Buckets of Annuals

Image via Organized Clutter

First and foremost, spring means flowers. The best and simplest spring decor for your porch is just some affordable annuals tucked into your favorite pots or some galvanized buckets, which add a touch of rustic charm. You can find galvanized buckets and basins at your local hardware store, but check vintage markets, thrift stores, and flea markets, too. Some nice choices for annuals include phlox, sweet alyssum, coleus, polka dot plant, red nemesia, and edible nasturtiums.

Colorful Thrift Store Chairs

Image via Milan Vintage on Etsy

Speaking of thrift stores, make sure you browse their chair selections when you’re there. Whether you find a matching set or an eclectic mix, you can simply spray paint them all the same color (or a palette of spring shades) to bring them together. This is a fun way to add an accent hue to your decor scheme.

Early Bloom Wreaths

Image via Annabelle Eve Designs on Etsy

Prune a few branches of your early blooming forsythia, cherry tree, or whatever else looks pretty in your yard and shape them into a wreath with some floral wire for a quick and easy update to your front door. If you’re feeling less than crafty, you can always just buy one, too. Etsy seller Annabelle Eve Designs creates these lovely seasonal wreaths with silk flowers, burlap, and a moss-covered monogram, and you can use it year after year.

Mini Solar Barrel Fountain

Image via Flower Patch Farmhouse

Creating a DIY solar fountain is easier than it sounds, and it brings so much to outdoor spaces of all sizes: sparkly reflections, the sound of flowing water, and curious creatures seeking a drink or a bath. All you need is a floating solar fountain, which you can find on Amazon for under $12, and a watertight container like a galvanized bucket, an old wine barrel, or a planter pot without a drain hole.

Freshened Up Throw Pillows

Image via West Elm

Switch out the throw pillows on your outdoor furniture with something sweet for spring. If you find just the right fabric, sewing a throw pillow is a fairly easy project for a beginner to complete – check out The Spruce Crafts for a tutorial. Alternately, stores like Crate and Barrel, Anthropologie, and West Elm, where we found this pretty “embellished blooms” throw, are good places to look.

DIY Dried Bloom Bouquet

Image via Crate and Barrel

Dried floral bouquets are a leading decor trend in 2021, and you never have to worry about them wilting. It used to be that you had to hunt down the best elements to create one in the wild, in your yard, or in flower markets, but now you can find gorgeous preserved blooms and greenery on the internet and in local shops. Crate and Barrel has a particularly great selection, including these pink paper palms, which make for the perfect dramatic backdrop to pair with lush shades of green.

The post 6 DIY Spring Porch Decor Ideas for Any Budget first appeared on Dornob.

A single subtle visual trick turns would could be  a cumbersome extension into a more natural expansion in this traditional brick Dutch home – a roof form picked up in a strategically-sliced outside wall.

Sloped roofs dominate the original, which are picked up in the concrete angles found in the first-level addition by Baksvan Wengerden that creates additional living space and connection to the backyard.

The light and clean simplicity of the clean-lined concrete translates into a bright white interior via a nearly-seamless, floor-to-ceiling glazed separator.

Modern fireplace, fixtures and kitchen on the main floor make the whole place feel contemporary, while much of the outside remains original.

“This was a dark and compartmental house that reflected the way that people lived in 1932, when it was built. The house was transformed and enlarged with an open floor plan, a view to the garden, and a triangular section that continues the slope of the original roof.”

“The house is in Bentveld, a village between Haarlem and the North Sea. The key to the project was to maintain the overall shape and integrity of the original structure while creating an open floor plan that directs views to the garden. Thus the distinction between garden and interior is almost eliminated so that the garden becomes part of the living space. This was achieved by removing the internal partitions, thereby dispensing with the small, compartmental rooms that separated functions.”

“A new staircase was constructed, acting as the backbone of the house and connecting the first floor and attic to the ground level and garden.The result is a light and open house designed for the way we live now. The extension itself is realized in splayed concrete. It looks and feels like a natural continuation of the vernacular roof, and the absence of details strengthens the shape.”

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The post Elegant Swinging Chair is a Big, Inviting Birdcage first appeared on Dornob.

Like the remnant framework of an abandoned rail bridge, this riverside cantilevered home has a deck that seems to fit its semi-barren surroundings, evoking a sense of place and history while also serving as a wonderful gathering space for the home’s owners and visitors.

Designed by Paul F. Hirzel (images by Jim Van Gundy), River Place reflects client desires to be as close to the water and conserve as much of the land as possible. At the same time, the building needed to deal with everything from regional wildlife (rattlesnakes at ground level) to extremely hot summer temperatures (mitigated through a combination of openness and proximity to the cooler river). Concrete piers hold the building aloft, giving it a very small remnant footprint on the landscape, while steel helps part of the structure cantilever over the water below.

The most bold and arguably beautiful element is the metal framework that defines and supports the overall plan, tying together disparate spaces into a singular and powerful unit: “The steel bridge truss supports a wood lattice (128’x24’) that shades conditioned space below and reduces cooling loads by 20%. A secondary benefit is an accessible roof deck for easy roof maintenance and mischievous wine tasting, as it has no guardrails. Single lane road access into the site required sizing the prefabricated truss members to be transported on a short flatbed trailer and installed with a small boom crane.”

More about its design and construction: “The main structure (living-guest quarters) is set on four 8-inch thick concrete piers. The central pier is doubled to make space for mechanical/electrical systems that connect lateral runs to the rooms. The finish floor elevation of the bridge structure (905 feet above sea level) was determined by a water shed hydrology analysis and is set above the 300-500 year flood event elevation. This ground separation also discourages snake infestations.”

The post Cantilevered Home Hangs Over River Like a Broken Bridge first appeared on Dornob.

Great building design tends to fall into one of two categories: sweeping gestures that leave a mark but may or may not be useful or contextual, and subtle, detail-centric marvels, like this beautifully simple little home by Olson Kundig Architects, appropriately located in British Columbia where east and west cultures intersect.

“Set on an island north of the San Juans, the exterior metal skin of this single room cabin will be allowed to weather naturally. Inside, wood-finished surfaces create a cozy refuge. A large, weathered steel panel slides across a window wall, securing the space when the owner is away.”

“Built on the site of a former cabin, the tiny—191 square feet—structure fits within the footprint of the previously disturbed area. A retaining wall formed of rammed local earth is set against a raw steel-clad box incorporating highly insulated glass. The untreated mild steel cladding is allowed to weather naturally and will eventually blend in with the surrounding rocks and foliage. Inside, wood-finished surfaces create a cozy refuge. A small and efficient wood stove heats a room that contains a bed, kitchenette, and toilet. Interior surfaces are primarily cedar harvested from fallen logs on the property and from a demolished local trestle bridge.”

On one side, a weathered-wood deck plane bends gracefully into a weathered-concrete wall, providing a windbreak outside and framing the entry to the single-space retreat. Dangling from the wall is an outdoor shower, draining naturally off and through the wooden slats below.

On the other end, a second entrance leads out under a smaller overhang and a sheltered log pile against a backdrop of fire-safe CorTen steel.

In typical Northwestern (or Southwestern, from the Canadian perspective) style, light and dark browns provide a cabin-like color scheme, but modern lines and materials make the space feel contemporary as well as cozy.

Projects like this illustrate exactly why Olson Kundig is considered a master of Pacific Northwest architecture, distilling all the hallmark qualities of the region into striking and practical modern buildings. We’ve covered a lot of them here, including a cabin with a glass wall that opens with a pulley, a writer’s cabin with flip-down walls that protect it from the weather and architect Tom Kundig’s own home in Longbranch, Washington.

The post One-Room Cabin: Japanese Minimalism in the PNW first appeared on Dornob.

This is one of those beautifully simple concepts that actually translates into a working building section, all via one critical move: the folding of a conceptually-flat steel element wrapping around and into the home.

In the front, the steel membrane lifts off from the ground to create a porch and transparent entry zone, before traveling up and over to enclose the top and back, then bending back in to form a privacy barrier for the innermost areas.

Designed by Katsutoshi Sasaki (images by Shinji Miyamoto), a series of perforations in this bent plane are strategic in nature, allowing light and people to pass through as needed.

The result is a cozy core zone in the back, with a sense of enclosure reinforced by the knowledge of the concept at work – impossible to miss from the outside, communicated in the clear contrast of metal and wood.

The post Cinnamon Roll House Wraps Steel Plane in a Wood Frame first appeared on Dornob.

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Don’t let the tilt-shift photography trick you – what looks a little like a miniature model is a real set and setting; specifically, a Japanese tea house burrowed down into an overgrown backyard … like a series of old foundations, or half-excavated architectural remnants emerging from the Earth.

Set in the historic Japanese city of Hokkaido and designed by Jun Igarashi in 2006, “Tea House” could easily be mistaken from the street or sidewalk for a pile of scraps or abstract modern sculpture sitting in someones neglected garden.

Two bunker-like concrete buildings sit entrenched, surrounded by a concrete wall, creating a secluded subterranean refuge to retreat and relax in. Slim stairs lead down below, while a 360-degree slit allows air and light to pass in freely.

And, as the chairs in the picture suggest, the top serves not only to shelter the spaces underneath (when it rains or snows), but also as a table surface for above-ground tea times too (during better weather.)

About Jun Igarashi

The Japanese architect Jun Igarashi explained some of his motivations and interests for a 2011 retrospective called “The Construction of State.”

“When I started working in architectural design, I felt as if I were in the pitch blackness of outer space, without a single planet in sight,” Jun says. “Although I had studied architecture for two years at a vocational school and received practical training in the field over a five-year period at a regular firm, I had never seriously confronted things like architectural thought and theory. It was as if there were no “fixed points” that might serve as stars to help me decide where and whether or not to proceed into the dark universe. It was in this mindset that I began working as an architect.”

“Though it might seem obvious, an architectural structure is attached to a piece of land. And in designing a structure, one must treat all of the ‘states’ that exist there in an equal manner. I have created architecture using this basic approach for the last ten years. One might say that my work involves searching for ‘fixed points.'”

“As the site of my work is Hokkiado, I have repeatedly ‘constructed states’ based on necessity using ‘fixed points’ that emerge from a ‘state’ that is a compulsory or inevitable response, or ‘fixed points’ that emerge from devising my own approach in tandem with the use of a regular method. According to these experiences and repeated activities, I sometimes alter my way of thinking.”

The post A Japanese Tea House is Hidden Beneath a Flowering Meadow first appeared on Dornob.

There are plenty of lovely features to faun over in this domesticated version of a modern barn, but what stands out (both literally and otherwise) at first glance is a most unusual move that inverts the typical idea of a viewing platform.  By extending a concrete element out at basement level, residents are able to experience a combination of enclosed privacy and focused views over the water next to which the property sits.

This unusual means of taking advantage of a hillside property with a sloped building site builds into the earth in an unexpected way, creating a private underground corridor that leads from the interior of the house to a secret balcony of sorts. You sure can’t beat those ocean views, can you?

Speaking of ocean views, how often do you hear of a barn that has them? But “Barn Home” by Yukiharu Suzuki & Associates (now known as Nauhaus) is nothing like the farm buildings this word connotes; the latticed timber envelope of the house may have a hint of rusticity, but it’s still beautifully clean and modern. The architects styled the essential structure after the traditional form of a barn, with subtle tweaks to make it feel more homey and welcoming. Industrial details give the result a bit of an edge, and the concrete balcony adds a futuristic touch when viewed from outside.

Spaces between the slats of the timber envelope allow in limited direct and indirect daylight on all sides, depending upon sun angle and time of day, while traditional mobile shoji screens can slide around to subdivide spaces on demand. After dark, the house glows like a lantern. All together, “Barn House” is a wonder of natural daylight, brilliant geometry, clever landscape integration and inspired combinations of materials. This modern Japanese house is located in Hamamatsu City.

The post Underground Balcony: Barn Home with a Twist first appeared on Dornob.

With large American-style suburban front and back yards, it is easy to sow some grass seeds and assume the responsibility of simply mowing it into shape later. Smaller urban lots in big cities (British or otherwise) pose another set of challenges entirely. These 8 London gardens will help change how you view what’s possible in your outdoor space.

Philip Nixon relies on Modernist, Cubist, Bauhaus and other landscape traditions in building domestic porches, patios and gardens, but each responds uniquely to its context – including surrounding fences, adjacent buildings and local styles.

It would be a mistake to define this work within the limitations of landscapes, though, since furniture and architecture play such vital roles as well in shaping spaces – greenery as such is simply another material in the mix.

From the firm: “We believe excellence in design is the thread that ties together landscape, ecology, architecture and art. We seek to constantly explore the relationship between inside and out, between art and design and between the natural and the created landscape.”

About Philip Nixon Design

“Philip Nixon Design is a Landscape Architecture and Garden Design Studio with a multidisciplinary and collaborative approach combining garden and landscape design with architecture and furniture design. Each project is unique and we aim to create integrated, unified spaces which are aesthetically and functionally right for the site and fulfil the brief set by our clients. We work on a wide range of projects both small and large, urban and country, domestic and international.”

“We believe excellence in design is the thread that ties together landscape, sustainability, architecture and art. We seek to constantly explore the relationship between inside and out, between art and design and between the natural and the created landscape. We create gardens for people employing a lightness of touch and respect for context but without fear of being bold and decisive. Good design is about having a vision which is functional, balanced and unifying.”

The post Ditch Your Lawn with Inspiration from 8 Modern London Gardens first appeared on Dornob.

If the idea of a lofted forest home set up against the tree canopy conjures images of rustic cabins or nailed-together shacks, you might need to adjust your perspective when looking up at this expansive contemporary tree house.

Set on a series of thin metal stilts (with tension rods to prevent torque), the Pilotis House design by Go Hasegawa is a Japanese weekend getaway both apart from and a part of its surroundings – an unwalled ‘floor’ underneath is shielded from rain, but otherwise open to the elements on all sides, creating a peaceful open air patio.

Above and inside, wrapped in a corrugated-steel exterior, is a rather modern minimalist interior with simple straight edges, wood furnishings, glass accents, broad windows and glazed sliding doors.

No rooms are lacking for full-time occupancy, either – a bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and living rooms are included. Early modernists would recognize their influence on this neat decor-lacking retreat.

Ultimately, the Pilotis Forest House feels like a truly relaxing retreat where you can contemplate nature and gaze out at the trees without feeling the press of modern life all around you. Who doesn’t need a little of that every now and then?

From ArchEyes:

“Ropped 6. 5 meters in the air through a series of stilts as well as cross braces, the house provides views to the mountains above the actual trees. An open plaza beneath is sheltered. The primary volume, which can be accessed by stairs, features frameless windows as well as a terrace introducing the forest inside the house.”

“Louvered portions on the floor as well as ceiling additionally blur the actual boundaries involving indoors as well as out, entwining sight and sounds on the forest your of the house.”

“Finished in wood, the design – with a bedroom, kitchen area, living bedroom and restroom – provides a series of spaces in which users engage and accommodate.”

The post Modern Wood & Metal Treehouse Floats on Stilts first appeared on Dornob.

Set along a gentle slope, surrounded by trees but with unobstructed lines of sight to distant mountains … well, this landscape called for an environment-engaged solution, and these architects answered with appropriate awe and reverence for the surroundings.

Filipe Assadi is a Chilean architect with offices in Mexico and New York, and has an approach and style that reflect these regional influences. This particular Deck House is at once modern and contextual – a contemporary-shaped core clad in weathered local wood that unfolds down the hill.

Raised slightly off the ground but without a surrounding railing, residents enjoying the extensive porch (and built-in pool) are at once removed from but connected to the adjacent arid sand-and-forest setting.

Inside, floor-to-ceiling glass provides a three-sided view (and easy child supervision) back out from the primary living room, while private bedroom and bathroom spaces are tucked in back where less light is required and more seclusion desired.

“The sight towards the location of Rungue, displayed as a plane inclined looking the valley, having the Coast mountain range as background. The land suggested a large terrace, a platform from which it is possible to admire the overall scenery.”

“The project starts having in mind a deck of wood. Over this platform would be incorporated the different areas of the house. Nevertheless, the resources were exclusively aimed at this terrace, and the interior space was enough only for a large living area incorporated to this terrace. It was decided, therefore, to assign almost all these resources to resolve the housing based on two main components: a deck and a living area, being this later one capable of absorbing the kitchen, the dinning room, and even the master bedroom. Additionally, considering that in a summer holiday house dormitories are only used to sleep, it was decided to eliminate this concept, changing it for ‘a group sleeping area at which the space aimed at dormitories almost fully disappears from the project.'”

The post Deck-Centric Home: Patio, Pool & Views first appeared on Dornob.

It is a stroke of pure genius – and will keep its residence from having heat stroke as well. Lofted living and bedroom spaces, swooping architectural swimming pool and roofline curves – everything about this place speaks to casual, resort-like luxury … which makes the semi-secret sustainable wind, solar and green-roof strategies built into the project by Guz Architects in Singapore all the more impressive.

The undulating, wave-shaped roof is not just a nod to the beach-front nature of the property but a calculated strategy for taking advantage of various potential natural power sources, tapping into the unique energies available in waterside locations.

Having solar collectors arrayed around the edges, an inhabitable green-grass section in the center and the overall overhang allows natural breezes to ventilate elevated rooms as well as the open poolside patio and deck spaces below the main interior levels set up on stilts for minimal garden-level impact.

The solar panels are cleverly concealed as part of the overhanging roofs; they are shaped, colored and textured to look like a simple, sleek and completely complementary design accessory that relates to the rest of the roof and creates shade underneath graceful, wing-like panels. In turn, this curved aesthetic translates into organic forms for the pools and other spatial edges of non-structural elements around the home.

Other wonderful details include: an round island with a tree right in the middle of the swimming pool, floor-to-ceiling windows for maximum views of the larger water body beyond the site and and overall white-and-wood theme that makes the entire composition seem contemporary while keeping it warm, cozy and tropical-feeling in the process.

The post Tropical Luxury + Green Living = Lofted Seaside Solar Home first appeared on Dornob.

These pot lights from Rotoluxe come in all shapes and sizes, from small and thin minimalist replicas of High Modern designer pots to thick-walled bench planters and conventional cone-shaped cup-and-saucer designs … but they all have one thing in common: they are translucent inside and out, glowing with artificial light.

Yes, the above example is as large as it looks – a 44″ pot is the largest of the lot, which otherwise range from 16, 18, 20 and 24 to 30 inches in diameter. You could practically turn it into a personal backyard hot tub.

The structures are sufficiently self-contained and water-proof to be safe for setting on a screen porch, outdoor patio or right out in the garden rain. Some come with colored exteriors that change the light as it passes through, while others have decorative patterns that play off complimentary opaque and transparent sections.

Naturally, they are made entirely of post-consumer recycled plastics, a combination of solid and clear-sided materials that combine to work with the lighting elements while limiting them to a diffuse glow. Unused pieces produced as by-products of the manufacturing process are simply cycled back into create the next batch.

The post LED Light Pots: Plant a Colorful Glow-in-the-Dark Garden first appeared on Dornob.

Not light as in weight nor as in the tone of the wood, this furniture is literally alight from within – bands of bright orange, purple, blue and white layered between slices of wood to create a remarkable look. The stylistic result sits somewhere between high-end craft and luxury contemporary design.

Designed to work as small stools, ottomans, or coffee tables, just imagine turning out the lights and letting these objects be the sole source of illumination for a room – perfect for parties, though perhaps a bit strange and/or overly colorful on a day-to-day basis unless kept to a outdoor garden, porch or patio space that could use some additional nighttime lighting.

The so-called Bright Woods collection from Gruppo Avanzini employs stripes of various kinds of wood with resin inlay between each layer. Most are more uniform in color, darkness and grain to give equal weight to both the wooden and artificial elements. Better pack some extra batteries before you buy it, though – at least until there is a viable passive-charging alternative for your light-up furniture objects.

“Like an enchanted forest of trees that light up at night, this fascinating luxury led backlit wood furniture and ethnic collection of tables, seats and lamps, designed by Giancarlo Zema for Luxyde, uses natural materials like wood scratched by several resin rings that lighten at sunset. Available in several colour and essences, they are ideal for the most exclusive interior decoration, from hotels to nautical furnishing.”

“The Giancarlo Zema Design Group (GZDG) is an innovative architecture practice in Rome, specialized in eco-sustainable projects, semisubmerged architectural structures, marine parks, floating habitats, yacht and interior design. Founded in 2001 by the architect Giancarlo Zema as a dynamic and flexible organization, it covers the entire design process, from concept to the executive details. The (GZDG) uses advanced technologies and design software, which allow us to project and calculate different planning solutions. With the use of computer-aided design systems, we can create 3D models, prospective views and renderings, producing a full layout presentation. This offers the client all the necessary information on the project before the realization.”

“The main characteristics of our design are soft lines that clearly recall biomorphic forms. The (GZDG) is sensitive to new technologies and uses sophisticated high performance technological elements perfectly integrated in their organic designs. We believe that only when architecture and design blend with each other, something new has been created.”

The post Glow-in-the-Dark Outdoor Furniture first appeared on Dornob.

Difference is a powerful design strategy, and what could be more different than a sleek, black and angular indoor deck extending into the backyard of one London home (in a row of similarly-styled houses) built of brick in classic Victorian style?

Look a little closer, however, and the black-walled-and-roofed area wedged into this lot works with the building and its plot remarkably well, thanks to a set of subtle design strategies by the architects of Studio Octopi.

The lines of the roof, for example, are actually extensions of existing geometries in the Victorian structure and the integration of old and new is structurally seamless despite the radical differences in style between the two. The new enclosed deck space also mediates well between the existing home and garden areas.

Fit like a missing puzzle piece into the angled patio space between two wings of the original building, this addition bridges a long-standing gap between two sides of a divided house – a division that separated living and dining room spaces since it was built. Design, as they say, is definitely in the details, which these close-up photos of structural elements and glass intersections show.

“The original builder of Park Avenue South was also the house’s first resident, who made the most of his triangular plot by allowing the side of the building to fan out to meet the line of the adjacent public footpath. On the ground floor this resulted in an additional fillet of space splitting the living and dining rooms. It was the divisional nature of this space (used as a utility room) that the client wanted to resolve. Further to improving the organization of the plan, the Client was keen to enhance the relationship between the house and garden; the existing views were restricted in both orientation and size.”

“By relocating the utility room to the heart of the house, and integrating the kitchen and dining spaces the plan was reordered and paved the way for an extension that unified the principal rooms. The design was developed through a series of folded paper sketch models exploring the nature of the triangular plot, the geometry and aspect.”

“The scale of the extension was governed by the parameters of the current permitted development legislation. Volumetric calculations determined the maximum allowable capacity, which in turn formed a boundary to the geometric exploration. The lines of the roof ridges were drawn out from two points on the rear wall of the house, whilst the elevations extended the lines of the living room and the external rear wall of the kitchen.”

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