The dining room is the first room seen from the entry and is designed to provide unobstructed views of the lake and greenery through it’s 12’ high floor to ceiling and wall-to-wall glazing. A buffet for serving and storage seems to float in the 14’ width which was accomplished with a steel beam concealed within the cabinetry. The owner of this Franklin home, completed in 2017, selected the light fixture early in the design process and wanted to ensure the rest of the design was clean and that this was a focal point. The ceiling features a reveal in the drywall around the perimeter along with layered dry-wall on the ceiling to create an interesting but subtle texture. The dining room has access to the kitchen, through two extra deep dry-walled arches. Access to the adjacent sitting room through two pairs of custom steel and glass French doors.

Example of a large trendy enclosed dark wood floor and brown floor family room design in Charlotte with white walls, a standard fireplace, a concrete fireplace and a wall-mounted tv

The entry to this home boasts a timber frame porch that stretches the length of the home's front. A heavy timber truss on the second level makes for an eye-catching accent.

The tub deck doubles as a shower seat—now that's good design! © Cindy Apple Photography
Example of a mid-sized trendy master white tile and subway tile porcelain tile and blue floor alcove bathtub design in Seattle with white walls, marble countertops, a hinged shower door, black countertops and a built-in vanity

This original 1940's farmhouse kitchen was updated with mint paint and some inexpensive pulls. Previous owners had changed the counter tops, backsplash and sink/faucet.

This LEED Platinum certified house reflects the homeowner's desire for an exceptionally healthy and comfortable living environment, within a traditional neighborhood. INFILL SITE. The family, who moved from another area of Wellesley, sought out this property to be within walking distance of the high school and downtown area. An existing structure on the tight lot was removed to make way for the new home. 84% of the construction waste, from both the previous structure and the new home, was diverted from a landfill. ZED designed to preserve the existing mature trees on the perimeter of the property to minimize site impacts, and to maintain the character of the neighborhood as well as privacy on the site. EXTERIOR EXPRESSION. The street facade of the home relates to the local New England vernacular. The rear uses contemporary language, a nod to the family’s Californian roots, to incorporate a roof deck, solar panels, outdoor living space, and the backyard swimming pool. ZED’s careful planning avoided to the need to face the garage doors towards the street, a common syndrome of a narrow lot. THOUGHTFUL SPACE. Homes with dual entries can often result in duplicate and unused spaces. In this home, the everyday and formal entry areas are one and the same; the front and garage doors share the entry program of coat closets, mudroom storage with bench for removing your shoes, and a laundry room with generous closets for the children's sporting equipment. The entry area leads directly to the living space, encompassing the kitchen, dining and sitting area areas in an L-shaped open plan arrangement. The kitchen is placed at the south-west corner of the space to allow for a strong connection to the dining, sitting and outdoor living spaces. A fire pit on the deck satisfies the family’s desire for an open flame while a sealed gas fireplace is used indoors - ZED’s preference after omitting gas burning appliances completely from an airtight home. A small study, with a window seat, is conveniently located just off of the living space. A first floor guest bedroom includes an accessible bathroom for aging visitors and can be used as a master suite to accommodate aging in place. HEALTHY LIVING. The client requested a home that was easy to clean and would provide a respite from seasonal allergies and common contaminants that are found in many indoor spaces. ZED selected easy to clean solid surface flooring throughout, provided ample space for cleaning supplies on each floor, and designed a mechanical system with ventilation that provides a constant supply of fresh outdoor air. ZED selected durable materials, finishes, cabinetry, and casework with low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and no added urea formaldehyde. YEAR-ROUND COMFORT. The home is super insulated and air-tight, paired with high performance triple-paned windows, to ensure it is draft-free throughout the winter (even when in front of the large windows and doors). ZED designed a right-sized heating and cooling system to pair with the thermally improved building enclosure to ensure year-round comfort. The glazing on the home maximizes passive solar gains, and facilitates cross ventilation and daylighting. ENERGY EFFICIENT. As one of the most energy efficient houses built to date in Wellesley, the home highlights a practical solution for Massachusetts. First, the building enclosure reduces the largest energy requirement for typical houses (heating). Super-insulation, exceptional air sealing, a thermally broken wall assembly, triple pane windows, and passive solar gain combine for a sizable heating load reduction. Second, within the house only efficient systems consume energy. These include an air source heat pump for heating & cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation, and high efficiency appliances. Lastly, photovoltaics provide renewable energy help offset energy consumption. The result is an 89% reduction in energy use compared to a similar brand new home built to code requirements. RESILIENT. The home will fare well in extreme weather events. During a winter power outage, heat loss will be very slow due to the super-insulated and airtight envelope– taking multiple days to drop to 60 degrees even with no heat source. An engineered drainage system, paired with careful the detailing of the foundation, will help to keep the finished basement dry. A generator will provide full operation of the all-electric house during a power outage. OVERALL. The home is a reflection of the family goals and an expression of their values, beautifully enabling health, comfort, safety, resilience, and utility, all while respecting the planet. ZED - Architect & Mechanical Designer Bevilacqua Builders Inc - Contractor Creative Land & Water Engineering - Civil Engineering Barbara Peterson Landscape - Landscape Design Nest & Company - Interior Furnishings Eric Roth Photography - Photography

Irvin Serrano
Country open concept family room photo in Burlington with white walls

This tiny home is located on a treelined street in the Kitsilano neighborhood of Vancouver. We helped our client create a living and dining space with a beach vibe in this small front room that comfortably accommodates their growing family of four. The starting point for the decor was the client's treasured antique chaise (positioned under the large window) and the scheme grew from there. We employed a few important space saving techniques in this room... One is building seating into a corner that doubles as storage, the other is tucking a footstool, which can double as an extra seat, under the custom wood coffee table. The TV is carefully concealed in the custom millwork above the fireplace. Finally, we personalized this space by designing a family gallery wall that combines family photos and shadow boxes of treasured keepsakes. Interior Decorating by Lori Steeves of Simply Home Decorating. Photos by Tracey Ayton Photography

Example of a cottage claw-foot bathtub design in Minneapolis

The radiator cover combines functionality with style, featuring a clean, white finish and intricate lattice design that complements the bathroom's refined aesthetic. It subtly conceals the radiator, adding a polished touch to the space.

Spaces and Faces Photography
Inspiration for an eclectic dark wood floor and brown floor enclosed kitchen remodel in Austin with a drop-in sink, black cabinets, wood countertops, stainless steel appliances and an island

The classic modern design of this kitchen was planned for an active young family of four who uses the space as their central hub for gathering, eating and staying connected. Our goals were to create a beautiful and highly functional kitchen with an emphasis on cabinet organization, heated floors and incorporating a live edge slab countertop. We removed an existing bulky island and replaced it with a new island that while only 60 x 26 in size packs a powerful punch housing a baking center, trash/recycle center, microwave oven and cookbook storage. The island seemed the natural place for the gorgeous live edge slab coupled with vintage mercury glass light pendants that make for a truly stunning kitchen island. Polished carrara quartz perimeter counters pair beautifully with the watery blue-green glass backsplash tile. A message center conveniently located on a side panel of the refrigerator cabinet houses built in mailboxes, a family calendar and magnetic surface to display the children’s artwork. We are pleased to have met the family’s goals and that they love their kitchen. Design mission accomplished! Photography by: Marcela Winspear

Jane Beiles Photography
Inspiration for a large modern l-shaped dark wood floor and brown floor open concept kitchen remodel in DC Metro with a farmhouse sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, marble countertops, gray backsplash, ceramic backsplash, stainless steel appliances and an island

This new modern house is located in a meadow in Lenox MA. The house is designed as a series of linked pavilions to connect the house to the nature and to provide the maximum daylight in each room. The center focus of the home is the largest pavilion containing the living/dining/kitchen, with the guest pavilion to the south and the master bedroom and screen porch pavilions to the west. While the roof line appears flat from the exterior, the roofs of each pavilion have a pronounced slope inward and to the north, a sort of funnel shape. This design allows rain water to channel via a scupper to cisterns located on the north side of the house. Steel beams, Douglas fir rafters and purlins are exposed in the living/dining/kitchen pavilion. Photo by: Nat Rea Photography

Doorless shower - mid-sized transitional beige tile and porcelain tile porcelain tile and beige floor doorless shower idea in Houston with shaker cabinets, white cabinets, a one-piece toilet, beige walls, a vessel sink and beige countertops

A practical entry way featuring storage for shoes and coats and a place to sit down while getting ready. Photos: Philippe Clairo
Mid-sized country vinyl floor and gray floor vestibule photo in Calgary with white walls and a gray front door

A light clean master bathroom is the perfect retreat in the master suite. Custom cabinets offer ample storage with hidden pull-outs under each sink, an extra stack of drawers, and a tower cabinet for each vanity side. Manmade quartz countertops mimic white marble but without the maintenance of real marble. Easy living is also found in the porcelain floor tile made to look like soft grey stained hardwoods. The porcelain shower wall tile is made to look like natural white Carrara marble. The flooring and custom cabinets are beautiful – but design is in the details! Free-hanging mirrors, the mosaic tile backsplash, accent tile stripes in the shower, and a soft blue wall and ceiling color really make this beautiful special. Builder: Wamhoff Design Build Photographer: Daniel Angulo

This 1950's kitchen need upgrading, but when (2) sisters Elaine and Janet moved in, it required accessible renovation to meet their needs. Photo by Content Craftsmen

An updated stacked washer/dryer arrangement allows for an efficient new cabinet design with extra storage capacity, making the utility/storage space more functional and organized.