December | 2015 | Adventures In Styleland!

Archive for December, 2015

Crafty Bench

Posted in Designs From Merlin Drive, Uncategorized, tagged Crafty Bench, Designs by Michele Schenectady NY, DIY ideas, DIYER'S, Garden Bench, Headboard Bench, home decor, home design, Interior Design, Michele Conti on December 15, 2015| 2 Comments »

head board bench in my garden JPG

Recently a good friend gave me a garden stone, memory stone

to remember my parents. I have an old arbor in the yard, I placed the memory stone near there, but I wanted a place to sit… a place that would turn my garden spot into a destination, a place to linger, a respite from the daily grind, to escape and reflect…

Seating transforms your yard into a park-like oasis where you can soak in the beauty of what you’ve labored to create, we plant vegetables every year near this area.

It also allows you to seat your family and friends in comfort while you bore them with the minute details of the six varieties of tomatoes and four kinds of peppers you’ve planted. Along with the variety of Herbs (as an Italian women, I need my basil and parsley..for sauce of course!).

head board bench in my garden 2

The issue, as always is the expense! Any step above plastic stackables is just scary, especially if you want something with a little more character.

head board bench swing

I saw this idea for a bed-into-bench couple years ago, and thought that is so sweet!! The beauty of this project is its economy, its simplicity, and its endless variations, benches… swings …OMG, really your only limited by your imagination! Any Thrift Store or Salvation Army has old headboards and footboards. I happen to have an old one from a garage sale!

head board bench

You’re probably going to be painting it, so if its in rough shape it doesn’t matter!

There are so many tutorials online to help!! Fun and Fabulous!!! head board bench 5

Stay tuned… for more Adventures in Styleland…

XOXO

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Architectural Drawings..

Posted in Uncategorized on December 9, 2015| Leave a Comment »

Gothic Architecture

I came across some of Minty Sainsbury’s drawings, She has a passion for architecture, it’s a subject which consumes her. Not only are they very precise architectural renderings of classical buildings they are also very beautiful and intriguing. The use of the empty space in her street views is arresting and unusual. She contrasts the intricate complexity of cathedrals and gothic churches with nothing but a thin outline of the buildings in the foreground.

Minty Sainsbury

Minty It’s not surprising that this artist and illustrator studied architecture at Cambridge “because I loved drawing historical architecture”. At university while others were using computers Minty drew every plan by hand, graduating top of her year and winning a Royal Institute of British Architects prize.

Truro Cathedral, 1878 Artist William Burges

In the architecture world, there are a handful of persistent debates that arise time and time again: the challenges of being a woman in the field of architecture is one of them, for example; the problems of a culture of long hours and hard work is another. But one of the most enduring arguments in architecture – especially in the academic sphere – is the battle between hand drawing and computer aided design. Both schools have their famous proponents: Michael Graves, for example, was known as a huge talent with a pencil and paper, and came to the defense of drawing in articles for the New York Times, among others. Patrik Schumacher, on the other hand, is famous for his commitment to the capabilities of the computer.

AlexanderBrodsky

Personally there are valid arguments on both sides, in the debate about how architects – both present and future – represent our ideas, it is easy to find a lot of articles supporting both sides. I love the freedom of hand drawings, although they are not easily modified as computer production generated images and my not be practical, to me there is nothing prettier than a well done hand rendering of a project, they are truly works of art.. I would enjoy having any one of these framed and on the wall in my home..

Derek_Draper

Stay Tuned…..The Home Expo 2016 is coming to the Times Union Center, watch for dates…I will be blogging again for The Home Expo with HGTV as our special guest this year! See you there!

XOXO

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