Design by Knight

Building from the Ground Up

Although I like remodeling and design of all types, my real love and passion is new construction and building from the ground up. As a child I can remember playing with my friends in their yard after their Dad had mowed the grass and raked it into big piles of clippings. I would take the grass clippings and outline the floor plan of a small house on the freshly mowed lawn. I would then show my friends how to do the same and before you knew it we had a neighborhood of houses on the lawn and played for hours visiting each others houses walking room to room explaining what we envisioned the rooms to look like.
It is always a thrill when I am hired to help a client navigate their new construction projects. When you hear it takes a village to raise a child, it is like that when building… it takes a team to raise a house. The more eyes you have the better the project.
This is a house in South Tampa that I was lucky enough to be part of the team. I think the best way to plan a new home is to start with the big picture of what it will look like and then start breaking down all of the design elements and put them in the puzzle piece of building as needed in the building process. You may have a change along the way but it is less likely to cause delays in construction when you know how the changes effect the “big” picture.

Being and artist, along with my experience as an event planner and my years working for a custom home builder has given me the expertise and experience needed in pulling together a zillion details with style, color and creativity into the finished product my client will call “home”.

In this new home construction project in South Tampa, I worked with my colleague, Gail Levine, of Gail Levine Interiors. She is amazing with color, fabrics, furnishings, art, interiors and has a great sense of the end product vision.

I am posting a few photos below. To see additional photographs of this amazing house go to: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lknightm/sets/72157625123612144/

Creating a Home Office with Function and Style

Creating a home office with function and style takes a lot of planning. My colleague, Gail Levine, asked me to work with her and her client, SR,  to redesign her small office space just off the Master Bedroom.

The office before we started had an L -shaped desk set up with banks of file drawers straight out of Office Depot, very functional, but not attractive.   Gail asked me to be involved with the project because I have a natural sense of design especially as it pertains to spaces,  I have a lot of experience working with custom cabinetry and how everything should fit together and I draw very detailed plans and elevations which is helpful for the client to see what the end result will look like.  The client, SR, was very, very particular, in a good way, that she knew exactly what she wanted and how she liked to work in her office. She also did a lot of crafting and making her own greeting cards so we needed extra storage space to fit her hobby.

I always start with an in depth interview with a client to find out what their desires for the end result are and then work in how the design will function which is just as important in the planning process especially with a home office or a kitchen, as what it will look like.

Gail added the finishing touches with paint, wallpaper, fabric and window treatments.
Needless to say SR is thrilled with the outcome and says it is just a wonderful environment to work in. With a lot of planning you can create a home office that is both functional and has style.

Bringing New Life to an Old Beach House

Ben and Henderson Lee bought this little beach house a few years ago in Passagrille beach just south of the famous Don Cesar Hotel in beautiful St. Pete Beach, Florida.  The small block home had two bedrooms and a single bath and was in dire need of a total makeover.
The Lee’s had plans drawn up for a Continue Reading…