homify 360°: Modern Detached House, Mersch

Some houses just seem far too good to be true. You could be forgiven for thinking this one was some kind of wonderful mirage, especially when seeing it against the backdrop of a perfectly bright day, as in this photo. The straight lines and flat surfaces that dominate the geometric makeup of the building and garden almost make this place seem surreally perfect. An added edge of strangeness is added by the large expanses of glass that form the facade of the house, which act as mirrors for the sky above and the pool below. It’s also worth pointing out the many solar panels atop the roof. Judging by the beauty of the day on which this photo was taken, they should very rapidly recoup their cost.

Here, just as we’ve already seen with the exterior of the house, simplicity and linear design are key. The perfect parallel lines and absolute order that define the space are signs of a precisely planned, absolutely minimal style of aesthetic preference. Even the staircase is reduced more or less to the bare essentials, with no handrail or unnecessary adornments to distract from the clean rectangles of the steps themselves.

The fairly narrow space between the worktop and the row of cupboards is made to seem broader by the use of enormous, full-wall windows that flood the room with light. Once again, nothing is visible that doesn’t need to be visible. All the bits and bobs that are necessary to a functioning kitchen have been carefully hidden away, preventing them from interrupting the plain white simplicity of the room itself.

Based on what we’ve already seen of the house, the living room could be said to depart somewhat from what one might expect.  Firstly, and most obviously, there’s that stripy wall that so noisily demands your attention as soon as you walk in the door. It’s a far cry from the restrained minimalism of the other two rooms. And of course, there’s also the animal skin rug; an accessory altogether more rustic than anything else we’ve seen so far. But, on closer examination, this room isn’t really so inconsistent with the others after all. Light is central to the look of this space, too, and simple, symmetrical shapes dominate. The wonderful slate floor seen throughout the house is, of course, present here too.

What brightness and natural sunlight did in terms of defining the mood of the other rooms, darkness and seclusion do for the bathroom. This is a peaceful, private room, as rigidly geometric as the others but far, far less chilly aesthetically.

Just like the bathroom, this room has a sloped ceiling that adds bags of character. The most eye-catching feature of all, though, has to be those unusual floor-to-ceiling shelves seen on the right-hand side of the room – complete with a fun sliding library ladder to help reach the very uppermost shelves.

Far more than being a mere utility, the shelves in this room serve a decorative purpose, forming a checkerboard pattern that gives the space a real sense of individuality.