EYE ON DESIGN BY DAN GREGORY

Time and Time Again

The return to school and work after Labor Day makes me think about symbols of continuity and change — like the conventional wall clock (and speaking of conventions in this election season: how about a gavel-to-gavel-coverage-clock!). It remains recognizably the same and yet it’s always being reinvented — just like the stock house plan. Here are some examples to think about hanging in your kitchen or family room as you count the days until you can move into your new home.

This classic George Nelson Mid-century Modern Clock from Design Public is an overscaled asterisk.

I like the idea that it’s always “footnoting” the time. Kenneth Wingard’s Cube Clock (below) lets you set the face along with the hour. It can be a circle, a square, or something in between.

This clock and Wingard’s Large Mod example use geometry simply and effectively.

They both give new meaning to the phrase “block of time.” The Frank Lloyd Wright Exhibition Typeface Clock adapts a typeface Wright designed for use in exhibitions of his work during the 1930s.

Each hour has an architectural character.

Homework

Back to school means thinking about where you and your family work at home. If homework or bill-paying is done in the kitchen or family room those spaces should include a work table, buffet counter, or built-in desk. You can also build a desk into a window bay, along a hall, or beside a balcony. A dedicated home office is often somewhat removed from the heart of the house. Here are some plans that show a range of options.

The second floor of this house includes a study area outside the kids’ bedrooms. It’s plan 48-265. Or here’s a house with a space you could adapt.

The loft overlooking the living area would be a good place for a homework center (plan 32-386).

For more examples explore our Homework Area Plan Collection.

Power Plays

Hasbro’s newly revamped game of Clue, with its expanded choice of murder weapons, spiffed up characters, and updated Tudor mansion (with a spa instead of a billiard room), has made me think about the changing nature of the home….Hey, they should have used a design from Houseplans.com! In fact, wouldn’t it be cool if you could select the house style before you started to play — I think I’d choose a French Country manor just to be different, like our 48-244:

But I’m getting distracted. In any case, I like a house you can play in. Many of our newest plans embody this informal quality in a modern context, like our exclusive Spirit of Palo Alto (431-11) from architect Greg La Vardera, inspired by the post-and-beam-and-glass Eichler tract houses of the 1950s and 1960s.

The strong simple shapes and views between spaces contribute to the feeling of casual family living. Or try the Porch House, which is meant to be a year-round getaway.

The surprising openness of the porch-like ground floor — hence the name — which Greg designed as half “summer kitchen” and half bunk room, makes you realize right away that this is a place apart from the workaday world. The banana yellow convertible doesn’t hurt either.

Playful and Creative

I think almost any space or object can stimulate the mind in a creative or playful way. Here are some examples of playfulness in design that have recently caught my eye. Long ago Sunset magazine ran an article with the following somewhat puzzling headline: “When a Shower Needs a Friend.” Well here’s a shower that doesn’t need anyone:

It’s by the late Viennese artist-architect Friedensreich Hundertwasser and is part of the complex he designed for Quixote Winery in the Napa Valley. Antonio Gaudi meets Piet Mondrian: the colored tile design wakes you up before you step inside and turn on the tap — especially helpful if you’ve been drinking Quixote’s luxuriant petite syrahs. The outside of the winery is also a visual feast. It’s worth a visit.

The finials are like giant chessboard pawns and every column is ceramic sculpture.

Meet a love seat that’s also its opposite: a splinter group.

It’s by Matthew Kroeker for Jane Hamley Wells. Reminds me of an inscription carved into a granite bench in front of a public building in downtown Denver: “If you wish to rest, rest not too long.”

For playfulness with a purpose, consider the Magnetic Chalkboard Panel Doors from the Simpson Door Company.

They’re elegantly proportioned, versatile, and great for family artwork and notes. Chalk one up for creativity.

So as you search for the house plan that fits you and your family, think about how and where you’ll play.