November 2018 – ehomeimprovement

Coastal Style

Interior Materials Get Exceptional Effects Treatment

Interior surfaces — walls, ceilings, floors — are usually thought of as simple canvases where other substances are applied; painted drywall is the most apparent example. However, the following photographs demonstrate that more substantial stuff can be used indoors to create exceptional surfaces and spaces within a home. Finally the focus is on the consequences generated by using their articulation, not on the substances themselves.

Related story: Exterior Materials: Texture Talk

Schwartz and Architecture

OK, what’s this? An outlet cover gone crazy? It’s really a freestanding screen that acts as a guardrail on one side of a stair. The following photograph shows it in context.

Schwartz and Architecture

Produced by Schwartz and Architecture with consultant SUM, the screen is a billowing plastic wall whose expression was completely shaped with computers. Different-size rectangular openings are turned right into a grid which undulates to create a vertical counterpoint into the timber treads.

Rossington Architecture

Think porosity involving a stair and different parts of the home demands complex design and consultants to pull it off? Not necessarily, as this simple wall using spaced slats illustrates. I could observe the spacing of the slats varied to add interest and also to let more light and views between the stair and the adjacent room.

Schwartz and Architecture

Also by Schwartz and Architecture is the toilet renovation, an all-white environment which receives some feel in the shape of bowed tiles in the shower. The fitting grout gives the walls a distinctive monolithic look.

Island Stone

A similar monolithic look is found in this wall faced in rock with tiles offset in a relief pattern. The capacity for shadows is highlighted from the floor lights installed beside the wall.

Resolution: 4 Architecture

I’ve always been a lover of exterior stuff showing up indoors. Such is the case with the cement-board panels in this home by Resolution: 4 Architecture, in which an exterior volume is clad in the material. The other exterior surface is timber, echoed in the handrail that is propped upon a white metallic bracket secured to the panels.

Know more about cement boards

CAST architecture

In this mid-20th-century renovation by Cast architecture, I enjoy the juxtaposition of both old wood and new handrail and bracket. Both new bits are articulated with boxy borders, fitting into the house’s contemporary style.

Hufft Projects

At just shy of 8,000 square feet, there is plenty of room in the Curved House for Hufft Projects to experiment with substances. One of the more unique applications is that this etched and cut-steel box-out. I am not sure what purpose it serves — a radiator cover comes to mind — but it sure is beautiful.

Brennan + Company Architects

Corrugated metal on the interior? Yes, really. Brennan + Company Architects created an interior”street” in this renovation of an old street house. The corrugated metal is juxtaposed with different substances to let off each room the hallway stick out.

jones | haydu

Continuing with metal, here is an improvement by jones | haydu that yells steel into its differently tiles and wood palette. Steel grating can be utilized for the second-floor hallway, allowing light to filter down into the lower level and make the inclusion more spacious. Simply wipe your shoes before you walk on it.

SEE MATERIALS INC..

Built-ins are a great chance to do interesting things using substances, especially where we interact with them. The openings in these closet doors are simple, yet they clearly say,”tug.”

Laidlaw Schultz architects

The color and texture of those timber cabinets are quite rich. However, what stands out is how the construction was carefully planned so the grain proceeds across the different panels. Horizontal reveals follow the direction of the grain, both countered by the projecting pulls at the lower portion of these panels.

Mell Lawrence Architects

My ideabook on exterior stuff finished with Mell Lawrence’s cast-in-place concrete studio, so this one does exactly the same, illustrating how the interior and exterior finishes are basically identical. While the scaly feel from outside is flattened inside, the horizontal lines and the various holes are consistent, furthering the belief that the studio has been carved out of a monolithic solid.

More:
Inspiring Materials: Slate Tile
Today’s Concrete: Warm and Beautiful

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Eclectic Homes

Contractor Tips: Smooth Moves for Hardwood Floors

If your place does not have hardwood floors, you probably want it did. Wood makes amazing flooring. It’s amazing, long lasting and easy to wash. The Victorians weren’t too fond of it (they covered with rugs and oilcloths the same floors people are now refinishing), and I appear to remember wall-to-wall carpeting everywhere in the ’80s. But hardwood floors have almost always been in style for the past couple hundred decades, so they stay a smart investment.

If you are thinking about installing or refinishing your existing flooring, then read on for some insight from a contractor which can help you get the most from them.

Jordan Iverson Signature Homes

The region where you can lay the flooring affects the sort of flooring which can be used. If you’ve got hot-water or electric radiant heat, you can install wood floors, but you must follow the manufacturer’s directions, and you will likely be limited to engineered timber.

Main living areas such as the first flooring, kitchen and family room advantage from a more challenging wood, such as oak or walnut. In a bedroom on a third floor, a softer wood (such as pine) will hold up just fine.

Design Manifest

Wood is a nice option for floors at a kitchen, and though I don’t suggest it at a full bath, it holds up nicely in a powder room. But in both of these places you’re exposing the wood to water, which means you’ll want to clean up spills straight away.

Tip: In the event of a disaster — such as a leaky dishwasher supply hose which floods the floor — stay calm and be patient. Mop up as far as you can and operate fans to dry out the floor.

The planks will likely buckle from the moisture. Don’t attempt to sand down the surface to fix the problem. It might take several months, but given sufficient time to dry out, the flooring should go back to normal.

Coggan + Crawford Architecture + Design

When you see a wood floor that looks like it’s past its prime, the wear you’re seeing is most likely the end on the wood. Most floors nowadays are finished onsite with some sort of polyurethane.

Prefinished floors that are completed at the factory will also be offered. To protect the finish on your floors, sweep and dry mop often, and be certain there is a mat in front of and inside every door.

Buckminster Green LLC

I encourage everyone to consider the environment and the health of your family when doing renovations.

Installing a wood floor is a green option as it can easily last 200 decades, but to ensure that your choice is as responsible as possible, start looking for FSC or SFI tags on the timber, which attest that it had been chosen in a sustainable manner.

The walnut floors pictured here came from city trees which had to be cut, but timber from storm-damaged trees can typically be found. These days, logs which have been submerged for decades are being turned to floor, too. Wood holds up just fine in the bottom of a river or pond, because it is deprived of oxygen.

Crisp Architects

Salvaged timber is a great alternative for flooring that is wood. Having a salvaged floor you are becoming true personality — not fake hand scraping or nail holes. You’re reusing floors, therefore there is less labour and shipping involved, and no virgin timber is used.

Installing prefinished floors does frequently involve more labour onsite, however. Anticipate 10 percent to 30 percent more time spent on the task to cull unusable boards, pull stray nails, cope with wonky boards and so on.

In my view it is worth it, however. And remember, using your buying power to support the local labor force is among the most sustainable choices you can make.

Sroka Design, Inc..

This herringbone wood flooring brings to mind the other chance: using salvaged timber which was not originally used for floors or can not be reused for its original function. This will take even more labour, but sometimes the cost can be offset by decreased material costs.

My firm recently bought about 300 square feet of the older Palestra basketball court in the University of Pennsylvania. Because of the manner it was removed by the demo crews, it required several days to turn the pile into usable planks, and even then they were 2 to 3 feet long (too brief for a conventionally laid flooring). The tiny boards will be ideal for a herringbone design.

I can not stress enough the importance of reading the manufacturer’s directions when installing new floors. You may like to read — according to your reading a dry post about floors — but that does not mean that your installer does. If you’ve got your doubts, look up the directions online before install day.

Tip: Some manufacturers recommend you orient the floors based on the dominant light source inside the room. In this picture front door casts a flood of light on the floor. This bamboo floor has been sanded and completed onsite, so the way the boards operate in seems great. However, some prefinished floors look better if the planks run together with the light.

LKM Layout

Maybe you have hardwood flooring and they simply want some help. Or perhaps you just uncovered old floorboards underneath several other floors and you wonder whether they are turned into a beautiful flooring.

If your house is older, you might have uncovered the subfloor. These days, we use plywood for our subflooring, but in the past in my area they used old-growth pine and fir.

Can there be anything wrong with using this as your completed flooring? Not automatically. Just keep those items in mind: Gaps between boards will be open to the distance or joist bay below. Subfloor helps to stiffen the end floors above, so be certain the floor isn’t too thin to support daily usage.

Check how much repair will be needed, too. You’ll want to add in planks that are salvaged to make repairs. This can be labour intensive, and you’ll want to source the timber. After repairs, you’ll sand, but if glue or paint is built up on the floor, this could use up more sandpaper and time than it is worth.

Smith & Vansant Architects PC

Once your floors are sanded, they need to get completed. A full discussion of these available finishes might easily fill its ideabook, but here are a few points of conventional wisdom:
An oil end might be more durable, however you will have to cope with odors and VOCs when it’s installed. The glossier a end, the better it will hold up to traffic. Of course it is also going to show that traffic much greater than a matte finish. Polyurethanes, the very popular flooring finish, can not be touched invisibly, which means you have to refinish when the wear gets too bad.

Bona Naturale

Since many of my clients are asking to get a textured floor finish that seems like there is absolutely no end on the floors, I have been searching for a floor finish that holds up but still matches this description.

I simply used Bona Naturale for the very first time on a old white oak strip floor. It is the least glossy end I have seen, and predicated on Bona’s reputation for excellent products and also my observations employing the product, I recommend trying it if you are searching for the natural appearance.

More:
A Intro to Solid-Plank Floors
Cork Flooring: Heat to a Natural Wonder

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Eclectic Homes

Tour Compound in California

A large property may seem like a luxury, but it may also be an immense challenge, especially when it comes to finding a building. Functional concerns like utilities and access may point to one place, while factors like sun and breeze may detect taste elsewhere.

With 1,200 acres, the Willits Compound in Northern California was rather an undertaking in terms of site selection. But the ultimate solution by David S. Wilson of WA Design meant that the remainder of the house basically fell into position. Continue reading for a tour of the house, which also contains a facility to get a nonprofit ecological foundation.

WA Design Architects

The Willits Compound is a U-shaped plan, composed of three rectangular buildings about a courtyard. Within this view from the north we see the garage to the left, the living space and master suite in the middle, and the bedrooms to the best. In the middle of the space between these three constructions is a large boulder, what turned into an organizing device to your house.

WA Design Architects

This view of the Willits Compound creates the U-shaped plan clear. Though bathed in a snowstorm, the exterior walkways that connect the three buildings will also be apparent. Each structure functions as a windbreak, making the courtyard a usable space in an environment which veers between chilly, hot and humid.

WA Design Architects

The native grasslands provide the house a distinctive circumstance. The reds and greens of the landscape pointed to a complementary exterior palette, most notably the vermillion stucco walls.

WA Design Architects

The other substances are evident in the approach to the parking courtroom. (The courtyard with stone would be to the right of the wall.) The stucco is accompanied by wainscot walls of Choctaw sandstone and steel gray standing-seam metallic roofs. Surprisingly, Wilson admits that”all along we planned to clad the whole building in Cor-Ten steel.” As constructed, the house includes a softer contrast with its surroundings and much more variant than one substance would let.

WA Design Architects

Among the reasons for choosing the outcropping since the middle of the house was the moss covering the stone. Wilson calls it”a living backyard” and admires the way the moss veers from lush green to dormant russet color:”The story of the seasons passing is advised every year on the surface of this boulder.” The gravel surface of the courtyard extends right up to the boulder, to intentionally recall a Zen rock garden.

This opinion toward the bedroom volume makes another mention clear: The covered walkways that connect the three structures are”reminiscent of an Old West street frontage,” Wilson says.

WA Design Architects

Outside of the main courtyard, at the elbow between the garage and living spaces, is a smaller outside square based on a pool. The large window on the ideal links this courtyard to an indoor pool adjacent to the garage.

WA Design Architects

Inside the fundamental building, the palette of whites and blues and the impressive scale of the space, much taller as it seems from outside, are apparent. The vermillion exterior gives way to a softer space with lots of exposed wood.

WA Design Architects

This photo, showing the opposite direction from the previous shot, illustrates just how narrow the plan is from front to back. This is helpful in supplying cross-ventilation and daylight to the interior.

WA Design Architects

Evident in the previous two shots is a second-floor bridge. This attribute traverses the entry space and divides the master suite on one side from the analysis in the opposite end.

Watch more interior bridges

WA Design Architects

To one side of the entry is the dining area, located beneath the master suite. With functions stacked at the ends of the fundamental building, the scale of the spaces drops from what one encounters upon entering. Notice the timber ceiling and much more intimate scale to this area.

WA Design Architects

In many ways a detail may tell the whole story of a building. The Zen-like character of the principal courtyard can be located at the column base detail and paving. From the former the simple steel link illustrates the means of construction; at the latter the light and dark gray paving create a simple expression that’s very well crafted. Notice the feel of the paving and the way the dark gray strips are mitered in the column base.

Ultimately this detail shows an intersection which creates four quadrants. In three of them is the light gray paving, and at the fourth is your gravel. Just like a microcosm of the chemical, the gravel would be the courtyard, and the emitting would be the buildings.

More:
Spectacular Prairie Home
Zen Gardens: Serene Outdoor Spaces
Gorgeous Berkeley Courtyard House

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Decorating Guides

Up the Luck in Your House

St. Patrick’s Day obviously has me thinking about the luck of the Irish. I am not one to burn sage in a new area before residing there, nor am I going to really go overboard with luck-totem purchases, but I can’t help but think about how I can bring more blessings and positivity in my home. So I did some digging and found a few manageable tweaks and enhancements.

Shoshana Gosselin

1. Shamrock patterns. The four-leaf clover is famous for bringing good luck to the Irish. But who says you’re only limited to one? Throw pillows and partitions create ideal canvases for shamrock artwork. Create your own shamrock-filled space by employing this DIY stencil pattern …

Martha O’Hara Interiors

… or replace the coffee table with a set of upholstered, nail-trimmed four-leaf clover accent tables, like the ones in this chic sunroom.

2. Red doors. In Ireland, red doors are thought to ward off evil spirits and ghosts. Most civilizations — regardless of what their opinions are of the supernatural — regard the red door as a barrier dividing good and evil. Doesn’t this crimson door cause you want to find out what is on the opposite side?

Debora carl landscape design

3. Lucky numbers. I’ve known those who have bought houses due to the home number’s auspiciousness, and no quantity is thought to be as blessed universally as eight: You’ll find eight days of Hannukah, Buddhism gets the Eightfold Path, it is the atomic number of oxygen, and it is the amount of unmoving stars in the skies symbolizing the perfect orientation of planetary energy. Add up the home numbers in the picture above and you get lucky number eight.

Tracy Murdock Allied ASID

4. Sapphire. The blue jewel is supposed to protect its wearer against misfortunes, accidents, unexpected and natural calamities, and psychological tensions — and what might be more agonizing than watching a televised game of your favourite group contrary to their number-one rival on your media room? If you can’t afford loose sapphire gems, experiment with sapphire paint.This otherwise impartial guy cave is wrapped in a lovely sapphire blue, bringing elegance and elegance (and hopefully fortune) into a manly area.

Rossington Architecture

5. Koi fish. A koi pond on one’s property is supposedly among the most powerful feng shui symbols of wealth and good fortune.

Design Studio -Teri Koss

If a pond is just not within your budget, paintings of swimming pool swimming, like in this paperweight sink, may also bring fortune, wealth and a joyful marriage.

Louise Lakier

6. Dream catchers. The Native American dream home, said to have originated in the Sioux Nation, is thought to catch bad dreams in the home, leaving its inhabitants with a peaceful and serene mind. If hanging one over your mattress doesn’t mesh with your design style, think about dream catcher artwork or décor similar to this nautical window in blown glass in the design of a dream catcher.

Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

7. Bamboo. Heralded as one of the luckiest feng shui symbols, the lasting and hydroponic bamboo plant brings calmness and luck to virtually any environment. Bamboo also doubles as a durable barrier and ornamental plant in any Zen-inspired walkway or garden.

Hazelnut New Orleans

Hazelnut New Orleans Gold Coin Pillow – $210

8. Gold coins. Don’t we all wish we could have gold coins lying round the home to throw in the air for good fortune? Never mind the fact that gold bullions and artwork are just two of the most trustworthy financial investments you may make; seemingly, a few gold coins which are either glued into a path resulting in the front doorway, or put around the doorway, invite wealth and prosperity into the home or business. I wonder whether a gold coin throw cushion on the entryway slipper chair would suffice for good fortune?

HUISSTYLING

9. Wishbones. Common lore has it that if two individuals tugging on a wishbone from a Thanksgiving turkey create a wish, following the wishbone fractures, the individual with the larger piece gets their wish granted. I hope that you all stick to actual turkey wishbones and stay clear of any pulling those blue Hans Wegner midcentury wishbone seats.

Anita Roll Murals

10. Elephants. The elephant totem is thought to be a harbinger of good fortune, wisdom and strength in several civilizations. Some think of the massive creature as being among the smartest animals on earth, and I have to agree. Elephants’ ordinary life span is 70 years, so that they have to be onto something. Wild, lovely pachyderms are celebrated in this nursery’s wall art …

For Folks design

… and gilded in this elegant Hollywood Regency–motivated console vignette.

ers, let’s How have you invited fortune and blessings into your home?

More:
Bringing Symbols of Luck Into Home Design

Guest Groups: Good Luck in the New Year

Easy DIY St. Patrick’s Day Décor

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Fireplaces

Shhh … It's a Secret (Door, Room, Staircase)

Raise your hand if you used to see The Munsters TV series and secretly envied the trendy lifting stairs where Spot the pet dragon, dwelt below. My hands is way up. The Munster mansion was positively riddled with secret rooms and hidden compartments. The laboratory of grandpa was obtained through a trapdoor in the floor. After you were in the lab, if you pushed on a stone in the wall, then part of the stone wall swung away to show a dungeon. When Herman had a call to make, he tugged on a bellpull, the wall slid open, and a coffin glided out and started to show the phone. Pretty slick. And those were only some of the secret doors and hidden rooms. You’ll need to see the reruns and see just how many others you’ll be able to spot.

You may not have a laboratory, a dungeon or dragon, and you probably use a mobile phone that you can just hide in a pocket, but it doesn’t mean concealed rooms, passageways or compartments are not a great idea. Check out how these homeowners generated a little puzzle and fun in their houses. Is there anything you want to hide?

Hidden Door Store

You really can have that lifting stairs on your own house with no creepy Munster décor. This one hides another stairs to a lower level. This is a lot more intriguing than a coat closet. I simply don’t understand how I’d keep it a mystery, because I’d like to reveal it to everyone.

Red Ridge Millwork

This wine cellar has a bounty of storage out in plain view. However …

Red Ridge Millwork

… the very valuable vintages become stashed in another wine cellar revealed when this whole storage tank opens up. Great idea to use a wine cellar to hide your own wine cellar.

Dan Waibel Designer Builder

In the movies, we observe a wall safe hidden by artwork. What about using artwork to hide things that simply are not that pretty to look at? Framed movie posters can be the perfect way to hide AV parts and that collection of DVDs.

Hidden Door Store

I began thinking about this when one of my clients asked a concealed room for guns. The customer wanted to be certain the guns were protected and concealed in case of a burglary. If what you are hiding is dangerous, put it behind a heavy-duty door that can be locked. The lock is significant if a person discovers your secret spot, but the concealed accessibility behind a bookcase keeps people from even thinking there might be some thing back there.

This photograph and the next three show a wall with sliding panels that appear to be as much for aesthetic appeal as they are for concealing storage compartments as well as the entry to a bedroom.

The ladder rolls along the wall to get access to storage. The wall panel on the left has restored back to show storage. The decorative metal panel slides to the right to demonstrate another doorway behind it.

When the whitened wall panel to the left is open to show the storage, it is hiding the workplace.

A bedroom is supporting the decorative metal panel and a white door. A real sense of solitude is generated while the bedroom entry is behind two layers.

The very best way to hide the entry to an area is to keep people from imagining it is there in the first place. This paneling on the entire wall on each side of the fireplace looks like a normal wall treatment in an upscale house.

Garrison Hullinger Interior Design Inc..

Who would even suspect among the panels opens? The hardware that you choose should be completely invisible. For this kind of door take a look at this invisible hinge from Soss.

lualdiporte.com

Compass Wall Door by Lualdi Porte

These doors are not actually hidden, since they’ve handles. But if they were used using the hardware shown in the previous photo rather, people would not assume they aren’t solid walls, since they move floor to ceiling and the wood is continued in paneling around the room.

GRADA Inc..

Rather than hiding a door within a wall, how about making the whole wall the entry? You would think this is the end wall of a market, but the whole wall slides back to reveal a great little living room. It gives a whole new meaning to the thought of a hideaway.

Choice Wood Company

Using bookcases is by far the number-one way a concealed room is hidden. I believe this works best when you have a library or an office with several bookcases lined up so nothing appears out of place or leads people to suspect a concealed door. But how do you make a recessed bookcase swing open? Read on.

Pangaea Interior Design, Portland, OR

Hidden Door

Here is the hardware that you need to earn a recessed bookcase glide forward and then swing to the side.

Witt Construction

A display case is a bit less likely to arouse suspicion. Utilize museum wax to secure objects to the shelves.

John Lum Architecture, Inc.. AIA

Back again to the idea of that usable space beneath the stairs. You do not need to hide an whole room; drawers beneath the risers are a great idea. And if you only eliminate the noticeable manage …

… and use a little piece of almost-hidden pull or push hardware, then you have a convenient secret compartment — a great idea, even if it’s only for hiding sneakers.

Lipa Woodwork

The compartments beneath this stairway could be wholly secret with no pulls. Again, push latch hardware would do the trick.

Lipa Woodwork

And look at just how handy it is to access all that storage as it slides right out instead of you having to crawl into that deep, dark closet.

So let’s : What could you put in a secret compartment?

More:
Secret Passages and Hidden Areas

Blended Doors for Standout Style

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Wall Treatments

Expand Your Horizons Using Map Wallpaper and Decals

Who is not fascinated by a world map? It indicates faraway places and new adventures. Decorating with map wallpaper allows your mind wander to a big scale. A map is an proper addition to a lot of rooms, from a kid’s bedroom (where it could double as a learning device) into a grownup office.

Wall-size maps come in a variety of styles, from a classic blue, green and brownish relief look to colorful, graphic designs. Patient DIYers can also try wallpapering a room in real maps, but that requires time and skill to get right. Nautical maps are also a wall.

Listed below are eight rooms and four papers and stickers which chart a new class in decorating.

Cara Woodhouse Interiors LLC

An orange Jennifer Delonghe couch pops facing a classic map wall in this area by Feathered Nest Interiors.

Dufner Heighes Inc

Dufner Heighes created the most of a little child’s bedroom with space-efficient built in furniture and map wallpaper.

Dufner Heighes Inc

In another bedroom by Dufner Heights, a map wall takes centre stage. The easy, wooden furnishings don’t distract from the global view.

Grace Home Design

Grace Home Designs also opted to use a map mural in this boy’s bedroom. Here a couple of interlocking accents add to the room’s sense of experience.

World Maps Online

World Map Wall Mural – $134.95

To find the look of the map walls in the previous rooms, you can opt for this offering from World Maps Online.

Lowe’s

Brewster Wallcovering World Map Mural – $87.29

Measuring approximately 6 feet by 9 feet, this map mural from Lowe’s is just another choice to make a big impact in any area. Countries are colour coded for additional educational value.

Lisa Tharp Design

A handsome workplace by Kauffman Tharpe Design includes nautical accents, including walls papered in nautical charts. The charts are trapped with apparent thumbtacks.

Pottery Barn

Map Wall Decal – $129

If you don’t need to commit to a permanent map installment, Pottery Barn offers a 5-foot-by-8-foot map decal which lifts off the wall without leaving a mark.

Benedict August

Discuss eclectic. This contemporary nursery Includes a picture map wall in Addition to an Acapulco rocker from Innit, a DIY faux hide from Flor and the iconic Eames Walnut Stool from Design Within Reach.

Christine Tuttle Interior Design

Christine Tuttle Interior Design created this completely nautical bathroom using a nautical chart wallpaper by Ralph Lauren and shipworthy nickel hardware.

Echelon Custom Homes

Echelon Custom Homes took a nautical motif to another level in this powder area. The porthole mirror, a marine-style sconce and map wallpaper are complemented by a life-preserver red vanity and towel.

Fabrics & Papers

Out to Sea Map Wallpaper – EUR 85

To find the look of the nautical bathroom on your home, try this Out to Sea Map Wallpaper from Ralph Lauren, featuring islands, boats, submarines and fish.

Inside this area the homeowner has covered the walls in tiny maps using painter’s tape. You can create a similar look by colour copying maps and implementing them into the walls using either tape or wallpaper paste.

CWB Architects

Blue sheets and storage bins are a perfect foil for the ocean blue of this room’s map mural. Main colors are always a wise choice to set up with a classic map.

More:
A World View: Decorating With Maps

How to Travel the Globe Without Leaving Your Living Room

Locate map decor in the Item section

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Eclectic Homes

Homes

The spotlight is on Hollywood, as awards season comes to an end. This made me consider movies in which the architecture is integral to the storyline, where a home becomes an important personality. This listing of 10 is certainly not all inclusive. I have resisted including movies just because the set design is perfection, like A Single Person or Something’s GotId Offer. Additionally, I have never seen The Fountainhead, because it’s my favourite book. Please chime in under in the Remarks section about any I have overlooked.

Amazon

Grey Gardens (The Criterion Collection): Edith Bouvier Beale, Edith – $21.99

Some call it a gorgeous love story. Some call it a chilling story of residing in a raccoon- and – flea-infested, cat urine–filled home. Most soil somewhere in between the two. In case you haven’t seen Grey Gardens, you are passing up a ton of cultural references and you do not even know it.

Watch the first teaser first, let it marinate and then rent the HBO movie that stars Jessica Lange and Drew Barrymore as the two Edies. The latter will answer a whole lot of questions, and also the set designers did an amazing job of imagining and representing the home in its entire glory.

Amazon

The Money Pit – $5.49

Long before Tom Hanks was stuck on a deserted island he was stuck with this dreadful house and went through a renovation nightmare. I get sucked into this home every time it airs. Tom Hanks is completely hilarious, but the home itself steals the show. Watch it during the frustrating elements of a renovation to observe how things could be much worse.

Amazon

Home Alone – $11.71

A large, empty brick home plays a big role in this blockbuster. These parents figure out how to leave their son Kevin home alone, and he has to not just take care of himself, but also shield the home by a couple of inept burglars.

Amazon

Beetlejuice (20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition) – $5.19

Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! Beetlejuice! This movie brought about a new method to describe a particular style of interior décor. “It was a complete Beetlejuice living area” immediately conjures up odd proportions, a dash of bravura modern and extreme use of color. You have to see the movie.

Amazon

Housesitter – $8.99

Housesitter opens with Steve Martin, playing an architect, suggesting to his girlfriend in front of a gorgeous white home he is designed with a red bow wrapped about it. She says no. Input Goldie Hawn, who’s always dreamed of living in this home.

Another movie with a fantastic home (such as all Nancy Meyers movies) is It is Complicated, where once more Martin plays an architect. Architect is the job screenwriters often give characters.

Amazon

The Lake House (Widescreen Edition) – $4.99

This movie is so boring I fell dead in the midst of it, however, the glass house to the lake as well as how it joins the two main characters is of the utmost significance to the storyline. It’s also a really neat-looking home; along with Keanu Reeves and Sandra Bullock, it’s easy on the eyes. However, if you just wish to watch both of these celebrities and you wish to remain alert, I recommend leasing Speed instead.

Amazon

House of Sand and Fog – $9.59

This is only one of the most depressing movies I have ever seen in my life, but I can’t think of another movie where the home is as central to the storyline. Additionally, Jennifer Connelley Ben Kingsley and Shohreh Aghdashloo provide performances.

Amazon

The Notebook – $6.99

If any of you have not seen The Notebook (you’ve seen it at least 10 times or not at all), I do not wish to ruin any surprises, but also the unbelievable renovation of a home as well as the reasons for doing this are very significant.

Amazon

In The Holiday, the whole plot is made by the two main characters’ swapping of homes. One is a cozy little cabin in the U.K., the other is a big and sleek Hollywood home. As this is a Nancy Meyers movie (such as It is Complicated and Something’s GotId Offer), both are dreamy. Due to the temporary new digs, life changes to the two main characters ensue.

Amazon

Marie Antoinette – $6.23

In Sofia Coppolla’s Marie Antoinette, the palace in Versailles plays a significant part, from initially imprisoning Marie Antoinette, to later representing so many of the excesses that drove the French Revolution. Another important set is Antoinette’s special escape, the Petit Trianon, a smaller chateau on the home.

I know I am missing movies where a home steals the show. Please share your favorites in the Remarks section.

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So Your Design Is: Japanese

What it is: Japanese interior decorating is rooted in traditions that have been around for millennia. Guided by a longstanding canon of symbols and beliefs, it upholds the ideals of harmony, balance and order, and puts a high value on the beauty of the natural world.

Why it works: Japanese style conveys a sense of purity and integrity that’s like a balm to our frazzled lives. It’s ever so slightly exotic and mysterious, yet comforting at precisely the exact same time.

You will enjoy it if… You would rather have a plate of soba noodles than a bowl of fettuccine. Your shampoo smells like cherry flowers. You rely on the sound of trickling water to soothe you to sleep. Your choice for movie night is Lost in Translation — again. You have exchanged your hefty German cleavers for lightweight santoku knives.

Mark Brand Architecture

Style Secret: Serenity
If there’s one phrase which sums up Japanese style, it’s Zen — a Japanese sect focused on meditation. Interiors which reflect this influence whisper of contemplation, balance, peace. Lines are simple, vistas unobstructed, light abundant and the general feel calm.

East meets West: Even if the bones of the area aren’t rigorously Japanese, you can approximate the look by peeling down. Strip your distance to the essentials: Pack away clutter, undress walls, get rid of superfluous furnishings. Arrange what’s left in a way that keeps an open, flowing sensibility.

Tracy Murdock Allied ASID

Design Secret: Shoji Screens
Shoji screens, a conventional element of Japanese architecture, are constructed of translucent paper (or in the modern world, plastic or glass ) anchored by a grid of pure wood. Because distance in Asian homes tends to be at a premium, shoji screens frequently slide open and shut instead of swinging out.

East meets West: you’re able to translate shoji screens for all sorts of different applications: windows, kitchen cabinets, room dividers and more. The key: Do not obscure them with accessories or furniture — you’ll block the light which filters and mar their austere beauty.

Feinmann, Inc..

Style Secret: Natural Colors
Nature has an immense influence on Japanese style, and the palette is pulled in the world around usinspired by earth, wood and stone. Use neutral, subtle colors which don’t fall at extreme ends of the spectrum. Think creamy whites instead of stark ones, espresso browns rather than dark, pale and midtone forests, and subdued greens and grays.

East meets West: If you long for a daring stroke of color in a Japanese inside, you can pull it off — carefully. Limit yourself to one or two hues, in very limited focal points, or else you risk upsetting the balance that’s so vital to Japanese layout. As an example, you might group a few sculptural red vases on a mantel or strew deep blue floor pillows in the living area.

Jeffrey Gordon Smith Landscape Architecture

Design Secret: Water Features
Japanese style emphasizes strong connections with nature, and water — from bubbling fountains to rushing streams — helps create a tranquil atmosphere. Whether they’re in an inside room or an exterior living space, water features bring a subtly dramatic note that can’t help but catch attention.

East meets West: A fountain isn’t the only means to bring flowing water inside. Try out a freestanding or built-in water wall, a trough which recirculates an indoor-outdoor rain shower. Or get creative and select artwork that depicts flowing waves or water — it’s the next best thing to the actual wet material.

Tracy Stone AIA

Design Secret: Plants
Introducing a touch of living greenery infuses a Japanese-style inside with energy. Pick traditional plants such as bonsai and bamboo, potted in sleek, minimalist containers made of wood, rock or another organic material. Keep the palette focused — green foliage is much more suitable than the usual bounty of colorful blooms.

East meets West: Want to venture outside classic Japanese plants? Bring in specimens which match the character’s sleek, minimalist look: horsetail, ornamental grasses and much more. Or research ikebana, the time-honored art of flower arranging (and there’s no shame in getting the gentleman pinch-hit if you’re all thumbs when it comes to floral design).

cathy Chilton

Style Secret: Rocks and Stones
There’s that link with nature again. Rocks are central to Japanese style, and they’re most commonly found in conventional rock gardens. Smooth, polished stones, such as river stones, best match the serene and fluid feel of a Japanese distance.

East meets West: By all means put in a rock garden to your landscape, but expand the use of stones to your inside also. Use them to accent tile in a bathroom, as a flooring surface or even as a wall covering.

BiglarKinyan Design Planning Inc..

Style Secret: Tatami Mats
Made of woven rushes, tatami mats would be the most bizarre Japanese floor covering, and they symbolize Japanese style in a way that few other items can. They are minimalist and sleek, helping ground the distance in calmness.

Traditionally, tatami mats have been arranged in very particular sizes and patterns according to the measurements of the area, however there’s no need to adhere to old principles — select the mat which works best for the area.

East meets West: Believe past the Ground. Hung on the wall in precisely the exact same way that you might mount a rug or quilt, tatami mats punctuate a space with quiet tone and feel. You might even use them as table runners or coverings.

Michael Fullen Design Group

Design Secret: Sculptural Lighting
Natural lighting drives Japanese style, but fixtures with clean profiles and minimalist lines stand in following the sun sets. Herea Japanese cricket lamp hangs pendant style over a floating nightstand, rather than a more conventional table lamp. You could also pick iconic fixtures which evoke the soul of Japanese decoration, such as the Nelson necklace lamp.

East meets West: Hanging paper lanterns are quintessentially Japanese, but think beyond garden parties and kids’ rooms. Lots of specialty and chain retailers (think Ikea, Crate & Barrel, West Elm) carry simple paper lamps which combine nicely with the Japanese aesthetic.

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Color

Easy and fun Ways to add White Spaces and Color

Color arouses the eye and makes any space intriguing and personal, but it does not mean you need to paint the walls. There are benefits to having white partitions (if you lease, possibly your landlord has told you this already). White retains a room feeling bright and clean, and is a great background color to make other colors visually stunning. Here are strategies to make a white room sing with colour.

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Emily Ruddo

Play different spaces within an open floor plan. Keep your house light and white, and let colour shine throughout on cloths, wall art and furnishings/decor to divide up your spacious rooms.

Rethink Design Studio

Warm up a kids’ room. Add a spool of a perky colour like yellow, together with a large pattern, to a white space and it will be really cheerful for the small ones. Add DIY bits such as trim around lamp shades.

TILTON FENWICK

Bring in a large piece of artwork. To pull the eye into a space and produce a vibrant impact, pick up one enormous piece of artwork and place it onto a focal wall over a sofa, fireplace, bed, dining table or dresser.

Emily A. Clark

Produce a warm master bedroom. Bring in heat through furniture. Against a blue-tinted white wall (a relaxing color of white), dark timber furniture seems divine. Fluffy white bedding looks like a tempting white blur when placed on a chocolate finished bed frame, and the deep blue window treatments aren’t just great for keeping the room dark at night, but the blue is calming to the eye.

Dreamy Whites

Add a little softness. This is excellent for a guest area palette. Keep the room soft and cozy by painting walls a grey white and adding layers of white bedding start with a bed skirt, sheets and comforter or coverlet, put in a blanket or throw at the end of the bed which has lighter quieter tinted colors. Then top the bed(s) with petal pillows.

Jamie Laubhan-Oliver

Show off metal finishes. A crisp white backdrop lets reflective finishes shine. This could be a fantastic opportunity to put in a gallery of gold or silver frames.

Vintage Scout Interiors, Debbie Basnett

Add a large piece of vibrant furniture. Wrap the item of furniture in your room in colour. Forget about a sofa; bring in a joyful vibrant upholstered sofa. Or change your present sofa by reupholstering or including a slipcover.

Add a colored piece of furniture. Red, blue, green or some other color painted onto a desk, buffet, accent table or even a bed frame may turn a white room to an inspired, fun space. I adore the idea of using a piece of painted furniture in an entryway. It will be a “wow” moment for anybody entering your property.

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Are You Gutsy Enough to Paint Your Floor White?
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