Use Windows as Focal PointsCombining the desire to have your waterfront views front and center and your need for privacy can take a bit of finagling. Install wood shutters, sheer or light-colored drapes or vertical blinds on the windows.
These all allow for plenty of natural light, even when closed, are easy to open when you want a full view of the water and provide privacy when necessary. If your waterfront home is blessed with large, picturesque windows, install a privacy film over the glass in lieu of traditional window treatments. When professionally done, these provide unobstructed views of the water while keeping the interior of your home hidden from the outside.
A collection of 35 different red front doors for residential homes. Your red door should be a mirror of what’s inside your home, so you must make your front entry polished and select a wreath or a swag that will also manifest your own personality. The decorative glass panels on the upper half of the door obscure the view of the home.
Use Furniture Placement to Guide the EyeLay out living room furniture so that the larger pieces, like the sofa, create a line pointing toward the windows; for example, have the arm rest of the couch facing the windows rather than turning the couch so that those sitting face the window head-on. This naturally draws the eye to the view, turning it into the focal point of the room, while still allowing you to see the water from the corner of your eye.
Use this same trick in dining areas. Arrange bedroom furniture and office spaces to make seeing the view from everywhere easy: Point the foot of the bed toward the largest window if possible and angle a cushioned chair or desk toward the window. These rooms tend to be smaller than living and dining areas, making the view an automatic center point, as there’s not enough space for the eye to wander between the doorway and the window. Choose Paint and Fabric WiselyAs fun as bright, neon colors or jewel tones are, use them sparingly in rooms that feature a waterfront view. When the outdoors makes up such a large portion of your home’s decor (because there’s no better wall art than windows that open to a stunning waterfront view), keeping the rest of the home natural with a softer color palette is best. Use paint and fabric in shades of cream, pastel blues and greens, soft purples and other muted shades depending on your preference. A few brighter or deeper tones used as accents can help to anchor the room without detracting from the view.
For example, outfit a bedroom in creams and light sage green to highlight the water, and then use a few bright red or emerald green vases to add a pop of color. Use natural fabrics wherever possible, including bamboo, cotton, silk and linen. Most of these can be suited to more relaxed rooms or formal spaces depending on the color and design. Don’t Be ObviousYour best ode to the water is seeing the water itself, and traditional “water” decor pieces can look brash in large quantities.
Instead, take inspiration from these ideas: Use the pearly shades of a shell as a color scheme for the fabrics in the room, the texture of the sand as an inspiration for the fabric used for window treatments or the different colors that the water appears, from light green to a deep gray, for your paint colors. With that as the base, a few “obvious” pieces can still look nice. For example, a small bowl of shells or sea glass, lake stones for a dining table center piece and house plants based on what grows right in your backyard are all good options.
Dormers are one of the hardest things to get right on a building. Too small and they look like Zippy the Pinhead (link here?) and too large and they look like Andy Rooney's eyebrows. Proportion is everything when it comes to dormers.One of the This Old House TV show houses had dormers with bad proportions, and Tom Silva came up with a reasonably inexpensive fix for the problem. You can read about it.It's not unusual for your customers to want a dormer so they can convert and attic or the space over the garage into living space, but they might not know what style of dormer they want. Ask them to drive around with a digital camera and take shots of what they like.And then send them a link to this gallery and have them take a look at the different types we've collected here.
Dormers are one of the hardest things to get right on a building. Too small and they look like Zippy the Pinhead (link here?) and too large and they look like Andy Rooney's eyebrows.
Proportion is everything when it comes to dormers.One of the This Old House TV show houses had dormers with bad proportions, and Tom Silva came up with a reasonably inexpensive fix for the problem. You can read about it.It's not unusual for your customers to want a dormer so they can convert and attic or the space over the garage into living space, but they might not know what style of dormer they want. Ask them to drive around with a digital camera and take shots of what they like.And then send them a link to this gallery and have them take a look at the different types we've collected here.