One of the most exciting features of the Kauai house is the lower level Lanai with its great river views. But it was sorely in need of an update.

Lanai Before

We opened up the entire wall between the lanai and the rest of the house, installing folding glass doors. We also installed motorized screens so the Lanai could be used at night, when the mosquitoes come out to play.

We pulled up the old red brick tile and installed new tile in a “river” pattern.

The Lanai becomes a western style dining area as opposed to the Tatami dining area (foreground.)

The lanai new lanai may now be the most used room in the house with it’s great views of the river.

And the gardens. The “river”pattern snakes across the floor toward a water feature.

A water feature occupied by the Goddess fountain.

More Kauai Before and After posts to follow. Visit the Kauai Remodel Gallery for more great photos of this fantastic project. Design by Trilogy Partners and Azaya Design.

I love lighting a home. Light brings the interior of the home to life. It’s one of those areas where you can be infinitely creative. The lights used in Calecho are set to the period of the home, which is about 1908. Many of the lights are industrial with glass globes and wire mesh protecting the bulbs (otherwise known as cage lights.) We used an oversized round vintage lightbulb in some of the overhead lighting as well. And in the kitchen, for a truly industrial period look, we actually built a very large light fixture from electrical boxes and pipe.

Lighting Calecho's Kitchen with Period and Handmade Fixtures

The price of lighting varies tremendously. Thoroughly shop lighting fixtures because the price of two similar fixtures can vary tremendously. Given time we can usually find the right light fixtures to suit any client’s budget.

Vintage Cage Light

Here’s an important tip about lighting design… overhead lighting creates shadows and visual artifacts that can easily be tempered by using lamp lighting. So maintain a good balance between floor level lighting and ceiling lights.

Materials from Rematerialise, Kingston University London (Credit: Image courtesy of Kingston University)

ScienceDaily (Feb. 24, 2011) — After 17 years of research sustainable design expert Jakki Dehn is launching Rematerialise, a catalogue of eco-friendly materials for use in the construction industry.

From insulation made from mushrooms to kitchen tops created from recycled glass, Kingston University has catalogued more than 1,000 different sustainable materials for use in the construction industry. The result is a materials library, Rematerialise, which is being launched at EcoBuild, the world’s largest event for showcasing sustainable design and construction practices.

Reader in sustainable design, Jakki Dehn has been developing Rematerialise at Kingston University’s Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture for 17 years and believes designers will find it invaluable when planning new products. “They can come and touch and feel a whole range of materials all in one place — materials which, otherwise, they might have to spend weeks investigating themselves,” she said.

Several firms have already drawn on Dehn’s expertise to help with ongoing projects. Product design company Jedco, based in Weybridge in Surrey, has developed a scaffolding board made from recycled polymers and a solar-powered bus-stop. “The scaffolding boards have proved useful on oil rigs, because unlike wood, they don’t absorb water. So, in this case, the sustainable product is actually better than the material it’s replacing,” Dehn said.

Dehn began her research into sustainable materials in 1994 and received Arts and Humanities Research Council funding in 2003. Rematerialise now houses more than 1,200 materials from 15 different countries. It contains recycled materials, products made from resources that are very plentiful and easy to re-grow and products made from resources that are not generally used very much. The University hopes eventually to put the entire library online so planners can do initial research before making an appointment to view the materials themselves at Kingston University’s Knights Park campus.

As word about the resource has spread, new products have started arriving on an almost daily basis. “We recently received a new type of insulation material made from mushrooms. The piece we were sent was only an inch thick but, apparently, you could put your hand on one side of it and take a blow-torch to the other side and you wouldn’t be able to feel the heat,” said Dehn, who admitted she was yet to put it to the test. Another eye-catching material is resilica, which is used to make kitchen worktops as an alternative to granite or formica. It’s made mainly of glass recycled from cars and building sites.

Source: Science Daily