photography: Julie Soefer
Exterior home photo in Houston

**Featured in Home & Design Magazine! The inspiration for this unique project draws on the clients’ love of Paris and the city’s vibrant romanticism and mix of architectural styles. Our challenge was to elevate builder-grade finishes in a newly-constructed townhome to create an urban retreat with aged patina for this young couple. Soft industrial elements were layered over Old-World inspired details on nearly every surface for maximum impact. We added rustic wood ceilings and industrial beams to create drama, texture, and value throughout. A Parisian-inspired glass/iron wall divider relieves the open concept floor plan, creating a more intimate seating space. Oversized pendants of steel, blown glass, horsehair and faux horn provide soft illumination while drawing the eye upward to architectural ceiling details. Custom midnight blue built-ins create a library that frames the entry and study. The deep and dramatic color palette of paint and wallpaper that adorns the walls is a vibrant mix of cobalt, citron, teal and smoky lavender. Light pours into the rooms from the large windows, reflects off the oversized acid-wash mirror, and forms dramatic shadows on the walls, setting the mood for this home.

Lincoln Farmhouse LEED-H Platinum, Net-Positive Energy OVERVIEW. This LEED Platinum certified modern farmhouse ties into the cultural landscape of Lincoln, Massachusetts - a town known for its rich history, farming traditions, conservation efforts, and visionary architecture. The goal was to design and build a new single family home on 1.8 acres that respects the neighborhood’s agrarian roots, produces more energy than it consumes, and provides the family with flexible spaces to live-play-work-entertain. The resulting 2,800 SF home is proof that families do not need to compromise on style, space or comfort in a highly energy-efficient and healthy home. CONNECTION TO NATURE. The attached garage is ubiquitous in new construction in New England’s cold climate. This home’s barn-inspired garage is intentionally detached from the main dwelling. A covered walkway connects the two structures, creating an intentional connection with the outdoors between auto and home. FUNCTIONAL FLEXIBILITY. With a modest footprint, each space must serve a specific use, but also be flexible for atypical scenarios. The Mudroom serves everyday use for the couple and their children, but is also easy to tidy up to receive guests, eliminating the need for two entries found in most homes. A workspace is conveniently located off the mudroom; it looks out on to the back yard to supervise the children and can be closed off with a sliding door when not in use. The Away Room opens up to the Living Room for everyday use; it can be closed off with its oversized pocket door for secondary use as a guest bedroom with en suite bath. NET POSITIVE ENERGY. The all-electric home consumes 70% less energy than a code-built house, and with measured energy data produces 48% more energy annually than it consumes, making it a 'net positive' home. Thick walls and roofs lack thermal bridging, windows are high performance, triple-glazed, and a continuous air barrier yields minimal leakage (0.27ACH50) making the home among the tightest in the US. Systems include an air source heat pump, an energy recovery ventilator, and a 13.1kW photovoltaic system to offset consumption and support future electric cars. ACTUAL PERFORMANCE. -6.3 kBtu/sf/yr Energy Use Intensity (Actual monitored project data reported for the firm’s 2016 AIA 2030 Commitment. Average single family home is 52.0 kBtu/sf/yr.) o 10,900 kwh total consumption (8.5 kbtu/ft2 EUI) o 16,200 kwh total production o 5,300 kwh net surplus, equivalent to 15,000-25,000 electric car miles per year. 48% net positive. WATER EFFICIENCY. Plumbing fixtures and water closets consume a mere 60% of the federal standard, while high efficiency appliances such as the dishwasher and clothes washer also reduce consumption rates. FOOD PRODUCTION. After clearing all invasive species, apple, pear, peach and cherry trees were planted. Future plans include blueberry, raspberry and strawberry bushes, along with raised beds for vegetable gardening. The house also offers a below ground root cellar, built outside the home's thermal envelope, to gain the passive benefit of long term energy-free food storage. RESILIENCY. The home's ability to weather unforeseen challenges is predictable - it will fare well. The super-insulated envelope means during a winter storm with power outage, heat loss will be slow - taking days to drop to 60 degrees even with no heat source. During normal conditions, reduced energy consumption plus energy production means shelter from the burden of utility costs. Surplus production can power electric cars & appliances. The home exceeds snow & wind structural requirements, plus far surpasses standard construction for long term durability planning. ARCHITECT: ZeroEnergy Design http://zeroenergy.com/lincoln-farmhouse CONTRACTOR: Thoughtforms http://thoughtforms-corp.com/ PHOTOGRAPHER: Chuck Choi http://www.chuckchoi.com/

Foyer in a Naples FL home featuring chinese ginger jar pottery, coral, and painted floral and bird panels. Project featured in House Beautiful & Florida Design. Interior Design & Styling by Summer Thornton. Images by Brantley Photography. Brantley Photography

For this area of the kitchen we created a storage solution for the family pet's food. The newly positioned desk allows for her dog to sit with her as she works. Additional storage solutions include a file cabinet.

Photo: Adrienne DeRosa © 2015 Houzz A vintage Raymond Loewy credenza provides stylish concealed storage in the den, while bright period signage lends the space its industrial edge. The flooring is one of the few features remaining from the building's previous life as a tile showroom. "Some of the tile displays were applied right onto the old shop floor," says Will. The couple decided to keep this detail as part of an homage to the building's history.

Photography by Chuck Heiney
Trendy dining room photo in Grand Rapids

Inspiration for an eclectic bedroom remodel in Seattle

John Sinal
Beach style family room photo in Vancouver

A thoughtful collaboration brought this getaway home to realization. It started with our client’s desire to create a special gift to themselves, in the form of a retreat. We worked with a special team of design and construction experts to create a welcoming waterfront cottage to the family and all those who visit. Capturing views of the water, the home is comprised of curated spaces to gather, both inside and out, for our clients and their family and friends to enjoy.

Rikki Snyder © 2014 Houzz
Example of an eclectic living room design in New York

Photo by Sean Litchfield
Inspiration for a transitional dark wood floor living room remodel in Boston with white walls, a standard fireplace and a tile fireplace

Guest Bathroom Three Design: TJ Monahan, ibby/Case Design/Remodeling, Inc. Photo: Angie Seckinger
Bathroom - contemporary bathroom idea in DC Metro

Stacey Zarin Goldberg
Example of a large eclectic open concept light wood floor living room library design in DC Metro with white walls, a standard fireplace, a brick fireplace and no tv

Photo: Kayla Stark © 2017 Houzz
Example of an eclectic living room design in New Orleans

breakfast nook with water, island and mountain views
Farmhouse kitchen photo in Seattle

The Telluride® Luxury Medium Mattress is showcased in a sophisticated modern organic primary suite designed for restorative sleep and elevated living. Featuring a balanced comfort feel, this luxury mattress delivers the ideal combination of pressure relief and supportive alignment, helping couples enjoy personalized comfort without compromising support. The serene space blends rich blue walls, warm walnut furnishings, soft boucle upholstery, and layered neutral textiles to create a calming retreat inspired by boutique hospitality design. Lifestyle elements highlight one partner sleeping comfortably while the other enjoys quiet relaxation, reinforcing the importance of motion-reducing comfort and individualized rest. Crafted for homeowners who view sleep as an essential part of wellness, the Telluride® Luxury Medium combines premium materials, thoughtful craftsmanship, and refined comfort in a bedroom designed to promote deeper sleep and better mornings.

  Free ebook, Creating the Ideal Kitchen. DOWNLOAD NOW   Our clients came to us looking to do some updates to their new condo unit primarily in the kitchen and living room. The couple has a lifelong love of Arts and Crafts and Modernism, and are the co-founders of PrairieMod, an online retailer that offers timeless modern lifestyle through American made, handcrafted, and exclusively designed products. So, having such a design savvy client was super exciting for us, especially since the couple had many unique pieces of pottery and furniture to provide inspiration for the design. The condo is a large, sunny top floor unit, with a large open feel. The existing kitchen was a peninsula which housed the sink, and they wanted to change that out to an island, relocating the new sink there as well. This can sometimes be tricky with all the plumbing for the building potentially running up through one stack. After consulting with our contractor team, it was determined that our plan would likely work and after confirmation at demo, we pushed on. The new kitchen is a simple L-shaped space, featuring several storage devices for trash, trays dividers and roll out shelving. To keep the budget in check, we used semi-custom cabinetry, but added custom details including a shiplap hood with white oak detail that plays off the oak “X” endcaps at the island, as well as some of the couple’s existing white oak furniture. We also mixed metals with gold hardware and plumbing and matte black lighting that plays well with the unique black herringbone backsplash and metal barstools. New weathered oak flooring throughout the unit provides a nice soft backdrop for all the updates. We wanted to take the cabinets to the ceiling to obtain as much storage as possible, but an angled soffit on two of the walls provided a bit of a challenge. We asked our carpenter to field modify a few of the wall cabinets where necessary and now the space is truly custom. Part of the project also included a new fireplace design including a custom mantle that houses a built-in sound bar and a Panasonic Frame TV, that doubles as hanging artwork when not in use. The TV is mounted flush to the wall, and there are different finishes for the frame available. The TV can display works of art or family photos while not in use. We repeated the black herringbone tile for the fireplace surround here and installed bookshelves on either side for storage and media components. Designed by: Susan Klimala, CKD, CBD Photography by: Michael Alan Kaskel For more information on kitchen and bath design ideas go to: www.kitchenstudio-ge.com

Rikki Snyder © 2014 Houzz
Eclectic home design photo in New York