The Entryway

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Architecture, Build, Construction, Design, environment, Home, Homeowner, Houses, real-estate, Residence, Shelter, style

Though you live in your backyard, the world inevitably beats a path to your front door. Well-designed entryways can offer, privacy, light, charm and character to your home – without breaking style or the budget.
A new door, some well-placed windows or a fresh coat of paint can work wonders on a tired façade or an out-of-date entry. According to architect Richard Hartmann, “The ambiance of your home actually starts outside. It’s a whole sequence of events. Meandering through landscaping on a slightly curved path, for example, enhances the experience. ”

Here are a few tips for adding style:

* Add window boxes. They add color to a plain exterior when they’re overflowing with plants or flowers.
* Replace old hardware with brass numbers, handles, a mailbox or kick plate. Ceramic or hand-painted house numbers are good alternatives.
* Add a new front door, sidelights or transom. If you can’t afford to replace the door, add decorative molding around the one you have.
* Use clay pots or sculpture to spark an uninspired entry.
* Add an awning over doors or windows. With Florida’s seasonal rain showers, it’s practical as well as pretty.
* Add carriage lights on either side of the front door or low-voltage path lights along the walkway. They can help bring your best foot forward.

Sweet Beams: Inspiring everyone who lives under a new roof! is available on amazon.com.

The home library

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Architecture, books, Build, decorating, environment, Home, Houses, interior design, library

The home library links us with the past, present, and future in a way that is portable, affordable and aesthetically pleasing.

If you want to understand someone’s true personality, take a look at his or her library. Just as a peek into a person’s medicine cabinet can reveal a great deal about their medical history, the books that they read offer a psychological profile of their tastes, interests and values. Book-centered rooms are the ultimate escape on a winter’s day, the place to head for to think and read, regenerate your spirit and ideas.

· The library is a room of secrets. Add a hidden compartment to your bookcase, something Mr. Holmes would approve of.

· Books you love to read, plan to reread or need for reference, should never be out of reach.

· Standing on chairs or beds is no substitute for a sturdy, stable library ladder.

· Two comfortable chairs and good lighting are the most important elements of a well-stocked library.

Excerpted from “Sweet Beams: Inspiring everyone who lives under a new roof!”available on amazon.com

The power of place

Tags

Architecture, Community, environment, Memories, mood, motherhood

Driving through Hyde Park recently, I passed the Methodist Church where I once enrolled my 3-year-old daughter in “Mother’s Morning Out.” For a nominal fee, children played from 9 a.m. until noon, under the supervision of an elderly couple (probably my current age, but without benefit of hair color or moisturizer.)

My darling Katie cried for all three hours – no amount of cajoling from the couple could stem her tide of tears. After three unsuccessful attempts, they suggested I keep her at home. In disbelief, I stood outside the playroom one morning and listened to be sure their claims were true. Her whimper escalated to a wail and, when neither of us could bear it any longer, I rushed in to retrieve her.

Sitting in my car at the stop sign, I felt the same raw anguish in the pit of my stomach. It could have happened yesterday – the pain was so real. Oddly, my daughter is now 31 and contemplating a child of her own.

I am continually amazed by the power of place: so strong, it can transport you to another time. Sheer geography – bricks and mortar – can elicit memories so vivid they can bring you to a smile (or a sob) in an instant.

Have you ever experienced it (or should I contact a mental health professional immediately?)

Dig this!

Tags

Build, environment, Family, Florida, Gardens, Home, Homeowner, Houses, Residence

When they bought their Hyde Park home 34 years ago, Flip and Rick Miller began transforming the backyard. The result is an outdoor refuge where they can rest and recharge in privacy and comfort.
“He’s passionate about trimming,” Flip says with a smile. “He gets his aggressions out.”
“It’s tropical – you have to trim or the plants take over,“ explains Rick, a broker with Smith & Associates Real Estate.
The Millers recall listening to a speech several years ago by the award-winning garden and floral designer Rebecca Cole at the University of Tampa’s GREENFEST luncheon, which raises money for Plant Park.
“She kept referring to ‘vistas’ and ‘sight lines,’ Rick says. “When you stand in any spot in a garden and look in one direction, your eye should be drawn to something.”
Heeding her advice, Rick divided the yard into distinct sections, creating visual vignettes with plants in containers. The double lot which surrounds his home now showcases a series of “outdoor rooms,” featuring large pots packed with his favorite tropical plants and succulents.
“During the summer rains I run home from the office to cover the succulents with our vinyl grill cover,” he says. “They need such little water that a week of afternoon showers will cause them to rot.”
Admittedly “manic about clay pots,” Rick believes every yard needs to have a consistency of design.
“Too many different pots takes the focus away from the plants inside them,” he says.
His meticulous attention to detail paid off: The Miller yard currently is featured in the 2013 edition of Container Gardens magazine.
What is the secret of his success? A dolly large enough to move a refrigerator.
“During hurricanes or freezes we say to hell with the cars and move 50 pots into the garage,” Rick says, grinning.
In addition, gardening in containers makes it easy for him to control the soil type needed for specific plants.
Their backyard is not only a relaxing private oasis, but an exciting entertainment space: The Millers hosted soirees for Las Damas de Arte, The Tampa Museum of Art, Rose Garden Circle, and MOSI – as well as 250 people for a neighborhood picnic.
A playhouse built in 1922 – and enjoyed by three Miller children – was converted to a charming tool shed.
“When our children grew up and moved away, Flip wouldn’t let me take the play equipment down,” Rick says. “I said ‘I’ll show her, I’ll landscape around it.’ I planted beach sunflower which is a tough native perennial. And now we have three grandchildren, who love the swings and the slide.”

Photo by Cliff McBride

The Sunshine Award

Tags

Architecture, Awards, clothing, Conversation, Dreams, dress code, environment, Family, fashion, Humor, Memories, mood, Writer

I want to thank the wildly creative Kate at MasonBentleyStyle for nominating me for this lovely award. The international fashion press will soon be writing about her vintage-inspired designs!

My 10 questions from Kate:
1. Who is your style icon?The elegant, glamorous and ageless Carolina Herrera, who was elected to the Best Dressed Hall of Fame in 1980 and remains there to this day. Her signature crisp, white shirt – with cuffs turned back and collar turned up – is impeccable. (Hell, I’ve watched the woman chew gum elegantly!)

2. What are you wearing right now?
A “Simply Vera” Vera Wang dress for Kohl’s. Ever since Target Corp. successfully broke the mold and asked Isaac Mizrahi to design a capsule collection for their stores (a one-time product partnership between a high-end designer and a retail chain,) others have followed: Who could imagine Versace for H&M or Georgina Chapman of Marchesa designing prom gowns for JC Penney? It’s a treat for those of us who can’t afford couture.

3. Where was your best holiday?We spent 10 lovely days in Villefranche sur Mer while our son attended the University of Monaco. The lavender and rosemary-scented air was so fragrant…I’ve never been able to replicate it at home. Life moves at a more leisurely pace there (which gave me more time to enjoy the delicious café crème!)

4. And your worst?
We were staying on Useppa Island, off the west coast of Florida and my husband had to return to Tampa for business meetings. He left by boat and literally abandoned me with our 5-year-old daughter and infant son on an island without electrical power or generators. I was sitting in the dark (actually candlelight) when my sweet friend called and asked, “Renee, have you ever seen “The Shining?”

5. Did you learn much at school?
Certainly the basic tenets of journalism, but I also learned success is not something you HAVE. Success is something you DO. It’s something you experience when you wake up and act accordingly.

6. Could you predict your life?
Heavens, no, but I suppose that’s a blessing. I graduated from college with a journalism degree and established a career as a writer – that prediction came true. I supposed I intended to win the Nobel Prize for Literature, but if I’d pursued that I might not have had time or energy to raise my amazing son and daughter. What is that saying…”Life is what happens while you’re making other plans?”

7. What was the first album you bought?
Sooooo long ago, but I’m guessing it might be James Taylor’s “Sweet Baby James” or Carole King’s “Tapestry.”

8. Could you live in another country?
I’d move to the south of France or Tuscany in a heartbeat!

9. If you could change your first name, what would you change it to?
I would be called “Spring” or “Summer.” I love the colors and growth associated with those two seasons. Every time I hear the Olympic swimmer Summer Sander’s name, I smile.

10. If you could have any person be your mentor, who would it be?
After her husband’s suicide, Katharine Graham led her family’s newspaper, The Washington Post, for two decades. She was unsure of herself but totally sure of her principles: The Pentagon Papers and Watergate are milestones in journalistic history. Kay Graham understood two rules of business: Surround yourself with talented people , then nourish them with responsibilities and gratitude. Her memoir, “Personal History,” won the Pulitzer Prize in 1998.

And now, my 10 Questions:
1. What was the best advice you ever received?
2. What inspires you?
3. What is most important in life, to you?
4. Who is your style icon?
5. Can you describe your perfect day?
6. Where was your best holiday?
7. Have you ever had an Oprah Winfrey “Aha moment?”
8. Do you have any regrets?
9. Does religion/spirituality play a significant role in your life?
10. What would your epitaph be?

I’ve nominated these blogs for the Sunshine Award:
1. YumandYummer – You’ll love Kerry’s cooking and travel adventures!
2. Rose of Bohemia’s World – This Manhattanite is a fabulous tourguide of what to see and where to eat!
3. Digging Archaeology – Someday I’d love to assist on a dig with her!
4. Sadie and Dasie – A photography blog featuring two darling dogs.
5. Crooked Halo Catholic blogspot.com – Nanette muses about spiritual issues.

The Rules:
Include the award logo in a post on your blog.
Link to the person who nominated you.
Answer 10 questions about yourself.
Nominate 10 bloggers in the post and comment on their blogs to let them know they have been nominated.

Imagine a world without power lines

Tags

Build, climate, environment, nature, transportation

As you drive around, imagine a world with no power lines.

Henry David Thoreau once observed, “The world is but a canvas to our imaginations.”

   Imagine your street without horizontal power lines and poles hovering above your head.  Add a thick grove of trees to replace that outrageous billboard. Starting to look more like the “Magic Kingdom,” right?

  It takes energetic and intelligent people to sow the seeds of change. What if the bus fumes consisted of water vapor cooling the city instead of carbon monoxide polluting it?

 People – not institutions – make change. Spend time dreaming of a better and more beautiful world.  Or, as Ghandi once said, “Be the change you want to see in the world.”

Home: Celebrating the Spaces of Your Heart by Renee Garrison and Tom Szumlic

Proximity requires politeness

Tags

Community, environment, neighbors

One man’s ceiling is another man’s floor.

For thousands of years, entire Eskimo families have clustered inside a single igloo. Pueblo Indians used sun-dried bricks to construct multi-storied “apartment buildings.”  People, it seems, live well when they live in close proximity to one another.

  Proximity, however, requires politeness…a fair amount of courtesy and consideration. Our lives are the fullest when we feel the power of life in our neighbors – even through the sound of footsteps on the floor above.

• At night, for consideration of all ground floor apartment dwellers, use your parking lights as you park your car.

• A watchful eye surveying the neighborhood is the most effective security system.

 

• Isolate your stereo speakers. The vibes might not be in sync with your neighbor’s rhythm.

Home: Celebrating the Spaces of Your Heart by Renee Garrisonand Tom Szumlic

They paved paradise

Tags

Design, Earth Day, environment, Growth

I returned to my car in the mall parking lot and braced myself for a burst of hot air.

The blacktop beneath the vehicle was radiating enough heat back into the air to roast vegetables and/or incinerate Finland — all for want of a tree.

Once upon a time, cities developed zoning formulas to determine the number of parking spaces needed – typically, between six and 10 spaces per 1,000 square feet of floor space.

These sprawling asphalt jungles are designed to accommodate two or three days of maximum use per year (perhaps, the day after Thanksgiving.)

In his book, “Rethinking a Lot: The Design and Culture of Parking,“ author Eran Ben-Joseph estimates that there are 500 million surface-lot parking spaces in the U.S., covering more than 3,590 square miles. That’s a bit larger than the island of Puerto Rico.

Most of them are suffer from poor design and poor lighting. Yet parking lots don’t have to be ugly: a canopy of trees is an easy way to improve their appearance.

Ben-Joseph estimates that planting enough trees to shade 50 percent of the surface-lot area in the U.S. would remove 1.2 million tons of carbon dioxide per year from the atmosphere and return 822,000 tons of oxygen. In addition, those trees would mitigate two billion cubic meters of storm-water runoff.

It might not be the cheapest way to build a parking lot , but it would be the most aesthetic. Our environment would benefit from fewer cost-cutting developers.

Best of all – my car would stay cooler.

Florida architecture

Tags

breeze, Design, environment, Florida architecture, Homes, New Home, ventilation

Early Florida settlers built their homes with features that we now recognize as environmentally friendly: Wide overhangs to shade windows and porches, high ceilings and big, operable windows for ventilation.

That is precisely what Orlando architect Geoffrey Mouen, AIA had in mind when he designed “Tradewinds,” the 7,316-square-foot show house in Baldwin Park sponsored by Builder Magazine.

“Early in the design, we analyzed the typical direction of the wind,” Mouen says. “The breeze comes across the pool and into the house through big doors that open up. The house is designed to capture the prevailing breeze coming across the lake through the atrium and into the main living spaces. Hot air rises through high, clerestory windows and the observation tower to help ventilate the interiors.

“The whole goal here is we’re not relying on new gizmos and gadgets to keep the house comfortable,” Mouen adds. “We’re using traditional methods that respond to the Florida climate. Of course, we can close the house up and use air conditioning when the weather is too hot. But our goal is to allow people to turn off the electricity for eight months of the year, open the house up and enjoy the beautiful, temperate climate.”

Combining classic and contemporary design (Mouen calls it Anglo-Caribbean influences) the house was raised six feet off its lakeside lot for privacy from the adjacent Cady Way Trail. Runners and roller-bladers who pass by have no way of knowing that the 9–foot louvered doors facing them lead to a Roman atrium – complete with fire cauldrons and a waterfall.

The residence has an unusual exterior – some neighbors believed the three-story building was a restaurant while others speculated it would hold church services on Sundays. However, the design actually optimizes the path of the sun to create intentional solar heat gain, interior natural light and exterior shading opportunities. A standing-seam metal roof reflects Florida’s harsh sunlight while prevailing winds from the Lake Susannah keep 2,200-square feet of covered outdoor areas cool.

Fourteen windows in the observation tower draw hot air out of the residence like a passive attic fan.  Undoubtedly, early Florida settlers would approve.