Archive | March, 2009

Enlightenment: Interior Lighting for a Timber Frame Home

Lighting a timber frame home has a few specifics you may not find in other homes. Having just done one myself, I’ve discovered the use of chandeliers, track lighting, up lighting, pendant lights, wall sconces, floor lamps and table lamps were all necessary for properly lighting different areas of my carriage house. Here are 3 [...]

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Exterior Design Do’s & Don’ts for the Aesthetically Challenged – Part III

Exterior Do’s & Don’ts Part 3  Do Give That Wonderful Deck A Great Body – Or At Least Great Legs! Maybe you’ve seen one of my personal favorites (she says sarcastically); the deck off the first or second floor of a home with spindly-looking four by four posts as its only means of support. They look [...]

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Exterior Design Do’s & Don’ts for the Aesthetically Challenged – Part II

Exterior Do’s & Don’ts Part 2   Do Concern Yourself With Window and Door Placement. While many of us spend time pouring over drawings of our floor plans, picturing where walls will be, how furniture will fit, the layout of the perfect work triangle for the kitchen; this thought process does not necessarily include how [...]

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Exterior Do’s & Don’ts for the Aesthetically Challenged – Part I

As promised in my previous post, The Design Dilemma, I’d like to talk about the exterior aesthetics of a post and beam home.  I’ll do this over the course of three blog posts so as not to cause your eyes to cross and/or your mind to go numb!   Exterior Dos & Don’ts Part 1 [...]

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Tour of My Carriage House

Here’s a virtual video of my Carriage House.  This was created as we finished the design phase at Yankee Barn Homes to help us get a feel for the interior.  We’re thrilled with how the 5ft kneewalls give us an intimate feeling of space on the second floor. Enjoy!

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Second Floors, to Plank or Not to Plank?

    One of the beauties of a timber frame home is the gorgeous planked ceiling contrasting with the beams.  It really complements what a post and beam house is all about.  But the 2 ½” planks used by some builders for second floors leave the homeowner with quite a few limitations.  Enter such a [...]

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I’m Not Getting Any Younger…

The other day I asked a friend of mine what would be important to her should she design a house at this stage of her life. Her response was so funny I asked her to write it down. Here she is in her own words:   “First, I feel that I must admit something: the [...]

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Post & Beam Architecture is NOT Synonymous with Log Home Living

      Many people see the terms “post and beam” or “timber frame” as synonymous with log home living.  Nothing could be further from the truth.  Log homes tend to be more rustic with a sometimes overwhelming amount of wood exposed on the interior.  Post and beam homes expose the timber structure in the interior while still allowing for the [...]

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Post & Beam Home Design…Lesson #7

Lesson # 7: If Structure Matters, Aesthetics Are Paramount. This is where I’m probably going to insult some people and those who know me will never believe it, but tossing insults and sarcasm around is truly not my objective; at least not here.   That being said, I have strong opinions on aesthetics in general [...]

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Post & Beam Home Design…Lesson #6

Lesson # 6: Structure Matters. The beauty of post and beam design is the number of options you have. The structure may be designed using either interior bearing walls when privacy is desired or a simple bearing post where openness is what you want. Instead of an entire wall, a post will suffice. This is [...]

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