Cohousing-L Mailing List: RE: Common House Questions: more advice

[Rob Sandelin (robsan]

>From the Cohousing Resource Guides section on commonhouse advice:

*Get good professional help in programming and designing the commonhouse.

*Noise is a constant complaint from groups with commonhouses.  It can 
really pay to hire an acoustical engineer to plan for sound.  High 
ceilings, bare walls and vinyl floors all add up to lots of noise 
reflection.  One idea is to buy several paint drop clothes, give the 
community kids bright primary color paints and let the kids slop, 
brush, splash, spatter and handprint paint all over the dropclothes.  
Stretch the paintings across 2x2 wooden frames, and fill the backside 
in with insulation.  The resulting "paintings" when hung on the bare 
walls make very attractive, inexpensive sound absorption.

*Think about what time of day you will be using the building the most.  
 If the answer to that is dinner, then consider that most use will be 
after 4pm and plan for windows that capture the late afternoon light, 
rather than the morning light.

*Pick an indoor paint color that will hide marks well, and is a regular 
color, not a custom blend.  Buy a couple of extra gallons for touch up.

*If your dishes are on a cart instead of in a cupboard you save the 
whole task of putting them "away".

*You are going to want twice as many bulletin boards as you think.

*Corners make nice places for intimate groupings of furniture.  If you 
have a fireplace, put it in a corner.

*Electrical outlets in the floor, which can be covered by a bit of 
tile, come in handy.  Especially in the middle of a large open area.

*Restaurants supply places may offer tips about how to find second hand 
restaurant equipment including commercial appliances.

*Walk in freezers can require a lot of maintenance and expensive repair.
*Be sure to budget for furniture!

*Program each space separately.  The kitchen should have its own design 
committee.

*Many groups have complained that their commonhouse feels too 
"institutional".  Think about ways to use corners and furniture 
groupings, plantings, lighting, textures and wall hangings to allow for 
a more homey feel.

*If you want to do things like dances where the tables and chairs are 
in the way, having a built in space to put them away is helpful.

*You will want more storage than you think for stuff like decorations, 
canning supplies, etc.

*Use narrow tables, 28-30 inches to allow table mates to be closer and 
intimate. A standard folding table makes you closer to the person 
behind you at another table than across from you.

*Lighting is an important intimacy factor. Use warm, subdued lighting.