THE SETUP Client Background: Our clients, a couple who have transitioned into the empty nest phase, have cherished their home for over three decades without undergoing any significant renovations. With a newfound desire to adapt their living space to better suit their current lifestyle, they’ve embarked on a journey to reimagine their kitchen — the heart of their home. Their aspiration is to cultivate a serene, neutral-toned sanctuary on the first floor that seamlessly merges with their family room, ensuring a harmonious and inviting environment. Design Inspiration: The renovation is inspired by the couple’s penchant for soft, calming neutrals, using their cherished family room and the kitchen’s existing tile flooring as the cornerstone for the color scheme. This approach aims to foster a sense of warmth and tranquility throughout. Design Objectives: Harmonize the kitchen with the family room by adopting a soothing, neutral color scheme, ensuring a seamless flow across the first floor. Enhance kitchen functionality with thoughtfully designed cabinetry, providing a designated place for every item and maximizing storage efficiency. Cultivate an inviting and comfortable atmosphere that reflects the homeowners’ desire for a calm and relaxing space. Design Challenges: The homeowners wish to retain the existing kitchen tile flooring and integrate it into a refreshed, modern design. Accommodating a dining area spacious enough for family visits without compromising the kitchen’s open feel or functional layout. Despite liking the current placement of plumbing and appliances, the homeowners aspire for a more open floor plan to facilitate better movement and interaction. The need to amplify natural light in the kitchen, especially around the sink area, where existing lighting is insufficient. Preserving the half-wall between the kitchen and family room, a feature the homeowners want to keep, while ensuring it complements the new design. THE RENEWED SPACE Design Solutions: By choosing a neutral color palette that complements the existing tile, the design unifies the kitchen with the adjacent spaces. The tile’s grout was cleaned and restored, enhancing the floor’s appearance and integrating it seamlessly with the new kitchen aesthetic. The inclusion of a larger island with seating for two, alongside maintaining a substantial dining table, was achieved by optimizing the spatial layout. This allowed for a sociable yet functional kitchen, accommodating large family gatherings without feeling crowded. Minor adjustments to the kitchen’s layout maintained the preferred locations for plumbing and appliances while introducing an ‘open’ design concept. Strategic modifications, such as angling the pantry wall, improved the flow and accessibility within the space. Replacing the garden window with a broader, standard window significantly increased natural light, transforming the sink area into a bright, welcoming space with enhanced views of the outdoors. The decision to keep the half-wall was ingeniously leveraged to define the dining area while maintaining an open connection to the family room. This feature not only serves as a visual separator but also ties the two spaces together through the shared color scheme and design elements. The homeowners are thrilled with their newly remodeled kitchen, which has become a hub of warmth and hospitality. Hosting a wedding shower and a birthday party, they have shared their renewed space with friends and family, who have been equally enamored. This remodel has not only met their functional and aesthetic desires but has also enriched their home with a fresh sense of serenity and joy. The upstairs part of the home is shaping up nicely. Here’s their newly remodeled primary bathroom.

Custom Surface Solutions (www.css-tile.com) - Owner Craig Thompson (512) 430-1215. This project shows a complete Master Bathroom remodel with before, during and after pictures. Master Bathroom features a Japanese soaker tub, enlarged shower with 4 1/2" x 12" white subway tile on walls, niche and celling., dark gray 2" x 2" shower floor tile with Schluter tiled drain, floor to ceiling shower glass, and quartz waterfall knee wall cap with integrated seat and curb cap. Floor has dark gray 12" x 24" tile on Schluter heated floor and same tile on tub wall surround with wall niche. Shower, tub and vanity plumbing fixtures and accessories are Delta Champagne Bronze. Vanity is custom built with quartz countertop and backsplash, undermount oval sinks, wall mounted faucets, wood framed mirrors and open wall medicine cabinet.

Julian Hodges - Featured Project of the Month by Truitt & White This month featured project brings you beautifully crafted gates and entryways from local craftsman Julian Hodges. For over 35 years, Mr. Hodges has been designing and crafting custom wooden gates in Berkeley and the greater Bay Area. His projects mainly feature old growth, vertical grained redwood or western red cedar which is air or kiln dried. The gates are fully mortised and tenoned (male / female joints) and a very powerful epoxy is used to glue the parts together. Wherever a floating panel rides in a dado, drainage is provided in the form of several holes that are out of sight that allow any rain water to be ushered out at the bottom of the gate enabling the gate to dry itself rather than staying damp which otherwise could lead to long term decomposition of the wood. Adding to the unique feel of each gate, Julian creates his own custom hardware from heavy gauge steel, which also provides a pleasing solid sound as it operates. All gates are then finished in a penetrating oil seal which optimizes the longevity and good appearance of the gates. For more information on Julian Hodges' work, visit www.julianhodges.com.

Living room library - mid-sized transitional enclosed medium tone wood floor and brown floor living room library idea in Toronto with white walls and no tv

Powder room - cottage wallpaper powder room idea in New York

Inspiration for a mid-sized timeless black and white tile and stone slab drop-in bathtub remodel in Boston with raised-panel cabinets, black cabinets, beige walls, a trough sink and granite countertops

Jamie Sentz
Bathroom - contemporary bathroom idea in Baltimore

A gorgeous mural from ANewall installed in powder room by Wallpaper Jenna
Powder room - mid-sized contemporary powder room idea in Toronto

Select Premium hardware
Trendy family room photo in San Diego

Custom cable rail detail.
Example of a small trendy wooden straight open staircase design in Portland

Reference: 1012403 Top collection standing robe hook. Very decorative. Also can use as coat or hat hook. Made of brass and polished 24K gold plated. Designed and manufactured in Spain.

Deep Blue Rogue Waves - An homage to sea and its mighty tides, Deep Blue Rogue Waves from MEC’s PIXL mosaic range can add a touch of refreshing liveliness to any space. The blue glass mosaic palette is perfect for any space, especially resorts and bath tub wall. *Get any pattern resized or recolored to better fit your unique requirements. MEC offers free customization and alteration on all mosaic patterns. **AddTek mosaic render is visually similar but may have slight variations due to factors like; textural diversity in mosaic tesserae and light conditions. See the full collection here: http://www.mecartworks.com/pixl/introduction

Premonition by Jon Allen - JAC 195 The Jon Allen Collection is an exclusive, hand-selected group of my most personal work to date. Each piece is hand-painted on aluminum. My art itself and my chosen medium, aluminum, are blissfully married. You may not think of the word organic when you hear the word metal, but this is some of my most organic art and that’s simply because metal allows my work to achieve true sentience. Aluminum’s naturally reflective nature enables each color, shape, and stroke to reach its full potential. A new aspect of the painting will reveal itself to you as it basks in the light that surrounds, evades, or envelops it in that moment. When you see the piece from different angles, you will appreciate how vibrant, dynamic, and environmentally influenced these pieces are. What you may see and feel by morning is not what you’ll see or feel by dusk and in many ways, and as such I feel these pieces capture the ever-ebbing and complex nature of human emotion and perception. Some of these pieces are truly abstract while others are modern takes on traditional landscapes, marine life, and portraits. I hope you enjoy them a fraction of how much I enjoyed creating them. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out. Number of Pieces: 1 Dimensions: 48" x 24" x 2" off the wall Care & Cleaning: Clean with a soft cloth and plain soap & water Other Features: Hardware is pre-installed for simple hanging and art will “float” 2” off the wall

Inspiration for a mid-sized transitional master brown tile and ceramic tile porcelain tile, beige floor and double-sink freestanding bathtub remodel with raised-panel cabinets, dark wood cabinets, a one-piece toilet, white walls, an undermount sink, granite countertops, beige countertops, a niche and a built-in vanity

Garage - large attached three-car garage idea in Detroit

Julie J. Mayhew
Inspiration for a small timeless white tile and stone tile marble floor home design remodel in Milwaukee with flat-panel cabinets, white cabinets, a two-piece toilet, green walls, an undermount sink and marble countertops

Mosaic Floor MARBLE DOL-D & GST NEW BASKET WEAVE & GREY STRIPS
Inspiration for a large transitional master gray tile and mosaic tile marble floor drop-in bathtub remodel in Toronto with gray cabinets, a two-piece toilet, gray walls, a vessel sink and marble countertops

Bedroom - traditional medium tone wood floor and brown floor bedroom idea in St Louis