Notice How Using Wainscoting of the Same Height Helps the Eye Move Thru Rooms

In this kitchen/dining remodel in Silver Spring, MD, we set the height of the wainscoting at the same height as the top of the backsplash.  We used the same height in the breakfast area as in the dining room.  Notice as you look through the rooms, you have the same reference horizontal line bringing together all the design elements.

The Height of the Wainscot is the Same as the Backsplash

Another View Showing the Integrated Molding & Design Elements

A Final View Showing the Integrated Elements

We used the same technique in this very small bath in Washington, DC to help unify very disjoint elements.  We purposely set the height of the wainscoting and medicine cabinet to the height of the existing window sill.  By doing so, we simplified the lines in a small bath that is bisected by sections of ceiling lowered to accommodate pipes.  This technique helps make the window and soffits become an integral part of the composition.

Wainscoting At Window Sill Height Helps Integrate Elements

A doctored Image Shows The Disjoint Nature of a Lower Wainscoting

All images courtesy of Braitman Design/Build

Many of us love the “charm” of an older home – one built before 1930.  For the most part what we’re responding to is the architectural detailing that comes from building without stock parts and without a production mentality.  In today’s home, such detailing is no less desirable – whether it’s funky, traditional, or rustic.

Funky:

Painted Lumber Hide Electrical Wires

In my sculpture studio, above, I used painted lumber to hide electrical wires – both to the fluorescent fixtures and to the low voltage track lighting.  This action was actually a cost savings action; it was cheaper to hide the wires behind lumber than to fish them through old plaster ceilings.  Even adding the additional decorative lumber – one of the legs of the large angle plus the 4 cross pieces – was cheaper than fishing the wires through the ceiling.  The labor of painting the lumber was my sweat equity.  2 additional cost savings actions – seen above and below – included (1) a piece of ¼” luan to hide the hole created where we took down a wall – painted bright aqua, and (2) a graphic painted on the wall and ceiling to disguise a ceiling that’s badly out of level.  The white railing is hung level (used as a flexible hanging rail for both pictures and shelving).  It’s 5” closer to the ceiling at its end than at the corner.  The bright graphic helps disguise this flaw of a hundred year old building.

Graphics Disquise Sloped Ceiling

The ceiling of Spin Pizza, below, again uses raw lumber to hide a mish-mash of ceiling elements.  The overall effect is actually calming in it’s randomness.  Read article

Ceiling Spin Pizza

Traditional:

A soffit is often used to help define areas within a room.  In the rendering, below, I plan to use a soffit to define a foyer in a home in Bethesda, MD where the front door opens directly into the living room.  The new foyer is defined on one side by a stained glass panel and on the other side by a new coat closet and an alcove with a door to a new powder room.  By painting the soffit a dark charcoal and the walls of the foyer a darker gray than the rest of the living room, the foyer feels enclosed.  You get a feeling of expansion as you walk into the living room.  A stone floor in the foyer completes the look.  The stone floor and outfitted coat closet allows the foyer to functions as a mud room entry.

Soffit used To Define Foyer

In the photo, below, a gentle pearl color on the sloped ceiling and cove lighting give a special effect.

Soft Pearl Ceiling Highlighted With Cove Lighting

And below we, again, use a darker color on the soffit of a faux tray ceiling.

Dark Soffit Helps Define Tray Ceiling

A 3-part crown molding sets off the ceiling, below, in a 1905 vernacular farmhouse.

3-Part Crown Molding

Rustic or Country:

Wood plank ceilings are a common element in rustic construction.  Below are two images from a blog posting on cottage style from completely-costal.com.  Go to the original post and notice that almost all the ceilings are decorated – usually with painted or unpainted wooden planks.

Painted Plank Ceiling

Painted Plank Ceiling

Whichever style makes sense for your home, special details on the ceiling or that frame the ceiling can lend immeasurable charm to your home.

Images courtesy of Braitman Design/Build unless noted.

Horizontal Row of Old Black & White Photos

In this home, prior to our remodel, family pictures took up almost all the wall space.  One problem with this arrangement is that usually only close family members are interested in continually looking at your family pictures.  Second, squeezing in additional photos can make the arrangement awkward.  Finally, too much of a good thing makes it hard to concentrate — there’s no focal point and so you end up seeing nothing.

Instead, we made 3 big changes after the remodel.  First, we took old black and white photos (2-4 generations old) in identical frames and lined them up as a horizontal element to contrast with the vertical plane and bulk of the new fireplace surround.  The black and white images spark conversation with guests in ways that the newer family photos packed onto the walls didn’t.  For just a small twist, we included a single recent softly colored photo.

We Used a Single Softly Colored Photo for Contract

We moved the more recent family photos to the private rooms of the house including the hallway on the bedroom level.  In the master bedroom, we again used the technique of a single horizontal plane but this time we used all more recent color photos.  In the same way we included a single color photo in the living room, we used an intense color-field within one of the picture frames to create interest.

Use an burst of color to break up the continuity

In the hallway, we included two picture ledges and packed them full of photos.  The over-packed picture ledges create an intimacy that can be lacking in wall-hung displays.  You see different things each time you look and you’re invited to rearrange the photos or to easily rotate them.

A Jam-Packed Double Photo Ledge

In the family room we used a double row of photos sometimes interspersed with some larger portraits.  In 2 spots we left the frame blank – again as a whimsical touch to attract conversation and second glances.

Leave a Blank Frame As A Point of Contrast

While these changes came as a result of a remodeling project.  A new coat of paint and some thoughtful rearranging of your own family photos might be just what it takes to rejuvenate your style.

Images courtesy of Braitman Design/Build.

Entertainment Built-ins Beside Fireplace

Another nice design idea from the house I visited in California recently — entertainment components that disappear when not in use.   While this is new construction, the concept would be easy to incorporate into remodeling depending upon the house construction.  The cabinets to the left of the fireplace hide the TV and all the additional paraphernalia that goes along with it.  The wall was bumped out for both the fireplace and the entertainment cabinets — the bump-out creates a pleasing alcove outside by the front door that creates a sense of arrival.

Doors slide into cabinet -- like you'll find in hotels

The doors slide back into the cabinets — like you’ll find in hotels — to open all the components to the living room.  Remote controls and other line-of-sight devices can work easily.  When you’re done watching TV, close the doors and everything is out of sight.

Stained Glass Window To Block View of Close Neighbor

I’ve moved to a neighborhood built at the turn of the 20th Century — houses built from about 1880 – 1920′s and protected by an Historic Preservation District.  Many of these homes, including mine, have windows that look into a neighbor’s house.  The house I moved from (3 blocks away) and the one I moved into both have windows that are 7′ to 15′ from the neighbor’s windows.  Plus the windows are aligned so we would be part of each other’s daily lives if we didn’t block the views.  The quickest and cheapest solution is often drapery and curtains which help ensure privacy but also often block light and a sense of space.    Below are some strategies I’ve used to block a view.  I would love to hear about ways you’ve successfully blocked a view while retaining daylight and airiness. 

I’m a glass artist so I’ve very successfully used art glass windows to block the view of too close neighbors.  [See above and below].  In both cases, though, skylights, windows or doors just around the corner on an adjacent plane banish any feelings of claustrophobia that come from not being able to see out.

Art Glass Windows Block View of Too Close Neighbor

In southern California, where I lived for several years, the dense semi-tropical vegetation could successfully block a close neighbor and still allow light and privacy — houses were also often 1 story which made it easier.  But in much of the country, it’s harder to block views with vegetation without also blocking light and a sense of space.  In the dining room, we used a mix of deciduous and evergreen shrubs to block the view of the alley 7 feet away. 

Vegetation Blocks the View of the Alley

In the home, below, we created a patio bounded by a pergola with foliage inside and outside the pergola to create privacy from a busy street.  In one particular place we also hung stained glass panels.  This strategy, of course, only works if you have a lot of space to work with.  But when you do, it’s a great way to keep eyes focused away from your windows and to create a greater sense of space and separation from the world. 

Using a Garden Room to Create Privacy & Block Views

Stained Glass Garden Panel to Block a View

So tell me about your ideas.  I would love to include your ideas and images in a future article.  You can’t yet upload images but I’ll definitely get in touch with you if you tell me you have images and tell you how to get them to me.

All images courtesy of Braitman Design/Build