Personally I love skylights, skylights allow more light in than windows, and distribute it more evenly.  If they are installed incorrectly that light can be harsh, and be high contrast light.  There are a lot of factors that will determine a skylights performance "effective aperture" latitude, climate, and skylight design among others.  But to maximize sky-lighting's usage, achieving gentle yet dramatic light, you must understand how light works and plan your sky-lighting location(s) accordingly.  Here are three tips...

Tip 1:  You want to make the walls of your skylight opening continuous with the walls of your home whenever possible.  This allows the light to travel down a straight plane uninterrupted.

Tip 2: Use a long, narrow, rectangular design rather than a square one.  This will spread the light more effectively.

Tip 3: If you don't like the skylight frame casting shadows into your home, double the thickness of your skylight curb.  
 
In commercial applications, the correct implementation of skylights can lead up to 30% savings in energy costs, wow!  So as that is not usually the primary reason for wanting skylights in your home, it is definitely an added bonus. 

We are designing a boot bench for a client and it is a good experience.  Out of school now I only interface with lockers when I'm at the gym, but I'm now remembering how use full they can be.  This boot bench is going against the entry wall to the garage, its going to be a place that can store fishing gear, poles, rods, boots, clothing, and everything else needed for fly fishing.  With Dura Supreme (one of the cabinetry lines we carry) we can completely customized the dimensions, cubby holes, and even add effects like lighting and glass.  If your interested in boot benches Dura Supreme is at the top of the game, click this link to Dura boot bench page, do some research then and use the dealer locater and find someone near you that carries Dura Supreme.  

 Barbara Ballinger an Architecture Coach Collumnist wrote a wonderful piece on 7 different trends in residential remodeling worth looking at, check out the article here www.ibtimes.com/blogs/articles/16124/20100514/from-nkbadesign-trends-buyers-may-ask-for.htm 

We carry Jenn Air, Toto, GE, Robern, Corian, Top Knobs, and much more.  If you need more info on any of these products feel free to contact us at Ovation Design Studio.

~Travis Hendricks

 Its been somewhat of a wet spring so far.  Some people let that get to them, but others like me know that the extra water is going to guarantee a greener more vibrant summer.  We have a project right now that entails building an outdoor kitchen. Through much research we decided to go with Danver for our grill and cabinetry.  Danver offers some very high end products, with quite a variety and selection.  We're excited to work with Danver and will let you know how it all turns out.  Check them out at www.danver.com