Environmentally Friendly Alternatives - Photos & Ideas

A young family with a wooded, triangular lot in Ipswich, Massachusetts wanted to take on a highly creative, organic, and unrushed process in designing their new home. The parents of three boys had contemporary ideas for living, including phasing the construction of different structures over time as the kids grew so they could maximize the options for use on their land. They hoped to build a net zero energy home that would be cozy on the very coldest days of winter, using cost-efficient methods of home building. The house needed to be sited to minimize impact on the land and trees, and it was critical to respect a conservation easement on the south border of the lot. Finally, the design would be contemporary in form and feel, but it would also need to fit into a classic New England context, both in terms of materials used and durability. We were asked to honor the notions of “surprise and delight,” and that inspired everything we designed for the family. The highly unique home consists of a three-story form, composed mostly of bedrooms and baths on the top two floors and a cross axis of shared living spaces on the first level. This axis extends out to an oversized covered porch, open to the south and west. The porch connects to a two-story garage with flex space above, used as a guest house, play room, and yoga studio depending on the day. A floor-to-ceiling ribbon of glass wraps the south and west walls of the lower level, bringing in an abundance of natural light and linking the entire open plan to the yard beyond. The master suite takes up the entire top floor, and includes an outdoor deck with a shower. The middle floor has extra height to accommodate a variety of multi-level play scenarios in the kids’ rooms. Many of the materials used in this house are made from recycled or environmentally friendly content, or they come from local sources. The high performance home has triple glazed windows and all materials, adhesives, and sealants are low toxicity and safe for growing kids. Photographer credit: Irvin Serrano

Refined - Lower Level Dry Bar | Che Bella Interiors

Che Bella Interiors Design + Remodeling

We added a lower ceiling over this dry bar in the large room. This allowed us to work around the mechanicals of their lower level and also add a bit of a cozy feeling to the bar area. Photos by Spacecrafting Photography.

Far Hill Escape

Pillar Homes

Builder: Pillar Homes www.pillarhomes.com
Inspiration for a timeless home gym remodel in Minneapolis with beige walls

Find the right local pro for your project

Find top design and renovation professionals on Houzz

Brandon Architects Seaward

Jeri Koegel Photography

Jeri Koegel
Photo of a mediterranean gravel outdoor basketball/tennis/multi-game court in Orange County.

North Haven

Timothy Godbold Ltd

Rikki Snyder
Inspiration for a huge cottage open concept light wood floor and brown floor living room remodel in New York with white walls, a standard fireplace and a brick fireplace

CREEK RESIDENCE

iSpace, LLC

Our design concept for this new construction was to work closely with the architect and harmonize the architectural elements with the interior design. The goal was to give our client a simple arts & crafts influenced interior, while working with environmentally friendly products and materials. Architect: Matthias J. Pearson, | Builder: Corby Bradt, | Photographer: Matt Feyerabend

The Grotto

lisa schmitz interior design

mike sinclair
Family room - industrial family room idea in Kansas City

Sponsored

Millersburg, OH

Schlabach Woodworks22 Reviews

Franklin County's Reclaimed Wood Professionals

Modern Residence-Reclaimed Ivory White Oak Wood

Hardwood Bargains

Walk on sunshine with Skyline Floorscapes' Ivory White Oak. This smooth operator of floors adds charm to any room. Its delightfully light tones will have you whistling while you work, play, or relax at home. This amazing reclaimed wood style is a perfect environmentally-friendly statement for a modern space, or it will match the design of an older house with its vintage style. The ivory color will brighten up any room. This engineered wood is extremely strong with nine layers and a 3mm wear layer of White Oak on top. The wood is handscraped, adding to the lived-in quality of the wood. This will make it look like it has been in your home all along. Each piece is 7.5-in. wide by 71-in. long by 5/8-in. thick in size. It comes with a 35-year finish warranty and a lifetime structural warranty. This is a real wood engineered flooring product made from white oak. It has a beautiful ivory color with hand scraped, reclaimed planks that are finished in oil. The planks have a tongue & groove construction that can be floated, glued or nailed down.

Yellow Hammer Ski House

Pearson Design Group

Mountain style gender-neutral carpeted and gray floor kids' room photo with gray walls

Poco Bueno

Seven Custom Homes

Seated home bar - rustic l-shaped travertine floor and beige floor seated home bar idea in Austin

Gorgeous White Kitchen

Granite Transformations

Products used: Venus Grey - island Bianca Real - white countertops These colors can be special ordered, and viewable on the Australia GT website: http://bit.ly/1t86tus

AquaFir™ Reclaimed Barn Wood Alternative – rise and shining Black Rock coffee ho

Montana Timber Products

Where: Idaho What: Commercial Product: AquaFir™ Slate Grey Solution: Horizontal Square Edge Lap, Circle Sawn texture Nothing gets you up in the morning like a good cup of coffee, and nothing is more inviting than the clean, crisp look of Montana Timber Products' AquaFir™ natural wood siding. Black Rock Coffee Bar of Boise, Idaho offers both: outstanding aesthetics and a fine cup of joe. - A clean, crisp professional look enhanced by Montana Timber Products' AquaFir™ siding. - AquaFir™ is Montana Timber Products' outstanding rustic natural wood siding, a reclaimed barn wood alternative that is milled from new, rough stock, kiln dried, chemical free wood. AquaFir™ uses a semi-transparent stain and intentionally incorporates the random wood grains and variable natural wood tones into the finish to give it a unique and beautiful look. The result is that AquaFir™ is an aesthetically beautiful rustic wood siding, an authentic reclaimed barn wood, and can be used as other reclaimed lumber alternatives. Typically less expensive than antique reclaimed barn wood, AquaFir™ offers uncompromising rustic wood beauty. - The warm, inviting texture of Circle Sawn on Douglas fir is an AquaFir™ hallmark. - A custom millwork shop, Montana Timber Products offers many options to the customer's delight. Circle Sawn and Wire Brushed are Montana Timber Products' common cedar siding texturizing options. The Circle Sawn texture commonly seen on rustic reclaimed barn wood is created from the large circular saw blades used in more traditional milling practices. The Wire Brushed option adds physical and aesthetic depth to the wood grain. In addition to the aesthetic beauty added from the texturing process, greater surface area is created, which allows the Seal-Once, 100% NO VOC waterproofer to more effectively penetrate the wood. Guaranteed for ten years, Seal-Once prevents water ingress and is safe for exterior and interior use, children and pets. - Square edge lap horizontal installation provides pleasant contrasts with light and shadow. - If the environmentally friendly and the renewable aspect of natural wood siding is important to you, be sure to do your homework when choosing your siding, interior accents, trim, timbers, or other wood siding products. Some companies choose to use degenerative chemicals to achieve the desired look and texture of rustic wood siding. This is not the case with Montana Timber Products. Vintage wood, reclaimed barn wood and reclaimed barn wood alternatives are very popular building materials due to their aesthetic beauty, traditional look, and chemical free finish.

Palo Alto Remodel

Harwood Construction

Example of a transitional light wood floor and beige floor eat-in kitchen design in San Francisco with recessed-panel cabinets, white cabinets, multicolored backsplash and an island