Photo: Durston Saylor
Example of a mid-sized mountain style open concept light wood floor living room design in New York with a standard fireplace and a stone fireplace

This family decided that an extensive whole home remodel. Custom shaker cabinetry in the backdrop for this kitchen. The island is center stage in gale force blue and brings out the layers of blue color in the backsplash tile. We pulled out all the goodies on this kitchen with stacked cabinetry to the ceiling with glass uppers and lighting. utensil and spice base dividers, base trash/recycle pullouts, a base corner arena, drawer organizers, a custom under the stairs pantry and more!

The Home A family heirloom full of warm memories passed down for generations to come greets you after opening the beautiful knotty alder front door. The rear staircase and separate back entrance allows for multi-generations to share this home. The Eagles Nest is a place for all to land. The five bedroom, four bath mountain modern plan offers several areas for relaxing and entertaining. Upon entering, you are welcomed by the warmth of the beams, hickory floors and inviting fireplace. The overall environment gently whispers, “come in, sit down and relax”. The back staircase off the kitchen leads you to a private oasis. The lower level is designed to serve two purposes. It can be a separate living quarter because of its private entrance, or an extension of the house for entertaining. The open floor plan maximizes square footage for all to enjoy and partake, or for one to find their own quiet space. The Builder We build your dreams is the heartfelt motto of Murphy’s Custom Homes, and that’s because we take great pride in crafting homes that reflect the individuality of the people who live in them. With more than 35 years of experience and passion, Murphy’s Custom Homes personally crafts clients’ dream homes by combining their ideas with our expert design team, experience, the environmental elements of the land, quality construction techniques and state-of-the-art products. We are committed to our clients’ satisfaction during every step of the homebuilding process — from the development of ideas and acquiring land — until the final celebration of walking through the front door and seeing those dreams fulfilled. View a full gallery of our work at murphyscustomhomes.com or call 719-488-8818. The Interior Design Inspired by nature’s palette and a touch of modern, the Eagles Nest is a calm haven of earth tones and casual elegance. The interior is an inviting blend of subtle neutrals and pops of color, combined with metals, textures, and fine finishes, creating a transitional rustic design. Entertain guests in the large downstairs rec room with a glass of wine at the built-in bar, or take on an opponent with a game of foosball. The homeowners joined forces with Caprice King at Upstage Furniture Consignments to paint the pallet of the home. Caprice King staged the home with additional furnishings and accessories, lending the home a designer’s touch while utilizing her spatial expertise and attention to detail.

Completed in 2019, this is a home we completed for client who initially engaged us to remodeled their 100 year old classic craftsman bungalow on Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill. During our initial conversation, it became readily apparent that their program was much larger than a remodel could accomplish and the conversation quickly turned toward the design of a new structure that could accommodate a growing family, a live-in Nanny, a variety of entertainment options and an enclosed garage – all squeezed onto a compact urban corner lot. Project entitlement took almost a year as the house size dictated that we take advantage of several exceptions in Seattle’s complex zoning code. After several meetings with city planning officials, we finally prevailed in our arguments and ultimately designed a 4 story, 3800 sf house on a 2700 sf lot. The finished product is light and airy with a large, open plan and exposed beams on the main level, 5 bedrooms, 4 full bathrooms, 2 powder rooms, 2 fireplaces, 4 climate zones, a huge basement with a home theatre, guest suite, climbing gym, and an underground tavern/wine cellar/man cave. The kitchen has a large island, a walk-in pantry, a small breakfast area and access to a large deck. All of this program is capped by a rooftop deck with expansive views of Seattle’s urban landscape and Lake Union. Unfortunately for our clients, a job relocation to Southern California forced a sale of their dream home a little more than a year after they settled in after a year project. The good news is that in Seattle’s tight housing market, in less than a week they received several full price offers with escalator clauses which allowed them to turn a nice profit on the deal.

This bathroom got a big upgrade! The primary occupant, the homeowner's teenage son, was the driving force behind the design. The Delta Trinsic collection was the perfect complement to the industrial vibe, while the natural cherry cabinetry contribute warmth to the space

Photo by Mike Force. Kinney & Associates was hired by the Potter-Miller family in the Cherrywood neighborhood of Austin, Texas to design a detached garage with a one-bedroom accessory dwelling unit above. The garage was designed to be multi-functional and is equipped with a powder room and air conditioning to allow the second floor tenant the option of utilizing it as a studio, workshop, or a variety of other uses. The owners chose Sabina Daly of Jade Construction to execute the design. The final result was a beautiful addition to the existing main residence and a superb source of rental income for the owners for years to come.

Spatial disruption and, particularly, a sweeping blurring of the private/public boundaries are highly characteristic of the re-divided apartment phenomenon – an existential need to snap awake the ignoring authorities. Beyond the social problems inherent in this trend, it creates a planning challenge forcing architects to cope with the re-planning of small spaces The positive aspect of this phenomenon is that it actually manages to wipe away the cynical smile of the contractors’ apartments, never intended for a specific user. The apartment presented here is not a re-divided one. However, it exemplifies a creative architectural solution for the re-division of a relatively small apartment, for the benefit of a specific user. A “floating” wall with the bedroom, bathroom and toilet behind creates a contained/containing bi-directional relation, between the private and the public. Much privacy can not be found there, but since the flat is meant for a young couple without children, the romantic dimension rejoices. The overall sense is of an open comfortable space, enjoying a good exposure to the urban scenery. The deliberately bare components of the structure, rattling the notion of the temporality of a floating wall, and the ever changing view according to the location – lend simple and deserving enrichment to the experiencing of the space

Home design - traditional home design idea in New York

Achieve the perfect completion of time and grace with the classic Lippa Table. Reflect seamlessly as organic shapes and a slender stem-like pedestal glide you to the perfect vantage point. Elevate your surroundings beyond the sharp four-cornered traditional table as you blend divergent perspectives into one centrifugal force par excellence.

Living Room in Wabi Sabi Retreat | Room Type: 3 bed, 4 bath, 3770 square feet- Master Bath, Kitchen, Dining Room, Den, Laundry Room, Powder Bath, Family Room, Living Room, Entry. Project Name: Wabi Sabi Retreat. Key Feature: A wabi sabi–inspired home that captures simplicity, imperfection, and tranquility through organic textures, weathered finishes, and intentional negative space, while working within the existing architecture. Challenge: The home’s architecture did not naturally lend itself to traditional wabi sabi design, requiring a thoughtful approach to achieve the desired feeling without forcing the aesthetic. Solution: Rather than applying a rigid style, the team focused on evoking tranquility through contrast, organic materials, intentional emptiness, and finishes that develop character over time. Materials: Furniture: Four Hands, Noir, Vig, Moss Studio, Dovetail, TOV. Lighting: Arteriors, Lucent Light Shop, Ping Lighting. Rugs: Jaipur, Loloi. Artwork: Leftbank, Etsy. Budget: $100k- $300k | Timeline: 6 months, completed March 2025

Designed this backyard sauna for a client who was knowledgeable about sauna and had an idea of what he wanted. The goal was an energy efficient sauna that maintained privacy from neighbors but still had some views of nature/good lighting. 7.5' x 7.5'. Went with 8 foot ceilings - which made the overall structure a bit tall aesthetically - but this allowed a higher bench system. The harvia cilindro 8kw stove may be a bit undersized but the tall bench height seems to compensate for the stove (heat up times are a bit long). Drain in the floor which allows you to dump lots of water on the stove. With 200lbs of stones, the loyly is quite impressive and intense! The force from the steam necessitated some additional magnets to keep the door closed.

The living area is almost an art object. The cube is decorated with plaster repeating the surface of ancient clay huts. The walls are covered with a special clay solution to get the desired volume. The relief was created by the element itself: when drying, the material had cracked and formed unique patterns. Here, the main beholder of such a force of nature is the OCHI lamp created by Serhii Makhno.

Mom and kids both love baking, the kitchen was outdated and didn’t have proper venting, which made this passion a challenge. We needed to create a bright, updated, and functional space for the family. The Dining Room wasn’t being used because they would tend to gather at the Dinette table for all meals. The clients wanted to figure out a way to force themselves to want to use the Dining Room area more. They weren’t afraid to add bold colors, so we played with cabinet colors and added a vibrant piece of artwork for a pop of color.

AirField installed an AirPave grass fire lane for their porous flexible paving at Baptist Trinity Residential Hospice, creating a beautiful, functional, ecological friendly solution to facility access. An installation of an AirField Systems grass fire lane at Baptist Trinity Residential Hospice brings green building benefits and incredible strength to a beautiful new facility. A time lapse photo series highlight the installation process of the 6,747 PSI sand filled 100% recycled geocell technology, providing the strength of asphalt and concrete while relieving some of the burden of costly storm sewers and drainage. This new installation highlights the benefits of paving with grass, as well as the comparative ease of installation. Concrete and asphalt surfaces occupy twice the area of buildings and are the most detrimental to clean water. Concrete and asphalt surfaces dominate the landscape of our urban environments and prevent rainwater from being filtered naturally. They send harmful polluted water straight into our streams, rivers and lakes. In urban America, concrete and asphalt pavements produce two thirds of our excess water runoff. They are responsible for significant hydrocarbon pollutants on our ground and in our water, causing ground water decline, and resulting in local water shortages. These concrete and asphalt surfaces also create huge increases in temperature known as the urban “heat island effect”. The pollution caused by impervious surfaces deteriorate the quality of our storm water runoff and create large overflows that our storm sewer systems cannot handle. It is also important to realize that the urban forest force is drastically diminishing, causing CO2 levels to rise, which in turn causes global warming. With all the negative influences of impervious pavements now is the time to turn our attention to alternatives for the benefit of the environment. From fire lanes, overflow, and event parking, to temporary and stadium parking, reinforced grass parking systems deliver the same strength and durability of asphalt and concrete without the negative affects mentioned above. These incredibly strong geocells reinforce grass parking, prevent rutting from traffic, protect turf roots, and promote beautiful grass. Reinforced grass parking structures, also know as grass pavements, enhance the environment by naturally filtering auto and truck liquids such as oil drippings, antifreeze overflows and many other leaks and spills. They also help with air pollutants after they have been knocked to the ground by rainwater and greatly reduce hot surface temperatures thus fighting global warming and the “heat island effect”. Grass pavements allow our groundwater to be naturally replenished, the roots of trees to breathe, and they help our streams and rivers flow cleanly in dry hot summers. A large part of the solution to urban environmental problems is under our feet. By paying appropriate attention to the everyday materials on which we walk and drive, we can replenish renewable resources, restore the natural regenerative processes, and produce a cleaner, healthier, safer, more sustainable world in which we must live. Porous pavements are potentially the most important development in urban watersheds since the invention of storm sewers. By routing rainwater directly into the earth as nature intended, the need for costly storm water structures can be drastically reduced. Reinforced grass parking has built in permeable spaces through which water and air can pass. Although some porous paving materials are nearly indistinguishable from nonporous materials in construction and superficial appearance, their environmental effects are qualitatively exponential. They allow air, water and heat to dissipate into the environment naturally helping to save the planet. AirField reinforced grass parking provides beauty and comfort, and with the unbeatable price and performance of AirDrain you can’t go wrong. AirDrain is the reinforced grass pave system the industry has trusted for years !!! Airfield Systems, LLC 8028 North May Avenue Oklahoma City, OK 73120 405-359-3775 Installer – GREENPRO Landscapes Kevin James 9847 Stewart Rd Arlington, TN 38002

The need for a kitchen better suited to entertaining was the driving force behind the start of this great kitchen remodel. The original kitchen and adjacent living area were redesigned to encompass a new larger kitchen with semiformal eating area along with a wet bar and great cozy sitting room. The clients Christine and Steve along with the interior designer Sharon Ryan made great choices in products and finishes to give these new spaces a fresh new look that blended seamlessly with the rest of the home. The kitchen designer John Noland used Fieldstone Cabinetry in the LaGrange door style ( Beaded inset ). The perimeter kitchen cabinetry is finished in Dove paint with a latte glaze complimented by the island and bar cabinetry in Cherry wood with Hazelnut Stain. The expansive new kitchen countertops are Taj Mahal Quartzite with a sleek apron front sink from Kohler. The bar top granite is Peacock with a stainless steel undermount bar sink. Everything from new random width hardwood flooring, window replacement, cabinetry and finishes were done by CCKAB’s lead contractor Don Pitt and assistant Dan. Everyone involved in this great kitchen project did an awesome job and what a result.

Kids love the simple, modern, functional, and stylish, sprout kids kitchen. This cute piece of Sprout modern kids furniture gives the kids a place to play and exercise their imagination, without forcing the parents to sacrifice their modern style.

Completed in 2019, this is a home we completed for client who initially engaged us to remodeled their 100 year old classic craftsman bungalow on Seattle’s Queen Anne Hill. During our initial conversation, it became readily apparent that their program was much larger than a remodel could accomplish and the conversation quickly turned toward the design of a new structure that could accommodate a growing family, a live-in Nanny, a variety of entertainment options and an enclosed garage – all squeezed onto a compact urban corner lot. Project entitlement took almost a year as the house size dictated that we take advantage of several exceptions in Seattle’s complex zoning code. After several meetings with city planning officials, we finally prevailed in our arguments and ultimately designed a 4 story, 3800 sf house on a 2700 sf lot. The finished product is light and airy with a large, open plan and exposed beams on the main level, 5 bedrooms, 4 full bathrooms, 2 powder rooms, 2 fireplaces, 4 climate zones, a huge basement with a home theatre, guest suite, climbing gym, and an underground tavern/wine cellar/man cave. The kitchen has a large island, a walk-in pantry, a small breakfast area and access to a large deck. All of this program is capped by a rooftop deck with expansive views of Seattle’s urban landscape and Lake Union. Unfortunately for our clients, a job relocation to Southern California forced a sale of their dream home a little more than a year after they settled in after a year project. The good news is that in Seattle’s tight housing market, in less than a week they received several full price offers with escalator clauses which allowed them to turn a nice profit on the deal.

Built for the Bluff, A Sea Ranch Home is Remade from the Inside Out The house had always been grounded, on an ocean bluff at The Sea Ranch. It sits unencumbered, adjacent to one of the most dramatic stretches of the Sonoma coast with protected commons meadow to the east, uninterrupted Pacific views to the west, and a bluff trail running alongside. What it lacked was the feeling of home, one that could hold up its own against the natural landscape. The owners are entrepreneurs with deep involvement across tech, real estate, and development and they know how things are built. The Sea Ranch house had been in their lives for years, a second residence and a place for family to gather. Built for a different time, it felt more compromising than comfortable. Sitting in a closed off nook, the kitchen fit one cook at a time and turned its back on the rest of the house. The entry was dim and compressed, divided by a structural column that presented itself at exactly the wrong moment. The primary suite was small relative to the view outside it. A large rear bedroom sat behind a lowered ceiling with a bathroom that had never been added. The house was certainly worth the trouble of doing it right. What followed was not one project but four, each with its own design challenge, each addressed over a period of time. Where the House Meets the Ocean The most complex piece of the project, in both structural and spatial terms, was the kitchen expansion. The existing room was a single-person galley squeezed in as an afterthought with no meaningful connection to the dining room, the living space, or the deck outside. To make it useful for a family that cooks and gathers, it needed to grow outward into an existing patio and flow into the rooms around it. A big challenge was the roofline. Several planes at different pitches and angles converged directly where additional volume was needed. A new form had to join that geometry without reading as a correction. The solution found the simplest possible connection between the existing angles, a roofline that from outside the structure, appears entirely original. From the bluff trail where the addition is visible, there is no discernible seam. Inside, the kitchen is now open to the living and dining rooms without interruption. A large sliding glass door connects the space onto the rear deck. The deck itself was expanded and oriented so that the body of the house shields it from the coastal wind which is a common consideration that determines whether outdoor space at The Sea Ranch actually gets used. The result is a room that works for large family gatherings where no one feels cutoff, and one that makes the boundary between being inside and outside easy to ignore. Welcoming Light A structural column stood at the convergence of eight distinct roof planes in the entry. It was load-bearing, but it was also the reason the entry had always felt like a hallway rather than a welcoming arrival. With the structural engineer, a custom steel connector was designed to receive beams from six separate directions, redistributing the load through a single new continuous beam. The column was surgically removed. Three triangular skylights were then cut into the roof above, their shapes drawn from the existing geometry of the planes around them. The entry is now bright and open. The skylights feel native to the structure because they follow the logic already present in the roof. Two Suites, Two Views At opposite ends of the house, the two bedroom suites were each reconfigured, and each found a different way to introduce more of the landscape into the room. An addition to the primary suite extended the structure outward to create a wraparound plan with a loop from the bedroom through bath and closet that had not been possible before. The expansion opened a slot view from the tub and shower toward the ocean. The view is precise and private. The ocean view is present and deliberate. The rear bedroom absorbed an adjacent storage room to transform it into a full second suite with a vaulted ceiling, a large bathroom with a tub, a shower, and a sauna. A private fenced garden courtyard sits just beyond the glass bringing the outdoors inside. The tub was placed so that, looking past the courtyard and through the bedroom beyond, the ocean is visible at the far end. It is a long view and it makes the room feel larger and more settled than its footprint would suggest. Glass on Four Sides, Fire at the Center The main living and gathering room had always been caught between two competing facts: glass on four sides meant exceptional views but at The Sea Ranch, it also meant a cold room. A 360-degree cylindrical fireplace was added at the center on a raised stone base, providing radiant heat in every direction and giving the room a focal point around which a group naturally orients itself, whether that means two people at the end of the day or the whole family after dinner. Owners Who Picked Up the Tools The owner was not a passive client. they came with construction knowledge, specific ideas, and the desire to be an active part of the process, a dynamic that other architects may had found difficult, which Klopf Architecture accepted as an asset. They took it upon themselves to complete some of the work during construction, including the installation of a new radiant heating system beneath the floors. The radiant system added to the older and less-desirable forced-air setup. At The Sea Ranch, that change matters as the house sits close enough to the ocean and moving air competes with the sound of it, where radiant heat does not. Solar panels were added to the roof as part of the new system. Insulation was upgraded throughout the walls, roof, and crawl space. The house that had always had the right setting now holds warmth the way a house on the bluff should. They were also deeply involved in the design and selections throughout, and the finished house reflects both of them in ways that are specific rather than generic. The process took longer and moved through more iterations than a more arms-length relationship might have allowed. The result is more defined and personal because of it. The Landscape Holds Priority Every exterior decision was shaped by The Sea Ranch Design Standards, which require that buildings defer to the landscape around them rather than compete with it. Because this house sits on the bluff and is visible from the public trail, the additions faced a close review. Existing materials were matched. Geometries were resolved. The additions had to become indistinguishable from the original building. From the trail, the house reads exactly as it always has — low, cedar-clad, secondary to the meadow and the water. The setting holds priority. Inside, the house has been remade. Klopf Architecture Project Team: Geoff Campen and Trenton Jewett
Contractor: Shawn Bettega Construction
Photography: ©2025 Mariko Reed
Year Completed: 2023
Location: The Sea Ranch, CA

This 84 square foot daylight basement kitchen utilizes every square inch of space and provides ample counter space for cooking and entertaining. Featuring Dura Supreme Cabinetry in Knotty Alder with cashew stain and floating shelves. Flooring is Mannington Adura LVT in Napa Dry Cork. Appliances: Wolf 24" induction cooktop, Bosch 24" convection microwave, Bosch, 18" panel ready slim-line dishwasher, Bosch fully vented pull-out exhaust hood and Bosch freestanding counter depth 24" refrigerator. Countertops and backsplash are Formica laminate in Limestone Matte with ogee edge detail. LED track lighting and LED under-cabinet lighting creates an inviting space. Individually controlled convection radiant wall heaters by Stelpro supplement the home's forced air heating system. A Kitchen That Works LLC