Spaces 4 Living

An Architect's Idea Book: Sharing ideas and inspiration to help create beautiful living spaces.

Category Archives: Bathrooms


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Taking on “Tiny House” ideas for your own home.

The concept of Tiny House Living is becoming more and more popular. The increasing number of foreclosures and unemployment in recent years has really pushed homeowners to rethink the concept of home and its size. Most tiny homes are under 500 square feet and many have stretched this notion to 150-300 square feet house on wheels. The ideals are simple living…focusing on outdoor spaces, de-cluttering and down-sizing. Smaller housing is not just for the retirees, but for those who wish to own their home who normally couldn’t afford a house or those who feel mobility fits their life style.

 

Tiny houses do not imply to live without comfort, just using your space more wisely. That is a concept that we can all employ.

 

Vertical Space

 
Craftsman Basement by Seattle Architects & Building Designers Board and Vellum
Eclectic Bedroom by Somerville General Contractors Morse Constructions Inc.

 

Built-in floor to ceiling storage or creating a partition wall with cupboard and drawers lets you packs away all your collectibles.

 
Eclectic Kitchen
Traditional Kitchen by Huntington Kitchen & Bath Designers Susan Serra

 

Using the vertical storage in the kitchen adds a bit more visual interest as well creating more storage. Whether choosing to incorporate shelves and/or rails to display your kitchenware or you could suspend over an island   if you have the space. The wall solution is not just limited to pots and utensils, there are baskets you could add for spices, plants and even task boards.

 

 

Shallow shelving 

  
Contemporary Kitchen by Jackson Interior Designers & Decorators dwelling
Eclectic Bathroom
Finding extra space to store things in shallow shelves or thin concealed drawers that might be otherwise wasted.

 

Under the stairs

loft-staircase-storage  office-under-staircase
http://www.tinyhousetalk.com

 

Using the dead space under the stairs is a great area for added storage, closet, home office or a powder room that can fit a number of storage needs and stair configurations.

Wall niche

  
Traditional Entry by Los Angeles Interior Designers & Decorators Alexandra Rae Design
Modern Staircase by London Photographers David Churchill – Architectural Photographer
   
Modern Bathroom by San Francisco Architects & Building Designers Michael Tauber Architecture
Traditional Home Theater by Peoria Design-Build Firms Dan Waibel Designer Builder

 

Creating a wall niche is not just reserved for the medicine cabinet.  Framing out the space to add niches for art, books, shower shelving,  or even to hide AV equipment.

Hidden storage under bulky furniture

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BoConcept  (Chiva functional coffee table & Adria Nesting tables)

We’ve seen the storage in an ottomans and drawers in coffee tables, but the Chiva coffee table combines both ideas with elegance. Nesting tables are not a new concept, but them are coming back into trend. Storing tables beneath tables is a traditional and simple space saving innovation to keep.

 

Hidden bed

 

 
Poppi Theatre by Resource Furniture
 
Atoll 000 by Resource Furniture

 

Nothing short of amazing! I love the ideas that Resource Furniture has to offer. A twist on a murphy bed shown here is only a small sample of what they create. These beds are a vast improvement from the traditional hide-a-beds for guests in the living room. So comfy, they could be your own bed.

 

Dual Function and Transforming Furniture

Goliath Glass Table 
Goliath Glass by Resource Furniture

Modern console table transforms into a dining table suitable for 8 people. Incredible!

 

Loft Floor Space

Tiny House Floor Storagehttp://www.livingbiginatinyhouse.com

This storage solution is not for everyone, but for the loft or attic floor especially in a mobile tiny home, this is a great idea to incorporate storage without incrouching floor space with large furniture.


core77.com

If you can’t go over, go under! (the floor). Using the ceiling space between floor joists is a great spot to keep your books and trinkets.


Knee wall storage

 Traditional Hall by Chappaqua Architects & Building Designers Fivecat Studio | Architecture
Contemporary Family Room by San Francisco Interior Designers & Decorators Ashley Roi Jenkins Design, LLC

 

Built-in storage into the knee wall maybe a great solution for hard to find furniture pieces and it keeps the floor space open.

 

There is always a storage solution, no matter the size of the space. Whether choosing built-in, dual function, transforming, wall space, floor space are but a few examples to use space more wisely and many more ideas out are there.

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The Art of Decorating with Black

 

So often many fall at the wayside away from colour and slump into the unfulfilled wasteland of beige! Some are intimidated to commit to using bold and bright colours in there living spaces…so goodness knows how they would react to black. OK black is not actually a colour, but it is a bold choice.

There are ways to enrich your space, just remember a little does go a long way.

 

Black Doors

 

Black doors can help create an upscaled and elegant look,  not just for the exteriors but the interior doors as well. The vertical plane of black draws your eyes to the other black objects in the room and creates a visual balance. It also helps balance the other large black elements in the home, for example that huge 60″ television that you always dreamed of, a black leather sofa or the unlit fireplace.

 

Black Windows

  

The odd thing about black or dark window woodwork is that you look past them to the outdoors. Whereas with white, your eyes tend to fix on the white frames instead of looking beyond. Bring the outdoors inside with black, charcoal or a dark stain.

 

Black ceilings

         
 

 

Now I bet you think I have gone too far!  A black ceiling adds a completely different character as compared to the traditional white. Your eye has a tendency to look for defined details to inform it of boarders and boundaries. Therefore, if you had black or partially black walls with a black ceiling your eyes would be tricked by the size of the space…making the room feel more spacious.

On the other hand, if you were to have lighter walls and a dark ceiling, the ceiling would appear lower. This could be beneficial in a room with a high ceiling that you wanted to make it feel more cozy and intimate.

 

Black Floors

     

 

Black floor have a huge impact. It is a bit more of a finacial commitment than paint, but the rewards could be outstanding. It says luxury all over it. If you have a dog that sheds it maybe more of a chore to keep spotless and high shine floors show more dust so unless you enjoy sweeping every day opt for a matte or textured finish.

 

Black Cabinetry or Surfaces

      

 

There is one way to get your white surfaces to pop in your kitchen and that is to have black cabinets. For a  contemporary open layout this would be stunning. The black gives the modern white space living a new twist. However if you inverse the palette with white cabinets and black surfaces the same pop occurs, but with a more traditional appeal. Granted, the main influence on the contemporary vs transitional vs traditional depends upon cabinetry style and layout.

 

Architectural details

   
 

Why not paint the wainscoting black (charcoal is illustrated in the photograph) or the ornate frames. It gives the woodwork a new lease on life and celebrates its artistry and craftsmanship.

The key element in using black, is that it enhances the other colours in the spaces as well (in my opinion) gives a sense of solid, grounding elegance. Dare I say, its the equivalent of that “little black dress”- a staple that imbues a air of simple sophistication.


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Woodland Sanctuary Bathroom

Kohler-woodland 1 Design partners Nikki Blustin and Oliver Heath of Blustin Heath Design have created a tranquil environmentally conscious design for the Woodland Sanctuary Bathroom.

This luxury oasis lets you leave your troubles at the door and indulge your senses. I love the reed encased resin wall panels that envelop the whole space to create the back drop to this serene environment. It adds that adds that extra bit of decadence. The ceiling has perimeter hidden fluorescent lighting that washes the walls and emulates a calming sensation of water that is repeated beneath the bath tub. Above the bath tub a dark wood canopy has leaf shaped holes to let the light through imitating the planting beyond.

desgnctr_bath_woodlnd3_h990x531

The wood floor gives a warmth to the room which is also is present in the wenge wood  KOHLER Escale™ Suite. KOHLER Escale bath, toilet and lavatory have soft flowing contours that add to the spa like feel of the room.

More information about the designers and Kohler products can be found at: http://www.us.kohler.com/us/Woodland-Sanctuary/content/desgnctr_bathgallery_woodland1.htm?childCatId=DC_gallery_woodland1&subSecId=desgnctr_bathgallery_woodland


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Romantic Master Bathroom

Master Bathroom traditional-bathroom

This romantic bathroom boudoir has a beautiful airy feeling that is saturated with natural light. A barrel vaulted ceiling is accentuated with soft floral wallpaper which almost gives the sense of bringing the outdoors in.   The geometric basket weave style floor tiling grounds the room by adding a bit of masculinity. There are separate his and her built-in vanities. The white cabinetry and white marble opens up the room. A free standing mirrored/reflective make-up table and pin tuck chair with a flowing skirt highlights the romanticism of the space by enhancing the free flowing nature of the room

Man's Vanity traditional-bathroom