Award-Winning Home Design Tips

Information from Mark St. John Erickson that with almost 90 home design awards, Williamsburg architect Carlton Abbott ranks among the deans of his profession.

Below are some of the guiding principles he uses when he designs a house:

Keep it simple. Straightforward, well-organized spaces help deliver the most house for the dollar. “Think practically about every room,” he says. “Don’t clutter up your plan or waste your money with extraneous spaces you don’t need and won’t use.”

Size it right. Even after settling on the spaces they want, many people build them bigger than needed. “People do these great big living rooms,” Abbott says.

“But they’re too big, too inconsistent with the spaces in which people actually sit and have conversations.”

Borrow space. Any house feels bigger if the rooms borrow visual space from each other. “We used louvered openings, wider doorways and half walls to make the walls in our house more transparent,” Abbott says. “And when you can see from room to room, the whole space feels bigger.”

Let in the light. Abbott followed the sun as he laid out his rooms, insuring that the kitchen and small table where he and his wife eat breakfast are filled with light each morning. He also made natural light a signature part of other rooms. “We put skylights in the master bath,” he says. “That little bit of light makes a huge difference.”

Plan for the future. Though Abbott’s house has 2 1/2 stories, he clustered all the major living areas along the main or entrance level, then added a guest suite that can be transformed into a master bedroom. “It could be you. It could be your mother-in-law,” he says. “But the future could bring a day when you won’t want to use the stairs.”

Re-think the yard. Though front yards can showcase your house, most waste space that could be better devoted to gardens or a front porch. “People pay a lot of money and mow a lot of grass,” he says. “It’s one of the poorest uses of land in America.”