Located in, Summit Park, Park City UT lies one of the most efficient houses in the country. The Summit Haus – designed and built by Chris Price of PCD+B, is an exploration in design and construction of advanced high performance housing. Seeing a rising demand for sustainable housing along with rising Carbon emissions leading to global warming, this house strives to show that sensible, good design can create spaces adequate for today’s housing demands while adhering to strict standards. The house was designed to meet the very rigid Passiv House rating system – 90% more efficient than a typical home in the area. The house itself was intended to nestle neatly into the 45 degree sloped site and to take full advantage of the limited solar access and views. The views range from short, highly wooded views to a long corridor out towards the Uinta Mountain range towards the east. The house was designed and built based off Passiv Haus standards, and the framing and ventilation became critical elements to maintain such minimal energy requirements. Zola triple-pane, tilt-and-turn Thermo uPVC windows contribute substantially to the home’s energy efficiency, and takes advantage of the beautiful surrounding of the location, including forrest views from the deck off of the kitchen. Photographer: City Home Collective

Located in, Summit Park, Park City UT lies one of the most efficient houses in the country. The Summit Haus – designed and built by Chris Price of PCD+B, is an exploration in design and construction of advanced high performance housing. Seeing a rising demand for sustainable housing along with rising Carbon emissions leading to global warming, this house strives to show that sensible, good design can create spaces adequate for today’s housing demands while adhering to strict standards. The house was designed to meet the very rigid Passiv House rating system – 90% more efficient than a typical home in the area. The house itself was intended to nestle neatly into the 45 degree sloped site and to take full advantage of the limited solar access and views. The views range from short, highly wooded views to a long corridor out towards the Uinta Mountain range towards the east. The house was designed and built based off Passiv Haus standards, and the framing and ventilation became critical elements to maintain such minimal energy requirements. Zola triple-pane, tilt-and-turn Thermo uPVC windows contribute substantially to the home’s energy efficiency, and takes advantage of the beautiful surrounding of the location, including forrest views from the deck off of the kitchen. Photographer: City Home Collective

It was important to the client to maximize the space in the kitchen and to create adequate storage for his plates, pots and pans. Sufficient countertop space was also important in order to accommodate guests during parties and game nights. Storage Solutions include a half moon corner susan, Pots and Pans pull out and deep drawers with peg boards. Schedule an appointment with one of our Designers! http://www.gkandb.com/ DESIGNER: JANIS MANACSA PHOTOGRAPHY: TREVE JOHNSON PHOTOGRAPHY CABINETS: DURA SUPREME CABINETRY COUNTERTOP: CAMBRIA BELLINGHAM

- 4-car garage w/ heater - 4 “sleep”; 3 “wash” - Open, “cook/eat/relax” areas - Large walk-thru pantry - Pot filler in kitchen - Spiral staircase to lower level - Barn door to work room - “Drop” area off “park” w/ desk area - Reverse osmosis water system - Plumbed for soft water - High-tech wireless technology features Photos by Tim Perry

Located in, Summit Park, Park City UT lies one of the most efficient houses in the country. The Summit Haus – designed and built by Chris Price of PCD+B, is an exploration in design and construction of advanced high performance housing. Seeing a rising demand for sustainable housing along with rising Carbon emissions leading to global warming, this house strives to show that sensible, good design can create spaces adequate for today’s housing demands while adhering to strict standards. The house was designed to meet the very rigid Passiv House rating system – 90% more efficient than a typical home in the area. The house itself was intended to nestle neatly into the 45 degree sloped site and to take full advantage of the limited solar access and views. The views range from short, highly wooded views to a long corridor out towards the Uinta Mountain range towards the east. The house was designed and built based off Passiv Haus standards, and the framing and ventilation became critical elements to maintain such minimal energy requirements. Zola triple-pane, tilt-and-turn Thermo uPVC windows contribute substantially to the home’s energy efficiency, and takes advantage of the beautiful surrounding of the location, including forrest views from the deck off of the kitchen. Photographer: Douglas Burke

Spigelia marilandica in the "Berryville Virginia Swimming Pool" garden with Stachys, Asclepias tuberosa (a yellow flowering form), Calamagrostis 'Karl Foerster' , and Nepeta. This planting is in full sun. Photo by Tom Mannion. Used with permission

The contemporary home living is evolving in parallel with the tastes and needs geared to aesthetic and functional innovation. Within the kitchen product, Lucenta proposes itself with a high level of quality: bright glossy polished finish for the doors, with a focused set of fresh and modern colors: SETA, TORTORA and MATITA. These features are optimal qualities in an adequate range of trendy Accessories and electric appliances of advanced technology.

pool pergola provides adequate shade on those hot summer days
Inspiration for a small rustic pool remodel in Los Angeles

This traditional kitchen remodel entailed opening walls up to a dining area, mud room, and bar area. This finished product was an amazing, magazine quality kitchen and first floor, and, not to mention, a very functional chef space.

This farmhouse designed by our interior design studio showcases custom, traditional style with modern accents. The laundry room was given an interesting interplay of patterns and texture with a grey mosaic tile backsplash and printed tiled flooring. The dark cabinetry provides adequate storage and style. All the bathrooms are bathed in light palettes with hints of coastal color, while the mudroom features a grey and wood palette with practical built-in cabinets and cubbies. The kitchen is all about sleek elegance with a light palette and oversized pendants with metal accents.

A minimal insertion into a densely wooded landscape, the Collector’s Pavilion provides the owners with an 8,000 sf private fitness space and vintage automobile gallery. On a gently sloping site in amongst a grove of trees, the pavilion slides into the topography - mimicking and contrasting the surrounding landscape with a folded roof plane that hovers over a board formed concrete base. The clients’ requirement for a nearby room to display a growing car collection as well as provide a remote area for personal fitness carries with it a series of challenges related to privacy and security. The pavilion nestles into the wooded site - finding a home in a small clearing - and merges with the sloping landscape. The building has dual personalities, serving as a private and secure bunker from the exterior, while transforming into a warm and inviting space on the interior. The use of indirect light and the need to obscure direct views from the public right away provides the client with adequate day light for day-to-day use while ensuring that strict privacy is maintained. This shifting personality is also dramatically affected by the seasons - contrasting and merging with the surrounding environment depending on the time of year. The Collector’s Pavilion employs meticulous detailing of its concrete to steel to wood connections, exploring the grounded nature of poured concrete in conjunction with a delicate wood roof system that floats above a grid of steel. Above all, the Pavilion harmonizes with it’s natural surroundings through it’s materiality, formal language, and siting. Overview Chenequa, WI Size 8,000 sf Completion Date May 2013 Services Architecture, Landscape Architecture, Interior Design

Closet design by Tim Higbee of Closet Works: The pièce de résistance of this closet is the custom shoe organization system — the 360 Organizer® by Lazy Lee® — which holds between 84 and 200 pairs of shoes. This Shoe Spinner provides shelving on all four sides by utilizing a rotating base, allowing a full 360° of vertical shoe storage within a small 40" footprint. Additionally, a closet hutch unit on "her" side of the closet provides extra countertop space which is great when the main closet island is occupied. The reeded glass doors on the upper cabinet keep all the handbags and other items visible, but offers a less cluttered look by screening the contents. The drawers keep small accessories and jewelry organized. photo - Cathy Rabeler

Set in the charming neighborhood of Wedgwood, this Cape Cod-style home needed a major update to satisfy our client's lifestyle needs. The living room, dining room, and kitchen were all separated, making it hard for our clients to carry out day-to-day life with small kids or adequately entertain. Our client also loved to cook for her family, so having a large open concept kitchen where she could cook, keep tabs on the kids, and entertain simultaneously was very important. To accommodate those needs, we bumped out the back and side of the house and eliminated all the walls in the home's communal areas. Adding on to the back of the house also created space in the basement where they could add a separate entrance and mudroom. We wanted to make sure to blend the character of this home with the client's love for color, modern flare, and updated finishes. So we decided to keep the original fireplace and give it a fresh look with tile, add new hardwood in a lighter stain to match the existing and bring in pops of color through the kitchen cabinets and furnishings. New windows, siding, and a fresh coat of paint were added to give this home the curbside appeal it deserved. In the second phase of this remodel, we transformed the basement bathroom and storage room into a primary suite. With the addition of baby number three, our clients wanted to create a retreat they could call their own. Bringing in soft, muted tones made their bedroom feel calm and collected, a relaxing place to land after a busy day. With our client’s love of patterned tile, we decided to go a little bolder in the bathroom with the flooring and vanity wall. Adding the marble in the shower and on the countertop helped balance the bold tile choices and keep both spaces feeling cohesive.

Timber frame homes offer unique challenges during a remodel. What often makes them beautiful and attractive to most homeowners, also makes them challenging for space requirements. Context: The lovely couple that owned this home were struggling with some interesting floor plan challenges that just didn't work for their family. The loved the beautiful timbers and woodwork of their home, but the dramatically sloping ceilings on the second floor, particularly in the bathroom, just didn't work for this 1 1/2 bath home. Needing to use the skylight to approach the toilet was a less then ideal scenario. Although the bathroom footprint was more then adequate, the sloped ceiling only made half of the space useable. Check out the Before/After post on our blog to see the photos of the house pre-renovation. As much as they loved all the wood features in their home, another challenge they had was light. The wood ceiling made everything inside the house darker, even with a fantastic array of south facing windows, there were spaces in the home that felt dark and small. When they contacted us they wanted to know how could they make their brighter and more inviting, were there solutions to the 2nd floor sloped ceiling issues, and if they were going to do all of this work, how could they make their home more comfortable and efficient. A nagging water leak in the upstairs bathroom spurred them into action and here is how we solved their dilemma. Conclusion: First, we added a little dormer to the rear of the house so we could get full headroom in nearly all of the upstairs bathroom! Then we decided to extend that dormer one more timber bay over to create a walk in closet with natural light and plenty of space. Since we were contemplating energy efficiency, we resolved a nagging issue that is present in a lot of timber frame construction, air tightness. Commonly found in timber frame construction, fiberglass insulation is installed in the rafter bays and board ceilings are installed over top. Unfortunately, board ceilings are anything but air tight, and fiberglass insulation needs to be in an airtight cavity for maximum effectiveness. So we were able to solve two issues at the same time for this homeowner. We removed the board ceiling and fiberglass insulation, we dense packed the rafter bays with cellulose insulation, and installed sheetrock in place of the boards. The boards were salvaged for re-use by the homeowner, and the space and light quality was dramatically improved. Some may think that losing the board ceiling took something away from the space, but what you'll see in the pictures is that it highly accentuates the heavy timbers and really makes them stand out in a beautiful way. Now with this added airtightness, better insulation, and brighter space, the homeowner hardly runs their wood stove, and it's so quiet in the space, an added bonus from changing the insulation. It became necessary to also add a sheetrock ceiling to the living room to hide the plumbing from the new bathroom layout above. Changing this ceiling gave the homeowner some real quality lighting that was lacking in the living room before. The brighter ceiling and new lighting layout completely transforms the living room into a space you want to hang out, even though the layout didn't change at all. When the homeowner saw the finished spaces she said "I can't believe this is my house, I want to live in this house" Energy Efficiency: I touched a little on the efficiency above, but like all projects done with Mottram Architecture, we always want to leave you with a little extra. Timber frame construction with board ceilings and fiberglass insulation are notoriously leaky! If you want to know what we think about fiberglass insulation, check our our blog post on Why Fiberglass Insulation Sucks. By installing cellulose insulation and covering it with sheetrock we were able to greatly reduce the heat flowing out of this home. It not only improves cashflow it improves the comfort level in the space. Who wants to sit in their living room and feel a draft? Let us remind you, we are not saying cellulose insulation is an air barrier, we use the sheetrock to help with that, but it does significantly reduce the air flow over fiberglass insulation. And when we reduce the airflow, we reduce the heat flow. And when we reduce the heat flow, we reduce the need to re-heat that drafty air from outside. When it comes to energy efficiency the first and best place to start is air infiltration. We greatly reduced the air infiltration with the new insulation, but we also added a hat and warm boots. What I mean by that is, we improved the insulation in the roof, and we installed insulation in the basement. Maybe it's a silly analogy, but when you think about keeping warm, we always start with the hat and boots! With sustainability in mind, the next project will be to add a deck to the front of this house with rain catchment barrels from the metal roof. They are planning to plant a garden in the spring and the rain catchment system will help to irrigate the new garden. Builder: East Shore Builders Photographer: Michael Eric Berube

Lyptus-Slate with Chocolate Glaze
Example of a small classic u-shaped eat-in kitchen design with an undermount sink, raised-panel cabinets, brown cabinets, glass tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances, granite countertops and multicolored backsplash

Inspiration for a contemporary home gym remodel in Houston

The homeowners were very concerned about over-improving their modest split-level home built in 1961. They liked the “mid-century modern” feel and wanted to enhance that vibe. Top on their wish list was to replace the portable dishwasher with a built-in and add a peninsula for seating and workspace. To keep the labor cost down, the soffits and existing ceiling lighting was left intact. The first option was to keep the existing cabinets; however, the original layout did not allow adequate counter space on either side of the cooktop. After considered the price of new cabinets, they realized the value of having a brand new kitchen. The fun begins in the design phase. We chose the horizontal grain laminate to blend with the color of the existing woodwork in the home. The textured rhomboid shaped tile steals the show when accented with contrasting grout. The kitchen is a little mod and a little hip. And fits in perfectly as today’s “mid-century modern” home.

This project included a Patio Cover Addition, Outdoor Kitchen, Gas-Burning Fireplace, and Stamped Concrete walking surface with a custom pattern. The attention is immediately drawn to the Ledgestone fire place with a rustic cedar mantel. The Ledgestone flows continuously throughout the space, found on the base of the patio columns and outdoor kitchen. The kitchen sparkles with Stainless Steel appliances, containing storage compartments, refrigerator, and grill. Topped with Venetian Gold Granite, this cooking space provides ample counter space that is easily maintained. The overall appeal of this Outdoor Living area remains beautifully traditional, with cedar-trimmed columns and beams. Also, though it has custom features, this addition is built to look original to the home with matching paint, shingles, gutters, and framing materials. The elaborate, pre-stained Tongue and Groove ceiling is quite an attractive feature to this patio cover, and the recessed lighting illuminates the evening. The fans provide adequate air-flow and the sound system keeps the patio atmosphere in tune.

Chris and Sofia of Arlington Heights knew when they purchased their home that they would finish the basement. They needed a space for the kids to hang out, for family and friends to stay, and to have a better space for hosting holidays and parties. The dark unfinished space went mostly unused for three years, but once their kids reached the ideal age for use of a well-built basement, they moved ahead with their plan. “The old basement was dark and cold, and the kids came down and played, but they didn’t like it. The new space is like a whole other house, so we have this space for family game nights and for watching games or Super Bowl parties,” Chris said. The couple found Advance Design Studio through a friend who had their entire home renovated by the remodeling company. After the initial meeting and visiting the showroom, Chris and Sofia were positive that Advance Design was the company that could best turn their unfinished basement into a family friendly space for everyone to enjoy. “We really liked the showroom, we liked being able to choose all of those finishes and meet with them in one place,” Chris said. A Custom Space for a Family with Multiple Needs The project began with a fireplace focal point complete with an amazing entertainment wall, a fantastic full kitchen complete with every amenity, and a brand new full bath. The new basement truly has a space for everyone. If the kids want to watch a movie and hang out on the couch they can, if family wants to play games and have a pizza party on the large island they can, and if guests want to stay over night on the pull-out sofa they can enjoy the entire private “suite” complete with a full bath. It is the true definition of a multifunctional basement. The stunning, full kitchen is the highlight of this now bright and airy basement. You walk down the stairs and are immediately impressed with the detailed metal tile work on the ceiling, bringing to mind the classic feel of a comfortable old pub. Cherry Merlot cabinets provide a rich contrast against the soft neutral walls and the contrasting copper tin ceiling tile and backsplash. Rich Santa Cecelia granite countertops pair nicely with timeless stonework on the outer walls. The island is large enough to provide a more than adequate entertaining space, and provides plenty of both seating and storage. The well-appointed kitchen houses a regular size refrigerator, a full size oven for pizza parties and cookie baking anytime, a microwave oven as well as complete sink and trash set up. One could easily do without a home kitchen forever in this generously designed secondary space! The fireplace and buffet wall seating area is the ideal place to watch movies or sporting events. The coordinating stonework on the fireplace flows throughout the basement, and a burnt orange accent wall brings color and warmth to otherwise ordinary basement space. The Elite Merlot media buffet compliments the kitchen as well as provides storage and a unique functional display option, giving this part of the basement a sophisticated, yet functional feel. The full bath is complete with a unique furniture style cherry DuraSupreme vanity and matching custom designed mirror. The weathered look to the cabinets and mirror give the bathroom some earthy texture as does the stone floor in the walk-in shower. Soft blue makes the space a spa-like mini retreat, and the handsome wall to wall tile and granite speak luxury at every corner. Advance Design added clever custom storage spaces to take advantage of otherwise wasted corners. They built a custom mudroom for the kids to house their sports equipment and a handy built in bench area with basket pull outs for a custom home gym. “They were able to custom fit this second mudroom with the lockers and the bench, they were able to custom build that, so the kids could store all of their equipment down here for the sports that they are in,” Chris said. They Got The Amazing Space They Had Envisioned for Years! The basement Chris and Sofia had envisioned had come to life in a few short months of planning, design and construction, just a perfect fit in the summer months. Advance Design Studio was able to design and build a custom, multifunctional space that the whole family can enjoy. “I would recommend Advance Design because of the showroom, because of the cleanliness on the jobsite and the professionalism, combined with Christine’s design side as well as Todd’s builder’s side - it’s nice to have it all together,” reminisced Chris after the project was complete.