great room shelves and cabinets
The freestanding bar. I did not realize that “barmoire” was a term tossed around today until I saw it in a Houzz user question regarding this photo. (I’m always learning from Houzz users!) As you can see, a barmoire is an armoire outfitted to serve as a bar. And just like a freestanding cabinet you’d use for clothing, the doors close to conceal it all when it’s not in use. The mirrored back, glass shelves and bottle drawer make this custom piece a current Houzz favorite.
The modern butler’s pantry. This trend from last quarter is still going strong. Many of today’s home bars have replaced the traditional butler’s pantry (a cabinet-lined passageway between the kitchen and dining room). These are well-designed built-ins that can fit into any of the public spaces in a house. This can mean in a kitchen, dining room, living room, media room or family room.
window seats
note window seats
The dining table is a custom piece, large enough to handle an all-camp assembly during mealtimes. It’s a good example of how the design meets the goals of relaxation, tradition and family discussed in the initial workshop. “The table is so large that it needed some detail,” Fung says. The inset metal pieces represent a compass that points to locations significant to the family.
Use White to Expand Spaces Rooms painted white appear larger due to the amplification of light. Shadows and edges also diminish in white spaces. When creating a palette for your home, try to keep in mind that cool white drops back in space and can be used to enlarge and open your smaller spaces. But remember that spatial perceptions and human habits of navigation are improved when successive rooms on one floor unfold with subtle shifts in hue, not sharp contrasts. For example, using a white that deepens in color as the rooms get larger can diminish the size variation from one room to the next.
Pay Attention to History White is classic, formal, refined and restrained in style. For your Greek revival or federal interiors, white will be expected on trim and on walls in the kitchen and third-floor bedrooms. Make the mistake of painting everything white, and your home will look like a builder’s “flip.” Color selections can, therefore, have contextual requirements that need to be respected if you want your choices to support the history of your architecture. Nothing says “wrong” more than white painted trim paired with walls painted a saturated color in a midcentury modern home.
White can still be a solution for a year-round shoreside house where the climate has extreme differences in air temperature and an ever-fascinating view. Select a creamy white that has a small amount of yellow-orange pigment, like California Paints’ DE6141 Salt Box, framing the coolness outside by bringing the architecture forward and visually keeping the ocean at bay. In the summer, when the family is outside more than inside, the soft vanilla will retain its cool in the evening when beachgoers return to relax.
But for homes that hug the shoreline with ocean views in winter (where the climate has more extreme seasonal temperature shifts, like Maine), white intensifies the chill of the inhospitable sea beyond the windowpanes. One client opted for heavy drapes pulled all winter to shield her family from the million-dollar view, and the moodiness that comes with looking out to a forbidding ocean. Transference, the idea that we feel cold when we see something cold, explains why we identify colors by their coldness or warmth. White is considered the coldest color (in a range of blues, grays and greens), because it reminds us of ice and snow. What we see is what we expect to see (this is a truism of vision and explains why we feel tricked by a magician’s illusions), and color that is associated with something known to be hot or cold can make us feel it.
Rooms with a view of the ocean can be spectacular. For a summer residence, white walls can enhance the benefits of living by the sea, opening the house up and bringing the cool water view closer.
What’s Outside Affects What’s Inside Take a look outside the window and decide if the foliage that blocks the light helps or hinders your use of the room. For example, a deciduous tree outside a south-facing (in the Northern Hemisphere) kitchen and family room will condition the house year round for more sunlight in the winter and shade in the summer. This makes it a good idea to add color to the white (known as “dirtying the white”). Gray-green will cut down on the brightness when the tree is without leaves and the angle of the sun is low following the winter solstice. A purer white would excessively bounce the low-angled winter sunlight.
At the Far End of the Living Room In this compact Kentucky cottage, space was at a premium, so interior designer Barbara Purdy made the most of every inch. The alcove here works as extra seating for entertaining and serves as a snug reading nook on quiet days. Shelves tucked along the sides provide spots for books, a glass of water and eyeglasses. Smart move: Purdy outfitted the seat with a twin mattress so it can double as a guest bed.
Tucked Into the Library Shelves Sometimes when setting up a library, we get so focused on accommodating and organizing all of those wonderful books that planning for a comfortable, well-lit spot for reading them can fall to the wayside. Create a reading alcove in the middle of built-in bookshelves by sizing the space for a sofa. Smart move: This sofa’s high arms make it possible for people to stretch out comfortably on it sideways.
7. Designated Pet Hideout Pets, like children, can find comfort and a sense of security in having a space of their own. And what better retreat could there be than a little under-the-stair sanctuary? The homeowners at this historic Massachusetts home wanted a dedicated space for their large dog’s bed and toys, so designer Chloë Rideout of Cummings Architects worked with them to incorporate a place for both under the home’s new back stairs. The new staircase echoes the original 1730 one at the front of the home with its narrow handrail, square newel and square balusters, but it also offers additional storage and headroom, plus a cozy nook for the family’s four-legged member.
6. Hidden Drawers The cavity under each step often goes unused, but it can be a handy spot for subtle storage, as the pros at Gast Architects, Nina Punzi Designs and Aaron Gordon Construction prove in this historic San Francisco home. These drawers hold slippers for family members to change into as they enter the main living space.
Meaningful Details The walls that frame staircases are often on family photo gallery duty, but they’re not the only stairway element suitable for displaying art. Decorating the risers with unexpected colors, patterns or messages can give a home a boost of personality. The names hand-painted across the risers in this eclectic weekend farmhouse in Texas come from the train stops made by the rail line that once ran through the property. Artists and homeowners Todd Sanders and Sarah Thompson included the nod to the home’s history as part of an “Off the Rails Ranch” theme. Elsewhere in the house, vintage-inspired signs, typographic fabric and specially commissioned paintings reinforce the train travel vibe.
vintage wood propellers at a local antiques shop for this patriotic-hued breakfast nook in Nantucket, Massachusetts.
connection into ceiling
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