Castles and me...
I guess that if I have a fetish, it must be castles. I love them. I want to visit every castle that exists in the world, and that shall be a life project that I hope to complete someday. This page is dedicated to my castle obsession.
I've always wanted a castle. Living in a small tropical island makes that task a bit offbeat, but I want to be able to at least create a castle out of my own home. And here I describe how I manage to build my own castle or give the impression or feel that I live within one...
Inspired on the work of creative genius Christopher Lowell, and some medieval-gothic advice like the ones found at the site of Gothic Martha Stewart and the site of a Medieval Home, I will apply the 7 layers of design to my specialty decor fetish... Here's how to design and create your own castle... within the walls of a common home.
PLANNING before LAYERING
Before actually creating any kind of decoration, I need to habilitate the house so it is functional. So, let's begin with the changes that I need to do to the property.
I bought a 2 levels house in the countryside. It has 3,850sqft around it, so it has enough space to add some fruit trees and other agricultural features to it. To the left side the house has a small mountain wall that belongs to the local water company (there lays the water tank of the small town). To the right side of the house, there lays a small steeped hill. And a neighbor, at fair distance. The hill extends to the back, at its base the limits are determined by neighboring houses. The back of the house has a decent distance until it meets the steep, and I plan to do a gazebo with a lookout in the future as sunsets look lovely in this place. Here is a sketch of the house's surroundings.
The house itself, when I bought it, was divided in two. The fist level had 3 bedrooms, bathroom, kitchen and living room. Its divisions were made by wood planks. The second floor had 2 bedrooms, bathroom, and the living room, kitchen and dining room. I dislike the idea of wood as a core canvas in a house, so the cabinets and divisions in the first floor were demolished. I wanted to make one house out of the two, with the following allocations:
1st floor, the Antique-Gothic-Medieval Dungeon feel: Foyer, living room, seating area w/fake fireplace, dining room, bath, kitchen
2nd floor, the Universal Monsters feel (Frankenstein, Wolfman, Lake Creature, Dracula): Family room, kitchenette, studio, laundry
2nd floor, ancient times feel: Hindu master bedroom, Egyptian guest room, Celestial bath
The stairs were closed so they will be as if inside the house. The front side was extended a bit, the main door was allocated to the side to protect it from the weather. Now I need to focus on getting new doors as they were made of wood and I am discarding anything that can feed termites. I need to change some upstairs windows as they are clear and it is not as safe as metal ones (in case of hurricanes I don't want to have to run to cover the windows, and here hurricanes are a normal event from June to November). I also need to take out the wooden closets that are in the bedrooms, and put mirrored closets instead. The tiles of both bathrooms need change. Upstairs, they will be cobalt blue and white. Downstairs, all tiles will be white but will feature cobalt fleur-de-liz. I won't bother with the flooring upstairs, but downstairs it needs to be completely redone. I will use terracotta stone-looking tiles for the floor in the living-dining and foyer, and plain terracotta for the kitchen. And then comes the creation of cabinets for the kitchen, kitchenette, bathrooms and an armoire-divider for the kitchen-foyer area. Anyway, all of this is what must be done before embarking on the castle decoration frenzy... I must keep in mind what I want the finish look to look like even at the canvas-preparation phase because I don't want to need to redo anything. Also, a need for storage is basic in any house so that is a mayor concern. I will not bother with the outside look until the inside is completed. Now, to the layers...
LAYERS of Design, THE GOTHIC WAY
Layer 1: The Blank Canvas
Layer 2: Painting
Layer 3: Furniture
Layer 4: Blah blah
Layer 5: Blah Blah
Layer 6: Plants
Layer 7: Lightning
Because one cannot have enough castles...
