Given a challenging lot configuration and topography, along with privacy issues, we had to get creative in designing this home. The home is divided into four basic living zones: private owner’s suite, informal living area, kids area upstairs, and a flexible guest entertaining area. The entry is unique in that it takes you directly through to the outdoor living area, and also provides separation of the owners’ private suite from the rest of the home. There are no formal living or dining areas; instead the breakfast and family rooms were enlarged to entertain more comfortably in an informal manner. One great feature of the detached casita is that it has a lower activity area, which helps the house connect to the property below. This contemporary haven in Barton Creek is a beautiful example of a chic and elegant design that creates a very practical and informal space for living.

The driving impetus for this Tarrytown residence was centered around creating a green and sustainable home. The owner-Architect collaboration was unique for this project in that the client was also the builder with a keen desire to incorporate LEED-centric principles to the design process. The original home on the lot was deconstructed piece by piece, with 95% of the materials either reused or reclaimed. The home is designed around the existing trees with the challenge of expanding the views, yet creating privacy from the street. The plan pivots around a central open living core that opens to the more private south corner of the lot. The glazing is maximized but restrained to control heat gain. The residence incorporates numerous features like a 5,000-gallon rainwater collection system, shading features, energy-efficient systems, spray-foam insulation and a material palette that helped the project achieve a five-star rating with the Austin Energy Green Building program.

Jonathan Zuck a DC film maker knew he wanted to add a kitchen addition to his classic DC home. He just did not know how to do it. Oddly the film maker needed help to see it. Ellyn Gutridge at Signature Kitchens Additions & Baths helped him see with her skills in Chief Architect a cad rendering tool which allows us to make almost real that which is intangible. DO YOU SEE THE RANGE HOOD??? Photography by Jason Weil

This screened porch was created as a sanctuary, a place to retreat and be enveloped by nature in a calm, 
relaxing environment. The monochromatic scheme helps to achieve this quiet mood while the pop 
of color comes solely from the surrounding trees. The hits of black help to move your eye around the room and provide a sophisticated feel. Three distinct zones were created to eat, converse 
and lounge with the help of area rugs, custom lighting and unique furniture. Cathy Zaeske

  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

Professionally Staged by Ambience at Home http://ambiance-athome.com/ Professionally Photographed by SpaceCrafting http://spacecrafting.com

Matt Schmitt Photography
Eat-in kitchen - mid-sized traditional l-shaped light wood floor eat-in kitchen idea in Minneapolis with soapstone countertops, a double-bowl sink, raised-panel cabinets, white cabinets and an island

When your address is high in the Hollywood Hills and overlooks the City of Angels, the stage is properly set to create a dramatic living environment. As soon as the renovations on his 3,100 sq. ft. home neared completion, Doug Fregolle contacted the woman he knew could help maximize the aesthetic appeal of the lofty residence —Bernadette Capellaro from Cantoni LA. Doug had previously enlisted Bernadette’s help with his office and a home in Palm Springs, and has long been a fan of Cantoni. Owner of a hugely successful promotional products company (see link below), he always appreciated the fact that the seasoned designer seemed to “get” his style. Read the full story here> http://cantoni.com/interior-design-services/projects/fregolle-residence Photos: Lucian Capellaro

David Duncan Livingston
Trendy l-shaped kitchen photo in San Francisco with an undermount sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, stainless steel appliances and marble backsplash

This amazing kitchen was a total transformation from the original. Windows were removed and added, walls moved back and a total remodel. The original plain ceiling was changed to a coffered ceiling, the lighting all totally re-arranged, new floors, trim work as well as the new layout. I designed the kitchen with a horizontal wood grain using a custom door panel design, this is used also in the detailing of the front apron of the soapstone sink. The profile is also picked up on the profile edge of the marble island. The floor is a combination of a high shine/flat porcelain. The high shine is run around the perimeter and around the island. The Boos chopping board at the working end of the island is set into the marble, sitting on top of a bowed base cabinet. At the other end of the island i pulled in the curve to allow for the glass table to sit over it, the grain on the island follows the flat panel doors. All the upper doors have Blum Aventos lift systems and the chefs pantry has ample storage. Also for storage i used 2 aluminium appliance garages. The glass tile backsplash is a combination of a pencil used vertical and square tiles. Over in the breakfast area we chose a concrete top table with supports that mirror the custom designed open bookcase. The project is spectacular and the clients are very happy with the end results.

The kitchen space in your house is where you will be preparing meals for yourself and your family, sharing dinner with your loved ones after a long day at work, and maybe even entertaining guests from time to time. Therefore, it is imperative for your kitchen – which is at the heart of your household – to be functional, durable, comfortable, and aesthetically appealing. Please click Verdivurdering Oslo

If you want to bring an element of vibrant color and sophistication into your kitchen space, then you might consider investing in a set of high-quality navy blue kitchen cabinets manufactured by a reputed brand or company such as Cabinet DIY. Navy is a chic and smart shade of blue that can create an ambiance of calm and elegant modernity in your interiors.

Navy blue kitchen cabinets will be unique enough to help you stand out without too much extra effort, while also blending in perfectly with most types of kitchen décor. If your kitchen is otherwise monochrome or light-colored, then a set of navy blue kitchen cabinets will also imbue the space with some much-needed energy and radiance. You can also accessorize navy blue cabinets with chrome hinges and knobs, colorful accents, and other elements that will breathe more life into your interiors.

Another advantage of installing navy blue RTA cabinets in your kitchen is that they are extremely affordable, durable, and easy to maintain. Moreover, RTA cabinets are widely available in a variety of shades, finishes, and textures. As they are quite easy to install, navy blue RTA kitchen cabinets are becoming more and more popular among homeowners around the country.

Ideas for Designing a Kitchen with Navy Blue Cabinets

To make the most of your world-class navy blue kitchen cabinets, you should know about some of the most popular design trends that have enthralled interior decorators in recent years. Mentioned below are some unique ideas to make the most of navy blue kitchen cabinets by designing the kitchen space in a thoughtful and innovative manner.

1. Navy Blue Base Cabinets

If you want to try out a set of navy blue kitchen cabinets in your interiors but don’t want to commit fully yet, then you can consider buying a set of blue base cabinets. The base cabinets are often ignored because they’re below the eye level, so using a vibrant and remarkable color for these cabinets will allow them to draw attention and stand out. The upper cabinets can be white or gray, so that the color scheme doesn’t become too overwhelming.

2. Narrow Focus

If you don’t want to paint every cabinet in your kitchen navy blue, then another alternative is to choose a focal piece for the entire kitchen. One popular option is to install a large, spacious pantry cabinet with a painted, navy blue finish. All the other cabinets – including the upper and base cabinets – can be painted in muted whites and grays. This will help make your kitchen space feel minimalistic, chic, and stylish.

3. Proper Lighting

To emphasize the beauty of the elegant navy blue kitchen cabinets, you must ensure sufficient lighting in your kitchen area. The navy blue cabinets must receive adequate natural light, for which they need to be placed close to a window or balcony. Alternatively, you could also use artificial lights including strategically placed chandeliers or pendant lights to illuminate your unique navy blue kitchen cabinets and enhance the visual appeal of your home.

4. Contrasting Backsplashes

You can make the navy blue kitchen cabinets stand out by investing in a set of contrasting backsplashes or feature walls. Hence, light-colored, marble backsplashes might be ideal for such a kitchen, as they would not draw your eyes away from the cabinets or make the kitchen look too busy and colorful. Warm wooden shades and sophisticated grays are some other options that you could consider when designing a kitchen around navy blue cabinetry.

5. Metallic Appliances

Clean-lined gloss cabinets can create an aura of chic, sophisticated modernity when combined with metallic kitchen appliances such as chimneys, ovens, and coffee machines. Metallic appliances, if maintained properly, will make the kitchen look glossy and state-of-the-art. Paired with a set of cool blue cabinets, this design could work wonders for small, urban kitchens. Those who want to make the most of a small space would benefit most from choosing this décor.

In Conclusion

As you can see, there are many ways of creating a beautiful and elegant kitchen space with the help of navy blue RTA cabinets. All you have to do is use your imagination (and a bit of help from a design professional) to create the type of kitchen that suits your personal needs and preferences. High-quality and well-maintained navy blue kitchen cabinets can enhance the functionality and visual appeal of almost any home.

Bill Taylor
Example of a classic formal and open concept dark wood floor and coffered ceiling living room design in Boston with white walls, a standard fireplace and a stone fireplace

The pergola, above the uppermost horizontal 'strip' of cedar, is a bronze poly-carbonate, which allows light to come through, but which blocks UV rays and keeps out the rain. It's also available in clear, and a few more colors.

Given a challenging lot configuration and topography, along with privacy issues, we had to get creative in designing this home. The home is divided into four basic living zones: private owner’s suite, informal living area, kids area upstairs, and a flexible guest entertaining area. The entry is unique in that it takes you directly through to the outdoor living area, and also provides separation of the owners’ private suite from the rest of the home. There are no formal living or dining areas; instead the breakfast and family rooms were enlarged to entertain more comfortably in an informal manner. One great feature of the detached casita is that it has a lower activity area, which helps the house connect to the property below. This contemporary haven in Barton Creek is a beautiful example of a chic and elegant design that creates a very practical and informal space for living.

An amazing Midcentury Eclectic custom kitchen! The Cabinet Face custom Walnut Slab fronts also conceal Thermador panel ready appliances. Adding our DIY Paint Grade MDF fronts to the island allow for a splash of color to be introduced to this stunning space. Tile: Ann Sacks Savoy Stacked 1x4 Rice Paper Pendant lights: CB2 Cabinet fronts: Walnut Slab and DIY Slab from The Cabinet Face Cabinet boxes: IKEA Sektion

We were contacted by the owner of a Houston, Texas home who asked us to design a series of gardens and landscaping features that would compliment and expand the Mediterranean theme of his house into the surrounding landscape. This house sat on a very large lot of several acres in a secluded Memorial Drive neighborhood located near the 610 Loop. The home featured a symmetrical, linear appearance in spite of its two-story build, and our client wanted a landscape and garden design that would follow these same principles of self-contained regularity and subtle linear motion. Creating a Mediterranean theme in a Houston, Texas garden and landscape is a bit more complex that it might appear at face value. The southern coast of Europe—particularly in Italy and Greece—is a mountainous area where homes and gardens are built on steep angles and sharp vertical rises. Gardens and fields are often built in terraces that climb the mountains due to the limited planting area and rough, rocky terrain. Limestone is the predominant rock type in Italy and Greece and has become iconic of this part of the world in our collective consciousness. Mediterranean homes and gardens are historically famous for their white stucco walls, olive groves, and carefully sculptured greenery embedded in a rugged limestone backdrop. The challenge lay in taking an essentially three-dimensional landscaping style and transfering it to a Houston property. As we all know, this part of Texas is very flat, so a hillside garden is out of the question in the literal sense. However, using a combination of symmetrical forms and linear progressions, along with some innovative garden materials, we were able to mimic several aspects of seaside European terrain. The key to doing this was to establish a combination of circular forms and linear patterns in the multiple garden elements we designed. French and Italian gardens place a heavy emphasis on order and symmetry, and both tend to utilize right angles to establish form. We planted a variety of low level growth around the house and rear swimming pool patio to emphasize its walls and corners. We then added three keynote forms to the landscape to create a Houston equivalent of a Mediterranean garden. The first of these forms was a knot garden centered on the front door, located just in front of the home’s motorcourt. We planted boxwoods in three circular rows that looked like terraces on a hillside. In the center of the knot garden we planted Loropatalum, punctuated with a lone Crinum lily as the center piece. The rich purple of the Loropatalum draws catches the eye, and the vertical dimension added by the lily draws it upward to the front entrance of the house. Moving then to one side of the house, we transformed a substantial portion of the yard into a parterre garden that centered on a large glass room that extended from the west wing of the house. This garden was populated by low-growth rose bushes whose amenability to constant trimming makes them an ideal plant material for parterre gardens, and whose colorful blooms a made them stand out from multiple vantage points throughout this Houston neighborhood. The garden borders were made from of boxwood hedges, and the central pathways were made using European limestone gravel that mimics the color of the limestone cliffs of the Aegean and Adriatic Seas. We then completed the design by adding dwarf yaupon, a small shrub that bears a curious resemblance to clouds, all along the borders of the gravel walkways. This helped create the impression that the garden was located on a hilltop near the sea, and that the clouds were rolling across the shoreline. One of the most appealing attributes of this Houston, Texas property is its superb location. The back of the yard borders a 50-foot ravine carved out of the earth by a major tributary of Buffalo Bayou. This seemed to us a natural destination spot for garden guests to visit after strolling around the west wing of the home to the pool. To encourage them to do so, we planted an alley of crepe myrtles leading from the pool area all the way back to the woods along the ravine. We then built a walkway out of limestone aggregate blocks that started at the parterre garden, ran alongside the house to the pool, then ran straight out through the alley of trees to the scenic overlook of the forest and stream below. For more the 20 years Exterior Worlds has specialized in servicing many of Houston's fine neighborhoods.

http://www.usa-gardening.com
This is an example of a farmhouse full sun landscaping in Chicago.

Mosaik Design & Remodeling recently completed a basement remodel in Portland’s SW Vista Hills neighborhood that helped a family of four reclaim 1,700 unused square feet. Now there's a comfortable, industrial chic living space that appeals to the entire family and gets maximum use. Lincoln Barbour Photo www.lincolnbarbour.com

Given a challenging lot configuration and topography, along with privacy issues, we had to get creative in designing this home. The home is divided into four basic living zones: private owner’s suite, informal living area, kids area upstairs, and a flexible guest entertaining area. The entry is unique in that it takes you directly through to the outdoor living area, and also provides separation of the owners’ private suite from the rest of the home. There are no formal living or dining areas; instead the breakfast and family rooms were enlarged to entertain more comfortably in an informal manner. One great feature of the detached casita is that it has a lower activity area, which helps the house connect to the property below. This contemporary haven in Barton Creek is a beautiful example of a chic and elegant design that creates a very practical and informal space for living.