Stunning design by the talented Furman + Keil Architects transformed this 1930’s West Austin cottage into a cozy, ultra modern retreat. The new design preserved original stone walls and fireplace, seamlessly integrating historic components with modern materials and finishes. The finished product is a unique blend of both old and new, landing it on the 30th Annual AIA Austin Homes Tour. Photography by Leonid Furmansky

What our clients needed: • Create a garden folly that doubles as a well-built shed for crafts and storage. • Size the structure large enough for comfortable storage without dominating the garden. • Discreetly locate the shed in the far corner of the rear yard while maintaining existing trees. • Ensure that the structure is protected from the weather and carefully detailed to deter access of wildlife and rodents. FUNCTION • Construct the shed slab close to grade to permit easy access for bicycle storage, while building shed walls above grade to ensure against termites and dryrot. • Install a French door and operable casement windows to admit plenty of daylight and provide views to the garden. • Include rugged built-in work bench, shelves, bike racks and tool storage for a rustic well-organized and efficient space. • Incorporate GFIC electrical service for safe access to power at this distant corner of the yard. • Position energy-efficient interior lighting to ensure space can be used year-round. • Switch control of exterior light from house and from shed for ease of command. AESTHETICS • Design and detail the shed to coordinate with the Arts and Crafts style house. • Include an arbor for future flowering vines, further softening the shed’s garden presence. • Simple and rustic interior surfaces ensure that the space is easy to clean. • Create an aged and softly weathered appearance, and protect the exterior siding by finishing the cedar with a custom-colored semi-transparent stain. INNOVATIVE MATERIALS AND CONSTRUCTION • Factory-built components were pre-assembled to allow for a speedy assembly and for a shorter on-site construction schedule. • Each component was easily transported through the yard without disturbing garden features. • Decorative exterior trim frames the door and windows, while a simpler trim is used inside the unadorned shed. OBSTACLE OVERCOME • The structure is located in the corner of the yard to avoid disturbance of a curly willow tree. • The low-profile structure is positioned close to property lines while staying beneath the allowable daylight plane for structures. • To comply with daylight plane close to fence, the roof form combines hip and gable forms, with door located at gable end. • The height of the modest interior is maximized, without exceeding the allowable building height. CRAFTSMANSHIP • The concrete slab was precisely formed and finished for ease of shed assembly before the factory-built components were delivered to site. • Precision planning meant the pre-framed door fit exactly between raised concrete curb.

Clean and organized laundry room space. Floating shelves & glass cabinet doors give an open feeling to the room. Cabinets finished in white thermafoil components. Bill Curran-Owner and Designer for Closet Organizing Systems

Inspiration for a contemporary open concept dark wood floor living room remodel in Miami with white walls and a media wall

Equipment rack houses all the home theater electrical components. See more ideas at: http://www.cchas.com/theater-and-media-rooms Bubbenmoyer Photography

This classic plunge pool with spa is designed to take advantage of a small space and stylistically enhance a contemporary home. The result is a fine example of clean lines and symmetrical visual appeal. The use of Merbau timber decking and narrow honed Himalayan sandstone surrounds create a fresh and welcoming space. The pool features blue glass mosaic waterline and step tread tiles, beautiful navy blue pebbled lining and a small spill-over mouth with sandstone coping. The spa component is a reliable and straightforward set-up, with blower and spa jets delivering perfect relaxation at the touch of a button. There is also a deep and shallow end to the pool, a sandstone skimmer box lid and integrated gas heating for both the swimming pool and spa.

We created this office in an exclusive home in the Lansdowne community located near Leesburg Virginia. This room is right off of the main entrance. Everything was changed starting with the hard wood floor color. We added custom ceiling quarter sawn oak beams and the ceiling chandelier after having the room painted a soft grey. Later the new desk and chair anchor the room which can later convert to a temporary guest suite because the tufted back sleeper sofa. The semi-custom cabinetry houses a printer, office supplies, and cool colored LED under counter lighting. Pierrjei.com

The Suita sofa system combines light and slender volumes with an Industrial and technological aesthetic. The geometrically precise body and cushions seem to float above the sleek, bridge-like aluminum legs, which can be seen as a tribute to mid-century American design. The Suita sofa family consists of many individual components. These can be used as independent elements or freely combined to adopt to all kinds of interior environments and furnishing needs. The seat and back cushions are available in firm or soft versions.

Updating of Upper West side bathroom
Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary master gray tile and porcelain tile porcelain tile corner shower remodel in New York with an undermount sink, medium tone wood cabinets, a one-piece toilet, gray walls, quartzite countertops and flat-panel cabinets

Want a sleek, industrial, modern look in your garage? Can't go wrong with our metal cabinets. We have many components to choose from? Give us a call today to talk about options. 864-214-2355

Detail of finished project. Dark stained oak stair and railing components.
Large wooden curved medium tone wood floor staircase photo with wooden risers

A gracefully simple, yet elegant, Arts and Crafts-inspired stairway in a Massachusetts country home. The gentle curves of the railing and the straightforward repetition of simple components, combined with masterful joinery, lead the eye upward effortlessly and calmly.

Gabriel Pinoux
Mid-sized eclectic open concept medium tone wood floor living room library photo in Los Angeles with white walls

Mid-sized trendy courtyard tile patio kitchen photo in New York with no cover

Kansas City Brick & Masonry is the craft of shaping rough pieces of rock into accurate geometrical shapes, at times simple, but some of considerable complexity, and then arranging the resulting stones, often together with mortar, to form structures. Quarrymen split veins, or sheets of rock, and extract the resulting blocks of stone from the ground. Sawyers cut these rough blocks into cuboids, to required size with diamond-tipped saws. The resulting block if ordered for a specific component is known as sawn six sides (SSS). Banker masons are workshop based, and specialize in working the stones into the shapes required by a building's design, this set out on templets and a bed mould. They can produce anything from stones with simple chamfers to tracery windows, detailed mouldings and the more classical architectural building masonry. When working a stone from a sawn block, the mason ensures that the stone is bedded in the right way, so the finished work sits in the building in the same orientation as it was formed on the ground. Occasionally though some stones need to be orientated correctly for the application; this includes voussoirs, jambs, coping sand cornice. The basic tools, methods and skills of the banker mason have existed as a trade for thousands of years. Carvers cross the line from craft to art, and use their artistic ability to carve stone into foliage, figures, animals or abstract designs. Fixer masons specialize in the fixing of stones onto buildings, using lifting tackle, and traditional lime mortars and grouts. Sometimes modern cements, mastics and epoxy resins are used, usually on specialist applications such as stone cladding. Metal fixings, from simple dowels and cramps to specialised single application fixings, are also used. The precise tolerances necessary make this a highly skilled job. Memorial masons or monumental masons carve gravestones and inscriptions. The modern stonemason undergoes comprehensive training, both in the classroom and in the working environment. Hands-on skill is complemented by intimate knowledge of each stone type, its application and best uses, and how to work and fix each stone in place. The mason may be skilled and competent to carry out one or all of the various branches of stonemasonry. In some areas the trend is towards specialization, in other areas towards adaptability.

The entry monument greets visitors and guests while the home peeks out in the distance. The signage strongly reflects the architecture as an integrated landscape design component.

Acting as a reflective component to tie in other tones in the space, the stainless steel hood vents materiality speaks to the conversation of color within the kitchen.

Succulents are quickly becoming a staple in contemporary floral arrangements. And with a lighting component, Succulent Garden adds a new feature to this trending design. Featuring numerous real touch succulent picks along with a color changing remote controlled LED light, this is a perfect accessory to transition from indoor to outdoor living.