Your Custom Text Here
It was great fun to chat with Patrick McCombe of Fine Homebuilding about becoming an architect, the role of architects, and more. Here, too, is the link from the Fine Homebuilding podcast website.
Thanks for your interest, Patrick!
by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast
The Design Me a House podcast that I co-host with Dawn Oliveira of Oliveira Textiles was featured in the “East Bay Life” section of our local newspapers. Yay! Find out more about the podcast at the Design Me a House website, follow Design Me a House on Instagram; listen wherever you get your podcasts, including Apple Podcasts!
by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast
C2 Paint “Magnet” color on the fireplace surround in the KHS Harvard Shaker House renovation/addition
If you’re a frequent House Enthusiast reader, then you’ve heard me sing the praises of C2 Paint before. Their “Magnet” color is one of my favorites. Depending where and how you use it, it can be deep and striking, liquid and soft, or stony and subtle. On the fireplace surround above at the KHS Harvard Shaker House renovation/addition, it tends toward the deep and striking, boldly contrasting the putty grey (C2 “Pavement”) floor.
“Magnet” on the floor of the KHS Shaker House renovation/addition
Elsewhere, in the same KHS project, C2 “Magnet” makes an appearance as a floor paint. Here, it comes across as more liquid and soft, especially where it juxtaposes the C2 “Sheer” cabinetry and trim. Using a limited palette of colors — sometimes in different applications — can help rooms of a smaller home flow one into the other to create an overall more spacious effect (as I mention in The New Small House and The New Cottage).
At our own cottage, C2 “Magnet” on the screen door and Dutch door (which I had modified from an existing stored door) takes on yet another tone. It has more of a stony subtle flavor in an exterior application. I wrote about this Dutch door in an earlier House Enthusiast post.
As with any paint color you’re considering, you’ll want to look at a sample of it in different qualities of light and in different orientations (vertical or horizontal) to get an idea of how it will look in relation to the other surfaces where you plan to feature it. Fortunately, C2 offers poster-board-size samples to help you make a decision.
Now, go forth with color confidence. You’ll be glad you did.
by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast
The bolsters, square pillows, and valence on the KHS custom-designed banquette alcove are all created with patterned fabric that’s 55% hemp and 45% organic cotton designed by Oliveira Textiles. The bolster and pillow patterns are titled “Spiral Tide” and “Kelp Me” in a custom colorway to coordinate with the C2 Paint colors that the homeowners and I selected for the renovated open dining/living area. The valance pattern is called “Ripple Effect” in a gray that we selected to work with the stainless and nickel finishes that appear throughout.
As an architect and designer, I’m often asked to identify the various products and resources that appear in my projects. So today I’m creating a new category expressly to share the many great finds — along with the people behind them — that currently appear on my portfolio pages, as well as those that I hope may appear in the future. Going forward, keep your eye on this House Enthusiast new category that I’m calling “Get the KHS Look.”
For the inaugural post, I’m featuring Oliveira Textiles, led by fellow Rhode Island designer Dawn Oilveira. These photos are all from the KHS Wenham Ranch renovation/addition project in Wenham, Mass. Since the homeowners are avid sailors who love the sea, the whimsical sea creatures and scenes featured in Oliveira’s “Ocean Collection” sustainable fabrics were a great fit for the newly renovated KHS contemporary, airy, and fresh home.
The new window seat borders the open living area on one side and a group of new ganged Marvin windows, looking onto peaceful conservation land beyond, on the other side. The custom cushion (with cording of the same fabric) and the pillows also feature the “Spiral Tide” pattern in the same green custom colors.
The kitchen island, constructed of a combination of IKEA cabinetry and custom cabinetry, sports a Photo-Tex 100% poly peel-and-stick panel of a jellyfish found in Oliveira Textiles’ “Planktivore” pattern. The jellyfish adorns what would otherwise be the blank side of a custom built-in bookcase. Here, again, we’re using the same custom green colors.
The pillows in front of the linear gas fireplace are not far from the dining alcove and pick up on the same grey “Ripple Effect” pattern that’s on the valence there. The grey works well with the stainless fireplace surround, so we chose a similar gray for the hemp/organic cotton fabric on the reupholstered ottoman.
One of the joys of offering integrated architecture and design services is working with other allied professionals, like Oliveira Textiles, to realize architecture and interiors that are in sync.
by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast
