Help me recreate this British Colonial Bedroom
4 years ago
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Comments (39)I have to admit that while I'm great at reading floor plans, site plans confuse me a bit. I know that they matter, so I defer to others on this topic. I do understand the concept of having 12 acres, yet having only one good spot on which to build. I have 40 acres, yet I have one "obvious" spot where the house will be located. Oh, I COULD build in other locations, but it would be more costly (not adjacent to the existing gravel driveway, need to run utilities farther, etc.), but one general area is superior to the others in numerous ways. I don't want to disturb the roughly 50% that's heavily wooded, I don't want to move too close to the little pond in the woods that floods its banks, and I do want to maintain the open field that I rent out to a farmer (this gets me a drastically reduced tax build, and I'm fine with having a corn field behind my house). As for natural light, YES, it matters! Natural light is one of those basics I keep harping upon. Look at some photographs of rooms you like; natural light is most likely the key factor in why these rooms are appealing. To give an example from my current house (though the more examples I give from my sorry old house, the more I wonder why I live here at all), my kitchen /breakfast room /family room faces East. Although I have a covered porch off the back, I get the morning sun in those rooms, and during those morning hours these rooms are at their best. They are MUCH more inviting. The colors are warmer, the room even looks more spacious. By the time we get home from school/work, those prime hours are gone, and although the rooms aren't "dark", they also don't have much life. Colors, window choices, and other things can play into making the most of your natural light, but don't ignore this all-important topic....See MoreNeed help with guest bedroom/animal-tropical theme
Comments (17)Now if you use British Colonial style you can mix it all together in one room. Remember the British colonies ranged from Hong Kong, India, Australia, parts of Africa, the Carribean, Canada, the US, among others. I found this info: The Victorian era of the mid to late 19th century saw the British extend their empire around the world, from Singapore to East Africa, from India to the British West Indies. With them, they brought their language, their ideas on government, their custom of afternoon tea, and their furniture and designs. The Victorian Era was a rather formal time and the British, although they enjoyed traveling to the distant outposts of the Empire, didn't want to forego the comforts of home. They brought the solid and sturdy furniture designs of England and adapted them to the tropics. Along the way, they adapted Asian and African motifs into those traditional designs. This mange became British Colonial style and it is easily recognized by its sturdy, yet sometimes fanciful pieces, of teak and mahogany as well as its use of rattan, leather, and animal prints. Hardwoods, such as teak and mahogany, were particularly suited to the humid climates of the Empire. Unlike softer woods, like pine, that tended to warp in the tropical humidity, these woods stood up to the most extreme conditions and were readily available in most of the colonies. Often furniture was carved by native craftsmen using British designs, and you'll frequently find little flourishes of Asian, Caribbean, or African art, intermixed with the original carving. If one looks carefully at that mahogany four-postered bed, you'll notice, perhaps, a carved pineapple atop the posts. The Colors and Prints of British Colonial Style Both exotic and practical, British Colonial design emphasized muted colors, such as browns, beiges, and straw, in sharp contrast to the flowery prints popular at that time in the motherland. The colonial palette reflects the tropical lushness of nature, which, whether in the West Indies, Africa, or Asia, was never far away. One of the hallmarks of British Colonial design is the contrast of hard sturdy wood with the bright sunshine and cheerful colors of the tropics. Animal prints, Indian sari fabrics, and detailed and realistic botanical prints added interest and emphasized the colonists' fascination with their adopted lands....See MoreHow would I turn a 3 bedroom into a 4 bedroom?
Comments (29)I know you will hate me for this, but please understand my view point. I am an old house LOVER! I also spent twenty years as a banker trying to talk people into understanding that their future home purchase had to be about love....and practicality. When you are in love with a house you think that the fact that it slapped around the last owners was likely because they were bad owners...they probably deserved it because they didn't do the maintenance you would do to keep it in check. You justify the little issues like the third eye as something minor instead of realizing that a third eye is not actually a normal thing and will require some seriously expensive custom lenses. You turn a wet basement into a couple puddles.... Ten years,..no lets make it five if you get the house....if you find that my pessimistic attitude was totally incorrect and your home turned out to be perfect beyond compare...please tell me I am wrong so I can learn a lesson. But if on the other hand my gazillion years of trying to make people understand that they should buy a home they love....but should equally involve their brains and heart in the equation turns out to make some sense in your potential chris brown like situation.....well be sure to share that valuable experience as well so that others can learn from you...and make light of your experience because "that will never happen to them". I tried to buy the egg and I farm as a young wife ohhhhh so many years ago thinking that a house with walls falling down and a tree growing in the living room just needed our tender and inexperienced care to bring it back.....the bank laughed...thank god!...See MoreBritish colonial west indies look in beach house
Comments (1)Are you wanting to stick with a west indies flair? There is not a lot more than the furniture that makes it west indies. But there are some good bones in the house and an AWESOME view. I truly think that's an awful lotta red! And the real shame is it really takes away from that view. You almost can't see the view for the screaming red. Yep that much red has to go. Picture the house without the furniture and you could go with any vibe you want. The view to me is crying for a more soothing color in the living area -- the mellow yellow you mentioned or a soothing grey (I'm on a grey kick right now). Come to think of it.. grey and yellow are rather trendy right now together. What I wouldn't do is put a color that will clash with the sea color of the view... it should enhance it....See MoreRelated Professionals
Clark Furniture & Accessories · New Bedford Custom Artists · Lodi Window Treatments · Mansfield Interior Designers & Decorators · View Park-Windsor Hills Interior Designers & Decorators · Bell Gardens Architects & Building Designers · Ramsey Kitchen & Bathroom Designers · Anchorage General Contractors · Fort Salonga General Contractors · Milford Mill General Contractors · Palatine General Contractors · Poquoson General Contractors · Villa Park General Contractors · Black Forest Cabinets & Cabinetry · Wareham Interior Designers & Decorators- 4 years ago
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