28 Electrifying Ways to Use the Color Orange in Your Home
For a cost-conscious 2,000-square-foot renovation located 30 minutes outside of Austin, Texas, architect Nick Deaver took a look around for inspiration. He spied galvanized metal cladding on the region’s sheds and co-opted the inexpensive, resilient material for his own design. He then applied locally quarried Lueders limestone near the entrance—a warm contrast to the steely facade.
The flooring throughout the interior is maple. A vintage Ercol sofa and arm chair, Eclipse coffee table by Stua, Wide Wale rug by Bev Hisey Textile Design, and Moon floor lamp by Estiluz Spain furnish the living room. "Extensive planning went into ‘aging in place’ forecasting a host of different scenarios about what that meant physically and psychologically," architect Alex Tedesco says. "We did ‘day in the life’ modeling to understand all the various barrier free requirements that might arise."
Linda Taalman and Alan Koch, of Taalman Koch Architects, completed work on their glass iT House, a lovely, minimal home that tests the limits of living lightly on the land in the desert near Joshua Tree National Park. The bath and basin in the bathroom are by Duravit, and the orange wall is by Three Form.
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Designed by Atelier Du Pont, this breathtaking property exists in harmony with the surrounding landscape. Oriented in a manner that creates minimal impact on the existing terrain, the house idyllically nestles into nature, with vast views of the encompassing trees and vegetation. Inside, an orange Ligne Roset Sofa provides a comfortable space for rest and relaxation. A triangular window provides a picture of the tree canopy beyond, while drawing in natural light.
The playful aesthetics of Austin Maynard Architects have once again breathed new life into aging building stock—this time with the transformation of a dark and narrow terrace in Melbourne into an open and light-filled home fitted out with sustainable features. Upstairs, the "parents’ retreat" includes a centrally located bathroom "box," seen on the left of the image. The bright orange walkway is perforated to let natural light pass through.
After buying a site overlooking an inlet called Smuggler’s Cove, Gabriel Ramirez asked two architects—Norman Millar, dean of the Woodbury School of Architecture, and Judith Sheine, head of the architecture department at the University of Oregon—to design the house. Boi sconces, which David Weeks designed for Ralph Pucci, illuminate the bedroom in this Sea Ranch residence.
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Designed and built in 1878 for Judge John Murphy, this 4,400-square-foot white structure has, from the outside, the undeniable characteristics of a classic San Francisco Victorian. Stepped back from the street and resting genteelly at the top of a large hill, the house keeps a watchful eye on its neighbors and the city that surrounds it. In the boys’ shared room, Jasper finds plenty of space to scatter toys. An original chandelier provides a reminder of the house’s past while muted orange walls plant it firmly in the present.
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The Premaydena House by Misho+Associates was designed as a "box within a box," in which two interior structures—an open-plan living space and two en suite bedrooms—sit within an exterior envelope. Inspired by the region’s fiery orange lichen and the indigenous waratah shrub’s bright flowers, the colorful exterior panels are made of heavy-duty galvanized steel to guard from Tasmanian winds, which can reach up to 60 miles per hour.
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