Architecture & Interior Design: David Heide Design Studio -- Photos: Karen Melvin
Arts and crafts kitchen photo in Minneapolis with light wood cabinets, green backsplash, subway tile backsplash, recessed-panel cabinets, granite countertops, a peninsula and gray countertops

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.

Aaron Leitz Photography
Corner shower - contemporary white tile corner shower idea in San Francisco with a trough sink, flat-panel cabinets, dark wood cabinets and an undermount tub

Example of a small classic single-wall medium tone wood floor wet bar design in Orlando with an undermount sink, recessed-panel cabinets, black cabinets, laminate countertops and multicolored backsplash

The kitchen spills out onto the deck and the sliding glass door that was added in the master suite opens up into an exposed structure screen porch. Over all the exterior space extends the traffic flow of the interior and makes the home feel larger without adding actual square footage. Troy Thies Photography

Shoe storage under stairway
Example of a classic wooden staircase design in New York

Full view of kitchen. Photography by Open Homes photography
Example of a mid-sized minimalist single-wall light wood floor open concept kitchen design in San Francisco with flat-panel cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets, white backsplash, stainless steel appliances, a single-bowl sink and an island

Turn your garage into a dream garage. Let Garage Envy help you MASTER THE MESS!
Example of a classic one-car garage design in Los Angeles

William Hefner Architecture, Erika Bierman Photography
Inspiration for a transitional dark wood floor and brown floor seated home bar remodel in Los Angeles with white backsplash, stone slab backsplash and gray countertops

Patio - contemporary patio idea in Los Angeles with a fire pit

Rob Karosis
Mudroom - traditional black floor mudroom idea in New York

My favorite farmhouse kitchen.. :)
Example of a mid-sized country l-shaped medium tone wood floor kitchen design in Louisville with a farmhouse sink, stainless steel appliances, shaker cabinets, wood countertops, white cabinets, white backsplash, ceramic backsplash and an island

Example of a mid-sized classic gray two-story stone gable roof design in Minneapolis

Powder room - small cottage marble floor, white floor and wallpaper powder room idea in San Francisco with flat-panel cabinets, brown cabinets, a one-piece toilet, multicolored walls, a drop-in sink, marble countertops, white countertops and a freestanding vanity

GC: Ekren Construction Photo Credit: Tiffany Ringwald
Inspiration for a large transitional master white tile and marble tile marble floor, gray floor, single-sink and vaulted ceiling bathroom remodel in Charlotte with shaker cabinets, light wood cabinets, a two-piece toilet, beige walls, an undermount sink, quartzite countertops, gray countertops and a built-in vanity

Beach style living room photo in Orange County

Kitchen - transitional kitchen idea in Phoenix

This customer was looking to add privacy, use less water, include raised bed garden and fire pit...making it all more their style which was a blend between modern and farmhouse.

This guest bath was remodeled to provide a shared bathroom for two growing boys. The dark blue gray vanity adds a masculine touch while double sinks and mirrors provide each boy with his own space. A tall custom linen cabinet in the shower area provides plenty of storage for towels and bath sundries, while a handy pullout hamper on the bottom keeps the area tidy. Classic white subway tile is repeated in the tub shower and on the vanity accent wall. Marble look porcelain floor tile picks up the gray color of the vanity and provides a beautiful and durable floor surface.