interior design ideas: April 2009

Home Design Room Layout: Sketches Work Great!

Sketches on tracing paper in the preliminary design phase come in handy to see alternate room layouts and spatial relationships. Clients love the artistry involved and the human element to their design.

The client was unsure about whether to have the wood stove centered on the gable endwall or in the corner. The sketches were quick and extremely helpful in showing various furniture layouts as well as window and door options.

Current Home Design Trends

Trends in home design are moving away from specific rooms and space to materials and energy efficiency. This delightful (and beneficial) competition between neighbors, communities, and states to become more energy conscious and less dependent on fossil fuels has resulted in thousands of people reducing their carbon footprint.
Here are some of the current trends in home design:

1. Reduce, reuse, recycle: More and more homeowners are looking to purchase recycled building materials to use in their new home. Timbers, siding, decking, trim, doors, brick, and stone are all great materials to reuse. Simple, bio-degradable materials are replacing resources that harm the environment.
2. Here comes the sun: Solar energy systems, particularly solar hot water heaters and solar photovoltaic (PV) systems to produce electricity are extremely popular. The current tax credit is 30% of the total cost (product + installation), with no upper limit. (see ENERGY STAR for details)
3. Size and flexibility matter: Small home designs are more popular than the rambling, spacious mansions of the past. Homeowners are addressing changes in lifestyle by replacing separate dining and living areas with large, multi-purpose family rooms, and adding sliding or pocket doors which allow flexibility in living space. First-floor bonus rooms which can be used as a home office or additional bedroom address changing needs.
4. Save a buck: Let’s face it: low maintenance is in. Popular low maintenance materials include green flooring, tankless water heaters, ENERGY STAR appliances. Low-maintenance landscaping using native plants has a positive effect on the site by reducing irrigation, pesticides, and fertilizers – which means less time you will spend taking care of it.
5. Accessibility: Universal home design address the comfort of people of all ages and abilities. Features that may be eliminated are spiral staircases, sunken or raised living rooms, and high cabinets or shelves. Wide hallways and low storage areas are incorporated into the home design without sacrificing the home’s beauty and appearance.

Going green makes $ense: with green technology and materials flooding the market, prices continue to come down, saving you money over the life of the material. Green home design is the start of the home’s life cycle – and undoubtedly its most important phase, as the home’s space, features, and systems are designed to work together as a whole for your benefit and comfort – and the environment’s.

So Pretty-New Products from Jardins En Fleur

We got an email from Jardins En Fleur about their new pieces today. OMG they are so pretty! You probably know from our previous post that this is one of our favorite new vendors. The prices are getting more reasonable. The chairs shown are about $350-400/each. The console table is about $1500.

If you like the softer, prettier style of home decor, this line is so for you. It's Asian decor done in a very modern and original way.

Here are pictures of the new pieces. They are shown here in white lacquer, which is a great neutralizing color. We love using it in rooms with lots of colors or patterns...

If you need pricing and availability, please visit our home decor store. Thanks!

Fresh Bedding from Mystic Valley Trading

We haven't purchased any bedding for our store for a while, mainly because they are a bit cumbersome to sell. But we just received our Mystic Valley Trading catalog today and they have some really pretty stuff! What's more, they put everything into one convenient package so we don't have to list each piece individually.

Here are some bedding from the Spring collection that we really like. They look fresh and fun.

The bedding sell for about $1500-$2000 per ensemble. To see more, visit the Mystic Valley web site. To get pricing and availabililty, please drop us a line.

Modern Fabrics from Duralee

Duralee just came out with a collection of modern fabrics that we thought are really pretty.

Here is a sample of it. To see each sample, check out the Duralee's Simply Modern Collection.
There are five additional books...

To get pricing and availability, please visit our fabric store.

Bargain Buys from Arteriors Home

We decided that every Friday should be the designated "bargain day", what do you think? On this day, we will post all manufacturer bargains that we feel are tremendous buys. Again, these are brand-new, top-of-the-the line overstock from the manufacturers (no need to worry whether people had sex on that couch you got from Craigslist!).

Here are some bargains from Arteriors Home--they make beautiful chandeliers and accessories....

This horse sculpture has always been one of our best sellers. It was $350 now it is $160. Very Hollywood-Regency-ish, don't you think?

This Pagoda chandelier originally sold for $1000, now $500

We love this one. It comes with a sconce as well. Originally $1250 now $600!

This chandelier is really dramatic in person, especially if you are into green. This used to be $1800, now it is $650

This one is smaller in scale and is perfect for a powder room. It used to be $1200, now it is $500

Isn't this one cute? It is now $850 (was $2400-okay, it was a little over-priced)

This one is adorable in person. It used to be $1500. Now it is $650

This sconce has a matching chandelier (see above). Used to be $400. Now it is $160.

This table was orginally $600, now $250

This looks great as a pair. Used to be $400 now $175/ea

All prices listed above do not including shipping cost. Stock is limited. If you would like to purchase these items or need to get dimensions/more info, please drop us a line...

Amazing Bargains on Modern Furniture-Nuevo Living

We are on a bargain hunting mode lately. Who isn't with this economy!

So we've been browsing through all the manufacturers bargains that have been sent our way. You see, manufacturers need to make room for new inventory, new styles, whatever, then they send us the lists of items that have been marked down like crazy.

Here are some bargains for the day from Nuevo, which specializes in modern furniture. We like the quality of their furniture quite a bit. We use their barstools for restaurant projects and they hold up really well.

We've listed the prices here but keep in mind that they do not include shipping cost.

This cool -looking chair is only $210.

This one is shown in black but the only color available is brown. The leather is top grain Italian leather. It is $210.

This floor lamp is $150 .

This sofa is $950. It is also available in a loveseat ($700).

This sectional is $1700!

If you are interested in any of these items, drop us a line. Again, these prices exclude shipping cost, which vary depending on the qty and the location of where you live. Also, stock is limited.

Keeping a Green Home, Remotely

As seen in a recent online issue of The New York Times, soon you will be able to monitor the energy efficiency of your home on your cell phone, wherever you are.

The soon-to-be-released tool, called TREE (Tendril Residential Energy Ecosystem), will allow homeowners to turn appliances, heating, and cooling systems on and off from work, the theatre, or the kids’ soccer practice. Similar to a video game, TREE will integrate with a collection of tools to track energy consumption and broadcast the results to local and distant displays. If your electricity consumption rises above certain levels, a display will start flashing a different color, allowing you to decide which systems you can shut off.

TREE will compare your home’s energy consumption with similar sized homes in your neighborhood, make suggestions on how to reduce your energy, and predict how much lowering the thermostat will lower your bill. How's that for monitoring your carbon footprint?

TREE is expected to be released late this year. To read the full article, click here.

Z Gallerie Filed Chapter 11

Z Gallerie filed chapter 11 today, citing difficult economic environment.

More information can be found here:

Z Gallerie News

Lakefront Home Plans - NH

Here are green home plans for clients building a vacation home on their lakefront property located in rural New Hampshire. The property has an existing cottage, which will be torn down.

The new energy efficient home will be just shy of 2500 square feet, with 1530 square feet on the first floor and 950 square feet on the second floor. With three bedrooms and 2 1/2 baths, the home will have plenty of room for visiting children and grandchildren. The site plan shows the lakefront and proposed location of the home.

One of our clients' requirements was to have a first floor Master Bedroom with view of the lake. Planning to do a lot of entertaining, they also desired a large screened porch for enjoying evenings on the lake with protection from insects. Adding a one-car garage at an angle to the house allows for an extended dining area and nicely houses a walk-in pantry and mudroom / laundry. We're talking about a solar hot water system and possible solar photovoltaic system. All materials will be energy efficient and low maintenance - a must for a vacation / retirement home.

The entrance to the home is designed to have an unobstructed, straight view to the lake, which makes the open floor plan appear even larger than it is, and brings the outdoors into the home. The second floor includes a large home office with a walk-out balcony. Overnight guests have plenty of room with two bedrooms and a large bathroom. A generous storage area next to the stairs will come in handy to store seasonal items.

See more of my current work, including some timber frame homes.

Five Reasons to Use Solar Energy in Green Homes

Here are five good reasons to utilize a solar energy system in your new home:

1) Solar energy is clean and sustainable, which helps to protect the environment and does not contribute to global warming, acid rain, or smog

2) Solar energy reduces our dependency on power companies

3) Systems can be configured to meet virtually any power demand load

4) Advancements in solar energy systems have made them extremely cost effective. While costs for natural gas and petroleum continue to rise, solar energy technology continues to fall in price.

5) Most solar energy systems do not require any maintenance during their lifespan, and many carry warranties which cover their life spans of twenty to thirty years.

Still unsure? Check out the U.S. Department of Energy’s website on “Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy”. They have information, charts, and calculations to help you make the right decision.

http://www1.eere.energy.gov/solar/

Small Green Home Design

I met Pat and Andy at a Log and Timber Frame Home Show, and shortly after, they asked me to design their vacation / retirement home on their property in northern Maine. While they like timber frame homes, they thought it might be too much for this modest project.

Their project goals were:

Small footprint to minimize carbon footprint
Energy efficiency in all four New England seasons
Environmentally-conscious to minimize site impact
Low maintenance and durability, easy to open and close up
Security in rural setting
Take advantage of lake views
Possible addition in future

Translating their goals into an energy efficient, small home design was not a problem, as Pat and Andy had collected a three-ring binder full of notes, pictures, and ideas. The home design, at 1100 square feet, is both energy efficient and practical.

The plan is a passive solar design, with the first floor receiving the low winter sun in early morning and late evening under the varied depth of the porch roof. The second floor, meanwhile, has a moderate roof overhang and will always provide abundant light

Natural cross ventilation will come from the east, south, and west elevations. A cupola provides release for summer heat, and also adds to the architectural aesthetics.

The north side of the building includes a first floor laundry with a storage bench under the window. This is the most buildable side of the design, and will be the location of a future addition to the home.

A central stairway fits nicely in the small home design, eliminating the need for hallways and keeping the footprint to a minimum. Its openness provides natural light between floors and increases ventilation.