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A 100% Sun-Powered 4,000 sq ft Oregon Home

Nathan Good Architects have designed an imposing family home in Oregon for an active couple with three children.

A generously sized solar system spread across the clerestory roof completely powers the four story home.

Unlike many solar systems that have been ‘bolted on’ – at whatever size is needed – after the house has been built, this roof was sized to precisely accommodate the number of solar panels needed for its electricity needs.

Typically a large house with many rooms like this four story house, over 4,000 sq ft, means that it requires a larger solar system.

But energy efficiency measures like optimize the daylighting of the sun’s path, to warm the house for free, as this house has done, can reduce the size of the solar system needed.

Though large, the house is not ostentatious.

A humility informs the design, inside and out.

This is an agreeable and unassuming family home…

… designed to be able to provide 100% of the electricity it uses in a year.

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A Gracious Artistic Singapore Residence from ONG & ONG

This Singapore residence from ONG&ONG has their signature blend of art and nature, the civilized and the raw.

The sculptural presence inside and out calls to each other across the gleaming smooth stone surfaces.

A sublimely perfect spiral contains a stair that is soft and smoothly civilized.

By contrast, a stone wall is the ultimate in roughness.

Like all ONG & ONG projects, the residence is stately, urbane and civilized, with a quiet palette of browns and creamy whites.

Thick cuts of dark wood edge bedding in luxurious silky whites.

A smooth and creamy stone is paired with a soft and warm timber in the kitchen.

A toilet is glassed off to the side, allowing a central bathtub to center itself serenely amidst a travertine-lined bath room.

The bathroom is lined in honed travertine, so the rough-hewn blocks of stone form a textural contrast.

In case we forget that honed travertine stone doesn’t start off that way, these very rough cuts remind us.

This same very rough cut stone forms one end of the residence and walls the garden off from the neighbors.

Another quiet masterpiece off the assembly line.

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Design Dilemma: 5 Tips for Creating a Beautiful Space on a Budget

Sometimes, it can be a struggle to find the cash to decorate your home like the ones you see in all the design catalogs. It’s especially  frustrating when you’ve got your eye on a George Nelson pretzel chair that costs hundreds of dollars, or a B & B Italia couch that costs thousands and you know you can only afford a Craig’s List bargain.  One option is to obtain a home equity line of credit or you can choose to create a warm, aesthetically pleasing and unique home without having to spend a lot of money on expensive furnishings. Even so, you can create a warm, aesthetically pleasing and unique home without having to spend a lot of money on expensive furnishings. Keeping a few principles in mind you can transform any run of the mill space into a beautiful, polished, peaceful home that is a pleasure to live in. And you don’t need to spend a cent!

1) Keep it clean and clutterfree. This may sound like an odd decorating tip but it is the foundation of every successful space. Clean and sparkling can make even the most modest places feel good to hang out in. And eliminating the clutter that tends to build up over time can make a space feel organized.
The Shaker style kitchen below is not super fancy. It features white subway tiles, tile flooring and simple white cabinetry. And yet, it feels chic and high-end, simply because it is clean and clutterfree.

2) Organize, organize, organize. A place for everything and everything in its place helps even the most modest place feel planned out. Work to optimize your room’s flow and feeling by concentrating on creating layouts that allow for a flow of traffic, while also providing areas for conversation, study, entertainment, etc. Below, a well-thought out “study” in a hallway provides the perfect space to work on the computer, handle phone calls, etc.

3. Eliminate things. Sometimes, the key to a great space is not buying and adding things — it’s subtracting! Take a second look at your space for objects that are unnecessary or ugly. If they don’t have a purpose and you don’t like the way they look, give them away! Enjoy how the room feels with all that extra space. The Japanese home below is a great example of this. The living room is essentially composed of a couch and dining table. The simplicity of it all allows the beauty of the textured walls to shine through.

4. Create your own art. There are few things that can elevate a home in style and personality, as art. If you can’t afford to buy a piece, try creating your own abstract piece. The beauty of it all is you can switch out the art and try something new whenever you feel like it. Say you can’t draw? The art in the photo below was created with paint chip samples!