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An Intentional Home

11 March, 2015

Let’s pick up right where we left off, and maybe with a little bit of a refresher. You are a man, you dress like a man, you eat like a man, you drive like a man; but what does your living space say about your manhood?

Last December I helped you to realize that there is room for change in your home or apartment, or even office. I hope you took my advice to heart when I told you to take some time and sort through everything. To not only clean your space, but to take ownership of everything that you keep in it. Touch everything in there. Every envelope in that junk drawer, every file in the cabinet, every everything.

After doing that it should have become obvious to you that there are things that you have forgotten that you had, or didn’t know you had. With that step out of the way and having a space that is organized we can move on to the next step.

Step 2 – Style Selection

As I have written before I am a fan of the mid- century modern look, but it is more eclectic than that, so I have to say that I am a fan of eclectic modern. I love horizontal lines and the way the make a space feel larger, but I also love the look of clean lines, unobstructed by clutter (like can happen so often in mid-century spaces).

But we need to find your style. Your style may not even have a name, it could be a cross between classic victorian and contemporary, it could easily be just modern with your own twist. Most spaces don’t have any “style” to them but are still good looking spaces. If that is you, don’t worry, we just want to make sure we pick a look and stick to it.

Step 3 – Research

I wish I could talk about every available style, but

there isn’t enough space on the internet for that. There are too many genres and sub-genres to even try. So I want you to take the reigns on your space. Start following some Tumblr blogs, or even Pinterest. Grow your eye for your look. You’ll know when you see what suits you.

This is very much like the way we suit ourselves. Not all of us as men wear one black suit and tie day in and day out, but our black suit has its place. Your home or office should reflect that same personality. Feel confident that you are designing your own space.

Step 4 – The Rules of Design

You have a style, you have seen some looks that you like, now to start. The rules for design are pretty simple, and there are ten of them:

These posters are some of the best I have seen that help describe each principle visually. Apply these to your space and you will see that your specific style will come together through color, material, and texture selection. They were created by Turkish designer Efil Turk

1. Balance

2. Hierarchy

3. Pattern

4. Rhythm

5. Space

6. Proportion

7. Emphasis

8. Movement

9. Contrast

10. Unity

That is all I have for you this post friends. Go and do.

Don’t forget to check out my website as well: www.designmcbride.com and keep an eye out for my upcoming posts on the 10 principles of design.

A Masculine Home

11 December, 2014

Home design is an area I’ve already started to touch on. However, I’m not an expert in this field, and it makes more sense to bring on someone who is.

Before letting Justin take the reins, I want to tee this up by saying all the reasons a man should care about his clothing apply to his home. It is his castle and should be a place that reflects his personality, ambitions, convictions, and comforts. The same can be argued for his office, but is especially crucial in the home. Far too many men are content with maintaining the appearance of their college dorm, and many others just let their wives take over. There is no right way for a man’s home to appear. Some may be more Spartan in nature, others (like Justin in this post) embrace mid-century aesthetics, and more may want something a bit more full. The point is that a man’s home should be as intentional as the rest of his life.

So with that, I’ll let Justin take it from here.

Alright, it’s almost twenty fifteen and you have spent a good amount of twenty fourteen focusing on your body, your grooming, and of course your style; but what about the space that surrounds you?

That is where I come in, I have worked in architecture and design for over half of my short life and own my own architectural design and consultation company. It is my calling and I cannot wait to throw in my two bits on some best practices that will help you find the perfect style for your space. To start I would like to reference the great architect Mies van Der Rohe in saying, “less is more”. I live by this – as should many designers.

As I started writing this post I debated talking about the history of architectural design, but I think starting in Egypt, Greece, and Rome is a little extreme when it comes to the placement of your television. So rather I think we should start at the turn of the technological century, or as we call it in the design world: Mid-Century Modern.

Don’t get me wrong, over the next year we will reference the greats that came before MCM. Greats like: Le Corbusier, Frank Lloyd Wright, and Louis Sullivan, we may even talk about Michelangelo, and Thomas Jefferson. However, my primary sources for this exercise will be our Mid-Century heroes like: Ray and Charles Eames, Dieter Rams, Philip Johnson (before he went post-modern), Louis Kahn, and photographer Julius Shulman.

Now I know that is a little name heavy; I did that on purpose so you would feel that there is something to be learned from these design posts. I want you all to recognize that when it comes to your space knowing these names is as important as knowing names like: Tom Ford, Enzo Ferrari, and Giorgio Armani. They are names of designers that have all influenced the way we should design. For more in-depth information on these names follow my personal blog where I will be writing regularly about these architects, designers, and photographers as well as discussing how they should influence our modern design.

With that plug aside I’d like to start by addressing the globe in the room. Many men, when asked about their dream masculine space, will start describing an Elizabethan era study. They will talk about the large oak desk, the walls lined with leather bound books, the large uncomfortable leather chairs, the bear rug, and the antique globe. Actually using this look is like telling your tailor that you would like jerkins and a cloak. It is beyond out-dated and does not fit your home. That is, of course, unless you are one of our European readers and you actually own a castle.

It is to those who do not own a castle that I’d like to address my posts; I’d like to help you know some of the ups and downs of design. It’s serious business and too many men are taking it lightly, or relying on Hollywood, Pinterest, or the Joneses for their frame of reference. Before you begin working on your space it will serve you best if you forget all that you may already know about architectural design and start with some of the basic principles.

Where do you start if you have to forget all you know? Start with Deiter Rams. Rams is a legend in the design community, in my eyes he has been as influential on today’s good design as Frank Lloyd Wright was on mid-century work. Rams originally studied to be an architect in the late forties at the Wiesbaden School of Art in Frankfurt Germany. After deciding not to be an architect he ended up working as an industrial designer for Braun and changed the way the digital world works, or better said: looks.

Rams, has always been one of my idols, and he has been an idol to most of the design community. I strongly urge you all to research more about him, and even look up his clip in the documentary Objectified by Gary Hustwit. Should you find the right clip, Rams will talk about the Ten Principles of Good Design, they are as follows:

1. Good design is innovative.
2. Good design makes a product useful.
3. Good design is aesthetic design.
4. Good design makes a product understandable. 5. Good design is unobtrusive.
6. Good design is honest.
7. Good design is long-lasting.
8. Good design is thorough down to the last detail. 9. Good design is environmentally friendly.
10. Good design is as little design as possible.

After reading through the Ten Principles of Good Design you should have your wheels turning. If not, read through them again, think about your space, the furniture in the space, the colors, the textures, the finishes. All of those should be details that you focus on when designing your space. Remember the quote from earlier, “less is more.”

Working on a personal space that is in our time should not be difficult. It should be simple to find a focal point, it should be obvious. Don’t let finding the perfect piece of furniture fool you. Be deliberate in your decisions. When I focus on a project I like to work through each square inch of a space. Examine everything from top to bottom. Find a functional use for everything in the room. If you will not use an object then you do not need that object.

It is famously said in the design world that form follows function. Do not take this lightly – often we get so caught up in the design of our space that we don’t have a place to put our pencil. Or we have to run a cable across the room just to power our iMac. By thinking through these details and researching solutions you will find your space to be clean, orderly, and well designed by doing as little design as possible.

I’d like to end by saying that good design is a process, it does not happen overnight. You will go through many different iterations before you find exactly which one works best for your needs. Prototyping is absolutely normal to the design process, do not let this discourage you. Start by working out the function of your space. In my next post I will discuss form and arrangement and after applying those principles your space will begin to transform the most.

Start today by sorting through your space and feel no shame in throwing away anything you have not used in the last 6 months. Make sure to touch everything: every piece of paper, every book, every envelope – EVERYTHING. By doing this you will know exactly what you are throwing away and what you are keeping. Once you have your “keep pile”, sort through it again, and if it helps do it again. Once sorted begin organizing by function. Apply a verb to each article – this will help you assign it a function.

Spend some time doing this. Work through it, refine what you have kept over the next couple months, and next time I post we will discuss exactly what to do now that you have your space organized by function.

Home Staples: The Sofa

13 February, 2014

This is an idea I’ve been kicking around for a little while. However, don’t let the name fool you, this isn’t intended to be as intense and drawn out as my Staples series. Rather, it will be a breakdown of some of the essential items in a man’s home that deserve focus.

The purpose of designing your living quarters should be three-fold. First, it should be functional. It doesn’t matter how great something looks, smells, or seems if it doesn’t accomplish its primary goal. Second, it should be a place that makes the man living there comfortable. For some men, this means an extreme minimalism about which they don’t need to concern themselves. For others, it means a well-curated home that shows off mementos and reminders of experiences, travels, events, and hobbies. Third, it should be a place in which other people want to be. Whether you’re like me and have a wife and children who also live with you, or you’re a free-roaming bachelor who lives on his own, we all have other people in our living space. We want it to be something that makes them comfortable and want to be around us more. Just like with clothing, the way our homes look can say a lot about us.

One of the central points in a man’s home is the living room, and one of the central points of the living room is the sofa. Whether he lives in a studio apartment or a luxury villa in Italy, any and every man should have a sofa. It’s a place to sit upright and socialize, get work done (I’m on mine as I type this right now), relax after a long day of work, or even crash for a quick nap.

And yes, a sofa is better than a row of recliners or other alternatives. Odd chairs look great in a living room, but the common space offered by a sofa makes people more conversational and can also make it easier to participate in other shared activities.

So what does a masculine sofa look like? It’s obvious that things like excess frilling, feminine patterns, and beer-stained cushions are all to be avoided. Here’s an idea of what to shoot for.

Modern

Mid Century

Vintage

Rustic

Preppy

Industrial

You’ll notice that there are good representations of all three archetypes of style. The mid century and modern are more Rakish, the industrial and rustic are more Rugged, and the preppy and vintage are more Refined.

After looking through a few hundred pictures, I started notice some trends in the sofas that looked inherently masculine:

Most had arms that were as high as the back. This gives them an overall lower stance, making them appear broader and more aggressive.
Darker or bolder colors were used. This may have been in the sofa itself or with the throw blankets and/or pillows. A little unapologetic contrast is a good way to show a man lives in the home.
Most were made from materials that are traditionally associated with masculinity. Leather, fur, brass, canvas, dark wood, and even denim can work well on a sofa.
While many had a few accent items thrown on, none went overboard. A few pillows and a blanket shows intentionality. Going all Jan Levinson makes anyone look crazy.

Finding the right sofa can be an exercise in patience. Buying something brand new can be prohibitively expensive. Even popular vintage pieces like mid-century leathers and chesterfields can cost an arm and a leg. Using consignment shops, craigslist, antique stores, and keeping an eye on sales at regular furniture shops will make it easier to find the right piece at the right price.

Utah Garage Rebuild

12 September, 2013

A few months ago I had the pleasure of meeting Spencer Steed through my day job. He ordered a suit for his upcoming wedding and we got along pretty well – especially because he is an avid collector and rebuilder of vintage motorcycles.

To my surprise, I saw a Utah house tour of a great garage conversion a few weeks later and, only after clicking through it all, realized it was the Spencer I knew. Check out what he and his fiance have done to their garage. The heating must be a pain, but it’s very apparent that Spencer is a man whose presence is felt in his castle.

You may not like everything they’ve done, but there are certainly some cool ideas from which to pull inspiration.

Rustic Detroit Loft

22 August, 2013

I’ve been finding a lot of great-looking apartments and homes lately, so I’ll continue to feature them as I can.

This is the home of the founder of the ever-hilarious Texts From Last Night. It’s a loft in downtown Detroit and, while there are certainly some very hipster elements, the overall look and feel that’s a great downtown mix between Rugged and Rakish.

While nothing really matches, everything still compliments the other elements. The wood, metal, leather, and fur all contrasts really well against the bright colors, loud prints, and plant life.

The key to pulling of a place like this (or any other for that matter) is to build off of the unalterable or existingly unique elements. If you want to see the rest of the place and learn more about where the two brothers sourced their stuff, check out the full article here.

Category: Home