Design

I am working on a new home for a client through our   Custom Home Design  process at Simply Elegant Home Designs.  I thought I would give you a sneak peak of our initial concept sketches.  This is a 3 bedroom home to be constructed on a wooded lot overlooking a marvelous Minnesota lake. Our design work always begins with plan sketches and 3d massing studies.  A 3d model beats exterior elevation sketches every time when trying to communicate a design. Garage with bonus is left - entry link in the middle - main volume of house on the right.  A pretty straight forward concept designed to work with the topography of the land. Above and below is an initial color study.  The client is looking for a home with an arts and crafts feel appropriate for  its wooded setting.  I'll typically do several color studies - so I'll pass those along as completed. The custom home design process I have created provides a nice compromise between purchasing a pre-d...

I have had many clients in the past tell me they want a bay window. Sometimes I have been a bit reluctant to the idea because I have seen so many bad examples. The image below is a very typical example of the contemporary application of the bay. To me this just looks like they cut a hole in the wall and slapped on the window unit. It just doesn't look integrated. Don't do this! On the other hand my recent trip to the Napa Valley area reminded me that the bay window can be a beautiful design element when properly integrated with the architecture of the house plan. Here are a few examples on mostly craftsman style houses - all discovered in the town of Napa. Square box bay instead of the typical angled sides. Simple shed roof with exposed rafter tails and supporting brackets. Shingle siding wraps the box out. Here the bay walls simply extend up until they meet the roof overhang, which is deep enough to receive them. The continuous trim above the windows and the cedar shin...

This post is not related to house plans or home design but I thought would be interesting for everyone. As you know Rio De Janeiro has been awarded the 2016 Olympic games. The Architectural firm of BCMF Arquietetos was responsible for envisioning the Olympic environment. I have included a few of the images they created. Some pretty cool stuff. Chicago is a pretty nice town, but it is difficult to imagine a more dramatic backdrop for the Olympic games than Rio? I am looking forward to watching in 2016. If you want to see more Rio Olympic images you can go to the official Rio 2016 web site Simple,Unique, Small House Plans Cottage, Craftsman and Modern Home Plans

Last week we announced we are now selling house plans designed by Larson Brenner in Stillwater, Minnesota. We think that these designs are special in the way they cleverly pack function and convenience within a fairly modest floor plan. In order to convey that idea I am today beginning a series of postings on planning features. The idea is to illustrate good design principals by highlighting features on the plans. So this will be the first in the series. The floor plan shown below is the Prescott Cottage , designed by Larson Brenner Architects. My comments are shown right on the plan. You can get a little better look by going to the Simply Elegant Monthly Newsletter .

Simply Elegant Home Designs has added an interior animation of their " Stillwater Craftsman" house plan.  The animation can be seen below. Simply Elegant intends to publish more interiors information on all of their home designs.  The idea is to provide customers with better information so that they can make more informed buying decisions.

Simply Elegant Home Designs has added an Interior Animation of their Hudson Cottage house plan.  The home includes an open family and friend gathering room accomodating cooking, eating and sitting areas.  The space features a vaulted wood ceiling with exposed truss framing.