World-Inspired Home Design Photos
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KitchenLab Interiors
Coconut Grove is Southwest of Miami beach near coral gables and south of downtown. It’s a very lush and charming neighborhood. It’s one of the oldest neighborhoods and is protected historically. It hugs the shoreline of Biscayne Bay. The 10,000sft project was originally built
17 years ago and was purchased as a vacation home. Prior to the renovation the owners could not get past all the brown. He sails and they have a big extended family with 6 kids in between them. The clients wanted a comfortable and causal vibe where nothing is too precious. They wanted to be able to sit on anything in a bathing suit. KitchenLab interiors used lots of linen and indoor/outdoor fabrics to ensure durability. Much of the house is outside with a covered logia.
The design doctor ordered the 1st prescription for the house- retooling but not gutting. The clients wanted to be living and functioning in the home by November 1st with permits the construction began in August. The KitchenLab Interiors (KLI) team began design in May so it was a tight timeline! KLI phased the project and did a partial renovation on all guest baths. They waited to do the master bath until May. The home includes 7 bathrooms + the master. All existing plumbing fixtures were Waterworks so KLI kept those along with some tile but brought in Tabarka tile. The designers wanted to bring in vintage hacienda Spanish with a small European influence- the opposite of Miami modern. One of the ways they were able to accomplish this was with terracotta flooring that has patina. KLI set out to create a boutique hotel where each bath is similar but different. Every detail was designed with the guest in mind- they even designed a place for suitcases.
New Zealand Certified Builders Association
Covered outdoor shower room with a beautiful curved cedar wall and tui regularly flying through.
World-Inspired Home Design Photos
Casa Outdoor Design
Other people call this style Zen gardens because they are meant for contemplation. This garden style originated in Japan at the same time Zen Buddhism started to become more popular around 1300 AC.
Japanese gardens tend to be minimalist, monochromatic and well-trimmed. Not straight lines like in Formal gardens, but rather round or smoothly in and out shapes. Since the purpose of creating this garden style is for contemplation, relaxation and meditation, every element brought into the design has to be in alignment with this philosophy. These gardens are meant to connect visually but not physically. Japanese gardens calm your senses.
Like English gardens, they are meant to be around your home. This garden style wants to replicate the mountains and rivers seeing in the beautiful natural landscapes in Asia but at a small, intimate scale. Every element brought to Japanese gardens has a meaning. These elements have to be well curated and carefully placed. Boulders represent mountains, raked white sands represent rivers and waves from the ocean, bridges mean connection between the earthly world and the spiritual earth, islands symbolize of longevity and health, water basins are used for ritual cleansing and the round trimmed bushes provide smoothness and calm to your senses. Sound is
something not to forget when planning these gardens. You can achieve this by incorporating soft running water or planting bamboo (its leaves produce a soft, crackling sound when wind passes by). Water also represents life-giving force.
Other garden elements to consider are stone lanterns, color red (denotes strength, strong emotions, vitality, power). Plants mostly used in Japanese gardens are cherry trees, Japanese maples, pines, Yaupon hollies, bamboo, azaleas, camelias, hydrangeas, water lilies, mosses among others.
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