Sunday, July 31

New Home Design features Granny Flat!

Simply Elegant Home Designs is now offering a new house plan featuring an above garage "granny flat" apartment - The "Deephaven Eclectic Cottage".

Earlier this year one of my designs was featured in a new book called "In Laws, Outlaws and Granny Flats" (Taunton Press, by Michael Litchfield).  The book features ways that folks can add value to their homes by adding second dwelling units.  This seems so relevant to me given our current economic climate.  Therefore I decided to develop our first house plan that features a second dwelling unit.  The result is our "Deephaven Eclectic Cottage" - illustrated below.

Form is dominated by crossing gables punctuated with shed dormers.  Careful attention was paid to the scale, proportions and patterns developed by all of  the various building elements.


The apartment above is accessed by it's own entry at the back of the garage.  If desired the garage can also be segmented to provide a private parking zone for the apartment.  The main floor features gracious open living spaces and a wrap around front porch.  The screen porch is placed at the outside corner thus minimizing its impact on natural light and views from the spaces within.
Upper Level Floor Plan.  The apartment (above the garage) includes it's own kitchen, living, bathroom, eating areas and bedroom.  The apartment can also be accessed from the second floor of the main house.
"Black and White" color study - front elevation.  This demonstrates the simple yet sophisticated character of this home.
Rear Elevation
Right Side Elevation
All in all I think this is a really exciting new house plan offering.  More information on this home can be obtained at the following:  "Deephaven Eclectic Cottage".

Modern Bedroom Design

Modern Bedroom Design
Modern Bedroom Design

Friday, July 29

Home Interior As

home interior as
home interior as

NAHB Predicts New Homes in 2015

We may not know how many new homes will be built in 2015, but we do know what they will look like.  The National Home Builders Association’s Economics and Housing Policy recently asked 3,019 builders, designers, architects, manufacturers and marketing specialists in various locations to describe the  likely characteristics of the average, new single-family detached home in 2015.

The findings have some surprising, and not-so-surprising, results:
  • The average new single-family home will be smaller, between 2000 square feet and 2,399 square feet
  • Needs will outweigh wants in terms of size and features
  • Universal design will be a key architectural design consideration for new homes
  • Energy efficiency is one of the top goals for newly constructed homes, and new homes will have more green features, like low-E windows, engineered wood products, and make efficient use of water
  • Technology will be a top priority in a home built in 2015
  • Landscaping and outdoor living space will receive more attention as homeowners will utilize their outdoor space more
  • 2-car garages remain high on the list


Specific room priorities:
  • The formal living room will either be combined with another room in the house, like the music room or library, or completely disappear
  • Kitchens will feature a double sink, recessed lighting, and table space or a breakfast bar for eating
  • First-floor master bedrooms with walk-in closets will be a priority


Least-likely features of the 2015 home?
  •     Two master bedroom suites
  •     Sunrooms
  •     Hobby rooms
  •     Formal living rooms
 Read the rest of the survey  

Whether you’re building or remodeling a home in 2011, 2015, or anytime in between, Bonin Architects has various architectural services to help you design, build, or remodel a home that fits your priorities.   We’re located on Main Street in New London, NH.  Call or stop by to set up a free consultation!

Thursday, July 28

Ideas About Home Decorating

Ideas about home decorating
Ideas about home decorating

Wednesday, July 27

Modern Bedroom Interior Design

Modern Bedroom Interior Design
Modern Bedroom Interior Design

Tuesday, July 26

Unique Coffee Table Inspired by The Bubbles Under Water


Furniture design, we will try to present to you coffee lovers. Maybe when you want to enjoy a cup of coffee in the morning or evening, these tables can be used as a serving dish cup of coffee. This unique design, inspired by bubbles in the water, where foot buffer in the form of joint balls / bubbles are bound to each other. The color of the balls is a reflection of the color of coffee beans made from mahogany, and there is a round glass top. This coffee table is perfect for the complement your home interior that has the soul of art




Energetic Dream Home on The Coast

For those of you who want a dream home with an energetic and bright shades, here we will show a design house that designed a Tiburon Bay arisitek Armsden Butler. The house lies the coastal area, presenting a beautiful sea view and clearly visible from inside the room of the house. Expanse of sea is visible from the kitchen, lounge, porch, or bedroom. Why is called design-energy home? yep,,, because in every corner of the room of the house was touched by the rays of sunlight, making every corner of the room to be bright even without the use of lighting during the day. The use of electricity and hot water, using solar power here, so it can be called an eco-friendly home design. Although this house is a recycling process or the process of continuation of existing buildings, but between the interior and exterior design is very compact and harmonious without removing all pre-existing buildings such as the foundation of the house, and retaining walls. Part of the exterior design, there is a bridge that serves as a liaison between the garden and the house, besides as a problem solver steep place.
























kitchen details & info




Here is all the info on the kitchen renovation that I did for the beach cottage with the help of John (the shop carpenter).  The new kitchen was done on a very tight budget and the total cost came in under $7000.  I designed the kitchen cabinets, shelving and concrete counter tops and we made them in our workshop.  The upper cabinets were removed and we added a step back cupboard pantry for extra storage.   The wide plank pine flooring was purchased at Wightman lumber for a bargain price and we installed, stained and did the finish work on them. The only appliances that were purchased new were the refrigerator, dishwasher and microwave.  We also got a new farmhouse sink and faucet.  John and I installed the wallpaper on the ceiling and we did all the painting ourselves.



I had John cut a $32 pine table leg in half to use as a decorative detail on the sink base cabinet





Here is a list of the paint colors which are all from Benjamin Moore:


ceiling and trim - White 02 in high gloss
the cabinets  - Paper Mache in Aura satin finish
walls - Sea Pearl in flat
stepback cabinet - White Dove in semi-gloss


the floor stain is Early American by Minwax













the accessories on the shelves all belong to the home owner

the anchor door knocker was  original to the cottage when it was built in the 50's by the owners father.  I found it stored in the back of one of the cabinets.  I also found the pretty aqua mixing bowl and the other cool accessories were around the house.






when the homeowner first saw the anchor she started to cry, which made me realize that I made the right choice by using it.
( It is important to me to use the homeowners personal items in the design work that I do)  After all - I am not the one that is living in the space.






the simple white subway tile was trimmed in dock line that was adhered to the wall with liquid nails.  I also added the dock line as a decorative edge to the new $35 vent hood over the stove.  The bead board "box" that is incorporated into the vent hood is just inexpensive paneling that is purely decorative.









the sink was purchased on Ebay from


it was $300 and shipped for FREE


The $80 faucet is from overstock.com  it is no longer available, but you can find ones that are similar  - look here








the dishwasher was purchased at Best Buy for under $300

the rug is sisal and rubber backed - it was found at my local Ace Hardware for $26























The wall paper on the ceiling was purchased here

at Wallpapers Plus and cost under $70 for the entire ceiling.  I cannot tell you how many people thought the ceiling was tin.










the light fixture is by Barn Light Electric

The fixture is a semi-flush mount called Mayfield






the little bench is only temporary  - the homeowner is getting a 3 foot farmhouse table made with old barn wood that is going to fit under the window ledge.  It will have a counter stool that matches. 



By painting the ceiling with high gloss white it reflects the light within the small space to make it appear larger




the refrigerator is a special size and is by a brand called Summit - it is counter depth (24") the owner lives alone and did not need much in terms of food storage. The old was way too big.  It actually stuck out into the doorway and was over the window a few inches.  It was purchased here  for $495 and the delivery was super fast and FREE








what a difference this size fridge makes


my Mom sewed the sheer simple white valances on the window for $10 each (thanks Mom)




the floor is stained in Early American by Minwax and has three coats of satin poly finish.  We tried something that we have never used before by a company called Bona (highly recommended to us) and we recommend it as well  - you can see it here







this is the concrete counter top with the crushed oyster shell finish - John made this in the workshop








the crystal pulls are from our local Restoration Hardware Outlet store - I found them on sale for $3.75 each.  There are similar ones available the The Home Depot for under $5 each










the stove is the original one that was in the kitchen previously - we stuck with white appliances for two reasons.  To keep the cost down number one and because when you are designing in a small space (about 114 sq ft)  It will make the room look larger to stay within the same color family.


I just wanted to let you guys in on a little inside info regarding this kitchen.  The budget as I mentioned was under $7000.  When John and I first gutted the kitchen we realized that the floor was a full two inches higher on the left side (literately a ball would roll right down to the right hand corner)  Doing a major renovation to get the foundation and flooring level was not an option.  John made every single cabinet (front legs and back)  different heights to make them sit completely level.  John is a retired math teacher - which I am sure helped because I don't know how he did it.  I just wanted to let John know how much I appreciate working with him.  I had so much fun doing this kitchen.  Now off to the next job.