We were thrilled at the opportunity to furnish this beautiful home top to bottom for a young, vibrant couple who have lived around the world and were ready to make a home in Portland. Incredible custom area rugs and curated furnishings fill spaces that are composed and creative yet comfortable and inviting. Luxurious wallpapers highlight spaces throughout the home and even the outdoor patios are furnished to impress. A dozen local artists’ original work is displayed throughout the home, bringing unique inspiration to each space. We improved the kitchen with a slab quartz waterfall island, added luxurious heat to the outdoor spaces, and updated the master bath lighting. Photography by Christopher Dibble

We were thrilled at the opportunity to furnish this beautiful home top to bottom for a young, vibrant couple who have lived around the world and were ready to make a home in Portland. Incredible custom area rugs and curated furnishings fill spaces that are composed and creative yet comfortable and inviting. Luxurious wallpapers highlight spaces throughout the home and even the outdoor patios are furnished to impress. A dozen local artists’ original work is displayed throughout the home, bringing unique inspiration to each space. We improved the kitchen with a slab quartz waterfall island, added luxurious heat to the outdoor spaces, and updated the master bath lighting. Photography by Christopher Dibble

Coral Honeysuckle at Garden in the Woods, the botanic garden of New England Wild Flower Society Photo copyright Ellen Sousa/THBFarm
Photo of a landscaping in Boston.

In south Seattle, a tiny backyard garden needed a makeover to add usability and create a sitting area for entertaining. Raised garden beds for edible plants provide the transition between the existing deck and new patio below, eliminating the need for a railing. A firepit provides the focal point for the new patio. Angles create drama and direct flow to the steel stairs and gate. Installed June, 2014. Photography: Mark S. Garff ASLA, LLA

The homeowner had custom etched and stained glass to incorporate into various parts of the home. The homeowners are cyclists, and if you look closely you can see the bicycle seat riding through a bamboo forest above the sink. Dave Adams Photography

Parry Manzanita / Arctostaphylos manzanita Photo by Pete Veilleux, East Bay Wilds
Design ideas for a landscaping in San Francisco.

Photography by Studio H Landscape Architecture. Post processing by Isabella Li.
Inspiration for a contemporary landscaping in Orange County.

This modern green home offers both a vacation destination on Cape Cod near local family members and an opportunity for rental income. FAMILY ROOTS. A West Coast couple living in the San Francisco Bay Area sought a permanent East Coast vacation home near family members living on Cape Cod. As academic professionals focused on sustainability, they sought a green, energy efficient home that was well-aligned with their values. With no green homes available for sale on Cape Cod, they decided to purchase land near their family and build their own. SLOPED SITE. Comprised of a 3/4 acre lot nestled in the pines, the steeply sloping terrain called for a plan that embraced and took advantage of the slope. Of equal priority was optimizing solar exposure, preserving privacy from abutters, and creating outdoor living space. The design accomplished these goals with a simple, rectilinear form, offering living space on the both entry and lower/basement levels. The stepped foundation allows for a walk-out basement level with light-filled living space on the down-hill side of the home. The traditional basement on the eastern, up-hill side houses mechanical equipment and a home gym. The house welcomes natural light throughout, captures views of the forest, and delivers entertainment space that connects indoor living space to outdoor deck and dining patio. MODERN VISION. The clean building form and uncomplicated finishes pay homage to the modern architectural legacy on the outer Cape. Durable and economical fiber cement panels, fixed with aluminum channels, clad the primary form. Cedar clapboards provide a visual accent at the south-facing living room, which extends a single roof plane to cover the entry porch. SMART USE OF SPACE. On the entry level, the “L”-shaped living, dining, and kitchen space connects to the exterior living, dining, and grilling spaces to effectively double the home’s summertime entertainment area. Placed at the western end of the entry level (where it can retain privacy but still claim expansive downhill views) is the master suite with a built-in study. The lower level has two guest bedrooms, a second full bathroom, and laundry. The flexibility of the space—crucial in a house with a modest footprint—emerges in one of the guest bedrooms, which doubles as home office by opening the barn-style double doors to connect it to the bright, airy open stair leading up to the entry level. Thoughtful design, generous ceiling heights and large windows transform the modest 1,100 sf* footprint into a well-lit, spacious home. *(total finished space is 1800 sf) RENTAL INCOME. The property works for its owners by netting rental income when the owners are home in San Francisco. The house especially caters to vacationers bound for nearby Mayo Beach and includes an outdoor shower adjacent to the lower level entry door. In contrast to the bare bones cottages that are typically available on the Cape, this home offers prospective tenants a modern aesthetic, paired with luxurious and green features. Durable finishes inside and out will ensure longevity with the heavier use that comes with a rental property. COMFORT YEAR-ROUND. The home is super-insulated and air-tight, with mechanical ventilation to provide continuous fresh air from the outside. High performance triple-paned windows complement the building enclosure and maximize passive solar gain while ensuring a warm, draft-free winter, even when sitting close to the glass. A properly sized air source heat pump offers efficient heating & cooling, and includes a carefully designed the duct distribution system to provide even comfort throughout the house. The super-insulated envelope allows us to significantly reduce the equipment capacity, duct size, and airflow quantities, while maintaining unparalleled thermal comfort. ENERGY EFFICIENT. The building’s shell and mechanical systems play instrumental roles in the home’s exceptional performance. The building enclosure reduces the most significant energy glutton: heating. Continuous super-insulation, thorough air sealing, triple-pane windows, and passive solar gain work together to yield a miniscule heating load. All active energy consumers are extremely efficient: an air source heat pump for heating and cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation (ERV), and high efficiency appliances. The result is a home that uses 70% less energy than a similar new home built to code requirements. OVERALL. The home embodies the owners’ goals and values while comprehensively enabling thermal comfort, energy efficiency, a vacation respite, and supplementary income. PROJECT TEAM ZeroEnergy Design - Architect & Mechanical Designer A.F. Hultin & Co. - Contractor Pamet Valley Landscape Design - Landscape & Masonry Lisa Finch - Original Artwork European Architectural Supply - Windows Eric Roth Photography - Photography

The remodel of this home included the entire main floor of this Forest Heights traditional home. The kitchen and breakfast nook shines with a clean, fresh, neutral palette leaving a beautiful backdrop for art and furnishings (furnishings completed by Amy Troute). But don’t let it’s neutrality fool you, it is not short on design details and smart storage! The island was designed to stand as a furniture piece in the room, with base cabinets pulled off the floor and legs capped with brass! Storage solutions include ample drawer space, blind corner pull-out, pantry pull-out, and plenty of sheet/tray vertical storage!

Photography by Jim Tetro This house, built in the 1960s, sits southfacing on a terrific wooded lot in Bethesda, Maryland. The owners desire a whole-house renovation which would improve the general building fabric and systems, and extend the sense of living out of doors in all seasons. The original sixties-modern character is preserved and the renovation extends the design forward into a contemporary, modern approach. Connections to and through the site are enhanced through the creation of new larger window and door openings. Screened porches and decks perch above the sloped and wooded site. The new kitchen and bathrooms allow for opportunities to feel out-of -doors while preparing, cooking, dining, and bathing. Smart passive strategies guide the environmental choices for this project, including envelope improvements, updated mechanical systems, and on-site stormwater management.

Our Chicago design-build team used timeless design elements like black-and-white with touches of wood in this bathroom renovation. --- Project designed by Skokie renovation firm, Chi Renovations & Design - general contractors, kitchen and bath remodelers, and design & build company. They serve the Chicago area, and it's surrounding suburbs, with an emphasis on the North Side and North Shore. You'll find their work from the Loop through Lincoln Park, Skokie, Evanston, Wilmette, and all the way up to Lake Forest. For more about Chi Renovation & Design, click here: https://www.chirenovation.com/

First floor main entrance stairway with cable railing & 2nd floor balcony with cable railing Quigley Decks is a Madison, WI-based home improvement contractor specializing in building decks, pergolas, porches, patios and carpentry projects that make the outside of your home a more pleasing place to relax. We are pleased to service much of greater Wisconsin including Cottage Grove, De Forest, Fitchburg, Janesville, Lake Mills, Madison, Middleton, Monona, Mt. Horeb, Stoughton, Sun Prairie, Verona, Waunakee, Milwaukee, Oconomowoc, Pewaukee, the Dells area and more. We believe in solid workmanship and take great care in hand-selecting quality materials including Western Red Cedar, Ipe hardwoods and Trex, TimberTech and AZEK composites from select, southern Wisconsin vendors. Our goals are building quality and customer satisfaction. We ensure that no matter what the size of the job, it will be done right the first time and built to last.

Photography by Jim Tetro This house, built in the 1960s, sits southfacing on a terrific wooded lot in Bethesda, Maryland. The owners desire a whole-house renovation which would improve the general building fabric and systems, and extend the sense of living out of doors in all seasons. The original sixties-modern character is preserved and the renovation extends the design forward into a contemporary, modern approach. Connections to and through the site are enhanced through the creation of new larger window and door openings. Screened porches and decks perch above the sloped and wooded site. The new kitchen and bathrooms allow for opportunities to feel out-of -doors while preparing, cooking, dining, and bathing. Smart passive strategies guide the environmental choices for this project, including envelope improvements, updated mechanical systems, and on-site stormwater management.

Quigleydecks.com Quigley Decks is a Madison, WI-based home improvement contractor specializing in building decks, pergolas, porches, patios and carpentry projects that make the outside of your home a more pleasing place to relax. We are pleased to service much of greater Wisconsin including Cottage Grove, De Forest, Fitchburg, Janesville, Lake Mills, Madison, Middleton, Monona, Mt. Horeb, Stoughton, Sun Prairie, Verona, Waunakee, Milwaukee, Oconomowoc, Pewaukee, the Dells area and more. We believe in solid workmanship and take great care in hand-selecting quality materials including Western Red Cedar, Ipe hardwoods and Trex, TimberTech and AZEK composites from select, southern Wisconsin vendors. Our goals are building quality and customer satisfaction. We ensure that no matter what the size of the job, it will be done right the first time and built to last.

Quigley Decks & Fence Quigley Decks is a Madison, WI-based home improvement contractor specializing in building decks, pergolas, porches, patios and carpentry projects that make the outside of your home a more pleasing place to relax. We are pleased to service much of greater Wisconsin including Cottage Grove, De Forest, Fitchburg, Janesville, Lake Mills, Madison, Middleton, Monona, Mt. Horeb, Stoughton, Sun Prairie, Verona, Waunakee, Milwaukee, Oconomowoc, Pewaukee, the Dells area and more. We believe in solid workmanship and take great care in hand-selecting quality materials including Western Red Cedar, Ipe hardwoods and Trex, TimberTech and AZEK composites from select, southern Wisconsin vendors. Our goals are building quality and customer satisfaction. We ensure that no matter what the size of the job, it will be done right the first time and built to last.

Looking to take advantage of and improve the usability of their backyard the clients desired a space for hosting at the back of the property. The large natural stone patio provides plenty of space for guests to gather and matches the forest's natural aesthetic. The firepit provides a fun gathering point and a beautiful center piece with its stone veneer. A seating wall was added to provide more seating and table space and give the space a more defined appearance. The boulder wall helps to meld the patio into the surround landscape and matches with the forest surrounding the space. Two walkways using the same large slabs of sandstone as the patio are found on either side of the patio to allow for traffic to flow in and out of the space. Finishing the project with hemlock and shade loving perennials and shrubs, like hosta softened the hardscape and allowed the entire landscape to fit into the woods.

Maggie Walker of Reico Kitchen and Bath in Frederick, MD, in collaboration with Tri State Home Improvement, designed multiple rooms for this project. This remodel included the kitchen, pantry, mudroom and laundry room, highlighting a transitional design style and featuring both Green Forest Cabinetry and Masterpiece Cabinetry. The kitchen, mudroom and laundry room feature Green Forest Cabinetry in the Park Place door style with an Espresso finish. The pantry showcases Masterpiece cabinets in the Turner door style in Maple with a Peppercorn finish. The kitchen also includes MSI Q Peppercorn White countertops, while the pantry and laundry room feature Colonial White granite countertops. Despite the challenges of being without a kitchen sink, laundry machines and undergoing the installation of new flooring, the clients expressed that the remodeling process was worthwhile, with beautiful results. “The best advice Maggie gave was to take our time. We had never done a renovation or remodel and this was massive to us. She gave us time to sit with our choice and make changes. The size is the best part of the new kitchen. We went from an extremely small area to a room for a 9’ island, mudroom pantry and laundry, all with gorgeous cabinetry,” said the clients. Photos courtesy of BTW Images.

This primary bathroom renovation in Sardis Forest transformed an outdated space into a relaxing and functional retreat. The goal was to create a timeless bathroom that offers both everyday comfort and a luxurious spa-like experience. The renovation included updated fixtures, custom cabinetry, improved storage solutions, modern tile selections, enhanced lighting, and carefully chosen finishes that bring warmth and sophistication to the space. Every design decision focused on maximizing functionality while maintaining a clean, elegant aesthetic. The finished bathroom provides a bright and welcoming environment where beauty and practicality come together seamlessly. This renovation showcases how thoughtful planning and quality craftsmanship can completely transform a primary bathroom into one of the most enjoyable spaces in the home.

This primary bathroom renovation in Sardis Forest transformed an outdated space into a relaxing and functional retreat. The goal was to create a timeless bathroom that offers both everyday comfort and a luxurious spa-like experience. The renovation included updated fixtures, custom cabinetry, improved storage solutions, modern tile selections, enhanced lighting, and carefully chosen finishes that bring warmth and sophistication to the space. Every design decision focused on maximizing functionality while maintaining a clean, elegant aesthetic. The finished bathroom provides a bright and welcoming environment where beauty and practicality come together seamlessly. This renovation showcases how thoughtful planning and quality craftsmanship can completely transform a primary bathroom into one of the most enjoyable spaces in the home.