Search results for "Establishing limits" in Home Design Ideas

As a manager of a building or property, you quickly learn the art of mediation. One minute you may be working with a vendor to keep the building’s operating system running efficient and smooth; the next moment you may be calming a tenant down after finding the change in the system disrupted his office’s workflow. Give and take; it’s the only way to make sure every day runs perfectly.
Overall, you have two goals to strive for in everything you do.
1. Keep the building running properly, upgrading systems as appropriate, and striving to do all you can on a pre-established budget.
2. Keep the building occupants happy, with as little disruption as possible.
While some changes are minor, barely registering on a building occupant’s mind, with HVAC challenges, that’s rarely the case. If a HVAC contractor is replacing an air handler, for instance, and disconnects one and moves to the next unit, it may cause major disruptions to sensitive areas of a building. And if the occupant wasn’t prepared for the disruption, you can have a mighty unhappy customer on your hand.
Anytime you are working on HVAC projects throughout your building, there are strategies you can put into place to keep things running smooth.
Communicate with occupants
Communication is key to any good relationship, and as a property manager, this rule is a great place to start. If you will be working with the HVAC equipment, block out the timeframe for work to be done, and understand the potential consequences of the process. Then communicate this process with every point of contact you have throughout the building. The more detail you can provide, the less surprises you’ll have throughout the process. You can also work with your building’s occupants before the process begins, finding out if there are better timeframes than others.
Establish a realistic schedule
As a property manager, its easy to provide your expectations for the HVAC project at hand, and request that the proposal be written in such a way that work is completed on your timeframe. Unfortunately, many contractors want your business and will agree to anything upfront in order to win the bid, knowing full well the work will take longer than specified. Instead of projecting your timeframes into the proposal process, ask for HVAC project bids to establish realistic schedules of how long the process will take, and what areas of your property will be most effected throughout the schedule. This will help you avoid crises between you and the contractor, and you and your tenants.
Plan for the whole system
If one small piece of your HVAC system is weak, its easy to fix that one small piece. But how will that impact your overall system? Will it cause weak spots in different parts of the building – maybe a corner office will have reduced air flow, and therefore be colder in the winter and warmer in the summer? When retrofitting new pieces with older existing systems, its easy to reduce the efficiency of your entire system. Before agreeing to certain repairs, make sure you understand how it will impact your entire system overall. An easy way of handling this problem is by working with the same HVAC contractor again and again, He will understand your system’s potential, and know when to make repairs, and when to replace.
Have points of contact available for immediate assistance
In many cases, problems arise because connections can’t be made. Can the HVAC contractor get a hold or you or another person that can make decisions at a moments notice if a problem arises? Do you have access to decision makers throughout the building that may be impacted by this change? Many projects have been put on hold simply because a person in authority can’t be found to give the go-ahead to move forward. If you have access to these people during the time of the project, you’ll be able to complete the project in record time.
Test
Finally, if you can test things in stages, or test when the potential for problems is the smallest, you reduce the chances of bigger emergency issues falling into your lap. If you’ll be installing a new terminal unit, can you make the switch on a Saturday morning when the building is largely unoccupied? If you’re replacing a large system, can you replace and test in phases so the entire project isn’t released at once?
Most issues can be avoided with just a little strategy from the beginning. If you’ve never had a HVAC maintenance team to help you stay on track with your building’s heating and cooling, now may be the time to find out how easy a team approach makes the process.

It’s rare when a client comes to me with a brief for a complete home from scratch, but that is exactly what happened here. My client, a professional musician and singer, was having a luxury three-story condo built and wanted help choosing not only all the hardscape materials like tile, flooring, carpet, and cabinetry, but also all furniture and furnishings. I even outfitted his new home with plates, flatware, pots and pans, towels, sheets, and window coverings. Like I said, this was from scratch!
We defined his style direction for the new home including dark colors, minimalistic furniture, and a modern industrial sensibility, and I set about creating a fluid expression of that style. The tone is set at the entry where a custom laser-cut industrial steel sign requests visitors be shoeless. We deliberately limited the color palette for the entire house to black, grey, and deep blue, with grey-washed or dark stained neutral woods.
The navy zellige tiles on the backsplash in the kitchen add depth between the cement-textured quartz counters and cerused cabinetry. The island is painted in a coordinating navy and features hand-forged iron stools. In the dining room, horizontal and vertical lines play with each other in the form of an angular linear chandelier, lighted acrylic light columns, and a dining table with a special faceted wave edge. Chair backs echo the shape of the art maps on the wall.
We chose a unique, three dimensional wall treatment for the living room where a plush sectional and LED tunable lights set the stage for comfy movie nights. Walls with a repeating whimsical black and white whale skeleton named Bruce adorn the walls of the powder room. The adjacent patio boasts a resort-like feeling with a cozy fire table, a wall of up-lit boxwoods, and a black sofa and chairs for star gazing.
A gallery wall featuring a roster of some of my client’s favorite rock, punk, and jazz musicians adorns the stairwell. On the third floor, the primary and guest bathrooms continue with the cement-textured quartz counters and same cerused cabinetry.
We completed this well-appointed home with a serene guest room in the established limited color palette and a lounge/office/recording room.
All photos by Bernardo Grijalva

This client’s vision for their kitchen/hearth room remodel was to create a harmonious space for gathering and socializing with family and friends. Without the before and after photos, you would scarcely believe this was the same home.
This huge home renovation perfectly illustrates that Dimensions In Wood’s expert team can handle every aspect of your remodeling project. Plumbing, flooring, electrical wiring, custom cabinets, structural engineering, appliances, windows, interior and exterior doors, entertainment and more. Contact us today to discuss Translating Your Visions into Reality
The client was interested in new appliance technology, cabinetry to the ceiling, and an Island large enough to seat 3. They also wanted a built-in breakfast nook, improved pantry space, more functional storage on either side of their fireplace, and a built-in appearance for the TV above the mantel. The original built-in desk was not used, and they preferred for that space to serve as a small bar area with refrigeration and a place to store their printer. We designed several plans for the space before selecting the final layout.
The new design required the removal of the soffit over the old sink, as well as a small wall beside the old refrigerator. The wall beside the stairwell had to be shortened 13 inches and a new beam installed to carry the load of the home’s 2nd story to gain enough space for the large central island. The existing closet pantry walls were also reconfigured as per the new plan.
This serves as a great reminder that Dimensions In Wood is much more than just custom cabinets.
Central to the entire custom kitchen is an 8-foot Walnut island. The huge island, which comfortably seats three, is topped with Essenza Blue quartzite. The stone’s natural striations are beautiful. Quartzite is harder than granite, and less likely to stain than other stones because of its density. The couple had to look through multiple slabs to find a piece they LOVED. The island’s custom Walnut cabinetry, built to resemble a piece of custom furniture, was stained Bronzed Walnut by Sherwin Williams.
The 4-foot Galley Workstation in the island, handles all the kitchen’s prep, serving, and cleanup needs. The Galley’s culinary tools include an upper tier cutting board, upper tier drying rack, 2 lower tier platforms, 11″ colander with non-slip handles, and 11” mixing bowl with lid and non-slip bottom. Learn more about the amazing Galley Workstation here. A Waterstone gantry faucet in a pewter finish combines a pull-down sprayer for maximum mobility and a articulated swivel spout. A water tap with reverse osmosis filter provides the highest quality drinking water. To keep a clean and sleek counter we installed a raised air switch for the garbage disposal and integrated soap dispenser. The island also houses the Thermador Sapphire 7-Program Dishwasher with a hidden touch control panel and a custom Walnut wood front. The cabinetry under the Galley Workstation features a trash roll out, as well as storage for the culinary tools.
Shortening the stairwell wall, and reframing around the stairs, which included shortening the handrail, also made room for a bi-fold door walk-in pantry with extra roll out storage and space for a small microwave. Above the panty doors is a remote controlled, electric motor powered, lift up cabinet door which hides a flat screen TV, used while the family is cooking.
To the right of the walk-in pantry is cold food storage. The Thermador, 30-inch Freedom Collection refrigerator and 24-inch built-in freezer column with internal ice maker are covered with matching cabinetry fronts. An open display space was designed above the units, creating an aesthetically beautiful wall. To the right of the refrigerator & freezer columns is a tall cabinet designed for the built-in Thermador steam and convection oven. The convention steam oven is a relatively new technology for homes, but its versatility and food quality is amazing. To the right of this is a pull-out appliance pantry which provides easy access and storage for a stand mixer, blender, and any other appliance you do not want to clutter the counter.
The most visible wall of the kitchen features the 36-inch Thermador Professional Series Harmony Gas Range with Griddle. Between the range and custom designed wood hood, a framed mosaic tile accent in the backsplash, creates a focal point. To clear the air, the Professional Series Thermador 42-inch ventilation insert provides excellent exhaust capabilities, as well as providing multi-level, vivid LED lights for beautiful illumination.
The wall cabinetry symmetrically flanks the custom hood, utilizing deeper wall cabinetry on each end, allowing for storage of oversized dishware. The base cabinetry on this wall is made up of drawers, except for the corner, which is a Kesseböhmer LeMans II. This specially designed shelf system allows ease of access in underutilized blind corners. The dual action articulation system with soft close mechanism ensures a smooth open and close.
Rounding the corner to the outside wall, the base cabinetry was built to a narrower depth, providing additional space for the island, as well as easier access to the new larger pass-thru window which serves the screen porch. The client selected Black Vermont granite countertops with an ogee edge to contrast the Linen White painted cabinetry.
The door to the screen porch was replaced with a Marvin Exterior Door with a raised panel at the bottom of the 3⁄4 glass door.
Marvin Windows replaced the other windows in the space increasing the energy efficiency and value of the home. To establish the breakfast nook, a bench with drawers and an upholstered seat was built into the bay area of the room.
Custom bookshelves were built with open shelves, cabinet doors, and drawers on either side of the fireplace. A new stone hearth and fireplace surround were installed. Above the existing mantel we built a recessed space for the flat screen television hiding all wiring inside the walls for a completely clean look.
The space that was once a desk was transformed into a bar area. The glass shelves and glass cabinet front liquor cabinet stand out. But this bar area has hidden secrets. Tucked beneath the black granite is a Thermador under-counter double drawer refrigerator with matching wood front panels. They blend in perfectly with the cabinets. A wireless printer is easily accessed on a slide out drawer. Plus, what looks like merely wooden panels on the wall are concealing recessed storage for more bottles and glasses!
Overhead recessed lighting and speaker system provide illumination and entertainment through the entire space.
This luxury home had original, solid oak flooring through most of the first floor which the homeowner obviously wanted to keep but were in desperate need of repair and refinishing. Our master craftsmen wove in new wood flooring to match the old where needed, particularly where walls had been changed and where the floor was damaged. We sanded the floors, smoothing away years of wear and tear. The entire wood floor was then uniformly stained, making it impossible to differentiate where any repairs were made.
If this renovation has inspired you, then contact us today! There is no limit to our Dimensions.
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It’s rare when a client comes to me with a brief for a complete home from scratch, but that is exactly what happened here. My client, a professional musician and singer, was having a luxury three-story condo built and wanted help choosing not only all the hardscape materials like tile, flooring, carpet, and cabinetry, but also all furniture and furnishings. I even outfitted his new home with plates, flatware, pots and pans, towels, sheets, and window coverings. Like I said, this was from scratch!
We defined his style direction for the new home including dark colors, minimalistic furniture, and a modern industrial sensibility, and I set about creating a fluid expression of that style. The tone is set at the entry where a custom laser-cut industrial steel sign requests visitors be shoeless. We deliberately limited the color palette for the entire house to black, grey, and deep blue, with grey-washed or dark stained neutral woods.
The navy zellige tiles on the backsplash in the kitchen add depth between the cement-textured quartz counters and cerused cabinetry. The island is painted in a coordinating navy and features hand-forged iron stools. In the dining room, horizontal and vertical lines play with each other in the form of an angular linear chandelier, lighted acrylic light columns, and a dining table with a special faceted wave edge. Chair backs echo the shape of the art maps on the wall.
We chose a unique, three dimensional wall treatment for the living room where a plush sectional and LED tunable lights set the stage for comfy movie nights. Walls with a repeating whimsical black and white whale skeleton named Bruce adorn the walls of the powder room. The adjacent patio boasts a resort-like feeling with a cozy fire table, a wall of up-lit boxwoods, and a black sofa and chairs for star gazing.
A gallery wall featuring a roster of some of my client’s favorite rock, punk, and jazz musicians adorns the stairwell. On the third floor, the primary and guest bathrooms continue with the cement-textured quartz counters and same cerused cabinetry.
We completed this well-appointed home with a serene guest room in the established limited color palette and a lounge/office/recording room.
All photos by Bernardo Grijalva

Our client commissioned us to remodel her home. She wanted an open plan concept and for the kitchen to be integrated with the living room and dining room. She also needed a space in which she could work. So we decided to remove the walls that separated the kitchen from the living room and the dining room. We expanded the kitchen space on both sides and made an "L" layout with cabinets on both walls. To complement and establish a virtual limit of space, we placed a large island 10 feet long by 4 feet wide with drawers on the kitchen side and storage cabinets on the sitting side. The cabinets are all prefinished plywood with acrylic doors, white for the cabinets on the walls and gray for the center island. All base cabinets have soft close pullouts. The drawers were complemented with accessories to organize all the kitchen utensils. The corner cabinet was custom made extra long to accommodate a large swing-out and spice rack next to it. At the extreme end of the kitchen cabinets, we placed a "coffee station" with dark gray floating shelves on top, their respective pullouts on the base cabinets. Under the wall and base cabinets we place LED lights that enhance and highlight the kitchen day and night. All ceiling lights were also replaced with recessed LED lights. Over the island and the dining table hanging lights were placed along them. Power strip outlets with USB ports were also placed under the wall cabinets and in the headboards of the island, these are hidden giving a clean aesthetic to the backsplash and very functional on a day-to-day basis. The countertops of the cabinets on the walls were done in gray porcelain as well as the full backsplash that also covers the central area of the hood. The central island countertop was made in Quarzite. The floors were replaced with 48" by 48" rectified porcelain tile. Now this homeowner has the kitchen of their dreams.

The renovation began in the kitchen, where the original layout and ornate cabinetry limited both functionality and flow. To create the large central island our clients desired, we moved the adjoining wall 18 inches into the living room, opening the space and establishing a more generous footprint for cooking and gathering. The reimagined kitchen features white oak cabinetry with hidden storage, dramatic black stone countertops with bold veining, and a sleek, modern aesthetic that feels both inviting and architectural.
Appliances: Sub Zero Wolf
Lighting: Visual Comfort
Countertops: Rocktops
Photography: Beverly Funkhouser Photography

THE SETUP
Our journey began with a familiar face — Alicia had previously transformed the client’s mother’s home, establishing a trusted relationship that naturally led to this personal project. The client desired a kitchen that truly reflected her own style while facilitating seamless entertaining.
Design Vision:
The original kitchen, segregated from the dining area by a wall, hindered the flow of interaction and space. Our client envisioned a unified area where she could engage with guests in both the kitchen and dining room simultaneously. Moreover, the space lacked a central island, relying instead on a floorplan anchored by cabinetry in a u-shaped layout.
Design Objectives:
Open up the space for an airy design conducive to entertaining large gatherings
Modernize the kitchen to be both stylish and functional
Integrate the design with the home’s new black-framed windows and doors
Relocate the cooktop to a central position to enhance usability and interaction
Design Challenges:
Removing the wall between the kitchen and dining room would necessitate the rerouting of existing HVAC ductwork that services the upper floor
Limited pantry space in the existing kitchen
The existing u-shaped layout of the kitchen restricted functionality and storage options
Insufficient space for wine storage
The client desired a raised-furniture look for the island, but without showing a new downdraft vent
THE RENEWED SPACE
Design Solutions:
We added a second HVAC unit to the upper floor and rerouted the existing ductwork in that wall
Created tall pantry pullouts on either side of the fridge to maximize dry goods storage
Designed a long island to facilitate cooking stations and dining moments
Created a stylish open display cabinet for wine
Engineered a dual-design island with a footed floating aesthetic on one side, and a full floor reach on the other to conceal the new downdraft ventilation.
Paired with the newly opened adjacent dining room featuring a wet bar, the kitchen has become a stylish and highly functional space for cooking and entertaining. Following a large baby shower hosted by the client (which seamlessly accommodated an 80-person gathering!), it is clear that the new design not only meets but exceeds the needs for hosting and everyday living. This project was a harmonious blend of the client’s vision and Alicia’s innovative design solutions, resulting in a kitchen that truly embodies personalized elegance and functionality.

Every year, the same thing happens. The first real snowfall arrives, demand for de-icing materials spikes overnight, and the businesses that waited too long find themselves scrambling for supply at the worst possible moment. Facility managers, property owners, contractors, and municipalities all depend on a steady supply of salt and ice melt to keep their properties safe and operational through winter. The ones who plan ahead sail through. The ones who don't pay more, wait longer, and take on real risk.
Sourcing de-icing materials well is not complicated, but it does require thinking ahead and understanding the options. The choices you make about what to buy, how to buy it, and who to buy it from have a direct effect on your costs, your reliability, and your ability to keep people safe when conditions turn dangerous. This article lays out what matters.
Why Your Choice of Supplier Matters More Than You Think
It is easy to treat de-icing material as a commodity, something you grab whenever you need it without much thought about where it comes from. That works fine until the moment it doesn't, usually in the middle of a storm when everyone needs supply at once and the casual sources have run dry. At that point, the relationships you built before the season become the difference between staying stocked and being stuck.
Reliable supply is the whole game in winter operations. A property that runs out of ice melt during a storm faces safety hazards, liability exposure, and disruption, none of which can wait for a back-ordered shipment. This is why establishing relationships with dependable rock salt suppliers before the season starts is one of the smartest moves a facility manager or contractor can make. It locks in supply, often locks in better pricing, and removes a major source of mid-winter stress.
The lesson here is to treat sourcing as a planning decision rather than a last-minute errand. The businesses that come through winter smoothly are almost always the ones that secured their supply chain early, chose suppliers who could actually deliver when it counted, and never had to gamble on finding material during a shortage. Reliability bought in advance is far cheaper than scarcity paid for in a crisis.
Bagged or Bulk: Matching the Material to the Job
One of the first practical decisions is whether to buy de-icing material in bags or in bulk, and the right answer depends entirely on the operation. Each format has clear advantages, and many operations end up using both for different purposes.
Bagged material offers convenience, control, and easy storage. It is simple to handle, easy to distribute to different locations or crews, straightforward to store without special equipment, and convenient for spot application by hand. It suits smaller properties, businesses without bulk storage, and situations where portion control and tidiness matter. Bulk material, on the other hand, tends to make sense for large operations that go through high volumes, where buying in quantity lowers the per-unit cost and the operation has the equipment and space to store and handle it. The tradeoff is between the convenience and flexibility of bags and the volume economics of bulk.
For many operations, the right approach is a mix: bulk for the high-volume core of the work and bags for flexibility, spot treatment, and locations where bulk handling is impractical. The key is to match the format to how the material will actually be stored, moved, and applied, rather than defaulting to one or the other out of habit. Thinking this through in advance avoids both the waste of over-buying bulk you can't handle and the expense of relying entirely on bags for a large operation.
Rock Salt Is Not Your Only Option
Rock salt, or sodium chloride, is the workhorse of winter de-icing for good reason. It is effective, widely available, and cost-efficient, which makes it the default choice for most operations most of the time. But it has limits, and understanding the alternatives helps you choose the right material for the conditions you actually face.
The most important limitation is temperature. Rock salt becomes less effective as temperatures drop, and in genuinely cold conditions it can struggle to do the job at all. This is where alternatives come in. Calcium chloride, for instance, works at much lower temperatures than rock salt and acts quickly, which makes it valuable when conditions are severe or when fast melting matters. Operations that face hard freezes or need dependable performance in extreme cold often keep calcium chloride for sale on hand for exactly those situations, using it alongside rock salt rather than instead of it.
The practical approach is to understand the conditions your property faces and stock accordingly. For many operations, rock salt handles the bulk of the work while a faster, colder-rated material like calcium chloride covers the extreme days when ordinary salt falls short. Matching the material to the temperature and the urgency of the situation is what separates an operation that stays ahead of winter from one that is constantly reacting to it.
Securing Your Supply Before the Season
Knowing what to buy is only half the equation. The other half is making sure you can actually get it when you need it, which means securing your supply before winter arrives rather than after it has already started. Timing is one of the most underrated factors in winter operations.
The logic is simple. Demand for de-icing materials is highly seasonal and spikes sharply during storms, when everyone needs supply simultaneously. Prices and availability both move against the buyer at exactly those moments. By contrast, planning ahead, estimating your needs and arranging supply before the season, puts you in a far stronger position. Working with established rock salt suppliers ahead of time means your material is accounted for before the rush, often at better pricing and with the confidence that it will be there when the first storm hits.
This kind of planning also lets you think clearly rather than react under pressure. You can estimate your seasonal needs based on your property and past winters, decide on the right mix of materials and formats, and arrange storage in advance. Operations that do this consistently spend less, worry less, and never find themselves making frantic calls during a storm. The effort of planning ahead is modest, and the payoff in reliability and cost savings is substantial.
Storing and Handling What You Buy
Securing supply is not much use if the material degrades before you can use it, which makes proper storage and handling an important and often overlooked part of the equation. De-icing materials are sensitive to moisture, and poor storage can turn a good supply into a clumped, hardened mess that is difficult to apply.
The fundamentals are straightforward. Keep material dry and protected from moisture, since salt and ice melt readily absorb water and can harden if exposed. Store it in a way that suits the format, whether that means a proper bulk storage area or a dry space for stacked bags. Keep it accessible, so crews can get to it quickly when a storm hits and time is short. And handle it with the right equipment for the format and volume, which protects both the material and the people working with it. None of this is complicated, but neglecting it can undermine even a well-planned supply.
Good storage practices protect the investment you made in securing supply early. There is little point in arranging your materials ahead of the season only to have them degrade before use. Treating storage and handling as part of the overall plan, rather than an afterthought, ensures that the material you secured is actually usable when the moment comes. It is the final link in a supply chain built to perform under winter conditions.
Estimating How Much You Actually Need
One question trips up operations of every size: how much de-icing material to buy. Order too little and you risk running short during a storm. Order too much and you tie up money and storage space in material you may not use. Getting the estimate reasonably right is a meaningful part of sourcing well.
Several factors shape the answer. The size and type of the areas you treat, sidewalks, lots, entrances, and drive lanes, set the baseline for how much material each application consumes. The local climate matters too, since colder regions and those with frequent snowfall go through far more material than milder ones. Application frequency depends on how often storms hit and how quickly surfaces need to be cleared, which varies with the kind of property and the expectations of the people who use it. And the type of material plays a role, since different products are applied at different rates.
Past experience is often the best guide. Operations that track what they used in previous winters, adjusted for the size of the property and the severity of the season, can estimate their needs with reasonable confidence. For newer operations without that history, it helps to plan conservatively and to work with a supplier who can replenish stock reliably, so that a low estimate does not turn into a mid-storm shortage.
The goal is not perfect precision but a sound, slightly cautious estimate paired with a dependable supply relationship. That combination lets an operation keep enough material on hand to handle the season without over-committing to volume it cannot store or use. Thinking this through before winter, rather than guessing during it, is one more way that planning ahead pays off when the snow starts to fall.
The Bottom Line
Sourcing de-icing materials well comes down to a few straightforward principles: plan ahead, choose reliable suppliers before the season, match your materials and formats to your actual needs and conditions, and store what you buy properly. The operations that follow these principles move through winter with confidence, while those that improvise pay more and take on needless risk.
Winter is predictable in one respect: it arrives every year, and demand for de-icing material spikes the moment it does. The businesses that prepare for that reality, rather than being surprised by it, are the ones that keep their properties safe, their costs controlled, and their operations running no matter what the season throws at them. A little foresight before the first snowfall pays off through every storm that follows.

The renovation began in the kitchen, where the original layout and ornate cabinetry limited both functionality and flow. To create the large central island our clients desired, we moved the adjoining wall 18 inches into the living room, opening the space and establishing a more generous footprint for cooking and gathering. The reimagined kitchen features white oak cabinetry with hidden storage, dramatic black stone countertops with bold veining, and a sleek, modern aesthetic that feels both inviting and architectural.
Appliances: Sub Zero Wolf
Lighting: Visual Comfort
Countertops: Rocktops
Photography: Beverly Funkhouser Photography

Innovative design and smart planning create a lush, private outdoor space.
This client’s outdoor courtyard came with a number of interesting challenges—including limited access, structural hurdles, and existing landscape design. The D. A. Dunlevy team built a custom ramp to create ingress from the street, allowing us to bring in all of the materials and plantings.The courtyard has been transformed into a private, tucked-away place for the owners to relax with morning coffee, escape with a good book, or provide an overflow area for visiting guests. The design remained sympathetic to existing architecture and landscaping, utilizing black granite stepping stones and other elements to create cohesion. Clean lines were established with a modern custom bench and stone planter wall. The greenery was chosen to create a simple and structured feel, using narrow European Hornbeam trees for an aerial hedge and adding in boxwoods, nandina, hellebores, and creeping Jenny to round out the verdant, calming effect.

The renovation began in the kitchen, where the original layout and ornate cabinetry limited both functionality and flow. To create the large central island our clients desired, we moved the adjoining wall 18 inches into the living room, opening the space and establishing a more generous footprint for cooking and gathering. The reimagined kitchen features white oak cabinetry with hidden storage, dramatic black stone countertops with bold veining, and a sleek, modern aesthetic that feels both inviting and architectural.
Appliances: Sub Zero Wolf
Lighting: Visual Comfort
Countertops: Rocktops
Photography: Beverly Funkhouser Photography

Extending the architectural elegance of the house was the primary objective for this suburban Toronto pool. Special care was taken to retain existing mature trees and a small retaining wall was built to help level the sloping yard. The pool's formal lines are established with the 11' radius Roman steps centred across from a stone feature wall with three bronze fleur-de-lys spitter sconces. A dark vinyl liner surrounded by natural flagstone coping and deck completes the look. (13 x 30, rectangular)

This suburban Toronto yard brings low maintenance to modern design. The owners, who enjoy fitness and entertaining, chose an Ipe hardwood deck with landscaping screen to establish the linear look and add warmth. The custom wood fence complements the simple clean lines and charcoal stucco of the house. (10 x 30, rectangular)

Extending the architectural elegance of the house was the primary objective for this suburban Toronto pool. Special care was taken to retain existing mature trees and a small retaining wall was built to help level the sloping yard. The pool's formal lines are established with the 11' radius Roman steps centred across from a stone feature wall with three bronze fleur-de-lys spitter sconces. A dark vinyl liner surrounded by natural flagstone coping and deck completes the look. (13 x 30, rectangular)

This young mid-town Toronto family wanted their backyard makeover to have an elegant design that would complement the older homes in the area. The neighbourhood has a lot of mature trees and established properties with traditional architecture.

This coastal garden is located 4 hours north of Sydney. This garden has been an ongoing project for Secret Gardens over the last decade. The original brief was for a ‘mini botanic garden’ which proved a challenge on a site with little tree or vegetation cover and limited top soil. The plantings are 95% native, from the establishing rainforest where over 25 varieties of trees have been used to the drier areas where Callistemon, Kangaroo Paw and ornamental grasses have been used in large swathes.The result now is an established garden that will continue to evolve and provide great enjoyment for our clients.

Removing a wall in a small two-bedroom unit has resulted in a significant transformation. By opening up the space, a seamless connection has been established between the kitchen, dining area, and living room, creating a multi-functional and versatile area. The removal of the wall has eliminated the physical barriers that previously separated these spaces, fostering a sense of openness and facilitating better communication and interaction among family members.
The kitchen extension resulting from the removal of the wall has provided several practical benefits. Firstly, it has allowed for the expansion of the bench space, providing more room for meal preparation, cooking, and other kitchen activities. Additionally, the kitchen extension has led to an improvement in storage capacity. This means that kitchen utensils, appliances, and ingredients can be neatly organized and easily accessible, reducing clutter and enhancing efficiency in the kitchen.

Removing a wall in a small two-bedroom unit has resulted in a significant transformation. By opening up the space, a seamless connection has been established between the kitchen, dining area, and living room, creating a multi-functional and versatile area. The removal of the wall has eliminated the physical barriers that previously separated these spaces, fostering a sense of openness and facilitating better communication and interaction among family members.
The kitchen extension resulting from the removal of the wall has provided several practical benefits. Firstly, it has allowed for the expansion of the bench space, providing more room for meal preparation, cooking, and other kitchen activities. Additionally, the kitchen extension has led to an improvement in storage capacity. This means that kitchen utensils, appliances, and ingredients can be neatly organized and easily accessible, reducing clutter and enhancing efficiency in the kitchen.

This is the kind of pool you build when you regularly entertain 100 or more guests at your country estate. The classic formal look is established with symmetrical lines and a round stone lounging area centred across from the zero edge spill wall. The pool's white Armourcoat interior is livened with blue quartz crystals and bordered with Wiarton flagstone coping and exposed aggregate deck with architectural cuts. The massive adjoining cabana contains a full kitchen, wet bar, enclosed interior TV room and full bathroom. (22 x 44, rectangular with Roman ends)

This young mid-town Toronto family wanted their backyard makeover to have an elegant design that would complement the older homes in the area. The neighbourhood has a lot of mature trees and established properties with traditional architecture.
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