Music...

or colors...

The Pyramid House:

 Designed by Juan Carlos Ramos

“The Pyramid House features glass walls that offer exceptional views of the surrounding landscape and allow natural light to penetrate its deepest corners. The openings vary from narrow slits to large glass planes and alternate in a way that gives the building a dynamic appearance that contrasts the static look of the geometry. Distributed across several levels of the pyramidal volume are two bedrooms, a library, kitchen, bathrooms, garage and even a recording studio. A cantilevered balcony is situated near the top of the building between the bathroom and library.”

“…The architect designed a private house that demonstrates simple geometric shapes can be deployed in residential architecture. The house brings examples such as BIG’s cascading towers and steep roofs into the realm of single-family housing and promises to open up a whole new chapter in designing private homes.”
(by Lidija Grozdanic)

Juan Carlos Ramos Bio.:
I’m architect from Michoacan, Mexico. I’ve been working with architectural visualization for the last 10 years. I have colaborated in national and international projects for studios such as Neoscape and Fernando Romero Enterprise

Happy year to life’s audience…what is your inspiration?

LIGHT AND TEMPERATURES

All too often does the everyday person forget the importance of “lighting” and it’s variations and how directly these degrees can affect our well being, moods and body temperatures.

What is also important to remember is that the light that we are surrounded by on a day to day basis in our interior spaces also works in sync with the seasons and temperatures of our surroundings.

Here is a little chart to scientifically display different forms of lighting and their relative temperatures.

Temperature
Source
1,700 K - Match flame, low pressure sodium lamps (LPS/SOX)
1,850 K - Candle flame, sunseT/sunrise
2,700–3,300 K - Incandescent lamps
3,000 K - Soft (or Warm) White compact fluorescent lamps
3,200 K - Studio lamps, photofloods, etc.
3,350 K - Studio "CP" light
4,100–4,150 K - Moonlight[2]
5,000 K - Horizon daylight
5,000 K - Tubular fluorescent lamps or
cool white/daylight compact fluorescent lamps (CFL)
5,500–6,000 K - Vertical daylight, electronic flash
6,200 K - Xenon short-arc lamp[3]
6,500 K - Daylight, overcast
6,500–10,500 K - LCD or CRT screen
15,000–27,000 K - Clear blue poleward sky
These temperatures are merely characteristic;
considerable variation may be present.


lighting
“For lighting building interiors, it is often important to take into account the color temperature of illumination. For example, a warmer (i.e., lower color temperature) light is often used in public areas to promote relaxation, while a cooler (higher color temperature) light is used to enhance concentration in offices. “

So, now that the snow has fallen, the colors have cooled down, it’s time for us to boost up the warmth within our interior spaces.

Bring in the REDS(fire), bring in the browns(earth) and add in some greens(life) and light up a candle to welcome warmth for the next few months of the quiet indoor season.

 Happy winter season to all and welcome Christmas and its colors of life.

Happy winter 2014

Red is not just for Christmas! Red is the color of warmth, of fire, of yang. It is the antidote for the cold yin nights of winter. Warm your nights with just the right chi by practicing these feng shui tips for winter colors, light, warmth, safety and sharing.

Winter Colors and Light

Red
Replace some of your summer blues with reds and oranges. Think pillows, quilts and place settings. You will feel warmer and less depressed. A cozy red or burgundy throw on the chair or on the bed will make you feel wonderful, and cut down on the need to turn up the heat.

Orange
Cook orange. Pumpkins and squash are plentiful and give you the good carbohydrates and nutrients that you need for winter.

Light up the Night
Get at least one full spectrum light for a reading area. The complete spectrum will relieve seasonal affective disorder and help your eyes. Plants love full spectrum light so you can put some greenery nearby, and create a small winter garden that will cheer you up and help provide oxygen for your rooms.

Long evenings mean it is time to replace light bulbs. Think energy conserving compact fluorescents, especially for outside lights and accent areas. Your pocket book and your planet will thank you. There are even energy conserving Christmas lights that are now standard in Canada. Solar path lights won’t go all night at this time of year, but they probably are on sale and will light your way home in the evening with no strain on the environment. Additionally, in February, as the days lengthen, they will glitter most of the night, even in the snow, and will make you smile for years to come.

Warm up your Windows 
Check to make sure all windows shut well. If you have single paned glass which lets the cold wind into the house, find some cheerful thick fabric, valances or drapes, which can cut your heating costs all winter and is a terrific way to change the feel of a room. The Victorians covered their windows for a reason; their homes were drafty! When you feel an uncovered window on a cold night, it’s cold! So think warm and add fabric.

Remove or cover your air conditioners. If removal is difficult get some wonderful natural fabric from your local fabric store and create a cover. Tip: Double-sided Velcro is amazing for the sewing challenged!

Watch For Fire
It is the time to have your boiler and fireplace checked and cleaned. Too many house fires or clogged boilers are caused by the lack of taking this step. All combustible materials create residue which in time builds up, so be safe, be warm and be pro-active. This expense could save you thousands.

Pay Attention to Your Floor, Your Grounding 
Remove any dangerously slippery bath mat. The backing does disintegrate, and think about a cozy rug for your bedroom or sitting area. Please think about natural materials so you are not creating a toxic environment. Artificial rugs off-gas and pollute a closed environment; you could expose yourself and your family to illnesses. Look for Tibetan or other tribal rugs made from natural fiber and plant dyes.

 (From Divine Design by Betsy Stang, certified Feng Shui consultant)

The best part of this time of the year is that we get the chance to experience the outdoors- nature at it’s best- the luscious green trees, the beautiful myriad of blossomed flowers and perfect blue skies where the sun lights up everything in its path.

Some have the fortune of being able to go driving for hours into the countryside, but others may not have that luxury of traveling time.

IDEA:
How beautiful is it to be able to get back home after a long day’s work and enjoy a nice cold one under the shade of a beautiful willow tree with the breeze flowing through the trees and the soft trickles of water from your fountain…all in the vicinity of your own backyard.

It takes two main things to create ‘success’…a great idea and a great mind(visionary) to make that come true.

SOLUTION:
Our dear friends at ORIOLE LANDSCAPING do exactly that.
Give them a piece of land and they will give you peace of mind and a piece of Eden.
Check out what they can do for you http://oriolelandscaping.com/
…as they have done for countless many others.

Your dream home can be a door step away.

Happy landscaping:).

As our urban population increases, we find our 'urban culture' turning into somewhat of a compact one.
Trying to fit more than 700 people in a vertical community of an area consuming only of around 20,000 sq. ft can be quite challenging. 
'Condo life' is the life where everything is possible-and if not the reality of it then the dream is always good too.
REQUEST:
"i would like a beautifully furnished condo with a full kitchen and  enough counter space to cook on and a place to have my breakfast with my significant other."
Now when you purchase your condo of more than $400,000 that's not much to ask for.
Alas, the majority of the time, the title insurance will have to suffice when it comes to comfort of knowing that you have equity-interior design requests are not as important.

HOWEVER...Richelieu has made it possible to make those simple dreams possible.
They have created the compact kitchen system where by you have your island counter top on a track system that allows you to have a bar height surface for breakfast and when you are entertaining, slide the counter top over the sink and cook top, creating a buffet area for serving-clean, easy and simple.

They also have another system -the pull out breakfast table- that allows seating for 2-3 people when required and slides back into the island when not in use-clean, easy and simple.

Practical furniture for modern day urban living.

Happy summer everyone.
It is time to enjoy your interior comforts outside.
The comfort of having your lounge seating and luscious feather and Dacron filled cushions outside whilst breathing the salted fresh air of the ocean is one of those luxuries in life worth working hard for.
A  true inspiration to keep moving.

In the 21st century era, it seems as though we are racing ‘time’ in a never ending marathon.
Everyone always seems so “busy”.
It raises the question of what people used to do centuries ago before the tech. toys?

In our generation we actually have the means of international communication which means that there is no more waiting for information that might slow the progression of a business down and now have more access to communication and a plethora of information that would in fact help businesses move forward(such as the young gentleman in Africa that used Google to help him understand windmills and changing the lives of many in his homeland because of this tech based and easily attainable information)…so one might hypothesize that we should be slowing down…or is it because by human nature that we know what is out there and now strive to go even further. The final frontier is as defined as the distance of the horizon.
The Human race is in a ‘race’ all on its own.
So who is the ideal 21st century ideal partner?...
... You can take it anywhere you go, call it by any name you choose and can expect nothing but the best from it…and best thing about it is that you get full control of it.
It’s called a computer-your ipod/ipad/smart phone/etc.

It’s fascinating that the mind is in constant work mode-even when socializing, you are in communication with people who are not even physically present, so now you are a translator and working twice as hard to make sure all the information happening is conveyed to the person of absence.

Fast forward, these tech geeks understood the ‘rat race’ theory and created a tech toy to find the balance(the irony in that is in point of fact astoundingly and disturbing clever).The ‘tranquility pod’-AKA ‘a bed’.
The geeks are telling you that you can stay with your toys but can rest while using them.
If that’s the way to ease the mind then so be it.

A piece of furniture that we would have traditionally named a “BED” is now an accented module in your living space that looks like it was a part of a UFO hover craft.
Not only are you attaching your smart phone to this unit for sounds of peace and tranquility but also have 50LED lights that are in synch with your heart rate that will enhance the ambience of the unit.
Incredible…

What was once in a movie that seemed so far into the future, is now a phone call away and can be in your living room in less than a few days.

http://www.hammacher.com/Product/Default.aspx?sku=12195&refsku=12484&xsp=2&promo=xsells

Safe to say you may be able to hold your breath for what’s coming next…

Your HOME is your sanctuary, a place where you relax, you unwind and that you can call ‘ YOURS’.

Here at JD DESIGN SOLUTIONS INC., we like to emphasize on the fact that everyone is unique-each individual, each talent, each feature, each characteristic and each line in the body defines exactly how different we all really are.
Our emphasis on your uniqueness is represented by designing the home that suits who YOU really are.
‘Trend’ can sometimes be the accessories of the renovation but the essence we like to adhere to is YOUR uniqueness-what makes you special.
That is why building custom homes is such an honor and thrill because we get to understand our clients’ individuality and by actively listening, get to build their ideas into the tangible world that they can call HOME.

One of our many custom suppliers is “hang it up” systems.
One of the many features we like about them is their ability to be both aesthetic and functional.
While customizing the artwork on the paneling, you also have the option of shelving that you can use for displaying more personal memorabilia and/or decorative items.
Their application is for both commercial and residential use.
Check out their website and see what other work they do.
http://www.hangit-up.com/public/art_shelf.aspx
And best part is…the artwork is magnetic. So when you want to change the image -and feel of the space -you simply remove the piece by piece artwork and apply a brand new one, creating a fresh new and different feel for the space(now THAT is custom work at its best.




Note from the supplier:
“Shelving redefined. No longer is the shelf merely a platform for the display of art and objects. Each sleek recyclable aluminum shelf pivots with a smooth drop-resisted movement to reveal its underside, featuring interchangeable, customizable artwork. The modular design allows an interactive display of two-dimensional art and three-dimensional objects on any wall space, in any configuration.”

PORCELAIN OF THE MILLENIUM:

Living in the developed world, we notice that –in construction-what we pay for is not in the ‘product’ as much as it is in labor.
Our trades and contractors are licensed, certified and insured- so there is a good back up of high standards of what to expect with regard to the work.
However, with this back up and knowledge, there is a price, and that is why the price of labor is a significantly higher percentage than that of the product -especially since a lot of the products are very similar in the market.
So how are YOU-as the end user- going to smart about this?

This is one of the most innovative ideas for porcelain yet.
Firstly because of its size of 5’x10’ you are now saving on labor –rather than pay for the tile by tile installation, you are now installing one large single piece of porcelain slab.

And secondly is the production details-we are well informed of how “Green” porcelain tiles can be-please see information and link below and who in Toronto will supply this for you.

Note from the Supplier:
The manufacturing of our porcelain is quite technical and interesting to learn about.  There is a lot that we do in way of being green, recycling the water used during production, mining of the our raw minerals, and even bringing in post consumer glass.  Glass is a key ingredient for the production of porcelain.  All of the ingredients that make porcelain are inert and are earthen ware (i.e.: clay, sand, glass, limestone, kaolin).  Please find the links attached on who we are and what we do. 

Manufacturing video      when you are on this page, it will ask you to download the full version of the video or the non video option…..take the video.  It is interesting to learn about how it is made.
Green Step Program
US Production Catalogue

Supplier in Toronto:
Savoia
145 King street east
Contact Person - Martha Rebelo
Architectural Sales
(647) 746-1433
 

NOW YOU knowJ.

SPRING SMILE

How many of you are embracing the 5 minutes of sunrays that fall upon us and counting the days till the double digits are on both sides of the forecast of “low to high” temperature?

It was once a comforting idea to know that you were not alone -going through the process of hibernation, getting ready to come out of it and dreading one more day of the cold-but Now is another story.

So how is JD DESIGN SOLUTIONS INC. going to change that for you?

How are you going to be different than everybody else?

We are offering you “SPRING IS HERE” indoors.

Rather than wait for those colors to blossom outside your window and behind your door, we are going to give you those colors NOW.

For the month of April we are “springing” on a FREE 1 hour in home consultation at your  home(for every 3 hours that you register with us) JD DESIGN TEAM will come into your home and freshen up your space. Rejuvenating and revamping your space to give you the feel you have been waiting all winter long.

We will also apply this offer to any renovation you may have in your home or home addition-and bump that to 2 FREE hours (for every 5 hours that you register with us)

This will include time to get to know you, your home, your ‘wish list’ and to prepare any  drawings you may require. That also may include sending you details of specifications you may need for your interior space renovation, remodeling, rejuvenation or revamping-from contractors to trades to suppliers.

For this month ONLY-April 2014-Let JD DESIGN SOLUTIONS INC. “spring” your way.

Wishing you a pleasant evening.

We look forward to hearing from you.

JD DESIGN TEAM 2014