Master Substance - Photos & Ideas

Last week we featured an incredible new kitchen with an open floor plan and unique architectural interest. I alluded to a change in the staircase and here it is. Part of designing a new kitchen or bath is looking at surrounding spaces and how the remodel will affect them. Will the current master bedroom seem dated as an entrance to the new bath? Is the dining room that adjoins the kitchen badly in need of flooring and lighting? Some projects might have to wait. But if the immediate area has an adverse affect on the newly remodeled kitchen it might be just as important to address these areas within your remodel. Although the staircase was in harmony with the homes existing era and colors, it simply didn’t work with the new kitchen. Despite its open risers, the existing balusters and railings with their colonial turnings and dark stain, were the opposite of the finished kitchen. With the carpeting gone from the floors, it looked dated and out-of-place on the stairs. We carried our kitchen theme to the staircase. We used the natural oak of our flooring for the treads, handrails and posts, but kept the balusters and trim crisp white. The effect perfectly reflects the feel of the kitchen, light and airy. Before, the dark wood details drew the eye up, ultimately to the textured ceiling in the dining room. The darker tone created a dramatic ending as it traveled up to die into the wall. Now, as the eye travels up, the staircase seems to soar. The textured ceiling was replaced with a smooth white one and the wall color is a soft warm contrast. The handrail still ends at the wall, but with white balusters and the light oak handrail, the ending is softer. It isn’t a lighting change, the staircase simply lets the light shine through. The treads are slim and sleek, while the white walls, trim and balusters reflect the light for an overall brighter feel. The newel posts were a great choice. The larger size and square craftsman like features add substance and architecture without seeming heavy or bulky. The final touch completes the look. From front door to back, up and down, this remodel is finished. This home now bursts with sunshine the minute you enter and stays bright and sunny no matter where you turn. From the architectural details that are the center of attention, to the modern stainless steel appliance, this space is perfect for entertaining, or any day. http://www.designsbyskill.com/ http://www.rjkconstructioninc.com/

BUNKER HOUSE

SENCE ARCHITECTS

The Bunker House is a two-story house with a bomb shelter in the basement. A bunker house is a two-story residential building with a basement bomb shelter. In a short time, we had to equip the basement, master the "two walls" principle and properly seal the windows to protect ourselves and our family from the impact of the shock wave. Our priorities have changed when choosing a home - proximity to the city center or transportation hubs no longer matters. Moreover, SENCE ARCHITECTS also took care of other safety aspects. According to the rules, the storage has two distributed exits outside, each with light "hints" of the direction of evacuation. The basement area is sealed and equipped with a double ventilation system. This is a zone of guaranteed protection against missile attacks, poisonous or radioactive substances, combustion products, and bacteriological weapons. The first mode works on air recovery, providing a fresh flow of it in the absence of heat loss. The second is carried out by a filter ventilation unit — it cleans the outside air, and then distributes it to the compartments and creates excess pressure. Thus, contaminated air will not penetrate inside even through small cracks in protective structures. CONCEPTUAL SOLUTION The structures of the building itself are made of strong reinforced concrete — this way SENCE ARCHITECTS suggests abandoning "glass" facades. The number of windows has also been reduced: they will have a protective anti-shock film, and in case of an explosive wave, they will be closed with reinforced shutters made of fire-resistant plywood. At the entrance to the house and bomb shelter, armored doors are installed. Water is supplied from its own artesian well, electricity — from its own diesel power plant. This means that possible damage to infrastructure facilities will not affect the lives of residents in any way. The house is equipped with modern types of radio- and telephone communication, and satellite Internet, which will work even in the bomb shelter. The signaling and air-raid alert systems are to be installed too. The systems are powered autonomously and have backup channels. Overall, given its specificity, the house is designed for a family of 4-5 people. Size / 733 sq.m. Year / 2022

BUNKER HOUSE

SENCE ARCHITECTS

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Mary Shipley Interiors34 Reviews

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FINISH: PRIMED The advantages of this approach – of this type of interior door finish – are fairly obvious. Pick a color, any color that suits your projects best. Mix and apply. Re- coat whenever you feel it is necessary to do so. Touch it up. It gives you, the proud owner of these interior doors, complete freedom of choice, and the significant savings, especially where it comes to bulk orders, can be a true source of joy. As Kurt Vonnegut mentions in one of his novels (Bluebeard, unless I’m mistaken … check it out when you get a chance), the thrill of laying on colors is a large part of the artist’s professional satisfaction. In other words, a keen pleasure. When back in the remote past visual arts became a field dominated by professionals rather than hobbyists, the main problem of “just laying on paint” became obvious: you can’t. The medium of choice back then was egg tempera, a permanent, fast-drying substance consisting of colored pigments mixed with a water-soluble binder medium, usually glutinous material such as egg yolk. Portraits and ornaments were executed in this medium, and the wood panel was the surface of choice. One of tempera’s interesting features is that it is not as easily absorbed by wood as other mediums. Some sort of primer was necessary, of course, but pretty much any substance that dried evenly could be used. The drawbacks of tempera, or pintura al temple, as the Spanish call it, only became obvious with the advent of the Renaissance, when the leading representatives of the trade turned to oil (and interior doors suddenly became a great deal less crude, but that’s a story for another day). Oil painting is the process of “painting with pigments with a medium of drying oil as the binder.” Commonly used types include linseed (highly preferable in art, though not necessarily in interior doors, mind you), poppy seed, walnut, and safflower. Today, five hundred years later, it is safe to say that oil is more versatile than pintura al temple – by orders of magnitude. Specifically, the contrasts achieved through the former are much greater, the darks are far deeper, and three- dimensional, highly realistic images are much easier to achieve. Next time you visit a museum, take a closer look at pintura al temple portraits. All of them, without exception, come off as a bit “flat” as opposed to their latter-day counterparts. Also, where glazing is concerned … Glazing: a painting technique in which a transparent layer, with just a touch of pigment, is laid over a previously painted surface, allowing light to travel through the glaze and be reflected back off of the opaque layer below. Gentle shadows, subtle changes of color, smooth transitions – all these can be achieved through glazing, which was used by all artists up until the middle of the Nineteenth Century, when artist tubes were invented, revolutionizing the field, and other techniques began to be explored. Tempera enthusiasts (it takes all kinds to make a world) will assure you that glazing is not just possible in pintura al temple but is actually the basis of the whole enterprise. Well, what are you going to do? They’re enthusiasts. Anyway, la peinture à l'huile, as the French call it, re-introduced the ancient problem of most surface’s propensity to absorb dipingere, as the Italians call the stuff. Wood or canvas, it is all the same: you’re not going to get very far without a good primer. Experiments were conducted, and soon rabbit skin glue emerged as the least expensive and most effective solution. It was easy to apply. It dried evenly. It made the application of the l’huile stuff on top of it a walk in the park. There were drawbacks. Today, rabbit skin glue is considered to be a major cause of cracking by most modern conservators. (Remember, when you visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art – and did you see those interior doors? … some of them are quite something … - most “old masters” pictures are completely covered with a cobweb of cracks? There you go). Because the glue is hygroscopic, it continually absorbs moisture from the atmosphere, causing the glue to swell and shrink as ambient humidity levels change. Over many humidity cycles, this repeated flexing causes the brittle oily layers to crack. To combat this problem, modern primers are made of acrylic materials which are guaranteed not to cause any damage to the dipingere. No bubbling, no cracks. Your interior doors are safe.

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Newport Beach Bayside Abode

Cantoni Irvine

Designed By: Richard Bustos Photos By: Chad Mellon It is practically unheard of in interior design—that, in a matter of four hours, the majority of furnishings, accessories, lighting and artwork could be selected for an entire 5,000-square-foot home. But that was exactly the story for Cantoni designer Richard Bustos and his clients, Karen and Mike Moran. The couple, who had purchased and were in the midst of gutting a home on the water in Newport Beach, California, knew what they wanted. Combined with Richard’s design assistance, it was a match made for swift decision-making and the resulting beautifully neutral, modern space. “We went into Cantoni in Irvine and fell in love with it—it was everything we liked,” Karen says. “Richard had the same vision we did, and we told him what we wanted, and he would direct us. He was on the same level.” Even more surprising: they selected the furnishings before the home’s bones were even complete. They had wanted a more contemporary vibe to capitalize on the expansive bay views and were in the midst of ripping out low ceilings and outdated spaces. “We wanted modern warmth,” Karen says. “Cantoni furniture was the perfect fit.” After their initial meeting, Richard met with the couple several times to take measurements and ensure pieces would fit. And they did—with elegant cohesion. In the living room, they leaned heavily on the Fashion Affair collection by Malerba, which is exclusive to Cantoni in the U.S. He flanked the Fashion Affair sofa in ivory leather with the Fashion Affair club chairs in taupe leather and the ivory Viera area rug to create a sumptuous textural mix. In the center, he placed the brown-glossed Fashion Affair low cocktail table and Fashion Affair occasional table for ease of entertaining and conversation. A punch of glamour came by way of a set of Ravi table lamps in gold-glazed porcelain set on special-ordered Fashion Affair side tables. The Harmony floor sculpture in black stone and capiz shell was brought in for added interest. “Because of the grand scale of the living room—with high ceilings and numerous windows overlooking the water—the pieces in the space had to have more substance,” Richard says. “They are heavier-scaled than traditional modern furnishings, and in neutral tones to allow the architectural elements, such as a glass staircase and elevator, to be the main focal point.” The trio settled on the Fashion Affair extension table in brown gloss with a bronze metal arc base in the formal dining area, and flanked it with eight Arcadia high-back chairs. “We like to have Sunday dinners with our large family, and now we finally have a big dining-room table,” Karen says. The master bedroom also affords bay views, and they again leaned heavily on neutral tones with the M Place California-king bed with chrome accents, the M Place nightstand with M Place table lamps, the M Place bench, Natuzzi’s Anteprima chair and a Scoop accent table. “They were fun, happy, cool people to work with,” Richard says. One of the couple’s favorite spaces—the family room—features a remote-controlled, drop-down projection screen. For comfortable viewing, Richard paired the Milano sectional (with a power recliner) with the Sushi round cocktail table, the Lambrea accent table, and a Ravi table lamp in a gold metallic snakeskin pattern. “Richard was wonderful, was on top of it, and was a great asset to our team,” Karen says. Mike agrees. “Richard was a dedicated professional,” he says. “He spent hours walking us through Cantoni making suggestions, measuring, and offering advice on what would and wouldn’t work. Cantoni furniture was a natural fit.”