This project was such an incredible design opportunity, and instilled inspiration and excitement at every turn! Our amazing clients came to us with the challenge of converting their beloved family home into a welcoming haven for all members of the family. At the time that we met our clients, they were struggling with the difficult personal decision of the fate of the home. Their father/father-in-law had passed away and their mother/mother-in-law had recently been admitted into a nursing facility and was fighting Alzheimer’s. Resistant to loss of the home now that both parents were out of it, our clients purchased the home to keep in in the family. Despite their permanent home currently being in New Jersey, these clients dedicated themselves to keeping and revitalizing the house. We were moved by the story and became immediately passionate about bringing this dream to life. The home was built by the parents of our clients and was only ever owned by them, making this a truly special space to the family. Our goal was to revitalize the home and to bring new energy into every room without losing the special characteristics that were original to the home when it was built. In this way, we were able to develop a house that maintains its own unique personality while offering a space of welcoming neutrality for all members of the family to enjoy over time. The renovation touched every part of the home: the exterior, foyer, kitchen, living room, sun room, garage, six bedrooms, three bathrooms, the laundry room, and everything in between. The focus was to develop a style that carried consistently from space to space, but allowed for unique expression in the small details in every room. Starting at the entry, we renovated the front door and entry point to offer more presence and to bring more of the mid-century vibe to the home’s exterior. We integrated a new modern front door, cedar shingle accents, new exterior paint, and gorgeous contemporary house numbers that really allow the home to stand out. Just inside the entry, we renovated the foyer to create a playful entry point worthy of attention. Cement look tile adorns the foyer floor, and we’ve added new lighting and upgraded the entry coat storage. Upon entering the home, one will immediately be captivated by the stunning kitchen just off the entry. We transformed this space in just about every way. While the footprint of the home ultimately remained almost identical, the aesthetics were completely turned on their head. We re-worked the kitchen to maximize storage and to create an informal dining area that is great for casual hosting or morning coffee. We removed the entry to the garage that was once in the informal dining, and created a peninsula in its place that offers a unique division between the kitchen/informal dining and the formal dining and living areas. The simple light warm light gray cabinetry offers a bit of traditional elegance, along with the marble backsplash and quartz countertops. We extended the original wood flooring into the kitchen and stained all floors to match for a warmth that truly resonates through all spaces. We upgraded appliances, added lighting everywhere, and finished the space with some gorgeous mid century furniture pieces. In the formal dining and living room, we really focused on maintaining the original marble fireplace as a focal point. We cleaned the marble, repaired the mortar, and refinished the original fireplace screen to give a new sleek look in black. We then integrated a new gas insert for modern heating and painted the upper portion in a rich navy blue; an accent that is carried through the home consistently as a nod to our client’s love of the color. The former entry into the old covered porch is now an elegant glass door leading to a stunning finished sunroom. This room was completely upgraded as well. We wrapped the entire space in cozy white shiplap to keep a casual feel with brightness. We tiled the floor with large format concrete look tile, and painted the old brick fireplace a bright white. We installed a new gas burning unit, and integrated transitional style lighting to bring warmth and elegance into the space. The new black-frame windows are adorned with decorative shades that feature hand-sketched bird prints, and we’ve created a dedicated garden-ware “nook” for our client who loves to work in the yard. The far end of this space is completed with two oversized chaise loungers and overhead lights…the most perfect little reading nook! Just off the dining room, we created an entirely new space to the home: a mudroom. The clients lacked this space and desperately needed a landing spot upon entering the home from the garage. We uniquely planned existing space in the garage to utilize for this purpose, and were able to create a small but functional entry point without losing the ability to park cars in the garage. This new space features cement-look tile, gorgeous deep brown cabinetry, and plenty of storage for all the small items one might need to store while moving in and out of the home. The remainder of the upstairs level includes massive renovations to the guest hall bathroom and guest bedroom, upstairs master bed/bath suite, and a third bedroom that we converted into a home office for the client. Some of the largest transformations were made in the basement, where unfinished space and lack of light were converted into gloriously lit, cozy, finished spaces. Our first task was to convert the massive basement living room into the new master bedroom for our clients. We removed existing built-ins, created an entirely new walk-in closet, painted the old brick fireplace, installed a new gas unit, added carpet, introduced new lighting, replaced windows, and upgraded every part of the aesthetic appearance. One of the most incredible features of this space is the custom double sliding barn door made by a Denver artisan. This space is truly a retreat for our clients! We also completely transformed the laundry room, back storage room, basement master bathroom, and two bedrooms. This home’s massive scope and ever-evolving challenges were thrilling and exciting to work with, and the result is absolutely amazing. At the end of the day, this home offers a look and feel that the clients love. Above all, though, the clients feel the spirit of their family home and have a welcoming environment for all members of the family to enjoy for years to come.

Photography by: Alex Crook
Inspiration for a contemporary home design remodel in Seattle

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This is one of our most recent all inclusive hardscape and landscape projects completed for wonderful clients in Sandy Springs / North Atlanta, GA. Project consisted of completely stripping backyard and creating a clean pallet for new stone and boulder retaining walls, a firepit and stone masonry bench seating area, an amazing flagstone patio area which also included an outdoor stone kitchen and custom chimney along with a cedar pavilion. Stone and pebble pathways with incredible night lighting. Landscape included an incredible array of plant and tree species , new sod and irrigation and potted plant installations. Our professional photos will display this project much better than words can. Contact us for your next hardscape, masonry and landscape project. Allow us to create your place of peace and outdoor oasis! http://www.arnoldmasonryandlandscape.com/ All photos and project and property of ARNOLD Masonry and Landscape. All rights reserved © Mark Najjar- All Rights Reserved ARNOLD Masonry and Landscape ©

In 1949, one of mid-century modern’s most famous NW architects, Paul Hayden Kirk, built this early “glass house” in Hawthorne Hills. Rather than flattening the rolling hills of the Northwest to accommodate his structures, Kirk sought to make the least impact possible on the building site by making use of it natural landscape. When we started this project, our goal was to pay attention to the original architecture--as well as designing the home around the client’s eclectic art collection and African artifacts. The home was completely gutted, since most of the home is glass, hardly any exterior walls remained. We kept the basic footprint of the home the same—opening the space between the kitchen and living room. The horizontal grain matched walnut cabinets creates a natural continuous movement. The sleek lines of the Fleetwood windows surrounding the home allow for the landscape and interior to seamlessly intertwine. In our effort to preserve as much of the design as possible, the original fireplace remains in the home and we made sure to work with the natural lines originally designed by Kirk.

This project was a complete gut remodel of the owner's childhood home. They demolished it and rebuilt it as a brand-new two-story home to house both her retired parents in an attached ADU in-law unit, as well as her own family of six. Though there is a fire door separating the ADU from the main house, it is often left open to create a truly multi-generational home. For the design of the home, the owner's one request was to create something timeless, and we aimed to honor that.

Mark Lohman
Claw-foot bathtub - mid-sized coastal kids' ceramic tile painted wood floor claw-foot bathtub idea in Los Angeles with a drop-in sink, green cabinets, quartz countertops, multicolored walls and open cabinets

The goal of this project was to provide a lush and vast garden for the new owners of this recently remodeled brick Georgian. Located in Wheaton this acre plus property is surrounded by beautiful Oaks. Preserving the Oaks became a particular challenge with the ample front walk and generous entertaining spaces the client desired. Under most of the Oaks the turf was in very poor condition, and most of the property was covered with undesirable overgrown underbrush such as Garlic Mustard weed and Buckthorn. With a recently completed addition, the garages were pushed farther from the front door leaving a large distance between the drive and entry to the home. This prompted the addition of a secondary door off the kitchen. A meandering walk curves past the secondary entry and leads guests through the front garden to the main entry. Off the secondary door a “kitchen patio” complete with a custom gate and Green Mountain Boxwood hedge give the clients a quaint space to enjoy a morning cup of joe. Stepping stone pathways lead around the home and weave through multiple pocket gardens within the vast backyard. The paths extend deep into the property leading to individual and unique gardens with a variety of plantings that are tied together with rustic stonewalls and sinuous turf areas. Closer to the home a large paver patio opens up to the backyard gardens. New stoops were constructed and existing stoops were covered in bluestone and mortared stonewalls were added, complimenting the classic Georgian architecture. The completed project accomplished all the goals of creating a lush and vast garden that fit the remodeled home and lifestyle of its new owners. Through careful planning, all mature Oaks were preserved, undesirables removed and numerous new plantings along with detailed stonework helped to define the new landscape.

Pallet Wall
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The owners of this kitchen had spent the money to upgrade the finishes in their kitchen upon building the home 12 years ago, but after living in the space for several years they realized how nonfunctional the layout really was. The (then) two preschool aged children had grown into busy, hungry teenagers with many friends who also liked to hang out at the house. So the family needed a more functional kitchen with better traffic flow, space for daily activities revolving around the kitchen at different times of day, and a kitchen that could accommodate cooking for and serving large groups. Furthermore, the dark, traditional finishes no longer reflected the homeowners’ style. They requested a brighter, more relaxed, coastal style that reflected their love of the seaside cities they like to visit. Originally, the kitchen was U-shaped with a narrow island in the middle. The island created narrow aisles that bottle-necked at the dishwasher, refrigerator, and cooktop areas. There was a pass-through from the foyer into the kitchen, but the owners never liked that the pass-through was also located so close to the powder room. The awkward proximity was unappealing and made guests feel uncomfortable. The kitchen’s storage was made up of lots of narrow cabinets, apothecary drawers, clipped corner units, and very few drawers. It lacked useful storage for the larger items the family used on a daily basis. And the kitchen’s only pantry was small closet that had only builder-grade, narrow shelving with no illumination to be able to see the contents inside. Overall, the kitchen’s lighting plan was poorly executed. Only six recessed cans illuminated the entire kitchen and nook areas. The under cabinet lighting was not evenly distributed either. In fact, the builder had mis-placed the under cabinet lighting around the decorative pilasters which made for choppy, dark cubbies. Further, the builder didn’t include any lighting over the sink or the bar area, which meant whoever was doing the dishes was always in their own shadow. That, coupled with the steep overhang of the game room above made the bar area feel like a dim, cavernous space that wasn’t inviting or task oriented. The kitchen looked out into the main living space, but the raised bar and a narrow wall (which held the only large cabinet in the kitchen) created more of a barrier than a relationship to the living room or breakfast nook. In fact, one couldn’t even see the breakfast nook from the cooktop or sink areas due to its orientation. The raised bar top was too narrow to comfortably sit to either dine at or chat from due to the lack of knee space. The the homeowners confided that the kitchen felt more like a dark, dirty prison than place where the family, or their guests, wanted to gather and commune. The clients' needs and desires were: ➢ to create a kitchen that would be a space the family loved to be in; to relate to the adjacent spaces all around, and to have better flow for entertaining large groups ➢ to remove the walls between the breakfast nook and living area and to be able to utilize the natural light from the windows in both those areas ➢ to incorporate a functional chopping block for prepping fresh food for home cooked meals, an island with a large sink and drain board, 2 pull out trash cans, and seating for at least the 2 teens to eat or do homework ➢ to design a kitchen and breakfast nook with an airy, coastal, relaxed vibe that blended with the rest of the house's coastal theme ➢ to integrate a layered lighting plan which would include ample general illumination, specific task lighting, decorative lighting, and lots of illuminated storage ➢ to design a kitchen with not only more storage for all the husband’s kitchen gadgets and collection of oils and spices, but smart storage, including a coffee/breakfast bar and a place to store and conceal the toaster oven and microwave ➢ to find a way to utilize the large open space between the kitchen, pantry area, and breakfast nook Twelve Stones Designs achieved the owner's goals by: ➢ removing the walls between the kitchen and living room to allow the natural light to filter in from the adjacent rooms and to create a connection between the kitchen, nook, and living spaces for a sense of unity and communion ➢ removing the existing pantry and designing 3 large pantry style cabinets with LED tape lights and rollout drawers to house lots of kitchen appliances, gadgets, and tons of groceries. We also took the cabinets all the way up to the 9’ ceiling for additional storage for seasonal items and bulk storage. ➢ designing 2 islands - 1 with a gorgeous black walnut chopping block that houses a drawer for chopping and carving knives and a custom double pull out trash unit for point of use utilization - and 1 that houses the dishwasher, a large Blanco Gourmet sink with integrated drain board, woven baskets for fresh root vegetables and kitchen towels, plenty of drawer storage for kitchen items, and bar seating for up to 4 diners. ➢ closing off the space between the kitchen and the powder room to create a beautiful new private alcove for the powder room as well as adding some decorative storage. This also gave us space to include more tall storage near the new range for precision placement of the husband’s extensive oil and spice collection as well as a location for a combo-steam oven the wife wanted for baking and cooking healthy meals. The project is enhanced functionally by: ➢ incorporated USB and standard receptacles for the kids’ laptops and phone charging in the large island ➢ designing the small island to include additional open shelving for items used on a daily basis such as a variety of bowls, plates, and colanders. This set up also works well for the husband who prefers to “plate” his dinners in restaurant-style fashion before presenting them to the table. ➢ the integration of specific storage units, such as double stacked cutlery drawers, a custom spice pull-out, a Kuerig coffee and tea pod drawer, and custom double stacked utensil drawers ➢ moving the refrigerator to the old oven location - this eliminated the bottle neck as well as created a better relationship to the eating table. It also utilizes the floor space between the pantry, nook, and kitchen ➢ creating a banquet style breakfast nook - this banquette seating not only doubles the amount of seating for large gatherings but it better utilizes the odd space between the kitchen and the previous nook area. It also helps to create a distinct pathway from the mudroom room through the pantry area, kitchen, nook, and living room. ➢ the coffee/breakfast bar area which includes the perfect location for the concealed microwave and toaster oven, convenient storage for the coffee pods and tea accoutrements. Roll-out drawers below also house the smoothie maker, hot water kettle, and a plethora of smoothie-making ingredients such as protein powders, smoothie additives, etc. Furthermore, the drawers below the Keurig house measuring utensil, cutlery, baking supplies and tupperware storage. ➢ incorporating lots of wide drawers and pullouts to accommodate large cookware. ➢ utilizing as much vertical space as possible by building storage to the ceiling which accommodates the family’s abundant amount of serving platters, baking sheets, bakeware, casserole dishes, and additional cutting boards. The project is enhanced aesthetically by: ➢ new 5-piece Versailles pattern porcelain tile that now seamlessly joins the entire down stairs area together creating a bright, cohesiveness feeling instead of choppy separated spaces - it also adds a coastal feeling ➢ designing a cabinet to conceal the microwave and toaster oven ➢ the coastal influenced light fixtures over the nook table and island ➢ the sandy colors of the Langdon Cambria countertops. The swirling pattern and sparkling quartz pieces remind the homeowner of black-and-tan sandy beaches ➢ the striped banquet seating whose creamy white background and blue-green stripes were the inspiration for the cabinet and wall colors. ➢ All the interior doors were painted black to coordinate with the blacks and grays in the backsplash tile and countertop. This also adds a hint of tailored formality to an otherwise casual space. ➢ the use of WAC's Oculux small aperture LED units for the overhead lighting complimented with Diode LED strips for task lighting under the cabinets and inside the pantry and glass wall cabinets. All of the lighting applications are on separate dimmer switches. Innovative uses of materials or construction methods by Realty Restoration LLC: ➢ Each 1-1/2” x 3” block of reclaimed end-grain black walnut that makes up the center island chopping block was hand milled and built in the shop. It was designed to look substantial and proportional to the surrounding elements, executed by creating the 4 inch tall top with a solid wood chamfered edge band. ➢ The metal doors on either side of the vent hood were also custom designed for this project and built in the Realty Restoration LLC shop. They are made 1x2, 11-gauge mild steel with ribbed glass. Weighing 60 lbs a piece, heavy duty cabinet hinges were added to support the weight of the door and keep them from sagging. ➢ Under-cabinet receptacles were added along the range wall in order to have a clean, uninterrupted backsplash. Design obstacles to overcome: ➢ Because we were removing the demising walls between the kitchen and living room, we had to find a way to plumb and vent the new island. We did this by tunneling through the slab (the slab had post tension cables which prevented us from just trenching) to run a new wet vent through a nearby structural wall. We pulled the existing hot and cold lines between upper floor joists and ran them down the structural wall as well and up through a conduit in the tunnel. ➢ Since we were converting from wall overs to a gas range it allowed us to utilize the 220 feed for the wall ovens to provide a new sub panel for all the new kitchen circuits ➢ Due to framing deficiencies inherited from the original build there was a 1-1/2” differential in the floor-to-ceiling height over a 20 foot span; by utilizing the process of cutting and furring coupled with the crown moulding details on the cabinet elevations we were able to mask the problem and provide seamless transitions between the cabinet components. Evidence of superior craftsmanship: ➢ uniquely designed, one-of-a-kind metal “X” end panels on the large island. The end panels were custom made in the Realty Restoration LLC shop and fitted to the exact dimensions of the island. The welding seams are completely indistinguishable - the posts look like they are cut from a single sheet of metal ➢ square metal posts on the small island were also custom made and designed to compliment and carry through the metal element s throughout the kitchen ➢ the beautiful, oversized end panels on the pantry cabinets which give the breakfast nook a tailored look ➢ integrating a large format 5 piece Versailles tile pattern to seamlessly flow from the existing spaces into the new kitchen space ➢ By constructing a custom cabinet that jogged around a corner we could not remodel (housing the entry way coat closet) we were able to camouflage the adjacent wall offset within the upper and lower cabinets. By designing around the existing jog in the structural walls we accomplished a few things: we were able to find the space to house, and hide, the microwave and toaster oven yet still have a clean cohesive appearance from the kitchen side. Additionally, the owners were able to keep their much needed coat closet and we didn’t have to increase the budget with unnecessary structural work.

Finished shower installation with rain head and handheld shower fixtures trimmed out. Includes the finished pebble floor tiles sloped to the square chrome shower drain. The shower doors are barn-door style, with a fixed panel on the left and operable sliding door on the right. Floor to ceiling wall tile and frameless shower doors make the space appear larger. The bathroom floor tile was replaced outside of the shower as well, with long 15x60 wood-looking porcelain tile. The shaker-style floating vanity includes long drawer hardware, and U-shaped drawers to accommodate the plumbing. All door hardware throughout the house was changed out to a black matte finish

Todd Kamp
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This project is a whole home remodel that is being completed in 2 phases. The first phase included this bathroom remodel. The whole home will maintain the Mid Century styling. The cabinets are stained in Alder Wood. The countertop is Ceasarstone in Pure White. The shower features Kohler Purist Fixtures in Vibrant Modern Brushed Gold finish. The flooring is Large Hexagon Tile from Dal Tile. The decorative tile is Wayfair “Illica” ceramic. The lighting is Mid-Century pendent lights. The vanity is custom made with traditional mid-century tapered legs. The next phase of the project will be added once it is completed. Read the article here: https://www.houzz.com/ideabooks/82478496

Designer: Paul McClean Project Type: New Single Family Residence Location: Los Angeles, CA Approximate Size: 11,000 sf Project Completed: June 2013 Photographer: Jim Bartsch