Inspiring Designs ~ Bios Password

Digressing from tech again for a moment.

Somewhere in the Valca home, I have a house-plans magazine that contains a small cottage-style lake house design that totally would be a dream-home.

It is small and compact, has wood-shingle style exterior cladding. It is two-story with two under-roof bedrooms and a shared bath upstairs. Downstairs is a wide galley-style kitchen spilling into an informal country dining area. To the opposite side is a cozy craftsman-style casual living room anchored by two half-height built-in bookcases with windows above and a river-stone fireplace in-between.

It just seems the type of place I could sink into to escape. Nothing techy or modern about it.

In contrast to the lake-side cottage style that seems warm and inviting, the Germanic blood in me still gets excited and inspired by these efficient and modern designs. I think the theme in them all that appeals to me is the logical lines and the blending of the outdoors and indoors. Living on the Gulf-Coast, I love air-conditioning. Couldn’t imagine living without it. That said, most of the normal designs down here are enclosed and isolate the occupant from the natural outdoors.

These recently posted designs--as caught on my favorite architectural blog Arch Daily--seem to successfully bring the outdoors in; boldly.