Dornob | Design Ideas Daily

Two Tiny Irish Cottages Joined By a Single Glass Stairwell

Posted: 02 Jan 2013 10:00 AM PST

Two run-down stone cottages in the Irish countryside provided an ideal setting for a revamp that mixes traditional with modern. Peter Legge Associates took on the derelict Connemara Residence and remade the two small buildings into a single family residence joined by a glass-enclosed staircase.

From the exterior, the cottages retain much of their old-world charm. They were built from local stone and seem to be a part of the surrounding landscape itself.

Closer inspection reveals plenty of modern updates. The glass-walled staircase, of course, adds a very elegant element to the cottages. Skylights are positioned to let in the maximum amount of natural light.

The dining room culminates in a gorgeous set of bi-fold glass doors that open up wide to let the residents enjoy the stunning surroundings.

Elsewhere in the home, native stone mixes with rich wood while splashes of orange and copper complement the muted, minimalist color scheme.

Thanks to the unifying glass stairwell walls, the family occupying the residence has twice as much room as the original residents would have. The breathtaking modern home is truly a testament to the power of connections: connections between the old and the new, the natural and the human-made, the earth and the sky.

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Digital-Age Decor: Laser-Cut Window Curtain Patterns

Posted: 01 Jan 2013 04:00 PM PST

The strict geometry of a circle, deployed in seemingly-random styles that are reminiscent of something between the shapes Tetris and characters (in the sense of words and numbers, not people) in The Matrix.

Ida Thonsgaard created these for a house (by architect Peter Grundmann) in Germany: ”The idea was to make an immaterial/illusional pattern, that would come to life only when light shines through it and fill the room with a feeling of flickering lightpearls.”

The result is a bold contrast of perforations set on a jet-black background, balancing light and dark. Window reflections, incidental curves in the sheets themselves and other contextual factors play off of the effects as well.