Architects Have Great Tools - Exterior Color Studies

At Ron Brenner Architects we have been working on a series of color studies for a client of ours.
I have included a number of the studies below.  The client has selected a medium gray for the base body color; however I also did a couple of non-gray variations.  The black roof is a given on all schemes.  Which one would you choose?

scheme 1 - all white horizontal clapboard siding

scheme 2 - gray board and batten siding, rusty corrugated metal inside porch and in 'link" area

scheme 3 - dark gray board and batten body color with white clapboard inside the porch and in link area

scheme 4 - gray board and batten body color with dark plum inside the porch and in the link area

scheme 5 - gray board and batten body color with white clapboard inside the porch and in the link area

scheme 6 - gray board and batten body color with dark gray shakes inside the porch and  in the link area

scheme 7 - gray board and batten body color with white shakes inside the porch and in the link area

home garden designs pictures.

home garden designs pictures.

Slovakia home designs.

Slovakia modern homes, exterior home designs.

Italian home designs.

Italian home designs.

stylish home designs.

stylish home designs.

Warm Air Rises

I received a question the other day pertaining to the image below.

"How much does it cost to heat a space like this?"

Great room view looking across dining, kitchen and living room.  The house plan can be purchased through Simply Elegant Home Designs at Hudson Simple Cottage House Plan   

Unfortunately there is no good way to answer this question.  There are simply too many variables involved; however I can give you one big generality.  Warm Air Rises and Cool Air Sinks - In the image above warm air will tend to rise towards the peak of the vaulted space.  Therefore, in warm climate regions high ceilings tend to be sought after because you don't want the heat near your body.  Conversely, in cold climate regions ceilings tend to be lower where you want to contain as much of the warmth as possible.

Warm Air Rises - Is one of the basic rules you should consider when designing an energy efficient house.  To me energy efficiency is the most important aspect to Green Design.  For more of my Green Design thoughts you might check out the following:
keep it simple 
top 10 green things to do

Modern home designs interior.

 modern interior bedroom design.

 modern interior sitting room design.

 modern kitchen design.

 modern living room design.

modern sitting room design idea.

work in progress- holiday prints

 : : I'm working on a few patterns for the holiday. I'm hoping to have the prints ready and up in my etsy shop within the next 10 days. stay tuned!!

places around the house

: : if you are reading this, THANK YOU, I know I have been missing lately. I'm happy to see you back here. I wanted to share some photos from our home, these photos from our bedroom are from warmer and sunnier days. the wedding tree was a wedding gift, handpainted by my bestfriend .tina. and her husband. it's the best and most beautiful wedding gift, it reminds us of our day and all our friends and family who shared it with us.

there's in fact a funny story about the tree. I had had the same idea as .tina. and had printed a tree and brought to Sweden, when .tina. saw it she said "anna, why do you always have to be doing everything yourself?". But of course, her handdrawn tree was much more beautiful than my printed one, and it fits so perfectly with the colors in our bedroom.

the oil painting is by my grandpa and the gold flower by me. the framed photos are from my favorite places, rockport beach and our summer house.

small modern home exterior designs.

small modern home exterior designs.

British home designs pictures.

British home designs pictures.

Modern home interior decoration ideas.

Modern home interior decoration ideas.