Designer and co-founder of CIRCLE Design Studio Theresa Dorlini specializes in designing spaces from the ground up. In this Charlottesville, VA, home, Dorlini started from scratch to create a home that’s now LEED Platinum eligible. Here’s how she did it.
1. These clients were very environmentally conscious, so the use of green materials was of utmost importance to them. The floors and beams were all local reclaimed wood and the cabinetry all made with PureBond hardwood plywood. The second most important thing to the clients was durability of materials. With two young children and two large dogs, we needed everything we specified to hold up to the day-to-day wear and tear of their family.
2. We spent a lot of time reconfiguring the plan and elements of the fireplace and kitchen design so that there was connectivity to the main living space. The double sided, eco-friendly, wood burning fireplace needed to be centrally located to effectively heat the whole main level of the home, so we incorporated it into the kitchen peninsula and still maintained an open plan.
3. Classic modern design has always been about stripping away the unnecessary to reveal form and function displayed in beautiful balance. Unfortunately, as architects and designers of modern spaces, we can sometimes forget the balance part. Clients often come to us saying, “I want modern, but not too modern.” In this instance, we had one spouse who would have loved to live in a minimal white box and the other who needed a little bit of color and warmth. They did not have any existing pieces of furniture or art and were looking at this new construction home as a clean slate to start acquiring furnishings and artwork. They wanted a bright and cheerful space with quality furnishings, but nothing that would cause them too much heartache in the event of a spilled sippy cup.
