Black wrought iron pendant lantern lights are suspended from soft blue painted ceiling beams. Bright blue and yellow throw pillows adorn wicker chairs. The brightly patterned floors are Mexican tile.

Large transitional master gray tile and porcelain tile porcelain tile and gray floor bathroom photo in Portland with shaker cabinets, gray walls, an undermount sink, quartz countertops, white countertops, medium tone wood cabinets and a built-in vanity

Example of a transitional galley porcelain tile and gray floor dedicated laundry room design in Grand Rapids with flat-panel cabinets, gray cabinets, quartzite countertops, a side-by-side washer/dryer and white countertops

Designed to compliment the existing single story home in a densely wooded setting, this Pool Cabana serves as outdoor kitchen, dining, bar, bathroom/changing room, and storage. Photos by Ross Pushinaitus.

Inspiration for a huge transitional u-shaped vinyl floor and brown floor eat-in kitchen remodel in Milwaukee with a farmhouse sink, shaker cabinets, blue cabinets, quartzite countertops, white backsplash, subway tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and white countertops

Dan Forer, Forer Incorporated
Example of a large classic master carpeted and beige floor bedroom design in Miami

Inspiration for a large transitional l-shaped medium tone wood floor and brown floor kitchen remodel in San Luis Obispo with an undermount sink, recessed-panel cabinets, white cabinets, gray backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and black countertops

Martha O'Hara Interiors, Interior Design & Photo Styling | Meg Mulloy, Photography | Please Note: All “related,” “similar,” and “sponsored” products tagged or listed by Houzz are not actual products pictured. They have not been approved by Martha O’Hara Interiors nor any of the professionals credited. For info about our work: design@oharainteriors.com

Photo by: James Licata
Sunroom - traditional sunroom idea in Chicago with a glass ceiling

Example of a mid-sized transitional formal and enclosed living room design in New York with beige walls, a standard fireplace, a stone fireplace and no tv

George Heinrich
Mountain style wood exterior home photo in Minneapolis

Mudroom - large traditional porcelain tile mudroom idea in Salt Lake City with white walls

Architectural advisement, Interior Design, Custom Furniture Design & Art Curation by Chango & Co Photography by Sarah Elliott See the feature in Rue Magazine

Trendy freestanding desk medium tone wood floor home office photo in San Francisco with beige walls

Inspiration for a large transitional brown two-story stone house exterior remodel in Raleigh

Example of a transitional l-shaped dark wood floor and brown floor kitchen design in Charlotte with a farmhouse sink, recessed-panel cabinets, white cabinets, stainless steel appliances, an island, white countertops and gray backsplash

Example of a small transitional 3/4 ceramic tile and gray floor bathroom design in Los Angeles with flat-panel cabinets, black cabinets, a two-piece toilet, white walls, an undermount sink, marble countertops and gray countertops

Guillermo Garcia
Tuscan exterior home photo in Santa Barbara

A local Houston art collector hired us to create a low maintenance, sophisticated, contemporary landscape design. She wanted her property to compliment her eclectic taste in architecture, outdoor sculpture, and modern art. Her house was built with a minimalist approach to decoration, emphasizing right angles and windows instead of architectural keynotes. The west wing of the house was only one story, while the east wing was two-story. The windows in both wings were larger than usual, so that visitors could see her art collection from the home’s exterior. Near one of the large rear windows, there was an abstract metal sculpture designed in the form of a spiral. When she initially contacted us, the surrounding property had only a few trees and indigenous grass as vegetation. This was actually a good beginning point with us, because it allowed us to develop a contemporary landscape design that featured a very linear, crisp look supportive of the home and its contents. We began by planting a garden around the large contemporary sculpture near the window. Landscape designers planted horsetail reed under windows, along the sides of the home, and around the corners. This vegetation is very resilient and hardy, and requires little trimming, weeding, or mulching. This helped unite the diverse elements of sculpture, contemporary architecture, and landscape design into a more fluid harmony that preserved the proportions of each unique element, but eliminated any tendency for the elements to clash with one another. We then added two stonework designs to the landscape surrounding the contemporary art collection and home. The first was a linear walkway we build from concrete pads purchased through a retail vendor as a cost-saving benefit to our client. We created this walkway to follow the perimeter of the home so that visitors could walk around the entire property and admire the outdoor sculptures and the collections of modern art visible through the windows. This was especially enjoyable at night, when the entire home was brightly lit from within. To add a touch of tranquility and quite repose to the stark right angles of the home and surrounding contemporary landscape, we designed a special seating area toward the northwest corner of the property. We wanted to create a sense of contemplation in this area, so we departed from the linear and angular designs of the surrounding landscape and established a theme of circular geometry. We laid down gravel as ground cover, then placed large, circular pads arranged like giant stepping stones that led up to a stone patio filled with chairs. The shape of the granite pads and the contours of the graveled area further complimented the spirals and turns in the outdoor metal sculpture, and balanced the entire contemporary landscape design with proportional geometric forms of lines, angles, and curves. This particular contemporary landscape design also has a sense of movement attached to it. All stonework leads to a destination of some sort. The linear pathway provides a guided tour around the home, garden, and modern art collection. The granite pathway stones create movement toward separate space where the entire experience of art, vegetation, and architecture can be viewed and experienced as a unity. Contemporary landscaping designs like create form out of feeling by using basic geometric forms and variations of forms. Sometimes very stark forms are used to create a sense of absolutism or contrast. At other times, forms are blended, or even distorted to suggest a sense of complex emotion, or a sense of multi-dimensional reality. The exact nature of the design is always highly subjective, and developed on a case-by-case basis with the client.