The idea for Scandinavian Hardwoods came after years of countless conversations with homeowners, designers, architects, and builders. The consistent theme: they wanted more than just a beautiful floor. They wanted insight into manufacturing locations (not just the seller or importer) and what materials are used and why. They wanted to understand the product’s environmental impact and it’s effect on indoor air quality and human health. They wanted a compelling story to tell guests about the beautiful floor they’ve chosen. At Scandinavian Hardwoods, we bring all of these elements together while making luxury more accessible.

The Ranch Pass Project consisted of architectural design services for a new home of around 3,400 square feet. The design of the new house includes four bedrooms, one office, a living room, dining room, kitchen, scullery, laundry/mud room, upstairs children’s playroom and a three-car garage, including the design of built-in cabinets throughout. The design style is traditional with Northeast turn-of-the-century architectural elements and a white brick exterior. Design challenges encountered with this project included working with a flood plain encroachment in the property as well as situating the house appropriately in relation to the street and everyday use of the site. The design solution was to site the home to the east of the property, to allow easy vehicle access, views of the site and minimal tree disturbance while accommodating the flood plain accordingly.

The Ranch Pass Project consisted of architectural design services for a new home of around 3,400 square feet. The design of the new house includes four bedrooms, one office, a living room, dining room, kitchen, scullery, laundry/mud room, upstairs children’s playroom and a three-car garage, including the design of built-in cabinets throughout. The design style is traditional with Northeast turn-of-the-century architectural elements and a white brick exterior. Design challenges encountered with this project included working with a flood plain encroachment in the property as well as situating the house appropriately in relation to the street and everyday use of the site. The design solution was to site the home to the east of the property, to allow easy vehicle access, views of the site and minimal tree disturbance while accommodating the flood plain accordingly.

This year round two-family cottage is comprised of seven modules which required just 25 days to construct in an off-site facility. When assembled, these prefabricated units form a building that is 38 metres long but less than 5 metres wide. The length offers a variety of living spaces while the constricted width maintains a level of intimacy and affords views of the lake from every room. Sited along a north-south axis, the cottage sits obliquely on a ridge. Each of the three levels has a point of access at grade. The shared living spaces are entered from the top of the ridge with the sleeping spaces a level below. Facing the lake, the east elevation consists entirely of sliding glass doors and provides every room with access to the forest or balconies. Materials fall into two categories: reflective surfaces – glazing and mirror, and those with a muted colouration – unfinished cedar, zinc cladding, and galvanized steel. The objective is to visually push the structure into the background. Photos by Tom Arban

This aesthetically pleasing master bathroom is the perfect place for our clients to start and end each day. Fully customized shower fixtures and a deep soaking tub will provide the perfect solutions to destress and unwind. Our client's love for plants translates beautifully into this space with a sage green double vanity that brings life and serenity into their master bath retreat. Opting to utilize softer patterned tile throughout the space, makes it more visually expansive while gold accessories, natural wood elements, and strategically placed rugs throughout the room, make it warm and inviting. Committing to a color scheme in a space can be overwhelming at times when considering the number of options that are available. This master bath is a perfect example of how to incorporate color into a room tastefully, while still having a cohesive design. Items used in this space include: Waypoint Living Spaces Cabinetry in Sage Green Calacatta Italia Manufactured Quartz Vanity Tops Elegant Stone Onice Bianco Tile Natural Marble Herringbone Tile Delta Cassidy Collection Fixtures Want to see more samples of our work or before and after photographs of this project? Visit the Stoneunlimited Kitchen and Bath website: www.stoneunlimited.net Stoneunlimited Kitchen and Bath is a full scope, full service, turnkey business. We do it all so that you don’t have to. You get to do the fun part of approving the design, picking your materials and making selections with our guidance and we take care of everything else. We provide you with 3D and 4D conceptual designs so that you can see your project come to life. Materials such as tile, fixtures, sinks, shower enclosures, flooring, cabinetry and countertops are ordered through us, inspected by us and installed by us. We are also a fabricator, so we fabricate all the countertops. We assign and manage the schedule and the workers that will be in your home taking care of the installation. We provide painting, electrical, plumbing as well as cabinetry services for your project from start to finish. So, when I say we do it, we truly do it all!

Our client requested a design that reflected their need to renovate their dated bathroom into a transitional floor plan that would provide accessibility and function. The new shower design consists of a pony wall with a glass enclosure that has beautiful details of brushed nickel square glass clamps. The interior shower fittings entail geometric lines that lend a contemporary finish. A curbless shower and linear drain added an extra dimension of accessibility to the plan. In addition, a balance bar above the accessory niche was affixed to the wall for extra stability. The shower area also includes a folding teak wood bench seat that also adds to the comfort of the bathroom as well as to the accessibility factors. Improved lighting was created with LED Damp-location rated recessed lighting. LED sconces were also used to flank the Robern medicine cabinet which created realistic and flattering light. Designer: Marie Cairns Contractor: Charles Cairns Photographer: Michael Andrew

The homeowner was not interested in installing irrigation to the parkway, so we designed a low maintenance, waterwise garden consisting of primarily succulents and cacti. We accented with decorative rocks and added in a fun flagstone path for easy access to your car. This will require very little work and yet is fun and unique!

The idea for Scandinavian Hardwoods came after years of countless conversations with homeowners, designers, architects, and builders. The consistent theme: they wanted more than just a beautiful floor. They wanted insight into manufacturing locations (not just the seller or importer) and what materials are used and why. They wanted to understand the product’s environmental impact and it’s effect on indoor air quality and human health. They wanted a compelling story to tell guests about the beautiful floor they’ve chosen. At Scandinavian Hardwoods, we bring all of these elements together while making luxury more accessible.

Trent Bell
Example of a small mountain style beige one-story wood exterior home design in Portland Maine

This year round two-family cottage is comprised of seven modules which required just 25 days to construct in an off-site facility. When assembled, these prefabricated units form a building that is 38 metres long but less than 5 metres wide. The length offers a variety of living spaces while the constricted width maintains a level of intimacy and affords views of the lake from every room. Sited along a north-south axis, the cottage sits obliquely on a ridge. Each of the three levels has a point of access at grade. The shared living spaces are entered from the top of the ridge with the sleeping spaces a level below. Facing the lake, the east elevation consists entirely of sliding glass doors and provides every room with access to the forest or balconies. Materials fall into two categories: reflective surfaces – glazing and mirror, and those with a muted colouration – unfinished cedar, zinc cladding, and galvanized steel. The objective is to visually push the structure into the background. Photos by Tom Arban

This year round two-family cottage is comprised of seven modules which required just 25 days to construct in an off-site facility. When assembled, these prefabricated units form a building that is 38 metres long but less than 5 metres wide. The length offers a variety of living spaces while the constricted width maintains a level of intimacy and affords views of the lake from every room. Sited along a north-south axis, the cottage sits obliquely on a ridge. Each of the three levels has a point of access at grade. The shared living spaces are entered from the top of the ridge with the sleeping spaces a level below. Facing the lake, the east elevation consists entirely of sliding glass doors and provides every room with access to the forest or balconies. Materials fall into two categories: reflective surfaces – glazing and mirror, and those with a muted colouration – unfinished cedar, zinc cladding, and galvanized steel. The objective is to visually push the structure into the background. Photos by Tom Arban

What once was a sad duplex located along the quaint town of Stone Harbor, NJ is now a gorgeous single family home for renters to enjoy! This was a total renovation which consisted of lifting the existing structure higher to comply with local flood height requirements (since it's a block from the Atlantic Ocean), total gut of the home interior, new face-lift and curb appeal upgrade, new gable roof with access to a roof top deck in the rear, and loads of charm inside and out. If you saw the before and after, you'd swear it was a new house! Photo by Fine Architecture

This remodel consisted of a whole house transformation. We took this 3 bedroom dated home and turned it into a 5 bedroom award winning showpiece, all without an addition. By reworking the awkward floor plan and lowering the living room floor to be level with the rest of the house we were able to create additional space within the existing footprint of the home. What was once the small lack-luster master suite, is now 2 kids bedrooms that share a jack and jill bath. The master suite was relocated to the first floor, and the kitchen that was located right at the front door, is now located in the back of the home with great access to the patio overlooking the golf course. View more about this project and our company at our website: www.davefox.com

  Download our free ebook, Creating the Ideal Kitchen. DOWNLOAD NOW   Lakefront property in the northwest suburbs of Chicago is hard to come by, so when we were hired by this young family with exactly that, we were immediately inspired by not just the unusually large footprint of this 1950’s colonial revival but also the lovely views of the manmade lake it was sited on. The large 5-bedroom home was solidly stuck in the 1980’s, but we saw tons of potential. We started out by updating the existing staircase with a fresh coat of paint and adding new herringbone slate to the entry hall. The powder room off the entryway also got a refresh - new flooring, new cabinets and fixtures. We ran the new slate right through into this space for some consistency. A fun wallpaper and shiplap trim add a welcoming feel and set the tone for the home. Next, we tackled the kitchen. Located away from the rest of the first floor, the kitchen felt a little isolated, so we immediately began planning for how to better connect it to the rest of the first floor. We landed on removing the wall between the kitchen and dining room and designed a modified galley style space with separate cooking and clean up zones. The cooking zone consists of the refrigerator, prep sink and cooktop, along with a nice long run of prep space at the island. The cleanup side of the kitchen consists of the main sink and dishwasher. Both areas are situated so that the user can view the lake during prep work and cleanup! One of the home’s main puzzles was how to incorporate the mudroom and area in front of the patio doors at the back of the house. We already had a breakfast table area, so the space by the patio doors was a bit of a no man’s land. We decided to separate the kitchen proper from what became the new mudroom with a large set of barn doors. That way you can quickly hide any mudroom messes but have easy access to the light coming in through the patio doors as well as the outdoor grilling station. We also love the impact the barn doors add to the overall space. The homeowners’ first words to us were “it’s time to ditch the brown,” so we did! We chose a lovely blue pallet that reflects the home’s location on the lake which is also vibrant yet easy on the eye. Countertops are white quartz, and the natural oak floor works well with the other honey accents. The breakfast table was given a refresh with new chairs, chandelier and window treatments that frame the gorgeous views of the lake out the back. We coordinated the slate mudroom flooring with that used in the home’s main entrance for a consistent feel. The storage area consists of open and closed storage to allow for some clutter control as needed. Next on our “to do” list was revamping the dated brown bar area in the neighboring dining room. We eliminated the clutter by adding some closed cabinets and did some easy updates to help the space feel more current. One snag we ran into here was the discovery of a beam above the existing open shelving that had to be modified with a smaller structural beam to allow for our new design to work. This was an unexpected surprise, but in the end we think it was well worth it! We kept the colors here a bit more muted to blend with the homeowner’s existing furnishings. Open shelving and polished nickel hardware add some simple detail to the new entertainment zone which also looks out onto the lake! Next we tackled the upstairs starting with the homeowner’s son’s bath. The bath originally had both a tub shower and a separate shower, so we decided to swap out the shower for a new laundry area. This freed up some space downstairs in what used to be the mudroom/laundry room and is much more convenient for daily laundry needs. We continued the blue palette here with navy cabinetry and the navy tile in the shower. Porcelain floor tile and chrome fixtures keep maintenance to a minimum while matte black mirrors and lighting add some depth the design. A low maintenance runner adds some warmth underfoot and ties the whole space together. We added a pocket door to the bathroom to minimize interference with the door swings. The left door of the laundry closet is on a 180 degree hinge to allow for easy full access to the machines. Next we tackled the master bath which is an en suite arrangement. The original was typical of the 1980’s with the vanity outside of the bathroom, situated near the master closet. And the brown theme continued here with multiple shades of brown. Our first move was to segment off the bath and the closet from the master bedroom. We created a short hall from the bedroom to the bathroom with his and hers walk-in closets on the left and right as well as a separate toilet closet outside of the main bathroom for privacy and flexibility. The original bathroom had a giant soaking tub with steps (dangerous!) as well as a small shower that did not work well for our homeowner who is 6’3”. With other bathtubs in the home, they decided to eliminate the tub and create an oversized shower which takes up the space where the old tub was located. The double vanity is on the opposite wall and a bench is located under the window for morning conversations and a place to set a couple of towels. The pallet in here is light and airy with a mix of blond wood, creamy porcelain and marble tile, and brass accents. A simple roman shade adds some texture and it’s top-down mechanism allows for light and privacy. This large whole house remodel gave our homeowners not only the ability to maximize the potential of their home but also created a lovely new frame from which to view their fabulous lake views. Designed by: Susan Klimala, CKD, CBD Photography by: Michael Kaskel For more information on kitchen and bath design ideas go to: www.kitchenstudio-ge.com

The Ranch Pass Project consisted of architectural design services for a new home of around 3,400 square feet. The design of the new house includes four bedrooms, one office, a living room, dining room, kitchen, scullery, laundry/mud room, upstairs children’s playroom and a three-car garage, including the design of built-in cabinets throughout. The design style is traditional with Northeast turn-of-the-century architectural elements and a white brick exterior. Design challenges encountered with this project included working with a flood plain encroachment in the property as well as situating the house appropriately in relation to the street and everyday use of the site. The design solution was to site the home to the east of the property, to allow easy vehicle access, views of the site and minimal tree disturbance while accommodating the flood plain accordingly.

The transformation of 2,100 s.f. of former servant's areas in an existing single-family residence circa 1860. The program consisted of the creation of a loft-like workspace, wet bar, playroom, as well as a guest suite. Existing portions of the original construction were "preserved and celebrated". New areas were designed around an aesthetic that was more relevant to the "here & now". The entire volume of the servant's area was exposed. New access to the existing roof top "Widow's Walk" was created using a new metal staircase, whose form and color scheme is loosely based upon the theories of Piet Mondrian.

Photography by Ken Wyner 2101 Connecticut Avenue (c.1928), an 8-story brick and limestone Beaux Arts style building with spacious apartments, is said to have been “the finest apartment house to appear in Washington between the two World Wars.” (James M. Goode, Best Addresses, 1988.) As advertised for rent in 1928, the apartments were designed “to incorporate many details that would aid the residents in establishing a home atmosphere, one possessing charm and dignity usually found only in a private house… the character and tenancy (being) assured through careful selection of guests.” Home to Senators, Ambassadors, a Vice President and a Supreme Court Justice as well as numerous Washington socialites, the building still stands as one of the undisputed “best addresses” in Washington, DC.) So well laid-out was this gracious 3,000 sf apartment that the basic floor plan remains unchanged from the original architect’s 1927 design. The organizing feature was, and continues to be, the grand “gallery” space in the center of the unit. Every room in the apartment can be accessed via the gallery, thus preserving it as the centerpiece of the “charm and dignity” which the original design intended. Programmatic modifications consisted of the addition of a small powder room off of the foyer, and the conversion of a corner “sun room” into a room for meditation and study. The apartment received a thorough updating of all systems, services and finishes, including a new kitchen and new bathrooms, several new built-in cabinetry units, and the consolidation of numerous small closets and passageways into more accessible and efficient storage spaces.

The Ranch Pass Project consisted of architectural design services for a new home of around 3,400 square feet. The design of the new house includes four bedrooms, one office, a living room, dining room, kitchen, scullery, laundry/mud room, upstairs children’s playroom and a three-car garage, including the design of built-in cabinets throughout. The design style is traditional with Northeast turn-of-the-century architectural elements and a white brick exterior. Design challenges encountered with this project included working with a flood plain encroachment in the property as well as situating the house appropriately in relation to the street and everyday use of the site. The design solution was to site the home to the east of the property, to allow easy vehicle access, views of the site and minimal tree disturbance while accommodating the flood plain accordingly.

This remodel consisted of a whole house transformation. We took this 3 bedroom dated home and turned it into a 5 bedroom award winning showpiece, all without an addition. By reworking the awkward floor plan and lowering the living room floor to be level with the rest of the house we were able to create additional space within the existing footprint of the home. What was once the small lack-luster master suite, is now 2 kids bedrooms that share a jack and jill bath. The master suite was relocated to the first floor, and the kitchen that was located right at the front door, is now located in the back of the home with great access to the patio overlooking the golf course. View more about this project and our company at our website: www.davefox.com