Friday, June 17th, 2011
Sorry for the radio silence lately, but I’ve been in the midst of moving both my home and office (since I have a home office) and the packing, moving and unpacking leaves little time for fun blog posts. I’ve been thinking of things to say to you and share, just waiting for the time to post. So here is a post that’s been formulating in my head for weeks.
Your home should create a great first impression, and a front door/entry that suits your home and your style is a great place to begin. Here are doors and entries I’m loving for their style, color and/or details.
Front door by Erin Loechner of design for mankind. I love the cohesive modern styling of the hardware and house number. The color is fabulous. And the “Hello.” frosted on the bottom of the side panel? Genius. (This has been my computer backdrop for a few weeks – which is a long time for me.)
The letter (and photos) from the editor in the May 2011 issue of Dwell magazine made me happy because I do the same thing: use my camera to document the details of a city other people wouldn’t bother to photograph. I photographed doors all around Boston and Cambridge on a visit a few years ago and turned it into a composite that I loved. Too bad the file size was so enormous the photo lab couldn’t seem to print it. But I still plan on making it work one of these days! (It turned up in the move but I haven’t found it in the boxes yet.) The result is original art that tells a story about your trip in an unexpected way. Plus look at all those great door knockers above. It’s so clear that they inject tons of personality into a small space.
Here are a few photos from a recent trip to Philly to prove my point.
Great door!
Love the mix of materials at this exterior structure on the Liberty Bell plaza.
Great woodworking details on the sides of the staircase at the Pennsylvania State House (aka. Independence Hall). Why photograph the room where they signed the Declaration of Independence when you can study the carvings on the stairs? (Though I did photograph the room because there was a great mix of Windsor chair styles.)
Pat even held up traffic so I could take this picture out the car window on our way to dinner at Pumpkin. (I’d change the wall color if I could and paint the stars over the entry is a slightly different shade to help them pop without becoming the focal point. Charcoal gray exterior and light-medium gray stars?)
Okay back to other facades I’m digging.
I love the rhythm of the facade of this house designed by Tina Manis and featured in the book “Brooklyn Modern.” Slowly move you eyes up the facade and notice how the wood boards get closer and farther apart in a different wave motion on each section. What a beautiful way to add interest using only one material.
The value of a face lift for the front of the house is clearly illustrated in this project above by interior designer Jessica Helgerson and her husband, architect Yianni Doulis, featured on Design*Sponge back in July 2009. It’s so much more inviting and open with the planter replacing the tree. The horizontal lines of the house are carried through in the windows on the new front door and the wood on the planter. The light and house numbers fit the new look.
How great is that wood slat screen created by The Brick House? Adds so much personality to an otherwise plain white home. Note the consistent style of the house numbers, light fixture and planter. Check out this post for details of her plans for the front yard to complete the look.
Do you get the gist of what I’m saying?
What inspired all this facade talk? Well, my new place has a similar mid-century vibe to some of the places above (it was built in 1953) and a front door with 3 horizontal windows. But the door has seen better days and I’m itching to paint it a bold color and repaint the cedar shakes on the exterior. I’ll have to do some photoshop renderings and get your opinions, but I’d better get back to unpacking and leave that project for another day.
Have a lovely weekend!
Tags: door, entry, front door, photographs
Posted in Design & Home Living Tips, Inspiration Boards | 1 Comment »
Tuesday, January 18th, 2011
I’ve always focused on inspiring you with images and color palettes on this blog, but I realize I rarely include my own work. After the reaction I got when I posted a couple of sneak peak photos of some bathrooms I did this fall, I realized you might enjoy seeing more of the process involved in my remodeling projects for clients.
Since I have a fun remodel in process right now, I think I’ll share a few photos with you so you can see how the space is evolving as we move through the construction process.
This is a view of the kitchen from the living room on my first visit to meet with the clients.
Here is a wrap around view of the kitchen, moving from the left side to the right side.
And a view of the wall between the kitchen and the living room (to the left) and the entry (straight ahead).
The challenge with this space is that all the walls and openings between the kitchen and the rest of the unit chopped up the sight lines and hid their amazing views of the Cathedral and the State Capital. We wanted to open the space up, increase the functionality of it, and provide a better flow for both entertaining and hanging out at home alone.
Here is the kitchen on construction day #1, all cleared out and ready for demolition!
And after a bit of demo (to say the least) the walls are opened up, the electrical work is exposed, and we get to come up with solutions.
The view from the kitchen to the living room and dining room is suddenly vastly improved as sight lines are opened up.
A few days later, a new half wall opens up the kitchen to the rest of the unit even more. All the electrical has been rerouted to maintain an uninterrupted view from the kitchen all the way to the State Capital.
Isn’t it amazing how different it looks once the drywall is installed? The beams conceal the electrical work and accommodate new pendant lighting over the future raised breakfast counter. Now when guests walk in the front door they won’t be trapped in a narrow hall with no view – they’ll walk into a open space with views in every direction.
Next steps: painting, installing flooring, installing cabinetry, installing countertops and appliances, finalizing updates to the bathrooms, installing new blinds, and installing new lighting. (You don’t want to see the actual super detailed list of steps involved in each of these tasks, but trust me, we’re so on top of it!)
We still have a lot of work to do, but you can see how much work has been accomplished already. The messy phase is almost complete, and now we get to start bringing in the color, texture and patterns. I can’t wait to see it all pulled together!
Did you enjoy this sneak peak behind the scenes of a construction project? Would you like to see more?
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Tags: construction, dining room, entry, interior design, Kitchen, living room, remodel, twin cities
Posted in Sneak Peak | 2 Comments »
Tuesday, October 19th, 2010
Guess what arrived this week for our viewing pleasure? The new House Beautiful, and it’s their “The Ultimate Entertaining Issue.” I love to entertain and I think it’s fascinating how different people are comfortable throwing different types of parties. For instance, I enjoy a casual cocktail party with an open bar, a long counter covered with unfussy eats that will hold up at room temperature for hours. I’ve tried making fancy hors d’oeuvres or cooking up fresh pot stickers, but when people are milling around for hours time-sensitive food just doesn’t make sense. But if you have a cocktail party with a two hour window, go all out! In contrast, a dinner party for 10 requires a different plan, set up and thoughtful details like the seating arrangement (so the most talkative are across the middle of the table from each other so that everyone will feel involved in the conversation. Or put a quiet and talkative together, as long as they have plenty in common to carry them through the evening.)
Even if your are serving take-out on your best china, you will be spending time in the kitchen before the party begins. A beautiful kitchen makes the party prep more enjoyable. This kitchen has a great mix of rustic and refined elements. The old wood on the walls is all reclaimed as this house is actually brand new. The designer did a great job creating a space that feels like a really nice farm kitchen. The industrial scale faucet is an unexpected touch in this style kitchen, which is all the more reason to do it. And the butcher block counter under the window would make chopping up piles of vegetables so inviting. (But I find chopping up vegetables relaxing anyway, so maybe that’s just me.)
Creating a good impression when entertaining starts with the entry. This is a lovely, warm and inviting example. A nice place to sit down to take off your shoes. (I make my guests take off their shoes in the Japanese tradition. No high heel marks in the wood floors and no dirt tracked in.) The plant softens the space. I like that the rug doesn’t match the pattern on the sofa. It shows they aren’t afraid to be playful.
When entertaining, the front hall closet suddenly takes on importance because you need to fit your guests coats in it in addition to all the usual random items that are stuffed in there. These are a few good examples that highlight both good organization and use of color. I think wallpapering the bi-fold doors to blend in with the walls (bottom right photo) is a great idea for those less than fabulous doors.
Once your guests start arriving you might show them into your living room for some hors d’oeuvres. We don’t want them to get too comfortable and settled, so this living room strikes a nice balance. The beautiful vintage PK Sofa and Finn Juhl armchairs are approachable, so your guests won’t be afraid to take a seat and get conversations started, but they won’t be sinking in and getting lost in giant cushions either.
You might consider returning here after dinner to enjoy a nice fire in the real fireplace. The fireplace surround has such a clean minimal design that complements the furnishings.
An inviting dining area is important if you are hosting a sit-down dinner. This room emphasizes the fact that you don’t need a fancy space. The mix of chairs, worn wood, an old rug and lots of natural light makes me want to sit here for hours catching up with old friends. A couple of bottles of wine, a hearty bowl of soup, a rustic loaf of bread and some good cheeses are all you need for a dinner party.
After dinner you can retire to the library for a relaxing chat with your dearest. I love the mix of mid-century classics (the Egg Chair by Arne Jacobsen and the ubiquitous cowhide rug) and a sleek fireplace facade. The wraparound floating wood shelves update the library concept in a fresh way.
You’ve survived hosting a lovely party for your friends, so now it’s time to take care of yourself. Sink into a tub of lusciously scented warm water (bubbles optional). Enjoy a few more sips of wine (you don’t want the end of the last bottle to go to waste) with a truffle you kept hidden for your reward.
Now go curl up in that big bed and look forward to waking up tomorrow morning to a fresh new day in this soft and peaceful bedroom. (How fun is that sparkly stool next to the chair?! A great bench at the foot of the bed offers storage along with a place to throw your robe, extra blankets and throw pillows. I love that the bedside table has room for all the bedside necessities, with both open and closed storage options.)
Now you better start planning your next party so you can go through it all again.
Tags: Bathroom, bedroom, closet, dining room, entry, Kitchen, library, living room, midecentury modern
Posted in Hot off the Press | No Comments »
Thursday, April 15th, 2010
Now that we’ve explored the changes to the lower level, let’s move on up to the main floor of this home. As I mentioned previously, we were inspired by the lessons in Sarah Susanka’s “Not So Big House” books. In total there were 21 principles we incorporated into the home, ranging from spacial defining principles such as Entry, Shelter around Activity, and Sequence of Places to the light and sightline related principles Inside Outside, Connecting Views, and Light to Walk Toward. You will see many of these principles put into practice on the first floor.
We strengthened the entry to make it a space in its own right. Since storage for coats, mittens, boots, etc. was not in the original plan for the entry, I designed a tall built-in piece that has both hanging space and shelves where baskets can be placed to hold loose items. Under the window on the opposite wall there will be a mat for wet shoe storage (always a necessity in snowy Minnesota!)
Another significant addition was the storage towers designed to wrap around each of the support columns that run down the middle of the first floor. Storage is always a necessity in any home, and with such an open floor plan it can be a challenge to find places to put both things you want to display and things you want to have out of sight. From books and pretty vases to stereo equipment and party platters, these new storage towers accommodate it all. I’ve even incorporated a laundry chute that connects the 2nd & 1st floors to the laundry room in the lower level, perfect for quickly throwing those dirty kitchen towels into the “laundry basket” without running up and down the stairs.
To further enhance the functionality of the entry, the first column has a bench incorporated into the end that faces the front door. This serves as the perfect spot to sit down and take off or put on shoes. Plus storage for dog food is cleverly concealed under the flip-up lid (the dog’s kennel will be located in the entry next to the powder room.) Art or hooks can be placed above the bench. Art would provide a focal point and spot for the eye to rest before it continues to look down the vista through the house to the backyard through the sliding glass doors on the end of the kitchen (Connecting Views & Light to Walk Towards.)
The other two columns offer a mixture of open and closed storage. The column closed to the kitchen serves as storage space for pantry items and larger plates and platters.
In the kitchen I changed the layout significantly to add more work surfaces as well as help define the boundaries between the kitchen and living room.
This view is looking towards the sliding doors on the front of the house across the raised bar counter. You can see the pantry storage on the column on the right side of the view with both glass doors and large drawers.
Looking at the kitchen from the dining room. Here you can see the main work zone with a built-in refrigerator and range.
Here is the four views of the kitchen island. There is open space on the dining room end where stools can be tucked underneath. False doors on the ends of the cabinets are mixed in with functional narrow drawers on the sides of the island to create a uniform aesthetic.
Even the dining room is improved with the addition of a low built-in. Rather than doing a standard height set of cabinets along this wall, I did a low slung version with a mixture of doors and drawers (if you look back to the inspiration images you can find the idea that inspired this choice.) It’s great to have room for placemats, napkins, the silver chest, and other dining room related items within easy reach. Plus this offers a great ledge for informally displaying artwork – vases and platters mixed with framed art leaning casually against the wall looks just right. Hanging sconces on either side of the windows helps frame the view as well as offer options for different lighting levels – always important in a dining room.
So those are the highlights of the first floor! What’s your favorite part? It’s a lot of information, so I didn’t want to overwhelm you with details. Are there parts you’d like explained more? Stay tuned for the third floor – see how the three bedrooms and two bathrooms offer livable private spaces for this home.
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Tags: bench, built-ins, columns, dining room, entry, Kitchen, living room, Not So Big House, storage
Posted in Design & Home Living Tips | No Comments »
Colleen Fox Slack | email: colleen@colleenfoxinteriors.com | phone: 612.868.0348
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