The House Duk in South Africa Links The Indoor and Outdoor Living

House Duk is located in Meyersdal Eco Estate, Johannesburg, South Africa. This 674 sq.m. house is another masterpiece by Nico van der Meulen Architects. We featured other homes and spaces from this architect and as usual, he never fail to impress us. House Duk has an open plan which connects it to the outdoor living which is of utmost importance to the homeowners. Views to the garden is provided in every room. The home has a chic and sophisticated design that combine different decors and materials to achieve an interesting style.

This lovely home is gracefully positioned within a secured nature reserve. To bring some gentle reminders about the serene location into the home, it used natural materials that were carefully selected by the designers. Using these type of materials unite the site and the home. Despite being one with nature in style, it also added splashes of color to liven the interior spaces with emphasis given to textures and furnishings. Nico van der Meulen Architects used floating elements in the interior which is one of their trademark. Upon closer inspection these planes appear to be the main roof structure which at first seemed to be more of a decorative feature rather than a functional requirement. It is this very principle in design that creates beautiful and practical houses which become architectural works of art. Lovely and interesting, now let us take a look at the house below:

Who will not fall in love with the beauty of this house? Its openness as well as its modern look is indeed captivating.

The facade of the house has geometric lines in it with the use of a mix of materials.

The entrance entices one’s curiosity with long stone cladded screen walls. Inside, the transparency and openness of this home that lies behind these solid entrance walls.

The interior is linked to the exterior through glass walls same as what we can see here with folding glass doors.

The living room is beautiful with its contemporary design adding some interesting decors as well as some pops of purple.

Large living areas seamlessly flowed out onto the covered patio merging the thresholds between inside and outside.

The ceiling features some floating planes to give it some depth while carrying some lights on it.

Another sitting area is found on the other side of the fireplace which also leads outdoors.

Seen here are the kitchen and living room where you can find a brick wall accent that bring some natural touch to the interior.

The kitchen is neat and lovely especially with its choice of colors.

Black dining set graced the dining area which is given more highlight because of the white flooring and glass walls.

On the lower level of the house are a dining area and a kitchen. While the upper floor used wood, this one used concrete and utilized gray and white colors.

Instead of placing chairs all around the dining table, one side has a long bench on it.

In the patio rests some comfy seating where one can gather for night celebrations.

The pool area is one part of the house that is admirable. You can also see here the terraced landscape.

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Beautiful Designs of Kitchen Remodels

Remodeling is something anyone would love to do – just so if they have the time. Are we right? Remodeling seems to make it easier to create a space you actually want and still be able to make subtle to big changes depending on a few things – space, time and budget. If you have those three things, might as well start planning out or checking online or magazine sources for more information about the changes you intending to do.

To start off on that research and idea formulation, we have created a list of 18 Beautiful Designs of Kitchen Remodels which can help us in visualizing the space we will be working on and what ideas we can actually bring about in the process. Below are pictures we can all use to begin imagining the changes we are planning on and if they could actually work out well for us and the member of family – or whoever is involved, take a look and enjoy!

63rd Avenue Residence

The owners didn’t want to ruin the kitchen’s open look with upper cabinetry, so he left the windows and extended the countertop to make room for extra base cabinets from Ikea. A bold block of Benjamin Moore yellow provides a subtle visual separation between the kitchen and the dining space.

Ante Bellum Estate

The geometric design pattern is balanced with strong horizontal lines in the simplicity of the cabinetry door style. The soft curves of the island and range hood allow the eye to move effortlessly throughout.

Bernal Heights 2 Residence

The client already had a movable island from their previous kitchen and went back and forth on whether or not to buy a new one. In the end, using the pre-existing island helped them save money and allows them to open up the kitchen completely if they like.

Boston Contemporary Kitchen

The cabinets used for this kitchen is actually simple, but the backsplash gave off a bit of color that made this kitchen simple but classy.

Davidson Kitchen Remodel

This Charlotte’s home used a dark glass subway tile backsplash with light cabinets and granite which made it all the more beautiful.

Davis Bay

The kitchen features high-gloss white Euro cabinetry by Merit Kitchens, a stainless steel square tile backsplash from Custom Flooring and KitchenAid appliances.

Devils Thumb Remodel

This kitchen used dark colored cabinetry – with lighter colored walls and tons of windows, this space is beyond beautiful. Each factor in this kitchen complements each other.

Grand Street Kitchen Remodel

Banquettes are built-in seats tucked into a corner to save space in a kitchen or nook. They can be designed in an L shape or as parallel benches, and can be used with or without chairs.

Green Gambrel Kitchen

This kitchen island is an example of a traditional use of marble for a kitchen island countertop. It is broad to show off the beauty of this great material. It stands out in the room but doesn’t overwhelm the space. It is complimented by chic chairs and faucets. It’s gorgeous!

Los Angeles Contemporary

Those who prefer fresh foods, which are consumed more quickly than packaged, will likely require less storage space and more prep stations and countertop surfaces. If this is you, consider incorporating two full-size sinks. Place one at the wall surrounded by enough counter space on either side for chopping boards, and one at a large island to accommodate roomy workstations.

New York Contemporary Kitchen

The oversize kitchen island provides more than ample room for food preparation and also serves as a communal area for serving appetizers and drinks when entertaining. We love the kitchen cabinets with clear glass on both sides that give a view into the dining room.

Palo Alto Contemporary Kitchen

Danenberg Design made sure to have a dark island with light-colored surrounding cabinets and a dark counter top simply because it works and is super fab!

Pima Canyon Desert Modern

Opt for clean-lined hardware. “Buyers prefer drawer pulls and handles to be just as clean lined as the cabinetry,” says Gangi.

San Francisco Contemporary Kitchen

Some people love this entire color scheme because it’s simple, homey and somewhat refreshing!

Small Kitchen Remodel

Something about this that we really like is the flooring – seems like it would hold up to anything and be easy to clean. Do you agree?

Stanford in Pewter

Pairing white herringbone backsplash tiles with orb-like lighting, an antique armoire and rattan barstools shows how “transitional” can be simply pulled off in a kitchen.

Warren Drive

This remodeled kitchen by Rossington Architecture has skylights that effectively bring in natural light. Two openings can be seen in this photo – one above the stair and one above the kitchen.

Westmount

Paying close attention to traffic flow in kitchen remodels and planning another walking route if your dishwasher drops down into a pathway.

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15 Trendy Living Room Colors You Can Choose From

When choosing colors to use for your home, you usually think of using your favorite and draw around inspiration from that particular color. Now, that is not a bad thing. Most often than not, we can get color scheme inspiration with our fab color palettes and tips for choosing the right colors for your rooms, from calming combos of neutrals to color-studded palettes in green, blue, red, yellow, and more, see how hues work together to both unify rooms and create eye-catching contrast.

Learn how to match colors and use fabrics, accessories, artwork, and more as inspiration for crafting a color scheme that fits your home and your style. With expert advice and photos of rooms with gorgeous color schemes, you’ll be equipped to start crafting your own color schemes to apply to the rooms throughout your home. Now, let us check out the 15 Trendy Living Room Colors You Can Choose From, and tell us what you think!

Ballpark Condo

Using a cream-colored wall treatment for this space made the color really pop out. The area rug is from Jonathan Adler and tells us you do not like the sofa?

Canyons At Scenic Loop

The use of accessories provide the color in rooms with neutral walls. Here the blue and green come in through the cushions, throw pillows, rug and pots. Grouping accessories in threes keeps tabletops interesting yet clutter free.

Charlotte Family Room

Phillip Moose did a great job in that fab painting on the wall. The colors in this living room sure are popping out here and there.

Clear Creek Residence

Notice the Carter Kustera Portraits on the wall that kick start the colors in this living space. Printed pillow cases and colored area rugs like this makes one room truly fantastic.

Inverness Circle

Green in a whole lot of different varieties is what made this room really pretty. The whites, gold and brass accent this living room.

Midcentury Living Room

Yellow is a strong, warm color, with pleasant and optimistic emotional content. Yellow is the least problematic color, a cheerful and non-aggressive hue. This jovial color is highly-reflective, producing expansive characteristics reminiscent of sunlight.

New York Contemporary Living Room

A masculine-themed living room makes this New York space really mature and surely funky. The browns and whites that accentuate the space made it seem that this room is actually for everyone.

Riverside Drive, NYC Residence

Don’t you just love the combinations of blue and green, specifically watery blues and bright, shocking greens? They just play off each other so well. And even though they are cool colors, they feel pleasant and inviting together – perhaps because we associate them with nature, the sea and the sky.

Road To Emerald City

Every little thing in this living room complements one another. The emerald theme was evidently achieved by the designers, the Granta chair, Spore chalk white mirror, the Pablo table and Arabesque rug in emerald made it all worth it.

San Diego Traditional Family Room

The play of vibrant colors in this living room is fantastic – using oranges and greens, even lilacs complemented well with the whites, browns and blacks evident in this stunning San Diego home.

San Marino Island House

There are two major tones that are played in this living room and they surely match well. Apple green and black may be the favorite of the homeowner of this picture.

Sausalito, CA

“Fill oversized glass vases with a compilation of branches in any shape and length you wish,” Carvalho says. Urrutia adds, “This type of arrangement is elegant and understated, and will last you the entire season.”

Sky @ MidCity Lofts

A rich shade of violet paired with grey is stylish for a contemporary space like this, it made this room much more eye-catchy and classy.

Whimsical Chicago Traditional

The tag name of this room sure explains a lot. All the trendy colors you can think of sure are present in this space. The color combination is pretty, simple but surely stunning,

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