Month: February 2014

How to Build Your Home to Display Art

When you have an impressive art collection, it’s important to make sure that your home gives you a good way to display it. Instead of having all the pieces in one room, you can spread them around if you have the right home design.

 

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Use the following tips to create a home that serves as the ideal setting for your art collection:

  • Let in light. Natural sunlight can highlight your artwork and help draw the eye toward it. Having several clerestory windows installed on the upper part of your home helps let in as much sun as possible. Using as much glass as possible on the walls also helps let in more natural light.
  • Connect the pieces. Your home can be set up similar to a museum, with certain pieces displayed in each room, based on a theme. To make things more coherent, include a way to connect these pieces, such as a central courtyard, surrounded by a gallery area for more art walls.
  • Create good display areas. Add shelving in strategically placed areas to display your artwork. This can work in any room in your home.

Ready to discuss your home’s design with the experts? Contact us at TAB Associates, and stop by our Facebook page.

How Your Home’s Wood Can Tell Its Story

Wood can add a warm and natural touch to any home. When designing a home with wood, it’s important to think about how this material can reflect on a home and share its story.

Use wood to soften a living space
Source: TAB Associates


Keep these tips in mind when using wood in a home’s design:

  • Create contrast. Combining wood with a starker material, like concrete or stone, can highlight a home’s past. For example, a home built from a former industrial building can use wood to add some warmth, while leaving structural elements, like concrete columns, beams, and floors intact.
  • Keep an original element or two. Leaving a structural wood element in place, while adding new ones, can help you blend the old with the new. Elements such as a wooden ladder in a renovated barn serve as a reminder of the building’s former use. The newer wood can create a more inviting appearance.
  • Blend old and new woods. Using more than one type of wood can create some interesting visual appeal in almost any home. The original wood can remain faded as a reminder of the past, while the newer one can add a sharp modern contrast.

Need professional help designing a home with wood? Call TAB Associates, and follow us on Facebook.

Why You Can Have a Flat Roof in a Snowy Climate

For homeowners interested in contemporary and modern architecture, a flat roof is a highly desirable option. You may believe that living in harsh winters with heavy snow fall means you can’t enjoy a flat roof, but you can enjoy both a flat roof and a snowy climate.

unique architectural trendsunique architectural trends
Source: TAB Associates
  • Materials: The materials that you choose for your home play an important part in determining if your home is suitable for snow. A wooden roof with steel supports and reinforcement is one way to make a flat roof possible.  The key is to provide an acceptable membrane for waterproofing.
  • Insulation: The engineer and architect can work together to design a roof that has adequate insulation to support snow. In fact, the required insulation for your home may well be just what’s needed to support the snow, depending on the design.
  • Preventing leaks: It’s a common misconception that flat roofs leak more than other roof types. The truth is that any improperly designed or damaged roof can leak from time to time.
  • Easy to maintain: Like any roof design, flat roofs do require maintenance. A suitably designed flat roof will also have drainage features.  Proper drainage is one of the keys to an appropriate flat roof.

Are you designing a home? Contact us at TAB Associates to discuss the roof and other design elements to enhance your property.

Ideas for Opening Up Your Home to Nature

Most homeowners settle on using more plants and fresh flowers to incorporate nature in their home. But what if you could open up your home to nature through your building design? Work with your architectural designer to incorporate the following nature-friendly components into your home.

incorporate nature into home design
  • Winter-friendly Porch. Even in snowy climates, you can extend the porch’s lifetime well beyond the chilly fall and spring months. Employ the use of a wood burning stove or fireplace, plush seating and warm throws to entice your guests with an enclosed porch. Floor to ceiling windows give the illusion you are outdoors, and do so without the chill.
  • Entry-way. Recreate the entry way to your home and emphasize the natural beauty of your surroundings. Emphasize architectural elements of the home that resemble a natural setting, such as wood, stone, water and other elements.
  • Ample windows. Using ample windows in your home opens up the interior to different natural views on the property. Work with your building design professionals to create window space around the scenic views on your property. Enjoy year-round natural views from the comfort of your home.
  • Sliding Glass Doors. Using large sliding glass doors that pocket into a wall provide a large opening in a wall to bring the outside inside.  This can open to a deck or a patio, covered or not.

Are you interested in a building design that emphasizes nature and sustainability? Contact us at TAB Associates.

 

 

How to Build Your Home to Control the Sun

Balancing your need for protection from the sun with its appeal is important in sunny climates. Instead of blasting your air conditioner over the summer, explore the suggestions below for incorporating sun control into your building design.

Build your home to control the sun
Source: TAB Associates


  • Stone walls. Stone walls are a fascinating building material because they store and release the warmth of the day in the evenings when homes are cooler. Stone walls on the patio with slotted openings block out the sun while allowing light and wind to illuminate and provide a much needed breeze on the patio.
  • Solar Paneling. For a unique and sustainable option, employ the use of solar panels that will re-purpose heat as useful energy in the home. Make use of the natural shade this “solar panel canopy” provides by designing a rooftop seating area under the panels.
  • Extended walls. Extend the roofs for proper overhangs and walls of your home beyond the windows to elongate your indoor space while simultaneously enjoying shade from the sun’s heat. You may want to build these extensions into your home’s structure or incorporate a retractable awning into your building design.

 

If you would like to discuss controlling the sun in your home’s building design, contact us at TAB Associates.

Three Things That Architects Want You to Know About What They Do

Understanding a bit about how architects work and how you are involved in the process simplifies the home design approach.Working with an architect is a two-way process that involves the homeowner’s input as well.

benefits of using an architect
Source: Shutter Stock
  • We draw on interior and exterior inspiration. Ask any architect, and they’ll tell you that they use the exterior just as much as the interior for design inspiration. Vocalize your ideal exterior to help your architect visualize your ideal interior.
  • Actively participate with us in the design process. The more you participate in the design process, the higher likelihood that you’ll be happy with your home. While it’s the architect’s job to develop the actual design, you should be upfront and sincerely honest about your budget, expectations and feedback. Open and honest communication is key.
  • Tell us your likes and dislikes. If you explain what you like by showing us pictures of what you like, also show us what you dislike.  We need to get into your head and understand both your likes and dislikes.  In this way we can design what you want and stay away from things you do not like.

Are you interested in working with an architect to design your Colorado home? Contact us at TAB Associates.