Nice Space, Good House Design

I ran across this photo of a nice modern bedroom space and thought I would pass it on along with a couple of thoughts.

• Obviously the design is all about the connection with the outdoors. Floor to ceiling glass with a patio directly outside bleed the definition between outside and inside. If it was my design I might have extended the roof line outward to create a covered patio zone. This would have created a transitional space between inside and outside.
• The room is nearly void of detail. Why distract from the view?
• A very simple palette of material and color. The decorating takes a back seat to the outdoors.

So what's the moral to this story? If you have a beautiful yard take advantage of it. Spend more money on glass and patio / porch space and spend less by keeping the interiors more minimal.

PS - you can see more photos of this home at http://www.househomedesign.com/residential-home-design/luxury-residence-in-bridgehampton

Custom Architect Designed House Plans for $10K?

So how much does good home design cost?

To have an Architect tailor a home design specifically for you and your building site it can cost quite a bit. Full service Architectural fees can cost anywhere from 8% to 15% of the construction cost of your home. As an example a $400,000 home could run from $32,000 to $60,000 in architectural fees.

Many clients however do not have the budget to accommodate those kinds of fees. So are there any alternatives to this approach?

• You can spend countless hours searching through pre-designed house plans trying to find one that fits your needs.
• You can try to find a residential designer that has lower rates (but you might sacrifice on design quality and creativity).
• You can find a Residential Architect that has created a special package of services to provide a home design tailored for you and your site for around $10,000. This is exactly what we have done at Simply Elegant Home Designs.

We call this the $10k home design solution. We believe that anyone that is going to invest several hundred thousand dollars on a new home ought to have high quality design available to them; and that $10,000 is a reasonable investment that nearly everyone should be able to justify. Through our experiences working directly with many individual clients and builders we have identified the most important elements in the design process and what needs to be communicated in the drawings. We have taken our understanding of these most important elements and incorporated them (leaving out the fluff) into our $10K home design solution. Below is a brief summary of that package:

• Program Review - This begins with a meeting where we discuss your building program in detail; your list of space needs, important adjacencies, interior and exterior aesthetic goals, views, site orientation and other site issues. Ideally we meet at your building site so we can get a feeling for the lay of the land together. Then we take what we learn and summarize it into our Building Program document. This serves as our guide for beginning the design of your home. For an example of a completed Building Program see the following link: Sample Building Program

• Schematic Design - This is where we look at preliminary design solutions for your project. We will look at plan and exterior image sketches which describe possible options for the layout of your new home. After meeting with you to review the options we then refine them into one cohesive design that meets your needs. For an example of a completed schematic design see the following link: Sample Schematic Design

• Construction Documents - This is where we put all the detailed pieces together which explains to the contractor the elements of the house so they can complete the bids and begin construction. As we prepare the construction documents we provide you with updated plans that are increasingly more detailed. This helps to ensure your complete understanding of the project. In the end we provide you with a concise set of plans, elevations, sections and specifications which together describe the project to your contractor. This is what they will build your home from. For an example of completed construction documents see the following link: Sample Construction Documents

The $10K Home Design Solution may not work for everyone. Because the fee is limited to this modest amount there are limits to building size and complexity of the design. To find out if this is the right solution for you give us a call at Simply Elegant Home Designs. Or call a good Residential Architect of your own choosing to see if they have a similar package available.

Its Complicated House

Over the past year I have had several clients make reference to the movie "It's Complicated" starring Meryl Streep, Alec Baldwin and Steve Martin. They all love the house that Meryl lives in but cannot put into words exactly what it is that draws them. So I thought I would take a little closer look to see if I could discover the secret to this house.

The exterior of the home is very unassuming. Simple composition with handsome materials and elegant window patterns. The landscape is an important element to this homes exterior.

The foyer demonstrates the use of a simple material and color palette. Rustic wood and quarry tile floors, neutral plaster and painted trim. The dark windows add a level of sophistication. Also notice how the simple arches break down the length of the hallway.

A very simple but well proportioned composition of fireplace and bookcases. The wood beamed ceiling adds a coziness to a space that might otherwise feel too voluminous.

The kitchen is light, airy and very casual. Open shelving in lieu of cabinets. Wall mounted pot rack. Same earthy palette seen throughout the rest of the public areas.

The architecture of the bedroom remains neutral while the interior treatments liven up the space.

Subtle details add sophistication. The painted two toned wood floors and cabinets are unique.

To sum up this house I would say it has a very simple, yet sophisticated architectural theme both inside and out. Natural materials and color tones along with restrained decorating provide an overall soothing feeling. The home is at once casual and elegant - "casual elegance". It's a home that does not try to impress, but it does so anyway through it's subtleties. I can definitely see why people love this home.

Architects Have Great Tools!

Every once in a while I like to give you an example of the tools we use in this business called Architecture. Things have come a long way since the old pencil and straight edge days. Now we perform all of our designs "virtually" using 3 dimensional computer programs. These programs allow an Architect to understand and communicate a design better.

Below is an example of a design for a client that has been completed. But we are trying to get a better feeling for a potential color scheme. In this case my client had a few color schemes in mind. So I did a series of studies using "Sketchup" - one of our 3d modeling tools. This is a great way of testing a color scheme before you get committed to it.

These studies helped my client get comfortable (excited even) with her color choices.

So don't just use those little paint chip cards to make your final selections. Get your colored pencils out and test the scheme on one of your house elevations. Or better yet have your design professional test the color scheme using a 3d modeling tool like I do.

Builders Get Fresh!

Today I have a commentary written by Jim Kirkland - a good friend of mine, and multi-talented individual who has been in the building business for some time. In this article, after visiting quite a few "Parade Homes" in the Twin Cities area, Jim makes some great observations about the tendency to "mimic". In these tough times however, I believe it is more important than ever for builders to distinguish themselves through good, creative and fresh design.

Builders Get Fresh, By Jim Kirkland

I recently spent an afternoon touring the Minneapolis / St. Paul metro area Spring Parade of Homes. As a designer and builder of residential properties myself, I have always loved following the trends in our industry and touring model homes.

But I have to say, this Spring, there sure are a lot of ordinary houses being shown, in terms of design, as well as workmanship. Even in the relatively progressive city and first-ring suburb “re-deux” market, the design work, and the homes themselves, are all of a type – and a type we’ve seen so much of over the past ten years. The “cottage style” apparently is still the required look: big houses trying not to look big; all with floor planning so open and yet so tight that the living room sofa is often within splatter distance of the Viking range, and most with pretentious, McMansion-like architectural details and interior finishes that overpower the very spaces they are intended to soften. Even down to the color palette, there is a dull sameness about most of the houses. I think everyone must have received a memo that off-white woodwork enamel, sage green walls and walnut-tinted cabinetry and wood floors is, somehow, what everyone wants.

Maybe it’s because the market has been so depressed recently that designers and builders are reluctant to show us anything new. But I would have thought that this creative industry could have done better. It just seems to me that fresh, new – and yes, more contemporary – ideas are just what this re-emerging market is craving. C’mon Designers and Builders, treat us to some new possibilities !

My tour also shed light on the fact that much of the workmanship out there is only “just OK,” even in up-market homes where we would expect to see better. Miter joints might be tight, but important architectural elements are often not properly planned for: fireplaces not correctly centered; trim profiles compromised because they had been crammed into a space that was too small, and staircases that are awkwardly detailed.

So, for the most part, my reaction to the Parade offering this Spring was “Ho-Hum.”

But then I came upon one Parade entry – a very charming shingle-style home in the St. Louis Park suburb of Minneapolis, built by a firm named Great Neighborhood Homes, Inc., that is very special indeed. Interestingly, the house has some of the same, familiar elements I’ve complained about above, but here they are so authentically and appropriately used – and fit the neighborhood context so well – that the house feels inventive and thoroughly fresh. The architecture is first-rate, including very open – yet very graceful – floor-planning, thoughtful proportions, beautiful sight-lines and inventive uses of windows and doors. The interior finishes are likewise very well developed: interesting, even dramatic in some cases, but never overplayed or showy. And, to my delight, the workmanship is also consistently tight and complete. And it didn’t hurt that the house is beautifully furnished, highlighting the architecture and the workmanship and completing the composition. In all, the visitor is left with that intangible, but reassuring sense that the whole project had been watched by someone who cared deeply about its final outcome.

So I’m back ! – in love again with all the possibilities and excitement of great residential design and development ! But I think my Parade tour experience points out that really great residential design and development requires the full attention of a wide array of talented craftsmen. I turns out that the business really is a profession.

Jim Kirkland is a long-time participant in the residential real estate market, with experience in design, development and construction. Jim is probably best known for his work with noted design-builder Cottagewood Partners. He has his BA from Lawrence University and MBA from Washington University. Jim and his wife, Mary, reside in the Twin Cities suburb of Eagan, Minnesota.

Architects Have Great Tools! - Interior Design Study

Architects do have some great tools, and here is one more example of how they can use them.

The interior great room images below of this particular cottage house plan were created using a 3d modeling tool called Google Sketchup. I used the tool to carve out the basic design inside and out, but I wanted to study variations of the design in order to present to my client.

Here is the Great Room space. Simple with white walls and vaulted ceiling - nice and clean!

Added a white washed wood ceiling and a little color on the walls.

Added a beam treatment to the ceiling and went back to the monochrome color scheme.

Added white washed wood ceiling between the beams.

Wood beams, white washed wood ceiling and a little color on the walls.

This example illustrates how just changing a few elements within a design can dramatically alter the character of a space. And Sketchup is a great tool for visualizing that space.

Design Value - Rustic Cottage House Plan

It's been a while since my last posting. Been busy over the holidays. Also, I have been working on a couple of new interesting projects. I thought I'd give you a sneak peek at one of them. The project incorporated a modified design process in order to save time and money.

The design below is a rustic retreat to be constructed on lake property in Tennessee. The client found a plan that was originally designed by John Tee Architect. The plan did not meet all of their family's needs, but represented a pretty good starting point. So they purchased the plan and commissioned a major reworking of the design. I worked in Association with a plan customization company named Architectural Overflow to perform the re-design. The images below reflect our work.

lake side elevation

side elevation

If you are interested in finding the most possible value in Design then this might be a good approach to consider. Find a plan that works reasonably well, purchase the plan, then have a good residential Architect adapt the design to truly reflect your needs and your site. What this really does is gives you a good starting point in the design process and saves time and $$$ exploring concepts that might not work well for you.