The new kitchen showcases exquisite custom cabinetry from Plain and Fancy, featuring a soft white painted perimeter and a cherry island that comfortably seats six. With dual sinks—one nestled beneath a window and the other discreetly placed in the island, just behind the 48” Wolf range—this kitchen facilitates multiple chefs and efficient cleanup, made even easier with the inclusion of two dishwashers, ideal for hosting large parties. A third steam oven quickly became a culinary essential for everyday family meals. A stone’s throw away, the Subzero refrigerator and freezer towers stand ready to accommodate the needs of a sizable crowd.

Defined by serenity and sophistication, this waterfront oasis captures the essence of tropical luxury. The turquoise pool glistens beneath open skies, bordered by lush palms and manicured lawns that descend gently toward the bay. A wide stone terrace invites leisurely afternoons in the sun, while sleek lounge chairs and a private dock emphasize the seamless harmony between design and nature. The architecture’s clean lines and understated materials create a fluid transition between indoor living and coastal calm, evoking a perpetual sense of escape. Keywords: modern house backyard, luxury backyard design, contemporary outdoor living, modern landscape design, backyard with swimming pool, stylish modern home exterior, minimalist outdoor space, modern architecture, modern swimming pool, backyard pool ideas, poolside lounge area, pool deck design, modern pool landscaping, private pool retreat.

This exquisite dry bar is a statement of refinement, blending high-end craftsmanship with thoughtful functionality. The space is defined by a striking two-tone cabinet palette, pairing deep black bases with crisp white uppers framed in glass, creating the perfect balance of drama and elegance. Display shelving with integrated lighting highlights fine stemware and curated décor, adding a warm, ambient glow that elevates the bar from purely functional to a showcase piece within the home. The backsplash is a true centerpiece, featuring a bold geometric pattern in marble with metallic inlays, offering layers of depth, sheen, and architectural interest. This statement surface pairs beautifully with the polished quartz countertop, whose delicate veining provides a seamless flow across the workspace while ensuring durability for entertaining. The design prioritizes both luxury and practicality, with a built-in beverage fridge, ample storage for glassware and spirits, and custom cabinetry tailored for organization. Satin brass hardware provides subtle warmth against the bold black cabinetry, complementing the rich tones of the hardwood flooring beneath. Together, these elements create a sophisticated transitional aesthetic that bridges modern lines with classic detailing. Whether hosting large gatherings or enjoying an intimate evening drink, this wet bar delivers a setting that is as functional as it is luxurious—a perfect blend of elegance, convenience, and timeless design.

This outdoor kitchen combines stainless steel and ipe cabinetry and is tied together by a Dekton countertop and backsplash. Penny tile adorns the pizza oven with wood storage just beneath in a specially made cabinet section.

This Spanish Revival style hillside home for a large family overlooks Silicon Valley. Pigmented plaster, stone masonry, walnut lumbers and genuine mission tile roofing combine to create an aura of craftsmanship and quality. Inside, a curving staircase descends beneath the circular rotunda, flooded with daylight from the clerestories above, leading to the swimming pool and patio outside. Perfect for parties, extravagant or intimate! Photo by Cia Gould

This graceful curved staircase follows the elegant arc of the entry foyer wall, creating a seamless and sophisticated transition from the lower to upper levels. Rich dark-stained treads and risers provide a warm, luxurious foundation beneath an intricately patterned wrought iron railing, full of ornate swirls and curls that define the French Provincial aesthetic. Balcony railing continues the intricate ironwork pattern across the second level, maintaining visual continuity throughout the home's grand entrance. Every refined detail, from the metal handrail's graceful final curve to the flared starting step, speaks to the craftsmanship woven throughout this design. 1976-2026 © Century Stair Company

Deck - large 1950s backyard ground level mixed material railing deck idea in Other with a roof extension

The living room features a comfortable sectional facing an industrial-style electric fireplace adorned with herringbone tile. Flanking the fireplace, custom bench seating with plush upholstered cushions offers both style and comfort. Beneath the benches, leathered baskets provide convenient additional storage, blending functionality with aesthetic appeal.

Staircase - mid-sized transitional carpeted u-shaped staircase idea in Louisville with carpeted risers

Wallpaper by J&V Italian Design. Available exclusively at NewWall.com | Fine | Glistens like a fish swimming just beneath the water’s surface, in the warmth of the sun?metallic and full of light. Printed on Metallic substrate.

This project transformed an underutilized space beneath our clients' modern residence into a functional and luxurious lower-level addition featuring a light-filled guest suite and exercise room. A new stairwell, framed by custom steel railings, connects the main floor to the lower level, enhancing visual flow and natural lighting while complementing the home's modern aesthetic. Polished concrete floors with radiant heating provide year-round comfort while the guest suite, with a luxury en suite bathroom including a steam shower, can also function as a home office. Large articulating Nanawall doors open the exercise room to the exterior, including a sauna room, and the built-in beverage station allows for quick refreshments. The project required innovative solutions to address structural constraints and property setbacks, including designing a code-compliant staircase within tight spatial limits, excavating a crawlspace to achieve full-height ceilings, and working around foundation walls to maximize usable space. By blending functionality, style, and attention to detail, this addition exceeded the clients' expectations, providing a cohesive, luxurious, and highly practical enhancement to their home.

Advice on interior design is available everywhere—from TV shows and websites to books, magazines and apps. We love seeing people become engaged in design and educated on the wide range of possibilities. But we hope you’ll proceed with caution. It’s not that style errors are a matter of life and death. It’s just that it’s easy to choose designs that aren’t necessarily reflective of your own personality and character. And since you’re typically stuck with your interior design decisions for years, styles that don’t quite fit can tend to grate on you. Interiors that give one person comfort may unleash chaos in someone else. This goes beyond favorite colors or hot trends, right to the heart of interior design, where you find questions of composition, balance, repetition, space and more. The goal is to find that unique combination of design elements that gives you comfort, support and balance. In one home, that perfect balance was struck through the use of symmetry. A pair of comfortable swivel chairs sit beneath matching indigo patterned paintings. Matching bookcases below the paintings contain similar, but not identical, arrangements of books, vases and bowls. Woods and bronzes help warm up the simple white bookcase shelving. Two matching poufs in front of the fireplace provide additional seating. The sofa is accented with a pair of pillows with a blue pattern that echoes the artwork. The effect of the symmetry is to achieve order and simplicity, which I promote at every opportunity. After all, your home interiors should be the setting or the backdrop of your life—not center stage. Antique bronze and blue are complementary colors. Together, they offer a rich palette of richness and depth, which brings out the beauty of wood and stone. In the home office, a unique, whitewash-stained wooden desk rests on metal, Sawhorse-inspired legs for a warm, rustic look. The black leather chair features a contemporary silhouette with an antique brass frame. An adjustable desk lamp has bronze accents. The bookcase combines a sleek, black metal frame with concrete shelves, for another unusual pairing. It’s kept uncluttered for an orderly, peaceful look. Items on the shelves include a bronze-accented lamp and a pair of high gloss-finished wooden bookends. The elegant artwork behind the desk is a simple midnight-blue and bronze with mottled white. Deep blues are again picked up in the rug, which adds a stately vibe with a modern pattern and satisfying texture. Within the framework of symmetry, the living room repeats the blue-and-bronze color scheme. A large midcentury brass clock above the fireplace keeps the natural stone visible, rather than hidden behind a painting or television, while its straight lines and color create a beautiful contrast. The sofa is a soft, neutral blue. The pattern on the round brass side table features echoes the darker blue-patterned rug, as well as the rug in the office, tying the rooms together. Indigo blue books adjacent to bronze vases on the shelves repeat the color scheme. The soapstone-topped coffee table echoes the shape of the fireplace. A pair of tall, matching floor lamps with long wooden bases, brass pulls and simple linen shades combine both the colors and symmetry found throughout the home.

The continuous red oak handrail is what holds this multistory staircase together. It flows uninterrupted from floor to floor, guiding the hand and the eye in equal measure. Round metal balusters rise in clean rhythm beneath it, their slender profiles keeping the composition open. Red oak treads with nosing carry the warmth of the handrail through every step, grounded by crisp white painted risers that reflect the natural light flooding the space. Modern in feel, considered in every detail. 1976-2026 © Century Stair Company

Losing large specimen trees is never desirable. But when the unimaginable happens, we are presented with an opportunity to rethink and refresh, even in traditional residential settings. We replaced the lawn area beneath the remaining London plane with a fine fescue seed mix. Our design strategy was to hold space and create immediate impact while reducing maintenance needs as the landscape matured. Into this base, we planted evergreen basal foliage, long bloomers and early spring/late fall color to create an immersive all-season groundcover that will slowly intermingle. Annually, this low mow is cut no lower than 4” (thereby safeguarding habitat) while the tidily trimmed perimeter utilizes remnant turf grass as visible cues to care. Dissecting the rectilinear green space, permeable hardscaping offers a gently curved path towards the front entryway; an invitation to pause and observe the landscape’s diverse textures and activity up close. Within which, a legacy planting of new specimen trees. Traditional shrub heavy foundation plantings are often static and rigid; this perennial rich redesign is structured yet airy to retain design cohesion with the naturalistic stylized meadow and offer vibrant textural all-season interest. This project blends different landscape styles to create a biodiverse habitat that is ecologically beneficial, beautiful and resilient. In high summer, a doe finds refuge for her fawn while the family’s children delight in the buzzing activity of smaller inhabitants, native bees and assorted pollinators, that now call this habitat home.

This project showcases thoughtful design at every level. Beneath the basement stairs, what's typically wasted space was transformed into a cozy reading nook—a small sanctuary for dreaming, reading, and relaxing. Above, the staircase itself features clean, minimalist design: red oak handrails and treads paired with white-painted square balusters. The contrast creates a crisp, elegant look that complements the home's modern aesthetic while the hidden retreat below reminds us that exceptional design considers every square foot. 1976-2026 © Century Stair Company

This homeowner’s master bathroom was a very popular style during the 90’s. Although, white can make a space feel larger, the bathroom was bland and needed an update. Soft neutral walls, marble tile throughout and shaker style Waypoint Cabinets, make this elegant bathroom a perfect place to wake up in the morning and unwind at night. There are many features in this bathroom that we love. The veining pattern of the beautiful White Carrara marble tops and tub deck added just the right amount of contrast to this bathroom. Honed Bianco Perla Marble tiles were used in the shower and on the floor. The frameless shower reveals the finer details of this design with a basket weave tile accent band on the shower back wall, basket weave tile in the niche and on the shower floor. Bullnose tile was used to frame the window instead of wood trim and was also used inside the niche. Expansive framed mirrors enlarge the room and reflect back the window light and the beauty of the shower and tub. Heated floor mats beneath the tiles with programmable thermostat are unseen but will be highly appreciated by this home owner. No more walking on cold tiles! The transformation of this bathroom is luxurious! White and Grey was used in this space which resulted in a crisp, elegant updated look that will remain in style for years to come. Items used in this remodel: Waypoint Living Spaces Cabinetry Shaker Style in Linen Finish Cabinet Hardware: Sutton in Satin Nickel Finish White Carrara Marble 12x24 Honed Bianco Perla Marble Tiles 8x16 Honed Bianco Perla Marble Tiles 1x2 Basketweave with Grey 4x12 Bullnose pieces Fixtures: Kohler 36x60 White Acrylic tub Delta Lahara Shower Faucet with 8” wide spread and Roman Tub Faucet Heated Floors with Programmable Thermostat

What began as a dated primary bathroom and undersized closet evolved into a light-filled retreat designed around the homeowners' lifestyle. The original space featured a large built-in tub, oversized shower enclosure, limited storage, and an inefficient closet layout that no longer met the family's needs. Through extensive demolition and structural modifications, the bathroom and closet were completely reconfigured to maximize both function and beauty. Walls were removed, storage was reimagined, and every square foot was carefully planned to create a more open, luxurious experience. The finished space features a freestanding soaking tub positioned beneath expansive windows, a custom walk-in shower wrapped in marble-look porcelain, warm brass fixtures and hardware, custom cabinetry, and a fully tailored dressing room with dedicated storage for clothing, shoes, and accessories. Soft neutral finishes, elegant lighting, and thoughtfully layered details create a timeless primary suite designed to feel like a private retreat.

The client was looking to enhance the space's general usefulness and add more storage. Including lockers, a cupboard with a coat closet, a bench beneath the window with drawers and a space wide enough to accommodate a diaper changing station, there's plenty of storage in this contemporary mudroom remodel.

This 3 level elegant and ultra-modern well-designed staircase features dark wooden treads, no risers, a horizontal railing system, and plenty of space beneath the stairs. The gaps/spaces (code compliant) between the wooden treads let the maximum amount of light shine from the top floor windows, and the ½” stainless steel horizontal rods amplify the look of the space under the landings. CSC 1976-2020 © Century Stair Company ® All rights reserved.