little cabins

I have been thinking about little cabins recently. Tiny little spaces to retreat to for one reason or another. A vacation...a hut on your property only you know about; one where your taste alone is rendered.

At school we played with how much space you need to live; not only for the functions, but the psychological needs as well. I have been in a few very large homes, and am always amazed at the spaces people use to watch TV, and cozy up with loved ones. You know the space, one where you feel wrapped in comfort, where the scale and proportion makes you feel just right.

The creative director of Pottery Barn once featured a room in her house she called the five to seven room on House Beautiful TV a few years back...it was a large king bed tucked tightly into a small little sun room; it was filled with down pillows. She called it the five to seven room because those were the hours her young family used the space. There was a TV on the wall directly accross from this little nest of down goodness.

The little red caboose near my Aunt Glenna's in Cape Breton...taken last summer on my first visit back in 20 years!

My Aunt Glenna's cabin in Cape Breton

I have always loved small spaces. When I was a kid, my Aunt Glenna had a cabin at Bra'Dor lakes in the middle of Cape Breton, and there was a red caboose nearby; one afternoon her neighbour gave us a tour of it. I think that perfectly decorated little summer home is one of the reasons I am an Interior Designer today.

A friend of mine from school and I have dreamed of designing little cabins on a beautiful piece of land on the west coast of Vancouver Island, so I am always doing little sketches, trying to utilize just enough space, then setting them in a forest, along a river, by the ocean or on pilings along the tide line. My thought is that these small spaces are actually desirable to others as well.

Above: sketch by Michelle Morelan, BID

Above: a vacation home on Cortez Island, BC - Coastal Living

You can rent this home...

These next few adorable cabins are from the back of Inspired House; a writers space, a lounging get-away space and a bakers escape! I like the single use of these cabins... an imagined getaway in the woods...like you are up to something oh so secret. I bet there are no phone lines!

The books pictured have some great ideas for small cabins...check them out!

shack campsite

rendering by Michelle Morelan

Concept: campsite/luxury shack resort

beautiful tables

I saw pieces by Live Edge Design, a company out of Duncan on the Island, at the Interior Design Show last year. The headboard with nightstands was on display, and looked great! Each piece is unique and special. They have respect for the material, and salvage trees brought down by storms and left behind by logging companies.

Long Beach Lodge, the Wick, Clayoquot Wilderness Lodge and Tigh-Na-Mara Resort all use their pieces.

Some of their pieces give you the choice of character maple or uniform maple. Both are amazing, and offer options for the Designer.

There is something warm and primal about these tables, which I would own in a moment. I have to say, the combination of the chairs and table together are a bit much for me (in most situations), so marrying them with say a mid century modern chair in a plastic...maybe the Panton in white...that's exciting.

With design, it's about giving the intended amount of tension, juxtaposition, contrast and mixing form, colour and all the other design principles in harmony. The intended amount of each of these, and following through with their balance as you make decisions in the "real world" is what gives the Interior Designer real value in a project. That's why I went to school for 4 very long years!

Live Edge Design is amazing to deal with...see their stuff here!

Below is the common area of Long Beach Lodge, and the Wick on the Beach sitting area.

Favorite Space

I'll share something with you...this is my favorite home of all time. I don't even know what the rest of it looks like, but it reminds me of Ucluelet, with the fog, pavers and wood. It's an ad for Sotheby's

The way the glazing is so seemless, seperating the interior and exterior, but making you feel like you are part of nature. The stone is carried inside to out, and the wood overhang lets you play with lamps to create that perfect glow in west coast fog. All I can say is YUM.

My Favorite Chair

Hans J. Wegner

It was love at first sight...when I first saw Wegner's Three Legged Chair at Alda Pereira's office during a work tutorial. Alda was my mentor for our final year mentorship program at Kwantlen, and her office and material boards were inspiring. It's where I first saw Cole and Son's "Woods" wallpaper, FLOR carpet tiles, 3Form products, Inform and the Wegner designs.

That lead me to the Wishbone chair by Wegner; it is simple yet complicated. Wegner's inspiration was classical portaits of Danish merchanants sitting on Ming Chairs, adding "... it was rather a continuous process of purification, and for me of simplification, to cut down to the simplest possible elements..." I like this black version.

We toured the home of Nancy and Neils Bensen as a site tutorial trip at school (someone at school worked in the Inform showroom), and was not surprised to see that they had perfectly used them around a simple very modern table. The lines of the chair were the interest, and the white kitchen confirmed that furniture design was thier life. The furniture popped against the simple lines of the modern house, which was inspired by Eames Case House #6. Bensen has a great sofa...the Canyon...check out thier website.

Brother Professional Series MFC-6490CW Inkjet All-in-One

I liked this all in one printer/scanner/fax at Staples...it handles 11 x 17 documents and it's fast...28 colour pages a minute...finally...someone is thinking! And...it's only around 350 bucks!


Great for CAD dwgs and presentations. Renderings always look best when reduced in size...now I can start with a tabloid sz. dwg. and shrink it down to make it crisp. Also, if I can print a doc. that sz., I can use 1/4" scale for most spaces. Less trips to Kinkos!

Features:
Print, scan, copy up to 11" x 17" document
Perfect for creating impressive everyday business documents such as reports, presentations, spreadsheets, proposals and more
Up to 35 ppm black
Up to 28 ppm colour
Up to 6000 x 1200 dpi high quality resolutions
Widescreen 3.3" colour LCD display
400-sheet input capacity
High speed 2.0 USB, ethernet, wireless (802.11b/g), Pictbridge and USB flash memory standard interfaces
64MB memory
5000 page monthly duty cycle
B/W and colour faxing capabilities
100 locations fax auto-dial
23 cpm black
20 cpm colour
1200 x 2400 dpi optical scan resolution
High yield cartridges are included
21.3"(W) x 19.2"(D) x 12.7"(H)
Weight: 34.4 lbs