Apr
23

Admired for its simplicity and directness, Craftsman architecture is experiencing a resurgence of popularity today, more than a hundred years after its beginnings. Like the architecture of the Arts and Crafts movement in Europe, it relied on readily available native materials and reflected the historical influence of the builder. Architects sought to harmonize the structure with the site, blurring the line between interior and exterior. New ideas about health encouraged outdoor living on terraces and porches.

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Gustav Stickley’s houses were the first to carry the Craftsman name, which he also used for his Craftsman Workshops, his Craftsman Home Builder’s Club, and The Craftsman magazine. Strictly speaking, the only houses that can be truly called “Craftsman” are the ones built from designs that appeared in the magazine, but his style was so popular that the term was soon used for other houses of similar style. Stickley’s floor plans usually included suggestions for an exterior architectural scheme, including Tudor, Spanish Mission, Dutch Colonial, and Bungalow styles.

Gothic and Tudor styles were very popular. The first Roycroft buildings were influenced by St. Oswald’s Church in Grasmere, England, echoing its style with plain Gothic windows and post-and-beam construction from natural logs. The crenellated tower of the print shop echoes the medieval castles of England but is built of native glacial stones. Fourteen buildings on the original Roycroft Campus have been designated as National Historic Landmarks. Fonthill, built by the tile manufacturer Henry Mercer, was inspired by the medieval fortresses of Europe and was filled with a fabulous tile collection.

In California and throughout the Southwest, Mission or Craftsman architecture reflected the Spanish history of the area. Houses characteristically included stucco walls, wrought-iron grillwork, and glazed accent tiles. They usually had courtyards or other outdoor living areas. Terra-cotta tile roofs were common.

In the heartland of North America, Craftsman architecture reflected the unbroken horizon with Prairie style, developed by Frank Lloyd Wright. These houses were characterized by low, nearly flat roofs with deep overhangs. Heavily squared columns supported the porches, and geometric art glass windows were favored. The Darwin Martin complex in Buffalo, New York, is arguably Wright’s finest work of that period, and is now being restored.

Four-Square houses, which developed in the American Midwest, are another version of Craftsman architecture. The straightforward lines and practical squared shape represent the “honesty” prized by Arts and Crafts reformers. These houses were characterized by a square footprint and second story; sometimes the attic had dormers and was used as a third floor.

The most famous style of Craftsman architecture was the Bungalow, which could range from a tiny cottage to a very large house. Greene and Greene designed the Gamble House, now a museum, in Pasadena in the early 1900s, incorporating many Oriental elements. Other architects followed their lead, incorporating low, sweeping rooflines and verandas in their house plans.

The diversity of Craftsman architecture is fascinating. Each region created its own version of Arts and Crafts architecture, using local materials and honoring individual heritage.

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Categories: Interior Design Ideas
Apr
21

The Craftsman style home has been an American classic for over a century. These houses are characterized by the use of natural materials, an emphasis on structural form, and the integration of interior and exterior spaces. Their open floor plan prefigured the ‘ranch’ houses so popular in the second half of the 20th century.

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Strictly speaking, only house plans published in Gustav Stickley’s The Craftsman magazine can be called Craftsman homes. He published descriptions, drawings, and floor plans for his homes starting in 1901, and he considered everything about the home as his subject. He wrote, “The word that is best loved in the language of every nation is home, for when a man’s home is born out of his heart and developed through his labor and perfected through his sense of beauty, it is the very cornerstone of his life.” His Craftsman houses, like his furniture, were an attempt to provide that cornerstone. His magazine featured at least one house a month for years, and subscribers could request building plans for one house from the series per year, free of charge.

The Craftsman style home can be recognized by the refinement of design and the quality of construction and finish. It is usually related harmoniously to the building site and is often placed to advantage using the site. The house is built with natural materials native to the region. Sticklely’s house designs rely on exposed structural elements for decorative details. The variety of natural materials included provide textures for light to play on. Visual interest is created by recessed porches and entryways. The interiors of Stickley’s houses emphasize form and function. Space is conservatively and creatively used for living, with design elements utilizing wood and built-in spaces such as inglenooks, benches and cabinets. Light fixtures and hardware are integrated as design elements.

Stickley intended his home designs “to substitute the luxury of taste for the luxury of costliness; to teach that beauty does not imply elaboration or ornament; to employ only those forms and materials which make for simplicity, individuality and dignity of effect.” Other designers and architects, like Greene and Greene, Elbert Hubbard of Roycroft, and Frank Lloyd Wright had similar intentions, and soon their houses too were referred to as Craftsman style homes. Stickley designed over 241 houses in the course of his career, and his decorative details were expensive to execute. Although his houses were idealistically conceived for the masses, they were built primarily by the middle class.

The rich could commission homes by Greene and Greene or Wright. The working class could order not only plans but entire kits from Sears and Roebuck’s mail-order catalog. The house would be delivered with pre-cut lumber, nails, doors, etc., as well as a sheet of instructions. Every necessary building component was included, and a local craftsman could easy assemble the house. The middle class used Stickley’s plans to create their Craftsman style home.

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Apr
18

Craftsman style is a distinctively American version of the international Arts and Crafts style. The Arts and Crafts movement, though remembered for its distinctive architecture and interior design, originated in social and political philosophy. By the mid-nineteenth century, a strong reaction to the Industrial Revolution – and the corresponding excesses of Victorian taste – was developing. Critics such as Pugin, Crane, and Ruskin looked back to the tradition of medieval guilds, and embraced the ideal of objects made “for the people and by the people, and a source of pleasure to the maker and the user.”

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In England, this led to the development of very finely crafted buildings and interiors, often with a Gothic flavor. William Morris’s design and construction of Red House, in 1852, was a landmark event, showing the world the beauty of a residence that defied the dominant Victorian aesthetic. Morris & Co., founded in 1861, designed and produced fabrics, wallpapers, lighting fixtures, and all kinds of furnishings based on the Arts and Crafts principles of simplicity and honesty in design. The company was guided by Morris’s famous dictum: Have nothing in your home that you do not know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.

In America, Elbert Hubbard founded Roycroft Press in East Aurora, New York, after visiting Morris’s Kelmscott Press. Roycroft went on to become a complete Arts and Crafts enterprise, making furniture, lighting fixtures, stained glass windows, metalware, and leather goods. The campus is now a National Historic Landmark, and original Roycroft objects are highly valued by collectors.

Gustav Stickley admired the simple lines of Arts and Crafts furniture, and was willing to use machines to produce it. In 1898, he exhibited his work at the Grand Rapids Furniture Exhibition, showing a distinctly American character. Design details included exposed mortise-and-tenon construction, simple flat iron hardware, and the use of white oak finished by fuming. Stickley called this Craftsman Furniture, although many others called the style Mission. He published a magazine called The Craftsman from 1901 to 1916, which popularized his designs, and he used the Craftsman name on houses he designed. The style has been greatly admired and widely copied, and original Stickley furniture is now very valuable. It has a more austere flavor than the English and European versions of Arts and Crafts style.

The Craftsman style was enthusiastically adopted across America for both architecture and furnishings. With its emphasis on using local materials and reflecting nature, it had many regional variations. Architects, like Frank Lloyd Write or Greene and Greene, often designed furniture and window glass to enhance the buildings they created. Glassworkers, like the Handel Company, Roycroft, and even Tiffany, created wonderful shades to soften incandescent bulbs and create a warm atmosphere. Art pottery, which relied on nature for its inspiration in decoration and glazes, flourished, and both hand-thrown and molded pots were widely admired. Tiles, produced in local tileworks, were incorporated into both architecture and furniture designs. Textiles, from table linens to tapestries, reflected Craftsman themes.

Simple without appearing austere, Craftsman style is greatly loved today, more than 150 years after its political and philosophical beginnings.

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Categories: Interior Design Ideas
Apr
17

Interior design, the planning and design of man-made spaces, is a specialized branch of architecture, the art and technique of building a structure. The need for humans to create a pleasant environment is ingrained in our species; however, the field of interior design is relatively new. Modern interior design has carved out a niche in the civilized world because of its use of aesthetic, functional, and psychological characterizations of interior spaces.

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Interior Design is still a developing profession, and therefore doesn’t have a clear definition of limits. Modern interior design falls into two basic categories: residential and nonresidential. Residential designers usually receive their compensation through the architectural firm associated with the building. Alternatively, nonresidential designers generally get their fees through a contractual fee arrangement. While there is a great volume of activity in residential design, many professionals are leaning toward nonresidential design.

Most major architectural firms have their own interior design departments, and usually smaller firmer have a specialist on board. Because there are no limitations to the field of modern interior design, the furniture in mass-production may have been created by an architect, interior, industrial, or furniture designer. Usually, furniture designed for mass production is designed by industrial or furniture designers; couture furniture is usually designed by interior designers or architects, and aren’t readily available on the market.

Specialized couture items usually serve a purpose, both functional and aesthetic. Occasionally, a special item, such as a chair or table, becomes so popular it becomes part of a furniture line. This can also happen in the design of fabrics, lighting, floors, and other home furnishings. Modern interior design inspires the mass-production of many home furnishings.

In modern interior design, there are a number of generally accepted principles to define beauty and aesthetics. One of the key considerations of interior design is whether or not it ‘works’ for its function or purpose. For example, if you have a theater and it does not have good acoustics and light is absorbed by the surroundings, then it obviously does not work. Alternatively, an interior can be meant to be part of a statue or other monument, such as the Statue of Liberty, so the interior can be determined as part of the overall effect of the exterior.

Another consideration of aesthetics in modern interior design is the social and economic implications of the piece. For example, in the 18th and 19th centuries chairs, tables, and other furnishings were decorated with ornate and elaborate designs – and thus were meant to be cared for by many servants. In the 20th and 21st century, however, such a style would be inappropriate for the average family. It would also be inappropriate to use modern materials, such as plastics, to imitate earlier materials and processes. Many designers have compared beauty to truth, and therefore honestly expressed functions, materials, and processes are far more beautiful than imitation and fakery.

The definition of beauty differs from person to person, critique to critique, but the basic elements of modern interior design hold true. Understanding a few key elements of the designers, their designs, and the critics will not only help you find beautiful architecture and beauty, but also appreciate it for the art it is.

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Apr
15

If your goal is rustic, interior decorating the following tips and hints can make all the difference in the world. There are many things you can do big and small that will give a room a very rustic feel. The very nature of rustic decorating is the idea of bringing the outdoors inside. It is actually quite simple to do if you use your imagination, or you can follow examples of others that have gone before you in the rustic style of decorating.

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Rustic interior decorating in some areas is actually a fairly big business. Mountain lodges and desert resorts use this type of decorating to make their patrons feel as though they are submersing themselves in the overall mountain or dessert experience. Many people find that they like the look and the reminder that they are on vacation and wish to bring the style home with them. So these decorating trends aren’t simply limited to resorts and condominiums, in fact, the rustic style of decorating is continuously growing in popularity.

Through magazines and the internet people are able to find rustic interior decorating tips and advice quite easily. One great tip is to use baskets for decorating. These baskets have multiple purposes, they help you organize, they look very rustic and warm, and they hide clutter. I don’t know about your house but there always seems to be plenty of clutter in my house no matter how hard I try to eliminate it.

The second tip I have for rustic interior decorating is this: pay a great amount of attention to your lighting. Not only the light fixtures themselves, but the type of bulbs, the number of lamps, use of sconces, and level of light in the room. Light fixtures are an excellent and beautiful decorative touch and can go a long way towards setting the tone for your room. Not only will the proper light fixture for a room such as this look rustic, but it will cast a soft warm glow rather than a bright glaring light. You want a room that creates an atmosphere of intimacy. Choose your lighting carefully in order to create a huge impact.

My third tip for rustic interior decorating is: keep it simple. You don’t have to stuff a giant Kodiak bear or have antlers hanging in every corner. Overkill is just overkill and will destroy all your design efforts. Add a few simple and well chosen touches to your room to create the overall atmosphere of comfort and warmth that rustic decorating has become so well known for. Rustic décor is centered on the idea of bringing the outside in. As such, it makes sense to use things like sticks, twigs, and pinecones in order to decorate. You don’t have to through out everything in the room that isn’t made of these materials, but adding them in small touches throughout the room you can bring the warmth of the forest into your living room.

You do not have to be Martha Stewart in order to create a wonderful comfortable rustic atmosphere within your home. All you really need in order to bring out your very own rustic interior decorating god or goddess is a good imagination and an eye for details.

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Apr
14

Craftsman lighting brought jeweled light to Arts and Crafts interiors. The low ceilings and extensive paneling – and, often, deep roof overhangs – could make the rooms of a Craftsman home quite dark, so the choice of windows and lamps was very important in creating a warm and welcoming interior.

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Arts and Crafts houses had many windows, partly to admit light and partly because changing ideas about health meant that fresh air, once considered unhealthy, was welcomed into the house. The classic form was 4-over-1 or 6-over-1 sash windows, although there was considerable variation. Elongated window proportions were typical of this style and the pairing of an upper sash bearing small rectangular panes with a tall, single-paned lower sash was common.

Glass doors opened onto porches that could be used as living and sleeping spaces in good weather. Even solid doors were likely to be flanked by window panels. Window glass was essential to Craftsman lighting.

Windows were often left undressed in Arts and Crafts interiors, especially when the glass was ornamented with stained glass sections or leaded panes. Dard Hunter created an arched window with leaded panes and a stylized tulip in stained glass for Roycroft that is still greatly admired. Frank Lloyd Wright’s leaded and stained glass windows were designed to complement his architecture internally and externally. Where window dressings were required, they were very plain. In 1905 the traverse rod was invented to easily draw black drapes and admit sunshine, and it was widely used for natural Craftsman lighting.

The jeweled tones of Craftsman lighting were provided by electric lights during evening hours. Because designers considered incandescent harsh and glaring, they used a variety of shades to soften the glare. Transparent shades were crafted from stained glass, mica, frosted glass, or colored blown glass. These shades were often designed to harmonize with the inspirational theme that, repeated in various ways, unified the interior design. The same motif could be repeated in the stained glass of the window and the stained glass of a lampshade, as well as in textiles or painted friezes.

Mica, a transparent or subtly colored mineral that naturally occurs in thin layers, was highly valued for shades. Shards of mica layered with shellac were placed in a worked metal frame that gave the shade its shape. The mica, in tones of palest ivory through amber, softly filtered electric light and cast the golden glow so characteristic of Craftsman lighting over the rooms.

Table lamps, standing lamps, sconces, and hanging fixtures were used in Craftsman lighting. The emphasis on motifs drawn from nature and use of subtly harmonized materials made harsh incandescent lights conform to the Arts and Crafts aesthetic.

Whether light was provided by the sun or a light bulb, the way it was introduced was an important part of an Arts and Crafts interior. Bright sunlight and soft jeweled tones were both included in Craftsman lighting.

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Categories: Interior Design Ideas
Apr
8

Art deco interior designing is a long, arduous task. It requires a lot of knowledge in the architecture of buildings, and a lot of knowledge in the beauty and functionality of art deco interior design. While the process of art deco interior design is a craft and skill, there are many techniques the layman can utilize to give the effect of design by a qualified designer – without the costs.

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Art deco interiors are based on the architecture of the building. Each building has its own nuances, from the angular proportions of the rooms to the direction of light at different times of day. Because of these nuances, art deco interior designers will come into a room and create the overall effect they want to achieve using the natural lines and lights of the rooms.

Architecture, however, is not the only way to achieve the line and light aesthetics in a room. Many art deco interior designers will create new ways for light to fold across a room using different techniques in the window or shades, and by placing an object to reflect light in different directions. Many art deco pieces are created from metal objects, therefore by placing a shiny metallic object directly in the sunlight’s path; it will create a new dispersing of light across the room. Play with objects, windows, and shading to create a beautiful space using the reflection of light.

Another way designers create the perfect art deco room is by using color. Art deco colors, on average, are of the muted variety. Therefore, by beginning with a muted color and building on it, you can easily create a beautiful art deco room. However, muted doesn’t mean boring. You can just as easily find a muted red or blue to spice up a room, instead of always sticking to antique whites, grays, and beiges.

By playing around with the color in your space, you’ll be able to achieve the effect you need – however, be sure to consult with paint professionals to find the perfect shading for your room. Many times, the color on the paint can does not look like the color when painted, so by speaking with a professional you’ll know what to expect before you cover your walls with a potentially hideous color.

The next step in creating the perfect art deco room is by placing period or prefabricated art deco furniture pieces in the room. Art deco furniture is characterized by geometries and lines, and the beauty and flow of the piece. It can take a lot of time to find the perfect furnishing for an art deco room, as there is a variety of furniture type, quality, and design. When choosing your furniture, make sure the angles and colors and textures compliment each other. Remember, much of art deco is about minimalist works – so get beautiful pieces that serve a function.

As you can see, it isn’t that difficult to get an art deco room put together. By planning ahead of time and plotting your space, you can create the perfect art deco interior!

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Categories: Interior Design Ideas
Apr
4

In a Craftsman house, the design of the house and the interior decoration are considered together, two parts of the same whole. Architects designed interiors as well as houses. Gustav Stickley, Greene and Greene, and Frank Lloyd Wright all created interiors that were as carefully thought-out as the buildings they designed. Some of these wonderful Craftsman houses still survive – but even if you aren’t lucky enough to own one, you can still have a Craftsman style interior in your home.

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Arts and Crafts houses were the first to have the open floor plan so prevalent in today’s architecture. Architects often unified these spaces by using one inspirational theme throughout, often stylized flowers or an abstract geometric form. The theme reappears in major and minor details throughout the house, from dominant elements such as the main beam of the inglenook to the switch plates for the lights. This technique can be used in modern houses as well.

The fireplace represented the heart of the Craftsman home, even after efficient central heating was installed. It symbolized the friendliness and community feeling that was one goal of the Arts and Crafts movement. Craftsman fireplaces could be constructed of brick or local stone, and the surround was often faced with beautiful tiles. Mantlepieces were used to display colorful art pottery or glass. Inglenooks, semi-enclosed seating areas in front of the fireside, were popular elements. They provided a place of intimacy and warmth, perfect for quiet chats, as well as echoing the medieval mood that many Arts and Crafts designers desired.

Built-in furniture is a hallmark of Craftsman style interiors. Architects included bookcases, drawers, window seats, display cases, and sideboards in their house plans. Positioning large furniture so that it looks built in, or using it to divide spaces, will give the feel of a Craftsman interior to modern rooms.

Beautiful wood paneling is characteristic of Arts and Crafts interiors. In the dining room, walls were often paneled up to a plate rail, and the wall above was painted with a mural or a stenciled pattern. In the living room, wainscot paneling was common, with the wall above painted in a deep, warm hue to create a sense of welcome. Deep tones were generally believed to have healing properties. A stenciled frieze, a mural, or a tapestry adds to the Craftsman style interior. Wallpaper was popular in England but was seldom used in American Craftsman houses.

Window treatments were simple, and if privacy was not an issue, windows were often left bare. Bamboo and matchstick blinds were often used. Fabric curtains of simple homespun, stenciled or embroidered at the bottom, are the most memorable Craftsman window treatments. The traverse rod was invented in 1905 and is still a good way to hang curtains.

Polished wood floors were found in every Craftsman house. Oriental or tribal rugs or carpets defined specific areas and warmed the floor. Reproductions of these carpets are readily available.

Rooms filled with beautiful wood built-ins, accented with subtle patterns and deep colors in rugs and wall treatments, and unified by an inspirational theme welcome guests into a Craftsman style interior.

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Jan
2

Live Interior 3D Standard Edition Reviews

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Live Interior 3D Standard Edition

  • Preview and select one of the ready made interiors or 2D plans
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  • 2D And 3D Modes
  • Library of 1200+ 3D Objects
  • Walk through the interior in 3D mode

Live Interior 3D is a powerful yet very intuitive interior design application for Macintosh. The program has the ability to create multi-story designs and allows the user to make different interiors for every room in the house. The program comes with over 50 editable interiors and floor plans. Live Interior 3D provides users the ability to virtually walk through the created interior, which helps to “get the feel” of the room and realize what needs to be changed. Users also can shoot movies, mak

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Jan
2

The Sims 2: Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff

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The Sims 2: Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff

  • Give your Sims the right attire and accessories to enjoy their brand-new kitchens and bathrooms including a hair turban, spa mask, cooking aprons and luxuriant cashmere pullovers for around the house.
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  • Renovate the kitchen into the warmest room in the house with romantic touches including new themed wallpaper, wood-carved counters, and ceiling-mounted hanging pot racks.
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  • Indulge your Sims in a romantic bathroom complete with cozy new tiles, fancy towel racks, romantic paintings, designer rugs, and much more.

Must-Have Stuff to Redesign Your Sims’ Kitchens and Bathrooms!Electronic Arts continues to release solid expansions for the ever popular Sims series and Kitchens and Bathrooms is definitely no exception. Redesign your Sims’ essential living areas into the most luxurious of spaces. Transform the bathroom into a romantic getaway with charming claw-foot bathtubs and calming lighting fixtures or give it a contemporary twist with beautiful glass showers, basin sinks, and more. Renovate your Sims’

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Visualize what your home or remodeling project will look like. The software provides advanced design tools for Home Designer, Remodeling, Interior Design, Kitchens and Baths, Decks and Landscaping, Cost Estimation and more! Save time and money and start designing today! Visualize what your home or remodeling project will look like. Home Designer Suite 10 provides advanced design tools for Home Design, Remodeling, Interior Design, Kitchens and Baths, Decks and Landscaping, and Cost Estimation.

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