Swing by modern-furniture showroom Contemporaria in Georgetown tomorrow night from 6:30 to 9 for a signing of In Residence, the new book from Mark McInturff, one of the area’s top architects. The book is McInturff’s second monograph, after In Detail in 2001. In addition to comments from McInturff, hors d’ouevres, and drinks, the evening will include a slide show of his projects.

McInturff’s eight-person firm in Bethesda has won more than 250 design awards, and the firm’s projects include the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company in DC and Majestic Cafe in Alexandria. Contemporaria is also worth a visit—the 4,000-square-foot showroom is designed to look like a skateboard park and carries museum-quality furnishings from top Italian designers Cappellini, MDF, Molteni, and others.

If you can stick around afterwards, pick up a complimentary ticket for the after-party at L2 Lounge in the central courtyard of Cady’s Alley.

Contemporaria Showroom, 3303 Cady’s Alley, NW; 202-338-0193.

I mentioned last week that my kitchen is pretty small, leaving little wiggle room for the layout. So where to put the fridge? A few months ago, I bought a small refrigerator. It wasn’t the best resale-oriented decision, since most Americans tend to love “Ginormous Stainless-Steel Double-Door Big Enough to Hold Food for My Twelve Hungry Boys” refrigerators, but it was worth it for the extra foot-and-a-half of counterspace. The best place for the fridge, which measures a mere 26 inches square, was next to the back door. 

The original chimney, which was part of the coal-burning stove that dated to 1907, was the biggest obstacle in the room. It had been drywalled over, came out 13 inches from the wall, and was more than two feet wide—effectively creating a dead zone.

The 1929 Colonial—with only one full bath—was bursting at the seams.

In the May issue, Michael Tardif writes about the renovation of this Colonial in Chevy Chase. The owners originally bought the house as a starter home, but wanted to stay in the neighborhood after having children. The two-story addition by Landis Construction includes a front porch with wide stairs and a curving stone wall, master bedroom suite, and large family room.

Click here to read the full article and see a slideshow with more than a dozen pictures.

• Plans to develop two city-owned properties behind the Lincoln Theatre were announced yesterday. The city is accepting proposals from developers. [Washington City Paper and DCMud]

• Bloomingdale residents and ANC commissioners were part of the first meeting about the old sand filtration plant in Northwest DC between North Capital Street, Michigan Avenue, and First Street. Development suggestions include restaurants and a grocery store.  [Bloomingdale (for now)] 

• DC Metrocentric’s fun "Price Checker" feature asks readers to guess the price of a piece of property. This week, it’s a two-bedroom penthouse near Thomas Circle. [DC Metrocentric]

What’s the style of the house?  I guess you would call it a Cape Cod since it is technically one-and-a-half stories. We looked at hundreds of plans and combined what we liked.

Can you describe the floorplan? Our house has three bedrooms with an extremely open floorplan. The entire second floor is the master suite with 20-foot cathedral ceilings of heavy timber. The main floor consists of the open kitchen, pantry, dining area, powder room, and living area. We like to have parties and this open floorplan lends itself to entertaining—everyone can be in the same room, but also spread out. We also have a large wraparound deck. The basement has a large laundry room (which also holds an extra fridge and freezer), an exercise area, a full bath, two bedrooms, and a recreation room with a wet bar.

Where: 5200 Partridge Lane, NW
List price: $3,550,000
Time on the market: four weeks
Bedrooms: six
Bathrooms: six

I planned to tear out all the existing cabinets (which were not only ugly, but also improperly installed) and add an over-the-range microwave, dishwasher, and granite counters.  I did a back-of-the-envelope calculation and estimated that the work would cost around $6,000 to $7,000. 

A few things helped create such a reasonable budget. First, I already had a new fridge and stove. Second, the kitchen is small, only about ten feet long. And I decided to use IKEA cabinets, which would save a ton in material and labor costs. (Custom cabinetry can be ridiculous—I probably would have blown my entire budget twice over just in cabinets.)