When the owners of this Wisconsin lakefront home came to Deep River Partners in Milwaukee, their master suite was an awkward collection of inhibited spaces. The bathroom, located beyond a shared overflowing walk-through closet, was basic and pretty boring, not to mention tiny. Designer Nick Blavat and the Deep River Partners team reconfigured the existing space, attached a 300-sq.-ft. addition and infused the new bath with natural light. The result is a breathtaking home spa that effortlessly promotes peace and tranquility. Blavat redesigned the original space to serve as an entryway to the new bathroom addition. “We divided the existing walk-in closet into separate ‘his and hers’ closets, and the former bathroom became a new dressing room,” he said. The tea Read more…
Archive for November, 2011
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Welcome to the 2011 Christmas & Holiday season. With the recent surge of the Stock Market, and the conclusion of at least one major battlefront, hopefully we will all have more reasons for which to be thankful, ending this year on a positive note and moving forward into 2012.
Our nation and the World have been through much during these challenging times. The one thing that remains constant is everyones desire to have a safe haven: their home. A crackling warm fire in the fireplace, savory cooking in the kitchen, happiness and love with your family in the one place that is sacred: your house.
Having a house designed that allows you to enjoy the beautiful views to your land is just one of the reasons to engage an architect to design your dream residence. And it does not matter that perhaps this concept might be more compact than you might have imagined previously. Quality can still be built into anything, regardless of the size. Diamonds are worth more than lumps of clay.
Having the rooms of your house custom designed to be the dimensions that you need to properly function in those rooms is another reason to hire a professional to design your house. Builders build. Architects design. Asking a builder to create or modify a residential architectural design is like asking a carpenter to check out the discomfort you might be having in one of your teeth. Or like asking your architect to build the house. Different professions exist because the people in each of them are carefully educated, trained and experienced to perform those specialized tasks and to do them well. It has been said that you dont really get good at any particular profession until you are over 50 years old. As complicated as things are these days, there is probably a lot of truth in that statement. That is why many people want to see a few gray hairs on the heads of the people they hire; to know that they have been at it long enough to be experts at it. And that sounds like a wise precaution.
Having that large Gourmet Kitchen with the big island and all the appliances you have always wanted is another benefit of having an architect design your house. The design professional will create your design Around the things that you want, rather than another approach. Always wanted Outdoor Living Space? Screened and covered? That can be arranged!
Have you grown weary of maintaining your aging, rotting house? Your new residence can be designed by an architect to have exterior siding, soffits and downspouts that wont rot, wont burn, that bugs cant eat, and that only require minimal maintenance every 7 years or so. Doesnt that sound wonderful?
There are even new options that are coming on line, through companies like Rand Soellner Architect, that can provide you with PhotoVoltaic roof shingles, so that the roof shingles of your house provide up to 50% of your electrical needs! Talk about sustainability!
There are windows that your architect can specify and detail, that are downright economical and never need painting, cant rot, have insulated Low-E glass and are Energy Star qualified.
You can have exterior and interior rockwork, multiple fireplaces in Living Rooms, Dining areas, Master Bedrooms and Bathrooms, Family Rooms and wherever you want them. You can have accent walls of wood siding inside, if you wish, wherever you want them. Wood ceilings and wood plank floors for much less than many people have invested in such things. If you engage a knowledgeable residential architect.
What many people do not know is that your house architect can design in many features that can cost less, yet provide additional safety and durability into your residence.
Click here to contact Rand Soellner Architect and start this wonderful process: >Contact Rand Soellner< 1 . 828 . 269 . 9046 Home Arch
Sandwiched between the fun of Halloween and the pageantry of Christmas Thanksgiving has become the forgotten holiday of the 21st century. I guess that turkeys and Pilgrims just arent as exciting as ghosts, jack o lanterns, flying reindeer or Santa Claus. Thanksgiving may not have as many mascots, but its purpose is more important now than ever. In these hard times we need to be thankful for the positive things in life and lend a helping hand to those less fortunate. Thanksgiving is an opportunity to reach out to friends and family and show them how much they mean to you. Thanksgiving isnt about gifts wrapped in shiny paper its about giving someone a simple thank you by sharing your time and companionship. We want to give thanks to you this holiday season with our Thanksgiving Furniture Sale.
It’s always nice to freshen up your home right in time for summer. However, buying new things to brighten up your home isn’t exactly eco-friendly. You can spruce up your home with very little impact on the environment and without breaking the bank. You have heard of the three Rs (Reduce, Reuse, Recycle); read on to learn my seven Rs for freshening up your home. Then lay back, relax, and enjoy the summer to come in your “new” space.
1. Rearrange: By simply rearranging your current furniture, you can get a whole new look without buying anything new. Consider moving pieces of furniture, accessories, and even pillows and artwork from one room to another.
2. Re-cover: Do you have a sofa or chair that has seen better days, but still has great bones? Consider re-covering it with a slipcover, or have the piece reupholstered. It is much more eco-friendly to reupholster a piece of existing furniture than purchasing new. For a quick update without the larger price tag, consider swapping out your existing living room pillows with brighter, fresher ones for an instant makeover.
3. Reorganize: The quickest and simplest way to freshen your home is by reorganizing and de-cluttering. By simply recycling old paperwork, and tidying up closets, cupboards, and dressers, you can clean up a space in a snap. Take this time to go through your closets and decide on items to sell or donate. Then, take a few minutes to walk through your home, removing any objects that are simply collecting dust.
4. Revamp: It’s amazing what a new coat of no-VOC, eco-friendly paint can do to a room. Painting is the fastest way to give a room a new look and instantly freshen up your home. Paint can give an added pop of color to older pieces of furniture, giving them new life. Another option is to replace doorknobs and the existing hardware on cabinets and dressers, which will give furniture a quick, modern makeover.
5. Refresh: Give your bathrooms a quick makeover by switching out your regular towels with plusher, softer, eco-friendly versions. New linens add a newness to your bedroom and make you feel pampered every time you use them. Another way to refresh your home is by adding several potted plants and scented soy candles.
6. Repurpose: If you have a dresser that isn’t being used, consider repurposing it as a buffet in your dining room or use it as kitchen island. An armoire can be easily converted to a toy closet or gift-wrapping station. And a small table that isn’t being utilized can be used as a desk in a child’s room or a plant-potting station on the patio.
7. Reconsider: Above all else, the next time you consider purchasing a new piece of furniture, appliance, or accessory for your home, ask yourself these questions: Is this item something that I really need? Do I already own something that could be used instead? Is this item something that I could borrow from a friend or rent from my local hardware store? By simply asking yourself a few questions, you can save yourself a lot of money and save the environment at the same time.
How do you freshen your home for summer?
Walking in the park at dark is an obvious no no. However, when the weather starts improving, it’s easy to forget about this common sense advice. When it’s 70 degrees with a light breeze and the sun is shining, who can blame you for leaving work a little early and going to the park for a walk? However, there are some basic safety tips that you should abide by when going off and walking. You never really know who might be walking with you or pretending to be exercising in the park.
First, it’s best to go to the park when there’s a good crowd of people. In the mid morning and early afternoon, you’re probably not going to find many people at the park. Many people will be tied up at work, unless it’s the weekend.
If you’re determined to go during a quieter time, it’s best to have a friend or loved one accompany you. There’s always
How much do you know about aluminum windows? Did you know that aluminum windows are mostly made out of recycled aluminum? The great part about aluminum windows is that you can find them almost anywhere and they look great on all types of homes.
One of the things that you need to understand when it comes to aluminum windows is that they are not that expensive. Since aluminum can be used over and over again it will not get more expensive because there is a large supply of it available. Unlike wood windows which have to be made out of trees, aluminum doesn’t rely on something else in order to be made. Trust me on this one, aluminum casements are great for homes.
Another thing that you need to know regarding aluminum windows is that they are very easy to install. T Read more…
It’s easy to run into problems when you’re trying to identify a plant using a common name, rather than its Latin designation. Here’s one such dilemma: just about any shrub at all with big, round, fluffy, white flowers can ostensibly be called a “snowball bush.”
At one time, I had a snowball bush of my own. Like many snowball bushes, it belonged to the viburnum genus – and its proper name (Viburnum plicatum var. tomentosum ‘Kern’s Pink’) was quite a mouthful. Even its common name — pink snowball viburnum — was problematic though, because the round blossoms opened to snowy white, not the suggested pink hue. (Though the unopened