Sizing Windows Like a Graphic Designer

I’m not a huge fan of Toronto suburban architecture; the garage is just too predominant.  But it is what it is for a reason:  You need cars, tools, and machines when you live in the burbs and the properties aren’t big enough to hide a barn in the back.  

We have a double car garage, with no space for the cars… lol.  The principal suite is going above it with the ensuite at the back of the house.  Working out the size and position of the main window above the garage was quite a challenge.  How many windows should we do and how big should they be?  We played around a few different variations.  Two windows evenly spaced over the garage would be nice from the interior perspective, but on the outside it looks like a giant cringe emoji.  Three windows looked odd in respect the the rest of the house.  Even one big one wasn’t looking right.  

We needed to look at the actual windows for inspiration.  We visited the Chateau Windows and Doors showroom and immediately fell in love with the XL double hung from Lapage.  It’s a huge window, but it slides open and closed so easily.  Based on that we went back to the drawings and placed two XLs together, but they still didn’t look right.  

This is where Jeremy’s graphic design background came in handy.  He suggested we compose the front of the house two dimensionally and apply the rule of thirds. The addition automatically took on that theory with the high peak on the upper left third, but the window needed to fit the peak.

We determined that the window should be exactly half the size of the garage. The bottom line should be lined up to the top of the porch roof which brings the top into the peak and would accentuate the ceiling height from both an interior and exterior perspective. Reducing the number of plains and lines calms the visual information and should make the house more aesthetically pleasing. Now, if only we could move the front door 6” to the right. Honestly, what were the builders thinking?