Friday, February 6, 2015

Housing Accessories Styles

This week in Interior Design we are learning about different  housing accessories such as roof styles, window styles, and characteristics seen on houses. So, to start off, we'll go over some roofing styles first.

Roofing Styles


Gable Roof

The Gable roof is one of the most popular styles of roofs. By definition, it is a roof with two sloping sides, forming a triangle at one or both ends.

Gambrel Roof

The Gambrel roof is often seen on barns like this one, (excuse me while I drool over it) but can also be on houses, as well. It is a roof with two angles of slope on each of two sides, the lower slop steeper than the upper slope.

Hipped Roof

The Hipped roof is defined by all four sides of the roof sloping inward to meet at a peak or ridge.

Saltbox Roof

The Saltbox roof is a variation of the Gable roof. It was originally created when a low lean-to addition was built onto the back wall of a house.

Mansard Roof

All four sides of this roof have two slopes, the lower four have steeper slopes than the upper four.

Shed Roof

This is a simple, one-slope roof. It is also referred to as a lean-to roof.

Housing Characteristics

Bay Window

This a a set of two or more windows that protrude out from the wall. The windows is moved away from the wall to provide more light and wider views. (By the way, they also can make super cool reading nooks in houses :) )

Casement Window

A casement in opens by swinging inward or outward much like a door. They are usually vertical in shape but are often grouped in bands.

Clapboard

Clapboard is also commonly referred to as weatherboard or siding. Long, Narrow boards are overlapped to cover the outer walls of a house. It is used in colonial style frame houses.

Dormer

The setting for a vertical window in the roof. If it has its own gable, such as this one, then it is called a gable dormer. If it has a flat roof, it is called a shed dormer. These are often found in upstairs bedrooms.

Eaves

These are simply the portion of the roof that projects beyond the wall.

Fanlight

This is a semi circle, or arched window above a door.

Palladian Window

A three part window featuring a large ached center and flanking rectangular  sidelights.

Pediment

A triangular crown used over doors, windows, or porches. This is a classical style.

Portico

A large porch usually with a pedimented roof supported by classical columns or pillars.

Rafter

A roof bean sloping from the ridge to the wall. In most houses, rafters are only visible in the attic. I styles such as craftsman bungalows and some "rustic" contemporaries, they are exposed.

Sidelights

Windows on either side of a door.

Turret 

A small tower, often at the corners of a building. Common in Queen Anne styles among others. A Turret is a smaller structure while a tower begins at ground level. 
P.S. Can you guess what TV show this is from? Hint: it's the "Murder House" from American Horror story.

Wednesday, February 4, 2015

Housing Life Cycles

This week in Interior Design We learned about the physical and psychological needs of every person, and how that relates to the housing needs for different parts of the life cycle. The physical needs are  storage, safety, shelter, sleep, and food preparations. The psychological needs are Love and belonging, privacy, creativity, and identity. The life cycle is the different stages of life from infancy to old age. The chart we used in class showed a circle and started on the upper right side at Young Adult. It went around clockwise to Young Families, Launching, and finally Empty Nesters in the upper left corner of the circle. It looked like this:
                                                                       


                               Empty Nesters                                                   Young Adults
                               Lunching        Young Families

This is an important aspect of housing because a persons need are not the same at every stage of life. Young Adults will traditionally have a smaller housing situation than someone who is at the Young Family stage. The Launching stage will also have an even bigger home than the Young Families. Unlike the pattern up until this point, the Empty Nesters will likely have a smaller house because their needs no longer require as much space.
What will my homes look like at these various stages in my life? Good question, they will probably look something like this:

22-Young Adult


When I am 22 I will be in the young adult stage, and at the point where I am about to graduate from college, or have about a year year left. I will likely live in an apartment in a building like this. It is Located in downtown Fargo because the few architecture buildings (I'll be majoring in architecture) of NDSU are here, unlike most of the rest of the campus. It will close to where I need to be most of the time which will be very convenient versus having to go all the way across town relying on public transportation everyday. This will be a smaller space that will not cost an arm and a leg to rent, and I'll probably be sharing it will other people as well.

33-Young Families


By the time I'm 33, I will probably be married with a kid or two, so that would put me in the Young Families stage. My house will be a small farm house type somewhere in the country with lots of land and a big red dairy barn. Think picturesque scenery. It will  a have a couple bedrooms and a decent sized living space. It wont be the house of my dreams, but it's a good starter home.

42-Launching


When I am 42 my two to four kids will be rambunctious teenagers who often invite friends over. With many people in the house, more space is required or else we'd all probably go a little crazy being so close all the time. I'd rather not have my future kids resent me because they can't get away from my craziness. I'd hope for this house to have a big beautiful kitchen, several bedrooms, an few separate living spaces. Instead of the big red dairy barn, there might be a big indoor riding facility in the backyard with some horses happily living inside (maybe this is wishful thinking, buy hey, I can make up whatever I want my future homestead to be like). Now THIS is closer to my dream home!


75-Empty Nesters



At 75 (an Empty Nester) I'll probably still be dreaming of the last house, but my little old self wouldn't be able to take care of that huge house--I'd probably break a hip! This place would be likely be one story, MAYBE two (I don't want to fall down the stairs) and have two bedrooms, one for me, one for guests. I'd hope That the kitchen would still be big and beautiful because I'll have taken to baking every single moment of my retirement. I'm unsure if this would also be in the country on  a small farm like the two previous, but I sure hope it is. If not, it would probably be in one of those "older" neighborhoods where the houses aren't all the same.



All these houses are a good example of what I may need some day during the different stages of the life cycle.

Thursday, January 29, 2015

Interior Design Blogs

This week in interior design we are looking at various interior design blogs. These are helpful because they allow for a wide range of people to view a designers work and style.
The first blog I visited was Swoon Worthy. It was started in 2010 by Kimberly Duran when she began renovating her home. The ideas she show cases are affordable design idea since she, and most people, don't have a "lottery-win budget" as she calls it. She describes her style as vintage and boho (bohemian- style).  The blog has won a few Top 5 awards for best DIY Blog. Swoon Worthy can be found at http://www.swoonworthy.co.uk/about-me/ 
The second blog I looked at was Retro Renovation. This blog showcases various renovations of retro style. From Kitchens, to bathrooms and more these rooms all give reader blast from the past. The site is run by Pam Keuber who began this site when renovation her 1951 home back to its' original glory. The site can be found at http://retrorenovation.com/pams-kitchen/ aqua-kitchen

The final Blog I have chosen is Interior Arcade. This is a super user friendly website that had a range of home design topics. It has categories for room design, home design, furniture, and other interior design subjects. With a variety of style to accommodate users, it suits most peoples needs. Not only can people search for ideas, they can submit ideas for others to use. There are several people who contribute to the many blog posts available. This can be found at http://www.interiorarcade.com/about/
Of these three blogs, I would have to say that Interior Arcade is my favorite because it offers a variety of styles, and I like different ones day to day a little more than others, so this blog is good for that. A cool trend I saw on these blogs was incorporating a lot of DIY projects into home designs. Another trend was using vintage items in the bloggers chosen designs.

Tuesday, January 27, 2015

Mood Board

Mood board
This week in Interior Design we were learning about mood boards. A mood board is also known as a motivation board.  It is a way for someone to express their style and personality. Interior Designers use them to show home owners what they are thinking of putting in a room, so the client can have a feel of the style to decide if they want that in their home or not. This room describes me because it uses soft shades of blue and yellow, and I am generally a pretty soft spoken person. They are also calming colors, and I am usually a calm person who avoid conflict. I put a bunch of pictures up in a sort of messy order because I am a pretty disorganized person. The style I chose was a mixture of shabby chic (I think?) and something a little more classic-looking. The HGTV quiz told me my style was “French country” so I think this is a pretty close example of that.  This room cost a whopping total of $9,945.98. In conclusion, this board is a tool that I have used to express my personality.