Design Value - Rustic Cottage House Plan

It's been a while since my last posting. Been busy over the holidays. Also, I have been working on a couple of new interesting projects. I thought I'd give you a sneak peek at one of them. The project incorporated a modified design process in order to save time and money.

The design below is a rustic retreat to be constructed on lake property in Tennessee. The client found a plan that was originally designed by John Tee Architect. The plan did not meet all of their family's needs, but represented a pretty good starting point. So they purchased the plan and commissioned a major reworking of the design. I worked in Association with a plan customization company named Architectural Overflow to perform the re-design. The images below reflect our work.

lake side elevation

side elevation

If you are interested in finding the most possible value in Design then this might be a good approach to consider. Find a plan that works reasonably well, purchase the plan, then have a good residential Architect adapt the design to truly reflect your needs and your site. What this really does is gives you a good starting point in the design process and saves time and $$$ exploring concepts that might not work well for you.

Cool Leather Sectional

We were perusing through our old copies of Metropolitan Home today--oh man we miss that magazine!

Anyway, as we were looking through the pictures we were struck with how many clean-lined, cool living room scenes we find in Met Home.  We thought this leather sectional fits in really well with that look, don't you?

The sectional is made by Moroni. We love this line. The leather is so supple and soft and comfortable. The construction is really nice too, firm but not too firm...Just the way it supposed to be.

You can find the  sectional here. It costs about $5K including shipping, but if you are nice, there a nice coupon that you can use (hint:  it's quite substantial).

Email us and tell us you find this item via our blog. We'll email you the secret code.

Floral Crystal Chandelier

We're loving this floral chandelier from DK Living. It is made of several clear glass florets attached together to form a sphere chandelier. We saw it in person at the Las Vegas show and  we thought, whoa, it looks so much better in person. We can see it in a powder room or an entry way, perhaps? 

The chandelier is priced at $1025 including shipping. The diameter is 27.5" and it weights approximately 55 lbs.  You can find more info here.

Creative Wall Stickers

We found Simple Shape via LA Times today.  The company makes quote wall stickers that are peelable.  Filled with inspirational quotes, it'll be a cool thing for your office or library. or wherever you need some inspirations...

The stickers are $18.99 and can be bought on the company's Etsy store.

Fabulous Bookcase from Tema

We are loving this bookcase from Tema.  It's huge (75" tall, 120" wide) and it's so cool-looking.  It comes only in pure white.  Because of the size, we thought it would be great if you have a large wall that you need to fill-- like in a loft  perhaps?

Sorry for the quality of the picture, we coudn't get a larger image from the manufacturer.

But here's the catch, you have to assemble it.  If you are handy, it should be no problem at all as it comes with detailed assembly instructions.  If you are not, well, we recommend hiring a really good handyman.

Most importantly, this bookcase is really inexpensive.  The list price is $888 plus shipping (we can help you get it for less).  Email us  if you need help.

Loving America

We haven't posted for a while.  Mainly because it has been raining dogs and cats here in LA.  We LA people are like cats, we don't like rain too much. We just stop functioning!  The other reason why we haven't posted is because we've been busy launching our new sites and going to the Vegas market.  We were so hoping we'd find great things in Vegas for you, but oh my God what a bore it was!  There was nothing new, nothing inspirational.

But more on that later...

We found something we just have to share with you today.  It has nothing to do with decorating really, but it's a blog with  some really good writing.   This blog is called "American In Short" and it is written by Tim Sullivan, the translator for Garance Dore (a very popular fashion blog).

The blog is about America--told through stories and pictures. 
Here is the description of the blog:

"Our stories are the most important. When I arrived in France, I found that the French knew the story of America to be Starbucks and McDonalds. There is more in there, in the States, a liberated spirit that was engrained during the Revolution, doubled by Jefferson, sung by Walt Whitman, kept together by Lincoln, built through dust bowls and depressions, breakthroughs and downfalls. It is a subtle spirit alive in diners and toll roads, in cheap coffee and giant redwoods. These are the stories of our wars, our peace, our land and our people. As I stepped foot on foreign soil, I missed these stories and saw how just engrained the American Spirit is within me.
So here are stories from the America I miss, the short stories in Jersey diners, short anecdotes about Truman’s favorite toilet, short recipes about turduckens and short explanations of why such things exist, and just general attempts to approach the beast that is American culture and history in whatever way seems necessary. And they’ll be short. Did I make that part clear? This is my America, the America I still see and the America I want so desperately to always exist."

Check it out. You'd love it!

happy homes

: : I really like the photos of photographer .joanna henderson. found her website while I was browsing .simply photo. one of my favorite photo blogs. happy weekend!