Most often, cabin lofts are utilized as bedroom space. Large lofts can accommodate the master bedroom, while smaller lofts are ideal for guest beds or children’s beds. When implementing the loft as a bedroom, it’s important to consider who will be staying in the lofted bedroom. After all, the loft resident will have to climb stairs, or possibly a ladder, depending on the design of your cabin.
If you’re a caffeine fanatic, your new loft might be best utilized as a coffee nook. Wake up and start anew with a cup of joe, a crossword (or the sudoku if you prefer), and the sun rising through the circular window on the eastern face of your loft.
If you’re a bookworm, turn your loft into your personal library. Outfit the walls of your loft with plenty of shelves to hold your archives. Be sure to lug a few of your comfiest chairs up to the loft. If you have low ceilings, you can custom build a low sofa into the corner(s) of your loft. Or, if you prefer something a bit more versatile, you can go with some Lovesac modern bean bag chairs. Don’t forget the blankets and pillows.
If you need a workspace, your loft might be ideal. Tuck a desk into the loft; install shelving along the walls. What about the lighting of the space? Do you prefer to have the desk facing the window? Or do you work better when the desk is buried in the corner? How about a blackboard? You always work better with a blank slate. And you’ll need a cork board too, you like to pin up your favorite projects and works in progress.
If you have kiddoes, you may have to sacrifice your beautiful loft space on your kids’ behalf. You’ll need a space for crafts. Plus a toy bin. Also, plan some room for a small table, board games, and tea time of course. Your children read as much as you do, so you’d better tack on a bookshelf or two. Is there still room for a of bunk beds? Perfect.
You’re a horticulturist at heart; you minored in botany back in school. You’ve decided to turn your loft into an indoor garden. Natural lighting is key. You’ll need a few skylights, and a big window at the far end of the loft. Next, you’ll need shelving. Carpet won’t do for the floors, but you’re comfortable enough with a watering can to opt for hardwood. You’ve hung a few wires from the ceiling for your vine plants, good. And you’ve built an herb planter to hang out the far window. Maybe you’ll tack a hummingbird feeder to the side of the house as well. Now that you think about it, it’d be best to have a full-blown outdoor balcony with enough room for a table, chair, bird feeder, and a dozen herb pots.
When your abode’s plumbing will allow for it, your loft may serve best as a master bathroom. If your priority lies in having an at-home spa treatment, transform your loft with a jacuzzi, steam shower, and vanity (with two sinks of course).
It’s far more utilitarian than the previous options, but you need the storage. Where else are you going to stow your six person tent (plus six sleeping bags and sleeping pads to boot)? Where’s that camp grill going to go? And you need a spot to store your kayak. What about the mountain bikes? And your carpentry supplies? Maybe it’s best to build another bay into the garage.
Here at Winterwoods Homes, we love our lofts just as much as you do. You can see a few of our favorite lofts in our Cabin Creek collection of cabin designs and our Antique Cabin collection, among our other cabin plans.
As Louis Sullivan – the late American architect – put it, “Form follows function.” And though aesthetic is an integral part of good design, it’s difficult to argue that it’s the most important part of architecture. After all, a building serves a utilitarian purpose: Its roof keeps you out of the rain. Its walls keep you warm. Its windows and spaces provide comfort. Sullivan derived this concept from Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, a Roman architect who noted that an edifice should embody three qualities: Firmitas, utilitas, and venustas – which is to say, a building should be solid, beautiful, and useful. Sullivan’s expansion on this concept states that form follows function as a law. He notes that this law is as true in nature as it ought to be in design: “Whether it be the sweeping eagle in his flight, or the open apple-blossom, the toiling work-horse, the blithe swan, the branching oak, the winding stream at its base, the drifting clouds, over all the coursing sun, form ever follows function, and this is the law.” Now, Sullivan’s quote might imply that an architect ought to place more weight in the “usefulness” and “solidity” of an object, over its beauty. One might say that a designed object must be utilitarian before it is beautiful. In this school of thinking, an architect should consider the function of a building before assessing its aesthetic.
“Art is not a matter of taste, but involves the whole man. Whether in making or perceiving a work of art, we bring to bear on it feeling, intellect, morals, knowledge, memory, and every other human capacity, all focused in a flash on a single point. Aesthetic man is a concept as false and dehumanising as economic man.
This fulfilment of function depends on all parts of an organism cohering and co-operating. This was what he called the ‘Law of Help,’ one of Ruskin’s fundamental beliefs, extending from nature and art to society.
Clark speaks about “good art,” “great art,” as well as both form and function. So, while dogmatically utilitarian architects place more weight in “utilitas” (or usefulness) and aesthetic idealists like Clark and Ruskin embrace the value of “art” or aesthetic, neither party can separate themselves from that which they present as the opposing end of the spectrum. In effect, you cannot have Sullivan’s form without Ruskin’s aesthetic, and vice versa. After all, the quality of any object, designed or natural, can be assessed for its utilitas as well as its aesthetic. This begs the question: Must these two ideals compete? And is there really a spectrum that divides utilitas and aesthetic?
Let’s assess two buildings in terms of utilitas and aesthetic.
The Pompidou Centre, or Centre Georges Pompidou, is a Parisian building that is the very definition of postmodernism and high-tech design. The architects, Richard Rogers, Renzo Piano, and Gianfranco Franchini, transformed utilitas into aesthetic. Like most modern buildings, the Pompidou Centre is comprised of hundreds of technological facets that comprise its infrastructure. There’s no shortage of pipes, electrical implements, structural beams, and the like. However, these components aren’t hidden in wall cavities behind a thin layer of sheetrock. In the Pompidou Centre, these components – the utilitarian components of the building – are entirely exposed. So in effect, form truly follows function. There are no unnecessary frills. There is no ornamentation.
Yet, the infrastructure becomes the ornamentation itself. The eye is drawn to criss-crossing exposed beams. Green and blue pipes front columns of red metal panels. An external stairway is just that: a stairway. Somehow, however, these exposed utilitarian structures accumulate to form a beautiful aesthetic. In this way, the Pompidou Centre compresses the utilitas-aesthetic spectrum; function is beauty, there is no inbetween.
Now, let’s transition from a post-modern tech-monument to the humble home of one of the most famous architects in the world: Frank Lloyd Wright. Frank Lloyd Wright is a household name that’s synonymous with good design. Frank Lloyd Wright, who was actually a student of Louis Sullivan’s, borrowed from the concepts of form following function as well as the arts and crafts aesthetic. In his Oak Park home, he strove to blur the lines between utilitas and aesthetic. Take the living room fireplace, for instance; here, Wright employs simple, subtle ornamentation around the mantle of the fireplace, meanwhile, the craft in the arched brickwork of the opening to the hearth has just as much beauty. Here, utilitas doesn’t compromise aesthetic. The children’s room of the Wright Home is similar; a simple semicircular painting reflects the arched roof of the room. The aesthetic of the painting reflects the utilitarian lines of the ceiling; utility and aesthetic complement each other. In this way, the whole is greater than the parts, and once again, the utilitas-aesthetic spectrum is compressed.
In short, good design isn’t purely utilitarian, just as it isn’t purely aesthetic. Good design is both; utilitas and aesthetic aren’t mutually exclusive.
Here at Winterwoods Homes, we strive to provide the best in both utility and aesthetic. We specialize in designing log and timber-frame homes. Winterwoods Homes designs are functional, providing comfort and accommodation. But we don’t sacrifice aesthetic, our designs are warm and natural. With every detail, we design just for you. Take a look at our existing timber frame cabin plans, or learn more about our custom designed homes.