5 Brilliant Small Bathroom Layouts That Work in Any Home
CalFinder Blog
“It goes without saying: a bathroom is an important place in the house. The bathroom provides a huge percentage of your home’s functionality—and has to look great for when guests are over. But remodeling a small bathroom can be especially tough. You want a shower-with-vanity set-up, but limited space doesn’t seem to allow for that without feeling cramped. Well. Here are some bathroom ideas that make everything work, and with great style.”

Top Before and Afters of 2011
Hooked on Houses
Yes, we know — we’re 5 weeks past the New Year. But still, these are some great-looking projects. Too good to not share.

Imperfections Make It Perfect
Remodeling Guy
“But the thing that really made me stare for awhile was the authenticity of this look. It’s not easy for most people to pull-off. I’ll give you the secret… Mess Up On Purpose! I’ve built rooms like this and one of the biggest challenges, yet most important requirements, is to get the carpenters to go against their training.”

8 Colors for South-Facing Rooms
Houzz.com
“In many homes, the south-facing room is the sunniest spot in the house because windows that face south receive the most direct sunlight throughout the year. These sun-drenched spaces are warm and well-lit during the day which can be a blessing in the winter, but it can also be too much of good thing. South-facing rooms sometimes benefit from a drop in visual temperature. The best way to accomplish this is by using cool colors.”

Over at Architectural Digest, they are featuring some beautiful celebrity kitchens. We recommend checking them all out and imagining how your favorite celebrities whip up gourmet meals, but we have to share the one we loved the most. Feast your eyes on this unusual kitchen:

No, it’s not in a European dungeon — although you probably figured that out from the stainless steel appliances. It’s Gerard Butler’s New York kitchen and it manages to be subtly masculine and cozy at the same. It seems like the sort of kitchen where you might roast a whole pig just as easily as you could boil up some pasta.

During the colder months, this kitchen would be especially nice to warm up in. It’s not the typical light and bright kitchen we’re used to seeing, but it works. We’re jealous of Gerard! You can read more about it here.

What do you think of his kitchen?

Image courtesy of Architectural Digest

5 Ways to Make a Better Entrance
Houzz.com
“The entryway is the first visible part of a home’s interior, so it’s important to keep it neat and stylish. But it also has the inevitable tendency to become a catch-all for everyone’s junk collected throughout the day. The key is to keep both functions in mind when setting up your entry. This is one space guaranteed to be used every day, so treat it as a room and not just an awkward transitional area. These 5 tips should help you create a functional and tidy and welcome to your home.”

Plugwise Eliminates Excess Energy Use
Jetson Green
“California-based kWh Power is tackling phantom energy loss by introducing the Plugwise system in the United States. Developed by Dutch company Plugwise in 2006, this system allows you to monitor, track, and control unnecessary energy use throughout your home or office. The system consists of ‘Circles’ which are plugged into standard wall outlets to measure load on that outlet, and a ‘Stick’ that wirelessly relays data from the circles to your computer, where Plugwise Source, the monitoring and management software, allows you see and control usage. Data can also be uploaded to the web for remote access via laptops and smartphones.”

Small Kitchen Layouts to Inspire Your Remodel
CalFinder Blog
“The kitchen seems a straightforward thing. It’s a place to cook. Entertain. You have a refrigerator, a stove. Often a dishwasher. Food comes in, food gets served. But it’s not as simple as that, of course. Especially if you’re looking at your existing kitchen that your home may have come with, and reconsidering how you can create the exact kitchen you want. Perhaps you’re doing a full kitchen remodel, and have no idea what kind of kitchen will benefit you the most. Well. We are here to serve and help you.”

Thinking about redesigning or just sprucing up an existing space?
Home Renovation Guide
“Unlike the homes in the magazines, most of us will never own a Schonbek crystal chandelier to tower over a twelve-seater dining table. In fact, these days we’re lucky if there’s enough floor space in our homes for a dining room at all! Multi-functional, small scale and affordable is the way many of us live. And as more people move into and vie for premium spaces in the cities, large spaces will continue to be an expensive option. We all want our homes to look good. But money, time and resources often limit what we can accomplish in our homes.”

Here’s a new thing that can be recycled and re-purposed: stuffed animals! Tree Hugger tells the story of an artist, Augustina Woodgate, and her rugs made out of the “skins” of stuffed animals.

To make the rugs, she removes the animals’ heads and the stuffing from the bodies and uses the skins, together with other stuffed animals’ skins, to create a rug that looks almost like no other rug you’ve seen before. Its trippy look could work well in a family or living room (we’re picturing it in a mid-century home) or even a child’s room.

What do you think? Weirdest rug material ever or ingenious use of old materials to create usable art?

Photos courtesy of Tree Hugger.

A stunning restoration and renovation of a historic plantation home on the Eastern Shore of Virginia by Stephen Muse and William Kiwan of Muse Architects, this project was awarded because of its meticulous attention to detail, authenticity and preservation.

Originally constructed in 1784 and expanded in 1829, the brick-ended clapboard structure with twin Georgian entry porches follows a one bay deep linear plan typical of Tidewater homes.

Along with complete renovation and restoration of the original house, the scope of work included removal of recent out-of-character additions and construction of additional living space capturing the view of nearby Hungar’s Creek.

To accomplish this, the twin porches from the drive side of the house were replicated on the waterfront side and a new kitchen with breakfast bay was connected to the existing structure by a one-story hyphen.

Additional work included the restoration of all outbuildings, construction of a new garage and the restoration of all driveways, walkways and gardens.

Marvin products used in the project included Ultimate Double Hung Windows, French Casement Windows, Ultimate Casement Windows, Stationary Windows and Transom Windows.

To see more winners and learn more about the Architect’s Challenge, please visit Marvin.

Welcome to 2012, MLuxe readers! It’s a new year and a fresh start. We want to know if you have any New Year’s Resolutions for your home. Here are a couple of ideas:

• Get organized! Getting rid of clutter will automatically make your home look better, and what better time to get motivated for organization than in the New Year?
• Tackle a DIY project. Just remember to take an honest look at what your capabilities are and start small. A good rule of thumb is that if you think you might need a pro, then you probably do.
• Start planning for a big remodel – a kitchen, a bathroom or even a new addition to your house. You might not get it done in 2012, but you’ll be on your way! Planning is an extraordinarily important part of the remodeling process. You need to think about what you want. You need time to get inspired. And of course, you need to figure out the practical financial aspects. Make 2012 the year to get your remodeling planning in place.

Need some more help with your home plans? Try out the Online Remodeling Planner.

Here’s to 2012 being the best year ever for you and your home!

Today the marketing department at Marvin Windows and Doors had the privilege of hearing Sarah Susanka talk to us about her work. Sarah has been a long-time friend of Marvin and we are huge fans of her. She’s a top architect, designer, author, visionary and all-around good person.

Sarah talked about her new showhouse in Libertyville, Ill., which feature both Marvin and Integrity windows. She shared some of her design tips with us. Here’s a sampling.

• Varied ceiling heights. This makes a room feel cozy instead of stark.
• Aligning the house so that the eye has something to be drawn towards. For instance, Sarah designed the entry of the Libertyville house with a recessed shelf that can hold some artwork or a vase of flowers. You see the focal point as soon as you enter in through the door.
• Walking towards light. As Sarah reminded us, human beings are drawn towards light, so when designing a home, it’s important that we are able to move towards light-filled spaces, whether that is a window, a door, or just a lighted area on a wall.
• Multi-use spaces. Sarah showed us a floor plan that could be switched around to include large gatherings. As she pointed out, in traditional home plans, there are often spaces that get used once or twice a year. Why not design homes to be as flexible as possible?

Learn more about Sarah and her Not So Big philosophy here.

Image courtesy of Susanka.com.

This meticulously considered renovation by Douglas Larson of Larson and Paul Architects transformed a decrepit 19th-century farmhouse in Stanfordville, N.Y., into a weekend retreat for a New York City family. It also was a winner in the 2011 myMarvin Architect’s Challenge.

A plan to preserve the original structure as well as harvest as many reusable materials as possible, resulted in the creation of a comfortable, modern, green design while maintaining the simplicity and charm of the home’s history.

Of particular note, restoration of the original post and beam framing allowed for installation of an open wall of glass featuring Marvin Wood Ultimate Sliding French Doors to showcase a stunning mountain view on one of Duchess County’s most scenic country roads.

Marvin products used in the project included in sash wood polygons, Ultimate Casement windows, the Ultimate Sliding French Door, Ultimate Double Hung windows and Tilt Turn windows.

Learn more about the project on Marvin.com.

French McDonald’s restaurants will soon have a new look. It’s designed “for the brand to get back to family-based fast food dining instead of the image that it had become over the years as a teenage hangout.”

Compared to the current Mickey D’s, this design is sparsely elegant. Some of the wall panels recall an old diner, hearkening back to McDonald’s roots.

What do you think? Do you love this idea or does it take away from the Golden Arches you’ve always known? Check out Design Milk to see more pictures!

Images courtesy of Design Milk

As the current recession turns in to years, the homes we live in are changing and the effects of this could very well influence home building for decades to come. The Wall Street Journal recently covered some trends they’re seeing, as well as things that are fading by the wayside.

• The end of the closed-off, one-purpose living room is coming to an end. What people want now is a large living space, with living, kitchen and dining rooms spilling in to each other.
• Older homes used to have a grand staircase in the front of the home, with a much simpler, utilitarian one in the back. But with the coming “silver tsunami” that secondstaircase is making way for an elevator. When people are too ill or infirm to take the stairs, it doesn’t matter that there are two sets.
• Instead of an office or library, a new trend is for a multipurpose room that can be used for working, doing homework, reading, paying bills, etc.
• A Jacuzzi in the bathroom can be wonderful, but how often is it really used? Most people use a shower for their cleaning purposes, so there are going to be more enhancements to that, such as steam.
• As the Wall Street Journal notes, “As the kitchen has opened up into the dining room, there’s less need for a separate, small table for breakfast.” What to do with that extra space? The sky is the limit but builders are seeing a desire for more outdoor space.