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I was sick this week, which means that I stayed at home with a warm cup of tea and in between napping on the couch and watching my favorite home design shows, I drew a bunch of new designs for this blog. I experimented a lot because I got a bunch of new supplies including some new black pens, colored pencils, colored pens, and tracing paper! I left out the furniture in these designs because I wanted to focus on the coloring and not have to worry about the scale and color palette of the furniture.
Modern living room
My newest design is a modern living room. I started it in school and finished up coloring it when I was sick. My favorite part of it is all of the different wall textures. If I could change anything, I’d move the pair of chairs closer to the fireplace and have a more dramatic color scheme by adding some navy blue tones in the rug.
See the digital re-drawing at Modern Living Room -2
If walls could dream… They’d dream of crazy pattern combinations.
Warm Great Room
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| Warm Great Room |
Warm colors and new drawing techniques make this design come to life and invite you in for a cup of hot chocolate on a cold winter’s night.
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| Color Drawing by Michael E. Doyle |
I finally explored the architecture section of my school library and I wish I would’ve done it sooner because I found a bunch of inspiring new ideas. Some ideas I tested out from the book Color Drawing are the wall texture, the reflections and shadows, the wood grain, and the rug. Although it isn’t perfect, I think this is my most life-like drawing yet.
For the walls, I cut up pieces of old colored pencil lead and rubbed it on the drawing and then erased any places that I didn’t want the color.
To add reflections, I first decided that the counter top and the sliding glass door in the dining room were the most reflective surfaces. I lightly added color to them until it looked like the objects around them were reflected in the surface. I attempted to add shadows under the counter top, vase, and bar stools. Next time, I’ll be more careful about where I decide to put my light sources, because the counter top and bar stools ended up with shadows facing different ways…
To make the floor, I first outlined the shape with a yellow marker. Then, I added texture with colored pencil. Lastly, I added wood grain with white pencil. For the dark wooden columns, I used black pencil for the wood grain.
The rug was inspired by a photo I found in an architecture magazine.
Another technique that I learned from Color Drawing was to make a smaller photocopy of your drawing and map out what color you want the furnature and how you want the shadows to go.
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| Pennywise color by Sherwin-Williams |
The dark orange walls were inspired by the Sherwin-Williams color, Pennywise. The wood accents (molding, columns, dining table and bench) are dark wood. To contrast the rich orange walls and dark wood, I painted the cabinetry a cool blue-grey and the floor a light yellow wood. The ceiling has a hint of blue-green. There are purple and read accents throughout the picture. All of the colors are combined in the artwork and rug.
This great room is perfect for any family because it has a modern design with traditional colors. I had originally planned on having purple or red drapes in the dining room, but I saw these chevron striped ones online and knew they’d be perfect in this room.
If walls could dream… they’d dream of a traditional colored, modern styled, technically drawn, warm great room!
Covered Bridge Converted Into a House
Rustic woodwork, natural colors, and modern design create this stunning bridge-house design.
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| Covered Bridge Home |
At the front of the house (behind you in this picture) is an entry hallway with loft guest bedroom above. In the middle of the house (right in front of you) is the kitchen. Granite countertops and modern tile and floating upper cabinetry give this space a modern look. At the back of the house is a sitting room with spiral staircase up to the loft bedroom.
If walls could dream… they’d give up their old english accents and charriots for modern furnishings and spiral staircased.
Colorful and Playful Family Room
The design of this room is sophisticated, and the colors are playful, making it the perfect room for any family.I was inspired by the article Snap, Crackle, Pop! in the magazine House Beautiful. It was based on white walls and furniture with pops of super colorful accents.
The story I made up to go with my drawing is that the homeowners bought a newly constructed cabin in a snowy forest. They love earthy tones and pops of bright colors, just like the inspiration article.
The room is very open. It has large, modern windows looking out on the showy forests. It has a loft space above and a hallway below. The dark floors and fireplace stone create high contrast against the white walls, like trees in the snow. The hallway is accented with green paint. The green of the hallway paint is balanced by the green of the armchair at the opposite side of the room. These greens go with the turquoises and blues of the rug, lampshade, glass tile around fireplace, chandelier, and accent above the archways to keep your eye moving throughout the space. The bright oranges of the loft couch, mirror frame, lamp, accent book, end table, curtain, and accent vase also keep your eye moving around the space.
If walls could dream, they’d dream of bright colors uniting with sophisticated design.
Pink Apartment Project
The Pink Apartment Project started with the Modern Feminine Apartment sketch. The sketch grew into a computer design, and finally (after many hours of work) became a 3D model.To see the details of the model, visit its page by clicking here or on the [How to Build an Architectural Model] button at the top of the blog, right under the title.
If walls could dream… they’d dream of this design becoming a real apartment one day.
Courtyard House
I picked up the magazine at the airport bookstore. I saved it for the plane ride. Once my honey roasted peanuts and Diet Coke had arrived, I opened it up. And a house inside inspired me. So I grabbed my sketchbook and pen, flipped past the old games of tic-tac-toe, and drew a square. Actually, due to turbulance, the square looked more like a bunny rabbit. I added the house around it, despite its irregular shape. The great room on one side, and the bedrooms on the other. 
When I arrived home, I drew it on the computer. It has 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths, 2 car garage, open concept, harwood floors through the great room, a large master closet, and a storage area or office off the garage. Just under 2500sqft.
The full bathroom in between the bedrooms and the master suite has a nautical feel with bright blues, classic whites, detailed moldings, and weathered wood tones.
The master bedroom as seen from the courtyard.
A Quick Floorplan
Here’s a quick floorplan that I made today. At the top is the 1 car garage. At the lower left is the kitchen, dining, and living rooms. Their open design creates a modern feel. At the lower right is two bedrooms with a bath and laundry room. The house is just over 1000 sqft.
Another Mediterranean House
This 2 story 3000sqft Mediterranean house has 4 bedrooms, 4 bathrooms, 2 car garage, office, media room, outdoor kitchen, fire pit, and pool. It has a relaxing Mediterranean color scheme of purple, brown, red, and white. This design was born when I was riding in the car, sketching floor plans. The original sketch has little in common with the finished floor plan, except the general shape of the house and the location of the garage, kitchen, and living room.
First Floor:
On the first floor, be sure to check out; “dad’s” office (3) and “mom’s” office (7); the special garage door for the ride-on lawn mower (14); the outdoor kitchen with barbecue; fridge, freezer, sink, and bar (16); the fire pit (18); the pool with waterfall (17); and the mudroom (12) which connects the backyard (15), bathroom (13), garage (14), and stairwell (11) .
Second Floor:
The highlight of the second floor is the media room with stadium seating and a closet for the DVD player (23).
1. Front Porch
2. Entry Hall
3. Dad’s Office
4. Guest Bedroom
5. Laundry
6. Bathroom
7. Mom’s Office
8. Living Room
9. Kitchen
10. Dining Room
11. Stairwell
12. Mud Room
13. Bathroom
14. Garage
15. Backyard
16. Back Porch and Outdoor Kitchen
17. Pool
18. Fire Pit
19. Stairwell and Hallway
20. Bedroom
21. Bedroom
22. Bathroom
23. Media Room
24. Master Bedroom
25. Master Bathroom
*= Closet
If walls could dream… they’d dream of sketches turning into full 3D floor plans.
Beach Bathroom
This beachy bathroom is my new favorite. I am in love with the textures. Wood over wallpaper over beadboard with glass and mirrors and tile. Genius if I do say so myself. My inspiration for the bones of this design was the wall of cabinets with the sink cabinet pulled foreword. And wallpaper with a beadboard chair rail was so wacky that I just had to try it.
At the left is the door to a hallway or the master bedroom. The glass above the door brings light into this window-less room and tells that this is an older house with lots of architectural detail, like the crown moldings and beadboard chair rail. Just inside the door is the double sink vanity. The cabinet is light wood and the counter is light blue stone. The glass tile blue and white backsplash leads up to the inset brown medicine cabinet at the left and the tall cabinets on the back wall. These cabinets are made of light wood, just like the vanity. On top of them are baskets. There is lots of towel storage in this ocean side bathroom. At the right side of the cabinetry is a full-length mirror with dark wood trim and a dramatically framed black and white floral photo. The floor is white heated tile with a blue mat in front of the sink area. The wallpaper is my favorite part. Modern retro wallpaper is definitely coming back, and this modern blue retro pattern is super cool. To keep the room sophisticated, I kept a neutral color scheme and used accents of blue in the frame, backsplash, and mat.
If walls could dream… they’d dream of marrying wallpaper and beadboard to create a gorgeous, nautical bathroom.