Week 10

For the M’s NY apt I had designed flush doors in their foyer as when you enter the front door these are the first element you saw. I wanted you to see a flush wall instead of door frames that would distract away from the foyer table.

Mr. & Mrs. M's foyer in NYC

For the Hamptons Mrs. M insisted that all the doors be traditional. I felt simple recessed paneled doors would be more fitting. I proposed these for all doors leading into main living spaces; however I wanted all the closet doors to be flush.  This would make them disappear increasing the volume of the space.  The only exception was the powder room on the first floor, this we would also make flush to blend in with the adjacent closets.

The front door was our biggest obstacle; Mrs. M. had spotted an all glass door on another house in the Hamptons and became obsessed.  I felt the door needed to be solid to balance out the foyer which was already enclosed in two large glass windows. The solid door would give the space a stronger sense.  Personally I prefer black or dark front doors because I feel it creates an anchor and gives the house a sense of beginning.  If you look at Old English homes they usually have front doors painted in dark colors.

Mrs. M decided she wanted the front door to be powder blue with glass panels….

So we went back and forth for weeks until we finally reached a compromise. A traditional all wood paneled door stained in a driftwood color which would pick up the color in the stone inserts in the foyer.

Finish Sample for front door ( actual color hard to read from scan)

How many of you paint your doors and what colors?

Week 9

I don’t think I’ve mentioned the back porch just yet, this subject set off a HUGE discussion between Mrs. M and I which went back and forth several times.  They wanted an enclosed outdoor space in which they could entertain, I felt that enclosing this area was not a good idea; I wanted the house to feel open to the exterior and be flooded with natural light.  I suggested a pergola since that would filter the sunlight while not dramatically reducing the light quality indoors,  I also wanted to maintain a connection between the backyard and the interior of the house,  they preferred a screened in porch they could furnish and to have protection from the elements.  I tried very hard to discourage this porch idea but the M’s were insistent.

The M’s requested enough room to accommodate dining for 10 and seating for 8 making porch almost a full scale living room,  16’x37’.  After it was installed Mrs. M realized how dark it made the dining room and kitchen areas, we were able to bring in some more light by installing 2 skylights.  We designed a pass-through window at the kitchen with a shelf off the porch side to facilitate entertaining and added a ceiling fan and recess lighting throughout.  

 I decided to make the floor of the porch the same stone as pool surround to blur the lines between the indoors and outdoors.

On the positive side I feel it helped the back elevation as it transformed the back of the house from a very flat vertical surface into something a bit more three dimensional

I would love to hear your thoughts on this dilema, would you have preferred the enclosed porch or the pergola?