Nick Bayless Photography
Transitional master carpeted bedroom photo in Salt Lake City with gray walls, a standard fireplace and a wood fireplace surround

Elegant pool photo in Boston

The watery Venetian damask from Zoffany sets the mood for this Pied a Terre bedroom. We wrapped the room in a color pulled from the paper, even the doors and moldings are in this color. The wallpaper softens the hard lines of the industrial style metal bed from CB2. To purists the placement of the refurbished Mid Century nightstands with the wallpaper may seem inappropriate, but I think the nightstands are a tailored response to the exuberance of the paper. Also, if you watch TCM on a regular basis you would see such mixes all the time. The Chinese Mirror and Japanese prints reflect my client's interest in Asia and add another layer to the mix.

Inspiration for a small industrial living room remodel

Voted Best of Westchester by Westchester Magazine for several years running, HI-LIGHT is based in Yonkers, New York only fifteen miles from Manhattan. After more than thirty years it is still run on a daily basis by the same family. Our children were brought up in the lighting business and work with us today to continue the HI-LIGHT tradition of offering lighting and home accessories of exceptional quality, style, and price while providing the service our customers have come to expect. Come and visit our lighting showroom in Yonkers.

Dining room - contemporary dining room idea in Dallas

This Cobble Hill Brownstone for a family of five is a fun and captivating design, the perfect blend of the wife’s love of English country style and the husband’s preference for modern. The young power couple, her the co-founder of Maisonette and him an investor, have three children and a dog, requiring that all the surfaces, finishes and, materials used throughout the home are both beautiful and durable to make every room a carefree space the whole family can enjoy. The primary design challenge for this project was creating both distinct places for the family to live their day to day lives and also a whole floor dedicated to formal entertainment. The clients entertain large dinners on a monthly basis as part of their profession. We solved this by adding an extension on the Garden and Parlor levels. This allowed the Garden level to function as the daily family operations center and the Parlor level to be party central. The kitchen on the garden level is large enough to dine in and accommodate a large catering crew. On the parlor level, we created a large double parlor in the front of the house; this space is dedicated to cocktail hour and after-dinner drinks. The rear of the parlor is a spacious formal dining room that can seat up to 14 guests. The middle "library" space contains a bar and facilitates access to both the front and rear rooms; in this way, it can double as a staging area for the parties. The remaining three floors are sleeping quarters for the family and frequent out of town guests. Designing a row house for private and public functions programmatically returns the building to a configuration in line with its original design. This project was published in Architectural Digest. Photography by Sam Frost

This shoe rack was organized with women's shoes starting at the top, and men's at the bottom. The top rack includes shoes that are special occasion, which are used less often so the client is not reaching for the step ladder on a daily basis. It is then further categorized by other materials/style and color.

Getting your homeowner's association board to approve your new custom garage doors can seem daunting. Dynamic Garage Door as a custom design and manufacturing firm has come across this situation quite frequently with a phenomenal success approval rate! In order to get approval for your custom garage door approval there are a few basic points you must understand. First off, your HOA is committed to preserving the neighborhood's curb appeal integrity by focusing on the impact your new custom garage doors might have on your house and the houses of your neighbors. It is important to understand that your curb appeal decisions will impact your home and neighborhood alike. Too many companies offer semi-custom wood doors without the true understanding of the client's need and the essence of their home's architectural style. The garage door design you choose needs to comply with neighborhood regulations while complement your home's architecture. At Dynamic Garage Door, our designers are well-rounded in the garage door industry and so we can suggest or develop designs that will reinforce the natural appearance of your home's style. If you can prove to your HOA that you've done your homework and that the garage door design you chose will complement not only your home but the neighborhood you'll be surprised when your proposal is marked with the approval stamp! This garage door is actually a single double-car door not two as it appears. The reason is that this garage used to have two separate doors with a post in the middle. The post in the middle made it difficult to use the garage on a daily basis so the post was removed to facilitate the use of the garage. The HOA wasn't too happy about the removal of the post as it was an essential part of the arches located right above the garage doors. You can clearly see how that would have been disruptive if the homeowner went with a regular wood door and not one custom designed and manufactured by Dynamic Garage Door. This garage door was specifically designed to address the HOA's concern about the center post removal and the effect it would have on the curb appeal of the home with the incomplete double arch look. So we addressed this by crafting the door with a false center post in the middle that was textured and painted the same color of the house to give off that illusion that the post is still there. Overall, it gives the home a complete finished appearance with two independent-looking doors and original post. The homeowner got the entire width of the opening to use at the push of a button so having a larger car won't be a problem anymore. The neighbors are all happy and no one seems to notice the center post is actually fake! Got an interesting garage door project you want our designers to review and price out for you? Give us a call at (855) 343-DOOR

Greg Hadley Photography The family uses the rear entry on a daily basis. New French doors lead to the mudroom, which was created by enclosing a small porch. Built-ins in the mudroom provide storage.

Inspiration for a contemporary kitchen remodel in New York with an integrated sink, flat-panel cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets, stainless steel countertops, metallic backsplash and stainless steel appliances

The soft gray custom cabinets from Grabill make this entire room feel more spacious. Appliance garages hold small appliances that the homeowner uses on a daily basis. With electrical outlets placed inside the cabinets, appliances can be used then stored away, avoiding clutter and providing a good usable work space.

All images appearing in the C. O'Brien Architects Inc. web site are the exclusive property of Cheryl A. O'Brien and are protected under the United States and International Copyright laws. The images may not be reproduced, copied, transmitted or manipulated without the written permission of Cheryl A. O'Brien. Use of any image as the basis for another photographic concept or illustration (digital, artist rendering or alike) is a violation of the United States and International Copyright laws. All images are copyrighted © 2001 - 2014 Cheryl A. O'Brien.

Bedroom - mid-sized rustic master medium tone wood floor and brown floor bedroom idea in Richmond with white walls and no fireplace

Freestanding bathtub - contemporary beige tile and pebble tile pebble tile floor freestanding bathtub idea in Orange County with flat-panel cabinets, dark wood cabinets and gray walls

Madrona Passive House, a new Seattle home designed by SHED Architecture & Design and built by Hammer & Hand, combines contemporary design with high performance building to create an environmentally responsive and resource-efficient house. The home’s airtight, super-insulated building envelope and passive design minimize energy consumption while providing superior thermal comfort to occupants. A heat recovery ventilator supplies constant fresh air to the home’s interior while recovering 90% of thermal energy from exhaust air for reuse inside. A rooftop solar photovoltaic array will provide enough energy to offset most, perhaps all, of the home’s energy consumption on a net annual basis. To manage stormwater the project employs permeable pavers for site hardscape and two cisterns to capture and control rainwater from the home’s roof and the green roof on the garage. By investing in sustainable site development strategies, efficient building systems and an advanced envelope, the project aims to respect the home’s environmentally critical site and achieve one of the world’s most demanding building energy standards: Passive House. Photos by Mark Woods Photography.

  Free ebook, Creating the Ideal Kitchen. DOWNLOAD NOW   This large open concept kitchen and dining space was created by removing a load bearing wall between the old kitchen and a porch area. The new porch was insulated and incorporated into the overall space. The kitchen remodel was part of a whole house remodel so new quarter sawn oak flooring, a vaulted ceiling, windows and skylights were added. A large calcutta marble topped island takes center stage. It houses a 5’ galley workstation - a sink that provides a convenient spot for prepping, serving, entertaining and clean up. A 36” induction cooktop is located directly across from the island for easy access. Two appliance garages on either side of the cooktop house small appliances that are used on a daily basis. Honeycomb tile by Ann Sacks and open shelving along the cooktop wall add an interesting focal point to the room. Antique mirrored glass faces the storage unit housing dry goods and a beverage center. “I chose details for the space that had a bit of a mid-century vibe that would work well with what was originally a 1950s ranch. Along the way a previous owner added a 2nd floor making it more of a Cape Cod style home, a few eclectic details felt appropriate”, adds Klimala. The wall opposite the cooktop houses a full size fridge, freezer, double oven, coffee machine and microwave. “There is a lot of functionality going on along that wall”, adds Klimala. A small pull out countertop below the coffee machine provides a spot for hot items coming out of the ovens. The rooms creamy cabinetry is accented by quartersawn white oak at the island and wrapped ceiling beam. The golden tones are repeated in the antique brass light fixtures. “This is the second kitchen I’ve had the opportunity to design for myself. My taste has gotten a little less traditional over the years, and although I’m still a traditionalist at heart, I had some fun with this kitchen and took some chances. The kitchen is super functional, easy to keep clean and has lots of storage to tuck things away when I’m done using them. The casual dining room is fabulous and is proving to be a great spot to linger after dinner. We love it!” Designed by: Susan Klimala, CKD, CBD For more information on kitchen and bath design ideas go to: www.kitchenstudio-ge.com