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Design Dilemma: Three Unexpected Ways to Warm Up Your Home

Looking for a way to add some character and warmth to a neutral or boring space? It can be a problem for many of us who have seen so many safe beige interiors that we’re afraid to step out of the box. But no need to fear! There are plenty of touches you can add to your home which can bring instant personality and style.

Paint the Floor a Bold Color

The cool thing about painting the floor is that while it makes a statement, it also fades into the background.  The red floor in the loft above is definitely bold. But because it is a floor color that is used throughout the space, it also recedes. In other words it functions more the way an “accent” wall would, without dominating. Painted floors can also work in traditional spaces. The painted checkerboard floor below feels almost “Old World” and is the perfect quirky accent to this room.

Paint a Mural

In Ancient Rome these were called frescoes, but they still achieved the very same function they hold today. A mural or a painted wall depicting some scene can be an instant way to add quirky charm to an interior. Just take a look at this interior in Barcelona:

Below, a mural adds instant style to a child’s bedroom:

And below, two different dining rooms gain instant and distinct personality in two different scenes:

Please note that when it comes to a mural, the quality of the artwork is of the utmost importance. (Otherwise you will regret this decision). It pays to hire someone who is an experienced muralist and who can show you a portfolio of work.

Paint Your Woodwork

You’d be surprised at how quickly you can transform a space just by making bold choices on painting woodwork, trim and doors. Above, an intricate pattern on an exterior door instantly advertises that the occupant has a distinctive style. Below, a mellow yellow trim is comforting, traditional and unexpected, all at the same time.

Here, a trim painted the same color as the walls, feels modern and edgy:

And below, an ecru trim paired with boldly colored walls brings everything together in a warm, funky, yet elegant way:

The above photos serve as prime examples of how unexpected painting choices can instantly lend an otherwise bland room a ton of style. If you want your home to feel stylish, warm, quirky, edgy, opt for bold color choices in unpredictable places. Time to break out that can of paint!

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Seijo Peon Arquitectos: A Delightful Family Home in Merida

Here’s a house that makes great use of large expanses of windowless stucco to create a canvas for offsetting the three pretty colours of Spain’s terracottas against each other.

The house is sited in Mérida, an old town settled by the Spanish in the balmy dry warm climate inland on Mexico’s Yucatan peninsula.

Designed by Seijo Peon Arquitectos, much of it is completely open air for al fresco dining and living.

Slicing through the garden, the entrance from the street leads directly to an enclosed glass corridor leading to enclosed bedrooms.

To one side of that corridor, this fully al fresco dining room is sheltered only from the heat of the sun under a cooling high ceiling.

From the garden gate, the first view is a welcome from the family in the open air living and dining outdoor room.

No eating at the kitchen sink for this family.

The kitchen, not shown, is a separate and very spacious room to the right.

This is an eating space for savouring the joys of family and friends.

Large paving stones create a seamless transition from exterior to ‘interior’ space.

The corridor along the entire length of the house is glassed on both sides as it passes a garden space between the kitchen and the bedrooms.

So from the garden you can see through this part of the house. Read the rest of this entry »

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Sleek and Glamorous Beach House in South Africa

This luxurious seaside house on Bantry Bay in Cape Town, South Africa comes to us from Stefan Antoni Olmesdahl Truen Architects (SAOTA).

Unlike many beach houses or coastal houses, there is no bringing nature in, in this house.

On the contrary.

Refined and chic, its sophisticated glossy interiors are the antithesis of the coastal scrub outside.

But ‘interior’ is a relative term.

Sliding floor-to-ceiling glass walls completely open each of three floors creating an open air living space.

Its terraces cantilever out over the romantic outdoor rooms into the gigantic view beyond. Read the rest of this entry »

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Glass House Features Dream Lap Pool

At first sight, this huge steel framing structure capturing the sky appears to be an open pavilion.

In fact it is entirely glassed in, to house what must be the most glamourous lap pool ever, in a double height glass pavilion.

It is one of several sweet surprises in this unusual renovation.

It is entered through the small original cottage on the site – on the third floor – shown at the back here.

On entering, the first interior sight is this stunning view that captures a huge sky and overlooks the city lights in the harbour through the second floor double-height lap pool atrium.

Next to the glass atrium of the pool, the living room occupies a cosy space to the back of the house.

The kitchen/dining is placed in the front, suspended right within the harbour view, creating a blissfully happy place for making food and enjoying it. Read the rest of this entry »

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A Solar Dream Realized in Korea

On this perfect-for-solar house in Korea, the roof is sloped at an angle to receive best sun exposure year around and sized for 3KW PV system providing all its electricity, and solar heat collection tubes to heat its water.

In addition to the solar energy, efficiency is key. Windows are sized to prevent heat loss, and placed to facilitate easy cross ventilation.

This net zero energy house in GyeongSangNam-do was inspired by an experience of the client’s; an architectural educator.

As a student in Milan, Italy, she was affected by a local truck-drivers’ union strike against the rocketing oil price.

Within three days into the strike, there were no fresh groceries to be found in the city.

The experience drove home our reliance on fossil fuels.

She decided to imagine an alternative vision for future architecture. Read the rest of this entry »