Your bathroom is one of the main areas of your home that boosts its value overall, so it’s good to make updates to it from time to time. If you’ve been thinking of doing a bathroom remodel, making a few eco-friendly changes could improve your home’s value even more. Keep the following bathroom remodeling ideas in mind for a more eco-friendly home.

Eco-Friendly Fixtures

If you’re planning on replacing the plumbing fixtures in your bathroom, such as your toilet, choose ones that are environmentally friendly. Consider getting a toilet that uses a much lower amount of water for flushing, which helps cut down on your household’s water usage. You can also look into getting a dual flush toilet that gives you the option to choose a lower or heavier setting for water flow. For sinks, consider getting low-flow faucets. These fixtures use considerably less water than standard faucets. We do not suggest using low flow shower heads because you will not enjoy your showering experience.

Energy-Efficient Lighting

If your bathroom remodeling plans include upgrading your lighting, make the switch to energy-efficient lights. LED lighting fixtures for bathrooms provide plenty of light while also reducing the amount of energy you use. Another option is to have motion-sensor bathroom lights installed that turn on when you enter the room and shut off when you leave. Proper placement of these motion-sensor switches is imperative or you will have the lighting going off while you are still using the bathroom. Energy-efficient bathroom lights are available in a wide range of styles, including overhead lights and wall sconce lights.

Sustainable Flooring

If you’re thinking of having a new floor put into your bathroom, consider sustainable materials rather than traditional ones. Bamboo and hardwood that are responsibly sourced are a couple of options to consider. If you prefer something other than wood for your bathroom due to moisture concerns, look into other sustainable options, such as ceramic tiles.

If you’re interested in making changes or upgrades to your bathroom, please contact our Vail Valley and western North Carolina architects for more information. We can help you get started on your bathroom remodeling project.

Lose the clutter

The very first thing, to begin with, is losing the clutter. Your bedroom should radiate a feeling of coziness, tempting you to snooze off to blissful sleep. But a warm retreat seems a distant dream when you are in the middle of clutter. Perhaps you have small pieces of furniture – a cabinet or a pair of chairs – besides your bed that eats up the free space. Look around, if you feel they don’t belong there, take them out. Make an effort to lose some no-longer-wanted items and re-organize your bedroom. 

Install hardwood flooring diagonally

A smart trick to add an illusion of having more space is to rethinking the flooring – how is it installed? Whether it’s laminate, stone, tile, or hardwood flooring – instead of placing the blocks in a traditional manner, lay the flooring diagonally. When the pattern on the floor does not square with the room’s wall, space appears larger and trendier. 

Add reflections

Another secret that makes your room look bigger is the use of reflective surfaces – like mirrors. Though a mirror only imitates the view, it expands the horizons and adds some sparkles at the same time. A pair of small-sized mirrors or a full-length mirror creates an appearance that the bedroom has more space. If you don’t find mirrors fascinating enough, add a glittering chandelier that will reflect both light and the view. 

Whether the plan is to make small or big changes, these bedroom design secrets will certainly benefit you by making your small room appear bigger! For more bedroom interior design tricks, connect with professionals of TAB Associates. Not only can they develop designs of your dreams, but they can also make them come true!

In Balance With the Environment: Green Homes

In practicing architectural balance in Vail Valley and in Western North Carolina, a big consideration is always striking the perfect balance of fully incorporating the natural beauty of the landscape and exterior spaces with the design of the interior. Balancing nature with our homes can also extend beyond design as more and more people are embracing green homes. Choosing to go green with your home can mean many things, but let’s look at a few trends that we’ve been seeing.

Smart Homes for Energy Efficiency

Smart homes have become all the rage. They give us the opportunity to manage and monitor our homes like never before. Interestingly, the advantages aren’t just based on the convenience of being able to control our homes with an app on our phone. By being able to better regulate thermostats and lights, it’s much easier to maximize energy efficiency. There are many opportunities to introduce smart appliances into your home at any time, but while building it is worth considering linking the HVAC or heating systems to Wi-Fi.

Solar Panels

Solar panels don’t just provide an alternative to carbon-based fuel for our heating and electricity, they can give a homeowner energy independence from the grid! Many people imagine solar panels to be a compromise to a home’s design; clunky panels that are plunked down regardless of what the chosen architectural style. Now that’s no longer the case, and solar panels can be carefully incorporated into the design, adding to the architecture balance.

Window Walls

In the past, sustainable building meant using small windows. Now those who want to live in green homes can enjoy entire walls of windows with improvements to glazing and insulation.

If you’d like to learn more about incorporating green features into your home, then get in touch with us! We love sharing our expertise on all aspects of architecture in Vail Valley, Avon, Edwards, Beaver Creek, and in Western North Carolina!

Your home’s exterior focal point is the first place your guests’ eyes will land when they approach your home. It is a fundamental design principle that the right focal point can create a positive first impression and even change a person’s mood. Many contemporary homes lack the impressive architectural features that are common with Victorian, Tudor, or Colonial styles. Nevertheless, there are ways to add architectural balance and a dramatic focal point to any ranch, split-level, or cottage-style home!

Deciding on a Focal Point for Curb Appeal

To choose the best focal point that will tie together your home’s landscape, your home’s architectural style, and your family’s personality, start by noting your home’s best features or what you like best about the exterior of your home. It could be a large bay window, porch columns, a blooming tree, or your lovely wooden double-entry doors.

Work with what you have! There are many ways to increase the drama and beauty of any part of your home’s exterior.

10 Ideas for an Exterior Focal Point

1. Add a landscape feature like ornamental grass or decorative tree.
2. Replace exterior door with double-entry doors or add a decorative element to the door.
3. Install an architectural window – bay, bow, or arched
4. Paint exterior trim or structural elements with a contrasting color.
5. Add up-lighting at a tree or bushes.
6. Create architectural balance with matching wall lanterns or potted plants.
7. Change door numbers to a decorative font.
8. Plant a flower bed that blooms three seasons.
9. Replace walkway with paver stones or bring the Interior flooring out.
10. Consider an ornamental fence or railing.

Creating a focal point at your home’s entry can be a budget-friendly project. Painting your front door, adding two large potted plants on each side, and attaching wall sconces or installing a post lantern at the stairs can add pizzazz and charm to any lackluster front entry.

For a striking makeover, partner with TAB Associates, an architectural firm that specializes in “architectural balance!” TAB Associates can help you create an exterior balance with permanent architectural features that fit both classic and modern home styles.

While architectural “sustainability” continues to be a driving force in protecting the planet, emerging trends have refocused on the occupants’ “wellness.” This is not to say these ideas are mutually exclusive. Sustainability and wellness are two sides of a well-balanced home or commercial building. Our Vail Valley, CO and Hendersonville, NC architectural firm delivers architectural balance that enhances wellness!

1. Life-Enhancing Rooms

Consider the trends of the 1950s when modern conveniences were all the rage. Although that may strike you as materialism, those trends had a certain wellness lining. Wellness was not as popular a catch-phrase in those days. However, advancements in stoves, refrigerators, washing machines, vacuum cleaners, and others reduced the workload of full- and part-time homemakers. That reality credited everyday people with more time for their wellness.

Living in today’s technology era, architecture has increasingly included smart technology, built-in coffee stations, and other lifestyle enhancements. Simply put, improved wellness is a byproduct of reduced in-home labor.

2.Rethinking Building Materials

The average consumer enjoys a heightened awareness of risky and toxic materials. From traces of asbestos to unsavory chemicals used in paints, waxes, and cleaners, homeowners are avoiding even an inkling of a health hazard. That’s an excellent wellness philosophy and one trending in the architectural discourse.

Today’s designs lean more toward natural materials such as hardwoods, stone, and bamboo, among others. Crafting buildings that are more connected with the natural world has become increasingly popular for health reasons.

3. Embracing Nature

Another trend that has been embraced is designing rooms that connect directly with nature. Open-air spaces are becoming popular among parents that want their children to get more fresh air. With this popularization, plant life is increasingly being incorporated into architectural designs. It’s no longer uncommon to see indoor gardens, a living tree, or a home that strategically employs skylights and full-wall windows for the purposes of growing plants and bringing the outside in.

If you are considering a design that favors architectural balance and wellness, contact our Vail Valley, Colorado and Hendersonville, NC firm and schedule a free consultation!

Not everyone can afford a home with a separate Family Room.  If you’re like many modern homeowners who are raising a family, it’s essential that your main living space is kid-friendly — and this sometimes means that style and polish need to be sacrificed in favor of functionality. Fortunately, those who find themselves longing for a bit more of a “pulled-together” look have design options available! The following are just three of the many ways that you can retain the kid-friendly aspects of your living room while cultivating an ambiance pleasing to adults.

Use Hidden Storage

The presence of toys, puzzles, games and books make any living room look messy. Hidden storage provides a place for these items to be quickly put away when the time comes for the adults to use the room. Chairs, couches, end tables and coffee tables with drawers under them are doing double duty. Baskets hung on the wall or a nice chest contribute to an attractive aesthetic while providing a place to stash toys and other items. All of these make it super easy to transform the play area into an adult living room in just a few minutes.

Create an Open Floor Plan

An open floor plan provides ample room for kids to play and is easy to clean up once the fun is over for the day. It also allows everyone to be in the room at the same time without feeling overly crowded. Pull it together with an overstuffed sectional sofa, which serves as a focal point and is easily rearranged when the occasion calls for a different seating style.

Include a Gallery Wall

Kids love to see their artwork hanging in family living spaces, but just slapping it up haphazardly creates a sloppy look. A gallery wall where artwork is organized provides polish to your living room and allows budding artists an area to show off their work! You are not limited to the front of the refrigerator, by any means!

Our Vail Valley and Western North Carolina architectural firm helps homeowners create balanced living environments on a regular basis! Please contact our office for more information.

Let the Sunshine In

The most obvious way to ensure large amounts of daylight is to use lots of glass. However, it’s not quite as simple as just placing as many windows as possible in the structure. Aesthetics such as architectural balance has to come into play as well as the home’s energy needs.

For instance, filling up a wall with large, north-facing windows probably isn’t a good strategy in locations that receive significantly cold winters, and the same principle exists with southern exposures in hot climate areas. A skilled designer will take local atmospheric conditions into consideration to ensure that the interior of the home has proper balance.

Advances in window-glass technology also offers options not available in the past. For example, southern facing windows in hot desert regions can be tinted to ensure that they don’t cause annoying glare.

The Importance of Balance

One of the most important aspects about designing for the optimal use of natural light is to pay attention to balance. Homes where the majority of sunlight is coming in through windows situated on the same wall experience uneven light, and even worse, shadows. Windows, as well as skylights, must be properly located to avoid glaring conditions on the side of the home where the windows are located, and gloom and shadows on the side with no windows.

Another important strategy used by architectural design firms is to place windows as high up as possible because the higher the light source, the deeper the light penetrates, which help keeps interior spaces bright.

Please feel free to contact us if you have questions about maximizing natural light in the home.

Contrast Different Tones

Mixing individual pieces of wood furniture in a room with a similarly toned wood floor causes your furnishings to blend with the floor and not stand out. You’ll make a stronger impact when you purposely contrast and break up these tones. Do this by pairing dark stained floors with lighter toned furniture or light stained floors with darker cherry or mahogany furnishings. If your still in the process of building your home and using an architectural firm, ask them which wood flooring complements your furniture best.

Use a Buffer

When contrasting isn’t an option, place a buffer between the floor and your furniture by using an area rug. This option also works when the contrast is too different and incongruous to complement each other. Rugs can create a nice transition and soften the overall effect.

Tie the Room Together

Mismatched wood finishes can quickly get out of hand. You can create continuity by tying all the pieces together with matching accent colors. Curtains, lamp shades and throw pillows in the same color work well to make individual pieces blend harmoniously and flow together.

The more you understand your wood’s unique characteristics, the better you can achieve a complementary blend in your décor. Some of the most interesting rooms include varied wood tones that add character to your home and our architects understand the importance of balancing various wood finishes. We can help you find  your balance. Call us at 970-766-1470 to start designing the home of your dreams.

Movable Walls: Not New but Still Valuable

Folding walls can be used to divide a large room, such as a spacious living area. A folding or moveable wall can also be used as an outer wall that leads to the outside, to create a larger living and entertainment area. A glass wall is a thing of beauty. It allows you to have an expanded view of the outside without losing the energy efficiency of your home.  Here’s why.

At 8,150 feet above sea level, Vail Valley, Colorado, offers expansive views of nature. A Vail Valley architect can add a sunroom onto your home’s exterior. In addition, they can install a movable glass wall.

In winter, the wall can be opened to create more space and to take advantage of the warmth provided by the sunroom (or the sun in general). In summer, when the weather gets warmer, the glass wall can be closed to insulate your living room. That is just one way that an architect in Vail Valley can help design the perfect mix of indoor and outdoor space.

Kitchen Expansion Made Simple

Another good example of how to use a movable wall to increase your home’s space is to place moveable glass walls in the kitchen. By building an outdoor kitchen, you can open the wall and expand your kitchen area for parties, holidays and other events. Such a wall allows you to take full advantage of all of your living space, even those spaces outdoors.

To explore how an architect can add value and help improve the space in your home, visit TAB Associates online.