All of the wood used in the shelves and trim in this four-walled, floor-to-ceiling library were milled from a single standing dead ash tree. (The emerald ash borer has killed most ash trees in southeast Michigan, making ash a kind of “recycled” wood.) Pieces with interesting grain, knots, holes, or borer-marks were saved for the more visible parts of the shelves. The reinforcing beams were salvaged from an old barn – and, somewhat miraculously, fit right in place without needing to be cut. The floor

This room was originally separated from the dining room by a wall. We removed that wall and moved another to make enough space to wrap the counter around under the East window and to open the kitchen up to the dining room towards the West, creating a corridor with large windows at either end and a skylight-well in the center of each room. With the exception of the refrigerator, all of the appliances in this kitchen came secondhand from Craigslist. (Everything and the kitchen sink!)