Complete Master Bathroom remodel! We began by removing every surface from floor to ceiling including the shower/tub combo to enable us to create a zero-threshold walk-in shower. We then re placed the window with a new obscure rain glass. The vanity cabinets are a cool grey shaker style cabinet topped with a subtle Pegasus Quartz and a Waterfall edge leading into the shower. The shower wall tile is a 12x24 Themar Bianco Lasa with Soft Grey brush strokes throughout. The featured Herringbone wall connects to the shower using the 3x12 Themar Bianco Lasa tile. We even added a little Herringbone detail to the custom soap niche inside the shower. For the shower floor, we installed a flat pebble that created a spa like escape! This bathroom encompasses all neutral earth tones which you can see through the solid panel of clear glass that is all the way to the ceiling. For the proportion of the space, we used a skinny 4x40 Savanna Milk wood look tile flooring for the main area. Finally, the bathroom is completed with chrome fixtures such as a flush mounted rain head, shower head and wand, two single hole faucets and last but not least… those gorgeous pendant lights above the vanity!

Downsview Kitchens - Yorkville Design Centre The three pendant lighting fixtures above the island of this two-toned kitchen respond to the silhouette of the subdued, white cook-top hood.

Open-plan kitchen and dining of a new construction single-level home in Orinda, CA, designed by CB Architecture + Design and featured in Dwell Magazine. Flat-front slate blue upper cabinets run the full length of the kitchen wall, framed by warm walnut lower cabinets and a matching full-height walnut appliance tower housing integrated stainless steel refrigerator, double oven, and open shelving; a mid-century inspired material palette executed with contemporary precision. White quartz countertops and a simple white tile backsplash keep the composition clean between the two dominant materials. Blue kitchen island with white quartz countertop features an integrated sink with a professional-grade pull-down faucet, extending into a cantilevered butcher block dining table with slatted walnut base detail, seamlessly connecting kitchen and dining in a single furniture-like piece. Four black molded shell dining chairs with oak legs surround the dining extension. Two oversized white globe pendant lights drop from the double-height white ceiling above. Charcoal polished concrete radiant slab floors extend throughout the open plan. Black-framed sliding glass doors to the left open to the outdoor courtyard. Clerestory black-framed windows admit natural light at the upper wall level to the right.

This two-level canyon view deck with cable railing uses extra-heavy lumber and connecting hardware to comply with San Diego fire codes in canyon areas. Most of the deck girders and joists are fastened using hangers and straps to create extra headroom between the upper and lower levels. This single family home has an attached studio with rear entrance. The lime colored door adds a touch of fun and whimsy to the otherwise sophisticated modern color palette. In drought-stricken California, playground wood is used in the back yard as a cost-effective, easy maintenance ground cover.

This two story great room features linestone walls, a mesquite mantel, wood beams, and Hubbardton Forge lighting.Painting is by artist Jean Richardson. Tre Dunham with Fine Focus Photography

In this Raleigh luxury home: The two story living room features a built in fireplace flush with the interior wall and a full wall of windows. The ceiling has a painted coffer design that emphasizes contemporary grays, white, and blacks. A wet bar is just around the corner, tucked into this great room. Raleigh luxury home builder Stanton Homes.

Previously renovated with a two-story addition in the 80’s, the home’s square footage had been increased, but the current homeowners struggled to integrate the old with the new. An oversized fireplace and awkward jogged walls added to the challenges on the main floor, along with dated finishes. While on the second floor, a poorly configured layout was not functional for this expanding family. From the front entrance, we can see the fireplace was removed between the living room and dining rooms, creating greater sight lines and allowing for more traditional archways between rooms. At the back of the home, we created a new mudroom area, and updated the kitchen with custom two-tone millwork, countertops and finishes. These main floor changes work together to create a home more reflective of the homeowners’ tastes. On the second floor, the master suite was relocated and now features a beautiful custom ensuite, walk-in closet and convenient adjacency to the new laundry room. Gordon King Photography

This modern green home offers both a vacation destination on Cape Cod near local family members and an opportunity for rental income. FAMILY ROOTS. A West Coast couple living in the San Francisco Bay Area sought a permanent East Coast vacation home near family members living on Cape Cod. As academic professionals focused on sustainability, they sought a green, energy efficient home that was well-aligned with their values. With no green homes available for sale on Cape Cod, they decided to purchase land near their family and build their own. SLOPED SITE. Comprised of a 3/4 acre lot nestled in the pines, the steeply sloping terrain called for a plan that embraced and took advantage of the slope. Of equal priority was optimizing solar exposure, preserving privacy from abutters, and creating outdoor living space. The design accomplished these goals with a simple, rectilinear form, offering living space on the both entry and lower/basement levels. The stepped foundation allows for a walk-out basement level with light-filled living space on the down-hill side of the home. The traditional basement on the eastern, up-hill side houses mechanical equipment and a home gym. The house welcomes natural light throughout, captures views of the forest, and delivers entertainment space that connects indoor living space to outdoor deck and dining patio. MODERN VISION. The clean building form and uncomplicated finishes pay homage to the modern architectural legacy on the outer Cape. Durable and economical fiber cement panels, fixed with aluminum channels, clad the primary form. Cedar clapboards provide a visual accent at the south-facing living room, which extends a single roof plane to cover the entry porch. SMART USE OF SPACE. On the entry level, the “L”-shaped living, dining, and kitchen space connects to the exterior living, dining, and grilling spaces to effectively double the home’s summertime entertainment area. Placed at the western end of the entry level (where it can retain privacy but still claim expansive downhill views) is the master suite with a built-in study. The lower level has two guest bedrooms, a second full bathroom, and laundry. The flexibility of the space—crucial in a house with a modest footprint—emerges in one of the guest bedrooms, which doubles as home office by opening the barn-style double doors to connect it to the bright, airy open stair leading up to the entry level. Thoughtful design, generous ceiling heights and large windows transform the modest 1,100 sf* footprint into a well-lit, spacious home. *(total finished space is 1800 sf) RENTAL INCOME. The property works for its owners by netting rental income when the owners are home in San Francisco. The house especially caters to vacationers bound for nearby Mayo Beach and includes an outdoor shower adjacent to the lower level entry door. In contrast to the bare bones cottages that are typically available on the Cape, this home offers prospective tenants a modern aesthetic, paired with luxurious and green features. Durable finishes inside and out will ensure longevity with the heavier use that comes with a rental property. COMFORT YEAR-ROUND. The home is super-insulated and air-tight, with mechanical ventilation to provide continuous fresh air from the outside. High performance triple-paned windows complement the building enclosure and maximize passive solar gain while ensuring a warm, draft-free winter, even when sitting close to the glass. A properly sized air source heat pump offers efficient heating & cooling, and includes a carefully designed the duct distribution system to provide even comfort throughout the house. The super-insulated envelope allows us to significantly reduce the equipment capacity, duct size, and airflow quantities, while maintaining unparalleled thermal comfort. ENERGY EFFICIENT. The building’s shell and mechanical systems play instrumental roles in the home’s exceptional performance. The building enclosure reduces the most significant energy glutton: heating. Continuous super-insulation, thorough air sealing, triple-pane windows, and passive solar gain work together to yield a miniscule heating load. All active energy consumers are extremely efficient: an air source heat pump for heating and cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation (ERV), and high efficiency appliances. The result is a home that uses 70% less energy than a similar new home built to code requirements. OVERALL. The home embodies the owners’ goals and values while comprehensively enabling thermal comfort, energy efficiency, a vacation respite, and supplementary income. PROJECT TEAM ZeroEnergy Design - Architect & Mechanical Designer A.F. Hultin & Co. - Contractor Pamet Valley Landscape Design - Landscape & Masonry Lisa Finch - Original Artwork European Architectural Supply - Windows Eric Roth Photography - Photography

Transitional Two-Story Living Room
Living room - large transitional open concept and formal medium tone wood floor and brown floor living room idea in Philadelphia with gray walls, a standard fireplace, a stone fireplace and a tv stand

Three apartments were combined to create this 7 room home in Manhattan's West Village for a young couple and their three small girls. A kids' wing boasts a colorful playroom, a butterfly-themed bedroom, and a bath. The parents' wing includes a home office for two (which also doubles as a guest room), two walk-in closets, a master bedroom & bath. A family room leads to a gracious living/dining room for formal entertaining. A large eat-in kitchen and laundry room complete the space. Integrated lighting, audio/video and electric shades make this a modern home in a classic pre-war building. Photography by Peter Kubilus

Delicate glass spheres within another glass sphere, made from our unique blown glass. Available as individual pendants or multi-pendant chandeliers. Multiple sizes and colors are available. Modern Custom Glass Lighting perfect for your entryway / foyer, stairwell, living room, dining room, kitchen, and any room in your home. Dramatic lighting that is fully customizable and tailored to fit your space perfectly. No two pieces are the same. Visit our website: www.shakuff.com for more details Photo Credit: Sean Litchenfield Photography

Interior Design by Grace Benson Photography by Bethany Nauert
Freestanding bathtub - transitional white tile and stone tile marble floor freestanding bathtub idea in Los Angeles with dark wood cabinets, marble countertops and flat-panel cabinets

This renovated brick rowhome in Boston’s South End offers a modern aesthetic within a historic structure, creative use of space, exceptional thermal comfort, a reduced carbon footprint, and a passive stream of income. DESIGN PRIORITIES. The goals for the project were clear - design the primary unit to accommodate the family’s modern lifestyle, rework the layout to create a desirable rental unit, improve thermal comfort and introduce a modern aesthetic. We designed the street-level entry as a shared entrance for both the primary and rental unit. The family uses it as their everyday entrance - we planned for bike storage and an open mudroom with bench and shoe storage to facilitate the change from shoes to slippers or bare feet as they enter their home. On the main level, we expanded the kitchen into the dining room to create an eat-in space with generous counter space and storage, as well as a comfortable connection to the living space. The second floor serves as master suite for the couple - a bedroom with a walk-in-closet and ensuite bathroom, and an adjacent study, with refinished original pumpkin pine floors. The upper floor, aside from a guest bedroom, is the child's domain with interconnected spaces for sleeping, work and play. In the play space, which can be separated from the work space with new translucent sliding doors, we incorporated recreational features inspired by adventurous and competitive television shows, at their son’s request. MODERN MEETS TRADITIONAL. We left the historic front facade of the building largely unchanged - the security bars were removed from the windows and the single pane windows were replaced with higher performing historic replicas. We designed the interior and rear facade with a vision of warm modernism, weaving in the notable period features. Each element was either restored or reinterpreted to blend with the modern aesthetic. The detailed ceiling in the living space, for example, has a new matte monochromatic finish, and the wood stairs are covered in a dark grey floor paint, whereas the mahogany doors were simply refinished. New wide plank wood flooring with a neutral finish, floor-to-ceiling casework, and bold splashes of color in wall paint and tile, and oversized high-performance windows (on the rear facade) round out the modern aesthetic. RENTAL INCOME. The existing rowhome was zoned for a 2-family dwelling but included an undesirable, single-floor studio apartment at the garden level with low ceiling heights and questionable emergency egress. In order to increase the quality and quantity of space in the rental unit, we reimagined it as a two-floor, 1 or 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a modern aesthetic, increased ceiling height on the lowest level and provided an in-unit washer/dryer. The apartment was listed with Jackie O'Connor Real Estate and rented immediately, providing the owners with a source of passive income. ENCLOSURE WITH BENEFITS. The homeowners sought a minimal carbon footprint, enabled by their urban location and lifestyle decisions, paired with the benefits of a high-performance home. The extent of the renovation allowed us to implement a deep energy retrofit (DER) to address air tightness, insulation, and high-performance windows. The historic front facade is insulated from the interior, while the rear facade is insulated on the exterior. Together with these building enclosure improvements, we designed an HVAC system comprised of continuous fresh air ventilation, and an efficient, all-electric heating and cooling system to decouple the house from natural gas. This strategy provides optimal thermal comfort and indoor air quality, improved acoustic isolation from street noise and neighbors, as well as a further reduced carbon footprint. We also took measures to prepare the roof for future solar panels, for when the South End neighborhood’s aging electrical infrastructure is upgraded to allow them. URBAN LIVING. The desirable neighborhood location allows the both the homeowners and tenant to walk, bike, and use public transportation to access the city, while each charging their respective plug-in electric cars behind the building to travel greater distances. OVERALL. The understated rowhouse is now ready for another century of urban living, offering the owners comfort and convenience as they live life as an expression of their values. Photography: Eric Roth Photo

The two sided fireplace is above the bathtub in the bathroom and at the foot of the bed in the bedroom. The wall is tiled on both sides and the archway into the bathroom is tiled also.

Example of a large transitional staircase design in Boston

Impressive two story stone surround fireplace with flagstones in this vaulted living room. Windows with over-sized transoms above mimic the height of the fireplace. Raleigh Custom Homes built by Stanton Homes.

This 1928 Maple Ridge home’s two bathrooms were eighty-three years old when The Buckingham Group was contracted to provide design-build services for their renovation. From a design perspective we were faced with two major constraints, preservation of two custom stained glass windows and the architectural restraints of not being able to relocate existing windows and doors. The Owner’s expectations were; that they retain the period feel of the home while simultaneously providing modern day amenities. Once all elements of the existing bathrooms were removed the infrastructure was completely rebuilt. The layout of the larger bathroom was totally recast by incorporating an existing closet and hall into its floor space enabling a large walk in shower to be added. Custom cabinets, that replicated the original cabinets of the home, were provided adding much needed storage. Custom hexagonal marble floor tiles were installed on the floors and carefully coordinated with custom marble baseboards and shower casing. The floors, granite benches and the shower floor and bench are heated for added comfort. Each bathroom is outfitted with its own Instant Hot water heater for added convenience.

This kitchen was great, but the layout was not working for these new homeowners. They really wanted a bigger kitchen that would give them more storage space, a pantry and a second island. We started by tearing out all the existing cabinets and countertop. For the new cabinets, they went with a mission door in maple from our Kitchen Solvers Classic Collection line. To really give this kitchen that “Wow” factor the upper cabinets were done in a snow color while the lower cabinets were done in Gale Force. To finish this new look we added a Calacatta Laza quartz countertop and a subway tile backsplash in white Urbeno. Now this homeowner has a kitchen they love to entertain in.

The original bathroom on the main floor had an odd Jack-and-Jill layout with two toilets, two vanities and only a single tub/shower (in vintage mint green, no less). With some creative modifications to existing walls and the removal of a small linen closet, we were able to divide the space into two functional and totally separate bathrooms. In the guest bathroom, we opted for a clean black and white palette and chose a stained wood vanity to add warmth. The bold hexagon tiles add a huge wow factor to the small bathroom and the vertical tile layout draws the eye upward. We made the most out of every inch of space by including a tall niche for towels and toiletries and still managed to carve out a full size linen closet in the hall.