Colorado residents don’t just purchase a piece of property but rather, inherit a view. It could be a serene valley of aspens, the stern visage of fourteener or a rocky canyon that changes with the light. When you are ready to have a home built here, the largest question isn’t always how many bedrooms. It is about how you are going to live with that amazing landscape.
At Colorado Mountain Builders, we don’t think the mountain home has to be the obstacle, but rather a bridge to the outside world. The main idea is to come up with a design that blends perfectly with the landscape. The best plan involves the land’s typography, path of the sun, and daily routines.
The Art of Window Placement
Windows are the eyes of your home and placing them in the correct spot is our strongest tool. We begin by finding your million-dollar view, which is the hub of your primary living space, but we search beyond that single, glaring view.
Natural Light In Your Colorado Custom Mountain Home
We look at the sun to identify where it rises and sets. A window that sits to absorb soft morning light over a ridge changes your kitchen coffee ceremony into a daily ceremony.
Another window can capture the dramatic colors of the sunset. Through this, it takes a nondescript hallway and turns it into an art gallery. This is all about getting light and view on more than one side. This means that it’s a time and season-variable experience.
We also consider privacy and performance. A south-facing wall of windows has the luxury of ingesting precious winter sun, creating a passive solar-heating system. We can then create intelligent overhangs above the windows. These function similarly to a baseball cap on your house, shading the hot, direct summer sun to keep it cool, while letting the low, warm winter sun pour in.
Creating Spaces That Flow with the Light
An open great room where the kitchen, dining, and living spaces all live in one room lets light flow in and drift away out into the house. This is super spacious and ideal for mountain living where freedom of spirit matters most.
But a house in the mountains must be balanced, too. It must contain warm, snug areas for a night inside. How we find balance is by creating nooks and alcoves. A bay window seat in a corner, a reading chair next to a smaller, strategically located window, or a hearth room with a fireplace. While these spaces provide shelter, they do not make us turn our backs on nature.
The transition from in to out is just as important. This is accomplished with well-designed outdoor living spaces. A large deck or patio accessible via sliding or folding broad glass doors efficiently extends your living space outdoors. The line between the inside and outside is blurry when doors are open. But they become invisible when windows are closed, as the view gets blended with your indoor space.
Selecting an Appropriate Material to Amplify the Glow
The way we finish the inside of your home can have a significant impact on how light interacts. Heavy, dark finishes will bounce light back inward and produce an enclosed atmosphere. Our suggestion is a color scheme that reflects and takes advantage of the natural light pouring in through your windows instead.
Light colors on walls and ceilings offer a canvas upon which the sun may bounce around. Light wood flooring or ceilings, rock faces with less dominant colors and polished concrete floors are natural surfaces that reflect light attractively. Even the finish on your hardwood floors or the sheen on your worktops will reflect light around the space. This makes it warm and inviting since we need soft, natural light. We don’t employ something unnatural. Rather, we would want to utilize pieces that would complement it well and merge the exterior with your interior design.
It takes a journey to build a unique mountain dwelling in Colorado. Consider it as an opportunity to create a remote sanctuary that beautifully integrates with its environment. It is not about constructing the largest dwelling possible but constructing the most intelligent one. A home laid out with integration, one that utilizes natural lighting, and one that respects the breathtaking Colorado landscape that first invited you here.
For amazing results, consider partnering with Colorado Mountain Builders. We listen to your demands and apply our expertise of the mountains, the sun, and considerate design to make it happen.