Emmanuel Fonte | Music | Art | Leadership
If music be the food of love, play on. Emmanuel Fonte website is about music, art, real estate, architecture, design and decor. Occasionally, I talk about my other passion, hockey.
This conversion in the Irish village of Broughshane started out with something that was already truly an object of beauty: a crumbling old stone barn. With some clever manipulation, they turned the old barn into a light-filled, contemporary living space.
Read more: http://dornob.com/something-old-something-new-stone-barn-gets-a-new-heart/#ixzz35l41S7ic
If choosing a door paint isn’t an open-and-shut case for you, here’s helpDon’t let your home blend into the background — even if you’re not in the market for changing your exterior color scheme, a new coat of paint on your front door could be just the makeover your home needs.
Use our color guides to each color to learn which hue, from unexpected purple to bright yellow to elegant black, will work well on your exterior door.
Starting as a compact cubic room-within-a-room, this unique modular furniture system opens up in a variety of ways to transform the space from a living room to an office to a bedroom for one or two. Three mobile modules, each with a bench of cushions and open ‘walls,’ can be hooked together or separated and rolled around a given space. 
The Cube was created by Russian architecture firm Ruetemple to make a small space more functional for a brother and sister. Each of the three sections has built-in storage beneath the benches and an overhang that creates a roof when they’re pushed together.
Read more: http://dornob.com/rolling-modular-room-design-transforms-interior-spaces/#ixzz35DV01p6E
Nixing ready made for readily imaginative, these homeowners fashioned kitchen islands after their own heartsFor the My Houzz series, we visit and photograph creative, personality-filled homes and the people who live there. Sometimes working with professionals but most of the time going strictly the DIY route, these residents take clever and unexpected approaches to home design.
The heart of many of these homes is the kitchen, of course. And the heart of the kitchen is often the island. Whether using reclaimed materials from their own construction sites, refashioning vintage furniture or discovering clever Ikea hacks, the My Houzz homeowners we’ve featured have built their islands to suit very individual lifestyles and tastes. Here are 20 great examples.
There is a certain type of mental connection that we tend to make when we hear the word “houseboat.” Some think of the lovely but necessarily narrow canal boats you find in the UK; others think of the rough-but-romantic behemoths of the west coast of the US. The ParkArk in Utrecht, Netherlands – from Rotterdam-based BYTR Architects – is an entirely different species of floating homes. 
Make fresh-air meals as comfortable and genteel as those indoors — and maybe even a bit magicalAs the days get longer, the temperatures gets warmer and the light gets brighter, our daily routines undergo a radical paradigm shift. Whereas just a month or two ago, we were huddled indoors eating hearty stews, roasted meat and baked potatoes, we’re now ready to spend time outside in shorts and T-shirts, consuming lighter fare. One of the great joys of the summer is dining al fresco, enjoying the cool breezes, the late-evening light, the riot of garden color and the smells and sensations of warm weather.
More relaxed, more spontaneous, more colorful, al fresco dining is a different kind of experience. Here are some ideas that will inspire your shift to the outdoors.
Include little ones in the fun, keep messes to a minimum and get organized with these kitchen tips from a momThe kitchen is so often the center of home activity, and it’s even more so when there are kids around. But setting up a space that can handle everything from homework and play dough to family dinner takes a little thinking. Here are 12 ideas for designing and organizing your kitchen to make it the bustling but not chaotic (at least most of the time) hub of family life you want it to be.
This ethereal home in La Jolla, California is a series of contradictory and opposing elements that come together to create a harmonious and zen-like retreat. It is made of cast-in-place concrete and contains vast floor-to-ceiling windows that open the home up to the world around it.
The Cresta from Jonathan Segal Architects balances the heaviness of concrete, the airiness of glass and open space, and the fluid serenity of water.
Operable glass on the ground floor creates an outdoor room. Given the relatively small size of the interior part of the room, this feature adds a significant amount of living space.
The home is surrounded on two sides by a reflecting/swimming pool which makes the home appear to float on the water. The pool also provides the home with passive cooling to lower energy consumption.
Even the home’s concrete exterior serves a second purpose: its thermal mass gives the homeowners another way to keep their energy costs low. Additionally, a 6.5kw soar array on the roof supplies almost all of the energy the home needs, making this home not only beautiful but beautifully eco-friendly as well.
Tucked into upper levels, these inspiring outdoor spaces provide more privacy and relaxation above the frayDuring the lazy days of summer, just give me a deck, a lounge chair, a cool drink and an umbrella, and I’m good to go.
Lately, though, I’ve been considering upgrading my deck desires. Maybe it’s time to move up, to have an outdoor space above the ground floor where it’s quieter, more private and more restful. What about a perch off the bedroom or a rooftop aerie with a view?
These pictures inspired me. See if you’re ready to make the move, too.
