If a lamp is needed for soft ambiance at night, like the table lamp in this pool house bedroom by TR Building & Remodeling, choose a lower-lumen bulb. Too many lumens in a small fixture can be uncomfortable to the eye, so save the high-brightness bulbs for large fixtures and recessed downlights. Shop for LED bulbs
Colizza Bruni Architecture Inc. SaveEmail Wood is especially great for straight stair runs. Complex stair geometries and wood are compatible, but this choice certainly is not economical. Makers of products like Bendywood have sought to address the complex bending requirements of convoluted stair handrails, but twisting stair runs are still laborious and expensive endeavors in wood.
As a general rule, a handrail is required in residential construction on any stair with three or more risers. It must be present on at least one side of the stair at a minimum height of 34 inches but no more than 38 inches above the front of the tread. Stairs exceeding 30 inches in height and open on one side also require a guardrail. Typically guardrails are required to be 42 inches high with openings no larger than 4 inches in diameter. Many jurisdictions allow the handrail assembly to double as a guardrail, as it does in this image, in which case it can be positioned at handrail height (34 to 38 inches). (Consult your local code requirements; they may be more stringent than this.) Where possible, this is the preferred method, because there are fewer overall parts required.
18. Install Energy-Efficient Windows According to the U.S. Department of Energy, installing Energy Star–qualified windows can save you up to $465 a year on your electric bills while shrinking your home’s carbon footprint and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Cost: Varies based on region and window size, starting at around $300 per window installed and rising
16. Add a Skylight or Light Tube This is a great way to bring natural light into dark or windowless rooms, but skylights and light tubes can be part of an integrated design strategy for efficient and passive heat gain. Cost: Fixed and manually operable skylights with installation can cost a couple of thousand dollars each; automated systems can cost up to $5,000 installed.
15. Add a Window Seat This is a great project if you already have a room with a large window and are looking to add more seating, storage, a focal point or all three. Cost: Simple and small window units can cost $750 to $1,500 plus installation labor. Larger windows or projects with cabinets built into the seat can cost about $2,000 to $5,000.
9. Refinish Your Floors Hardwood floors will start to show wear and tear after about 20 years. But before you rip everything out and replace them with costly new floors, consider refinishing your existing floors first. Cost range: Most floor refinishers charge by the square foot, but prices vary considerably, depending on your region, your home’s accessibility, the size of the job and the work you want done (including the color of the stain — dark stains take more prep time). Plan to spend between $2.50 and $5.25 per square foot for sanding, staining and three coats of finish.
“You reached inside my head and pulled out my perfect house!” — Houzz user leslielevin, in the Comments Based on the response to this Houzz Tour (including my own), leslielevin is not alone. The renovation of this house in Santa Monica, California, has resulted in a bright, comfortable and welcoming home that’s a dream for many of us.
Sleeping in Harmony If your partner is heavier or lighter than you, the solution may be a combination mattress with different spring tensions on either side. “The vast majority of people sleep on the same side of the bed, so it’s worth the investment,” Black says. Alternatively, consider zip and link mattresses, which are essentially two mattresses of different tensions zipped together. Sleep Number mattresses — air mattresses combined with other bed filling materials, such as memory foam — have dual controls so sleeping partners can adjust their side of the bed to their preferred firmness.
Kristina Wolf Design SaveEmail 7. Balance: Equal plant material on either side of a centerline. Doors and windows present the perfect opportunity for symmetrical plant placement. Identical plants flanking a doorway act not only as a frame for the door but as a link to outside. However, just because a design is asymmetrical doesn’t mean it’s not balanced. For a more informal or relaxed look, place plants of various sizes on either side of that imaginary centerline. As long as you have approximately the same total plant mass and visual weight on each side, you’re good! Tip: Size and shape play an important role here too. A grand entry can accommodate large plants.
maja_krajewska SaveEmail 3. Texture: How coarse or fine the plant’s surface looks or feels. Think strappy, fuzzy, spiky or bold and how that texture provides contrast and interest. If you have a long panel of windows, try mixing different foliage textures to help create an interesting passage through the space. Tip: Use pots that are all the same color to help play up the different foliage types
Design A Space SaveEmail Orchids. These elegant blooms are a natural choice for the bathroom, where they should thrive in the warm, moist air. The American Orchid Society recommends placing your orchid near a south- or east-facing window. Too much direct sun in a west-facing window can burn the leaves, and a north-facing window can be too dim. Allow the soil to become fairly dry between watering, as overwatering will cause the roots to rot.
Tree House Feel in Nicaragua Who lives here: Francisco Wheelock and Myriam Caldera, daughters Adriana (age 3) and Vanessa (1); dogs Dante and Kafka Location: Santo Domingo neighborhood of Managua, Nicaragua Outdoor connection: Wall-to-wall folding doors open the whole living room to the garden outside. The home makes the most of incredible views of the Sierras de Managua (Managua Hills). Even the bathroom takes advantage of the outdoors with an adjoining courtyard, complete with river rocks and vines. “Our favorite room in the house is the open deck,” says Wheelock. “With it being so close to the treetops, it almost feels as if you’re in a tree house.”
Tree House Feel in Nicaragua Who lives here: Francisco Wheelock and Myriam Caldera, daughters Adriana (age 3) and Vanessa (1); dogs Dante and Kafka Location: Santo Domingo neighborhood of Managua, Nicaragua Outdoor connection: Wall-to-wall folding doors open the whole living room to the garden outside. The home makes the most of incredible views of the Sierras de Managua (Managua Hills). Even the bathroom takes advantage of the outdoors with an adjoining courtyard, complete with river rocks and vines. “Our favorite room in the house is the open deck,” says Wheelock. “With it being so close to the treetops, it almost feels as if you’re in a tree house.”
Organic Modern Beach House in California Who lives here: Erin Lee-Hawk, Jeremiah Miller and children Spencer, Keegan and Urmila Location: Leucadia, California Outdoor connection: A three-level patio with steps leads to a sandy beach. This family’s oceanfront home, about 25 miles north of San Diego, exudes comfort, cheer and welcoming organic style — starting with the pivoting red mahogany front door, which lets in light and gives a glimpse of ocean views. The pathway along the side of the house leads to a plant-filled courtyard featuring a large, artistic copper wall fountain. The foyer is used as a studio for rock music practice.
Organic Modern Beach House in California Who lives here: Erin Lee-Hawk, Jeremiah Miller and children Spencer, Keegan and Urmila Location: Leucadia, California Outdoor connection: A three-level patio with steps leads to a sandy beach. This family’s oceanfront home, about 25 miles north of San Diego, exudes comfort, cheer and welcoming organic style — starting with the pivoting red mahogany front door, which lets in light and gives a glimpse of ocean views. The pathway along the side of the house leads to a plant-filled courtyard featuring a large, artistic copper wall fountain. The foyer is used as a studio for rock music practice.
From-Scratch Dream Home in Austin Who lives here: Jeremy and Amber Scardino, daughter Madison, sons Baron and Rider, dogs Gumbo and Emmylou, and cats Sebastian and Munchkin Location: Austin, Texas Outdoor connection: A courtyard connects the house with a detached garage, adding more room for play. The Scardinos built their dream home on a large lot across the street from where the couple lived for 11 years. “With our narrow yet deep lot, we faced a challenge that proved to be a blessing in disguise,” says Jeremy. To solve the problems of noisy traffic and a lack of privacy, the family used a courtyard to connect the main house with a detached garage. The result is a home with easy indoor-outdoor flow.
Vintage Cliff May in Berkeley Who lives here: Nick Jackson, Lisa Wong Jackson and their sons, Lucas (age 4) and Theo (2) Location: Berkeley, California Outdoor connection: Every single room in the home has a door that opens to the outside. Longtime admirers of the work of architect Cliff May, Lisa Wong Jackson and husband Nick were thrilled when they found their very own 1955 Cliff May–designed home. The home featured the indoor-outdoor flow May was known for, but the landscaping had fallen into disrepair. Through more than a year of hard work, the couple transformed the barren, weedy hillside into a landscape befitting the house.
10. The Laundry Room No One Wants to Leave Two windows with ocean views are bound to make laundry day more bearable, and a sea-green tile backsplash and plenty of storage are equally enticing. Cool feature: Room for a craft center for a mom and her two kids, an alternative office and even a linen closet and a broom closet.
4. Deep Blue Proves a Hot Hue A neglected living room gets transformed into a new family lounge and game room. Cool feature: Built-in bookshelves and trim are painted in a striking Newburyport Blue. To keep the dark color from feeling oppressive, the designer left the ceiling white and used wallpaper, as well as paint, on the walls.
Putting it back together. Wipe or brush down the space — it doesn’t need to be spotless, but getting rid of spiderwebs is a good idea. As you put things back, think about where they really should go. Put things you use all the time in an easy-to-reach place, such as hand tools in a bucket or rakes hung on a wall. Think of ways to corral twine, tape, labels, dabbers and other small items. Do you have a place to neatly stack bags of soil or galvanized metal containers to decant them into? Perhaps you should get a small toolbox to store your irrigation paraphernalia.
. Charming Cottage in a Los Angeles Backyard Size: 108 square feet (10 square meters) Where it is: In the back corner of the backyard, with a view to the main house and to the fountain across the lawn Hardworking feature: This shed serves as a potting shed, a drafting studio and sometimes a guesthouse. Interior designer Dominique Lobjois approached building her backyard shed much like she would a new home, including getting a building permit. What she intended to be a backyard potting shed has evolved to also be a workspace and a space for overnight guests. Unexpectedly, this shed turned out to be the focal point of the yard. Everyone wants to hang out in it. “It is like a playhouse for adults,” she says.
Studio Mark Ruthven SaveEmail 1. Be merciless. The first step is the hardest. To properly evaluate what needs to be in your closet (and rediscover those inappropriate cutoff shorts you bought five years ago and never wore), you’re going to have to take everything out first, and then separate the bad from the good. Donate or sell anything that doesn’t fit or you haven’t worn in over a year, and throw anything damaged or torn away.
Kitchen Capital WA SaveEmail The traditional farmhouse sink is generally a lot deeper than modern stainless steel undermount or top-mount sinks. Its design enables the user to stand directly in front of the basin, with no cabinets or countertop in between. This feature made the farmhouse sink more comfortable to use at a time in the past when women would spend a large part of their day there — preparing food and washing dishes, clothes and even babies. Though you could still wash a baby in today’s farmhouse sinks, you’d probably find them more useful for washing large pots, big baking sheets and oven trays, and even barbecue grills — items you would generally struggle to wash in a typical sink.
Lisa Gabrielson Design SaveEmail Brick This is the classic layout for subway tile. In a brick pattern, each row of tiles is typically offset by half a tile width, which results in long, horizontal lines that can subtly widen a room. It’s a timeless layout that can work for any rectangular tile, making it a great option for virtually any space.
SaveEmail A brick layout can look especially stylish when paired with a contrasting grout color, such as gray grout with white tile, emphasizing the geometric pattern. Where to use a brick pattern: Anywhere, but especially in spaces where one simple tile is used throughout.
Dyer Grimes Architecture SaveEmail The angular nature of this pattern creates a dynamic energy, which can be perfect for accent walls but a little overwhelming if used on too large a surface. Where to use a herringbone layout: In a traditional or transitional kitchen (especially in classic white on white), or with a long, thin tile to form a powerful accent anywhere.
Amoroso Design SaveEmail Other Considerations Accent borders. Although a border strip of accent tile can be added purely for visual interest, it can serve another important function beautifully with just a little planning. When tiling a full wall, it’s common to find that the ceiling height is not an exact multiple of the desired tile size, meaning tiles at the top or bottom will have to be cut to fit. By including a slightly wider or narrower stripe, your tiles can add up to the exact height of the
Richardson Homes Ltd SaveEmail For example, when using a 3-inch-high tile with a 7-foot, 2-inch ceiling, using a 2-inch border at any height will leave a remaining even 7 feet for the tiles to fill perfectly. Of course, grout size can affect the way the tiles stack up, so talk to your designer or installer to figure out the exact math in advance, and you can achieve a perfect result with no headaches.
good accent color
1. Soothing Green A soothing green accent wall with framed photographs and brass sconces sets a stylish tone full of personality in this India bedroom by Bonito Designs. Creamy bedding, headboards and floating drawers enhance the calming vibe.
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