusioned, disenchanted," in a state "rapidly approaching a psychosis."

"British tea and King George's taxes would be unloaded today without protest" by 1930s youth, ... Today's younger generation accepts whatever happens to it with sheep-like apathy."

Also in 1936, historians George Leighton and Richard Hellman shouted from the pages of Harper's Monthly "[A] generation, numbering in the millions, has gone so far in decay that it acts without thought of social responsibility. High school kids are armed, out for what they can get... The Lost Generation is even now rotting before our eyes."

Government estimates of venereal disease and abortion in the 1930s were the highest of any generation before or since. One result, American Mercury reported in 1936, of "the drinking bouts in which high school and college students frequently indulge, resulting in promiscuous relations." Studies by noted social scientists in the 1941 text, Personality and the Family, found 80% of the young men and 60% of the young women of the 1930s reported having premarital sex. Marriages contracted in 1935 were four times more likely to end in divorce than those of 1885.

I found those quotes in Mike Males' Oblivion  X: Today's Youth are Always the Worst.

Remember those quotes the next time you hear a regressionist politician invoking the values of the World War Two Generation. And remember them too the next time you get ready to launch into a tirade about these damn kids today.

So back to the topic of today's Blog Off. Of course college graduates aren't ready for the working world, no young person is now and none ever has been. The point of being a young adult is to spend the rest of your 20s figuring it out how the world works. An education is a tool set to help people get to 30 so they can be taken seriously.

The youth of today will do just fine. They'll figure it out and they'll take the reins from my generation over the course of the next 20 years. Besides, they can't screw things up any worse than the Baby Boomers did.

To see how other people answer this question, here are some more #letsblogoff paticipants:

Bob Borson's Life of an Architect
Nick Lovelady's Cupboards
Veronika Miller's Modenus
Becky Shankle's Eco Modernism
Tamara Dalton's Design Studios
Tim Elmore's On Leading the Next Generation
Rufus Dogg's Dog Walk Blog
Sean Lintow's Homeowner's Resource Center
Bonnie Harris' The Wax Blog
Amy Good's Amy's Blog
Rich Holdshuh's Concrete Detail
Tim Bogan's Windbag International
Hollie Holcombe's Green Rascal Design
Cindy Frewen-Wuellner's Urbanverse
Steve Mouzon's Original Green