Wild Triangular House at Boulder

For many people, this odd, many-sided house in Boulder, Colo., could introduce a design conundrum. For Judi Lesta,”It is the love of my life, a dream space where nothing is out of bounds”

A aerial view of the modernist architect’s design on Boulder’s architecturally traditional University Hill reveals two limbs made up of 16 identical triangles, each culminating in a steepled skylight. Its designer, Charles Haertling, was a civic-minded architect with powerful Frank Lloyd Wright influences, and his signature style was to make organic, natural components. In cases like this, that the rooftop triangles have dual representation: They are thought to be leaves of nature, together with all the huge ceiling beams posing as veins, and additionally to represent the Flatiron peaks that serve as a backdrop to the city of Boulder.

Unaware of Haertling or his designs, Lesta purchased the home in 1989. “I was really lucky to have stumbled upon it,” she says.

in a Glance
Who lives here: Judi Lesta, owner of The Amazing Garage Sale
Location: Boulder, Colorado
Size:
2,200 square feet, 3 bedroom, two baths, with loft

Leslie Bentson

Upon arrival at the front door, one gets hauled to a Seussian, topsy-turvy frame of mind. The home, known as The Noble House, was first commissioned and built from the Noble family in 1958. It is one of over 40 buildings made by Haertling in Boulder from 1953 to 1983.

The home was known as the Space Craft Home, the Pyramid, the Teepee and the Umbrella. Haertling himself dubbed it a wigwam structure. Over time, it has grown into the neighborhood landscape while maintaining unique standing and continuing to catch the interest of passersby. The city of Boulder has designated the home as a historic landmark.

Leslie Bentson

Much of Lesta’s décor, like the black Herman Miller chair, is first to the age of her”triangle palace” A gold and purple color scheme is carried throughout the home. When asked the number of chandeliers she has (both inside and out), she says,”Too many to count dust”

Leslie Bentson

Looking down from the attic, the dining area gives great visual of this geometrically shaped doors and windows.

Leslie Bentson

A sizable trianglular window lets in light and also a cinch to the corner of their living space.

Leslie Bentson

One of the two steepled skylights provides a perfect view of the eight triangles making this up wing.

Leslie Bentson

The house sits in an above-ground, concrete base. Indoors, the four cutout triangles are windows that also serve as shelves.

Leslie Bentson

Each area has four triangular windows. The top hinged bit lifts up to a screen and see to the outside ground. A number of Lesta’s pictures of Grace Jones and the Bee Gees adorns this neon window.

Leslie Bentson

Lesta uses one of the bedrooms as a hangout and memorabilia space in the days as a freelance photographer in Los Angeles. Lesta’s photography portfolio comprises DEVO, Bob Marley, Blondie, President Ford and Donna Summer.

Leslie Bentson

A bit by Austrian artist Egon Shiele hangs alongside the customized fireplace. The angles on the hood and chimney mimic the roofline and mountain peaks.

Leslie Bentson

When Lesta moved to the Noble House, all the walls were whitened and the décor antique. Since then, she has painted partitions, floors and stairwells, and adorned each corner of room using trinkets and collectibles. “It is a very freeing home,” she says.

Leslie Bentson

One of the few rounded items in the residence is the violet, metal spiral staircase leading to the attic.

Leslie Bentson

Judi Lesta in her front door.

More unusual homes:
Creative Living in 600 Square Feet

Ingenious Garage Makeover at Bordeaux

Next: Tours in Each Style

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5 Ways to Make a Better Entrance

The entryway is the first observable part of a home’s interior, so it’s important to keep it tidy and trendy. But it also has the inevitable tendency to develop into a catch-all for everybody’s junk collected through the day. The crucial thing is to keep both functions in your mind when establishing your entrance. This is 1 space guaranteed for use each and every single day, so treat it as an area instead of just an awkward transitional area. These 5 tips should help you produce a functional and tidy and welcome to your residence.

1. Clean out everything but the requirements. Do away with miscellaneous papers and piles and hone it down to the essentials. As soon as you determine what’s a necessity in this space, you’ll have an easier time figuring out just how to keep it organized.

A built-in like this is excellent, since it doesn’t allow for any extraneous items. There is a definite spot for coats, hats and other staples — everything else makes its way into the rest of the house.

Purchase Some Damn Art

You don’t require a good deal of space (or a built in of any kind) to make a wonderful entryway. A sliver of wallspace beside your front door is everything you want. The smaller the space, the more important it’s to keep it clutter-free. This entryway just has a small shelf for knickknacks, a mirror, and a place to carry important reminders.

2. Create a communication centre. Your entryway is the 1 spot in your house where you’re guaranteed to catch a family member’s interest. Everyone has to pass by it on their way in and out of the home, so use this by putting a bulletin board, calendar, chalkboard or whiteboard nearby.

Alter Your Control Center

Jennifer Weiss Architecture

Possessing a room for your household’s electronic accessories is another great addition to the entrance. Today, almost everybody has a mobile, computer, music player or other chargeable device, and it can be difficult to keep things right. Setting up a spot for each one these necessities close to the entrance signifies that items will not get lost, and your daughter will never forget her iPod again. This magnificent charging console was custom-made, however you can make the same appearance with a charging station set on top of a small table or console.

Green Apple Design

3. Establish zones by owner or item. The best way to keep things arranged within an entryway would be to encourage your family and visitors to divide things up by type of item, or from owner. Set up baskets or bins and tag them by family member, or organize them by sneakers, gloves, hats and other ordinary items which clog up the entryway. Even the cubbies in this photo are great, but if you don’t have the option of building them in, get big bins and tag them with your family members’ names.

Produce a Makeshift Mudroom

Tim Cuppett Architects

Another option is installing basic coat hooks, and labeling each person with another name. If you’re living in a multi-person household, having a zone for every person can be unbelievably helpful. Additionally, it is very important to organize things in a means which makes it comfortable and easy to keep them. Shoes should move on the floor so they can be kicked off fast, while jackets and hats must hang at eye level.

Desire to Inspire

4. Make business clear. Let us face it: No one in your family is going to keep things tidy and clean unless you make it ridiculously easy. Be sure that it’s clear where everything goes in the entryway so that there’s no confusion. Put out shelves for scarves and bags, little bowls for change and a rack to keep shoes tidy. Look for open containers to the smaller but significant items — like keys or cellphones — so that they’re easily visible and accessible on your way out the door. Hooks, bins and baskets should all be tagged.

Fill out a shallow tray with pebbles to keep dirty sneakers confined. Additionally, it indicates to guests and to take off their shoes here before coming indoors.

2 Ellie

5. Keep it cheerful. Tour entryway sets the tone for the rest of your house, thus make a welcoming location. Put a bench, seat, small stool or other location for visitors to sit and take off their shoes.

Lauren Liess Interiors

Make certain there’s something fun or pretty in your entryway for visitors to enjoy. A pop of color, artwork, a fun pillow, plants or cute wall hooks can all bring a smile to visitors’ faces.

Placing down a rug at the entryway can make a massive difference also — it separates the space a little so that it seems like its living room — and certainly will catch dirt monitored in. Mirrors are a great idea also, which means you can have a last look in your outfit or cosmetics before you depart for your day.

More:
Guest Picks: Get Your Entryway Organized
Weekend Decorating: 8 Ideas for Lighting Your Entry
Come In: Welcoming and Stylish Entryways

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Sensible Style for Your Holiday Powder Room

Your powder area is a great area to express your imagination and pleasure your customers, particularly at holiday time. As it is likely to be modest, you’ll get more bang for your bathroom design buck here than anywhere else in your residence. By way of example, you just need one fantastic sink and faucet and no expensive tub or shower fittings. Take the opportunity to luxe out! Paint it a vibrant color. Add a decorative lighting fixture and drape it with holiday greenery. Below are a few sensible style tips for creating your powder room fun and functional this season.

Webber + Studio, Architects

If you’re contemplating freshening up your powder room this season, consider painting it at a holiday bright color like red or green. You will add a strong punch to your area that will carry you well into the new year.

Bed Bath & Beyond

Winthrop Guest Towel Holder – Bed Bath & Beyond – $19.99

Be sure your powder room has a guest towel holder. There’s definitely one available on your style and complete! This is a superb time of year to fill them with guest towels in holiday colours for a fun accent.

Linens ‘n Things

Christmas Central Pack of 6 Red Flameless LED Wax Christmas Battery Operated Pil – $91.99

I love candles, but just where I will continue to keep a close eye on these. Together with the traffic your powder room is likely to see during holiday season, I recommend flameless candles as a milder choice. They don’t all give you odor, but they won’t set your house on fire .

Faiella Design

Consider replacing regular flowers with seasonal selections and adding seasonal guest towels and accessories to set the tone for the holiday entertaining.

Contemporary Bathroom Faucets – $348

I like sensor taps for spaces. They decrease the spread of germs and decrease water waste. The important thing is finding one in a style and finish that works with your powder room’s overall aesthetics. Right now, there is still more option in the modern end of this spectrum, but that’s slowly changing.

Elad Gonen

Do not make your holiday guests wonder where the extra bathroom tissue are available. Add appealing lidded baskets in accessible space, like below this spacious console sink, with rolls of additional paper. If you’re so inclined, you can probably find some on your beloved holiday-themed color.

Restoration Hardware

Campaign Hook | Restoration Hardware – $36

Though your holiday guests probably won’t be disrobing on your powder room, a hook that may hold a handbag or jacket would be appreciated. Choose one in a style and finish that matches your space. If you’re tight on space, hang on the rear of a non-pocket doorway.

Pottery Barn

Kensington Pivot Mirror – $199

I like pivot mirrors for powder rooms, as they let guests of all heights have complete visibility. There are so many styles, sizes and finishes available today you’ll probably have no trouble finding one that works to your area.

More: Powder Rooms That Perform

Read photos of powder room designs

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Home Design: Living La Vida Linear

The shape of a home’s floor plan comes in many factors: the dimensions and boundaries of a website, distant views, the type(s) of inside spaces desired, etc. With this in mind, no shape is ideal or universally applicable; each is appropriate to a home’s unique circumstances. It could be a box, an L-shape, or in the instance of the following examples, linear. This sort of plan prioritizes viewpoints, solar orientation, and cross-ventilation, in addition to movement along a strong axis.

Ziger/Snead Architects

This long glass box the River House — overlooks a river. As may be seen from this view, the thickness of the house is very shallow: a single area, roughly 20 feet. Seen from the other side …

Ziger/Snead Architects

We can observe how the house acts as a bridge, spanning a valley with entry to the lower level and the river outside. This opinion clearly illustrates the switching screen-glass-screen-glass that happens on the long sides.

Ziger/Snead Architects

Here we see the willingness of the plan and the easy cross-ventilation that occurs with such a shallow depth.

Resolution: 4 Architecture

This two-story rectangular box also orients itself into a body of water. The siting also points the house towards a mature tree overlooking the water, and it extends a deck outward in the house. See inside, next.

Resolution: 4 Architecture

The shallow depth of the house is evident in this view of open living space. Cross breezes are also aided by ceiling fans. Note the wood louvers beyond of the sliding doors, for cutting down on sunlight.

Ian Moore Architects

This linear building appears quite wide from this entry approach, but the shallow depth of the plan is evident from the transparency of the space beyond the bridge. The way the house cantilevers in both ends enriches the amount of the house, which makes it appear to balance with this entry plane that slides beneath the house. See inside, next.

Ian Moore Architects

The main reason behind this plan, besides natural venting (heightened by the pitch of the roof), are the stunning views. A linear strategy makes it possible for every room to catch perspectives.

Webber + Studio, Architects

The linearity of the house is toned down by the variety of the window openings on the two floors and the cluster of trees about centered on the strategy. See inside, next.

Webber + Studio, Architects

The openness of the plan is not only from side to side; it may also be located from floor to ceiling, specifically within this generous living room.

Greico Designers/Builders Dallas

This is another house where a long plan is broken up, this time by the articulation of the outside wall. Alternating between brick, wood, and glass, the overhanging wood roofing ties the different parts together.

Hufft Projects

This previous house can be regarded as a blend of two linear plans; together they form a V-shape. Nevertheless the same considerations apply as in the previous houses, with the extra advantage of cradling outdoor area. Here we can see two long bars radiating from every other. Watch the backyard next.

Hufft Projects

The aptly called Bent/Sliced House suggests an alteration to a long, linear strategy. In its eventual incarnation, the kink in the design goes towards shaping the outside area. Note how the outside dining terrace ends in the bend in strategy. Although this house departs in the strict linearity of the previous examples, it also acts as a transition into my next ideabook, where I look at U-shaped plans.

More: The L-Shaped House
The U-Shaped House
Design Details: Windows That Frame a View
Daring Cantilevers: Architecture Takes Flight
Stunning Corner Windows

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5 Top Design Occasions: Nov. 11-Dec 2

Get motivated to make a vacation tabletop with backyard locates in Australia, or go enjoy the beauty of everyday things at the Eames exhibit in Los Angeles. If you’re in London, explore the British Art Deco architecture of the past or listen to some discussion about the changing urban landscape in Africa. If you’re looking for ways to be motivated, or simply enjoy getting out amid other style lovers, here’s our listing of events from all over the world.

EXHIBIT — Nov. 11-26
Puttin’ on the Glitz: The Golden Years of Art Deco Architecture in Britain
Gallery 2, RIBA, 66 Portland Place, London, W1B 1AD

Research Art Deco design at its summit at an ongoing exhibition at RIBA. Vintage photos from the RIBA British Architectural Library Photographs Collection showcase how Art Deco was often applied to transient construction types such as restaurants and shops, showing how omnipresent a style it had been.

This exhibition seeks to redress the balance by displaying not only Art Deco classics such as Odeon cinemas but also lesser known buildings such as Conchita Supervia’s apartment in Lowndes Square, London, and a fish-and-chip shop in Sunderland. Also check out the complementary exhibition, Art Deco Triumphant.

aplusd.org

EXHIBIT — Nov. 11-Jan. 16, 2012
Eames Designs: The Guest Host Relationship
Architecture and Design Museum (A+D)
6032 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, LA

Charles and Ray Eames motivated us to appreciate the world by respecting “the uncommon beauty of common things.” The latest exhibit at L.A.’s A+D uses Eames’ words to concentrate on their appreciation of the worth of humble objects and tools that are useful.

For a Portion of Pacific Standard Time, at Saturday, Nov. 12, join in to get a “Swiss on Rye Brown Bag Lunch and Chat” with Deborah Sussman of Sussman/Prejza, who worked with Charles and Ray Eames.

TALK — Nov. 22
6:30 – 8:00 p.m.
Cities of Tomorrow — African Metropolis, by David Adjaye
Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA)
66 Portland Place, London W1B 1AD

Attend a discussion and book signing by Tanzanian-born David Adjaye, an accomplished architect who has built many highly acclaimed buildings in the UK, USA, Russia and the Middle East. Engage in a discussion about Africa’s metropolitan architecture and changing urban experience.

The Society inc

WORKSHOP — Nov. 27
Organic Christmas Workshop with Sibella Court
Glenmore House
10:30 a.m.-3 p.m.
Camden NSW 2570 Australia

The holidays may always be celebrated with winter weather for those people in the Northern Hemisphere, but also for our Australian friends, it’s summertime! Discover how to decorate your Christmas tabletop with fresh garden picks from Sibella Court and Mickey Robertson of this Glenmore House. Within this all-day workshop, including lunch and tea, select amongst the Glenmore backyard leafy greens, flowers, branches and much more, then learn how to translate them into table-setting ideas which can be used yearlong.

For additional information, email [email protected]. $200 per person for the entire day workshop, such as morning tea & lunch.

hudsonvalley.org

WORKSHOP — Nov. 25-27
10 a.m. to 4 orgasmic
Hands-on Heritage Crafts
Van Cortlandt Manor
Croton-on-Hudson, NY

Step back in time to patriot-family living and revel in the art of the handmade. Learn how to create your own candles, then sew a medicine bag and fill it with dried botanicals, operate the blacksmith’s bellows, and participate in spinning, weaving, coopering, tinsmithing, hewing timber, quilting, open-hearth cooking, butter churning, cheese-making, and much more. Visitors of all ages are invited to get involved in the free event celebrating historical crafts and tasks.

LECTURE — Nov. 16, 6:30 p.m.

Mastermind at Textile: An Evening with Dai Fujiwara
Japan Society, 333 East 47th Street, New York, NY

Dai Fujiwara, former Creative Director of Miyake Design Studio shares his experience in the design home and talks about potential projects. Fujiwara was known especially for his A-Poc (A Piece of Cloth) line at Issey Miyake. His fresh architectural venture Sun House, featured in Fiber Futures, uses cloth in roofing. Moderated by Cara McCarty from the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum. Tickets: $16/$12 Japan Society members, seniors & students

More 2011 design occasions: Nov. 4-25, Oct. 28-Nov. 18

What’s on your calendar this month? Let us know about your favorite forthcoming layout events below!

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DIY: Watch How to Make a Rolling Vintage Storage Crate

One downside of the toilet of the rental apartment: no medicine cabinet or vanity space. Basically, no storage. And new tile extends from floor to ceiling, so that I can not mount a cabinet or put into the walls. Since I am far from being a minimalist when it comes to lotions and creams, I needed to make some kind of storage alternative. I opted to take advantage of the distance beneath the counter. I had a few vintage wooden crates that proven to be the ideal size to stack and roll beneath the counter. Problem solved!

More: Stash Your Stuff in Vintage Wood Crate Shelves

One large classic wooden cage houses all the large and bulky toiletries. I really like I can finally stow away those bottles (along with my set of makeup bags) so the counter is not littered with dressing products.

I needed to add brakes to the bottom of the cage, both to protect the tile and make it easier to slide the crate from beneath the counter.

Super-easy DIY job: First, I picked up a pair of casters in my hardware shop. Then I drilled pilot holes keep the wood from splitting. Screw from the casters and you’re set!

I placed a shallow timber crate on top of the wheeled crate to act as a tray shirt and to neatly hide the toiletries below.

I maintain some small bathroom supplies within this cage (extra contacts, Q-tips) and it is the ideal place for a couple magazines.

The storage system works well for us. I discovered the vintage crates at Maine for $20 and invested $5 on the casters, which made it an inexpensive custom made solution for our toilet.

I also believe the vintage wooden crates include a little personality to the space — a nice mix of new and old.

Perhaps you have think of a fantastic DIY storage alternative? We’d really like to see it. Post a photograph for your profile and then provide us the link below!

More:
Toilet Storage: Where to Maintain the T.P.?
Toilet Storage: Where to Maintain the Towels?
How to Create a Makeshift Mudroom
Stash Your Stuff in Vintage Wood Crate Shelves

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