Home + Design

Greek Lemon Roasted Potatoes

medicine — Wed, 23 Apr 2025 16:44:24 +0000

Greek Lemon Roasted Potatoes

Course Appetizer

Ingredients

3 potatoes (medium sized)
2 lemons, juiced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp fresh oregano, minced
1 cup chicken stock
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
4 tbsp olive oil, divided
fresh dill

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400℉
Cut potatoes into wedges.
In medium baking dish, combine lemon juice, garlic, oregano, chicken stock, salt, pepper, 2 tbsp olive oil and potatoes and mix.
Roast for 1 hour to 1.5 hours until fork inserts easily, stirring halfway through.
Change oven to broil. Drizzle with remaining 2 tbsp of olive oil and broil 5-7 minutes until brown and crispy.
Serve with remaining sauce spooned on top and sprinkled with fresh dill.

Buttercream Frosting

medicine — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 16:09:57 +0000

Buttercream Frosting

From back of natural food coloring pack.

Course Dessert

Ingredients

4 tbsp butter room temperature
2 cups powdered sugar
2 tbsp milk
½ tsp vanilla extract
food coloring if desired

Instructions

In small bowl beat butter, sugar, milk, and vanilla until light and fluffy.

Drop Cloth Curtains

Jennifer Rosse — Sun, 08 Jan 2023 20:45:35 +0000

When we moved back into our house after repainting, we needed to rehang curtains but we didn’t think we’d be here long and so didn’t want to invest in something very expensive. The previous curtains were yellow to match the previous color scheme and they were not going to cut it. For three windows the size we have here, new curtains could have been thousands of dollars.

Design Goals

Block light at night when closed.
Minimize energy use and waste by trapping heat on cold days.
Take up minimal space.
Look aesthetically pleasing.

Design Considerations

1 | Inexpensive

We didn’t think we’d be staying in the space long but still wanted curtains so wanted to figure out how to do it as cheaply and sustainably as possible. I found a couple of tutorials for drop cloth curtains and figured I could reuse them as actual drop cloths when we were finished with them and they were very inexpensive. I also checked some other options like Ikea or Amazon but they were more expensive and didn’t like them as much.

2 | Taking Up Minimal Space

My updated plan for the space called for keeping some of the furniture as close to the windows as possible so I knew I wanted to come up with a solution that took up as little space as possible. The previous curtains had been hung at the vertical beam’s midline and they were grommet designs which meant that they took up quite a bit of space. I wanted them to be lower profile so I found adjustable brackets at Ikea that allowed them to be hung much closer to the window and between each of the horizontal beams. Since we’d be hanging them between the polls

3 | Using What We Already Had

The previous curtains had also been DIY and we still had the rod and brackets but we wanted to hang them closer to the windows to allow more room space so we decided to cut down the rods (which were actually electrical conduit) to fit our new plan. We weren’t able to reuse the brackets so had to find new ones. I also needed to get new hooks since the previous curtains had been grommet style and that wasn’t going to work.

Materials:

Everbilt 10 oz. Canvas Drop Cloths (8 ft. 9 in. x 11 ft. 9 in.)
Ikea Betydlig Wall/Ceiling Brackets
Ikea Syrlig Curtain Clips/Hooks

Actual Costs

Canvas Drop Cloths (5@$22.93): $114.65
Brackets (6@$1.50): $9
Clips/Hooks (9@$9.00/10-pack): $81

Total Costs: $204.65 plus tax

The Installation

Our previous curtains had been hung with the rod centered on the vertical beams but that required the curtains coming farther into the space so I opted to install the rod between the horizontal ceiling beams to keep them as close to the windows as possible. I wasn’t sure how high to hang them and ended up actually installing them twice. I wanted the curtains hung high because I generally think that looks best but because of where our duct work is hung, it ended up breaking up the curtains and making it look to busy on top. I took them down and rehung them lower so that from most angles, the rod would not be visible above the top of the ducts. You can see how the rod is not visible above the ducts in this photo below.

Curtain rod hidden behind duct work

Once I had determined the placement of the brackets and rods, I measured for how much space the rings would take up and cut and sewed the drop cloths to fit. This was quite a process and required me moving the dining furniture out of the way to be able to have enough space to lay the curtains flat (they’re pretty huge) and then pin them in a straight line. I then sewed the hem with my sewing machine to finish it off. Many of the tutorials online give instructions for no-sew curtains but I’m not afraid of getting out my sewing machine and prefer the finished look. Though because of the thickness of the drop cloths, it was somewhat difficult to sew the corners where there were a few thicknesses overlapping.

Attending Phius Con 2022

Jennifer Rosse — Tue, 01 Nov 2022 16:09:49 +0000

Though I’ve been involved in the passive house movement for years and on the board for the Phius Alliance Chicago since 2017, this was my first time attending Phius Con. For me, there were two key takeaways from the conference. Retrofits and Cost as a Barrier to Progress.

The conference began with many great talks including a sobering discussion from Andreas Holm about the energy situation in Europe right now. He highlighted the importance of designing for resiliency as well as the short time frame we’re working with. We really only have about 20 years left and that time is going to go fast.

We really need to address existing buildings which are a huge part of the climate problem and need to be upgraded if we are going to meet our goals.

Costs Offer Desirable Paybacks for Larger Scale Projects

Another talk on the Phius Con 2022 Design Competition winner 425 Grand Concourse offered balance to the keynote by Andreas Holm highlighted the fact that we have now figured out how to build the necessary buildings at only a slight premium now and that taking into account the ongoing energy and cost savings these buildings will provide, the payback period that developers will have to work with is only 12 years. After that it is all just money in the bank.

This first photo from the presentation about the building’s development shows that while the building specs aren’t significantly above code, the air tightness is.

They then went on to show the percentage premium of these building upgrades over standard building code.

In this next slide on the left, they break down the premium for costs of developing to the Phius standard over code which comes to $4,150,000 or $13.35 per square foot. Not a small amount of money.

The following slide on the right then shows the operating costs for 425 Grand Concourse and how they would compare to a building that was built to baseline developement standards. The operating costs come to $1.55 per square foot or $482,824 for the entire building for the year versus the $3.46 per square foot of a standard built development.

At this rate, the payback period for this building would be 12 years which was a number that made him very happy as a developer.

They mention that what is not included in the cost analysis are all of the costs associated with health and labor-related cost reductions of avoided risk buy building to the Phius standard including heat-related illnesses, respiratory illnesses and noise-related illnesses.

Cost as Perceived Obstacle by Industry

Precipitate, an architecture, planning, and research consulting firm, had a table in the exhibitors hall where they were asking attendees to place 3 balls into the cups that they felt were the biggest barriers to progress for the Phius movement. Education and cost were by far leading the way when I came up to place my balls. I’ve long been involved in the drive to further education around building science but this demonstration also confirmed for me that cost, or the perception of cost, is a huge factor that really needs illumination.

Photo via Forge Craft Architecture + Design

Retrofits

Every year at Phius Con, Phius does an design competition where they offer awards in various categories. The category that’s always most relevant to me is the single family retrofit and this year one of the mentions was the Theresa Passive House Single Family Retroft in Austin, Texas. This home is a good example of something similar to what I’d like to do:

Photo via Forge Craft Architecture + Design

With Phius focusing on developing the retrofit programs and recently releasing the Phius Revive retrofit program, we are now closer to addressing the problem of existing buildings but that still much work needs to be done to get the retrofit situation to where it is with new multifamily buildings where it is a financial no brainer.

I have personally struggled with this topic for many years. I’ve been ready to invest in a Phius retrofit but the path to achieving that has been anything but clear. True, if I have an extra million dollars, laying around, it’s probably quite easy. Just hire an architect who’s a CPHC and they can probably figure it out. But for regular people who passionately care for the environment and desperately want to make informed and wise choices regarding our housing options, it is not at all clear how to go about doing this.

Attending Phius Con highlighted for me the need to focus on solving this problem. How we can get the existing building stock, most owned not be excessively wealthy individuals performing at or at least near the Phius passive house standard. With the advances we’re seeing on the larger scale projects and the fact that we’re seeing developers enthusiastic about the financial prospects of building to Phius standards, it’s starting to seem even more possible.

Creating a Mood Board for the Bathroom

Jennifer Rosse — Sat, 29 Oct 2022 21:57:33 +0000

I knew I wanted to keep the floors in the bathroom, at least for now, and the plan was also to keep the metal fixtures. We were painting the whole house White Dove from Benjamin Moore so I wanted to create a plan that tied those existing elements in to make a more cohesive and warm experience in the bathroom.

These are the two mood boards I created with two different rug options. I ordered both rug options and tried them out in the bathroom. While I actually like how the rug in option 2 looks better in the mood board, in real life, I liked option 1 better so that’s what I decided to go with.

Option 1

Option 2

Creating a Whole House Color Scheme

Jennifer Rosse — Sat, 29 Oct 2022 21:41:31 +0000

Steps in Choosing My Color Palette

Step 1 | The Building Concept

What is the goal of the project?
What is the story we are trying to tell. Examples: a story about the place, or the people who live there, about the light or the geometry, a story about openness or seclusion, a journey from light to dark.
It’s helpful to have an image to draw on as a reminder of what the story is.

For this project, these are some of the things that come to mind:

Our building is part of the Riverwalk Lofts which is an old factory building that used to house Hammond Organ factory from the early 1930’s until 1949.

The building is located on the Chicago River. We have a wonderful view of the river out our windows. The building also has a pier onto the river for kayak launching so there is a strong connection with the river. I think about the history of the river and how the river has gone from a neglected place that the city used as a dumping ground to a valued source of recreation and inspiration. This building was converted in 2001 so it was one of the early projects reconnecting with the Chicago River.

Step 2 | Pulling Colors from the Site

Start with materials in the environment. The photo above is a view down toward the river that captures some of the colors of the materials in the environment which include concrete, steel, weathered wood.

Inspiration from The Environment

These are some photos I took of the building and the surrounding environment.

Here is a board I made of images taken from around the building that capture the variety of colors from the materials along with samples of the colors in the environment at the bottom of the board.

Step 3 | Working with Existing Structural Elements

These are the existing elements in the space that are not going to change anytime soon.

Step 4 | Working with the Existing Furnishings

These are taken from existing furnishings that we have and like or are stuck with.

Below are color samples taken from and existing rug we have in the kitchen to try to figure out if there’s a complementing color that we can repeat throughout the space. This rug is kind of throwing me off because the colors don’t really reflect the other colors in the space or the colors from the environment. I’m trying to figure out if there’s a way to pull this all together and make this rug work in the space of if there’s some other solution.

Step 5 | Inspiration from Other Spaces

This is a photo of a space that I really like. I actually all of the muted, earthy colors used in this whole project. They use a variety of colors throughout the home but they still seem cohesive enough. It seems like focusing on this type of color in our space as a secondary color could pull together the environment and some of the existing pieces.

Photo Via The Nordroom

Other Thoughts

These are some paint chips that I’ve been considering of other neutrals that we could use to paint the cabinets or perhaps as other colors throughout the space.

The large paint chip on the left, White Dove, is what the space is currently painted in. The black below it is Mopboard Black which is the color that all of the beams in the space are painted in.

The chips on the right are recommendations from a designer who we consulted with when we thought we were moving and she was choosing colors to help sell the place.

Other Possible Colors

I agree that these paint colors work well with the existing granite and existing tile on the bathroom floor but I’m not sure they work that well with our furniture. We do want the place ready to sell, if we ever decide that we’re actually finally ready to do that but in the meantime, we’d like it to look nice with the furniture we have. We’ve been thinking we were going to move for over three years now (!) so I think it’s time we paint it and decorate it in a way that we like since I believe we might as well enjoy it while we’re here.

Inspiration from Other Spaces

Becki Owens

I like the combination of whites, off-whites, and other neutrals.

Studio McGee

Here I like the balance of colors, warmth and shade on the cabinets.

The Hallway Update

Jennifer Rosse — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 02:41:18 +0000

New Round Mirror

Moved the rectangular mirror to dining area so needed to replace the mirror. I thought that a round one would fit better in this space. Since we only have light coming from one direction, I like to have mirrors to bounce the light around. Also, the space is small so mirrors help give the impression of additional space.

Move the City Map by the Front Door

This image was a gift so we didn’t have a space that we purchased it for. It was hanging in our dining area but the colors are brighter than I prefer to look at in such a prominent area and I just really wanted a mirror in that space to reflect the light from the wall of windows opposite that wall. It made sense to me that since it’s a map of Chicago, it would make sense to be placed near the front door since that area represents leaving our home and venturing into the city. We had purchased some colorful coat hooks for my son that we’re in the bedroom but we’re super functional where they were. So I thought to move them under the colorful city map and make an entry storage area for my son.

Simplify the Shelves

My next step was to simplify the shelf in the hallway. It’s always easy for areas like this to become junk collectors so I wanted to make sure that everything had a place to go. This piece had originally belonged to my dad who had used it as a stereo system shelf. The boxes sat on the middle shelves with two large speakers at either end. I wanted two baskets for the end area that were as big as I could fit and it took me awhile to find ones I liked but I’m really happy with the ones I ended up with. I use the basket on the right for storing self-care tools (theracane, tigertail) and the basket on the right for shopping bags and other things that need to be brought down to the garage. These baskets are really the perfect height, tall enough to fit a lot while not seeing in too much and just enough room to make it easy to get things in and out.

Add a Table Lamp

One of the harder problems to solve was figuring out how to get electricity to a lamp on this shelf. Prior to redoing all of this, we had run the lamp cord across the hall to the wall opposite the shelf and had placed a rug on the ground to hide the cord. It was not a great solution because you could still see the cord and it made cleaning a pain. I was determined to figure out a way to plug in the lamp without running the cord across the hall.

My first plan with to just get another outlet installed but while we searched for an electrician to come out to do it, my husband tried to figure out other ways to do it without taking on that extra expense. He wanted to run the cord around and into the playroom but I was not okay with that because that would leave a cord plugged into an exposed outlet and that would defeat the purpose of having a safe space. He then had the idea of moving the peg board to the playroom and installing it over the outlet so that it would hide the plugged in cord behind it. We checked and the pegboard hung out off the wall with just enough space to fit one of the flat style plugs. We didn’t have one in the right length or white (and that was really important to me since I wanted it to blend in) so we had to buy a new one but all in, we only had to spend about 15 for the cord to get the lamp plugged in with out seeing the wires. After the cabinet lighting project, we also had some leftover cord covers that we were able to use to hide the cord the distance that it was exposed. Yay! Ended up saving a couple hundred dollars on an electrician.

Updating the Kitchen Faucet

Jennifer Rosse — Tue, 18 Oct 2022 16:46:46 +0000

The impetus for this project was multifold.

First, we had purchased a water filter in 2017 with the plan to have it installed right away but we could not find anyone who was willing to drill the necessary hole in our counters. I reached out to everyone I could think of: plumbers, granite installers, kitchen designers, etc. No one was willing to do it. Apparently the risk of cracking the existing counters is too great and no one wanted to be liable. So the water filter sat in our closet for over four years.

Poor Painting Cleanup Led To A Broken Faucet

Then when we had our whole house painted when we thought we were moving, we found upon our return that the painters had used our kitchen faucet for cleanup but had not done a good job of protecting it. We had never had any issues with it but after the painters left, the faucet didn’t turn smoothly and the spray button was difficult to use. We tried to fix it by fully disassembling it and cleaning it thoroughly and it improved it slightly but it still wasn’t the same. Sometime shortly after that, the spray button broke off eliminating that feature and leaving a hole in the faucet head. We tried to replace the button but they didn’t sell that component separately. So we made a plan to replace the faucet.

How to Drill a Hole

We reignited our attempts to find someone to drill the hole for us and finally found someone willing to do it! He quoted us $250 and we agreed and tried to schedule. Problem was that apparently this was not a big enough project for him and he wanted to squeeze it in between something else which meant that he didn’t want commit to anything more than one day in advance. Since we had a three year old and my husband worked from home and our home really just one room, that wasn’t really going to work for us. We needed at least a day notice to coordinate my husbands meeting times and get my toddler out of the house. We tried to work with him and schedule 24 hours in advance but he just stopped responding to us. So it was back to the drawing board.

Finally we thought to ask my brother-in-law who had recently started his own plumbing company. He agreed and offered to come out and do it for us and we were thrilled. But with a busy schedule due to working to get a new company off the ground, two young daughters at home, an hour drive and Covid, it was tough to find the time. So he gave us instructions for how to do it ourselves along with a lot of much needed encouragement.

After thinking about it for a long time and putting it off, my husband finally decided that he would do it himself. He purchased a bit for our screwdriver and made a plan for the weekend. It was surprising quick and easy.

Choosing a Faucet

WaterSense Flow Rate Requirements

It was important for me to choose a faucet that was as environmentally friendly as possible. I knew about WaterSense criteria through my awareness of The Department of Energy’s (DOE) Zero Energy Ready Homes program which require all fixture to meet the EPA WaterSense requirements. The WaterSense requirements state that kitchen faucets should have a flow rate of less than 2.2 GPM (gallons per minute). Bathroom faucets and shower heads have their own specific requirements.

Sized for Under Cabinets

Another constraint on the faucet we chose was that it had to fit under the existing cabinets. Many of the more modern faucets were too tall for this set up and are designed for an open space above the sink so the faucets we considered were only those that were under 18 inches with some room to spare. This requirement really limited our options.

Coordinating Style

When we had purchased our water filter, we had also purchased an upgraded faucet to go with it in a more modern finish. We wanted to find a faucet that coordinated with the style of filter faucet that we already had.

Faucets We Considered

These are the three different faucets we considered. We are located right down the street from Ferguson Building Supply so I went over to their showroom to check out the options to make sure they looked okay with the existing water filter faucet and narrowed it down to these three.

Grohe Concetto

In SuperSteel
1.75 GPM
$326

Delta Trinsic

In Arctic Stainless
1.8 GPM
$433

Brizo Pull-Out

(Not this exact model but close)
1.8 GPM
$527

We ended up going with the Delta Trinsic because of the mid-price range, it was highly related, and style-wise seemed to go with our water filter the best.

Faucets & Other Materials:

Actual Costs

Delta Trinsic Faucet: $475
Water Filter w/ Faucet: $269

Total Costs: $744

Creating Yoga Storage

medicine — Thu, 01 Sep 2022 00:36:24 +0000

We had been storing the yoga mats in the bedroom in their bags on hooks but this wasn’t really working for me. I found that having the yoga mat out of view did not help me remember to practice. Also, I wanted to make my yoga practice more intentional and bring all of my yoga and self-care gear into one place.

Since our place is small with limited storage and the shelf storage we do have, I like to prioritize for books, I wanted to find another creative way to store the yoga gear that was more convenient for practicing and also looked nice.

We had this open space on the wall under my son’s boat steps and it seemed like it could work. I looked for a long time for a nice looking yoga mat rack and considered a bunch of options on Etsy but I really didn’t like how they looked. I knew I wanted one with a shelf on top but since the area was near my son’s play space, I didn’t want a shelf with sharp corners.

Photo Via Etsy

I looked for a really long time for a floating wall shelf that would fit the space (less than 28″), with rounded corners, and aesthetically pleasing. Then I finally found this one at West Elm.

Photo Via West Elm

I had also seen these racks on Amazon and they seemed functional but looked a little too utilitarian for me. I could envision how the shelf from West Elm could be combined with the racks I was finding on Amazon to make my own version of a yoga storage rack that checked all of the boxes.

Photos Via Amazon

The finished yoga mat storage system. It holds two yoga mats (my husband’s and mine), a foam roller, and a tiger tail self care tool at the bottom. We also store our theracanes in the basket right behind the yoga rack. Since implementing this system, I am finding it so much easier to do yoga everyday. I really love how this turned out.

Dining Wall Redesign: Creating the Mockup

medicine — Sun, 14 Aug 2022 23:35:04 +0000

For this image, I took a picture of the wall and then I like to use photoshop to play around with ideas to help me visualize how my ideas will come together. I plan on adding a post to show how I create these images with photoshop soon. What I like about this process is that it helps me get past the stuck areas I feel. When I try to think through what I want to do, I can think of the first few steps but then I always forget where I was and feel scared about starting.

I do like to create mood boards for spaces but for some reason, seeing ideas in my actual space with the lighting and all the colors and things in the space helps me to feel confidant taking the next step.

This is one of the spaces that I found it super helpful to work from an existing photo and use photoshop to really envision what it would look like. For more about my process, check out this post.

The Plan for the Dining Wall

Mirror to Reflect Light

When deciding what to do with this wall I had a vague idea that I wanted to put a mirror on this wall that would reflect the light from the wall of sliding glass doors. One of my complaints about this space is the lack of windows on more than one side. This has a couple of drawbacks. One is that we don’t have good air flow. I’ve done a lot of things to maximize the airflow we can get and I’ll hopefully be adding more about that soon. Another downside to only having windows on one side is that the light isn’t great.

One of my favorite thinkers, Christopher Alexander, talks about this in his book, A Pattern Language. A quote from his book, “…this pattern, perhaps more than any other single pattern determines the success or failure of a room. The importance of this pattern lies partially in the social atmosphere it creates in the room. Rooms lit on two sides, with natural light, create less glare around people and objects; this lets us see things more intricately; and most important, it allows us to read in the details of the minute expressions that flash across the people’s faces, the motions of their hands… and thereby understand, the meaning they are after. The light on two sides allows people to understand each other.”

In order to create the perception of light coming from both directions, I knew I wanted to put a mirror on this wall.

I’m thinking we might just move the existing rectangular mirror that we have in the hallway to this space and purchase a new round mirror for that area. For some reason, I’m thinking I’ll like a round mirror better in the hall. Then I want to find a new picture frame and artwork to go next to the mirror.

Space for Books

I’m also always trying to fit in as many books as possible and it occurred to me at some point that I could continue the line of shelfs from the kitchen and create a little more space for books. I’m someone who likes my books organized by category and get angry when I see design trends that have people turning their books around to hide the spines to showcase the clean whiteness of the pages. While I love the neutral color scheme it creates, there would be no way to find and therefore actually use or enjoy the books so this is a no go for me. Rant over, since I like my books organized by category, I thought this would be a good place to put my collection of wine books since wine is related to dining.

We have a storage unit that I’ve been trying to empty and I still have a few boxes of books in there. One of the categories is wine books from the time when I was a wine buyer. The wine books I gravitate towards are ones about the history of a region or grape and the ones about the process of making wine, particularly natural, organic and biodynamic wine. I’ve been carrying the idea in my head for awhile now that the most fitting place for those books is in the dining area or kitchen and so solution just calls out to me.

The plan for this space is to find a shelf that will hold the books above the mirror. It needs to be a very strong shelf since the books are very heavy and I’d like it to integrate with the floating shelves that are already in the kitchen.

Next, I’m thinking we might just move the existing rectangular mirror that we have in the hallway to this space and purchase a new round mirror for that area. For some reason, I’m thinking I’ll like a round mirror better in the hall. Then I want to find a new picture frame and artwork to go next to the mirror.

Lighting + Accessories

Lighting

I’d eventually like a new light over the dining table, perhaps like the one in the mockup but I’m going to hold off on that for now.

Also, the mockup shows a 3-tiered hanging basket which is an idea we’ve been talking about to help get some things cleared off the countertops to minimize clutter but we’re also going to wait on that for now too.

Consolidate Kids Stuff in Playroom

Finally, the back wall still shows where my son’s peg board is along with a play table but the plan is to move that into his play area so it’s more accessible for him and this dining space is less cluttered.

Another Iteration

Now that most things on the plan have been completed I created another photoshop mockup with some new lighting options. We also hadn’t completed the dining table chandelier lighting upgrade from previous rendering. I still like the light but doing the electrical would be a major investment and probably not worth it since we’re not sure how much longer we’ll be here.

Another lighting dream is the wall sconce from Workstead Lighting. Here’s a current rendering with those two options added. Not likely since don’t plan on staying very long but fun to dream.

The Space Now

The Plan