Life in your Home

Lighting Design

A good home lighting design can go a long way toward improving the overall appearance of your home, both inside and outside. A well placed table lamp or outdoor light may mark an important feature of your home, like a painting or an outdoor statue.

On the other hand, by reducing light of home lighting design into areas you do not want to be visible, you can focus your guests on the stronger points of your home. But it does require a little planning and thinking ahead to the home lighting design to maximize opportunities.

If you have a room with a prized piece of art or valuable collections, accent lighting would be the good home lighting design choice. You can focus the light on the object in a subtle way, without creating a spotlight effect. The placement of recessed lighting above the object will accomplish the task.

And speaking of jobs, be part of your home lighting design, task lighting in an area where specific functions occur, such as reading or cooking. This type of home lighting design keeps the light where it is needed most, and you are not wasting valuable and expensive energy. You can not neglect the proper use of table lamps. Read the rest of this entry »

Entrance Door

 

There ar numerous dissimilar door mats that ar available and one particular of the most popular is the Waterhog wood doorway mats. It is very crucial to keep in mind that 1 of the best techniques to save money is also search at the long-expression photo simply because these mats ar non cheap but they will last and these mats ar extremely regarded by customers.

If you would like a door mat but are on a very limited spending budget then there are a great deal of less expensive mats that are available. Some of the mats ar not as efficient at acquiring free of dirt and mud from displays in contrast with some of the more pricey ones. The ineffective mats will not reduce the volume of time and effort that has to be put into cleaning the carpet and floors inside of the house.

Door design

As an artist I have learned to appreciate the fact that an entryway can become the “opening statement” to the architecture of a building and its interior. With this in mind, it has always been a privilege to be commissioned to design and build the entry for a special piece of architecture. It goes without saying that craftsmanship and technical knowledge are important to the piece itself, but it is continuity of design that brings the whole project together. The evolution of the design from concept to reality should be as painstaking and meticulous as the physical construction of the project. The numerous considerations within this design stage are always dependent upon the timing of the specific job. Nonetheless, there is a chronological sequence to all construction projects, and a formula can be followed.

I was contacted by a client to build the entryway doors to their new home in Mammoth Lakes, California. They had spent a night at the hotel “Chateau du Sereau” where I had produced the doors and furniture in 1990. Although they appreciated the provincial treatment used at the Chateau, their home was being designed in the style of the architects Greene and Greene who played a major role in developing and popularizing Craft Period design. The foundation work had just been completed, so I was assured of enough time for my part of the project. The seventy-five hundred square foot residence would take nine more months to complete.

At the time I was only somewhat familiar with the work of Greene and Greene from my days as a college art student. As a result of this project I was afforded the opportunity to research in detail these brothers who worked in Pasadena, California around the turn of this century. I was amazed at how I shared many of the same attitudes as the Greenes about the use of space and its relation to architecture.

Pioneers of the so called Arts and Crafts Movement, they believed that the completeness of their environmental world included responsibility for the smallest details. This would include the furnishings, and everything that surrounded the lives within their houses.

Further, the design research for a project like this also includes the involvement of the present architect, builder, and most importantly, the owner. It is very important to adapt the design to the attitudes and lifestyle of the client. Purity of style is not as important as the underlying attitude of that style. Team effort or the lack of it, is what will be most evident in the final presentation of the whole project.

I was given a lot of freedom with the design of this project It was decided early on that the surface of these doors should, somehow become a reflection of their surroundings in Mammoth Lakes. The Greene and Greene style of architecture allowed for the use of a “plank type” door which lends itself to relief carving. Once this was decided I could begin to put my thoughts on paper to first lay out the door design, and then make sketches for a proposed carving. This is where it is important to work closely with all involved.

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