sdaarchi SDA Architect How to work on stones for my new architectural floor plans | SDA Architect

How to work on stones for my new architectural floor plans

19 Aug 2015
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How to work on stones for my new architectural floor plans?

Stonework might seem easy because of its robustness but there are some pitfalls to look out for. There are sand stone, marble, limestone and granite stones. Generally all stones absorb moisture and when placed on the ground for finishing it has to be specially treated for water

Use of stone in a Traditional house

Use of stone in a Traditional house in Tibet

mark stains.Features such as sills, copings, cornices which has a catchments for water may be a source of water moisture problem.Where penetration of moisture in stones such as granite is not so, cavities for discharge of water should be provided.Compatibility of stones such as granite and limestone, hard stone and soft stones may cause cracking at joints. Stones of different acidity and alkalinity may causes problems at joints.

Rainwater with its acid may cause limestone to loose it shine and may cause it to fall down if not fixed correctly externally.

Limestone
Limestone is one less durable stones. It offers the least durability to weather. Moisture is absorbed in to the stone, sometime to 20% and this can cause staining.

Marble
It is less durable than limestone but a good source of floor finishes that is elegant for the interiors of the house. It gives the domesticity and grandeur of richness.

Granite
Granite weathers very well and durable, used for external wall as of its weathering properties. It is extremely heavy and hard as such work ability is limited and carving of stone is done on softer stones.

Sandstone
Some sandstone has appreciable movement of moisture and therefore precautions are necessary as explain before for moisture movement

Flag stone
Flag stones are not a term used for type of rock but the manner by which are rock spliced off the is slices. They can be of many types’ flagstones such as granite, blue stone, slate, limestone. Their irregular shapes and surfaces make the stone attractive.

stone house

stone house

How do I use stone on my new architectural floor plans?
Stones works can be elegant or made a great rustic look. For elegance you need to crafts it well with skill. For rustic look you can use it as naturally as it exists for great looks.If you are new to this choose an architect
Rule1
Use stones in its natural form as much as possible. Nature is beautiful don’t recreate its beauty.

Rule 2
Use contrasting color of the stones to accentuate them pg 126 –“Stonescaping Ideas” by Andrew Wormer

Rule 3
Use different textures to accentuate the other

Rule 4
Use the stones for its real purpose- for instance the stones on floor if it is soft but with possesses great beauty but will collect moisture and eventual discolor and loose it beautify and even wears off & erodes easily.

Rule 5
What architectural style are you thinking off, if you are thinking of Mediterranean style, or Spanish styles, don’t use stone that are glossy, shiny etc. Give it a natural white, natural stones, but a rustic look.A modern house, will have the clean, sharp edges, smooth walls and straight features, with modern tiles, marble, granite with its appropriate elegant finish. As a said before modern building can be designed with stone work and have a great look. check out my stone  designs at http://www.sda-architect.com/

Prepared by http://www.house-floorplan.com/

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How to design kitchen for my new floor plan for homes

19 Aug 2015
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How to design kitchen

Here are the steps on How to design kitchen, wonderfully without hassle, but do contact  our architect should you stumble into difficulty.

typical kitchen layout

types of kitchen layouts

Step 1: Firstly you have to make decision on aspects of kitchen before designing a kitchen, which one of these you would like to have in your kitchen: if it was a:

  • Modern or old traditional kitchens.
  • If you choose traditional- do you want a Rustic or ethnic kitchen
  • Visible kitchen for show or Functional kitchen for cooking
  • List of cooking Equipment you want in the kitchen
  • Materials you would like in kitchen
  • Color theme you would like-white shades, brown shades or a dash of brilliant colors
kitchen interiors

nice kitchen designed for views

Step 2: Have a plan of your kitchen, overlay over a grid paper for easy references.

Step 3: Make a template of your kitchen equipment that you decided on step 1

Step 3: Place all the templates of the kitchen on the plan.

Step 4: Are you lost with ideas of the layout? Move on to step 5

Step 5: The 3 main kitchen fitting and equipment are: Sink(S), Fridge (F) and Stove (St), most of the architectural floor plans will have the abbreviations for these 3 equipment s as I have shown you. These are suggestions by the Architect or designer.They are usually place in a linear way or in a triangle relations ship. See diagram below

Step 6: Have you got that done, choose either on e of the layouts, if you have extra fridges than you may want to locate them as you wish.

Step 7: Now you have the basic kitchen layout. You need to ask, about:

  • what about the window, and views from the kitchen, are you getting the picture
  • what about the mud room relationship with the Fridge.
  • What about preparation area for food for prior to cooking.
  • Top cabinets and bottom cabinets
  • Do I need a pantry for storage of spices? Is a separate pantry room or can I make do with the cabinets in the kitchen.
  • Other kitchen equipment s such as microwave, bread maker, rice cooker, toaster,
  • Is there any special kitchen fittings that you may need.
  • A great cook needs a lot of space for storage of grinder, juice squeezers, etc Plan for these in your new floor plan before it is too late.Do I need a breakfast corner for morning rushes or for a good chatting moment at the kitchen?
  • Asian cooking-use of oil in the kitchen needs a little extractor to extract the oil in the air. Otherwise you may have a thick layer o wax in your kitchen and dinning area.

Step 8.What materials do I want to use on my kitchen.( this will be done in other articles, for great house floor plans check at http://www.sda-architect.com/

Appendix

*1, pg 51…”Country Living easy Transformations Kitchen” by Cynthia D’Aprix Sweeney

*2pg 51”Great American Kitchen collection “ by Meredith Corporation

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How to use House Architecture in designing your dream home plan

19 Aug 2015
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How to use House Architecture in designing your dream home plan

 

An Architect is one who designs your house but an Architect unless he has a great burning passion about his work , then and only then can he realize the dream house plan into a dream home plan. This creation of a home unless worked with love .A house architecture are the principles an Architect to create a dream home .The house architecture constitutes of the following aspects of architectural styles.

 

 Architectural Styles

The architectural house style adopted today have a story to tell of the historical trends of the past. Some of our homes are influenced by the styles of the past movements and revivals of past architectural movements. The classical movement, Gothic, Neo-Classical, Gothic revival movement, Victorian, Tudor etc. and then the Modern, Post Modern and descontructivsm to today Green and Sustainable movement and the Net Zero Energy movement.

If you take time to look of the styles of the homes, you could see how the present home has the tell tales of the architectural movements of the past. The pediments, elements of the building which continues=d to be used even today, is a reflections of these past movements. The White House was built during the times when the Classical revival was current world over.Even as of today some of these features of the White House are copied into our bungalows .

Therefore houses today is telling of  the evolution of styles and end result of technological changes that has brought changes in our society -that is the development of new material and of construction have had a tremendous effect on the styles and design of our dream home plan today. The technogical invention of glass , iron technology and siicone technology has vastly infuenced the kind of office buildings of today.


The architectural house styles available for selection are :

  1. Colonial styles
  2. Classical styles
  3. Spanish styles
  4. Mediterranean styles
  5. French styles
  6. Ranch styles
  7. cottage styles
  8. Log homes styles
  9. Georgians styles
  10. Victorian styles
  11. Tudor styles
  12. Post-modern styles
  13. Modern styles
  14. organic styles
  15. Green architecture and sustainable building style
  16. Net Zero Energy building type
  • In choosing a style, for your dream home plan, you may want to choose from the past as they were and modernize the architectural layouts. you may need to suite architectural layout based on the availability of material locally and type of skilled craftsman. In some regions timber crafts men are available and in others mason workers are found in abundance and thereby you need to adapt accordingly otherwise the cost of the home will not within the affordable cost range.
  • Any attempt to recreate the buildings of the past to its exactness, may be  cost prohibitive. For instances the windows of building of the past are highly ornamented but present day houses are simplified to a great degree.
  • An interesting point is with regards to homes recreating homes of the past to make your dream home plan. has its problems with changes that have happened since such as– The houses of the Founding Fathers in the America had water-wells outside the home. The slaves  fetched water from the well for them to take cold showers.*1 This was so due to the situation of the times. Modifying the homes to suite for the modern day will requires the skills of an Bungalow Architect, do contact us if you need help with this regards at http://www.sda-architect.com

Today’s design is less simplified during the industrial revolution which warranted mass productions. New motto “Less is more” to describe his aesthetic tactic of arranging the numerous necessary components of a …”by Architect Ludwig Mies

Prepared by Eco Green Architect and Net Zero Energy Architect Perumal Nagapushnam

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How do you design a Log House

19 Aug 2015
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How do you design a beautiful Log house.

 Log house are so beautiful, that it captivates me and behold my imaginations. They come in many forms and colors with an enticement for welcome. Every time I design a Log house it gives me great satisfaction to look at it and gives me great contentment of a sense of accomplishment. Don’t believe my word visit my site for view at http://www.sda-architect.com for Log house designs.

log mountain house

log mountain house

The 10 Rules in designing Log House and 10 things you need to know , read on below.

Rule 1:

Let your heart dictates the Log house floor plan and the layout.

Log house floor Plan, open plan House Floor Plan

Log house floor Plan, open plan House Floor Plan

Rule 2:


Let a great prominent Architect -Andrew Jackson Downing (writing in the Horticulturist, 1848) say what de designs best, “Do not build your dwelling like temples, churches or cathedrals. Let them be characteristically, dwelling house. Let the cottage be a cottage.”

Log house floor Plan, open plan House Floor Plan

Log house floor Plan, open plan House Floor Plan

 

 The Log house floor plan don’t have to be ornamented with architectural facades, special doors, window or architectural pediments features and lastly avoid church like features like high pitched roofs or Stain glass window. Make it simple and use the natural logs to come out best by using shapes & forms of a simple house.

small log mountain house

small log mountain house

Modern house floor plans are in opposite other end of Log House floor plans. The spaces in Log houses are limited to small spans (distances between walls) unlike conventional house. You could use big spans log house but only with an extra premium cost.

Rule 3
Use simple porches, verandas, simple bay window, and simple doors, as  it is most natural existence of these elements, that brings honesty to the cottage , a rustic feeling to the cottage and enhances value to your house.

Rule 4

Use a porch to lead to the main entrance, not directly leading into the house without a porch.

small log mountain house

small log mountain house

Rule 5

Step roofs allow the snow in the temperate and rain in the tropic to fall of naturally and this keeps the load of the roof and more ever gives aesthetics to the Log house.

Log house

Molly Log house

Rule 6

Place the kitchen in the primary position –In the Front of the house as this in keep to the traditions of the Log house cottage ambiance.

Thached Roof Log house

Thatched roof Log House

Rule 7

Your cottage may be located near a river, sea side, pond, mountain height, or by a simple brook. Use these features into your cottage house plan aggressively integrating then into your architectural layout.

Log house

Thatched Log house

Rule 8

Avoid rich colors, use plain white where necessary or use stains where the material in its most natural colors are seen to keep iwth the traditions of a Log house, any departure would make the Log house as a modern ambiance .

 

Rule 9

Avoid large homes to keep the maintenance low and the ambiance of the cottage recreated with little upkeep. As the natural stones, and timbers need no cleaning but rather looks better in its natural existence.

See my website for some brilliant ideas for log homes and cottages home- http://www.sda-architect.com  Keep the small layout open floor plan that will make it cozy and comfortable.

Rule 10

The landscape is the most important feature-
i)the fence,
ii)the stones-cape,
iii) the foot paths,
iv) the wine and its flowers-A home integrated well with the Forest in the Forest Trail*
v) the integrating of trees landscape, soft landscape with the natural forest, mountain or even the rocks of the water flow with the Log house floor plan creates the best setting.

The natural setting will draw the little birds, the butterflies, and the squirrels to rest in your patios, terraces and the verandas.

Keeping to these rules will help to achieve the dream house plans for your cottages designs.check out other house floor plans  …

Look out for some great design of Log Houses at http://www.sda-architect.com, enjoy! call them for Architect’s advice if you have need help.

 

Prepared by Green Architect  Net Zero Energy Building Architect Perumal Nagapu;shnam

 

Appendix

1* pg 98 The New Cottage Home by Jim Tolphin

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6 Things you need to know on How to Choose Paint Colors for your home plans

19 Aug 2015
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6 Things you need to know on How to Choose Paint Colors for your house floor plans

There are 4 simple but Golden rules that you need to follow in selection of the color schemes. And that you are not blundering in the selection or playing safe in your selection of schemes.  Without proper training you may be left dumb folded as you are asked to select the colors. These steps will help you in spite of the lack of training in color selections.

Rule 1  to Choose Paint Colors for Ambiance:

Choose the right colors for the right Ambiance.

Choice of right colors creates the right mood and the right sentiments that are associated with colors, the following instances relate this idea.

  • In a bed room you might want to use dark blue as a way to allow some one to sleep off, as they lie in bed.
  • some area where the colors need to be bright and brilliant and others may
  • Choosing earthy colors are generally safe and you do not go wrong with them.
  • You may want to have a brilliant cheerful color for the kitchen .This will brighten the dreary and stressful work that goes in the kitchen.
  • Children’s room may be brilliant use of Primary colors as these are the colors they are attracted to when they are young. Children’s eyes not fully developed ,the primary colors draws great attention to them.Children have an affinity to Primary colors. as for these reasons children tend to see or attracted to  Primary.
  • Young girls love pink, use colors which they are drawn too, so work around colors which they are comfortable with.

Rule 2  to Choose Paint Colors :

Choose the right  colors for the right purpose as nature does, Color serves a function.,for instance

  • Attention
    The flowers are red to draw the attention of the insects for pollination.,The naturally red lips of a girl draw attention of the best of the young man.The ripen red colors of fruits draws attention to attract bird

Nature colors calms the nerves

  • Calm down the senses
    The sky is blue as to calm the nerves, relax and settle the mind and a  scene effect is created to rest the mind and the body.
  • Warning
    What are the functions of color in building? colors serves a function to warn, draw attention or even to thwart dangers.    Warning of danger, Red blood as a sign of danger or orange in fire, calling for immediate attention and action. As it draws much attention the Red is a good color to ward off dangers..Red colors draw much attention or creates alarm and if used in excess can cause stress to the eyes .
colors of a butterfly

colors of a butterfly

The beautiful colors in a butterfly serves as an beautiful and mind settling sight in the garden , but if you stretch out it wings you will see a NOT a beautiful colors is rather a face of an ugly MONSTER to threaten the birds ad predators. Hence you will note that colors serve a function to protect the animals and helps it survival ability.

From the above, use of red in wall ,ceilings or entrance of the house draws much attraction .The color selection for rest of the house could use a less radiant color. My architectural house design tends to be rich in colors as way to create comfort and balance with nature.

 

 

INTERIOR OF _bath

Rule 3  on how to Choose Paint Colors :

Colors in nature are good examples to study, observe and apply them into our homes,check out our house floor plans how we apply these principles.

color combination in trees
  • The combination of green and brown with a dash of red, yellow or purples is a color found in trees and nature, the proportion of these colors are a large amount of green with less of dark brown with a dash of the color of flowers. if this proportion is reversed as a lot of red with less of green, this combination can be uncomfortable combinations, These are fantastic color scheme even for homes but some time these strong colors may be good for children s spaces but not for interiors. but selecting these schemes for the exteriors may be good idea..
  • Look carefully at your own face, whether your are racial background you may be note that the no of colors  in your face, Eyes, lips are not merely one or two colors but a multitude of color , Let look at your lips for now, you will note the upper lip is darker than the lower, there is border around the lips, the is another range of abut 4 colors merely on the lips , let alone the eyes and the shades of the hair etc.This suggest that when selecting colors keep a wide range of colors, of varying shades to create an interest int he building. this is a good way of selecting colors for the building exteriors and the interiors.
  • In nature the colors don’t exist in primary colors(red, blue and yellow) ,but neither secondary colors(missing of any of the 3 primary colors arise the purple, green, orange) but rather in tertiary colors(Tertiary  colors  are  combinations  of  primary  and  secondary  colors.  There are six tertiary colors; red-orange, yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, blue-violet, and red-violet.)therefore in selecting the colors schemes select a wide  ranges of shade not in the primary range but in the tertiary range of colors.
site analysis for Green building

view of Green nature

  • Another example of the tertiary range is the range of tertiary  green in nature does not exist in on plain green, it has many shades of green .Just look at your garden of picture of a forest. Check out the, greens in the trees and leaves, the shades of green and the hues of green.

 

 

stone house

stone house

The Golden Rule 4  on how to Choose Paint Colors ::

Choose colors by Copying nature’s color schemes, they don’t go wrong..Check out the color schemes in the Butterflies and the Birds, the trees and the flowers and follow the patterns in nature and copy the protions if colors as they exist in nature and you would not go wrong

colors in flowers

colors in flowers

Concluding Golden Rule 5:

Many acceptable colors from nature are red and blue, brown and blue, white and black. A natural lining within the acceptable colors of nature with white or alternatively with black will enhance the color selection.

colors in flowers

multitude shades of colors in flowers

colors in flowers

colors in flowers

Final Concluding Rule 6

brown and blue

brown and blue

The final advise in selecting colors that there are colors that are modern and traditional choice.A traditional selection of colors will be gold with navy blue, or navy blue with mahogany brown, which is an acceptable colors selection even for this day and age.

earthy colors

earthy colors

armada056

 

 

navy blue and brown wih silver lining

navy blue and brown wih silver lining

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A modern color range would be a shade of a color with a silver*( or alternatively a white lining ) lining in between .Another color range will be white, black and any shades of a color will be a successful color selection.

shades of blue with white and grey

shades of blue with white and grey

To make it really easy for the mind, use shades of grey with any Paint Colors  of your favorite choice and you won’t go wrong. eg

  • dark black, with grey and white lining
  • dark black, with grey and red
  • dark black, with grey and sliver /chrome lining
  • dark black, with grey and blue
  • dark black, with grey and blue
  • whites with shades of grey
  • whites with shades of blue
  • whites with shades of red

 

 

 

In choosing a house plan choose well with the above consideration, you may want to check out – http://www.sda-architect.com for some great selection of Paint Colors choices in house floor plans and architectural house design.

Finally have great fun with Paint Colors selection and you can have lots of satisfaction in choosing the right colors and if you still lost with colors get a good bungalow architect to help out.Contact us at http://www.sda-architect.coAutosave_final french house 5111ft model

 

Prepared by Green Architect and Net Zero Energy Architect Perumal Nagapushnam

Appendix

*1 pg 12 ,”Houses of the Founding Fathers “ by Hugh Howard and Roger Straus III

 

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Create your new Dream Home not Nightmares

19 Aug 2015
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Night view of French House Night view of French House

Night view of French House

How do I create a new dream Home using a Bungalow Architect

Designing a “Dream House Floor Plan” is relatively easy. Follow a few simple steps and you are in the right directions without making any out of the beat decisions.

Step 1 in Creating  your new dream Home


Have a collection of your ideal pediments and ornaments for roof structures, window dressings, door dressings, frame styles, tile collections, lockets and decorations that you really want to have in your dream house floor plan.

Dream house

Washington– Dream house

Step 2 in Creating  your new dream Home


Continue to visit friends who have great house and talk to them about the mistake and great thing they achieved in their homes. You will learn from them with first hand experience on how they designed their new dream Home.

Brick house Dream house

Brick house Dream house

Step 3  in Creating  your new dream Home


The great American architect Frank Lloyd Wright studied the Japanese House Floor Plan and spends some years in Japan to study the great design. His designs were influenced by the great Japanese design that existed in the Japanese House Floor Plan. It is therefore good for all who wants to contrive a home plan, start by looking at other good designs and get an idea of what suites you and your budget.

 

You could do the same, enlarge your understanding by studying other houses. Check out my site at http://www.sda-architect.com/house-floor-plans/ for some architects designed homes for some ideas.You don’t have to spend too much money buying books or magazines but rather browse the web site on the topic of house floor design. and soon you would have an good idea of what you need.

Step 4  in Creating  your new dream Home


If you have no clue to designs or styles, choose from of a plan closes to your dream  styles in your  neighborhood for your favorite architectural house style or house floor plans in google search. you can contact us for some idea of how you could begin, Generally architectural styles have developed from the Classical period, the Gothic, Neo-classical, Gothic revival, Tudor, Victorian,Edwardian,Modern,Post Modern,deconstruction etc to Green and Sustainability to Net Zero Energy House floor Plans.The are also some tropical styles such as Balinese styles, Malay Home style, Indian styles and Chinese and Japanese Styles and African styles and French styles and Mediterranean Styles

Malay House Plan

Traditional Malay House Plan

Step 5  in Creating  your new dream Home


Now that you are armed with what you want for your new dream Home and you have obtains a house floor plan closes to your dream. Seek to modify your plans based on your needs. List out what is your needs, what does the house serve to functions as…And . If the changes are too great, choose a Bungalow Architect whos can help you here , most often you would need help as architect is trained and displined to modify the to suite your need .But some time your site may not suite the plans you have chosen, as the building may not fit into he site, or the best optimized layout is not achieved not matter what you do the modify the house floor plans. The study of the sites constraints and best features of the site is called a site analysis.In this instance it is best you redesign the dream plans using an architect.

Choose some one who is friendly and flexible and who would spend time with you to achieve what you want. Remember bungalow designs are difficult to design and there are very few Architects who would to do that for the minimal fees they collect. In the first place the fees they collect usually do not commensurate with the amount of time to be employed. Choose well.check out our reasonable fees.

Step 6  in Creating  your new dream Home


Make a correct decision to choose an architect as you may not be able to get rid of him easily until you settle his fees.

Before you decide to employ an Architect, ask your friends who have previously employed one for advice. Make sure you see his company profile of the work he has done .If you are satisfied! Employ him. Remember, if you pay peanuts you get monkeys for architects. If have some extra money to spend on good architectural services, pay for it. You will not regret that decision.

Share with him your dreams and what features, pediments, ornaments and photo of what you want or need. Some Bungalow Architect hate to see these preferences as they would like to think you are hitting the wrong direction and that they have the only solution for you site and so on and so forth.

You have to decide if you want to continue with some one you can work with or not, otherwise go get another. There is not many to choose from, any way.

Step 7  in Creating  your new dream Home


Make sure the Bungalow Architect’s designs that he gives you -an architectural house style that suites your needs, lifestyle and fanciful new dream Home. And when you are done with the design, the architect will take you through the job.check out our site for some magnificent designs you will note we are the best in the world wide web, as our designs are hand designed.

 

Best Wishes on your Dream House floor Plan.

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