Ah summertime and spending it in the great outdoors. Your own outdoors! At SweisKloss we love to design + construct these 5 outdoor elements into our client’s projects. A pergola with a retractable sun shade. The pergola extends the living space from the indoors to the outdoors; the sun shade allows the pergola to be a functional and enjoyable space in the Southern California climate.
Read MoreIt surprises a lot of people to learn that Santa Monica is a city unto itself. Pushed up against the Pacific Ocean by Los Angeles on three sides, it is easy to think of Santa Monica as a neighborhood of the metropolis of LA. But step into the City of Santa Monica and you immediately get the vibe not of a part of the second largest city in the country, but of a small town. The small town feel is most apparent during the summer when everyone is out and about, and especially at the Main Street Fourth of July Parade. Even those who “don’t go out much” will run into dozens of people they know at the parade.
Read MoreAs a design + construct firm whose mission is to create, we use a lot of material. We are thoughtful about how our projects impact the environment and we consciously incorporate existing materials where possible. In addition to reusing material, we recycle what we do not use. And Los Angeles County and the State of California assures that we do.
Read MoreThe kids are out of school, the air is warm, the sun is up longer and the sandals have come out of storage… it’s Summertime!! Summer feels like the season of energy, of excitement, of freedom; somehow it feels just a little more liberating than the other 3 seasons. Maybe it is because we spend more time outdoors during the summer, and the outdoors feels expansive, the outdoors gives us more room to breathe and to move our bodies.
Read MoreWhen you imagine your brand new or newly renovated space what does it contain? Walls, ceilings, windows, stairs, doors, drywall, paint, baseboard, doorstops, subfloor, railings... OK, I am willing to bet that you are not picturing the drywall, but you are instead imagining the overall feeling of the space. It is the interaction of the design elements, like the cabinetry, the tile, the sun-drenched hardwood floors, and the view to the outdoors from a couch that make you feel like you want to be in that space.
Read MoreLimiting a selection of really great light fixtures to five is really difficult! Just like a lot of design elements, what fixture we like depends upon the style of the space, the location of the fixture, the effect we wish to create, etc. But there are some fixtures that transcend “it depends.” One is this funky bedside wall fixture that is simple yet highly functional.
Read MoreThis has been another successful scholarship season for the Kiwanis Club of Santa Monica. Handing out over $46,000 worth of academic, music and arts scholarships to our high achieving local students is always our favorite activity of the year.
Read MoreWhether custom made or prefabricated, walk-in or along a wall, it can’t be denied that closets are a necessity. Closets are for storing items we use every day, items we won’t pull out until the next season, and items we just as soon forget we have. A home renovation is a great time to reevaluate your closet needs. We thought we’d help by listing a few of our suggestions for a closet re-design.
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The coffee table. A piece of furniture that is both useful and decorative, and whether for coffee or cocktails, when missing makes the space feel almost awkward. Picture your own living room without a coffee table, feels weird right? In honor of this ubiquitous furniture accessory, we thought we’d share five that have caught our eye.
Our design + construct team knows a wall is never just a wall. Whether residential or commercial, we create design elements that provide shade, afford privacy and dial down the volume outside. They’re art pieces that stoke the imagination. I love building walls.
Take our work for DCG. In 2013, the IT services company challenged us to transform a 2,000-square-foot, empty store into a functional office space.
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Although I would like to believe the expression, “Everyday is Earth Day”, until it is, we can at least go as far as wishing you a Happy Earth Week. In celebration of Earth Week here at SweisKloss, we have started office composting. Most of us either bring lunch to the office or order in and eat here together, or even make lunch here.
If you are jumping on the tidying-up movement made popular by Marie Kondo’s “Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up,” and motivated by the season to do some “spring cleaning,” we thought we’d share some of our favorite recipes for green cleaning. These solutions are easy to make, easier on the skin and the airways than commercial cleaners, and they contain no dyes that can discolor your furniture and fixtures. If you don’t love the odor of any of these ingredients, you don’t have to bear it long because the odor dissipates quickly.
The kitchen. Intended to be a place to prepare food, the kitchen has metamorphosed into a place for many activities, in addition to preparing food, and sometimes not even used for food prep at all (some of my New York City friends store sweaters in their kitchen cabinets and shoes in the oven!). As a place to cook, bake, eat, entertain (and store items), the kitchen is the room that all others in the house seem to revolve around spiritually and in the case of an open plan home, physically.
Read MoreIn a bathroom design, unarguably a toilet, sink, bathing ability, mirror and privacy are what we think of when we consider what is necessary in the design. There are other design element options that are perhaps not “necessary” but, arguably, really nice to have.
Read MoreIt is hard to imagine enjoying spending time outside right now with all this rain, but it won’t be long before we will want to spend all of our days and evenings outdoors. The outdoors is where many of us go for a change of scenery, to stretch our legs, to breathe deeply. Many of us also like to grill, enjoy an outdoor fire, relax with a glass of wine or a good book after work. To be able to have these tranquil experiences in our own yard is nothing short of heavenly. And it is not about the view, it is about being able to see, to see beyond four walls and a ceiling.
Read MoreWhen you are thinking of building a home, we want to help you build your dream home. Leave nothing to chance and let Sweiskloss help you with our design and build philosophy and construction services in Santa Monica.
Read MoreYour house may be as strong as steel, but it can become prone to natural elements such as rain and storms. Let Sweiskloss help you with ideas for rain protection for your house in Los Angeles. Get in touch now.
Read MoreSweiskloss is one of the most loved local businesses in Santa Monica. Our firm specializes in turning your dreams into built structures through architecture and construction.
Read MoreThe SweisKloss family are pet lovers, Sweiskloss has you covered in Santa Monica and around Los Angeles. Our company believes in giving back to the community with pet rescue initiatives.
Read MoreFond of reading? Sweiskloss wants to give you some great finds. See some of Abeer Sweis' favorite reads such as the Alchemist by paulo coelho and Italo Calvino's, Invisible Cities are some of the favorites of the company in Santa Monica.
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