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Here I share the projects that I am currently working on, or that have been newly released to the wild...or for permit, but saying I released them to the wild is much more fun.
We brought a fresh outlook on traditional shapes to this two-storey beauty. A mix of materials (the mix of asphalt roofing and metal roofing always lights me up!) and the curve over the entrance entices you in!
If you recall this post where I talk about bringing light into the middle of your home, this is how the second floor lays out:
The windows that are within the cut-out light up the stairwell so the upper hallway so it doesn’t feel so closed in. Even when you sneak down the stairs in the middle of the night to dive into your secret cookie stash so your kids don’t see, the moon will light your way. Who doesn’t like eating cookies by the moonlight in the silence of the night?
This is a home we developed to contrast the common ‘lower level brick, upper level siding’ facade.
It is a very traditional look, with the feeling of strength and longevity that stone and brick convey.
I love the detail of the stone being carried partway up into the second storey, don’t you?
If you’ve ever been trapped in a room with me and started talking houses, you’d know that I’m a sucker for the style of house that lasts decades. The kind that when you look at it, you can’t tell if it was built this year or fifty years ago.
This house is another example of that look:
Simple, traditional, elegant. What a beautiful home!
Natural light is so important to how a home feels. When a home is bright and airy, it just feels cleaner, more cozy, and freeing (or am I the only one that feels constricted or trapped in dark spaces?).
Here’s a new idea to help bring more light into your home: side porches.
This home has a cut-out in the middle to allow for a side porch on the main floor, and the cut-out continues all the way up the second floor, but instead of being covered on the second floor there are additional windows.
This allows a central staircase, but still having light flood the stairwell rather than being enclosed by rooms on all sides.
Anyone else want to throw those double sliding doors wide open to allow fresh air to permeate all through the home (with the screening on the other side keeping out the bugs)?
Wow!
Just, wow.
This is a gorgeous traditionally-styled home with a spacious floor plan to match. A baking station, 4 bedrooms, two-storey great room, coffered ceilings, and an impressive master bathroom are all found in this floor plan.
Does this look like your dream home? Contact us to get your design started!
Pantries are the superhero of the kitchen. It’s where everything gets shoved out of sight, so messiness isn’t a big deal.
Put a counter inside of it and it becomes a whole other level. Instead of having your toaster and blender out in the main area of the kitchen, put them in the pantry, and shut the door to the view of the toaster crumbs littering the counter.
This pantry takes it even further. These are all floor-to-ceiling cabinets with pull out drawers, a built-in microwave and espresso machine, and a spot in front of a window to put the pearl white Kitchen-aid mixer (which, let’s face it, you only use around the holidays to bake a ridiculous amount of cookies, and it’s too heavy to pull out of a cabinet but looks so nice on the counter). You can even have a cabinet to put your rechargeable stick vacuum. Those handy little buggers.
It’s easily accessed when hauling all the groceries in from the car, and you can quickly grab your toast when rushing out the door. Choose a fun cabinet colour and some sleek pulls, and it really becomes quite a feature.
Who doesn’t love a good pantry??
Natural wood gives that special something to the warmth and character of your home’s exterior.
This home, for example, keeps the majority of the house minimal, but the cedar shakes in the gables really elevate the style:
A natural cedar shake will patina over time to a soft grey if left untreated. You can stain the shakes to enrich their colour, or you could use a faux shake that keeps your desired wood colour consistent over time, without the maintenance!
Curb appeal is incredibly important when designing a new home.
Nobody wants to have a house that people look at and say ‘meh’ while shrugging their shoulders and making that half smile that is apologizing if what they just said is offensive.
You want the house that people drive by and rubberneck just so they can see it longer.
But, how do you do that?
Well, sometimes there is such thing as ‘too much’. Simplicity can be key here. Take this house for example:
If you break it down, it really is just one main two-storey box, with another box on the side for the garage.
Boring, right?
Now add the arch-top wood front doors, a two-storey covered entry with chunky pillars that don’t look undersized for the visual ‘weight’ they carry, banding that draws your eyes from one side to the other, and the stone. Oh, the stone! Just the height of the stone itself makes it look incredibly grounded, like even a bulldozer would get stopped dead pushing up against it.
When you’re thinking of your curb appeal, think about the details. Those are really what make the beholder say ‘WOW’.
Is it just me or is every piece of clothing ‘hang to dry’ these days?
If you were designing your dream laundry room, what would it have?
For one of the most regularly used rooms in the house, it sometimes get the bum end of the deal when it comes to space.
Here’s my solution: Make it a multi-use space.
Take this snippet from a plan I’m working on for example:
It’s no longer just a space to do laundry. It’s also a place to wash the dog, to store Costco-sized packages of paper towels, and easy access to a powder room from the backyard. Plus, look at all that floor space!! Think of all the expandable clothes hanging racks that can fit in that room!