Todd Mason
Mountain style l-shaped eat-in kitchen photo in New York with a drop-in sink, medium tone wood cabinets, wood countertops, white backsplash, subway tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances and an island

View of living room with open patio. (Photo: Erhard Pfieffer)
Large trendy open concept concrete floor living room photo in Los Angeles with beige walls

Bob Greenspan Photography
Example of a mid-sized mountain style concrete floor and brown floor basement design in Kansas City

This fireplace offered a chance to use a slightly longer lens allowing the image to compress a bit. Copyright Carl Mayfield Photography
Living room - traditional living room idea in Houston

Trendy open concept medium tone wood floor family room photo in Austin with a corner fireplace and a media wall

You can read more about the project through this Houzz Feature link: https://www.houzz.com/magazine/hillside-yard-offers-scenic-views-and-space-for-contemplation-stsetivw-vs~131483772

Builder: John Kraemer & Sons | Architect: SKD Architects | Photography: Landmark Photography | Landscaping: TOPO LLC
Arts and crafts two-story mixed siding exterior home photo in Minneapolis with a hip roof

Another great example of compression in this house. The family room is tucked away, and the dark walls make it super cozy.
Living room - mid-sized traditional enclosed dark wood floor and brown floor living room idea in Houston with no fireplace and gray walls

The stair has steel structure and laser-cut steel railings. The treads are solid oak. The railing design is based on hand-drawn ink brush lines. Photo: Benjamin Benschneider

Modern Farmhouse is a contemporary take on a tradition building type, the Connecticut farmhouse. Our clients were interested in a house that fit in with the landscape while providing plenty of daylight with views to the surrounding property. The design uses simple gables arranged in a picturesque manner. It balances clean modern lines, traditional forms, and rustic textures. The new house is bright and light while also feeling personal and unique. There was interest early on to compress the construction time and to design a building that would not take a lot of energy to run. To achieve these goals, the design of the main house used modular construction and a high performance envelope. To articulate the surfaces of the spaces, the owner assembled a group of designers and artisans. Natural textures and tones were layered over the volumes to give a sense of place and time. The modular units of the house are produced by Huntington Homes in East Montpelier, Vermont. In addition to the main house, there is a pool house that sits symmetrically on the main axis of a long swimming pool. A glass enclosed living room fits between two concrete volumes that house a bathroom and storage spaces. An outdoor shower faces south, with an oculus that lets light in when the door is closed. The simple forms of the pool house sit below a green roof, which protects the glassy room from the summer sun and integrates the building into the hilly landscape.

“Compelling.” That’s how one of our judges characterized this stair, which manages to embody both reassuring solidity and airy weightlessness. Architect Mahdad Saniee specified beefy maple treads—each laminated from two boards, to resist twisting and cupping—and supported them at the wall with hidden steel hangers. “We wanted to make them look like they are floating,” he says, “so they sit away from the wall by about half an inch.” The stainless steel rods that seem to pierce the treads’ opposite ends are, in fact, joined by threaded couplings hidden within the thickness of the wood. The result is an assembly whose stiffness underfoot defies expectation, Saniee says. “It feels very solid, much more solid than average stairs.” With the rods working in tension from above and compression below, “it’s very hard for those pieces of wood to move.” The interplay of wood and steel makes abstract reference to a Steinway concert grand, Saniee notes. “It’s taking elements of a piano and playing with them.” A gently curved soffit in the ceiling reinforces the visual rhyme. The jury admired the effect but was equally impressed with the technical acumen required to achieve it. “The rhythm established by the vertical rods sets up a rigorous discipline that works with the intricacies of stair dimensions,” observed one judge. “That’s really hard to do.”

Elegant living room photo in Minneapolis

Dining area within the Great Room. A "Trellis Like" cloud ceiling made from Walnut compresses the space to stitch the kitchen together with the dining area. Builder - Build Inc, Interior Design - Tate Studio Architects, Photography - Thompson Photographic.

Inspiration for a contemporary living room remodel in Seattle with black walls and a hanging fireplace

Mid Century Dining Set Floats in Open Floor Plan. Nanawall System connects inside to outdoors.
Inspiration for a large rustic dark wood floor and black floor great room remodel in Seattle with no fireplace

Inspiration for a transitional entryway remodel in Orlando

Jim Bartsch
Inspiration for a contemporary open concept bamboo floor living room remodel in Denver with a standard fireplace, a stone fireplace and beige walls

Photos by Jeff Fountain
Garden shed - farmhouse garden shed idea in Seattle

Photo Credit: Eric Roth
Cottage dark wood floor bedroom photo in Boston with white walls