Inspiration for a contemporary family room remodel in Atlanta

This project, sitting on a little more than 3.5 acres on Rivercrest was completed in 3 years with a total square footage of more than 26,000 square feet. Typically modern homes are smaller. At a certain size, usually around 4,000 square feet, the difficulty with modern or contemporary architecture becomes scale, and the minimalist idea gets lost. Whenever you get to this scale of house at over 26,000 square feet, this problem adds a layer of complexity. Connie Anderson Photography

Designed by Cheryl Carpenter of Poggenpohl with Miller Dahlstrand Dejean Architects / Renovation by Texas Fine Homes Photographed by Lucia Olivetti
Example of a large trendy l-shaped dark wood floor eat-in kitchen design in Houston with an undermount sink, flat-panel cabinets, white cabinets, marble countertops, white backsplash, porcelain backsplash, paneled appliances and an island

These clients fell in love with this home immediately when they saw it on the market, and quickly made the offer. From the unique lighting, retro architectural details, and view of the cascades, this home was full of potential to be remodeled to fit the lifestyle and personality of it’s new owners. Through the design process, we identified the aspects of the home that these owners loved, such as the Living Room soffit, grasscloth wallpaper, floating staircase and outdoor-feel basement. We then pinpointed the difficulties that the floor plan and materials presented for their lifestyle, such as the closed-off/compartmentalized floor plan, shag carpet in the living room, outdated finishes, lack of wood, and a newer kitchen that was an outlier within the style of the house. The finished product is a magazine-worthy transformation that thoughtfully unifies the owner’s personal style and the home’s retro roots.

Inspiration for a small contemporary medium tone wood floor foyer remodel in Atlanta

Reclaimed wood kitchen by Aster Cucine & designed by Urban Homes
Mid-sized urban home design photo in New York

Located on farmland in McLean, Virginia, the American Farmhouse balances the expected comforts of a new home with the bucolic beauty of an old farmhouse. The final site plan still has evidence showing parallel courses of the barn’s destiny. The house mass is broken and lowered so that the home can remain secondary to the monolithic barn structure. Earthy and elemental materials are selected for the home that reference the barn without directly mimicking it. Wooden members found inside the barn and from other barns bridge ceilings and are used in floors along with rustic slate adding to a sense of simplicity to the farmhouse design. The age and patina of the barn is reflected in the house’s textural use of board and batten and field stone layered similar to stone foundations. The original development plan was to demolish the existing barn and construct three suburban homes. Part of an endangered breed, as one of the few remaining barns in the area, it was originally viewed as a challenge in a luxury home construction with several difficulties posed to the impending project: it would be expensive to renovate, vulnerable to demolition, and threatened by urban sprawl. However, instead of trying to alter or destroy the barn, the structure was fully embraced into the traditional architecture project as a centerpiece and was used as the inspiration for the home. The new house was sited parallel to the barn so that views to the barn gable were accessible.

Eckelhoff Electric used the SLABlite light guide system for this backlighting project on this two-tier bar using natural quartz slab material. There was little difficulty in finishing a successful project and no disruption to the typical fabrication/installation process. The company simply cut the panels to size on location and placed them between the substrate and the slab.

The jets are located in custom areas to accommodate therapy for the client's back problems, facing a great view. The pebbles were run vertically to enjoy visually but not act as a tripper or cleaning difficulty on the floor.

BathCRATE Spyglass Drive | Vanity: Bella 42-inch Vanity with Carrara Marble Top | Faucet: Delta Trinsic Two Handle Widespread Bathroom Faucet In Champagne Bronze | Shower Fixture: Delta Linden Monitor 17 Series Tub & Shower Trim With In2ition In Champagne Bronze | Shower Tile: Sorrento 3″ x 16″ Ceramic Wall Tile in Bianco | Shower Tile Accent & Niche: Arizona Tile CEMENTINE BLACK AND WHITE | Toilet: American Standard Baby Devoro Round-Front Two-Piece Toilet | Flooring: Bedrosians Makoto 2″ x 10″ Matte Ceramic Tile in Kumo Grey | Wall Paint: Sherwin-Williams Crushed Ice in Eggshell | For more visit: https://kbcrate.com/bathcrate-spyglass-drive-in-stockton-ca-is-complete-2/

What an awesome, fun space for this young family. Comfort and functionality were key in the design, so we placed a large sectional and red swivel chairs to give plenty of space for everyone to lounge about. There is always difficulty when you have two focal points in a room, which in this case were the TV and fireplace. But, our team did a great job of blending the artwork and accessories to make it feel like one wall instead of two. We always love to have a complete surround of seating options, so adding the benches in front of the TV did the trick. Design: Wesley-Wayne Interiors Photo: Lance Selgo

Designing an object was accompanied by certain difficulties. The owners bought a plot on which there was already a house. Its quality and appearance did not suit customers in any way. Moreover, the construction of a house from scratch was not even discussed, so the architects Vitaly Dorokhov and Tatyana Dmitrenko had to take the existing skeleton as a basis. During the reconstruction, the protruding glass volume was demolished, some structural elements of the facade were simplified. The number of storeys was increased and the height of the roof was increased. As a result, the building took the form of a real English home, as customers wanted. The planning decision was dictated by the terms of reference. And the number of people living in the house. Therefore, in terms of the house acquired 400 m \ 2 extra. The entire engineering structure and heating system were completely redone. Heating of the house comes from wells and the Ecokolt system. The climate system of the house itself is integrated into the relay control system that constantly maintains the climate and humidity in the house.

The photos on this page are of a Sandstone Kitchen floor at a house in the High Green suburb of Sheffield. The Sandstone tiles looked grubby and needed some love and attention. Our client was getting fed up trying to keep the stone clean, particularly around the kitchen area where cleaning didn’t seem to make much. You can see how dirty it had become on the before picture below, this is stark contrast to the middle of the of the kitchen where the portable kitchen island normally sits. I went to the property to get a better look at the problem floor and carried out a small test clean to see which products and methods would have the best impact. The patch came up really clean without much difficulty, so I was confident on being able to restore its appearance. It was clear to me the original protective sealer had worn off and dirt had become ingrained in the pores of the stone where it was proving difficult to remove. My client was very encouraged by the test clean initial result and agreed to go ahead with the quote. We arranged a suitable time to carry out the work on a day when the family would be out of the way. I started by taping up the area to make sure the skirting and woodwork were protected from splashing. Once done a strong dilution of Tile Doctor Pro-Clean was sprayed onto Sandstone tile and grout. It was left to dwell for approximately ten minutes to help break down all the grime and dirt and was then worked into the stone using a rotary floor machine fitted with a stiff bristled brush. This method totally transformed the dull sandstone, the stunning sandstone colours started to leap out and I could see the stone was well on its way to being transformed. The floor was then rinsed several times with water and the now soiled cleaning solution carefully removed with an industrial wet vacuum. With the floor clean I inspected all the tiles and repeated the process until I was happy the floor was total clean. I should mention It’s not always this easy to clean a stone floor and quite often I find myself having to utilise all sorts of products and methods before I’m totally satisfied it’s as clean as it could possibly be. With the cleaning done I left the floor to dry out overnight aided with heaters and air blowers. I returned to seal the floor the next day checking first that the stone was dry with a damp meter. Leaving the blowers on overnight had helped and the readings I took from the floor confirmed it was now ready for sealing. Earlier I had discussed the different types of sealer available with my clients and they had chosen to have the floor sealed with Tile Doctor Seal & Go. This works really well on Sandstone, enhancing its appearance, improving colour and of course adding protection to the stone to prevent grime and dirt stuck in the pores of the stone. Several coats were applied until I could see if was fully sealed and the right level of finish had been achieved. Sealing a floor can take some time as you need to allow each coat to dry before applying the next. Once done the floor looked meticulously clean and the new sealer had added a lovely subtle sheen to the stone. My client was very please with the transformation and left the following feedback. ‘Very professional approach, friendly, and offered great advice throughout the job. Very pleased with the finish Cheers Matt we will see you again’ One of the problems we find with many homeowners is that for cleaning they use strong bleach-based cleaning product on their sealed tiles, and this actually strips off the sealer leaving the stone vulnerable to ingrained dirt. As a result, Tile Doctor has developed Tile Doctor Neutral Tile Cleaner, it is pH neutral and gentle enough for everyday use without affecting the sealer. Matthew Lovett South Yorkshire Tile Doctor

Elegant bathroom photo in San Diego

This project was done for a professional couple who had two children and a grandchild move back home due to the Pandemic. We helped the family add over 600 SF to their living space that they desperately needed. The home is a brick home built in the 1980s. The area we had to work with was an atrium (We don’t see many of those these days!) and a garage that would be closed in. They needed an additional room & storage space including a mechanical room for the AC that would service this area and expanded office space. The primary difficulties were making the project not look like a closed garage and reframing the roof that had a valley that terminated at the atrium. We were able to raise + level the floor of the garage so that it was equal to the rest of the home. We also matched windows put into the garage to other windows on the front of the house creating design continuity. Often when we do garage conversions, we uncouple the drive way from the house to avoid the closed in garage appearance. Unfortunately, on this project that was not possible because of the need for maximum parking. But with the design consistency, the conversion appears seamless with the house. The roof framing turned out to be more problematic than we had anticipated because the garage roof had been created with trusses whereas the rest of the roof had been traditionally framed. That combined with the open atrium falling in the roof valley made the infill framing a challenge. Ultimately, we were able to fill in the roof over the atrium so that it looks like it was always there. Where there had once been a garage door, there was now a bedroom wall with two large windows. In addition to the two large windows, light-colored paint and flooring also contributed to the brightness of the new space. The bedroom has a walk-in closet with built-in shelving. On the other side, we created a large storage space for the family to use since they no longer have their garage for storage.

There were a few difficulties in making this kitchen any better than how it was. There was a separate staircase that had access to the second floor which was located in the kitchen. This left just enough room to push the dining room to one side. Then, there was the porch. A really nice panoramic view of the back, but was somehow under-used by the family during the summer months. Then, it was the size of the kitchen. It simply was way too small for a growing family, and while it had a peninsular in place, the flow just didn’t work. I remember watching them one day demonstrating how awkward it was using the kitchen. We got it! We had our marching orders to go and figure out how to make this kitchen work for this family. Everything in the room was fair play. The design was done to make the kitchen very open. For a few ideas, we incorporated the porch in the kitchen by using the nana wall idea but it ended up being too cost prohibitive to do so. We then decided to do a permanent fix by using a commercial glass wall application. Once we figured that out, we moved back inside and removed the staircase. This gave us two added benefits. One allowed us to really reconfigure the kitchen and the other opened up the second floor for a huge built in closet system. We relocated the windows, added a fire place with a built In TV above. From there, it was onto the kitchen itself which contained a huge Island with seating, large kitchen sink and built in appliances which was set up in a way to take advantage of the new layout. We re-positioned the kitchen facing the beautiful views outside rather than looking towards a wall. Now, when you enter the house up the entry stairs, the kitchen now draws you into the magnificent new open space. This is now setup for entertaining, relaxation, hanging out and most of all, preparing meals in a room where you only have to leave if you want to. This one was all about the design. Design was what made this space. Setting this space up for success was crucial, and this kitchen is a great example of how design can cover a multitude of sins in Kitchen designs. … Just close your eyes for a second and imagine waking up one winter morning and having a cup of coffee and watching the snow fall through those huge windows, leaning up against those 3D feature walls while watching the kids sitting around the table enjoying those warm radiant heated floors in this spacious kitchen…..

Connecting to the home with minimal difficulty and modifications to the original home's design.
Inspiration for a contemporary home design remodel in DC Metro

These clients fell in love with this home immediately when they saw it on the market, and quickly made the offer. From the unique lighting, retro architectural details, and view of the cascades, this home was full of potential to be remodeled to fit the lifestyle and personality of it’s new owners. Through the design process, we identified the aspects of the home that these owners loved, such as the Living Room soffit, grasscloth wallpaper, floating staircase and outdoor-feel basement. We then pinpointed the difficulties that the floor plan and materials presented for their lifestyle, such as the closed-off/compartmentalized floor plan, shag carpet in the living room, outdated finishes, lack of wood, and a newer kitchen that was an outlier within the style of the house. The finished product is a magazine-worthy transformation that thoughtfully unifies the owner’s personal style and the home’s retro roots.