The renovation of this Queen Anne Hill Spanish bungalow was an extreme transformation into contemporary and tranquil retreat. Photography by John Granen.

CASA 1O Contemporary on a Mid-century Scaffold. Largely unmodified since its design by Russell Forester and construction in 1957, the structure housed the original family until 2013. An intimate 1,910 square foot space, the house acquired a separate 600 square foot cottage in the 70’s designed by another architect. New owners purchased the house with the idea of keeping the original architect’s intent intact – the simple accommodation of everyday life with a focus on outdoor living only possible in Southern California. At the same time the house needed insulation, new electrical, plumbing, siding – everything but new studs and foundations. A single roof beam travels south from the north fireplace wall all the way to the bedrooms in the back. Functions occur to either side, with private access to exterior courtyards. How do we accentuate the uncomplicated while enhancing the qualities of the chosen materials? Contemporary applied to a mid-century scaffold. We focused on reduction, a few things performing many tasks. Each component, material or color performs more than one duty. Lighting is paramount, enhancing the design’s procession from front to back, north to south, public to private. Strip LED’s reinforce the beam’s linear presence and spot LED’s make punctuation points of the roof purlins. Hidden up and down-lights in the cabinets and elsewhere provide the rooms with a quiet glow. Exterior grass plantings give the only vertical dimension to the design, waving as the breeze moves them. All else is horizontal: caramelized bamboo siding, porcelain tile, roof line and ocean horizon. Architect: Heather Johnston Architect Landscaping: HJA Photography: Brady Architectural Photography

photo- Matthew Millman
Example of a mountain style living room design in San Francisco with white walls, a standard fireplace and no tv

The use of elegant, formally interesting rugs and textiles conveys a contemporary design to this living room. Living Room Manufacturers - Fabrics: Romo, Kravet, Brunschwig & Fils Lighting: Barbara Cosgrove, Currey & Company Area Rug - Madeline Weinrib Accessories: Arteriors Singleton Photography

Living room inspired by pieces acquired from family's worldwide travels. Includes a beige sofa with burnt orange accents and built in shelving back with navy sisal wallpaper Photo by Stacy Zarin Goldberg Photography

Cantilevered Glass Mantle provides more space for client's art collection. Colorful antique rug warms up the room. Photo: Jamie Snavley
Eclectic living room photo in San Francisco with beige walls and a standard fireplace

The built-in bookcases in this living room help provide much needed storage in a small home while helping to bounce light into the room from the windows. At night the books are illuminated by the monopoint track fixtures. Renovation/Addition. Rob Karosis Photography

Photography by: Werner Straube
Large beach style living room photo in Chicago with beige walls

Small transitional dark wood floor living room photo in Boston with a standard fireplace and beige walls

These young hip professional clients love to travel and wanted a home where they could showcase the items that they've collected abroad. Their fun and vibrant personalities are expressed in every inch of the space, which was personalized down to the smallest details. Just like they are up for adventure in life, they were up for for adventure in the design and the outcome was truly one-of-kind. Photos by Chipper Hatter

Photo: HomeServices of Illinois, LLC
Kitchen/dining room combo - mid-sized contemporary light wood floor and brown floor kitchen/dining room combo idea in Chicago with gray walls and no fireplace

A twirl on traditional suits the family in this Federal style row house. Mingling old and new with the bold and beautiful makes this small space a real stunner, kid and dog included. Photos by Angie Seckinger.

Photo: Kayla Pearson © 2015 Houzz
Inspiration for an industrial dining room remodel in Chicago

When our clients acquired this classic Beacon Hill condominium overlooking Boston Common, they sought collaboration with Feinmann Design|Build to renovate the entire space. The lack of connection between the kitchen, located in the back of the home, and the living and dining rooms was the focus of the redesign. Also on the wish list was a new bedroom and a second family bathroom to be located in the area of the existing kitchen. The resulting plan for this extensive renovation was an updated floor plan to match our clients’ modern lifestyle, while retaining much of the homes original detail. Connecting the most frequented rooms in the house required relocating the kitchen to the front of the condo to be closer to the living and dining rooms. A wall anchored by elegant columns defines the kitchen and adds sophistication to the adjoining dining room. Natural light shines through skylights that were exposed when the kitchen ceiling was opened and then styled to reflect the classic woodworking details found in the rest of the home. White marble counters grace the custom built island, perfect for a casual meal or for doing homework. While reconfiguring the master bathroom and renovating the second bedroom proved to be a major project, our skilled team also relocated the new bedroom and family bathroom to the area where the kitchen formally was. Each of the three renovated bathrooms truly achieved a style of their own – in the Master Bath, a soaking tub and shower are enclosed, as is traditional in Japan, in floor to ceiling glass. To complete our clients wish list, we designed and built a classic Japanese Tatami room to double as both a guest bedroom and meditation space – a unique feature within a classically designed home. Photos by John Horner

In this remarkable architecturally designed home, the owners were craving a drastic change from the neutral decor they had been living with for 15 years. The goal was to infuse a lot of intense color while incorporating, and eloquently displaying, a fabulous art collection acquired on their many travels.

In this remarkable architecturally designed home, the owners were craving a drastic change from the neutral decor they had been living with for 15 years. The goal was to infuse a lot of intense color while incorporating, and eloquently displaying, a fabulous art collection acquired on their many travels.

Breezy Coastal-Inspired Hearth Room Sustainable, natural, wholly engaging, and a showcase for their cultural pieces and art was the concept for this home. The couple wanted to use sustainable and environmentally friendly products throughout their home as much as possible. Being from both California and Florida, they wanted a coastal influence that didn’t look contrived or over-stylized in a Midwestern home. Also, they desired a serene, peaceful space where all senses were engaged. Incorporating the Feng Shui elements of wood, fire, earth, metal and water in color, texture and product choice was used in this design. A problem area with the original room was a large, blocky oak fireplace. The top half was removed and the hearth was painted white, opening up the space considerably. The back wall was painted a serene blue as an accent. An overall neutral palette of taupe, blues and grey balanced the wood tones found in the flooring and teak accents the couple acquired on their travels. We recovered their existing love seat with taupe diamond-stripe cotton in a slipcover style, adding to the casual atmosphere of a beach house. Organic cotton, hand-blocked pillows with red cherry blossoms provide a pop of color to the seating. A swivel rocker gives flexibility to multiple focal points and conversation. The 100% hemp rug has a turquoise oversized damask print and is a plush anchor to the hearth setting. A long grey-washed rattan bench serves as a cocktail table and woven Roman shades provide needed contrast to the back wall. A distressed, reclaimed bench sits below bold art as a bright accent area to an overall neutral space. The centerpiece of the room is a large cerulean blue buffet with fretwork & glass doors. A large Buddha head serves as a meditative focal point with Asian-inspired art and lighting. Julie Austin Photography

Sean Litchfield
Transitional living room photo in Boston

Here's one of our most recent projects that was completed in 2011. This client had just finished a major remodel of their house in 2008 and were about to enjoy Christmas in their new home. At the time, Seattle was buried under several inches of snow (a rarity for us) and the entire region was paralyzed for a few days waiting for the thaw. Our client decided to take advantage of this opportunity and was in his driveway sledding when a neighbor rushed down the drive yelling that his house was on fire. Unfortunately, the house was already engulfed in flames. Equally unfortunate was the snowstorm and the delay it caused the fire department getting to the site. By the time they arrived, the house and contents were a total loss of more than $2.2 million. Our role in the reconstruction of this home was two-fold. The first year of our involvement was spent working with a team of forensic contractors gutting the house, cleansing it of all particulate matter, and then helping our client negotiate his insurance settlement. Once we got over these hurdles, the design work and reconstruction started. Maintaining the existing shell, we reworked the interior room arrangement to create classic great room house with a contemporary twist. Both levels of the home were opened up to take advantage of the waterfront views and flood the interiors with natural light. On the lower level, rearrangement of the walls resulted in a tripling of the size of the family room while creating an additional sitting/game room. The upper level was arranged with living spaces bookended by the Master Bedroom at one end the kitchen at the other. The open Great Room and wrap around deck create a relaxed and sophisticated living and entertainment space that is accentuated by a high level of trim and tile detail on the interior and by custom metal railings and light fixtures on the exterior.