Dream House Design Series. Meet Whitney.

Today I would like you all to meet Whitney. She’s been teaching me a lot lately about following my dreams and doing what I love—designing houses and spaces that are meaningful to me.

Please say Hello to Whitney!

See, Whitney is one of my “dream houses” (because my imagination is far too big for just one dream house) and this lady is a house that I’ve been thinking about for a few months now. So, I finally decided to do what I never do: get the ideas out of my head and just start drawing my imagined homes so that they don’t end up forgotten like every other house I’ve dreamt up.

After making this decision, I realized just how exciting this was for me and that this would take my young blog—which I started last August as a way to document my home renovation project—down a slightly new path. Besides, with how long it takes us to make progress on our house projects, there wasn’t really much content to write about, and I knew I wanted my blog to be something more than just a home improvement diary. I still want to share about my home, but what gets me fired up now is the thought of being able to share the houses of my imagination.

So, I’m starting the Dream House Design Series. In a series of posts—and I could see there being many—I will share my ideas, inspiration, thoughts, and drawings for my imagined homes. And today’s post is the introduction of Dream House No. 1.

Here’s a little bit about her: Whitney is a confident, adventurous girl, and even a bit rebellious. Friends call her Whit, and she’s one of those girls that leaves an impression on everyone she meets. A legacy even. She’s the real deal. And she grows more beautiful with age.

Inspired by the Saltbox

Alright, I know, she’s a house, not a person. But still, she’s got lots of character and is inspired by an early American architecture style, the Saltbox.

Photo Credits: | 1 |  | 2 |  | 3 |  | 4 |  | 5 |

Recently, I’ve been inspired by Saltbox style homes. I like them because they’re super simple—I mean they’re literally a box with a roof, windows, and a door. These were early homesteads in America 300 years ago so they weren’t fancy. No porch, no interesting bump-outs, or columns or shutters even. But somehow, this basic box makes a big statement, and I love that this simple style can easily go a little modern today. She stands proud and the few features she does have really get noticed.

I particularly love that image of the deep blue clapboard siding and rustic orange door. In future posts in this series I’ll share more of my ideas about Whitney’s exterior and the finishes and materials I envision for her, as well as the floor plans, interior elevations, and other ideas. But today I just wanted to introduce her and highlight a few of the features that I imagine for her interior. Think an aged stone fireplace, a large bookcase wall in the living room, a large farmhouse table in the center of the kitchen, and skylights over a pedestal tub, naturally.

Photo Credits: Pinterest

Just a little more background: I work part-time at an Interior Design firm as an architectural designer and draftsperson (for the record, I am not an architect. I’m just an interior designer that really loves architecture). I draw house plans, elevations, and interior details for clients and I strangely enjoy spending hours in front of the computer on AutoCad. As I design and draw the dream homes for our clients, I always find myself with ideas running in the back of my mind of spaces and details of my own dream homes—homes that I’ve told myself don’t matter because I’m not in a position to actually build them like my clients are. Occasionally, I’ll sketch my ideas and floor plans on the back of an envelope or something, but then it eventually gets tossed and forgotten. I decided at the end of last year that I needed to start doing for myself what I do for my clients and start designing homes for me, because they do matter. Maybe one day they’ll be built, and that would be amazing, but even if they aren’t I still feel like I can experience them as if they were real as I design them, and that in itself gives me a lot of joy.

So look for the next series post where I will share the floor plan for this pretty lady! I’m so glad you could meet!