Search results for "Achieve optimal" in Home Design Ideas

Living room - transitional living room idea in Atlanta

Chad Holder
Bathroom - mid-sized modern master white tile concrete floor bathroom idea in Minneapolis with a trough sink, flat-panel cabinets, white cabinets and white walls
Bathroom - mid-sized modern master white tile concrete floor bathroom idea in Minneapolis with a trough sink, flat-panel cabinets, white cabinets and white walls
Find the right local pro for your project

This vacation residence located in a beautiful ocean community on the New England coast features high performance and creative use of space in a small package. ZED designed the simple, gable-roofed structure and proposed the Passive House standard. The resulting home consumes only one-tenth of the energy for heating compared to a similar new home built only to code requirements.
Architecture | ZeroEnergy Design
Construction | Aedi Construction
Photos | Greg Premru Photography

Madoc walling captures the beauty of natural stacked field stone in an easy to build wall block. The authentic appearance of dry laid, natural stone is achieved by reproducing the profiles of a number of stones in a single, easy to handle, "Z" shaped Madoc block. Madoc can be used for garden walls, piers, steps, outdoor kitchens, firepits, seat walls, waterfalls, planters, and raised gardens.
FREE CATALOG:
http://nicolock.com/homeowner-tools/catalog/catalog-request
More Product Information:
http://nicolock.com/products/bradstone/walls/madoc-wall

2011 EcoHome Design Award Winner
Key to the successful design were the homeowner priorities of family health, energy performance, and optimizing the walk-to-town construction site. To maintain health and air quality, the home features a fresh air ventilation system with energy recovery, a whole house HEPA filtration system, radiant & radiator heating distribution, and low/no VOC materials. The home’s energy performance focuses on passive heating/cooling techniques, natural daylighting, an improved building envelope, and efficient mechanical systems, collectively achieving overall energy performance of 50% better than code. To address the site opportunities, the home utilizes a footprint that maximizes southern exposure in the rear while still capturing the park view in the front.
ZeroEnergy Design
Green Architecture and Mechanical Design
www.ZeroEnergy.com
Kauffman Tharp Design
Interior Design
www.ktharpdesign.com
Photos by Eric Roth

The Legendary Rockstar Pool Build — A Backyard Concert Venue and Custom Swimming Pool
The Rockstar Pool is one of the most ambitious, imaginative, and large-scale residential pool builds ever completed by Legendary Escapes. Designed and built by Al Curtis, this project was created for a homeowner whose entire life revolves around performance, music, and living boldly.
This is far more than a swimming pool.
It is a backyard concert venue, a sculpted grotto, a hot tub, a swim-up bar, a VIP lounge, a performance platform, and a fully engineered artistic environment built as a single cohesive experience.
A Client With a True Rockstar Life
The homeowner’s request was simple in spirit but extraordinary in scale: create a pool environment that matched a life centered on creativity and performance. His background includes jousting at the Michigan Renaissance Festival, on-stage theatrical work, a home rebuilt around music and entertainment, and longstanding connections within the rock world. With a 16-acre horse farm and a passion for bold design, he needed a pool that reflected his personality.
His project requirements included a grotto, waterfall, hot tub, swim-up bar, performance area, and multiple lounging zones. Every feature had to feel original, dramatic, and purposeful.
The Design Vision
Designer and builder Al Curtis immediately recognized that this build needed to be expansive, theatrical, and seamlessly integrated into the landscape. The pool needed to make a statement without obstructing panoramic views of the surrounding farm and open sky.
The spark for the design came from an unexpected source: steel grates salvaged from an old carnival tilt-a-whirl ride. This inspired the concept of a floating performance stage built over the pool. What began as a small idea quickly grew into a large-scale platform complete with a concrete stage, integrated lighting, waterfalls, backstage areas, and custom metalwork. As the stage expanded, so did the pool, the patio, and the entire environment—ultimately transforming the backyard into a private amphitheater.
Repurposed Materials Used as Art
Legendary Escapes is known for incorporating reclaimed materials into artistic, sculptural pool environments. This project includes an extraordinary collection of repurposed components:
Tilt-a-whirl steel used as the main stage structure
Carnival flooring panels transformed into large fire-feature guitars
Trumpet and trombone bells refitted as lighting fixtures
Reclaimed street lamps custom-painted for poolside lighting
3D-printed album covers used as illuminated wall panels
Concrete replicas of Marshall speakers integrated under the stage
Every material was selected to bring character, history, and energy to the space.
Artistic Features and Highlights
The Rockstar Pool includes numerous custom artistic elements, such as:
A ten-foot mosaic “album cover” inset into the pool floor
Eight-foot sculpted guitars along the fence line
Guitar-shaped fire features
Backlit album panels positioned just above the water
A “Rockstar” sign paired with sculpted concrete amplifier towers
A VIP seating area built from restored tilt-a-whirl ride cars
Every corner of the environment contains layered artistic details.
Engineering Challenges and Solutions
Creating a fully functional concert stage over the deep end of the pool required extensive planning and engineering. Key complexities included:
Designing a safe, weight-bearing steel and concrete stage structure
Adjusting stage elevation mid-build to achieve optimal height
Installing three complete filtration systems concealed beneath the stage
Applying ecoFinish throughout the pool, spa, and grotto
Rebuilding existing decking and integrating a three-story observation tower
Ensuring the massive pool structure preserved the property’s sightlines
The technical demands of this project were matched only by the creative vision behind it.
The Legendary Team
This build was completed by a multi-generational team of craftsmen and artists, including:
Al Curtis – Designer and builder
Jesse Curtis – Project manager and construction artist
Mark Curtis – Filtration systems and plumbing
Annie Curtis – Stonework and water features
Karen Olson – Tile, stonework, and patio murals
Frank DiPiazza – Structural construction and decking
Brendan Schafer – On-site support and maintenance
dbaker designs – Custom mosaic creation
Daren Baker – Custom metal guitars and lighting elements
Each contributor played a critical role in shaping the final environment.
A Client Who Trusted the Process
As with many Legendary Escapes projects, this build evolved organically. The homeowner provided inspiration and trust, allowing the team to respond to the evolving environment. Several features—including the guitar fence, fire elements, and VIP seating area—were conceived and built during the process as the design revealed new opportunities.
The Final Result
The Rockstar Pool is now a fully functional concert venue, swimming pool, artistic installation, and outdoor living space. It is dramatic, expressive, engineered with care, and truly one-of-a-kind. This project reflects the homeowner’s personality and passion, and stands as one of the most ambitious designs ever produced by Legendary Escapes.

Sponsored
Chantilly, VA
Award Winning Design & Service!
FineLine Kitchens, Inc.
Award Winning Kitchen & Bath Design Center Serving the DMV Area

Inspiration for a huge transitional u-shaped light wood floor, beige floor and exposed beam open concept kitchen remodel in Austin with a farmhouse sink, recessed-panel cabinets, beige cabinets, multicolored backsplash, stone tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and white countertops

CLASSICALLY MODERN HAVEN BY THE HILLS
A mid-century Eichler renovation, optimized for sunlight and the vistas of the valley. Structural adaptations allow for extensive glazing, achieving seamless integration of the landscape to create unity and spatial flow.

2011 EcoHome Design Award Winner
Key to the successful design were the homeowner priorities of family health, energy performance, and optimizing the walk-to-town construction site. To maintain health and air quality, the home features a fresh air ventilation system with energy recovery, a whole house HEPA filtration system, radiant & radiator heating distribution, and low/no VOC materials. The home’s energy performance focuses on passive heating/cooling techniques, natural daylighting, an improved building envelope, and efficient mechanical systems, collectively achieving overall energy performance of 50% better than code. To address the site opportunities, the home utilizes a footprint that maximizes southern exposure in the rear while still capturing the park view in the front.
ZeroEnergy Design | Green Architecture & Mechanical Design
www.ZeroEnergy.com
Kauffman Tharp Design | Interior Design
www.ktharpdesign.com
Photos by Eric Roth

This house was a very small mid-century bungalow with previous additions that resulted in a large but chaotic layout. The owners wanted to convert the house to a super-efficient, and charming Craftsman-style, 6 bedroom home for their large family and work at home.
We achieved the space needs by moving a few walls for a more efficient, organized layout, setting up spaces for overlapping uses, and making a small upstairs addition. Every bit of square footage was optimized to meet the goals of the project without making the house huge or adding unnecessary cost.
Much thought was given to the entry sequence near the front door. A large flow-through mudroom with storage for each family member, and adjacent laundry, make it easy for children to be taught to keep their things organized and to contribute to household chores. A mail station and central home admin area at the mudroom help keep clutter down at other areas and minimize home management tasks. A garage door near the kitchen gives quick access to bulk items.
The existing house had too much view to the street from the living room through large corner windows, and too little entry transition, to the extent that the family did not feel comfortable using the living room much without shades drawn. We raised the window sills and brought the new windows in from the corner of the house, allowing plenty of light while protecting privacy and a sense of enclosure in the living room. We enlarged the front porch to create a more graceful transition from the public to private space. We located the front door so that the circulation from entry into the house would allow for furnishing the living room with a sitting circle that is not intruded upon by people walking through the room.
Sight lines through the living spaces were an important consideration in the design. The owners wanted discreet spaces for living room, kitchen, dining and family room, but also wanted the living spaces to feel connected and to be able to easily watch their children. Being able to see the children playing in the yard while getting things done inside the house was also important. While largely working with the existing structure, we opened walls and rearranged the use of spaces to make a series of connected living spaces with long views through them.
The character of the remodeled house is a contemporary Craftsman with classic materials and cool, consistent colors. A few arches echo through the house to frame spaces and soften the feeling of the rooms.
Photography: Kurt Manley
https://saikleyarchitects.com/portfolio/bungalow-expansion/

Klopf Architecture, Arterra Landscape Architects and Henry Calvert of Calvert Ventures Designed and built a new warm, modern, Eichler-inspired, open, indoor-outdoor home on a deeper-than-usual San Mateo Highlands property where an original Eichler house had burned to the ground.
The owners wanted multi-generational living and larger spaces than the original home offered, but all parties agreed that the house should respect the neighborhood and blend in stylistically with the other Eichlers. At first the Klopf team considered re-using what little was left of the original home and expanding on it. But after discussions with the owner and builder, all parties agreed that the last few remaining elements of the house were not practical to re-use, so Klopf Architecture designed a new home that pushes the Eichler approach in new directions.
One disadvantage of Eichler production homes is that the house designs were not optimized for each specific lot. A new custom home offered the team a chance to start over. In this case, a longer house that opens up sideways to the south fit the lot better than the original square-ish house that used to open to the rear (west). Accordingly, the Klopf team designed an L-shaped “bar” house with a large glass wall with large sliding glass doors that faces sideways instead of to the rear like a typical Eichler. This glass wall opens to a pool and landscaped yard designed by Arterra Landscape Architects.
Driving by the house, one might assume at first glance it is an Eichler because of the horizontality, the overhanging flat roof eaves, the dark gray vertical siding, and orange solid panel front door, but the house is designed for the 21st Century and is not meant to be a “Likeler.” You won't see any posts and beams in this home. Instead, the ceiling decking is a western red cedar that covers over all the beams. Like Eichlers, this cedar runs continuously from inside to out, enhancing the indoor / outdoor feeling of the house, but unlike Eichlers it conceals a cavity for lighting, wiring, and insulation. Ceilings are higher, rooms are larger and more open, the master bathroom is light-filled and more generous, with a separate tub and shower and a separate toilet compartment, and there is plenty of storage. The garage even easily fits two of today's vehicles with room to spare.
A massive 49-foot by 12-foot wall of glass and the continuity of materials from inside to outside enhance the inside-outside living concept, so the owners and their guests can flow freely from house to pool deck to BBQ to pool and back.
During construction in the rough framing stage, Klopf thought the front of the house appeared too tall even though the house had looked right in the design renderings (probably because the house is uphill from the street). So Klopf Architecture paid the framer to change the roofline from how we had designed it to be lower along the front, allowing the home to blend in better with the neighborhood. One project goal was for people driving up the street to pass the home without immediately noticing there is an "imposter" on this lot, and making that change was essential to achieve that goal.
This 2,606 square foot, 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom Eichler-inspired new house is located in San Mateo in the heart of the Silicon Valley.
Klopf Architecture Project Team: John Klopf, AIA, Klara Kevane
Landscape Architect: Arterra Landscape Architects
Contractor: Henry Calvert of Calvert Ventures
Photography ©2016 Mariko Reed
Location: San Mateo, CA
Year completed: 2016

Sponsored
Chantilly, VA
Award Winning Design & Service!
FineLine Kitchens, Inc.
Award Winning Kitchen & Bath Design Center Serving the DMV Area

A design for a busy, active family longing for order and a central place for the family to gather. Optimizing a small space with organization and classic elements has them ready to entertain and welcome family and friends.
Custom designed by Hartley and Hill Design
All materials and furnishings in this space are available through Hartley and Hill Design. www.hartleyandhilldesign.com
888-639-0639
Neil Landino Photography

2011 EcoHome Design Award Winner
Key to the successful design were the homeowner priorities of family health, energy performance, and optimizing the walk-to-town construction site. To maintain health and air quality, the home features a fresh air ventilation system with energy recovery, a whole house HEPA filtration system, radiant & radiator heating distribution, and low/no VOC materials. The home’s energy performance focuses on passive heating/cooling techniques, natural daylighting, an improved building envelope, and efficient mechanical systems, collectively achieving overall energy performance of 50% better than code. To address the site opportunities, the home utilizes a footprint that maximizes southern exposure in the rear while still capturing the park view in the front.
ZeroEnergy Design | Green Architecture & Mechanical Design
www.ZeroEnergy.com
Kauffman Tharp Design | Interior Design
www.ktharpdesign.com
Photos by Eric Roth

Example of a cottage medium tone wood floor and brown floor living room design in Other with gray walls, a standard fireplace and a tile fireplace

The steel exo-skeleton cradles a floating radiant concrete floor platform. A shallow sloped exposed timber-framed roof structure serves as a metaphorical forest canopy umbrella and optimally orients the photovoltaic solar panel system to the southwest. A continuous clerestory wraps all sides of the house, bathing the interior spaces in natural light and providing serendipitous views into the treetops from within. photo credit: Ben Benschneider

Sponsored
Chantilly, VA
Award Winning Design & Service!
FineLine Kitchens, Inc.
Award Winning Kitchen & Bath Design Center Serving the DMV Area

Karyn Millet Photography
Example of a transitional kids' alcove bathtub design in Los Angeles
Example of a transitional kids' alcove bathtub design in Los Angeles

Example of a trendy kitchen design in New York with flat-panel cabinets, gray cabinets, beige backsplash, stone slab backsplash and stainless steel appliances

Gibeon Photography
Minimalist kitchen photo in Los Angeles with wood countertops
Minimalist kitchen photo in Los Angeles with wood countertops
1

