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

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photographed by: Spacecrafting.
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Our clients were living in a Northwood Hills home in Dallas that was built in 1968. Some updates had been done but none really to the main living areas in the front of the house. They love to entertain and do so frequently but the layout of their house wasn’t very functional. There was a galley kitchen, which was mostly shut off to the rest of the home. They were not using the formal living and dining room in front of your house, so they wanted to see how this space could be better utilized. They wanted to create a more open and updated kitchen space that fits their lifestyle. One idea was to turn part of this space into an office, utilizing the bay window with the view out of the front of the house. Storage was also a necessity, as they entertain often and need space for storing those items they use for entertaining. They would also like to incorporate a wet bar somewhere! We demoed the brick and paneling from all of the existing walls and put up drywall. The openings on either side of the fireplace and through the entryway were widened and the kitchen was completely opened up. The fireplace surround is changed to a modern Emser Esplanade Trail tile, versus the chunky rock it was previously. The ceiling was raised and leveled out and the beams were removed throughout the entire area. Beautiful Olympus quartzite countertops were installed throughout the kitchen and butler’s pantry with white Chandler cabinets and Grace 4”x12” Bianco tile backsplash. A large two level island with bar seating for guests was built to create a little separation between the kitchen and dining room. Contrasting black Chandler cabinets were used for the island, as well as for the bar area, all with the same 6” Emtek Alexander pulls. A Blanco low divide metallic gray kitchen sink was placed in the center of the island with a Kohler Bellera kitchen faucet in vibrant stainless. To finish off the look three Iconic Classic Globe Small Pendants in Antiqued Nickel pendant lights were hung above the island. Black Supreme granite countertops with a cool leathered finish were installed in the wet bar, The backsplash is Choice Fawn gloss 4x12” tile, which created a little different look than in the kitchen. A hammered copper Hayden square sink was installed in the bar, giving it that cool bar feel with the black Chandler cabinets. Off the kitchen was a laundry room and powder bath that were also updated. They wanted to have a little fun with these spaces, so the clients chose a geometric black and white Bella Mori 9x9” porcelain tile. Coordinating black and white polka dot wallpaper was installed in the laundry room and a fun floral black and white wallpaper in the powder bath. A dark bronze Metal Mirror with a shelf was installed above the porcelain pedestal sink with simple floating black shelves for storage. Their butlers pantry, the added storage space, and the overall functionality has made entertaining so much easier and keeps unwanted things out of sight, whether the guests are sitting at the island or at the wet bar! The clients absolutely love their new space and the way in which has transformed their lives and really love entertaining even more now!

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Transitional galley seated home bar photo in Dallas with raised-panel cabinets, beige backsplash and mosaic tile backsplash

View of Family Room and Kitchen and Archway at Foyer with Stairs beyond. Photo by Katie Basil Photography
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We started with a blank slate on this basement project where our only obstacles were exposed steel support columns, existing plumbing risers from the concrete slab, and dropped soffits concealing ductwork on the ceiling. It had the advantage of tall ceilings, an existing egress window, and a sliding door leading to a newly constructed patio. This family of five loves the beach and frequents summer beach resorts in the Northeast. Bringing that aesthetic home to enjoy all year long was the inspiration for the décor, as well as creating a family-friendly space for entertaining. Wish list items included room for a billiard table, wet bar, game table, family room, guest bedroom, full bathroom, space for a treadmill and closed storage. The existing structural elements helped to define how best to organize the basement. For instance, we knew we wanted to connect the bar area and billiards table with the patio in order to create an indoor/outdoor entertaining space. It made sense to use the egress window for the guest bedroom for both safety and natural light. The bedroom also would be adjacent to the plumbing risers for easy access to the new bathroom. Since the primary focus of the family room would be for TV viewing, natural light did not need to filter into that space. We made sure to hide the columns inside of newly constructed walls and dropped additional soffits where needed to make the ceiling mechanicals feel less random. In addition to the beach vibe, the homeowner has valuable sports memorabilia that was to be prominently displayed including two seats from the original Yankee stadium. For a coastal feel, shiplap is used on two walls of the family room area. In the bathroom shiplap is used again in a more creative way using wood grain white porcelain tile as the horizontal shiplap “wood”. We connected the tile horizontally with vertical white grout joints and mimicked the horizontal shadow line with dark grey grout. At first glance it looks like we wrapped the shower with real wood shiplap. Materials including a blue and white patterned floor, blue penny tiles and a natural wood vanity checked the list for that seaside feel. A large reclaimed wood door on an exposed sliding barn track separates the family room from the game room where reclaimed beams are punctuated with cable lighting. Cabinetry and a beverage refrigerator are tucked behind the rolling bar cabinet (that doubles as a Blackjack table!). A TV and upright video arcade machine round-out the entertainment in the room. Bar stools, two rotating club chairs, and large square poufs along with the Yankee Stadium seats provide fun places to sit while having a drink, watching billiards or a game on the TV. Signed baseballs can be found behind the bar, adjacent to the billiard table, and on specially designed display shelves next to the poker table in the family room. Thoughtful touches like the surfboards, signage, photographs and accessories make a visitor feel like they are on vacation at a well-appointed beach resort without being cliché.

photo: Inspiro8
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Composite Deck Minnesota Nursery and Landscape Association 2015 Award Photos by Stonepocket
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