Our architects are experts at designing office spaces that work with you, rather than against you, by integrating these and other design ideas.
Upgrading your home office can increase your productivity and make you more comfortable in your workspace. Our architects are experts at designing office spaces that work with you, rather than against you, by integrating these and other design ideas:
A good home office offers plenty of space, so clients can take a seat if they stop by for a visit.
When placing the furniture in the room, it’s essential to consider workflow. Do you move from the computer to a writing desk often? If so, the pathway between the two should be open. Do you frequently grab books of a bookshelf? Then, making that shelf easily accessible is essential.
Forget about bland, boring colors, and paint your home office a color that you find relaxing and inspiring. You’ll be more creative in a space with lively color. Try seafoam green, orange, or even cobalt blue.
Place your office in a space where there’s a great view out the window. Sometimes, you need to stare into a beautiful outdoor space to give your ideas time to develop and to give your eyes a rest.
Are you looking for Vail architects to help create the perfect home office? Contact TAB Associates; we’d love to help.
When it comes to designing a home, good planning leads to good design. Consider our steps below to start your home design process off right.
Source: TAB AssociatesSource: TAB Associates
Personal planning. When designing a home, don’t immediately run to design books to find out what you need. The home design process begins with you. Consider what things you would like to see in your home, including size and types of rooms. A good starting point is thinking about what was missing from your previous residence. This will help you develop a good program. We take the program and develop a conceptual design on the site. We are 3 dimensional puzzle builders.
Room design. Room design is a fundamental part of the home and where a majority of time will be spent. For example, would you like lounge space built into the bedrooms or would your prefer a different room in which to relax? Such considerations will significantly alter the home’s presentation.
Topography.Considering the landscape of your home and its environment is important. Many homeowners want to avoid the cost of a land surveyor, but the land analysis proves to be indispensable when determining how you can build upon the land and which direction you are likely to face external elements. Also the views need to be shot on the survey so they can be properly incorporated into the design. We always design on the site so the home blends into the site appropriately.
If you are designing a home, contact us at TAB Associates to discuss the home planning and design process with our trained architects.
The freedom of being able to choose your own floor plan is one of the best parts of building your home. This decision is an important one, since it affects the way the entire home is developed.
Source: TAB Associates
When it comes to home design, avoid making these common floor plan mistakes:
Don’t focus on what’s trendy. Instead, focus on choosing a floor plan that best suits your lifestyle. For example, open floor plans are popular now, but this type of floor plan won’t work if you have family members who prefer more privacy.
Don’t forget about your budget. You might want a floor plan that’s larger than what you really need, so that you have more space. This could put an unnecessary strain on your finances, though, when you consider that a larger home means higher utility bills. Stick with a floor plan that’s within your budget instead.
Don’t forget to take measurements. When you have the dimensions of a floor plan, make sure that your furniture and other home items will fit. Take measurements of these before settling on a floor plan.
Selecting lighting is a major decision when updating a home or office. With the many innovation choices in lighting and light sources available, homeowners and business owners have a plethora to choose from when it comes to assorted styles and sizes.
For 2013, lighting trends focus on several areas of home decor, from color to energy efficient bulbs. The main trend for lighting is the finish with this year focused on polished nickel and chrome.
Energy efficiency is also a focus. Along with a decrease in any electric bill, halogen, xenon, fluorescent and LED lights provide more luminescence and efficiency than incandescent bulbs.
Recessed and track lighting primarily in the living room, kitchen, bedroom, dining room and family room are current trends. Track lighting offers flexibility in movement while recessed lighting adds a soft ambiance.
Light fixtures are abundant and designers want to make a statement with unique pieces such as chandeliers. The intricate and ornate design makes them a piece of artwork worthy of use in any room, including the kitchen.
Trends say standard lighting with no pizzazz in the kitchen is a no-go. Incorporate LED lights in dark areas.
TAB Associates has provided expert design and quality construction services for over 30 years. Whenever it’s time to redesign your home, call on TAB’s professional architects to fully outfit your home in style.
Check out these neat reasons why certain rooms earned their name. Source: TAB
Have you ever wondered about how the rooms in your home received their name? To help you understand, we have broken down the meaning of the most popular rooms and where they get their name from in a recent post we published on the DCD Home website. Check it out for yourself:
What is in a name anyway? Great Room, the most misused room name today. A BIG Living Room is not a Great Room. It may be a GREAT room, but unless the Kitchen and Dining are part of the same space, it is just a plain old Living Room, maybe large nonetheless.
Colloquial terms are head scratchers too. In Florida, a room that started as a screened porch, then got jalousie windows, then finally awning windows was a Florida Room. It is just a renovated closed-in screen porch. And the screen porch here in Colorado is a Lanai. I think it is a Hawaiian name?!
The room next to the Kitchen, the one with the couch. No, not the Living Room. The less formal one. Some places it is a Family Room. Oh, not here in Colorado, it has a fireplace, so it must be the Hearth Room.
We once got a project from a developer, a lot in Beaver Creek, that had a set of design drawings with it. We threw them away, but in these drawings there was a foyer, then a hall named the Antebellum, then a cross axis hall. What in the hell is an Antebellum? We looked it up. It means “before the Civil War”. I guess it was a very OLD hall?! Why not Grand Hall? No, ‘Hall’ is negative, “that house has a lot of halls.” Wasted space. So we rename halls to friendly names, like Gallery. Yes, that is where we find art or sometimes just windows with plein art. Art is cultural. Culture is good. Gallery is good.
Office, Study, Library. Which is it? Can not be a Library unless it has lots of shelves and books. Lots of books. Is it a Study? What are we studying? It is probably an Office. But just part time.
Breakfast Nook? Is it really a nook? You can get six people and a turkey in there.
Mud Room. If you bring mud in there, Mom will whip your butt! Take your boots off in the Garage.
Awwww…. Powder Room. Not since the 80’s. It is not a half bath either. It has no bath, let alone a half of one. What should we call it? The Crapper? John D. was not fond of that one.
We need a Colorado Room. What do you think? A large dark room, with a nice bar, a pool table and a lot of dead animal heads on the walls, cigar smoke, and tequila. I like it. Feel free to use it. Or make up any other names that come to mind. We do, but we keep it in this century.
If you are looking to redesign your home or one of your rooms, please contact us at TAB Associates, Inc. We can be reached at 970-748-1470!
When hiring an architect, you are hiring someone to come in and design your personal property to your liking. However, sometimes it just does not workout to your liking. That is when you may be thinking about relieving them of their duties. But when is the right time to do so? We are here to help and let you know when to call it quits on an architect.
Save yourself time by reading up on these reasons to let go of an architect. Source: Keoni Cabral
Check out our published post on when to fire your architect that was published on the DCD Home website:
We have had a few clients who came to us after they fired their Architect. One client actually fired three different Architects before coming to us. They all live happily in their new homes in various gated communities in our beautiful valley. They have had various reasons, but the most common reason is the previous Architect’s inability to listen to their desires.
Architects need to keep their clients involved in every phase of a project. Starting with a proper analysis of the site, the client’s program needs to be developed primarily from client input. Program relationships follow suit here. The client’s involvement is most important during the conceptual design phase. A great concept with the full involvement goes a long way to a client’s embrace of the final results. An Architect who designs in a vacuum has done himself and his client a grave injustice. We say, “An Architect’s worst enemy is his ego”. Give up the ego and gain a satisfied client.
We, as Architects, are destined to provide our clients with professional expertise and design competence to fulfill their program requirements. A combination of art and science, sculpture and technical resolve, form the relationship of the Architect’s challenge to structure and site. Architecture is unlike the practice of medicine or law, because most people have a strong sense of what they like or dislike. Everyone has been in or seen a building they fancy. Few know the best medicine for their ailment or the most practical means of resolution to their legal woes.
Should I fire my Client?
Attentive clients are great. Those that share the enthusiasm we do make the process fun. This is an experience that takes at least five months in design and up to a year and a half or more in construction. The net result is a project that everyone can enjoy.
We have had to fire a few clients. One contracted for one size home and programmed a larger home. When informed their program exceeded their contractual size, they suggested we continue and see how it works out. When the completed home’s design exceeded the contractual amount, they would not pay the increased fees for the increased size.
Another case consisted of a client that was consistently absent minded of previous discussions. It made the process hell. The Project Manager was either contemplating suicide or murder. Life is too short to deal with people with no scruples.
Are Contractors good or evil?
We say Contractor make us look good. Sure we have to draw the right lines on the paper, but they are just lines. The constructed environment is far more difficult. Protocol in the office is if a Contractor calls with a question, stop what you are doing and help him solve his problem. We consider the Contractor an integral part of our team, Client, Architect and Contractor. Together we can make something great. The day of the Change Order Contractor is basically gone. Everything has value and someone is going to gain from it. Mistakes are inevitable, but the finesse of corrections is substantial.
Should I have fun?
Speaking of life being too short, if we are not having fun, doing what we do, then we stop! Architecture is a passion, far beyond a profession. It is in our brains, heart and soul. We get excited about the process and revel in the results.
Are we having fun yet?
Hell, yes. Come join us! It is how it should be!
If you’re looking to bring on a highly skilled architecture firm, contact us at TAB Associates, Inc. today.
The right interior designer like Tracie Schumacher is an essential ingredient in designing the perfect home or property.
Vail interior designers are worth their weight in gold when it comes to putting a client’s vision into reality. One such Vail designer is Tracie Schumacher. With a team of talented designers with more than 50 years of experience collectively, Schumacher leads the Studio 80 team to the final goal of bringing a clients vision to fruition.
With a collaborative working environment that includes Architects, other design firms and contractors for private, residential and commercial projects, the end result by Studio 80 ensures the client is satisfied on all levels.
From renovations to luxury accommodations, Schumacher and company take on the task from start to finish providing project management, interior architecture and structural styling for specific designs such as fireplaces, custom designed furnishings as well as non-fixed furnishings.
Through visual presentations, clients see the project in progress through sketches and drawings that emphasize the lay out, space planning, special features, furniture placement and the overall style of the project. With clients as part of the team, it encourages a successful project will be achieved.
One of Schumacher’s latest projects is working with architectural firm, TAB Associates, Inc. ,on the Chen 3 Timber Springs project that focuses on open spaces and positive utilization of square footage to the maximum.
TAB Associates, Inc. has played and continues to play a significant role in Vail community service projects. Since 2004, the company has been a part of the planning and construction projects for Habitat for Humanity in both Eagle and Lake County!
TAB has worked alongside other volunteers to further support Habitat for Humanity in Loveland.
Providing complimentary services in all areas of architectural planning and design, the company has become a long standing partner, along with other individual and corporate businesses and organizations, in supporting Habitat for Humanity’s vision in building quality homes.
Through donations of time, materials, labor and money and a long list of dedicated partners, Habitat for Humanity continues to forge forward with help from its professional partners like TAB Associates, Inc.
TAB provides volunteers and support to cover a broad spectrum of needs among the community. Along with architectural services for planning and design, the company has also provided support for retail construction, renovations for accessibility, recreational center and park design and initiated a scholarship program for students of Eagle County elementary schools.
Through the generous donation of time and a hands-on commitment to Lake and Eagle County, Habitat for Humanity, along with TAB Associates and many other outstanding partners, will continue to make a positive impact on the community and its residents.
At TAB Associates, our Colorado architects don’t just provide people with the plans for the home of their dreams, we offer institutional dream projects, too.
TAB Associate is currently in the process of expanding the Avery Parsons Elementary School.
One of our current projects we’re working on is the Avery Parsons Elementary School addition. This school, located in Buena Vista, is adding on a wing for pre-kindergarten through second grade. This will replace the pre-kindergarten’s separate building.
One of the best parts is that though the design and features of the 17,800 square-foot addition will be similar to the 1997 structure, the day-lighting scheme will be different. This a great enhancement over the current structure, which is subtle enough so that it flows well with what is already standing. The teachers should not even need the electric lighting in their classrooms which will be automatically adjusted by daylight sensors.
Additionally, we will be adding a bit of site work, designing and implementing a new playground and pre-kindergarten playground. Possible additional funding may be provided by Great Outdoors Colorado (GOCO).
If you’ve got a project you’d like to see come true, our Colorado architects can help with every step of the process. Please contact us at 970-766-1470.
One of the important aspects of architectural design is paying attention to mountain home trends (especially since we consider that one of our specialties). We’ve noticed that there is an increasing trend toward ‘flex space’ in mountain homes, and there are plenty of good reasons for this trend to keep on going.
Following the principals of flex space can help you flip that living room into a home theater.
By using a single space for multiple purposes, flex space emphasizes quality of space over quantity of space. There are almost limitless examples of flex space. From the home office that doubles as a guest room to a living-dining area, flex space can open a house and give plenty of breathing room without being a sprawling waste of under-utilized space.
With drop down screens and a projector, as well as the help of an automated window covering, a family room is instantly transformed into a media room. This is another great example of flex space.
To get the most out of flex space, it’s vital for thorough planning during the design process, with architects working with clients to determine their lifestyle needs, listen closely, and design accordingly.
At TAB Associates, our philosophy is to keep those mountain home trends in mind, but to work with our clients to fulfill their every need. If you’d like to learn more about how our philosophy can work for you, please take a moment to contact us.
