Better Renovations: Downstairs Bathroom, Before

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Here's the downstairs bathroom, which is just off the kitchen. The walls are basically amazing. Hardware, as well as the bath, shower, and floor, could certainly stand to be updated (compost toilets!) - but for now we'll handle the basics:
  • Energy efficient bulbs have already been swapped into all sockets
  • We need covers or new fixtures for the bulbs on either side of the sink
  • Matching curtains for window next to toilet and window next to washer/dryer
  • Installing shutters to close off towel/bedsheet storage
  • H20 conservation for toilet?
  • Is rain collection a viable water source for showers? What other green methods can be utilized to conserve/reuse water?
  • Shampoo/conditioner/bodywash pump in bath/shower stall to prevent clutter

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Nicole Caldwell

Nicole Caldwell is a self-taught environmentalist, green-living savant and sustainability educator with more than a decade of professional writing experience. She is also the co-founder of Better Farm and president of betterArts. Nicole’s work has been featured in Mother Earth News, Reader’s Digest, Time Out New York, and many other publications. Her first book, Better: The Everyday Art of Sustainable Living, is due out this July through New Society Publishers.

Better Renovations: The Office, Before

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This room was originally used as Steve's bedroom back in 1970, but was later turned into his office. It's got ample plugs for computers and great desk space; as well as two sets of windows.

It's very well organized, but there is the opportunity for storage under the desk space (building drawers?) and the window fixtures and general aesthetic could use some updating:
  • Get rid of air conditioner in window - drafty and unsightly!
  • Patch dents and apply a fresh coat of paint
  • In the longterm, if reflooring is done in library, extend into office?
  • New seating
  • Simplify the wiring situation. Remove clutter.
  • Extend shelving toward ceiling?
  • Lighting: Is the fluorescent light on the ceiling the most energy efficient? If that's the case, should we leave it? Is there anyway to make it nicer?
  • Shoo away some little friends who left a mess near the printer...
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Nicole Caldwell

Nicole Caldwell is a self-taught environmentalist, green-living savant and sustainability educator with more than a decade of professional writing experience. She is also the co-founder of Better Farm and president of betterArts. Nicole’s work has been featured in Mother Earth News, Reader’s Digest, Time Out New York, and many other publications. Her first book, Better: The Everyday Art of Sustainable Living, is due out this July through New Society Publishers.

Better Renovations: Downstairs Entranceways, Before

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The front entranceway of Better Farm gives you views of three sections of the house: the kitchen straight ahead, the alcove dining area to your right, and the upstairs. The floors are nice and we've already swapped out the bulbs for energy efficient onces. Necessary changes here are very basic (except for that staircase, which we'll get to...):
  • Cover for bulb in immediate foreground of photo - currently just an exposed bulb
  • De-cluttering entranceway itself by coming up with better storage for shoes and coats (maybe doing away with small shelves?


The side entranceway, which holds the staircase down to the basement and some storage (and which opens out into the side of the library), is a bit more of a doozy...
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Nicole Caldwell

Nicole Caldwell is a self-taught environmentalist, green-living savant and sustainability educator with more than a decade of professional writing experience. She is also the co-founder of Better Farm and president of betterArts. Nicole’s work has been featured in Mother Earth News, Reader’s Digest, Time Out New York, and many other publications. Her first book, Better: The Everyday Art of Sustainable Living, is due out this July through New Society Publishers.

Better Renovations: Staircase, Before

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The staircase to the second floor is basic and functions. Eventually, for aesthetic reasons and enhanced structural integrity, there are some fundamental ideas I was tossing around, which are listed below:
  • New carpeting (carpeting of some form is important because of potential slipperiness in inclimate weather) - the stuff we have is badly stained and inconsistent with patches of carpet on second floor (see post on the upstairs hallway)
  • Down the road, I think it's safe to say we'll need a new railing (have seen a full railing made from a single, long trunk of a dead tree that was treated and sanded down - hmmmm)
  • General sanding and refinishing/dyeing
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Nicole Caldwell

Nicole Caldwell is a self-taught environmentalist, green-living savant and sustainability educator with more than a decade of professional writing experience. She is also the co-founder of Better Farm and president of betterArts. Nicole’s work has been featured in Mother Earth News, Reader’s Digest, Time Out New York, and many other publications. Her first book, Better: The Everyday Art of Sustainable Living, is due out this July through New Society Publishers.

Better Renovations: Upstairs Hallway, Before

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I think wall-to-wall carpeting at least in this upstairs hallway is essential because of the mismatched wood from the 1970 renovation and addition...

Other thoughts:
  • Too much clutter? (In which case, relocation is necessary for books...)
  • Necessary to sand down/re-stain bannister?
  • Uniform color for all doors?
  • Any other thoughts?


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Nicole Caldwell

Nicole Caldwell is a self-taught environmentalist, green-living savant and sustainability educator with more than a decade of professional writing experience. She is also the co-founder of Better Farm and president of betterArts. Nicole’s work has been featured in Mother Earth News, Reader’s Digest, Time Out New York, and many other publications. Her first book, Better: The Everyday Art of Sustainable Living, is due out this July through New Society Publishers.

Building Better Farm: A History, Part I

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Before embarking on what's sure to be a daunting and heavily documented process of turning a 100+-year-old house into a symposium of green elements and sustainable integrity, it seems appropriate to have the first post of our Better Farm blog be a look back at where all this started...

1970: This is the year Stephen F. Caldwell convinced friends and family members to trek 300 miles to the middle of nowhere, live in a house for a hot summer without indoor plumbing and a terrible black fly epidemic, and figure out how to frame out an addition on a house (as well as all associated wiring, plumbing, heating, and sleeping arrangements). Oh—and it all had to be done in a way that would allow Steve mobility in his wheelchair...





















Stay tuned for more background and our 2009 version ...
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Nicole Caldwell

Nicole Caldwell is a self-taught environmentalist, green-living savant and sustainability educator with more than a decade of professional writing experience. She is also the co-founder of Better Farm and president of betterArts. Nicole’s work has been featured in Mother Earth News, Reader’s Digest, Time Out New York, and many other publications. Her first book, Better: The Everyday Art of Sustainable Living, is due out this July through New Society Publishers.