Stunning transitional modern laundry room remodel with new slate herringbone floor, white locker built-ins with characters of leather, and pops of black.

The homeowner of this traditional home requested a traditional pool and spa with a resort-like style and finishes. AquaTerra was able to create this wonderful outdoor environment with all they could have asked for. While the pool and spa may be simple on the surface, extensive planning went into this environment to incorporate the intricate deck pattern. During site layout and during construction, extreme attention to detail was required to make sure nothing compromised the precise deck layout. The pool is 42'x19' and includes a custom water feature wall, glass waterline tile and a fully tiled lounge with bubblers. The separate spa is fully glass tiled and is designed to be a water feature with custom spillways when not in use. LED lighting is used in both the pool and spa to create dramatic lighting that can be enjoyed at night. The pool/spa deck is made of 2'x2' travertine stones, four to a square, creating a 4'x4' grid that is rotated 45 degrees in relation to the pool. In between all of the stones is synthetic turf that ties into the synthetic turf putting green that is adjacent to the deck. Underneath all of this decking and turf is a concrete sub-deck to support and drain the entire system. Finishes and details that increase the aesthetic appeal for project include: -All glass tile spa and spa basin -Travertine deck -Tiled sun lounge with bubblers -Custom water feature wall -LED lighting -Synthetic turf This traditional pool and all the intricate details make it a perfect environment for the homeowners to live, relax and play! Photography: Daniel Driensky

Mid-sized mountain style built-in desk concrete floor and gray floor home office library photo in San Francisco with brown walls and no fireplace

  Free ebook, Creating the Ideal Kitchen. DOWNLOAD NOW   This client came to us wanting some help with updating the master bath in their home. Their primary goals were to increase the size of the shower, add a rain head, add a freestanding tub and overall freshen the feel of the space. The existing layout of the bath worked well, so we left the basic footprint the same, but increased the size of the shower and added a freestanding tub on a bit of an angle which allowed for some additional storage. One of the most important things on the wish list was adding a rainhead in the shower, but this was not an easy task with the angled ceiling. We came up with the solution of using an extra long wall-mounted shower arm that was reinforced with a meal bracket attached the ceiling. This did the trick, and no extra framing or insulation was required to make it work. The materials selected for the space are classic and fresh. Large format white oriental marble is used throughout the bath, on the floor in a herrinbone pattern and in a staggered brick pattern on the walls. Alder cabinets with a gray stain contrast nicely with the white marble, while shiplap detail helps unify the space and gives it a casual and cozy vibe. Storage solutions include an area for towels and other necessities at the foot of the tub, roll out shelves and out storage in the vanities and a custom niche and shaving ledge in the shower. We love how just a few simple changes can make such a great impact! Designed by: Susan Klimala, CKBD Photography by: LOMA Studios For more information on kitchen and bath design ideas go to: www.kitchenstudio-ge.com

This bright urban oasis is perfectly appointed with O'Brien Harris Cabinetry in Chicago's bespoke Chatham White Oak cabinetry. The scope of the project included a kitchen that is open to the great room and a bar. The open-concept design is perfect for entertaining. Countertops are Carrara marble, and the backsplash is a white subway tile, which keeps the palette light and bright. The kitchen is accented with polished nickel hardware. Niches were created for open shelving on the oven wall. A custom hood fabricated by O’Brien Harris with stainless banding creates a focal point in the space. Windows take up the entire back wall, which posed a storage challenge. The solution? Our kitchen designers extended the kitchen cabinetry into the great room to accommodate the family’s storage requirements. obrienharris.com

Seven standing seam metal roof gables rise above the level site Scott Bergmann Photography
Large country white three-story wood gable roof photo with a mixed material roof

Galina Coada Photography
Inspiration for a rustic wooden open staircase remodel in Atlanta

This is a great house. Perched high on a private, heavily wooded site, it has a rustic contemporary aesthetic. Vaulted ceilings, sky lights, large windows and natural materials punctuate the main spaces. The existing large format mosaic slate floor grabs your attention upon entering the home extending throughout the foyer, kitchen, and family room. Specific requirements included a larger island with workspace for each of the homeowners featuring a homemade pasta station which requires small appliances on lift-up mechanisms as well as a custom-designed pasta drying rack. Both chefs wanted their own prep sink on the island complete with a garbage “shoot” which we concealed below sliding cutting boards. A second and overwhelming requirement was storage for a large collection of dishes, serving platters, specialty utensils, cooking equipment and such. To meet those needs we took the opportunity to get creative with storage: sliding doors were designed for a coffee station adjacent to the main sink; hid the steam oven, microwave and toaster oven within a stainless steel niche hidden behind pantry doors; added a narrow base cabinet adjacent to the range for their large spice collection; concealed a small broom closet behind the refrigerator; and filled the only available wall with full-height storage complete with a small niche for charging phones and organizing mail. We added 48” high base cabinets behind the main sink to function as a bar/buffet counter as well as overflow for kitchen items. The client’s existing vintage commercial grade Wolf stove and hood commands attention with a tall backdrop of exposed brick from the fireplace in the adjacent living room. We loved the rustic appeal of the brick along with the existing wood beams, and complimented those elements with wired brushed white oak cabinets. The grayish stain ties in the floor color while the slab door style brings a modern element to the space. We lightened the color scheme with a mix of white marble and quartz countertops. The waterfall countertop adjacent to the dining table shows off the amazing veining of the marble while adding contrast to the floor. Special materials are used throughout, featured on the textured leather-wrapped pantry doors, patina zinc bar countertop, and hand-stitched leather cabinet hardware. We took advantage of the tall ceilings by adding two walnut linear pendants over the island that create a sculptural effect and coordinated them with the new dining pendant and three wall sconces on the beam over the main sink.

After six years of living in their Huntley IL home, Chris and Meghan were tired of their dark, dingy, outdated kitchen and it was finally time for a long-anticipated change. “The kitchen is the place where we live, it’s where we do everything,” Meghan said. “It was important that it be a space where we wanted to be.” Meghan loves cooking and enjoys including their girls in healthy meal prepping, this led them to want a brighter, more enjoyable kitchen with increased functionality and improved storage. For Chris especially, the laundry room was an entirely dysfunctional eyesore. “We had a washer and a dryer, but it was all kind-of cobbled together!” Chris said. “There were always laundry piles everywhere, we weren’t really sure what we wanted to do in there, but it was time for us to make a change.” The mess of the space was stressful every time they walked in the door from the garage each day. Kids’ backpacks and shoes piled up haphazardly in the makeshift boot-bench closet left the family feeling disorganized and stressed. They needed space for folding clothes and locker cubbies to help keep the family organized. Having known Christine and Todd in the Huntley community for years, Chris and Meghan were familiar with their work. “We already trusted them personally and having seen their projects for years we knew they did top notch work. After we reviewed the initial round of designs, we knew that hiring them was definitely the right choice,” Meghan and Chris said. Although Chris had done a lot of work in their home himself, the kitchen and laundry room renovation was such a large undertaking that he didn’t want to steal time away from his family to spend what would surely be many long weekends doing the job himself. “That would not have been a wise choice for us,” Chris laughed. “Our designer, Michelle was very, very, easy to work with; anything we wanted to see or weren’t sure about, she went above and beyond to make this easy for us. She was easy to get hold of and always quick to respond,” the couple said. Michelle pulled ideas that mirrored the couple’s taste and style and was adept at directing the couple to limited choices that didn’t overwhelm them and kept the process moving. “I have a hard time making decisions. Michelle made the decision-making process so easy. I loved how she listened to what I liked and then presented three great options for me to choose from,” Meghan said. The main objectives for the kitchen were better storage solutions, they wanted the space to reflect their lifestyle and taste, and they wanted it to last for years with low maintenance. One of the first steps in creating a more functional kitchen was relocating the refrigerator, creating an improved workflow for the busy family. “We didn’t know that we could even move the refrigerator to a new location where it is now, that was something that we never would have thought of,” Chris said. “The new refrigerator location makes the kitchen feel so much bigger. We didn’t add any space, but our whole kitchen with the new design just seems like it’s so much larger than before!” Meghan said. The perimeter mist colored cabinets helped warm and brighten the entire room, while the graphite colored cabinets on the island added contrast. Using this fresh, clean color palette satisfied the couple’s desire for a bright space that was the exact opposite of what they had before. Organization accessories were also added to the cabinets such as a spice drawer tray and roll outs to create hidden convenience. “I absolutely love the hidden spices – it makes cooking so much more enjoyable!” Chris said. “And all the pull outs, and the double trash bin, who would think you could get so excited about organization!” the couple said in unison. One thing they hated in their original kitchen was how dark the space felt. Added lighting on the ceiling with the new light fixtures combined with the lighter cabinetry colors throughout solved this problem. “Our new kitchen has this warm, almost cozy feeling that our old kitchen never had, it’s just a space that I love spending my time in now,” Meghan said. The light airy feeling was accentuated with the use of floating white shelves on either side of the decorative range hood. “We have so much cabinetry space, the new design is amazing we actually have more storage space than we will ever need,” Meghan said. The island was extended to create more work surface and added space for stool seating. “The new island changes how we live. Now the kids can be in the kitchen with us, doing homework, eating breakfast, and the three of us have special dinners there when Chris is working late,” Meghan said. The Carrara Marmi Quartz countertops were chosen because they are, not only beautiful, but are made from hard-working material that doesn’t require maintenance. The white subway tile backsplash that wraps to the ceiling behind the focal point cooktop range/hood compliments the crisp white countertops perfectly, while brushed brass hardware and light fixtures keep the design fresh and new. The couple had a few fears at the beginning of the project, as most homeowners do. Their biggest fear was being out of their kitchen and laundry room for an extended time. The crew made it very easy for the family to work in a limited space keeping the washer and dryer hooked up the majority of the time, and also getting appliances working with minimal downtime. “They above and beyond accommodated us to get us through the process,” Meghan said. “They did a great job making sure we were as comfortable as possible throughout the process,” Chris added. “Our project manager DJ did a great job. He was very good at updating us on schedule changes, getting guys in as quickly as possible. Everyone that stepped in the house was nice and did great work,” said Chris. They thought Advance’s carpenter was phenomenal and were impressed when he took a conceptual idea from a photograph and worked with designer Michelle to create a one of a kind range/hood that has become the topic of conversation with friends and family who visit the new kitchen. “He was in our house literally every day for several weeks. He was easy to work with and good at what he did,” Meghan and Chris said. The focal point of the kitchen; a hand-crafted, custom-built ventilation hood was clad with handpicked reclaimed barnwood. Advance Design’s carpenter built the framework and the cladding to create a one-of-a-kind design element that the couple loves. “I think it was especially fun for him to create something unique from scratch, showcasing his talent in this area,” Meghan said. “I love that my kitchen is not like everyone else’s. I got to pick out the wood on my hood and watch it being built and was able to choose what pieces of wood went where on it. It’s totally unique.” Red Oak flooring was toothed-in throughout the kitchen and the rest of the first floor anywhere changes were made. Then the whole floor was refinished to tone down the orange undertones in the existing floor stain, ultimately changing the color complexion of the entire first floor. The result is a completely new feeling to the entire home. Renovating the laundry room was extremely important to Meghan and Chris, but they had trouble visualizing what the possibilities were for the seemingly small space. Michelle produced beautiful 3D illustrations that helped them envision the space in a whole new way. “I must have told Michelle 100 times that I am a visual person, seeing the designs in 3D made it so easy to make decisions and see what we could really do with our space,” Meghan said. A dividing wall and doorway were removed between the existing laundry room and hallway formerly containing a coat closet, providing space to design specialized graphite colored cabinetry matching the kitchen island to house custom storage cubbies for each family member. Adding the tall utility cabinetry in the new laundry area helped solve the storage issue, tucking away cleaning supplies, household items, and even the cat got its own cubby. “I love how everything is now hidden in its own space. I can’t tell you how much I hated coming home and seeing everything sitting around on counters,” Chris said. Electrical outlets were planned for the inside of utility cabinets, so devices could charge in hidden locations. Stacking the washer and dryer allowed for wider countertop space to provide a folding area and a special space for clothes to hang. “The way I do laundry has been completely transformed! I can actually fold clothes and hang them now right out of the washer and dryer,” Meghan said. “The end result in the kitchen and the laundry/mud room was an updated light and bright space, with a smarter work flow that better meets the needs of this family,” Michelle said. “I would totally recommend Advance Design,” Meghan said. “Sometimes I sit and just look at my kitchen and laundry room and think ‘Wow, I can’t believe I get to live here!’ It’s an understatement to say we love our new space.”

The Mazama house is located in the Methow Valley of Washington State, a secluded mountain valley on the eastern edge of the North Cascades, about 200 miles northeast of Seattle. The house has been carefully placed in a copse of trees at the easterly end of a large meadow. Two major building volumes indicate the house organization. A grounded 2-story bedroom wing anchors a raised living pavilion that is lifted off the ground by a series of exposed steel columns. Seen from the access road, the large meadow in front of the house continues right under the main living space, making the living pavilion into a kind of bridge structure spanning over the meadow grass, with the house touching the ground lightly on six steel columns. The raised floor level provides enhanced views as well as keeping the main living level well above the 3-4 feet of winter snow accumulation that is typical for the upper Methow Valley. To further emphasize the idea of lightness, the exposed wood structure of the living pavilion roof changes pitch along its length, so the roof warps upward at each end. The interior exposed wood beams appear like an unfolding fan as the roof pitch changes. The main interior bearing columns are steel with a tapered “V”-shape, recalling the lightness of a dancer. The house reflects the continuing FINNE investigation into the idea of crafted modernism, with cast bronze inserts at the front door, variegated laser-cut steel railing panels, a curvilinear cast-glass kitchen counter, waterjet-cut aluminum light fixtures, and many custom furniture pieces. The house interior has been designed to be completely integral with the exterior. The living pavilion contains more than twelve pieces of custom furniture and lighting, creating a totality of the designed environment that recalls the idea of Gesamtkunstverk, as seen in the work of Josef Hoffman and the Viennese Secessionist movement in the early 20th century. The house has been designed from the start as a sustainable structure, with 40% higher insulation values than required by code, radiant concrete slab heating, efficient natural ventilation, large amounts of natural lighting, water-conserving plumbing fixtures, and locally sourced materials. Windows have high-performance LowE insulated glazing and are equipped with concealed shades. A radiant hydronic heat system with exposed concrete floors allows lower operating temperatures and higher occupant comfort levels. The concrete slabs conserve heat and provide great warmth and comfort for the feet. Deep roof overhangs, built-in shades and high operating clerestory windows are used to reduce heat gain in summer months. During the winter, the lower sun angle is able to penetrate into living spaces and passively warm the exposed concrete floor. Low VOC paints and stains have been used throughout the house. The high level of craft evident in the house reflects another key principle of sustainable design: build it well and make it last for many years! Photo by Benjamin Benschneider

When a world class sailing champion approached us to design a Newport home for his family, with lodging for his sailing crew, we set out to create a clean, light-filled modern home that would integrate with the natural surroundings of the waterfront property, and respect the character of the historic district. Our approach was to make the marine landscape an integral feature throughout the home. One hundred eighty degree views of the ocean from the top floors are the result of the pinwheel massing. The home is designed as an extension of the curvilinear approach to the property through the woods and reflects the gentle undulating waterline of the adjacent saltwater marsh. Floodplain regulations dictated that the primary occupied spaces be located significantly above grade; accordingly, we designed the first and second floors on a stone “plinth” above a walk-out basement with ample storage for sailing equipment. The curved stone base slopes to grade and houses the shallow entry stair, while the same stone clads the interior’s vertical core to the roof, along which the wood, glass and stainless steel stair ascends to the upper level. One critical programmatic requirement was enough sleeping space for the sailing crew, and informal party spaces for the end of race-day gatherings. The private master suite is situated on one side of the public central volume, giving the homeowners views of approaching visitors. A “bedroom bar,” designed to accommodate a full house of guests, emerges from the other side of the central volume, and serves as a backdrop for the infinity pool and the cove beyond. Also essential to the design process was ecological sensitivity and stewardship. The wetlands of the adjacent saltwater marsh were designed to be restored; an extensive geo-thermal heating and cooling system was implemented; low carbon footprint materials and permeable surfaces were used where possible. Native and non-invasive plant species were utilized in the landscape. The abundance of windows and glass railings maximize views of the landscape, and, in deference to the adjacent bird sanctuary, bird-friendly glazing was used throughout. Photo: Michael Moran/OTTO Photography

Joslyn Amato
Inspiration for a contemporary gravel landscaping in San Luis Obispo.

Example of a trendy rooftop rooftop deck design in Dallas with a fire pit

Custom head board and bed in this lovely master bedroom.
Bedroom - large transitional master dark wood floor bedroom idea in Toronto with gray walls

Example of a trendy hallway design in Seattle with white walls

John Wilbanks Photography
Arts and crafts living room library photo in Seattle with red walls

Inspiration for a transitional master beige tile beige floor freestanding bathtub remodel in Boston with shaker cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets, white walls, an undermount sink, a hinged shower door and white countertops

The conversion of this iconic American barn into a Writer’s Studio was conceived of as a tranquil retreat with natural light and lush views to stimulate inspiration for both husband and wife. Originally used as a garage with two horse stalls, the existing stick framed structure provided a loft with ideal space and orientation for a secluded studio. Signature barn features were maintained and enhanced such as horizontal siding, trim, large barn doors, cupola, roof overhangs, and framing. New features added to compliment the contextual significance and sustainability aspect of the project were reclaimed lumber from a razed barn used as flooring, driftwood retrieved from the shores of the Hudson River used for trim, and distressing / wearing new wood finishes creating an aged look. Along with the efforts for maintaining the historic character of the barn, modern elements were also incorporated into the design to provide a more current ensemble based on its new use. Elements such a light fixtures, window configurations, plumbing fixtures and appliances were all modernized to appropriately represent the present way of life.

j.rae photography
Example of a transitional built-in desk dark wood floor study room design in Charlotte with gray walls