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Category › architecture home design software , blueprint vector free home architect home landscape deluxe suite 2010toptenreviews , home design

Architects Have Great Tools - Exterior Color Studies

At Ron Brenner Architects we have been working on a series of color studies for a client of ours.
I have included a number of the studies below.  The client has selected a medium gray for the base body color; however I also did a couple of non-gray variations.  The black roof is a given on all schemes.  Which one would you choose?

scheme 1 - all white horizontal clapboard siding

scheme 2 - gray board and batten siding, rusty corrugated metal inside porch and in 'link" area

scheme 3 - dark gray board and batten body color with white clapboard inside the porch and in link area

scheme 4 - gray board and batten body color with dark plum inside the porch and in the link area

scheme 5 - gray board and batten body color with white clapboard inside the porch and in the link area

scheme 6 - gray board and batten body color with dark gray shakes inside the porch and  in the link area

scheme 7 - gray board and batten body color with white shakes inside the porch and in the link area

Category › exterior house colors , home design

Houzz on Fire!

I was recently at the "Capture, Communicate, Create" event at the W Hotel in Minneapolis where Liza Hausman from Houzz was the featured guest.  If you have never heard of Houzz you should probably check it out.

Houzz is quickly becoming a leading destination site for home design enthusiasts.  It features over 200,000 high quality interior and exterior photos that have been uploaded by the original designers.  This makes Houzz the Internet's largest database of design and decorating ideas.

Houzz has a number of features for homeowners, but I think the coolest is that you can create your own ideabooks.  It's the modern day version of the old "cut and paste scrapbook" from magazines. Preparing to build a new home or take on a major remodeling?  Create an ideabook and share it with your Architect. In my own practice I love ideabooks because it helps me to understand my clients tastes and preferences. With this information I can design something new and fresh, but in a vein I know my client will love.

So do check it out.  You can view the Ron Brenner Architects Houzz page at http://www.houzz.com/ron-brenner-architects.  

And please don't forget to like us!

Category › architect designed house plans , home design , houzz , ron brenner architects

Best House Plans - No Groupon Required!

Here at Simply Elegant Home Designs we are convinced that we offer the absolute best house plans in the business. To prove this point we are going to start featuring a “Home Plan of the Week”. The idea is to illustrate what makes our plans so special. Better yet, we will also offer a special discount for the featured plan for that week. And you don't even have to join Groupon!

Apple Valley Four Square

The Apple Valley Four Square is our first House Plan of the Week.

What makes this house so special? Let one of our recent clients explain through their testimonial.  I have excerpted portions below.

“Yes, absolutely: feel free to share my delight in finding The Apple Valley Foursquare. It is a darling house.  We love the prairie schoolhouse vibe and the simple elegance of the exterior. As well, we appreciate the 2-sided light in each room. We are treating the entire staircase as a room - esp the landing at the top of the staircase with the large window that will overlook the center of the property: a meadow with Grandfather Oaks, the rushing winter creek winding through the far grove of fir trees. The Master Bedroom and screened porch will overlook the orchards, herb and vegetable gardens and if looking to the right, up the hill, we'll be able to see the small pinot noir vineyard.

I've had a chance to look over the .pdf doc - so fun to see how the house will be built - and the possibilities of an exercise room in perhaps a modified 1/2 basement option.  Love that!  (along with the machine room, storage and root cellar.) Also, it's funny - most of my furniture, mirrors, and key elements are from Pottery Barn, Room and Board, Restoration Hardware (neutral energy) and decor from Wisteria, home collection from Anthropologie (http://www.anthropologie.com/) and P Barn - design, textures and characteristics that will lend itself to the design of the house.

Ron, also the interior photographs of both the Deephaven Modern, and the Excelsior Farmhouse Cottage won our hearts over, too! The photographs are wonderful suggestions of lighting, color and carpentry for our own design.

The Den will be the Library - with to-the-ceiling bookcases, comfy chairs - a place to study and write.

Thanks so much,

We'll be in touch - L&K

PS - I've read A Pattern Language and other books by Alexander Christopher (The Luminous Ground) and most of Sarah Susanka's books about "the not-so-big-house" including her Home By Design.  Also, Roots of Home by Russell Versaci and Michael Pollan's A Place of My Own. Add to that list William J. Hirsch's Designing Your Perfect House (Lessons From An Architect), and House by T. Kidder. Stacks of books! I've searched through Mascord, Garrell Associates, a whole bunch of architect's websites, purchased Designer Dream Home magazines at the market, created a vision board and pasted exterior and interior images into a journal, for years. It's not like I haven't done my homework!  Finally, we found Simply Elegant Home Designs and The Apple Valley Foursquare. Eureka!  We break ground this Spring. We're going . . Home.”

Now that is what I call a testimonial!

Category › groupon , home design , house plan of the week , prairie school , simple house plans

Home Design Ideas - 3 Tier Kitchen Island

A 3 Tier Kitchen Island is a simple Home Design Idea I have used many times over the years.  Most kitchen islands tend to be one tier or two.  On a single tier island one counter provides kitchen prep and eating / serving purposes.  On a two tier island one tier is the cooking counter and the second tier is the eating / serving counter.  I like to add a third tier because it adds another dimension and offers more storage possibilities.  See below for a few examples.

Three tiers - one for kitchen prep, one for eating and serving and one for storage.  Here we used glass doors for display.   I like the way the taller tier "anchors" the other two counters.  It also helps to define the edge of the kitchen from the hallway which is to the left.

Here (in our Excelsior Farmhouse) tiers on both ends "capture" the kitchen and eating counters.  The eating counter is highlighted with a natural walnut surface.  The taller end cabinets also provide another display surface.

Another simple example (from our Midwest Living Farmhouse) with a curved serving counter.  The taller end cabinets also help to conceal kitchen clutter from the living room beyond.  This is a good design strategy within an open floor plan.  

Category › farmhouse plans , home design , home design ideas , kitchen island , kitchens

Home Design Ideas - Split the Garage!

At Ron Brenner Architects, I am currently working with a client on a new home design to be constructed in Rochester, MN.  Here we have run into a very common dilemma.  What to do with 3 1/2 cars worth of garage?   

If you put all of that garage to the side of the house you get one very wide plan.  If you put all of that garage forward of the house you get one very deep plan.  Many lots cannot accommodate either one of those plan arrangements.  So what I have proposed to do here is to split the garages into two separate structures.  The main two car garage is directly connected to the house via the mudroom zone.  The additional 1 1/2 car garage is placed on the opposite side of the lot; resulting in a nifty little entry court.  See sketches below.

Here you can see a birds eye view of the layout.  Notice the roof between the garage and house is low.  This helps to reduce the mass of the house.  Pulling the garages a bit forward of the front porch creates a nifty little courtyard.

view from street

view approaching courtyard

nice little composition

So when you develop your next house plan - please think about the impact of that garage and look for creative solutions.

Category › architect designed house plans , country home designs , home design , home design ideas , home designs , house plans , small house plans

Home Design Ideas - Funky Fireplace

You can learn much from studying rooms that you love. Below I have attached a living room picture from a home I designed a few years ago. This turned out to be a very calm and soothing space. I wish I were sitting there now!

A few key points:

• Windows were placed on both of the outside walls of the space. I always try to have natural lighting feeding into a space from more than one direction.
• Fireplace wall design was asymmetrical. Here form followed function. We needed a hideaway for the flat screen on one side, but not both. That left space for a cozy bench on the other side of the fireplace.
• A funky half oval shaped fireplace was used. This adds a very unique detail to an element that is normally very predictable (the rectangular fireplace box).
• Yellow walls with cream trim; natural wood floors and leather - the materials and colors are comforting.
• Dark ebony stained trim is used sparingly to cap off the fireplace and media cabinet and at the stair railing. This adds richness and sophistication to the space.
• Recessed lighting above highlights the details of the composition.

The moral of this story is - if you are looking to remodel a space in your home; find pictures of similar spaces that you love. Then study them to discover what it is about that space that makes it work so well.

Category › fireplace design , home design , interior design , living room design , simple house plans , small house plans , unique house plans

Classically Modern Home Design

This classically modern, 3400-square foot home is designed by Kim Lavacot of Bennett Lavacot Architecture, while it’s interior is designed by Robin Chell Design studio. The house is overlooking Lake Washington and maximizes the expansive water views and encourage the interplay between the indoors and outdoors with a lush and expansive courtyard. The interior is done in natural and honest materials, including exposed concrete, natural stone, blackened steel and sustainable hardwoods. The combination of such natural materials, contemporary furniture and modern appliances looks really good and livable.

Category › home design , interior design

Home Decoration Ideas

Right kind of ambiance is of utmost importance in parties as it sets the guests in high spirits. Though we may not realize it overtly but a perfect ambiance adds a lot to the fun and frolic to the party. Imagine visiting a home party and one sees everything just tied up very neatly and kept at its place without any pomp and colors? However, many of us do prefer our homes like that in our everyday lives, but for a party, it might seem to be dull and unexciting. Parties are meant to bring something in us that we don’t experience in our monotonous day-to-day lives.

Colorful room with interesting slogans and posters on the walls of the room will set the party mood for the hosts as well as the guests. Painting some nice posters with crazy dancing pictures and slogans along with some interesting collage will make people laugh out loud. Serious slogans and posters are a big no-no during the party as parties are a time to rock and roll, and forget all sorrows and worries of life.

Also, one can add some glitters to these artistic works so as to give it a jazzy look. Piñatas full of candies and chocolates or some other small gifts serve as a nice surprise package that contributes to another layer of zeal and excitement to the party. Nevertheless, if you have a theme in mind regarding the party or any specific color that you have decided on, make sure to mould these decorations according to them.

Table decorations are some of the add-ons that bestow ecstasy to the entire venue. Make sure that the table cloths are properly cleaned and ironed. Apart from that, candles and flower vase can be placed on each table. Do not forget to put a napkin holder as well.

Category › Decoration , home design

House Design With Sculptural Cast Concrete

House Design With Sculptural Cast Concrete

House Design With Sculptural Cast Concrete

House Design With Sculptural Cast Concrete

House Design With Sculptural Cast Concrete

Category › home design

New Modern Home Design Ideas

New Modern Home Design Ideas

New Modern Home Design Ideas

New Modern Home Design Ideas

New Modern Home Design Ideas

Category › home design

Victorian Interior Design Style

These are just some of the things you can do to create a Victorian style. Upholster your furniture. Use lots of wallpaper with floral and fruit designs. Use dark shades and use the richest colors for the most important rooms. This is a cheap way to achieve the stain glass windows-look popular during the Victorian period.

Victorian Interior Design Style

Stain your windows with stain glass colors. Some of the main things you should try to achieve with the Victorian interior decorating style are: If your room has a fireplace, use ornate brackets and use a white marble mantel if you can afford it. Giving a feeling of abundance while avoiding clutter is the key to a successful Victorian look. However it is important not to overdue this. This is why the Victorian style uses a lot of decorative items.

Victorian Interior Design Style

During the Victorian era, when people got more access to goods at lower cost, they had a lot of design materials to work with. Two words come to mind when trying to describe the Victorian interior design style: beauty and abundance. It is impossible to create a Victorian interior design without knowing what its various elements are. It is quite common for people to try to create a Victorian look in their homes without actually knowing what its characteristics are.

This style, which has its roots in the Victorian Era, can be easily created in a home, without the need to hire an interior designer. One of the most attractive and popular interior design styles is the Victorian style.

Category › home design , interior design