Posted in Design Projects, tagged cherry, copper, cork, curves, flow, kitchen, remodel, stained glass, turquoise on October 23, 2015| Leave a Comment »
A key part of the design was adding this door from the kitchen to the back part of the house (and future back deck)
As you can see below, this also gave the bedroom a better connection to the bathroom and more privacy.
These curvy shelves and cherry peninsula were just icing on the cake.
The homeowner is a bicycle enthusiast (and an artist)
Very cool,.
Posted in Found Objects, tagged color, desert architecture, neon, patterns, salvaged, turquoise, wood on April 18, 2012| Leave a Comment »
Posted in Found Objects, tagged color, desert architecture, faded red, gates, landscape, turquoise on April 5, 2012| 1 Comment »
I am going to treat you to a few days of pictures of this creative and historic town in Southeast Arizona. I climbed the hills in the late afternoon and enjoyed stunning views of the coppery mountains with houses in sun and shadow. This first series captures some of the colors. As you can see, turquoise and green are popular colors. Warm, rich reds, yellows, and oranges also are common choices. Even the hills are many different colors. Some are vivid rusty red-orange, and others are a less flashy brown with green shrubs dominating the pallet.
Its a long walk up to this colorful hillside enclave. The late afternoon sunlight lights up the hillside and brings out the warm colors
This outdoor dining area is very festive with its colored lights and faded red painted fence. This color reminds me of an ancient pickup truck faded by the desert sun.
You should zoom in to see the intricate details of these copper entry gates. What a nice tribute to the history of Bisbee and its copper mines.
This slightly faded USPS mailbox nicely complements the green bench. Again, the desert sun quickly adds a nice patina to painted objects.
muted red and yellow house and walls with a sharp accent of bright yellow porch chairs
We saw a US Sailing sticker on the side window of this house. Clearly these people miss the ocean. I'm not sure the yellow and blue really jive with the surroundings, but perhaps that is intentional.
Green house with rusty roof looks good against the orange hill
Pale Turquoise
red cliff, pale turquoise mural
bicycle shop
plaid and art deco
Posted in Found Objects, tagged color, desert architecture, historical styles, houses, rigid design guidlines, turquoise on March 5, 2012| 2 Comments »
It’s not the greatest photo, but here are the promised southwestern blue (turquoise) windows. (I found it! southwestern teal on colorswatches.com and from the Catalina Pueblo architectural guidelines – DunnEdwards Reef Encounter– DE573 ) Probably the color is just right for the Sonoran desert because it mimics the color of copper and turquoise, abundant in the region. This photo is the front of my aunt’s house in the Catalina Pueblo. It is part of a 108 house development designed and built in the 1970s by Don Maxon. The association has fairly conservative design guidelines, but they do allow this one bright accent color.
Ahead of their time in the 1970s, the architect and builder preserved much of the native desert vegetation, including many saguaro that are now well over 100 years old. They modeled the houses closely after houses in Alamos, a pueblo in Mexico, sticking to design elements that were carefully documented. The community also has shared amenities such as swimming pools and walking trails. I have mixed feelings about rigid design guidelines, but in this case the result is a very tasteful and cohesive architectural fabric.
Posted in Found Objects, tagged bridge, color, colored concrete, desert architecture, diamond, metal, rattlesnake, steel, Tucson, turquoise on February 28, 2012| 2 Comments »
On a recent visit to Tucson, Arizona I saw this cool bridge for bikes and pedestrians over East Broadway Blvd . (If you zoom into the map and switch to satellite you can see the extent of it. It was designed by Simon Donovan. I also liked the bright blue bollards and railing. This particular color looks just right in the Sonoran desert, but Im not sure why. You will see the identical color in another post later this week. The painted steel mesh skin really looks like a snake – kind of like a dry, discarded snake-skin. The shadows created by the crisscrossing steel are also quite nice.
Three southwestern blue bollards
Southwestern blue ramp railing
snake-skin
Rattlesnake tail
Looking through the snake
Tucker exits the snake mouth
Snake head through the trees
Snake bridge body through the trees
Dagmar and Tucker walk back through towards the tail
deedsdesign 