In Big Sur, California, a home designed by Studio Schicketanz to produce at least as much energy as it consumes features windows with a thermal barrier and insulated glazing.
FOR ANYONE LOOKING TO SHRINK THEIR HOME'S ecological impact, there's one piece of very good news: just staying where you are is a great place to start. According to a study commissioned by the British moving specialist Buzzmove, the fuel, packing materials, and more needed for the average move consume roughly the same amount of energy as leaving a lightbulb on for about eight weeks. That figure shoots up considerably if you're moving into a brand-new house, with carbon-dioxide emissions from single-family home construction running as high as 50 tons, as calculated by Britain's Building and Social Housing Foundation. That's the equivalent of leaving a single lightbulb on for 300 years.
But as millions of Americans discovered during the COVID-19 pandemic, sometimes the house you have just isn't enough. The pandemic made comfort and quality of life at home more important, says architect Tom Kligerman, speaking of the recent collective obsession with improving the look and feel of our interiors. At the same time, he notes, “more and more of my clients are genuinely concerned about the environment.” As it turns out, the two positions aren't really in contradiction: In recent projects, the team at Ike Kligerman Barkley has been replacing clunky air conditioners with discreet geothermal systems and using textured, fully renewable cork to line kitchen floors. In Kligerman's view, greenification is a basic part of the renovation designer's remit these days.
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MORE, PLEASE
Eric Hughes joins forces with Standard Architecture to transform two neighboring homes into a sprawling family compound.
SIZED TO FIT
Designer Nannette Brown reimagines a new-build apartment with unexpected depth, character, and texture.
Play It Cool
In balmy Texas, Ashe Leandro brings urbane style and a chill vibe to a home in a historic district.
Mic Drop
For former talk radio star Tom Joyner, Studio Roda creates an oceanfront pleasure pad with out-of-sight views and disco-era glamour.
EYE IN THE SKY
How do you cozy up a Manhattan high-rise? Call designers Hendricks Churchill.
THE JOY OF KØKKEN
In Brooklyn, a writer transforms her kitchen into a space of warmth and connection, blending personal memories with Scandinavian design.
CURTAIN RAISER
ELLE DECOR partners with designers Christine and John Gachot to refresh an iconic lounge at a New York institution, the Metropolitan Opera House.
The Empire Strikes Back - A 19th-century gem in Cambridge, Massachusetts, gets a tour-de-force restoration thanks to Frances Merrill of Reath Design.
Is it possible to simultaneously go back in time and leap forward? This was the challenge a couple set for themselves upon purchasing a salmon-pink 1869 house in Cambridge, Massachusetts, not far from Longfellow House, the National Historic Site that served as George Washington's headquarters during the revolution. We loved all the beautiful old details of this house, the homeowner says.
Just Like That, But Cheaper. -One writer tried to replicate a classic ELLE DECOR interior in his apartment. Could he do it for $500?
It was all about the green curtains. In 2008, to my great surprise, I was offered a ninemonth fellowship based in New York City. I had lived there twice before, both times unsuccessfully, meaning I had failed to create any kind of significant social life, and so this was a chance not only to do research for my new novel, but also an opportunity to get things right. I swore I wouldn't let the city break me a third time.
And How! - Decorator Nick Olsen transforms a Sag Harbor home into a Hamptons retreat with an irreverent humor.
If you must go to the Hamptons, however-because it is devilishly good fun, after all-you may notice an apparently modest, low-slung cottage on Sag Harbor's Main Street and think, with a comfortable sort of feeling, Now that is how a house should look. Nestled amid the Botox bars, helipads, and club-staurants, it could almost set the sordid world aright both a rebuke and a solution to the chaos that surrounds it. A real home.
