Comprehensive And Detail-Oriented House Restyling
Here comes one of the hottest interpretation of childhood I have ever seen – the Giraffe lamp. What an iconic and awesome vision of childhood.
This sculptural design Giraffe Lamp is a great example of everything whimsical and unusual that exists in the world. Such a lamp will be the main focal point in any house!
Tags: Giraffe Lamp, Lamp
Elmo Swart Architects have completed a stunning modern addition on a traditional thatched-roof home in Durban, South Africa. This bright, angular and open addition adds space for entertainment and privacy, with both providing an open view of the natural lot around this home.
The contemporary addition on the old thatched-roof home is quite a contrast to the original design. The smooth, angled curves of the exterior shape echo the original, and natural accents are added to make the transition from old to new more visually balanced. A screen of thin branches curves around an exterior porch and shower, and the greenery of the lot is brought into the interior thanks to tall floor-to-ceiling windows. Despite the contemporary approach, Elmo Swart Architects succeeded in maintaining the natural feel that the thatched-roof structure once provided.
The interior of the home is comfortable and cool, a continuation of the natural sensibility of the exterior design. It is lit by large windows and warm lights that glow softly from a distance. While the exterior is contemporary, the interior furnishings are more traditional– the kind of classical wooden furniture you might have found in the original thatch-roofed home.
Inside and out, the new project by Elmo Swart Architects is a success in design, one that maintains the philosophy of the original structure with a modern sensibility.
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Tags: Architects, Elmo Swart, Elmo Swart Architects, Swart Architects
Having an accessible friendly house design doesnt seem important until the unthinkable happens.
My mother fell yesterday, breaking her hip. The doctors said the hip bone broke off the ball joint. After an all-night unpleasant waiting period at the hospital, she had hip replacement surgery and the operation was a success and only took an hour.
If this happens to you or to one of your loved ones, you are going to be thankful if you have a house that was designed to accommodate the needs of someone that will be in a wheelchair or using a walker. There but for the grace of God go all of us.
Every house that Rand Soellner Architect designs has accessible friendly features, some more than others, depending on your wishes, your lifestyle and budget. Soellner tries to maintain a nominal offset of 1/2 to 3/4 step up from your garage into the main house, and uses weatherstripping around the door there to keep the air from one separate from the other.
Soellner also keeps step downs from your house interior to your porches minimal as well. And your Master Shower is typically arranged so that your main bathroom floor tile slopes down and into your shower. Go and look at yours right now. Ill wait while you do that Okay, what did you see? About 4-1/2 step up, right? Not in most Soellner houses. We try to arrange floors and other features in your house to allow people in wheelchairs and walker and with canes to easily navigate. Why? Because you never know when you or a loved one is going to fall or have other situations develop that can result in diminished ambulatory capability. In other words, you may have a time when you cant make it up those 4-1/2.
Another feature in many new Rand Soellner houses these days are wider than normal doorways throughout the residence. Did you know that there are still builders out there using 2 wide doors for many areas, and 2-6 doors for bedrooms? You cannot get a wheelchair through that width. Doesnt seem important right now? Wait until you or someone you love falls and breaks their hip. Your life and theirs can change overnight.
Love your house? So do Soellners clients. So much so, they often tell him that they want the house he designs for them to be a place in which they can live and die. That means that they dont want to have to go to a nursing home or other institutional place, just because their house wasnt designed to accommodate decreased mobility.
Do yourself and your loved ones a big favor and hire an architect to design your next house to accommodate accessibility challenged situations. Soellner does this in a manner that does not look institutional. He specifies all the blocking and other elements so that if you have to add handrails at tubs and other locations, to can add them later, and have the support built-in, as long as your builder adheres to Soellners specifications and details.
Give Rand Soellner a call today, to start planning and designing your next home: one that is accessible friendly: 1-828-269-9046.
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Tags: Design, House Design
Are you bored of seeing the same colour and arrangement of your house day in day out? Then just take a break and do some little things that can give your home a new look.
Find out places where you can use natural light to get a spacious, positive and eco-friendly look. Try to use old curtains, linens or other fabric items to décor. You may put a vase in a corner, frame some old photographs or paintings. For the kids’ room you can hand paint few corners, make a 3D chart and use unwanted stuffs to make toys and use them as wall hangings.
If painting is out of the question then paint single walls in combination to bring a variation or a part with a bold colour. Go