Updated: February 25, 2011
Could you live in a house made of glass? I admit that living in a house where almost all the exterior walls are windows isn't everyone's cup of tea. There are many advantages, like lots of light, the feel of a bigger space and, of course, spectacular views. On the down side, privacy becomes a major issue.
Location is also something to take into account. A house like this is begging to be close to nature, so that every window you look out through is an amazing image of living art. Unfortunately, most of us can't afford several acres of land around us, but careful and savvy landscaping can solve this and the privacy problem in one go. Let's move in for a closer look.
Gallery
This house consists of an open kitchen-dining-living area, a spacious master suite, a second bedroom, a small office, and a second bathroom. It is 150 m2, so it is rather spacious, but still very cozy and inviting.
As promised, the exterior wall are mostly windows. Next to the few walls available I placed floor-to-ceiling storage units, so there is plenty of room to hide away all your clutter.
The backdrop I chose for this design is a snow covered clearing amidst towering fir trees. Here you can glimpse some of the rooms from the outside. It's not exactly Photoshop science, but you get the idea.
I tried to make the rooms feel warm against the winterly landscape, as can be seen in the sleek yet lively home office or the elegant and comfy living room.
The master bedroom has a very relaxed color scheme of lilac and white. This room also doubles as a TV room, but it can be hidden when not in use. This room can also serves as a reading room, so you can wind down with a nice book while enjoying the view.
The master bathroom is very simple, with his and hers vanity and a big shower. Again, the floor-to-ceiling window makes an appearance, so this bathroom is not for the overly shy.
Video walkthroughs
We have a couple of new one here! Finally, here's a pair of videos of the main living area of the house. The single shot was created using the Record Walkthrough feature of the Chief Architect Better Homes Interior Designer program.
Then, the video was post-processed in VirtualDub to remove odd and jerky frames, resized, resampled, and then slowed down with AviSynth before splitting. There's some smearing of the video at the edges, but this is because of the slow-motion smoothing. But that's geeky multimedia stuff for you. Mein hubby will take care of that in separate tutorials.
A Youtube link for those of you fellas who do not like embedded stuff.
And here's the second video link.
Conclusion
To sum it up, this house is a transparent jewelbox that should be placed on display in a landscape to match. It is snug and homey, but still modern and clean. It is perfect for entertaining and for relaxing. And if you still have a privacy issue, simply install some curtains.
Have fun!