K Hovnanian | Corporate, Multifamily, and Senior Housing Design Project
I’m absolutely thrilled to be sharing my design work with K. Hovnanian Homes’ new property, The Four Seasons at Orlando, located in Kissimmee. The Four Seasons is an active, lifestyle community for ages 55 and up. We just completed design on four model homes there, (Balfour, Dominica, St. Thomas, St. Lucia) and they’re all gorgeous!
Now we’re continuing to work with Kyle Upper, Division President at K. Hovnanian Homes, who has asked us to create the community’s clubhouse. Kyle came to us with a vision for a British West Indies inspired space with a bar and patio area, fitness studio, and craft room. This style matches the outside architecture, and the luxury, resort-style feel of the entire community. I thought it would be fun to take you along as we design this exciting new project, so let’s begin!
British West Indies design came from a collaboration of British colonists and military members who traveled to tropical climates but enjoyed having the comforts of home with them. They hired local craftsmen to produce dark wood furniture and accent pieces to create a familiar environment and thus, the British West Indies style was born!
Once I knew the design style, I got right to Pinterest and began searching for inspiration. A community clubhouse is typically used for leisure activities, entertaining, and various celebrations. Keeping that in mind while searching for necessary but functional pieces, I began my hunt for ideas. The elements that immediately stuck out during my search were: blue and green accent colors, light fabrics and furniture in ivory, and natural woven elements like wicker. For the elegant British touches, decorated jars, and traditional wood mixed with rustic wood pieces. See my design inspiration below.
Flooring at K. Hovnanian Four Seasons
We’re back again with our second installment, no pun intended, of processes as we design the K. Hovnanian Four Seasons clubhouse. If you’re just tuning in, make sure you check out Part I to see the active adult lifestyle space we are designing. Today, we’re talking all things flooring! Choosing the right floors can seem like a daunting task, as there are many materials to choose from. My advice, start by being realistic about what activity will take place in the room. Ask yourself the following:
Will this room see lots of traction?
Will young children or elderly adults need to make their way through this room?
Will pets and children be active in this room?
Will things be moved around in this room that could potentially scratch the flooring?
Is this an active play space or a rarely used featured room?
Answering these basic questions will give you an idea of what materials will work best in your space. For this project, I really wanted to use this sillito tile or Mexican tile at first. It is unique and captures what the British West Indies style is all about.
However, I came to the realization that this tile is uneven and the grout lines can be a tripping hazard. This is not ideal for an adult living space. So I came up with these alternatives of luxury vinyl tile or what we simply call it, LVT.
This tile is not actually tile at all! It is installed in pieces to look like wood floors, and is almost indestructible. This type of flooring is perfect for an entertaining space that will get a lot of traction, but still looks really nice and ties a room together.
Plain dark flooring is so boring! So I created a pattern that uses light and dark LVT, still matching the rich tones of British West Indies design, giving it a little flair, and matching up with the functional needs of this clubhouse.
Ceiling and Trim Details For K. Hovnaian Properties
It’s been a busy summer, and we’re back with huge progress on our exciting project with K Hovnanian Homes. We have laid out the groundwork for the clubhouse in their active adult lifestyle community, The Four Seasons at Orlando and things are coming along beautifully!
Today we’re showing you a part of the project that may not be the first thing that comes to mind during your remodel or new build, the ceiling. Ceilings are important for obvious reasons, but the structure and design of the ceiling can completely warm up and change a room, so let’s begin! This reflected ceiling plan shows the basics. Any items like fans, tray or inverted ceilings, lights, or beams that are added in the ceiling of each room or space are shown here.
If you’ll remember from our previous post, our style inspiration for K. Hov’s Four Seasons, is going to be British West Indies, which means lots of stained wood, white features, and blue and green accents.
This is another part of our project presentation, where we show our clients the plan for every single detail of the design. In this slide we show our plan for a beautiful octagonal, beamed ceiling with stained wood in teak or cypress, and a crisp white contrast surrounding it. We also share our plan for lighting with these lantern shaped fixtures that really add to that vintage British West Indies feel.
The grand foyer, or luxurious entryway, will also feature a ceiling concept with uniquely stained beams, but the architecture will give it a different shape. The antique feeling iron chandeliers we proposed for this area are going to give it life.
So that is your sneak peek for now, but we can’t wait to show you more! As this project develops quickly we will be sharing several more updates. Follow our Instagram page and stories so that you don’t miss any updates on this amazing project we’re designing with K. Hovnanian.