Example of a transitional home design design in Austin

Our client’s goal was to create a small, high-performance, healthy home for herself and her teenage son while providing a place for her father to age in place. An attached private accessory dwelling provides a space for him as well as flexibility in the future. The new home was designed to minimize its footprint on site, made smaller than the original 1930’s house. Embracing adaptability and efficiency, the residence includes two dwellings: a one-bedroom 795 square-foot accessory dwelling at the lower grade and a two-story 1330 square-foot primary dwelling located above. Involved in all aspects of project execution, our client oversaw the process by living in a used trailer parked in the backyard throughout the project’s construction. Family-Share focused on maximizing the footprint’s performance, access to natural light and the health of the occupants. Sustainable features include high-performance glazing, solar preheat for domestic and hot water in-floor heating and reclaimed fir car decking rainscreen siding.

The design process of a pavilion emphasizes the study of your favorite options before taking to a non-stop construction process.
Inspiration for a backyard stone patio kitchen remodel in San Francisco

As written in Northern Home & Cottage by Elizabeth Edwards Sara and Paul Matthews call their head-turning home, located in a sweet neighborhood just up the hill from downtown Petoskey, “a very human story.” Indeed it is. Sara and her husband, Paul, have a special-needs son as well as an energetic middle-school daughter. This home has an answer for everyone. Located down the street from the school, it is ideally situated for their daughter and a self-contained apartment off the great room accommodates all their son’s needs while giving his caretakers privacy—and the family theirs. The Matthews began the building process by taking their thoughts and needs to Stephanie Baldwin and her team at Edgewater Design Group. Beyond the above considerations, they wanted their new home to be low maintenance and to stand out architecturally, “But not so much that anyone would complain that it didn’t work in our neighborhood,” says Sara. “We were thrilled that Edgewater listened to us and were able to give us a unique-looking house that is meeting all our needs.” Lombardy LLC built this handsome home with Paul working alongside the construction crew throughout the project. The low maintenance exterior is a cutting-edge blend of stacked stone, black corrugated steel, black framed windows and Douglas fir soffits—elements that add up to an organic contemporary look. The use of black steel, including interior beams and the staircase system, lend an industrial vibe that is courtesy of the Matthews’ friend Dan Mello of Trimet Industries in Traverse City. The couple first met Dan, a metal fabricator, a number of years ago, right around the time they found out that their then two-year-old son would never be able to walk. After the couple explained to Dan that they couldn’t find a solution for a child who wasn’t big enough for a wheelchair, he designed a comfortable, rolling chair that was just perfect. They still use it. The couple’s gratitude for the chair resulted in a trusting relationship with Dan, so it was natural for them to welcome his talents into their home-building process. A maple floor finished to bring out all of its color-tones envelops the room in warmth. Alder doors and trim and a Doug fir ceiling reflect that warmth. Clearstory windows and floor-to-ceiling window banks fill the space with light—and with views of the spacious grounds that will become a canvas for Paul, a retired landscaper. The couple’s vibrant art pieces play off against modernist furniture and lighting that is due to an inspired collaboration between Sara and interior designer Kelly Paulsen. “She was absolutely instrumental to the project,” Sara says. “I went through two designers before I finally found Kelly.” The open clean-lined kitchen, butler’s pantry outfitted with a beverage center and Miele coffee machine (that allows guests to wait on themselves when Sara is cooking), and an outdoor room that centers around a wood-burning fireplace, all make for easy, fabulous entertaining. A den just off the great room houses the big-screen television and Sara’s loom— making for relaxing evenings of weaving, game watching and togetherness. Tourgoers will leave understanding that this house is everything great design should be. Form following function—and solving very human issues with soul-soothing style.

Vivian Johnson
Cottage built-in desk light wood floor and beige floor home office photo in San Francisco with white walls

Inspiration for a small modern freestanding desk medium tone wood floor study room remodel in Los Angeles with beige walls

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.

Bath in process. Paper and lath being applied in preparation for wall float.
Example of a danish home design design in San Diego

Our most recent modern farmhouse in the west Willamette Valley is what dream homes are made of. Named “Starry Night Ranch” by the homeowners, this 3 level, 4 bedroom custom home boasts of over 9,000 square feet of combined living, garage and outdoor spaces. Well versed in the custom home building process, the homeowners spent many hours partnering with both Shan Stassens of Winsome Construction and Buck Bailey Design to add in countless unique features, including a cross hatched cable rail system, a second story window that perfectly frames a view of Mt. Hood and an entryway cut-out to keep a specialty piece of furniture tucked out of the way. From whitewashed shiplap wall coverings to reclaimed wood sliding barn doors to mosaic tile and honed granite, this farmhouse-inspired space achieves a timeless appeal with both classic comfort and modern flair.

Bath in process showing hot mop pan and wall mounted toilet carriage.
Mid-sized danish master blue tile and porcelain tile porcelain tile and beige floor alcove shower photo in San Diego with granite countertops, a hinged shower door, beige countertops, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, a wall-mount toilet, blue walls and a vessel sink

Rising amidst the grand homes of North Howe Street, this stately house has more than 6,600 SF. In total, the home has seven bedrooms, six full bathrooms and three powder rooms. Designed with an extra-wide floor plan (21'-2"), achieved through side-yard relief, and an attached garage achieved through rear-yard relief, it is a truly unique home in a truly stunning environment. The centerpiece of the home is its dramatic, 11-foot-diameter circular stair that ascends four floors from the lower level to the roof decks where panoramic windows (and views) infuse the staircase and lower levels with natural light. Public areas include classically-proportioned living and dining rooms, designed in an open-plan concept with architectural distinction enabling them to function individually. A gourmet, eat-in kitchen opens to the home's great room and rear gardens and is connected via its own staircase to the lower level family room, mud room and attached 2-1/2 car, heated garage. The second floor is a dedicated master floor, accessed by the main stair or the home's elevator. Features include a groin-vaulted ceiling; attached sun-room; private balcony; lavishly appointed master bath; tremendous closet space, including a 120 SF walk-in closet, and; an en-suite office. Four family bedrooms and three bathrooms are located on the third floor. This home was sold early in its construction process. Nathan Kirkman

Oakley Home Builders is a custom home builder and remodeling company in the Chicago suburbs that has integrated distinctive home designs into surrounding communities, neighborhoods and coveted residential landscapes. Positioned as a flourishing Chicago western suburbs home builder, Oakley Home Builders demonstrates a passionate pursuit of detail-rich, value-driven design and efficient construction that provides homebuyers with a masterfully planned and executed living environment. Whether building on your site or one of our many available lots, Oakley Home Builders is recognized among Chicago western suburbs home builders for its excellent build-to-suit program. Guiding homebuyers through a simple, step-by-step process, we enhance the building experience by providing practical advice, flexible accommodations, and educational insight. But while we are mainly a home builder in Chicago suburbs, we also build luxurious beach homes in Naples, FL and along the shores of Lake Michigan in Indiana and Michigan's Harbor Country. In addition we serve as an expert suburban Chicago remodeling company catering to the communities of Downers Grove, Hinsdale, Naperville, Glen Ellyn, LaGrange, Western Springs, Elmhurst, and other west suburban locations.

Construction process - front landscape design
Photo of a large rustic front yard stone landscaping.

PHOTOS: Mountain Home Photo CONTRACTOR: 3C Construction Main level living: 1455 sq ft Upper level Living: 1015 sq ft Guest Wing / Office: 520 sq ft Total Living: 2990 sq ft Studio Space: 1520 sq ft 2 Car Garage : 575 sq ft ​ General Contractor: 3C Construction: Steve Lee The client, a sculpture artist, and his wife came to J.P.A. only wanting a studio next to their home. During the design process it grew to having a living space above the studio, which grew to having a small house attached to the studio forming a compound. At this point it became clear to the client; the project was outgrowing the neighborhood. After re-evaluating the project, the live / work compound is currently sited in a natural protected nest with post card views of Mount Sopris & the Roaring Fork Valley. The courtyard compound consist of the central south facing piece being the studio flanked by a simple 2500 sq ft 2 bedroom, 2 story house one the west side, and a multi purpose guest wing /studio on the east side. The evolution of this compound came to include the desire to have the building blend into the surrounding landscape, and at the same time become the backdrop to create and display his sculpture. “Jess has been our architect on several projects over the past ten years. He is easy to work with, and his designs are interesting and thoughtful. He always carefully listens to our ideas and is able to create a plan that meets our needs both as individuals and as a family. We highly recommend Jess Pedersen Architecture”. - Client “As a general contractor, I can highly recommend Jess. His designs are very pleasing with a lot of thought put in to how they are lived in. He is a real team player, adding greatly to collaborative efforts and making the process smoother for all involved. Further, he gets information out on or ahead of schedule. Really been a pleasure working with Jess and hope to do more together in the future!” Steve Lee - 3C Construction

Integrity Sliding French Patio Doors from Marvin Windows and Doors are made from Ultrex, a patented pultruded fiberglass, a material that is 8 times stronger then vinyl. Integrity doors are made with Ultrex®, a pultruded fiberglass Marvin patented that outperforms and outlasts vinyl, roll-form aluminum and other fiberglass composites. Ultrex and the Integrity proprietary pultrusion process delivers high-demand doors that endure all elements without showing age or wear. With a strong Ultrex Fiberglass exterior paired with a rich wood interior, Integrity Wood-Ultrex doors have both strength and beauty. Constructed with Ultrex from the inside out, Integrity All Ultrex doors offer outstanding strength and durability.