What Makes An Artisan Home?
How to Spot Quality Interior Design
The elements that make up an Artisan Home may mean something different to every designer. To the Carbon 6 Team, Artisan homes showcase an elevated consistency throughout their design and feature a variety of quality crafted elements that will make it extraordinary and unforgettable.
A luxurious Artisan home will have the best our industry has to offer. Here are four elements of design that we believe make an Artisan home extraordinary.
1. Unexpected Details
A key element of designing an Artisan Home is finding and selecting unique and extraordinary pieces. The interior of an Artisan Home should not look like every other home on the market. Unique selection choices create more character throughout and showcase the homeowner’s personal style and charm.
Unexpected details can be one-of-a-kind or exceptional furnishings, for example; an exquisite coffee table, a large piece of artwork, or a stunning light fixture. They can also be personalized additions to the home’s floor plan design for example; a secret room, dog suite, craft room, or a specialty room that fits the homeowner’s interest and hobbies. Adding unexpected and unique details to your home not only helps make your everyday extraordinary, but they can create a home that is striking and memorable to any guests that may walk through the door.
Secret doorways are a great opportunity to add a touch of surprise to your home. This door, camouflaged with a shelving unit, leads to the client’s home office. We’ve also designed secret doorways to kids playrooms, and most recently, a secret passageway to a slide down into an athletic court!
2. Handmade, Custom & Well-Crafted
Artisan Homes are known for their top-tier materials, furnishings, and selections. To find the industry’s latest trends and to fit your home’s custom needs we often have to partner with vendors that provide handmade tailored pieces. This is another standout way Artisan Homes are filled with unique and unexpected details.
Often, when designing an Artisan Home, our team looks to specialty custom vendors in millwork and cabinetry, lighting, and home furnishings. Lighting, for example, can be challenging to find the exact light that serves the right beauty, size, and function for the space. By working with a handcrafted light fixture company, we are able to obtain handmade, custom, and brilliant pieces to incorporate into a home.
This Apparatus light fixture was handcrafted by the Apparatus Studio in New York, and it is the perfect stand-out addition to our Modern Minnesota Rambler.
Another challenging but standout design selection in an Artisan Home is the shelving and cabinetry. Custom-made and well-crafted woodwork throughout the home is integral to the Artisan standard. We work with vendors who not only craft cabinetry and shelving to fit the specific spaces within the home, but our vendors also provide innovative solutions and craftsmanship to create unique details from floor to ceiling (literally!).
In the upstairs hallway of our 2020 Artisan Home, custom details like white oak shiplap ceilings, dimensional doorways, and hand-crafted white oak linen cabinets with reeded glass panels elevate a transitional hallway space and transcend expectations.
In this mudroom, custom cabinetry details included slatted white oak details paired with gray nanotech veneered lockers and a white oak bench that all blend together to create a polished modern entryway space.
3. The Selections Have Longevity
Artisan Homes are not only designed for their looks and for show. These homes are designed with durability and quality materials that last. Top-tier selections in stonework, flooring, countertops, and tile are critical to the consistency and quality of the Artisan interior.
Finding balance with superior beautiful finishes is the key to creating an interesting interior and mixing together organic materials that complement one another is no easy task. When selecting materials for an Artisan Home choosing the highest quality of materials will ensure the longevity and timeless aspect of the home.
In our 2020 Artisan Home, the great room pairs 3 reclaimed white oak beams full of character and warmth with a 42” limestone fireplace that leads to a relaxing three-season porch featuring a second 42” stone fireplace and a clear cedar ceiling.
Additionally, the Owners’ Suite bathroom in this home pairs the Cambria quartz countertops waterfall edge with white oak cabinetry, reclaimed wood beams, and luxurious marble tile flooring.
Lastly, this powder bath features a floating vanity that is wrapped with Cambria quartz combined with a bottom white oak shelf, gold plumbing, and dark gray linen wallpaper. All of these top-tier materials work together to create a sophisticated and contrasting design.
4. Time-Tested & Trusted Brands
There’s a reason that when you walk through an Artisan Home there are standout brands you encounter time and time again. Often these can be big name brands in appliances, countertops, and technology and are known for being the industry’s luxury brands for a reason -- they are high-quality, time-tested, and well-trusted within the industry.
As Interior Designers, we’ve worked with countless different brands on each category of selections. After years of experience, hands-on testing, and our past client’s feedback we’ve collected a handful of vendors and partners we trust. We know where it can pay, literally, to invest in designer pieces and which areas of your home selections you are safe to save on your budget.
We selected the industry’s latest Signature Kitchen Suite appliance line in our 2020 Artisan Kitchen. These gourmet kitchen appliances harmonize with the elevated interior finishes and provided the perfect blend of modern technology, innovation, and beauty. The standout features of the 48” range were the built-in Sous Vide, induction stove, and double ovens. The wood-paneled fridge and freezer were separated by a gorgeous Signature Wine Fridge, allowing for easy entertainment on the main level.
Another example of Artisan-quality of vendors we trust is our wallpaper vendors and installers. After years of working with different distributors, finding a partner that provides excellence is key to this wall covering detail that can provide so much added texture and value.
An Artisan home’s interior should be distinctive and unique to the homeowner’s everyday lifestyle and personality. It should also be filled with extraordinary details, top-tier finishes, variety of selections, and bring wow-worthy awe to every guest. At Carbon 6 Interiors we look to design Artisan homes that reflect and enhance the lifestyle of our clients, designing a space that is truly something brilliant and unforgettable.
Thank you for reading!
The Carbon 6 Interiors Team