Martha O'Hara Interiors, Interior Design | L. Cramer Builders + Remodelers, Builder | Troy Thies, Photography | Shannon Gale, Photo Styling Please Note: All “related,” “similar,” and “sponsored” products tagged or listed by Houzz are not actual products pictured. They have not been approved by Martha O’Hara Interiors nor any of the professionals credited. For information about our work, please contact design@oharainteriors.com.

John Bedell Photography, Interiors by Angela Free Design
Home design - traditional home design idea in San Francisco

This modern green home offers both a vacation destination on Cape Cod near local family members and an opportunity for rental income. FAMILY ROOTS. A West Coast couple living in the San Francisco Bay Area sought a permanent East Coast vacation home near family members living on Cape Cod. As academic professionals focused on sustainability, they sought a green, energy efficient home that was well-aligned with their values. With no green homes available for sale on Cape Cod, they decided to purchase land near their family and build their own. SLOPED SITE. Comprised of a 3/4 acre lot nestled in the pines, the steeply sloping terrain called for a plan that embraced and took advantage of the slope. Of equal priority was optimizing solar exposure, preserving privacy from abutters, and creating outdoor living space. The design accomplished these goals with a simple, rectilinear form, offering living space on the both entry and lower/basement levels. The stepped foundation allows for a walk-out basement level with light-filled living space on the down-hill side of the home. The traditional basement on the eastern, up-hill side houses mechanical equipment and a home gym. The house welcomes natural light throughout, captures views of the forest, and delivers entertainment space that connects indoor living space to outdoor deck and dining patio. MODERN VISION. The clean building form and uncomplicated finishes pay homage to the modern architectural legacy on the outer Cape. Durable and economical fiber cement panels, fixed with aluminum channels, clad the primary form. Cedar clapboards provide a visual accent at the south-facing living room, which extends a single roof plane to cover the entry porch. SMART USE OF SPACE. On the entry level, the “L”-shaped living, dining, and kitchen space connects to the exterior living, dining, and grilling spaces to effectively double the home’s summertime entertainment area. Placed at the western end of the entry level (where it can retain privacy but still claim expansive downhill views) is the master suite with a built-in study. The lower level has two guest bedrooms, a second full bathroom, and laundry. The flexibility of the space—crucial in a house with a modest footprint—emerges in one of the guest bedrooms, which doubles as home office by opening the barn-style double doors to connect it to the bright, airy open stair leading up to the entry level. Thoughtful design, generous ceiling heights and large windows transform the modest 1,100 sf* footprint into a well-lit, spacious home. *(total finished space is 1800 sf) RENTAL INCOME. The property works for its owners by netting rental income when the owners are home in San Francisco. The house especially caters to vacationers bound for nearby Mayo Beach and includes an outdoor shower adjacent to the lower level entry door. In contrast to the bare bones cottages that are typically available on the Cape, this home offers prospective tenants a modern aesthetic, paired with luxurious and green features. Durable finishes inside and out will ensure longevity with the heavier use that comes with a rental property. COMFORT YEAR-ROUND. The home is super-insulated and air-tight, with mechanical ventilation to provide continuous fresh air from the outside. High performance triple-paned windows complement the building enclosure and maximize passive solar gain while ensuring a warm, draft-free winter, even when sitting close to the glass. A properly sized air source heat pump offers efficient heating & cooling, and includes a carefully designed the duct distribution system to provide even comfort throughout the house. The super-insulated envelope allows us to significantly reduce the equipment capacity, duct size, and airflow quantities, while maintaining unparalleled thermal comfort. ENERGY EFFICIENT. The building’s shell and mechanical systems play instrumental roles in the home’s exceptional performance. The building enclosure reduces the most significant energy glutton: heating. Continuous super-insulation, thorough air sealing, triple-pane windows, and passive solar gain work together to yield a miniscule heating load. All active energy consumers are extremely efficient: an air source heat pump for heating and cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation (ERV), and high efficiency appliances. The result is a home that uses 70% less energy than a similar new home built to code requirements. OVERALL. The home embodies the owners’ goals and values while comprehensively enabling thermal comfort, energy efficiency, a vacation respite, and supplementary income. PROJECT TEAM ZeroEnergy Design - Architect & Mechanical Designer A.F. Hultin & Co. - Contractor Pamet Valley Landscape Design - Landscape & Masonry Lisa Finch - Original Artwork European Architectural Supply - Windows Eric Roth Photography - Photography

Premier Stagers-Bamboo Silk
Inspiration for a large contemporary open concept medium tone wood floor living room remodel in Los Angeles with white walls

Modular Sectional Sleeper Sofa Alpine by Nordholtz. The Alpine sectional sofa delivers the luxurious seating experience for the whole family. Rich in durable fabric/microfiber or genuine leather, this artistic sectional features adjustable pillow arms and plump cushions to offer rejuvenating comfort as the top stitching and tufting deliver a well tailored appeal. Enjoy the comfortable and relaxing experience of the Alpine sectional sofa with your friends and family. Provide the ideal comfort for your guests with the feeling of sleeping in their own bed. Alpine sofa bed is comfortable, firmly built and easy to transform. Apart from the iconic design and unprecedented comfort, Alpine comes with additional comfort features such as headrest that is adjustable, large storage space integrated inside the chaise, comfortable sofa bed, armrest pillows that are adjustable as well as adjustable depth of the seat. Please contact our office to get necessary help with customization of this sectional sofa. Features: Wooden frame with Sinuous Spring (Wave Spring) System. Heavy-duty, S-shaped wires stretched across the frame from front to back provide the entire seating area with uniform comfort and support and prevent sagging Cushions in feathers Can be ordered with or without Bed and Storage Can be ordered in Fabric or thick genuine Leather Adjustable headrests and armrest Choose from standard or deep seating Modular sofa that allows to build a Sectional Sofa (L or U shape), regular Sofa, and Loveseat The starting price is for the Alpine U-Shape Sectional Sofa with Bed and Storage, Upholstered in Fabric+Leatherette (in configuration and color shown in the main picture). Dimensions: Sectional Sofa (as shown): W(74" x 153" x 102") x D47" x H31"/38"

Two large sofas, lounge chairs and ottomans create a plethora of seating in this comfortable family room. The openness between the kitchen and family room is great for entertaining! This is the home of a young couple who really wanted a stylish space with dashes of bright color. To do this, we kept the sofas neutral and added beautiful abstract pillows, red ottomans and chairs. Very tall, custom floor lamps from Africa really help balance the space and add symmetry. Design: Wesley-Wayne Interiors Photo: Dan Piassick

Everyone deserves to end the day in a comfortable, tranquil home. And for those with children, it can seem impossible to reconcile the challenges of family life with the need to have a well-designed space. Our client—a financial executive and her family of four—had not considered a design makeover since moving into their apartment, which was more than ten years ago. So when she reached out to Decor Aid, she asked us to modernize and brighten her home, in addition to creating a space for her family to hang out and relax. The apartment originally featured sunflower-yellow walls and a set of brown suede living room furniture, all of which significantly darkened the space. The living room also did not have sufficient seating options, so the client was improvising seating arrangements when guests would come over. With no outward facing windows, the living room received little natural light, and so we began the redesign by painting the walls a classic grey, and adding white crown molding. As a pathway from the front door to the kitchen, the living room functions as a high-traffic area of the home. So we sourced a geometric indoor-outdoor area rug, and established a layout that’s easy to walk through. We also sourced a coffee table from Serena & Lily. Our client has teenage twins, and so we sourced a sturdy sectional couch from Restoration Hardware, and placed it in a corner which was previously being underused. We hired an electrician to hide all of the cables leading to the media console, and added custom window treatments. In the kitchen, we painted the cabinets a semi-gloss white, and added slate flooring, for a clean, crisp, modern look to match the living room. The finishing touches included a set of geometric table objects, comfortable throw rugs, and plush high-shine pillows. The final result is a fully functional living room for this family of four.

This dreamy girls bedroom is full of sweet but glam details! The lavender color palette mixes with soothing white walls and a chic mirrored nightstand and desk - the cozy bay window and window seat create the perfect reading nook!

Photo by Mike Casey Cramped, uncomfortable, and out of date: when the owners of this home approached us about renovating their kitchen and adjoining sunroom, these were high on their list of complaints. OPENING UP THE KITCHEN Our plan kept the kitchen in the same location but took down the walls between both the dining room and the sunroom to create an expansive multi-purpose space with spectacular views to conservation land along the back of the property. We removed the powder room and in its place created a window-lined hallway to the living room—opening up direct access between these two previously disconnected spaces. We then built a new half bath between these two rooms, with a door along the back hallway. The result is a more private powder room that is easier to access than before. Significantly improved cabinetry provides ample storage for both human and canine needs. An island countertop is functional and pleasant, enabling the owners to prep for and clean up from dinner all while enjoying the view of the woods behind their house. CREATING COMFORT We also completely rebuilt the sunroom, thickening the framing to allow for extra insulation and raising the roof to accommodate a higher ceiling and tall windows that let in as much natural light as the skylights they replaced, but much less of the solar gain that had made the room so intolerable in the summer. We improved visual connections between spaces and admitted more natural light by converting the framing of the main stairway from full to half walls. We also insulated the attic and replaced an aging, inefficient central air conditioning system with ductless minisplit heat pumps, which can also be used as supplemental heat. All in all, this was our kind of project: we made the home more attractive, more comfortable, and more energy-efficient—all over the course of a single, well-integrated project.

Mountain style medium tone wood floor and brown floor living room photo in Other with white walls, a standard fireplace and a metal fireplace

The Rushmore 50 Gas Fireplace with TruFlame Technology by White Mountain Hearth produces flames that mimic a wood burning fire. The impressive ceramic glass front with InvisiMesh provides a 50-inch viewing area.

Here is the built in desk area with open shelves, library drawers and a custom bulletin board to make organization a breeze. Photo courtesy of Neil Kelly--Aaron Ziltener

Beach style girl carpeted kids' room photo in Other with blue walls

Mountain style powder room photo in Denver with an integrated sink, gray walls and gray countertops

Inspiration for a scandinavian light wood floor and beige floor eat-in kitchen remodel in Birmingham with flat-panel cabinets, light wood cabinets, stainless steel appliances, an island and white countertops

Example of an eclectic medium tone wood floor bedroom design in New York with beige walls

Living room - rustic living room idea in Atlanta

Michael J Lee
Large transitional girl light wood floor and brown floor kids' room photo in New York with multicolored walls

Photo: Brian Barkley © 2015 Houzz
Family room - traditional multicolored floor family room idea in Other with beige walls