Add unique charm to your entryway with Pella® energy-efficient fiberglass front doors. Glass sidelights and transoms add a personal touch, too!
Home design - contemporary home design idea in Cedar Rapids

Intus Windows' super energy efficient doors and windows help to create this sleek and modern entrance, while keeping out the hot and cold temperatures, thus saving dramatically on energy costs and reducing carbon dioxide through energy conservation.

A modern farmhouse featuring Sierra Pacific windows and doors with bold blue trim. Built for timeless design and durability, installed by Optimum Windows and Doors in Utah.

Tropical rock water pool and spa. Energy efficient multi variable speed pump made by Pentair with minimal water loss. Saltwater pool and spa.
Pool - tropical aboveground pool idea in Orange County

Photography - Jim Westphalen
Example of a mid-sized trendy detached two-car garage design

Klopf Architecture and Outer space Landscape Architects designed a new warm, modern, open, indoor-outdoor home in Los Altos, California. Inspired by mid-century modern homes but looking for something completely new and custom, the owners, a couple with two children, bought an older ranch style home with the intention of replacing it. Created on a grid, the house is designed to be at rest with differentiated spaces for activities; living, playing, cooking, dining and a piano space. The low-sloping gable roof over the great room brings a grand feeling to the space. The clerestory windows at the high sloping roof make the grand space light and airy. Upon entering the house, an open atrium entry in the middle of the house provides light and nature to the great room. The Heath tile wall at the back of the atrium blocks direct view of the rear yard from the entry door for privacy. The bedrooms, bathrooms, play room and the sitting room are under flat wing-like roofs that balance on either side of the low sloping gable roof of the main space. Large sliding glass panels and pocketing glass doors foster openness to the front and back yards. In the front there is a fenced-in play space connected to the play room, creating an indoor-outdoor play space that could change in use over the years. The play room can also be closed off from the great room with a large pocketing door. In the rear, everything opens up to a deck overlooking a pool where the family can come together outdoors. Wood siding travels from exterior to interior, accentuating the indoor-outdoor nature of the house. Where the exterior siding doesn’t come inside, a palette of white oak floors, white walls, walnut cabinetry, and dark window frames ties all the spaces together to create a uniform feeling and flow throughout the house. The custom cabinetry matches the minimal joinery of the rest of the house, a trim-less, minimal appearance. Wood siding was mitered in the corners, including where siding meets the interior drywall. Wall materials were held up off the floor with a minimal reveal. This tight detailing gives a sense of cleanliness to the house. The garage door of the house is completely flush and of the same material as the garage wall, de-emphasizing the garage door and making the street presentation of the house kinder to the neighborhood. The house is akin to a custom, modern-day Eichler home in many ways. Inspired by mid-century modern homes with today’s materials, approaches, standards, and technologies. The goals were to create an indoor-outdoor home that was energy-efficient, light and flexible for young children to grow. This 3,000 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom new house is located in Los Altos in the heart of the Silicon Valley. Klopf Architecture Project Team: John Klopf, AIA, and Chuang-Ming Liu 
Landscape Architect: Outer space Landscape Architects 
Structural Engineer: ZFA Structural Engineers 
Staging: Da Lusso Design 
Photography ©2018 Mariko Reed 
Location: Los Altos, CA
 Year completed: 2017

Trent Bell

Ned Bonzi Photography
Example of a mid-sized classic marble floor and black floor vestibule design in San Francisco with white walls and a white front door

Mid-sized minimalist gray two-story mixed siding exterior home photo in Albuquerque with a shed roof

Therma-Tru fiberglass double entry doors with a warm wood-grain finish and upper glass panels. This classic front entry style balances durability with timeless curb appeal, framed by seasonal decor.

Like most homes built in the 1980’s this combined entry, living room, eating area, and kitchen were completely compartmentalized with walls. They loved the idea of opening up the spaces to accommodate more of a great room feeling. Advance Design accomplished this by opening up the corner of the kitchen to not only make the space flow, but to let light into the dark eating nook and living room. Working on a budget, opening up the space and installing new hardwood flooring was a priority, so a more expansive kitchen had to be economical. Wanting a clean, contemporary feel; tall espresso shaker cabinets replaced old soffits, and River White granite made an impressive and clean lined contrast. A drywall pantry was replaced with an efficient roll out pantry, and stylish long stainless steel pulls tie the whole look together. Photo Credits- Joe Nowak

Foyer - mid-sized scandinavian medium tone wood floor foyer idea in Toronto with white walls and a white front door

This LEED Platinum certified house reflects the homeowner's desire for an exceptionally healthy and comfortable living environment, within a traditional neighborhood. INFILL SITE. The family, who moved from another area of Wellesley, sought out this property to be within walking distance of the high school and downtown area. An existing structure on the tight lot was removed to make way for the new home. 84% of the construction waste, from both the previous structure and the new home, was diverted from a landfill. ZED designed to preserve the existing mature trees on the perimeter of the property to minimize site impacts, and to maintain the character of the neighborhood as well as privacy on the site. EXTERIOR EXPRESSION. The street facade of the home relates to the local New England vernacular. The rear uses contemporary language, a nod to the family’s Californian roots, to incorporate a roof deck, solar panels, outdoor living space, and the backyard swimming pool. ZED’s careful planning avoided to the need to face the garage doors towards the street, a common syndrome of a narrow lot. THOUGHTFUL SPACE. Homes with dual entries can often result in duplicate and unused spaces. In this home, the everyday and formal entry areas are one and the same; the front and garage doors share the entry program of coat closets, mudroom storage with bench for removing your shoes, and a laundry room with generous closets for the children's sporting equipment. The entry area leads directly to the living space, encompassing the kitchen, dining and sitting area areas in an L-shaped open plan arrangement. The kitchen is placed at the south-west corner of the space to allow for a strong connection to the dining, sitting and outdoor living spaces. A fire pit on the deck satisfies the family’s desire for an open flame while a sealed gas fireplace is used indoors - ZED’s preference after omitting gas burning appliances completely from an airtight home. A small study, with a window seat, is conveniently located just off of the living space. A first floor guest bedroom includes an accessible bathroom for aging visitors and can be used as a master suite to accommodate aging in place. HEALTHY LIVING. The client requested a home that was easy to clean and would provide a respite from seasonal allergies and common contaminants that are found in many indoor spaces. ZED selected easy to clean solid surface flooring throughout, provided ample space for cleaning supplies on each floor, and designed a mechanical system with ventilation that provides a constant supply of fresh outdoor air. ZED selected durable materials, finishes, cabinetry, and casework with low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and no added urea formaldehyde. YEAR-ROUND COMFORT. The home is super insulated and air-tight, paired with high performance triple-paned windows, to ensure it is draft-free throughout the winter (even when in front of the large windows and doors). ZED designed a right-sized heating and cooling system to pair with the thermally improved building enclosure to ensure year-round comfort. The glazing on the home maximizes passive solar gains, and facilitates cross ventilation and daylighting. ENERGY EFFICIENT. As one of the most energy efficient houses built to date in Wellesley, the home highlights a practical solution for Massachusetts. First, the building enclosure reduces the largest energy requirement for typical houses (heating). Super-insulation, exceptional air sealing, a thermally broken wall assembly, triple pane windows, and passive solar gain combine for a sizable heating load reduction. Second, within the house only efficient systems consume energy. These include an air source heat pump for heating & cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation, and high efficiency appliances. Lastly, photovoltaics provide renewable energy help offset energy consumption. The result is an 89% reduction in energy use compared to a similar brand new home built to code requirements. RESILIENT. The home will fare well in extreme weather events. During a winter power outage, heat loss will be very slow due to the super-insulated and airtight envelope– taking multiple days to drop to 60 degrees even with no heat source. An engineered drainage system, paired with careful the detailing of the foundation, will help to keep the finished basement dry. A generator will provide full operation of the all-electric house during a power outage. OVERALL. The home is a reflection of the family goals and an expression of their values, beautifully enabling health, comfort, safety, resilience, and utility, all while respecting the planet. ZED - Architect & Mechanical Designer Bevilacqua Builders Inc - Contractor Creative Land & Water Engineering - Civil Engineering Barbara Peterson Landscape - Landscape Design Nest & Company - Interior Furnishings Eric Roth Photography - Photography

Photography - Jim Westphalen
Inspiration for a mid-sized cottage two-story exterior home remodel with white walls and a white front door

Inspiration for a 1950s exterior home remodel in San Francisco

Photo Credit: Homeowner: Charlotte Smith of Charlotte's House
Example of a trendy living room design in New York

One wall is filled with a variety of cnc-cut cabinetry: bookshelves, a tall closet and a horizontal, queen-sized wall bed with storage above and below. The primary heating and cooling is from the incredibly efficient Mitsubishi mini-split unit. Photo by Kate Russell

The owners asked for a gentle and affordable freshening to their existing kitchen. By recessing the refrigerator, opening up the entry, adding wood floors and re-tiling the backsplash, this objective was achieved with limited expense.

Like most homes built in the 1980’s this combined entry, living room, eating area, and kitchen were completely compartmentalized with walls. They loved the idea of opening up the spaces to accommodate more of a great room feeling. Advance Design accomplished this by opening up the corner of the kitchen to not only make the space flow, but to let light into the dark eating nook and living room. Working on a budget, opening up the space and installing new hardwood flooring was a priority, so a more expansive kitchen had to be economical. Wanting a clean, contemporary feel; tall espresso shaker cabinets replaced old soffits, and River White granite made an impressive and clean lined contrast. A drywall pantry was replaced with an efficient roll out pantry, and stylish long stainless steel pulls tie the whole look together. Photo Credits- Joe Nowak