For their third Urbanology collaboration, longtime clients and close friends, the Songs, both physicians, envisioned a beautifully designed home in Dallas that exuded calm functionality and understated beauty. Rooted in their Asian heritage and Kim’s love for wabi-sabi simplicity, the design embraced clean lines, warm neutrals, and tactile materials that feel approachable yet elevated. The entry and living spaces were reimagined with textural millwork and a sculptural fireplace, creating cohesion and a serene rhythm between daily life and family gatherings. In the office, a once-awkward layout was transformed through custom millwork that turned the piano into a purposeful centerpiece, joined by a reading nook and seamless storage. The expansive primary bedroom gained intimacy and balance through built-in plaster planters, library-style cabinetry, and a curved sofa perfect for evening wine and conversation. Peter’s guest-turned-primary bath became a master class in function, featuring seamless, antimicrobial surfaces and smart hidden storage for his daily rituals. Through every detail, this third phase of the Midway Hollow residence reflects “the art of ease”: spaces that are clean but lived-in, practical but poetic. What began as functional refinements evolved into a warm, layered home—one that honors the couple’s rhythm, heritage, and pursuit of a life beautifully designed, but never overdone.

The homeowners desired an outdoor space that felt more rustic than their refined interior spaces, but still related architecturally to their house. Cement plaster support arbor columns provide enough of visual tie to the existing house exterior. Oversized wood beams and rafter members provide a unique outdoor atmosphere. Structural bolts and hardware were minimized for a cleaner appearance. Structural connections and supports were engineered to meet California's stringent earthquake standards. Ali Atri Photography

Benjamin Benschneider
Inspiration for a large modern staircase remodel in Seattle

Open concept kitchen - large contemporary l-shaped dark wood floor and brown floor open concept kitchen idea in Minneapolis with a farmhouse sink, recessed-panel cabinets, black cabinets, granite countertops, multicolored backsplash, ceramic backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and white countertops

The custom designed and built bench protects the aesthetic calm of the front garden patio. It provides an excellent view of the neighborhood as well as the hummingbirds drawn by pink Alumroot bells, the sweet fragrance and magic wand-like blooms of Hummingbird Sage blooms, as well as the water feature.

Example of a minimalist light wood floor and beige floor dining room design in Milwaukee with white walls

Cella Architecture - Erich Karp, AIA Laurelhurst Portland, OR This new Tudor Revival styled home, situated in Portland’s Laurelhurst area, was designed to blend with one of the city’s distinctive old neighborhoods. While there are a variety of existing house styles along the nearby streets, the Tudor Revival style with its characteristic steeply pitched roof lines, arched doorways, and heavy chimneys occurs throughout the neighborhood and was the ideal style choice for the new home. The house was conceived with a steeply pitched asymmetric gable facing the street with the longer rake sweeping down in a gentle arc to stop near the entry. The front door is sheltered by a gracefully arched canopy supported by twin wooden corbels. Additional details such as the stuccoed walls with their decorative banding that wraps the house or the flare of the stucco hood over the second floor windows or the use of unique materials such as the Old Carolina brick window sills and entry porch paving add to the character of the house. But while the form and details for the home are drawn from styles of the last century, the home is certainly of this era with noticeably cleaner lines, details, and configuration than would occur in older variants of the style.

Inspiration for a mediterranean exterior home remodel in Los Angeles

A custom fireplace is the visual focus of this craftsman style home's living room while the U-shaped kitchen and elegant bedroom showcase gorgeous pendant lights. Project completed by Wendy Langston's Everything Home interior design firm, which serves Carmel, Zionsville, Fishers, Westfield, Noblesville, and Indianapolis. For more about Everything Home, click here: https://everythinghomedesigns.com/

Our clients wanted to replace an existing suburban home with a modern house at the same Lexington address where they had lived for years. The structure the clients envisioned would complement their lives and integrate the interior of the home with the natural environment of their generous property. The sleek, angular home is still a respectful neighbor, especially in the evening, when warm light emanates from the expansive transparencies used to open the house to its surroundings. The home re-envisions the suburban neighborhood in which it stands, balancing relationship to the neighborhood with an updated aesthetic. The floor plan is arranged in a “T” shape which includes a two-story wing consisting of individual studies and bedrooms and a single-story common area. The two-story section is arranged with great fluidity between interior and exterior spaces and features generous exterior balconies. A staircase beautifully encased in glass stands as the linchpin between the two areas. The spacious, single-story common area extends from the stairwell and includes a living room and kitchen. A recessed wooden ceiling defines the living room area within the open plan space. Separating common from private spaces has served our clients well. As luck would have it, construction on the house was just finishing up as we entered the Covid lockdown of 2020. Since the studies in the two-story wing were physically and acoustically separate, zoom calls for work could carry on uninterrupted while life happened in the kitchen and living room spaces. The expansive panes of glass, outdoor balconies, and a broad deck along the living room provided our clients with a structured sense of continuity in their lives without compromising their commitment to aesthetically smart and beautiful design.

A PLACE TO GATHER Location: Eagan, MN, USA This family of five wanted an inviting space to gather with family and friends. Mom, the primary cook, wanted a large island with more organized storage – everything in its place – and a crisp white kitchen with the character of an older home. Challenges: Design an island that could accommodate this family of five for casual weeknight dinners. Create more usable storage within the existing kitchen footprint. Design a better transition between the upper cabinets on the 8-foot sink wall and the adjoining 9-foot cooktop wall. Make room for more counter space around the cooktop. It was poorly lit, cluttered with small appliances and confined by the tall oven cabinet. Solutions: A large island, that seats 5 comfortably, replaced the small island and kitchen table. This allowed for more storage including cookbook shelves, a heavy-duty roll out shelf for the mixer, a 2-bin recycling center and a bread drawer. Tall pantries with decorative grilles were placed between the kitchen and family room. These created ample storage and helped define each room, making each one feel larger, yet more intimate. A space intentionally separates the upper cabinets on the sink wall from those on the cooktop wall. This created symmetry on the sink wall and made room for an appliance garage, which keeps the countertops uncluttered. Moving the double ovens to the former pantry location made way for more usable counter space around the cooktop and a dramatic focal point with the hood, cabinets and marble backsplash. Special Features: Custom designed corbels and island legs lend character. Gilt open lanterns, antiqued nickel grilles on the pantries, and the soft linen shade at the kitchen sink add personality and charm. The unique bronze hardware with a living finish creates the patina of an older home. A walnut island countertop adds the warmth and feel of a kitchen table. This homeowner truly understood the idea of living with the patina of marble. Her grandmother’s marble-topped antique table inspired the Carrara countertops. The result is a highly organized kitchen with a light, open feel that invites you to stay a while. Liz Schupanitz Designs Photographed by: Andrea Rugg

When the client reached out to assemble the team to execute their dream backyard, they chose Williamson Landscape Architecture, Coburn Construction, and Terrain Seattle to bring their vision to life. The work included a custom pool, hot tub, bocce ball court, and multiple seating areas with detailed flatwork.

All windows were re-positioned strategically to take full advantage of the view, for example, the living room new windows were positioned to take full advantage of the beautiful views of the property. The linear layout of the new windows in the living room was designed to frame and echo the panoramic view of the beautiful pond, farm fields, tree lines and the Adirondack mountains seen beyond As part of architectural and interiors design, here Mitra paid careful attention to use green building products as much as possible, which was done by selecting and using environmentally friendly and low VOC emission products, as well as sing salvaged products where possible, and using as much local products as possible. Aside from using green building products as much as possible, another very important goal of this project was to dramatically improve and maximize the energy efficiency of this home. To meet the specific and mechanical needs, a team of independent expert energy efficient consultants was assembled at the early phase of the design, so that energy solutions were studied and evaluated to the fullest. After extensive energy audits and study of the existing conditions and after extensive evaluation and brainstorming between all parties, Mitra compiled all the information and findings and incorporated them in her design solutions. In short, during construction, extensive energy upgrading measures were achieved by constructing a tight insulating envelope on the interior sides of all exterior walls and roofs, installing the most efficient heating and cooling system along with the introduction of a geothermal system installation. All windows and doors were replaced by state of the art and modern design energy efficient product available in the market which also visually modernized the design and maximized the beautiful westerly view of the landscape outside. To further address the energy efficiency of this project Mitra designed a concrete and steel and concrete fireplace box for it so that it can act as a chase for the mechanical needs of this new super energy efficient fireplace unit. - Photo credit: Susan Teare

Eat-in kitchen - large contemporary u-shaped light wood floor, brown floor and vaulted ceiling eat-in kitchen idea in Los Angeles with a single-bowl sink, flat-panel cabinets, light wood cabinets, quartzite countertops, beige backsplash, stone slab backsplash, paneled appliances, an island and beige countertops

Home office - transitional built-in desk dark wood floor and brown floor home office idea in Baltimore with white walls

PRE-TEEN BEDROOMS Time Frame: 6 Weeks // Budget: $10,000 // Design Fee: $2,500 Here is a small project I took on over the summer to help a past client design her young son’s bedrooms. She didn’t want to spend a lot of money, knowing that someday her boys will want to change their rooms, but also wanted to create something that they would like now, and could grow in to. She had a Feng Sui expert evaluate the space first. Going off of the expert’s advice, I came up with space plans for each room that adhered to Feng Sui. I designed the rooms based off the boy’s favorite colors. New furniture, custom window coverings, paint and decor were selected to give the boy’s each a special room of their own.

Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary brown one-story wood exterior home remodel in San Francisco with a mixed material roof

PRE-TEEN BEDROOMS Time Frame: 6 Weeks // Budget: $10,000 // Design Fee: $2,500 Here is a small project I took on over the summer to help a past client design her young son’s bedrooms. She didn’t want to spend a lot of money, knowing that someday her boys will want to change their rooms, but also wanted to create something that they would like now, and could grow in to. She had a Feng Sui expert evaluate the space first. Going off of the expert’s advice, I came up with space plans for each room that adhered to Feng Sui. I designed the rooms based off the boy’s favorite colors. New furniture, custom window coverings, paint and decor were selected to give the boy’s each a special room of their own.

PRE-TEEN BEDROOMS Time Frame: 6 Weeks // Budget: $10,000 // Design Fee: $2,500 Here is a small project I took on over the summer to help a past client design her young son’s bedrooms. She didn’t want to spend a lot of money, knowing that someday her boys will want to change their rooms, but also wanted to create something that they would like now, and could grow in to. She had a Feng Sui expert evaluate the space first. Going off of the expert’s advice, I came up with space plans for each room that adhered to Feng Sui. I designed the rooms based off the boy’s favorite colors. New furniture, custom window coverings, paint and decor were selected to give the boy’s each a special room of their own.