architects in Portsmouth NH
See our blog for new projects, announcements, and all things TMS Architects.Sustainable Architecture: Can a Building Make Its Occupants Happy
Our earliest ancestors understood the concept of sustainable architecture without realizing there was a name for it. They set up home in savannas, woodlands and caverns that provided the proper amount of natural light, protection from weather extremes and plenty of plants and vegetation to survive and barter. Unfortunately, centuries passed before we began to consider these benefits of biophilic architecture.
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Utilize the Energy Star Light Bulb Guide When Seeking New Lighting
An important facet of sustainable architecture is to reduce energy consumption and your carbon footprint. Although it may seem insignificant, something as simple as replacing ordinary incandescent bulbs in your home with Energy Star-rated products can add up to substantial savings on both your energy bills and your home’s carbon footprint.
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Style and Function: Planning Outdoor Lighting
The exterior of your home sends a message to everyone who sees it. You want it to appear warm and inviting to your family and friends, while giving an impression of security to prowlers and miscreants. Fortunately for homeowners, selection of the design and landscaping of a home can broadcast the message you want to send, whether it’s in an aesthetic or protective sense.
When used properly, outdoor lighting can not only make your home more attractive, it can also transform your home into a safer, better functioning environment for you and your family.
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Elevate a Simple Home with Warm Woods
The natural charm and warmth of wood has long been recognized by designers and homeowners alike as one of the preeminent material choices for historic homes. Its multicolored tones and subdued textures have often been imitated, but never truly reproduced by other materials, both naturally or man-made.
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Designing a Bathroom That Draws the Wandering Eye
Although bathrooms provide an excellent return on investment, many people overlook the benefits of designing a space to draw the wandering eye. Whether you’re undergoing a major renovation, uplifting a historic home or building a new home for the family, working with an architect can help inspire great home design ideas for your bathroom while providing a high return.
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Selecting the Right Lighting can Actually Boost Productivity
Although it may not be an obvious priority for your business, commercial site or home office, lighting design is a critical element in any work space. It can encourage sales in a retail environment and boost productivity in the office. Since lighting a work space consumes so much energy, upgrading to energy-efficient light sources is a great investment that can encourage production.
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Illuminate Your Home with Efficient Lighting Solutions
Lighting is often overlooked as a factor that can help homeowner’s save a significant amount of money over time. From complete renovation projects and sustainable architecture to simply replacing bulbs, there are benefits to illuminating your home with efficient lighting solutions.
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The Miracle of Changing Rooms
TMS Architect’s guest historian, J. Dennis Robinson, provides us with an interesting post on moving things around and how a change in space or time can really alter your perspective! As he says, “the more things change, the more they stay the same…”
“I used to row an Alden Ocean Shell. I put the fiberglass boat on the top of my old Toyota Tercell and hauled it from one access point on the Piscataqua River to the next. Once, long ago, I put the boat in the back yard to store it for the winter — and it sits there still.
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Lighting Vaulted and Cathedral Ceilings in a Modern Home
Vaulted and cathedral ceilings present unique challenges in terms of lighting a modern or historic home, especially when task lighting is required. With the wrong lighting your beautiful open spaces can become a dark and glum eye-sore, rather than bright, fun areas to host gatherings among family, friends and colleagues. Read on for some lighting ideas, whether you’re ceiling is vaulted or cathedral.
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Working with an Architect: Choosing a Floor Plan
Just because you’ve decided to build a two-story Cape Cod home doesn’t mean it’s all settled when imagery of your future home surfaces in daydreams. If you’re working with an architect, he’s going to need a bit more tangible information before construction can begin!
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Light Up a Transitional Room with Schoolhouse Lights
When designing a transitional room, finding the right balance of new and old furnishing while maintaining an uncluttered space can be a difficult accomplishment. This can be especially true when you are trying to add task or ambient lighting.
New updates to timeless schoolhouse lights are an excellent way to add a vintage appeal to any room, especially when incorporating them with historic architecture. Light-diffusing shades and the smooth, clean lines of the pendulum-style lights are a classic way to add light to areas that are in need. Today’s schoolhouse lights offer bands of color, various geometric shapes, to add interest, and fancier fittings that would work in a number of transitional rooms.
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Flex Rooms: Maximizing Space in Any Home
TMS architects is always keeping track of the most popular home design trends, from building materials to market trends. And today, we will be taking a closer look at flex rooms in houses and lofts, which are becoming particularly attractive to homeowners and potential buyers.
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Minding the Future: Integrating Sustainable Landscaping
Encouraged by an ever-deepening understanding of global environmental issues, many homeowners and commercial enterprises are seeking new ways to “build greener” and surround their homes with sustainable landscaping. Such insightful landscaping can enrich your home and its natural surroundings in multiple ways.
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Outdoor Showers That Pop With Character
Relaxing in a long, hot shower after a busy day is a great way for most diligent workers to unwind. Unfortunately, one aspect of oceanfront home design that’s often overlooked is the outdoor shower and bath.
Not surprisingly, outdoor showers are well-suited and highly functional for coastal homes. They’re novel enclosures that allow one to rinse off after a swim or enjoy a proper shower while remaining outdoors. Other uses of outdoor showers include washing hands and tools after a gardening session, showering after exercise and cleaning a pet’s muddy paws.
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Finding an Architect for Your Project
Hiring an architect is the highest level of service you can receive for a residential construction project. And, working with an architect is the best solution for the busy homeowner who doesn’t have the time to oversee a full-scale project day-in and day-out.
Just like you wouldn’t trust just anyone with your car, you should never hire a residential architect you aren’t 100 percent confident will meet and exceed your needs and expectations. After all, it’s your home; it’s your most valuable asset! Whether it’s a small-scale remodel or a whole-home renovation, there are several factors to consider before bringing an architect into the picture.
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A New TMS Home – “Oceanfront Outlook”
Rob Karosis of Rob Karosis Photography recently photographed this TMS-designed home with interiors created by Cebula Design and landscaping by Woodburn and Company. The location near the ocean is stunning and the interiors utilize a design palette that compliments its oceanfront location. Samia Touma, TMS project manager, explained that “this very inspiring site presented a number of challenges, including the clients’ wish to save some existing mature trees while the elongated shape of the site made siting the residence a difficult task. Incorporating a generous program on the narrow site was a challenge. The screen porch and attached garage had to be relocated several times to achieve the final layout due to programmatic and site constraints.”
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How to Make a Remodeling Project Easier on Everyone
Planning a commercial or residential remodeling project may seem dreamy and exciting at the outset, but remodeling is a complex process. It can feel a little overwhelming at times and, if the project isn’t planned by professionals, remodeling can become a logistical mess. This should never be the case.
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Four Reasons People Love Sustainable Architecture
In a world where we’re more conscious than ever about the carbon footprint we leave behind, sustainable architecture is taking a strong foothold in new construction, additions and renovation projects. Although the benefits are many, here are just four reasons why people love sustainable architecture:
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Back to Basics: Applying Common Sense in Sustainable Architecture
Not very long ago, the term sustainable architecture would have been redundant. Architecture was, by its very nature, sustainable. Humans either inhabited structures that already existed or built just enough shelter to protect their families from the elements.
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Welcome House Guests with an Alluring Entryway
Like a personal introduction, the first impression of your home is vital to how well it is perceived in its entirety. While attention to the entryway or foyer of a home is often overlooked, we at TMS Architects think it is a crucial area to carefully and thoughtfully design. Having a fabulous entryway is an important indicator to whether or not you will experience comfort, happiness, and safety throughout the rest of the home.
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