Kate Hoffman

Green Events in Atwater Village

2010-01-08T22:30:00.000-08:00

Every Saturday in January there will be a small "Ask the Experts" event in Atwater Village. On the 9th and 23rd, it will be held at Jill's Paint on Larga Avenue. There will be several of us at Jill's from 1 - 5 pm to offer advice and suggestions on how to use and find the greenest products for your project or remodelling plan. The other two events will be garden-oriented, and held at Everything Gardens on the 16th and 30th. So, if you're looking for advice on xeriscaping, composting or rainwater catchment, hit them up!

(Click the image to view a full, readable size)

Recent Projects

2010-01-08T16:41:00.000-08:00

Last year was interesting. I noticed that many of my projects were of the "repair and restoration" variety. This seemed to suit not only people's budgets, but their growing sense that taking care of what you have has as much value as tearing out the old and putting in bigger, better, newer stuff. I like this a lot, because I hate to see things wasted, and with a growing awareness of our collective need to live sustainably, it makes me happy and restores my faith in humanity.

Back in the early 90s when everyone was supersizing their houses, I remember working in a high-rise condo in Florida that had several whole-floor penthouses at the top of the building. The entire floor below where I was working was being demolished, down to the concrete. It had been done for a wealthy client who never even moved in, but was chock-full of marble and columns and custom woodwork and jacuzzi tubs, etc. etc. The new buyer didn't like any of it, so they just ripped it out so they could put in their own stuff. It was appalling, and I wonder about that person's karma to this day.

The photo at top is what I'm working on this week. It's a relatively new floor in a remodelled 60s ranch in the Hollywood Hills. The original footprint and bones of the house were saved, as well as its essence, but the improvements moved the home into the modern age, and the homeowner took great care to create a home that is as efficient as it is handsome.

Alas, in the year and a half since this cork mosaic floor was installed, the blazing southwestern sun faded it in varying degrees across more than half the kitchen (window treatments are now on order!). So, in order to get it back to its original color, I've spent the last few days slowly making my way around the floor, painting each tiny circle with a tinted clearcoat. It's been oddly meditative! I'm almost done, so I thought I'd post these progress shots. I'll update with a finished one next week.

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Another recent project involved staining some older furniture pieces deep brown and giving them a fresh clearcoat. They had great lines and a lot of soul. The side table, before:

And after:

Coffee table before:

and after:

Greenfolio Event in Los Angeles

2009-10-10T06:44:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, October 14th at the Livingreen store here in Los Angeles (10000 Culver Blvd., Culver City), the new website Greenfolio is hosting an event to introduce itself to the public and to the eco-conscious design community. I'll be there, along with other designers, artisans, architects and consultants. Check out the Greenfolio site for more info about Los Angeles area green design, or register to come to the event and take a closer look.

2009-07-30T10:07:00.000-07:00

I got blogged today in Norway.

And she said lots of nice things (thanks, Google Translate)! :)

Color Consulting Saturday July 25th

2009-07-22T13:36:00.000-07:00

I'll be doing a stint at Jill's Paint in Atwater Village this weekend

as the in-store color consultant.

If you're in the neighborhood, stop by and say hi!

Store consults are free of charge, but if you need more help, I can come to your home and give you a more specific and customized consult, starting at $75.00 for the first hour and $40 for each hour thereafter.

Click on the image above to view full-size.

Mural for Dwell on Design 2009

2009-07-02T13:10:00.000-07:00

The Dwell on Design Show was a lot of fun - two days of preparations, and three days of painting as the show took place.

Here, the colors are blocked in and the masked-off circles are in progress.

Circles complete and two of the designs chalked in, ready to get a quick start for Friday morning, when designers and architects will come to the show.

This is where I was with it by Saturday afternoon. It was actually a little difficult to drag this out over three days since we are all used to working quickly. One other thing that I wanted to mention is that all the murals were painted with Benjamin Moore's new Natura paint line, which has a Zero VOC (volatile organic compounds) rating. They've developed a new pigment system, so that now you can get a paint this eco-friendly in any color your heart desires. I was very impressed with the paint, and think it might be even tougher than their old paints - it was harder to wash off my hands, and displayed excellent washability once dry. It has virtually no odor, and very good coverage.

I definitely plan to start using it for many more of my projects.

The mural was relatively complete by Sunday afternoon - I could have continued to play with it, but at a certain point it felt good to say "enough!"

Benjamin Moore was a great sponsor, and ended up buying the panels after the show. Three of the murals will be installed at Jill's Paint in Atwater Village - many thanks to Peggy McCloud's determined efforts, and Julie Herrin's generosity.

A big thank you to everyone who came by!

Dwell on Design Home Show

2009-06-25T17:33:00.001-07:00

I just found out today that Dwell has added my sketch for the mural to their website. (That's mine on the right) Pretty cool. Now I wish I'd taken the time to make my boxes square! Haha. I've been prepping the mural yesterday and today so that tomorrow when the show opens there will already be something to see. I'll post more photos as it's completed.

See the page.

Dwell on Design Home Show

2009-06-23T17:53:00.000-07:00

Hi! I know it's been a little quiet around here since I started this blog, but I'm getting ready to be much more posty in the near future! In the meantime, I wanted to mention something about the upcoming Dwell on Design Home Show that's happening this weekend at the Los Angeles Convention Center. I'll be there Friday, Saturday and Sunday as one of the featured muralists for Benjamin Moore (booth 607). We'll be painting our murals right before your eyes over the course of the show. I think it'll be a lot of fun.

The theme of the mural wall is "Modern Kids Zone" and I'm planning a mural that is divided into separate sections so that I can have a few different things happening at once. It should keep me busy.

These are a couple photos of past projects just to give you a sense of how colorful and graphic the things I'm planning will be.

If you're at the show, stop by and say hello!

(*Clicking on the post title will take you to the Dwell on Design website.)

Rehabilitating An Old Finish

2009-02-21T17:00:00.000-08:00

This is a wonderful example of working with what you have. These saltillo tile floors had been glazed by a previous craftsperson, and over the years had gotten quite worn out, scratched and dirty. Plus, the new owners wanted a shift in color tone. They had already torn out much of this tile in the kitchen and replaced it with ceramic tiles. This was all wonderful, except that the rest of the house had acres of this sort of pinkish, umber tile, and the thought of tearing it all up was daunting, since they had passed (thankfully) the "construction" phase of their remodel.

The decision was made to repair and renew the tiles, which meant hours of careful touching up before a new, sheer glaze could be applied. It may sound like a lot of work, and it was, but ultimately it was so much less hassle and mess and cost than the nightmare of sledgehammering out the old in order to put in new. And this way they got a custom color that works well with all the different areas of their open-plan home, and a tough new clear finish on top will keep it looking good for years to come.

More photos of this project are here.

These Days...

2009-02-21T14:54:00.000-08:00

The world is in a weird place right now. Seems like we're on the verge of a whole new way of being, and it's not really that hard to see this as a good thing, even an opportunity. I don't think we need to forego the quality of our lives in order to live simply, fully and creatively. We just need to do it in new ways -- ways that might resemble more of the pioneer spirit that shaped this country -- which is kind of exciting if you think about it. For the last year or so, it seemed that everyone I talked to was wishing they could live a "smaller" life. I knew what they meant. A life with less of an impact on the planet, one where you could carve out a space for yourself that held what mattered: the ones you loved, a few of the things you loved, with maybe just room enough for a little garden, a couple shade trees and a great wireless connection. Sounds good, doesn't it?

Over the last few busy months, I noticed a trend in my jobs, that they had more to do with repairing and restoring what was already in place than with ripping out and building bigger newer better. This was pretty satisfying to me, since it's my natural inclination, but I also think it reflected the mood of the country, as well.

It's in this spirit that I'm adapting to new realities and thinking creatively about how to conform to my clients needs while still holding my own in these rough economic times. I have faith in our human ingenuity and I think we're up to these challenges, and in the meantime, I'll be posting some thoughts along these lines and photos to help inspire our progress.

Welcome.