Examples of Exterior Colors

by | Sep 2, 2011 | design, musings

Examples of Exterior Colors

Exterior paint color consultations are one of my favorite things to do.  I get to meet new folks, see a house up close, and guide the homeowner to make a huge decision.  Colors can make a house absolutely sing (hopefully in harmony with its neighbors) or let a house sit quietly in its surroundings.

With that in mind, I finally got around to gathering photographs of some of the ‘afters’ and put them all in one place – take a look, and let me know what you think!

I like to have homeowners pick a few words describing how the house should look when it’s done… this house was aiming for ‘handsome.’

ps. let me know if something is amiss technologically, would you?  thanks!

Book a Consult

hi.there@fouroverone.com   (919) 339-1411
Office Address: 1235 Berkeley St, Durham, NC, 27705
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 355, Durham NC, 27702

Real Towns

by | Aug 18, 2011 | musings

Real Towns

Taking trips always makes me appreciate what’s at home, and this last jaunt the beach was no exception.  Not that I didn’t enjoy the sand, water, and a chance for a break, but that all the new growth ocean-side made me relish being back in a town with some history.  We’ve got in spades exactly what the beach town was trying to invent: a legitimate city center, remarkable historic buildings, and destinations for walking or riding.  What they had?  A fake lighthouse.  Really.

Good for climbing… not for much else.

It was lovely to climb up, afforded a view and a breeze on a wet blanket of a day, and allowed for a local history museum of displays on each landing – so I have no issues with it as a lighthouse or tower by any means.  Instead, I have issue with it being presented as a historic feature, something comparable with Cape Hatteras or Ocracoke.  A little googling tells me that it was built in the 1970s and modeled after one in England from two centuries earlier.  To be fair, it wasn’t so much described as historic as it wasn’t described at all – so it was easy to assume, based on the form and the general histories of lighthouses on the coast.  I should have been clued in by the paneling on the stair railing, I suppose!

Back at home, I’m thrilled to have the genuine history around me of the Lucky Strike tower and the Hill Building – one or the other could certainly claim to be Durham’s lighthouse, I think.  And I’m busy pulling together the plans for two houses (one c.1890, the other c.1915) that are in process… authentic and contributing to our real city.

Book a Consult

hi.there@fouroverone.com   (919) 339-1411
Office Address: 1235 Berkeley St, Durham, NC, 27705
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 355, Durham NC, 27702

Done and To-Do

by | Jul 5, 2011 | cleveland-holloway, design, forest hills, home sweet home, northgate park

Done and To-Do

The time has been flying by recently, and it suddenly struck me how long it had been since a proper blog post.  Rather than try to focus on one thing today, I’ll whip through an overview of what’s on the drawing board these days.

508 Ottawa is under construction, with permits pulled, demo over, and framing flying.  I’m staying out of the way for the most part, but just got back the tax credit acceptance letter with a few conditions to resolve – all stuff the homeowners are intending to do anyway, but the reminders will keep the preservation aspects fresh in the builder’s mind.

The Hudson Farmhouse – belonging to one family since it was built in 1930

I’ve got a slew of new projects, including the return to one I started almost two years ago.  The Hudson Farm is up over the border into Virginia, and I did some space planning for the homeowners a while ago as they tried to decide whether to sell or to renovate.  Convinced that renovation will work, they’re now back for some detailed drawings, so we headed up for a long morning of measuring and photography.  The house felt much more spacious than I’d originally imagined, although due for an update.  A rear wing to enlarge the kitchen space and provide a bath on the second floor might just take care of all sorts of problems.

Yellow fixtures and maroon & grey Carerra glass – they don’t spec ’em like they used to.

A bathroom renovation I designed is almost complete over in Forest Hills, where the 1950 plumbing finally failed.  It was a little tragic to have to remove the floor-to-ceiling Carerra glass, but unfortunately you can’t spot-repair those tiles.  Luckily, there’s still a half bath with the same treatment, in black with aqua fixtures.  Such crazy-great colors!

Another bathroom renovation is in design right now, and is challenging because it’s the smallest space I’ve ever dealt with: a full bath in a whopping 65″x75″.  The phrase ‘not enough room to swing a cat’ really doesn’t begin to convey how small this is.  It’s going to end up as a wet room space, fit for aging-in-place and making use of every possible corner… which is all it has, honestly. 

A Queen Anne over in Cleveland-Holloway

Up and coming is a whole-house renovation on Holloway, lovingly documented here.  We’re really early on in the process, trying to work out a schematic plan for the old grande dame.  It has been apartments for many, many decades, and suffered from the standard ‘updates’ – so there’s lots of room for improvement.  Measuring the house was a trip, as it’s got the full range of refuse, graffiti, dark spaces, and dead birds.  I’m really looking forward to seeing what demolition reveals!

Finally, and most personal, is the completion of my living room renovation.  After five years, we’ve finally got the plaster repaired, paint on the walls, and picture mold installed – I now have one room that actually lives up to the preservation mantra I preach… and that’s plenty for the time being.  We’re still unpacking and putting in the last bits, and I have renewed sympathy for anyone who tries to live through a renovation project – I don’t think I’ll ever do it again, myself.  (I say that now, but you know…)

Possibly my new favorite corner of the entire house.

Book a Consult

hi.there@fouroverone.com   (919) 339-1411
Office Address: 1235 Berkeley St, Durham, NC, 27705
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 355, Durham NC, 27702

Hiding beneath the Layers

by | May 25, 2011 | cleveland-holloway, design

Hiding beneath the Layers

Construction is a long process, tumultuous for the homeowner, trying for the neighbors, and thrilling for me.  Why? because I get to see the spaces, details, and connections that I have wrestled with and imagined come off the page and become reality, of course.  Because I’ve been picturing the view from the front door through to the back of the house since the day we settled that particular floor plan, and now I’ll be able to really see it – how could that not be exciting? 

The original firebox was covered over by a brick wall

One of my favorite parts is the initial demolition.  Every house I’ve ever worked on had a surprise hiding somewhere inside, from the dramatic (original pocket doors with hardware intact tucked into the wall, what?) to the mundane (a coin from Brazil, a shoe from the ’20s). And a few things are chance juxtapositions: old wood exposed for the first time in generations, a clear blue sky between ceiling joists.

All this comes up because the house on Ottawa is newly into demolition, and I dropped by earlier this week to snap some photos and see what was appearing.  They’re early in the process, taking it slowly and carefully so they can leave as much in place as possible, and it’s a mess as demo always is.  But there in the front room, this:

Wonderful to see the original beadboard ceiling in place, still intact on the other side of an early dropped ceiling, and that color… wowzers.

Book a Consult

hi.there@fouroverone.com   (919) 339-1411
Office Address: 1235 Berkeley St, Durham, NC, 27705
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 355, Durham NC, 27702

Colors Everywhere

by | Apr 14, 2011 | design

Colors Everywhere

Something about the spring flowers and bright sunlight has me thinking about house colors these days.  I’ve been taking pictures of homes around town that are particularly striking or have new paint jobs, while also doing a little background research for a client whose home will shortly need a full exterior paint.

I’ve found that many of the houses in the ‘finished’ historic districts are a little tepid in terms of paint colors (how many colors of stone can you have?) while the leading edge will find rainbow hues that are sometimes adventurous and great, sometimes a bit much.  A few homes have colors that puzzle me for most of the year, and then suddenly a blooming bush at the front corner pops, and I go “oh, THAT’S what they were thinking!”  I love those moments.

Also, I’ve been following along with a blog, Design Seeds, which posts color palettes multiple times a day.  Intended to inspire graphic design for the most part, I think it might be very useful for homeowners who are trying to get a feel for how colors interact, and how to look at a whole and pull out the important notes that could be carried through a space.  As many people have said before, color is fun and easy to play with – so don’t hold back!

That Door:

recently painted, the blue door is just a lovely pop of color

Dogwood

When the dogwood blooms, suddenly the pink makes perfect sense. my camera really coudln’t do it justice.

One of my faves:

one of my recent favorites from Design Seeds. I would love to see this on a little bungalow, with that eggplant color as the accent.

Book a Consult

hi.there@fouroverone.com   (919) 339-1411
Office Address: 1235 Berkeley St, Durham, NC, 27705
Mailing Address: P.O. Box 355, Durham NC, 27702