Copper and wood are two of nature’s most beautiful materials. Tamasine Osher has used copper piping, along with wood, to create some gorgeous industrial-chic pieces. It’s a very innovative use of a material that might otherwise have been used for scrap! What do you think?
Jim & Theresa’s House on the Venice Canal
Apartment Therapy
“The moment I spotted Jim and Theresa’s home on CA Home + Design online I knew it was unique. To my happy surprise their interior designer Erinn Valencich of Erinn V. Design Group happened to be a recent acquaintance of mine. Welcome to a lovely family home that sits right on the water of the Venice canals.”
Homes with Incredible Backyards
Forbes
Check out this roundup beautiful luxurious yards that Forbes put together.
Designers’ Homes on the Market
Architectural Digest
“To coincide with the April designers’ own homes issue, AD presents a portfolio of seven extraordinary estates for sale, all of which were conceived–and inhabited by–prominent architects and decorators.”
Builders’ Special
Dwell
“A resourceful sound mixer sources some local design talent, rolls up his sleeves, and builds small, green, and affordable in Bozeman, Montana.”
Today, we are pleased to share another winner of the myMarvin Architect’s Challenge. Nils Finne of FINNE Architects in Seattle designed a beautiful cabin located on a wooded waterfront property on Lake Superior. The Eagle Harbor Cabin stands majestically on the northern edge of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula. Featuring the rocky, ocean-like shoreline of Lake Superior, the wooded three-acre site provides a dramatic backdrop for this 2,000-square-foot cabin.
Cantilevering toward the water with a 40-ft.-long glass wall facing the spectacular beauty of the lake, the cabin is composed of two simple volumes: a large open living/dining/kitchen space with an open timber ceiling structure and a two-story “bedroom tower,” with the kids’ bedroom on the ground floor and the parents’ bedroom stacked above.
The cabin demonstrates a simple, elemental quality utilizing native Michigan hardwoods such as maple and birch. The interior spaces are wood paneled, with exposed framing in the ceiling. The cabinets use PLYBOO, an FSC-certified bamboo product, with mahogany end panels. Other custom touches include a curvilinear maple entry screen, a custom mahogany coffee table and a curvilinear dining table made of mahogany and steel.
The exterior of the cabin is clad in corrugated metal siding, offset by the tall fireplace mass of Montana ledgestone at the east end.
This home also incorporates a number of sustainable building features, including 2×8 construction (40% greater insulation value), generous glass areas for natural lighting and ventilation, large overhangs for sun and snow protection and metal siding for maximum durability. Sustainable interior finish materials include bamboo/plywood cabinets, locally grown maple flooring and birch paneling, linoleum floors and low-VOC paints.
Both Marvin windows and Marvin doors were used in this project.
To see more about the Architect’s Challenge, please go here.
Here’s a kitchen question for you: let’s say that you want to change something in your kitchen, but it can only be one thing. What would it be?
What one part of your kitchen would you change? Let us know in the comments!
Ah, the humble shower. It’s the way most of us choose to get clean every day, but it’s usually a pretty simple affair: you stand and the water pours over you. If you wanted to lie or sit down in the shower, you would end up with a face full of water and would probably end up just choosing to take a bath.
Luckily, there’s a (luxurious) solution: Meiré und Meiré, a German company, offers “…a private spa, presenting the architectural inspiration for a tour through water competence.” They even have a solution for anyone who has wanted to lie down and take a relaxing shower.
What do you think? Would you ever want something like this to give you more showering options?
Images courtesy of Meiré und Meiré.
At the last week’s International Builders Show in Orlando, Marvin Windows as pleased to be visited by renowned designer Marianne Cusato.
We were able to take a few minutes of her time to discuss her approach to design and using a home’s space efficiently. She shared some great thoughts on how to use windows wisely — thinking about their size and placement as a way to make a home feel larger and more enjoyable and even helping add value to the home.
Not all square feet are made equal, Cusato said. ”Paying attention to little details — simply where a window is located, the size of the window — will exponentially make a house feel larger, live larger and be much more pleasant at all times of the day.”
Windows don’t just let light in. They let you look out, so you are, in effect, “borrowing space from outside,” Cusato said.
Many homes have lots of windows concentrated in the front of the house, which looks nice and can, at times, provide nice views. But spreading the windows more strategically throughout a home can add tremendous value as it helps establish a connection with the outdoors. Letting people interact with the outdoors — either physically or simply through well-placed windows and great views — is an important part of making a house feel like a home.
Here’s a brief video that includes some more thoughts from Cusato:
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?
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?
