This week on HOW ITS MADE: Airstream Kitchens

Our Airstream client wanted a minimal place to prepare food. We gave him a small convection oven (microwaves just don't make good food) a fridge with separate freezer, and one of those water boiling electric teapots.
In the following photos, the bulk of the cabinetry is complete, so it's mostly just pictures of us applying the Formica tops.

I doubled up layers of ply, to get a nice 1-1/2" countertop thickness. I created the curves using different types of moulding. The white part is a pretty standard door casing. Clever.

Josh Ganshorn and Tom Brown. A winning team. In this photo, Josh is trying to burn Toms hand.

I don't know if this looks easy or not, but It's really a pain bending this stuff and making it stick correctly.

The final touch, the standard plastic trailer molding from Vintage Trailer Supply.

The finished bench, ready to install. What some people don't realize is that beyond the obvious benefits of a bench, it's really just a way to hide the wheel wells. Hence, the shallow depth in the lower portion. I tried to make the most out of every square inch, so I created the small but deep cubbies for books and sketch pads. The owner is an artist, after all.

The morning after drill. Tom and Josh load in the pieces. I think Andrew Benson is around here somewhere.

....And Voila. Ready for appliances. Notice the small opening where the fridge goes (on the right). It's the service access for the hot water heater.

The semi-symmetrical layout turned out pretty good. All these curves are sexy (and a pain-in-the-ass to create).

Pocket Door in the Making

I just saw the most recent issue of Sunset magazine and found someone else that converted an Airstream into an office, so it seemed like an appropriate time to revisit our own recent Airstream project.
After we finished our project, we got a chance to show it a couple of times, and one of the most common questions about the interior was, "Where did you get all of these cabinets, and how did you get it to fit so well?", or "So what part did you do? Did you just find a way to move around the interior and make it fit?"
The simple answer is that we custom fabricated nearly the entire interior (excluding the bathroom sink and tub), and as proof, we thot we would show a few samples of the work in progress, beginning with the interior pocket door.

Everything starts with a template. For this unusual shape, I sacrificed 2 sheets of cheap luan ply.

This place is so dusty.

The door gets glued up.
This is a "Go-bar" table. Kind of an old-fashioned way to keep something flat.
Works great.

A test fitting. Ball bearing rollers (Cheap hardware drives me nuts). Smooove.

The finished installation. This sides all Walnut.

My favorite part is these dope curves on the door jamb. The original door was the width of the bottom half. It couldn't be any wider at the bottom because of the bathroom countertop and tub, as you can kind-of see in this photo. There were also other obstructions which I dealt with cleverly. The result is a 4" wider opening in the top half, which makes it sort-of ergonomic for those of us with arms.

On the lavatory side, the door is maple.

Now that it's gone, and I don't get to see it any more, I kinda forget how bad-ass our work is.

Today is the first day of the rest of my week

Blogging is new for me. What a dumb word, "blog". Crude. I feel a little embarassed everytime I say or type it. I guess it's easier to say than "Digital Online Journal".

Since this is a relatively new experience, I haven't exactly known what thots and experiences were "blog-worthy". So far, I've restricted my entries to things that are specific to construction mostly, since that's my job, and this is linked directly to my business site. But I'm not always doing the most interesting work. At least, not so interesting that I feel the need to document it on a weekly basis.

Then, last night, while eating dinner at Quinn's Lighthouse (my regular spot in the East Bay) it occurred to me that beyond my work, people hiring me (and perhaps others) might be interested in other aspects of my life. After all, it is my cumulative life experience that has helped me to define my opinions and passions, and these are the things that define my work.

So, from now on, I hope my entries create a more well-rounded view of my life, and how I live it. I intend to include my thoughts on design, architecture, art, the way people live, how we treat each other, and anything else worth writing down. I'll also include excerpts from my book-in-progress, "Always Carry A Sharpie" (working title). It's a book of advice and opinions, mostly from me, which makes it the most egotistical thing I've ever done.

For now, I'll just leave you with this: A giant lemon that looks like Grampa Simpson. My Niece brot (brought) it home from her Grandparents lemon tree. The green butter dish in the background is there for scale. Don't say "Gi-normous". We'll look back on that word combo as a mistake.

Cool Skylight and Ceiling in Master Bath

We're doing a remodel on a 1964 Eichler-esque home near Davis, CA. The Master bath is not on an exterior wall, and had no windows. It also had a drop ceiling to house the exhaust fan and electrical. Other rooms in the house had a beautiful knotty-pine T&G ceiling, and we were hoping this would be the case once we removed the drywall ceiling. We were in luck.

We redesigned the ceiling with a new skylight. The large opening lands on the existing 4x12 beams at each end. To support the long sides of the opening, we installed 3x9 glulam beams using Simpson Concealed Joist Ties, so no big metal brackets. We could have used a smaller beam, but the 9" depth gave us the necessary room to install a new exhaust fan.

We designed a custom flashing for the low pitch roof, made by Crown Sheet Metal, in Berkeley.

The finished ceiling.

Since the new skylight was so large, it left little space for central lighting on the ceiling. Instead, we ran the wiring through a channel concealed in the beams, and brought it out through the sides, where we will eventually install custom sconces.

A box was built to house the fan by continuing the new beams to the wall and re-using the T&G removed from the skylight opening for a cohesive look. The T&G was made into a removable panel, allowing access to a junction box and ductwork.

Lights off, and on a rainy day! Before the skylight, it would've been pitch black.

The tub is a Kohler whirlpool, with custom designed tile made in Sausalito at Heath Ceramics

The Airstream Photos You've Been Waiting For!

Our Airstream adventure began one year ago when we received the phone call from Austin, Texas, asking if we'd be interested in the project. The real fun began 6 months later with an unforgettable roadtrip to Las Vegas, New Mexico, to pick up the trailer: A 1968 Airstream Ambassador Twin.

The project was a big endeavor, beginning with a crash course in Airstream Culture and History. Throughout the construction, we met many fun, interesting and enthusiastic people who stopped by out of curiosity, or to offer advice (some of it useful!). We gave a lot of ourselves to the project, but the opportunity to design and build such an exotic piece was a gift in itself.

Please enjoy these photos and descriptions of some of our favorite features.

In Josh's continual attempt to resemble a luxurious space capsule, He created this semi-oval pocket door with the large plexi-glass window. It separates the living/office area from the bathroom while still allowing valuable light to enter.

All of the Airstream's walnut cabinetry and furniture, including these rounded cabinet doors, were built in our Berkeley shop. We designed integrated door pulls for a sleek look, and to limit injuries in this compact space.

One of the few requests our client had, was to swap out the original built-in sofa with something nice and new. An inherent challenge of working in a space with rounded corners is that everything needs to be custom. Most conventional futon beds require side or rear access for set-up, but with our layout that wasn't an option. Josh's solution -- automated, cantilevered bed, powered by a modified garage door motor, and wired to the original Airstream Control Panel! The result is surprisingly smooth and quiet.

Interior paint scheme, detail (no V.O.C. paint throughout.)
New Carrier Air Conditioning unit.

One of the design challenges was to make use of the wheel wells. We built cabinets on both sides, which include a pantry and flat-file storage. These built-ins also act as seating areas (a chair on one side, a bench on the other.) Because of the wheel-well depth, the bottom drawers are shallow -- perfect for storing anything from spice jars to paint brushes.

The desk area near the kitchen appliances contains a built-in laptop or iPod input, and offers plenty of room to spread out books, paper, and even a portable microscope, should your journey call for that.

What's that under the globe? It's the Airstream Control Panel (wired to the automated futon!)
Although the Control Panel is original to the Airstream, it was rewired and relocated.

Party ready, the lower section of the wardrobe cabinet houses a Sony sound system and JBL 8" powered sub, part of the great sounding JBL 5.1 speaker system mounted throughout.

The built-in globe is one of our favorite parts. After having the original idea, Josh began the search for the perfect globe. We narrowed it down to a certain brand, size, and era. After several eBay and Flea Market finds, we came across this one, with it's unusual metallic blue water, and limited color scheme. The red arrow and miniature Airstream (a little hard to see in this photo) remain stationary while the globe spins. Finally, we swapped out the original brown receptacle for this "high tech" space station orange one.

Built-in storage below the futon, and behind.

Bookshelf storage, accessible when the futon is down.

Pocket door, open.

When rebuilding the wall, Josh managed to make the the upper half of the opening 4" wider than the original, creating a more ergonomic, and generally cooler shape, All of the wood in the bathroom is maple, as is the other side of the pocket door.

An exit sign. Just in case.

The molded bathroom components and countertop are original to the Airstream, and refinished with durable boat paint. All wood, doors, and lighting are new.

Airstream-inspired pillows! I made these space themed pillows as a little token of our Airstream adventure (they have little rockets, and "5,4,3,2,1 Blast Off!" on them). We received such a positive response to this piece of Space-Travel-fantastic, we've decided to make more -- look for them soon in our Shop!

This overhead cabinet is one of the few original components that remained completely untouched, and dictated our use of Walnut throughout. It originally housed the Airstream's Motorola stereo system, and now conceals 2 JBL speakers.

Fully functional bathroom, including a shower and kid-sized tub.

Convection Oven, Refrigerator and Freezer, and shot of the "Tommorowland" inspired paint-scheme.

New halogen lighting throughout, Maple veneer flooring, and a long happy view of the interior. Really, don't you just want to jump inside this photo and play away the day?

This concludes today's tour of the Able + Baker custom Airstream.
We hope you enjoyed yourself immensely...

-Jen

Special thanks to:
Vicente Aello
Heartwood Woodworking Cooperative
Mel & Angie Dagovitz, generous owners of the Kawneer (Sawtooth) Building
Judy, our gracious host and Airstream Project enthusiast
All Star Garage Door
(if you live in Southern California and need a garage door, call them!)
Chris Giffen
Kevin and Patrick for their fine photographic work

Our Airstream Project on Casa Sugar

Thanks to Casa Sugar for their writeup on our Airstream Project!

Classic Swimming Pool Tiles - New to our Shop!

We love typography and numbers and are really excited to bring you these classically serifed swimming pool tiles, now available in our shop.

The tiles were originally created as depth markers for a swimming pool, but we think they'll be equally as charming inside your home. Add a quick dash of personality to your home decor with just one tile, or incorporate a few into your next kitchen or bath project (that's what we plan to do!)

Tiles are 6x6, ceramic, and really super cool.