Jacqueline Tong Bedroom Ideas
Personal spaces, like the master bedroom seen here, have shades that can be drawn for privacy or to provide darkness. Short floor-level shelves prevent the windows from running all the way down to the floor. “Otherwise, you would end up with a space there that is unusable,” Bowman says. It also allows people to get close to the windows without bumping their heads on the sloped glass.
In addition to designing glass walls that flood the rooms with light, Bowman incorporated an actual skylight along the western edge of the living room. “I try to use as little artificial light as possible,” he says. Above each beam, near the skylight, Stonco fixtures bounce light off the skylight’s glass and corrugated metal walls at night and reduce the need for lots of lamps. Corrugated metal on the walls appeals to Bowman’s affinity for vernacular architecture and rustic materials. Practically speaking, it serves as a big reflecting board for light to move around the room.
Similar to artists who like to work with a limited color palette, Bowman prefers to choose a few building materials and stick with them. Throughout the home, you’ll see the same elements pop up time and again: Douglas fir floors, beams and frames; concrete walls, counters and foundational slabs; and metal walls, cabinets, hardware and rails. “We fight like crazy to keep it to three materials, but inevitably we always end up with a few more,” Bowman says. In this photo, you can see three examples of structural features that are typically hidden but in this home work as part of the aesthetic. A concrete shear wall at the far end of the living room strengthens the home against lateral, or horizontal, forces, such as earthquakes. Normally, wood walls are stiff enough to keep a building in place, but the heavy earth roofs on each level need something more stable than glass to hold them up. (A foundation of concrete piers drilled into bedrock and spanned by concrete beams keeps everything pinned into place and further solidifies the frame. Silicone gaskets around the windows allow for some flexibility and movement.)A 40-foot-long flange from the top of the concrete wall to the end of th...
Are You Renovating, Decorating or Both? The first step is to determine the scope of your project. This will dictate your budget and schedule, and whether or not you need to hire a professional. If you want to move walls or replace flooring, lighting, windows or doors, among other changes, you’re looking at a renovation project. According to the survey, 57 percent of renovations are substantial and include things like moving walls and replacing floors, doors and windows.
Q