Beasley & Henley

The Monastery is the name of this project by Arild Eriksen, Joakim Skajaa of Eriksen Skajaa Architectsfor Netlife Research. Netlife wanted their new spaces to feel creative, yet offer spaces for privacy, reflection and silence. Inspired by a monastery garden, the architects designed a brick and wood building partition in the center of a wide open office space that features niches for plants and privacy, and windows for air circulation. One of the niches outside contains a bench to sit and read or relax.

Luxurious homes are the order of the day for Paris firm Jouin Manku, which was commissioned along with architecture firm YTL Design Group to take on this large-scale integrated architectural and interior design project. This modern and luxurious home was the first of Jouin Manku’s architectural designs to be built, and talk about first impressions! Located in Kuala Lampur, place says a lot about this home’s unique style of luxury.

Luxurious Homes | Examples of Modern Design

From the outside, this house is a contradiction – inside meets outside; private meets public; traditional meets modern. It’s peaceful, yet full of movement in its interesting stacked architecture featuring gently curving walls. Huge facades of glass create an endless, open effect, making these already expansive spaces spill out onto the horizon. Inside, this modern house is dripping in exotic luxuries, ideal to cocoon in comfort, or entertain on the grandest scale. White with rich, natural wood is the color palette of choice, mirroring the nature that surrounds this house, and presenting it with a luxurious twist. Just when you thought this contemporary house didn’t have any more to offer, you’re surprised to find nine bedrooms, two dens, a family kitchen and a private dining area, a private library, a game room, a study, a foyer, a formal dining room, a ballroom, a chapel, 21 bathrooms, a swimming pool, indoor parking, two guest suites and guest parking. Vying for centerpiece of this palatial home are a sculptural winding staircase, which resembles a sea shell when viewed from above; and a shimmering chandelier of 13,000 custom-designed cast-porcelain petals. This spectacular 3,000m2 house is home to three generations of family.

Images: Jouin Manku

Japanese architect Kazuhiko Kishimoto, of architecture firm acaa, designed the Wind-Dyed House overlooking the ocean on a cliff in Yokosuka, Kanagawa, Japan. The structure becomes almost embedded in the terrain because of the low-lying nature of the house, which also allows for the least amount of impact on the environment.

Each floor is composed of different materials to allow the residents a different view to the outside.

Stone floors and plaster-coated concrete walls on the first floor are juxtaposed with the soft shadows created by the outside landscape through the paper screens. The open concept living space of the second floor is vastly different with its ability to open up completely to the outdoors with sliding glass doors. To maximize the ocean views, glass and slotted screens along the perimeter of the top floor of the house give a sense of transparency.

BeasleyandHenley

Living in a loft is trendy. And for good reason. Lofts are unique, quirky, and adaptable. They shout uber-urban sophistication. Cool people live in them.

Traditionally, lofts were converted industrial spaces. As manufacturing businesses left New York’s SoHo in the early 1970s, artists created studios in the former factories to take advantage of the large, open floor plans and natural light streaming through huge windows. Ultimately, they set up house and the residential loft movement was in full swing.

Now, lofts all over the country are coveted living spaces and in a large part responsible for much of the urban redevelopment that has been taking place over the past decade.

Create a Loft in a Single Family Home

If you live in a single family home, you can replicate a loft-like atmosphere. Here are a few tips and tricks to help you get it right.

» Many homes feature open floor plans for shared living areas. Great rooms are a direct descendant of the loft movement. With their soaring ceilings and large windows, your own loft isn’t all that difficult to achieve.

1. Start by defining space with furniture, area rugs and lighting.
2. Think you have to butt all your furniture up against the walls? Think again.
3. Moving furniture away from walls makes for a more interesting and intimate room. No more shouting to the person sitting in the chair across the living room.

» Create distinct areas that have their own function and reason.

1. Putting a rug beneath a dining table automatically sets it up as its own space.
2. A cluster of comfy chairs and sofas makes a nice socializing spot, especially when you hang a funky chandelier above, puddling it in light.
3. Don’t think you have to align everything at right angles. Take a chance and skew the orientation of your furniture. You’ll be glad you did.

Loft living is the perfect opportunity to build an eclectic mix of furniture and accessories. Your flea market finds fit perfectly with contemporary pieces and traditional heirlooms alike.

» If your windows don’t stretch from floor to ceiling, it’s easy to create the illusion that they do.

1. Take window treatments all the way to the ceiling. Just doing that adds instant height.
2. Consider installing mirrors above and below the actual window. This inexpensive trick throws reflected light back into the room and tricks the eye into thinking the windows are larger than they actually are.
3. Further the illusion by adding faux-muntins (the wooden pieces that separate window panes).

If you have enough space between the top of your window and the ceiling, add architectural interest with half-round mirrors.

» Surfaces are an important element.

1. Look at hardwood and cement floors for inspiration — the more distressed the better.
2. Concrete provides wonderful opportunities. It can be tinted, acid-washed or polished to achieve the effect you’re going for. Not many other flooring options are that malleable.
3. Think beat-up plaster and exposed bricks on walls for the finishing touch.

Loft living isn’t limited to lofts. With a little ingenuity, you can create a loft-like space that will have you believing you’re living in the middle of your favorite city.

The great press just keeps on coming! Here’s a little piece on Beasley & Henley and upcoming color trends.

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The award-winning design team at Beasley & Henley Interior Design publish their color trends forecast for spring and summer, 2012.

Winter Park, Florida – Trend forecasting has begun for spring and summer 2012. Interior design heavy-hitters Beasley & Henley have published their color trends for 2012 predictions. When industry leaders weigh in, people tend to listen. And when the message is one of brightness and includes throwbacks to happier times, it is welcomed.

According to Beasley and Henley, bright, strong colors dominate all looks. While they are often grounded in the ever-popular grey or fresh white, liberal amounts of fuchsia, bright blue, sunny yellow, and bold purple are popping up everywhere.

“The long days of summer 2012 will reflect a festive, upbeat mood that this country has been longing for,” says Beasley & Henley Interior Design principal Troy Beasley.

Lemony yellow slip colors help brighten a family room; breezy bright draperies add new life to a bedroom; and a splash of bold, cherry red paint reinvigorate a tired foyer.

These colors are not only vibrant and fun, but often have a distinctly 1970s air to them. Chevron patterns on fabrics, color blocks on draperies, Pucci-inspired throws, and fun melamine dinnerware reflect the flashy days of the past, repurposed in trends for 2012.

In a move away from the minimal palates of past years, color trends for 2012 feature an active mixing of colors. Turquoise walls with a soft red rug, or a coral chair with a lime green pillow, may not be out of the question.

“I am normally not a great fan of trends,” says Beasley, “but I love this one.”

Beasley advises homeowners not to invest in expensive pieces for this color trend. Colorful walls and draperies, available in cost-effective fabrics, allow home decorators to jump on this vibrant bandwagon without spending a lot of money.

In the meantime, says the designer, take out the fiery orange, lipstick red, and electric yellow and enjoy a great spring and summer. The future for home design is bright – especially for spring and summer 2012

Great press on Beasley & Henley and design trends for 2012 from earlier this year.

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Winter Park, Florida — Design trends for 2012 are emerging. In the same way that a historian can predict the future, Beasley & Henley has proven time and time again that an interior design firm can use an experienced eye to see what will be “in” – and what will sell. After all, having a grasp on current trends and being able to predict (or create) future trends are how designers make their living.

Stephanie Henley, of Beasley & Henley Interior Design, has recently publicized and blogged about colors, fabrics, fixtures and furnishings that will be the artistic selling points of 2012.

Modern-only styles of the past decade are out as different eras and textures juxtapose in ways that are fresh and sophisticated. Natural choices and eco-consciousness is almost a given.

The dominant color will be grey in warm, light, and charcoal shades; yellow will be a fresh, uplifting complement. While monochrome elements will never go out of style, indigo blue and grass green are nods to nature. Greige is among hot color trends for 2012. Greige refers to raw textiles before dyeing or bleaching and, as a color, stands for a beige-green hybrid. The more earthy brown is losing its draw, and while orange will still be hanging around, purple is on its way out.

In what Henley has christened “Paris Flea Market meets Driftwood Salvage”, she describes the furnishing elements that capture a natural and rustic feel that blend different eras for a modern feel. From antiques making a comeback to reclaimed wood furniture and finishes that range from wire-brushed to bleached oak and grey washes. Industrial-feel elements like chrome fittings and repurposed occasional tables or side carts paired with modern pieces will create character for 2012.

In addition, Beasley & Henley have picked up on a trend among manufacturers who are making lounge chair seating lower to the ground for 2012. The standard 20 inches will lower to 17 or 18 inches off the floor. Henley muses that this may be to accommodate lower ceilings and smaller houses.

Where environmental consciousness will take the big stage is in fabrics. Nubby cottons, loose weaves, and Belgian linens in soft tones, such as warm whites, sandy beiges, light greys, and tans: these fabrics will be accessible and affordable in most price categories. A particularly exciting development will be that many will be dual-purposed and beautiful for both exterior and interior use.

Accessories and art trends for 2012 have taken a little less dramatic leap. Reclaimed pieces turned in to lamps, lighting, and other objets d’art; oversized prints, oversized photography, polished and satin brass hardware with a modern flair have carried over from the past couple of years.

As for Henley’s confidence in her predictions, she says, “Bring it on, 2012!” Judging by the financial and critical success of Beasley & Henley, she has every reason to be absolutely sure.