Must Have...Absolutely

If I ever build my dream house (or even get to gut out the master bathroom of our current home), at the very top of the list of "must haves" is a shower with slab walls. Our current shower is tiled, and while I like how it looks, keeping it clean is the bane of my existence.

A typical morning might find me scrubbing the grout with the toothbrush I keep on the soap dish, or going at the floor with the scrub brush that stays inside the shower for that purpose. It's never ending.

And so I want my shower walls lined with seamless slabs of marble or granite. Sounds pricy, but I'm convinced that a careful shopper could actually realize some savings. Tiles can be terribly expensive, and the labor to install them even more so. Surely finding a good deal on a slab would ultimately mean construction savings. And if not, well, my time is worth something after all.

What a heavenly bathroom! 

Another Kind of Interior

Folks, I have an illness. It's chronic, despite my repeated attempts at curing it. I have had to come to terms with the fact that I will likely suffer from this my whole life. It's called "Car Fickles" and is characterized by sudden unsets of "New Car Fever" which can only be cured by trading automobiles. It's true that in my 16 years of driving, I have had 9 cars. The longest I've ever gone without a flair up is three and a half years,  but the disease has progressed the past five years, and I have been afflicted on an almost yearly basis.

Whether it's the smell of a new car interior, the gloss of a factory-fresh paintjob, or just the lure of the deal, we may never know. But this week, as I sat in the dealership pouring over swatches of the available leathers, woods, and metal surfaces that could adorn the interior of one car I'm considering, I was as giddy as if I were designing myself a new room. And with the attention car manufacturers are paying to interiors, it's no wonder. With long commutes, business travel, and weekend getaways keeping us in our cars more than ever, it's only fitting that their interiors should be given as much consideration as any other space. Take a look at some of my favorites:

Jaguar has a history of creating beautiful autos, and the latest XJ is no exception. The contrasting piping, fine woods, and play of textures make it a stunner.

Mercedes Interiors are generally more sedate...handsome rather than dazzling. But select one of their "Designo" packages (the porcelain one pictured here) and you get more style. The piano black surfaces, boldly contrasting leather and carpets, and channeled seats make this one of my favorites.

Audi is another manufacturer who makes gorgeous interiors. This one is understated and elegant, with rich brown carpets, bone colored leather with an accent that pulls in the carpet color, and subtle wood graning to highlight the well thought out controls.

Maserati is one of a handful of companie that allows its owners to create something truly unique. Customers have an endless number of options...from choosing the color of the piping to the color of the seatbelts. Here, a monochromatic caramel scheme gets some visual interest from the button tufted seating.

Porsche likewise allows a great array of customization options. Here, a mostly black 911 interior gets some visual punch from ivory colored inserts and contrasting stitching.

Front seat passengers don't get all the fun. The rear seat of this Bentley shows that just as much detail is payed to the aft cabin. Deep, light colored leather bucket seats are highlighted with blue trim and dark burled wood accents.

Even Volvo, long known for safety, but rarely thought of as a design pioneer, has gotten in on the fun. The contrasting saddle orange seating makes the handsome interior of this S60 memorable.

And great interiors are not reserved just for high-priced cars. Here, Chevrolet has given the interior of the Malibu the designer treatment with a sweeping two tone dash and seats beautifully upholstered in chocolate brown and charcoal.

MINI's standard cars have a pretty high level of personalization possible, and every few years they launch an even more special limited edition. Here, the  limited Mayfair MINI uses contrasting textures and colors to create the sort of interior normally seen only in much more expensive autos.

So, what do you think? Which is your favorite? Have you ever paid much mind to your car's interior?

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Here's The Story

Last week I showed the floorplans and elevation of a large Georgian style house and hinted that I would be writing more about it. Well, I wish the story behind it were more engaging, I would love to tell you that we were about to break ground on our dream  house, or even that a wonderful client was planning to call it home, but the truth is much less exciting.

I imagine anyone who works in design can relate to what I am about to say, particularly those who, like me, work in relatively small towns. My work comes in waves of "sameness"...a particular style takes hold of the collective public conscience, or the architectural guidelines of a new neighborhood dictate a certain "look." My career has seen waves of "Craftsman-ish" houses, "European-ish" houses, and what I like to call "High Mountain" style houses. These might be sprinkled with some unusual variants here and there--an infill lot in an established neighborhood, a large scale renovation of an older  home, or just a client with a very unique vision, but at times I have found myself screaming for something to design other than a stone and stucco house with a walkout basement and heavy timber accents (in the upstate of South Carolina and Western North Carolina, where many of the custom  homes I've worked on are--this is the expected look and palette for so many of the newer homes in resort communities.)

And so, every year or so, I force myself out of the box and do something different. A couple of years ago, I grew fascinated with Tudor style homes (a style I have never had a custom commission to do), then with the beautifully detailed but smaller homes of the 1920's-1940's. These studies are my way of doing some self-directed continuing education, and sometimes make it to my portfolio of pre-designed houses.

I recently re-read the book "Get Your House Right", I am working with a client on the design of a classically detailed low-country style house, and he had recently finished that book, along with several others on Federal, Greek Revival, and Georgian design elements. I have always loved a classic "Five Over Four and a Door" type house--to me, a properly designed one never loses it's appeal, and there is just a definite sense of "home" from them. So that was the defining idea for this house. I did NOT set out to design a house this large. In fact, I decided that my partner and I would be the fictional client for these plans, and we decided that the layout of our current house suits us just fine, but our wish list would add a few things...a music room for a grand piano, "wouldn't it be nice if all the guest rooms had their own bath?", "I've always wanted a huge library with those rolling ladders.", and "I would love a dedicated home theatre in the basement.", and after seeing dual staircases in a house online, someone just had to have them.

So, 14,000 square feet later, there it is. A little something to stretch my design muscles, and a springboard for exploring various topics in design. (Check here for a growing list of topics that have spun off from this plan.)

•  Ivy Covered Houses
   

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Every Room Should Have a Touch of Black

I was having dinner at the home of an old friend recently, and when I admired a new piece she recently bought, she remarked that she thought of me when she saw it because I had once told her that "every room needs at least a touch of black." I don't remember the circumstances surrounding our original conversation, and I've never made any conscious effort to insure a touch of black in my rooms, but there is a certain wisdom to it. Black has the power to anchor a space, unify disparate pieces, and is so dynamic that it can be used to recede into the background or to dramatically command attention.  It can give an edge to a sleek, modern space, or add depth to a traditional one. And while I may have overreached in saying that EVERY room needs a touch of black, these images of rooms that use black show that most rooms certainly benefit from it:

In this space, black cabinetry draws the eye from the living room into the gorgeous kitchen beyond.

Nothing beats the elegance of a black grand piano! It, along with the chair and etageres, keep this soothing space grounded.

This gorgeous monochromatic space would feel lost without the black chairs and table giving it a visual anchor.

The simple Greek key motif in this guest room is elegant and timeless. The black floor gives the space weight, and the unifying treatment over the beds is a genius idea!

Once again, black serves as punctuation in a monochomatic space.

Perfection! The black frames of the Klismos chairs, the weight of the black lamp shades, and the simple black detailing on the roman shades give this room stunning definition. (When can I move in?)

The black console and frame command attention in this beautifully composed vignette.

Black flooring and handrails make a statement in this transitional stair.

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The Rules: All Materials MUST Change at an Inside Corner

I think most people who design, either for a living, or as a hobby, have, whether they are conscious of them or not, certain rules they abide by.  I wasn't even fully aware that I had any hard and fast ones until a friend recently reminded me that I once told her that one of my rules was that every room needed a touch of black. (More on that another time.) So I'm going to do a few posts on my personal rules of design. Now, before I do, let me start by saying that the first rule of design is that you shouldn't care what anyone else thinks. If you love your home, that is all that matters.  Got it? Good!

Now, one of mine (and one that makes my skin crawl when it isn't followed) is that all materials must change at an interior corner. More specifically, under no circumstances do I think a "Hollywood Front" is acceptable. Yet, there it is on an alarming percentage of new homes built. Brick or fake stone spread onto the front facing surfaces of a house like peanut butter on bread.

Classic example!

Why is the garage worthy of stone?

Now, I doubt anyone thinks it's good design. (Though the way realtors tout a "brick front", I could be wrong.) I'm aware that it's an economic decision moreso than an aesthetic one. But if the pocketbook only allows a limited amount of stone or brick, it can be applied in better ways. Perhaps doing just a brick or stone at the foundation height--or extending it up to window sill height for a high watertable? Or just accenting one element (in the first photo, perhaps wrapping all three sides of that central gable at the front door?)

Spec homes and houses produced by mass-builders give us some particularly egregious examples of this sort of material abuse. Check this house out: a highly detailed front entry, full brick front, lots of ornamentation. But only on the front. Turn the corner and it is completely plastic and devoid of even simple window casing:

The front of this house has absolutely no relationship at all to the other three sides!

If automakers took the same approach to car design, we would all be driving around in this:

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Stop, Drop, and Organize

Is there a spot in your house that looks like this?

For us, it's the end of the kitchen counter just inside the hallway from the garage. That awful place where all the mail lands, the pockets get emptied, the keys and wallets fall, and the cell phones, ipods, and cameras charge, ready to be grabbed on the way back out the door. Quite often, we have a pile of shoes at this corner of the kitchen that have been kicked off and lie there until they're slipped back on.

One thing that precious few houses seem to have is a dedicated "drop zone" for all the "stuff" we come into our homes carrying. I try to create one in every house I design from scratch--it's an idea bourne out of my own needs, but one that I recognize that just about every person has as well.

I've been working on the construction documents for one of my pre-designed plans this week, and the house had a wonderful opportunity for built-ins in the hallway between the garage and kitchen. I decided to make it the ultimate "drop zone" and it forced me to think about what functions such an area would need to work. Certainly, a place and way to organize mail and magazines was in order. Lots of outlets for charging all the gadgets, a spot to stow shoes, and maybe a few jackets. But wouldn't it also be nice to have easy access to reusuable shopping bags, a spot for gloves and hats, maybe a place to stow the dry cleaning that needs to be taken in?

In the end, this is the design I came  up with:

Two tall banks of cabinetry flank a window with a built in bench--the perfect spot to sit down and put on shoes--and open shelves below the bench offer a spot to put them. There's a large shelf with three duplex outlets for charging phones, cameras, etc. and a group of pull out bins for stowing scarves, shopping bags, and the like. (Pet owners would have a spot for leashes and clean-up bags.) Mail slots are provided for organizing bills, magazines, and letters, and a large cabinet at the top could be home to packages that need to be mailed, clothes that need to be dry cleaned, or even umbrellas and ice scrapers for bad weather days.

The other side houses a large cabinet for hanging coats and jackets, and below a recycling station with bins to keep items separated (this area could also be used as a place to stow kid's bookbags!). Such a "drop station" not only keeps clutter out of the other areas of the house, but provides a home for all those things that we all find ourselves searching for when we are headed out the door.

Now, if I could only find a way to fit one of these into my house...

Inexpensive Art Ideas

One of the things that is always hard for me to find is art. I suppose if I had an endless budget it would be easier, but unfortunately that isn't the case. So, over the years, I've had to get creative to fill my walls.

Something I've noticed is that much of the wall decor available makes it's statement not so much through the "art" itself as through the frame and mat. Stores are filled with rather insignifcant items and hastily done splashes of color that make attractive wall decor because they have been framed and matted well.

Having an item custom-framed can be quite expensive, so the bargain-conscious will want to stick with off-the-rack frames. Luckily, hobby and discount stores carry pretty good frames and even mats in a variety of stock sizes and colors.  (Though my first tip would be to invest in a good mat-cutter and learn to use it--will open the door to many more custom-looking projects.)

So what, exactly, should be placed in the discount frames and behind those all-important mats? That's where the real creativity comes in. I know of one designer who did an entire vignette of menus from her favorite restaurants in her breakfast room. The pages of a calendar could easily be turned into a set of botanical prints. I once saw a gorgeous set of framed buttons--one large, highly detailed button per frame, surrounded by a luxurious oversized double mat. In all of these cases, the "art" itself costs nothing or almost nothing. It's all about how they are presented. When it comes to budget art, there is often strength in numbers. One framed button might have been interesting, but a set of six made a real statement--the pieces took on greater importance.

Here are some budget art pieces I've done over the years:

Here, I simply converted some of my own photos to black and white and framed them in simple black frames. I cut the mats "gallery style" (proportioned such that the lower portion of the mat is exactly twice the height of the upper portion)



I gave these as a gift once, framing vintage postcards from the recipient's alma mater in the school's colors. The red silk mats were remnants I scored by asking the custom department to sell me their "leftovers."

I trimmed these greeting cards to fit into discount store frames. The "mat" in this case was the card itself, which opened to reveal the daVinci drawings. That the card openings were off center only made them more interesting to me.

I framed reproduction luggage stickers and ticket stubs from the Titanic once. I think a group of stubs or other reminders of a great vacation could make an excellent piece.

This pair was done by rubber stamping a design onto beautifully textured paper. No artistic skill required!

I put this together for my very first apartment. It's simply a framed page from an auction preview catalog. I haven't used it in years, but I may change out the frame and mat and give it a new home soon.







Over It!

Decorative trends, of course, come and go. Sometimes, a classic enjoys a surge of popularity then falls back into line--much as toile prints did a few years back. Toile will never be "out" but gone are the days when it could be found in 12 different colorways at every Target, Wal-Mart, and Bed Bath and Beyond. Sometimes a seemingly "new" trend will burst on the scene, and then get overshadowed by something newer, but always stay in the realm of decorative possibilities. I think the more recent penchant for blue and brown color schemes fits in there. It may not be on the cover of every magazine anymore, but the two colors work so well against one another, they will always be around in some form or another. Then there are the firework trends that blaze into our decorative consciences for a fleeting moment, and then fizzle away. (Avocado appliances, anyone?)

Here are three current design fireworks that I am completely over. Not that any of them are bad, they are just overdone, and so specific that I predict they will have no lasting power whatsoever.




Keep calm?? I don't think I'll be able to if I see this in one more store, one more magazine, or in one more home.

I actually love the subtle "washed" coloring of these overdone French grainsack pillows. Unfortunately, they have just become so cliche. You can't swing a cat in a TJ Maxx or home decor shop without knocking over a stack of these.


Here's another one that I actually liked until it was just completely overdone--old transit signs as art. They make a wonderful graphic statement in the right sort of room, but they've been so over marketed that there are probably three sets of them on every block.

 

Round and Round We Go

One of my favorite spaces in a house is one that isn't even found there often. They're seen frequently in large public buildings, in classical and historically important architecture, but rarely in houses. I'm talking about the rotunda. In function, they're really just glorified, round hallways. But it's my opinion that the circulation space in houses is often overlooked but is actually one of the places where designers can make a huge statement. The means of moving from room to room is just as important as the rooms themselves.

Rotundas, unlike a standard hallway, are more than a means of getting from room "A" to room "B". They signify a "shift" of some sort, they may be the cog between public and private spaces, formal and informal, or serve as a vestibule that subliminally tells the person passing through to shift gears.

In my own work, I've found them to be a necessity in some cases--in the renovation of two large ranch houses, a rotunda served as a hub for bringing together what would otherwise have been a serpentine collision of hallways leading from old parts of the house to new. The rotundas we included in those renovations gave relief to the bowling-alley effect we would have otherwise had.

I've also used the idea of a rotunda in master suites, where the round shape served as a perfect convergence for the master bedroom, bath, and closets, and made for a very special dressing area.

I can trace my own rotunda fetish to a pretty dreadful movie from the early 90's. Anyone willing to take a guess at what movie this rotunda was featured in?


Love the inlay in the floor!

This one appears to be a half-rotunda, and again there is a beautiful inlay to reinforce the round shape: (you can check out the rest of the house this one came from HERE)


Photo by Blayne Beacham. If you aren't following her blog, you should be!


This one is elongated rather than a perfect circle. The coved ceiling and trimwork are stunning. I don't know where this one is, but it has the feel of a fine pre-war apartment.

And, finally, in this house designed by Stephen Fuller and built by Gabriel Builders, a paneled rotunda with built in bookshelves serves as a vestibule in the master suite:



Photo by TJ Getz



Setting up The Perfect Guest Room

It's the time of year when guest rooms tend to get the most use. (Unless of course you live ocean front, in which case I suspect company comes calling during the summer.) Guest rooms can tend to be somewhat forgotten spaces, particularly if they are not called upon to serve some other function when they aren't being used by visitors. Over the years of playing both guest and host, I've come up with a few tips to make guests feel right at home.

1. Invest in quality bedding. A good set of high-thread count sheets is essential. Thanks to stores like TJ Maxx, Tuesday Morning, and Marshall's, great sheets and bedding can be had at minimal cost. Have a variety of pillows. Some people (like myself) prefer a stack of big, fluffy ones, while others (like my better half) are only comfortable on flatter pillows. Have an extra blanket on hand in the closet for people who are more cold natured.

2. Give guests access to a well-stocked bathroom. Of course, ideally, each guest room should have a private bath, but that's a luxury few of us can afford. However, having  a stack of good towels and washcloths, a variety of personal hygiene items (I keep a stash of hotel-sized products on hand), a hairdryer, extra toilet tissue, and a handful of unused toothbrushes, razors, and the like, will make your guest's stay all the more pleasant.

3. Guests won't typically need much closet space, but do free up an area where they can hang a few days worth of clothing. (A set of nice wood hangers is a good touch.) A small ironing board and iron in the closet will allow them to touch up their clothes without having to hunt down your laundry room in their robe.

4. One thing I try to do is to give the guest room a personal touch in some way. I frequently swap around my framed photos when guests come--placing a photo from your previous visit together, an old family picture, etc. will make them feel at home. New magazines on a topic you know they enjoy is another good idea.

5. Setting up a small "goody basket" for your guests is another thoughtful idea. An early-rising guest or one who yearns for a midnight snack may not want to head for the kitchen when the rest of the house is asleep--so a few bottles of water, some fresh fruit, or cookies will make them feel at home.

6. Install good drapes or blinds that will control the light. It won't matter  how comfortable the bed is if the sun wakes them up too early!

7. If your guests will be on their own at all, a list of local "must-sees", recommended restaurants, and other activities they may want to do on their own will be helpful. All the better if you have a portable GPS device they can use to help them find them!

8. Consider typing up a "how-to" list that you can keep in a guest room nightstand. This might include instructions on how to access your home's wi-fi network (all the better if you have an old laptop or a "netbook" they can use to keep up with emails, etc. while they visit), how to work the television, etc.

9. Having an alarm clock, a few books (short stories are great!), and even a couple of nice robes for company is a great way to make sure their stay is a memorable one.

Small Space Living

The question of how much space do we really need has been on my mind lately. (Not "we" in a personal sense, but the collective "we".) Over my lifespan, the average American house has nearly doubled in size while the number of people occupying it has decreased. My grandparents raised four children in a house that would almost fit in my current master suite. Homes that might have been luxurious 30 years ago now "lack" adequate closet space, bathroom space, and kitchen space.

Even thinking of my own homes, I could live quite comfortably with less.  We have three guest rooms that are unlikely to ever be filled at the same time, a formal dining room that has been used, literally, twice, a morning room that I don't think I've ever sat down for a meal in. The first house I ever owned, though smaller, also had a guest room that was used a handful of times a year (and never by guests who would have been put out to sleep on a pull-out sofa) and a dining room used just as often.

Several times, I've put pen to paper (or mouse to autoCAD) trying to design a space that does exactly what it needs to do, and does it well, but no more. I'm not alone. Professionally, more and more clients are seeking quality versus quantity in their spaces. Part of this change has been driven by the challenging economy of the past few years. But, more than that, I think it's a desire for more intimate spaces, homes that are easier to keep, places where the owner can just enjoy being "home" and not spend all their time cleaning and maintaining spaces they don't need.

There are some extreme examples. CNN recently featured the story of a Japanese house that was built on a plot of land that had been sold as a parking space! There are a number of companies that specialize in tiny homes--some as small as 100 square feet.

For my own exercise, I designed a house that would suit a single person, or perhaps a couple. At just 680 square feet, it's one of the smallest houses I've ever designed. It's fully functional in a footprint scarcely larger than a two-car garage. A fully equipped kitchen (no designated dining area, but the island serves a dual function for prep and dining), a single bath, space for linens and laundry, and a comfortable bedroom with a generous closet. A wall of built-ins in the bedroom allows it to double as a home office. Vaulted ceilings in the main spaces make the house feel larger than it is, and a fireplace flanked by built-ins brings a level of detail to the great room.

Floor Plan

The exterior is a low-maintenance mix of stucco and stone under a standing seam metal roof. Large expanses of glass are seperated by stone piers inside and out, filling the house with light and capturing views.

Elevation