Heather John’s Garage Transformation: The Big Break Up

What you’re looking at is beautiful chaos that is our garage floor. Today the demolition derby arrived armed with sledgehammers to tear up the concrete foundation in our garage, which, after nine decades of earthquakes and such, was ready to give up the good fight. Next up? At the end of the week we’re pouring a new concrete slab, which will double as the floor in my office conversion. According to our contractor, concrete will crack no matter what. And the best way to minimize catastrophic cracking is to cut grooves in the concrete to encourage the slab to crack in these control joints. Aesthetically I was resisting the idea—I had envisioned one smooth, seamless slab—until I stumbled upon these shots of Pierre Frey’s apartment in New York. How chic is this floor?

Concrete and Timber Inspiration

The other day Cerentha blogged about architect Roger Sherman’s home, and I was immediately taken with the contrast between polished concrete floors and birch walls. I’ve been thinking along the same—albeit far more crude—lines for our home office. We are hoping to finish the back A-frame wall of the garage in some sort of wood paneling, which would include doors to storage behind. We haven’t decided on material yet, and I’m sure budget will make the ultimate selection for us, but in the meantime, here are some spaces that inspire.

Residential space by architect Barbara Bestor.

Oxbow Wine Merchant, Napa Valley.

Home of Dan Martensen and Shannan Click via The Selby.