This existing client reached out to MMI Design for help shortly after the flood waters of Harvey subsided. Her home was ravaged by 5 feet of water throughout the first floor. What had been this client's long-term dream renovation became a reality, turning the nightmare of Harvey's wrath into one of the loveliest homes designed to date by MMI. We led the team to transform this home into a showplace. Our work included a complete redesign of her kitchen and family room, master bathroom, two powders, butler's pantry, and a large living room. MMI designed all millwork and cabinetry, adjusted the floor plans in various rooms, and assisted the client with all material specifications and furnishings selections. Returning these clients to their beautiful '"new" home is one of MMI's proudest moments!

Photo by Boor Bridges Architecture
Rustic exterior home idea in San Francisco

Once upon a time, Mark, Peter and little French Bulldog Milo had a shiny, bright brand new apartment and grand dreams of a beautiful layout. Read the whole story on the Homepolish Mag ➜ http://hmpl.sh/boston_loft Photographer: Joyelle West

© Steve Freihon/ Tungsten LLC
Inspiration for a small contemporary master white tile and stone slab bamboo floor bathroom remodel in New York with flat-panel cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets, an undermount sink, a wall-mount toilet, marble countertops and white walls

Dining room - mid-sized coastal medium tone wood floor dining room idea in Other with white walls

Darren Setlow Photography
Inspiration for a small rustic loft-style bedroom remodel in Portland Maine

Jason Quigley (www.photojq.com)
Studio / workshop shed - transitional detached studio / workshop shed idea in Portland

A family of five, who lives in a prestigious McLean neighborhood, was looking to renovate and upgrade their 20-year-old kitchen. Goals of the renovation were to move the cooktop out of the island, install all professional-quality appliances, achieve better traffic flow and update the appearance of the space. The plan was to give a French country look to this kitchen, by carrying the overall soft and creamy color scheme of main floor furniture in the new kitchen. As such, the adjacent family room had to become a significant part of the remodel. The back wall of the kitchen is now occupied by 48” professional range under a custom wood hood. A new tower style refrigerator covered in matching wood panels is placed at the end of the run, just create more work space on both sides of the stove. The large contrasting Island in a dark chocolate finish now offers a second dishwasher, a beverage center and built in microwave. It also serves as a large buffet style counter space and accommodate up to five seats around it. The far wall of the space used to have a bare wall with a 36” fireplace in it. The goal of this renovation was to include all the surrounding walls in the design. Now the entire wall is made of custom cabinets, including display cabinetry on the upper half. The fireplace is wrapped with a matching color mantel and equipped with a big screen TV. Smart use of detailed crown and trim molding are highlights of this space and help bring the two rooms together, as does the porcelain tile floor. The attached family room provides a casual, comfortable space for guest to relax. And the entire space is perfect for family gatherings or entertaining.

Example of a mid-sized cottage bedroom design in Los Angeles

Adding a penthouse perch to this 1899 row house with a harbor view demanded unusual tactics. To circumvent municipal limitations on floor area, a section of floor was removed from one level and “transferred” to the roof as a new studio space. To comply with local height limitations, an innovative structure of solid wood studs was deployed to reduce floor and ceiling thicknesses to the bare minimum. Aside from creating the desired rooftop refuge, these gymnastics also created a dynamic cascade of interior living spaces for an urban designer and his family. Photos by Bruce Buck.

Michael Pring
Photo of a contemporary landscaping in New York.

Design ideas for a mid-sized farmhouse shade front yard gravel retaining wall landscape in San Francisco.

A family of five, who lives in a prestigious McLean neighborhood, was looking to renovate and upgrade their 20-year-old kitchen. Goals of the renovation were to move the cooktop out of the island, install all professional-quality appliances, achieve better traffic flow and update the appearance of the space. The plan was to give a French country look to this kitchen, by carrying the overall soft and creamy color scheme of main floor furniture in the new kitchen. As such, the adjacent family room had to become a significant part of the remodel. The back wall of the kitchen is now occupied by 48” professional range under a custom wood hood. A new tower style refrigerator covered in matching wood panels is placed at the end of the run, just create more work space on both sides of the stove. The large contrasting Island in a dark chocolate finish now offers a second dishwasher, a beverage center and built in microwave. It also serves as a large buffet style counter space and accommodate up to five seats around it. The far wall of the space used to have a bare wall with a 36” fireplace in it. The goal of this renovation was to include all the surrounding walls in the design. Now the entire wall is made of custom cabinets, including display cabinetry on the upper half. The fireplace is wrapped with a matching color mantel and equipped with a big screen TV. Smart use of detailed crown and trim molding are highlights of this space and help bring the two rooms together, as does the porcelain tile floor. The attached family room provides a casual, comfortable space for guest to relax. And the entire space is perfect for family gatherings or entertaining.

This walk-in closet is barely 3.5ft wide and approx 5.5ft deep, such a narrow space and still need to leave space for the access panel on the bottom right wall. Challenging closet space to design but we love the challenge. Designed in White finish with adjustable shelving giving you the freedom to move them up or down to create your desired storage space. This tiny closet has over 70" of hanging space, it has two hook sets on the wall, a belt rack, four drawers and adjustable shoe shelves that will hold up to 40 pairs of shoes.

Pool - large country front yard pool idea in Barcelona

The subtle changes begin as soon as you walk out the back door of the house. The existing decking had a lot of what we call "tweeners"; areas that are overly generous walkways, yet not large enough to house furniture. The awkwardly small bluestone patio was expanded to accommodate a generous seating area. This was done by pushing the step-down closer to the pool. Our talented stone mason carefully married the new bluestone into the existing portion of the patio, resulting in an imperceptible difference between the two. As you descend the new bluestone steps to the pool level, your bare feet will be thankful for the new smooth-finished, limestone-colored concrete, with a hand cut pattern carefully etched into it's surface. The old red brick decking was so hot that the owners could not walk around the pool with their bare feet. The brick coping was also replaced with an eased edge, Pennsylvania Premier Stone which matches the new step treads throughout the project. Between the house and the pool, a large raised planter was reconfigured, giving additional space to the pool deck for a shaded lounge chair area. Across the pool, a bank of rather tall painted brick retaining walls were cut down, shortened and moved. This lessened the visual impact of the walls (which were overwhelming in the space) and also opened up a new seating area, nestled under the arms of the massive Pecan tree at the back of the property. Rather than continuing solid decking around the entire pool, the area near these walls has been transformed to large stone stepper pads set in a sea of beautiful St. Augustine lawn. This creates a visually softened area that is still suited to setting tables and chairs when the guest list calls for additional seating. The spa area is possibly the most dramatic change on this project. Yet more raised planter walls divided this area into awkward spaces, unsuited for proper furniture placement. The planters were removed, new stone decks added, and once again expertly married into the existing decks, opening the area to house a large dining table and a newly built-in BBQ area. The spa itself was re-imagined with the bluestone coping and painted brick veneer. The most impressive addition though is the new handmade glazed tiles that surround the existing cast stone water feature. This water feature was almost unnoticeable against the painted brick wall, but now the dramatic arch and pop of color draw the eye to this quaint little corner of the property. Originally designed by one of the most notable landscape architects in town, this once impressive project had faltered in recent years. The pool and spa still functioned well, and the client wanted to keep it intact. In addition, they wanted to keep as much of the existing landscape as possible. But, the surrounding decks, walls and steps were fair game. At first glance, one might think that our changes were simple material changes. However, upon closer inspection, one can see the subtle-yet-transformative changes that came together to update this classic pool in a tasteful, timeless manner, as well as to improve the flow and usability of the deck areas, while softening the feel of this massive hardscape.

This renovated brick rowhome in Boston’s South End offers a modern aesthetic within a historic structure, creative use of space, exceptional thermal comfort, a reduced carbon footprint, and a passive stream of income. DESIGN PRIORITIES. The goals for the project were clear - design the primary unit to accommodate the family’s modern lifestyle, rework the layout to create a desirable rental unit, improve thermal comfort and introduce a modern aesthetic. We designed the street-level entry as a shared entrance for both the primary and rental unit. The family uses it as their everyday entrance - we planned for bike storage and an open mudroom with bench and shoe storage to facilitate the change from shoes to slippers or bare feet as they enter their home. On the main level, we expanded the kitchen into the dining room to create an eat-in space with generous counter space and storage, as well as a comfortable connection to the living space. The second floor serves as master suite for the couple - a bedroom with a walk-in-closet and ensuite bathroom, and an adjacent study, with refinished original pumpkin pine floors. The upper floor, aside from a guest bedroom, is the child's domain with interconnected spaces for sleeping, work and play. In the play space, which can be separated from the work space with new translucent sliding doors, we incorporated recreational features inspired by adventurous and competitive television shows, at their son’s request. MODERN MEETS TRADITIONAL. We left the historic front facade of the building largely unchanged - the security bars were removed from the windows and the single pane windows were replaced with higher performing historic replicas. We designed the interior and rear facade with a vision of warm modernism, weaving in the notable period features. Each element was either restored or reinterpreted to blend with the modern aesthetic. The detailed ceiling in the living space, for example, has a new matte monochromatic finish, and the wood stairs are covered in a dark grey floor paint, whereas the mahogany doors were simply refinished. New wide plank wood flooring with a neutral finish, floor-to-ceiling casework, and bold splashes of color in wall paint and tile, and oversized high-performance windows (on the rear facade) round out the modern aesthetic. RENTAL INCOME. The existing rowhome was zoned for a 2-family dwelling but included an undesirable, single-floor studio apartment at the garden level with low ceiling heights and questionable emergency egress. In order to increase the quality and quantity of space in the rental unit, we reimagined it as a two-floor, 1 or 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a modern aesthetic, increased ceiling height on the lowest level and provided an in-unit washer/dryer. The apartment was listed with Jackie O'Connor Real Estate and rented immediately, providing the owners with a source of passive income. ENCLOSURE WITH BENEFITS. The homeowners sought a minimal carbon footprint, enabled by their urban location and lifestyle decisions, paired with the benefits of a high-performance home. The extent of the renovation allowed us to implement a deep energy retrofit (DER) to address air tightness, insulation, and high-performance windows. The historic front facade is insulated from the interior, while the rear facade is insulated on the exterior. Together with these building enclosure improvements, we designed an HVAC system comprised of continuous fresh air ventilation, and an efficient, all-electric heating and cooling system to decouple the house from natural gas. This strategy provides optimal thermal comfort and indoor air quality, improved acoustic isolation from street noise and neighbors, as well as a further reduced carbon footprint. We also took measures to prepare the roof for future solar panels, for when the South End neighborhood’s aging electrical infrastructure is upgraded to allow them. URBAN LIVING. The desirable neighborhood location allows the both the homeowners and tenant to walk, bike, and use public transportation to access the city, while each charging their respective plug-in electric cars behind the building to travel greater distances. OVERALL. The understated rowhouse is now ready for another century of urban living, offering the owners comfort and convenience as they live life as an expression of their values. Eric Roth Photo

This Craftsman home gives you 5,292 square feet of heated living space spread across its three levels as follows: 1,964 sq. ft. Main Floor 1,824 sq. ft. Upper Floor 1,504 sq. ft. Lower Level Higlights include the 2 story great room on the main floor. Laundry on upper floor. An indoor sports court so you can practice your 3-point shot. The plans are available in print, PDF and CAD. And we can modify them to suit your needs. Where do YOU want to build? Plan Link: http://www.architecturaldesigns.com/house-plan-73333HS.asp

TV swivels 180 degrees and extends to accommodate viewing preference -from sofa, bed, and work area. Cord management in a rental can be a challenge, but with the appropriate solutions, no wires can be seen for this neat, techie client... Bare walls will house future artwork as collected. A beautifully hand-crafted zebra wood humidor sits on the shelving and space for a mini bar sits behind sofa.