Look at that floor - where are the grout lines? Nope - no photo tricks here. This is the ultimate in clean and modern seamless bathroom floors by Final Touch. We used SkimStone and pigmented to match Benjamin Moore's Decorator's White so the surface can curve straight up the wall. Forget base boards, 1" radius floor-to-wall integrated corners keep the grime from taking up residence. A very modern look that's super easy to clean! Final Touch can create absolutely any finish effect you can dream up for any surface indoors and out (and showers! and garages! and labs! and Vegas!). Imagine their reaction when I required just solid white! Curious Imagery Photography, Daniel Nelson

This kitchen was formerly a dark paneled, cluttered, divided space with little natural light. By eliminating partitions and creating a more functional, open floorplan, as well as adding modern windows with traditional detailing, providing lovingly detailed built-ins for the clients extensive collection of beautiful dishes, and lightening up the color palette we were able to create a rather miraculous transformation. The wide plank salvaged pine floors, the antique french dining table, as well as the Galbraith & Paul drum pendant and the salvaged antique glass monopoint track pendants all help to provide a warmth to the crisp detailing. Renovation/Addition. Rob Karosis Photography

Karen and Chad of Tower Lakes, IL were tired of their unfinished basement functioning as nothing more than a storage area and depressing gym. They wanted to increase the livable square footage of their home with a cohesive finished basement design, while incorporating space for the kids and adults to hang out. “We wanted to make sure that upon renovating the basement, that we can have a place where we can spend time and watch movies, but also entertain and showcase the wine collection that we have,” Karen said. After a long search comparing many different remodeling companies, Karen and Chad found Advance Design Studio. They were drawn towards the unique “Common Sense Remodeling” process that simplifies the renovation experience into predictable steps focused on customer satisfaction. “There are so many other design/build companies, who may not have transparency, or a focused process in mind and I think that is what separated Advance Design Studio from the rest,” Karen said. Karen loved how designer Claudia Pop was able to take very high-level concepts, “non-negotiable items” and implement them in the initial 3D drawings. Claudia and Project Manager DJ Yurik kept the couple in constant communication through the project. “Claudia was very receptive to the ideas we had, but she was also very good at infusing her own points and thoughts, she was very responsive, and we had an open line of communication,” Karen said. A very important part of the basement renovation for the couple was the home gym and sauna. The “high-end hotel” look and feel of the openly blended work out area is both highly functional and beautiful to look at. The home sauna gives them a place to relax after a long day of work or a tough workout. “The gym was a very important feature for us,” Karen said. “And I think (Advance Design) did a very great job in not only making the gym a functional area, but also an aesthetic point in our basement”. An extremely unique wow-factor in this basement is the walk in glass wine cellar that elegantly displays Karen and Chad’s extensive wine collection. Immediate access to the stunning wet bar accompanies the wine cellar to make this basement a popular spot for friends and family. The custom-built wine bar brings together two natural elements; Calacatta Vicenza Quartz and thick distressed Black Walnut. Sophisticated yet warm Graphite Dura Supreme cabinetry provides contrast to the soft beige walls and the Calacatta Gold backsplash. An undermount sink across from the bar in a matching Calacatta Vicenza Quartz countertop adds functionality and convenience to the bar, while identical distressed walnut floating shelves add an interesting design element and increased storage. Rich true brown Rustic Oak hardwood floors soften and warm the space drawing all the areas together. Across from the bar is a comfortable living area perfect for the family to sit down at a watch a movie. A full bath completes this finished basement with a spacious walk-in shower, Cocoa Brown Dura Supreme vanity with Calacatta Vicenza Quartz countertop, a crisp white sink and a stainless-steel Voss faucet. Advance Design’s Common Sense process gives clients the opportunity to walk through the basement renovation process one step at a time, in a completely predictable and controlled environment. “Everything was designed and built exactly how we envisioned it, and we are really enjoying it to it’s full potential,” Karen said. Constantly striving for customer satisfaction, Advance Design’s success is heavily reliant upon happy clients referring their friends and family. “We definitely will and have recommended Advance Design Studio to friends who are looking to embark on a remodeling project small or large,” Karen exclaimed at the completion of her project.

Large beach style guest carpeted and gray floor bedroom photo in Salt Lake City with white walls and no fireplace

Ryann Ford
Country two-story mixed siding exterior home idea in Austin

Paula Casentini
Family room - contemporary open concept medium tone wood floor family room idea in Austin with a standard fireplace, a stone fireplace, a wall-mounted tv and beige walls

Living room - mid-sized contemporary living room idea in San Francisco with a tv stand

Example of a minimalist home office design in San Francisco

Arts and crafts medium tone wood floor family room photo in Seattle with green walls and a tv stand

Inspiration for a large coastal gray two-story mixed siding house exterior remodel in Boston with a hip roof and a shingle roof

This exterior image shows how the original three-window shed dormer was extended to allow access to the upstairs addition. The carved out porch provides a beautiful connection to the newly renovated landscape. Renovation/Addition. Rob Karosis Photography

Photo: Margot Hartford © 2016 Houzz
Ornate sunroom photo in San Francisco

An industrial modern design + build project placed among the trees at the top of a hill. More projects at www.IversonSignatureHomes.com 2012 KaDa Photography

After
Example of a trendy kitchen design in Boston

Darren Sinnett
Example of a transitional bathroom design in Cleveland

Kaia Calhoun © 2012 Houzz
Eclectic kitchen photo in Minneapolis

As a manager of a building or property, you quickly learn the art of mediation. One minute you may be working with a vendor to keep the building’s operating system running efficient and smooth; the next moment you may be calming a tenant down after finding the change in the system disrupted his office’s workflow. Give and take; it’s the only way to make sure every day runs perfectly. Overall, you have two goals to strive for in everything you do. 1. Keep the building running properly, upgrading systems as appropriate, and striving to do all you can on a pre-established budget. 2. Keep the building occupants happy, with as little disruption as possible. While some changes are minor, barely registering on a building occupant’s mind, with HVAC challenges, that’s rarely the case. If a HVAC contractor is replacing an air handler, for instance, and disconnects one and moves to the next unit, it may cause major disruptions to sensitive areas of a building. And if the occupant wasn’t prepared for the disruption, you can have a mighty unhappy customer on your hand. Anytime you are working on HVAC projects throughout your building, there are strategies you can put into place to keep things running smooth. Communicate with occupants Communication is key to any good relationship, and as a property manager, this rule is a great place to start. If you will be working with the HVAC equipment, block out the timeframe for work to be done, and understand the potential consequences of the process. Then communicate this process with every point of contact you have throughout the building. The more detail you can provide, the less surprises you’ll have throughout the process. You can also work with your building’s occupants before the process begins, finding out if there are better timeframes than others. Establish a realistic schedule As a property manager, its easy to provide your expectations for the HVAC project at hand, and request that the proposal be written in such a way that work is completed on your timeframe. Unfortunately, many contractors want your business and will agree to anything upfront in order to win the bid, knowing full well the work will take longer than specified. Instead of projecting your timeframes into the proposal process, ask for HVAC project bids to establish realistic schedules of how long the process will take, and what areas of your property will be most effected throughout the schedule. This will help you avoid crises between you and the contractor, and you and your tenants. Plan for the whole system If one small piece of your HVAC system is weak, its easy to fix that one small piece. But how will that impact your overall system? Will it cause weak spots in different parts of the building – maybe a corner office will have reduced air flow, and therefore be colder in the winter and warmer in the summer? When retrofitting new pieces with older existing systems, its easy to reduce the efficiency of your entire system. Before agreeing to certain repairs, make sure you understand how it will impact your entire system overall. An easy way of handling this problem is by working with the same HVAC contractor again and again, He will understand your system’s potential, and know when to make repairs, and when to replace. Have points of contact available for immediate assistance In many cases, problems arise because connections can’t be made. Can the HVAC contractor get a hold or you or another person that can make decisions at a moments notice if a problem arises? Do you have access to decision makers throughout the building that may be impacted by this change? Many projects have been put on hold simply because a person in authority can’t be found to give the go-ahead to move forward. If you have access to these people during the time of the project, you’ll be able to complete the project in record time. Test Finally, if you can test things in stages, or test when the potential for problems is the smallest, you reduce the chances of bigger emergency issues falling into your lap. If you’ll be installing a new terminal unit, can you make the switch on a Saturday morning when the building is largely unoccupied? If you’re replacing a large system, can you replace and test in phases so the entire project isn’t released at once? Most issues can be avoided with just a little strategy from the beginning. If you’ve never had a HVAC maintenance team to help you stay on track with your building’s heating and cooling, now may be the time to find out how easy a team approach makes the process.

Our client tells us: "I cannot recommend Design Interiors enough. Tim has an exceptional eye for design, instinctively knowing what works & striking the perfect balance between incorporating our design pre-requisites & ideas & making has own suggestions. Every design detail has been spot on. His plan was creative, making the best use of space, practical - & the finished result has more than lived up to expectations. The leicht product is excellent – classic German quality & although a little more expensive than some other kitchens , the difference is streets ahead – and pound for pound exceptional value. But its not just design. We were lucky enough to work with the in house project manager Stuart who led our build & trades for our whole project, & was absolute fantastic. Ditto the in house fitters, whose attention to detail & perfectionism was impressive. With fantastic communication,, reliability & downright lovely to work with – we are SO pleased we went to Design Interiors. If you’re looking for great service, high end design & quality product from a company big enough to be super professional but small enough to care – look no further!" Our clients had previously carried out a lot of work on their old warehouse building to create an industrial feel. They always disliked having the kitchen & living room as separate rooms so, wanted to open up the space. It was important to them to have 1 company that could carry out all of the required works. Design Interiors own team removed the separating wall & flooring along with extending the entrance to the kitchen & under stair cupboards for extra storage. All plumbing & electrical works along with plastering & decorating were carried out by Design Interiors along with the supply & installation of the polished concrete floor & works to the existing windows to achieve a floor to ceiling aesthetic. Tim designed the kitchen in a bespoke texture lacquer door to match the ironmongery throughout the building. Our clients who are keen cooks wanted to have a good surface space to prep whilst keeping the industrial look but, it was a priority for the work surface to be hardwearing. Tim incorporated Dekton worktops to meet this brief & to enhance the industrial look carried the worktop up to provide the splashback. The contemporary design without being a handless look enhances the clients’ own appliances with stainless steel handles to match. The open plan space has a social breakfast bar area which also incorporate’s a clever bifold unit to house the boiler system which was unable to be moved.

The starting point for the whole project was the camel artwork which the client loved and planned to bring back from Dubai. It was positioned to take centre stage in the open plan kitchen and in capturing some of the bright colours and fun memories of the family’s time away, it was a great way of linking their time abroad with their new life ahead. It also instantly communicated a sense of humour and set the tone – quite literally – for what was to follow. Nikki, our Decorbuddi, used the colours of the camel painting to inspire her palette for pops of colour throughout the house, carefully weaving them into each room to bring to life the foundation of calm, contemporary neutrals. Full project - https://decorbuddi.com/expat-returning-home/