ADU Living Area
Rather than use hardwood,
the entire ADU floor is Marmolem which is more
water and scratch resistant. The cabinets are all from IKEA, because they are
the only low VOC and also low cost ones we could find. Because they didn't have
a corner sink cabinet, we a standard floor cabinet, cut the front off, and built
a corner sink box around it. We also had to stiffen the cabinet the eating bar
is attached to. The eating bar itself is a piece of IKEA butcher block attached
to a restaurant table leg. We then used the leftover plywood and countertop and
made the corner shelf unit (visible on the far left, top). For a countertop, we
used granite tile, because they are relatively durable, and not nearly as
expensive as any solid surface would be. The downside is that the grout needs
regular sealing.
The living room has a desk alcove (left) which gets daylight from a mirrored tube skylight, which makes an otherwise dark corner very bright, even on cloudy days.
The living room has a desk alcove (left) which gets daylight from a mirrored tube skylight, which makes an otherwise dark corner very bright, even on cloudy days.
The refrigerator and stove came from the original house and both were only four years old, so they are fairly efficient, even if they aren't energy-star rated. The dishwasher is a low cost model because we didn't anticipate that anyone living in the apartment would use it all that often. The washer/dryer are a stacking unit which is energy-star qualified, because we felt this was worth the extra cost.
The ADU uses the same thick wall assembly and the same triple pane windows as the main unit. There is also extensive sound insulation between the two units. For further isolation, the ADU is heated by two wall mounted hydronic fan-coil units. The bathroom also uses IKEA cabinets and a granite tile counter top.