Herringbone patterned clay pavers by FireRock
Example of a trendy patio design in Birmingham

Inspiration for a large transitional u-shaped dark wood floor kitchen pantry remodel in Orange County with recessed-panel cabinets, white cabinets and solid surface countertops

Smart Storage - Small Bathroom renovation done by North Country Design & Build Inc. - Jen Schwindt
Inspiration for a contemporary bathroom remodel in Toronto

Example of a trendy hallway design in Orange County

The purpose of this room is for adult lounging, relaxing and enjoying music and beverages. Our client wanted a unique abstract style canvas to be the focal point of this room. We were happy to complete this stunning abstract wall finish. Copyright © 2016 The Artists Hands

Light filled coastal living and dining rooms in blue, white, and coral color palette. Stephanie London Photography
Living room - mid-sized transitional open concept medium tone wood floor living room idea in Baltimore with gray walls, no fireplace and no tv

Inspiration for a large rustic wooden l-shaped open staircase remodel in Denver

This ski-in, ski-out condo features a strong Arts and Crafts influence. The interiors feature reclaimed oak floors, mortise-and-tenon carpentry, stone, and custom period details.

Inspiration for a tropical bathroom remodel in Portland Maine

Abby Caroline Photography
Example of a transitional home design design in Atlanta

Master Closet (Contemporary design) in River Rock material.
Inspiration for a timeless closet remodel in Chicago

Eric Roth Photography
Example of a minimalist kitchen design in Boston

Timber frame homes offer unique challenges during a remodel. What often makes them beautiful and attractive to most homeowners, also makes them challenging for space requirements. Context: The lovely couple that owned this home were struggling with some interesting floor plan challenges that just didn't work for their family. The loved the beautiful timbers and woodwork of their home, but the dramatically sloping ceilings on the second floor, particularly in the bathroom, just didn't work for this 1 1/2 bath home. Needing to use the skylight to approach the toilet was a less then ideal scenario. Although the bathroom footprint was more then adequate, the sloped ceiling only made half of the space useable. Check out the Before/After post on our blog to see the photos of the house pre-renovation. As much as they loved all the wood features in their home, another challenge they had was light. The wood ceiling made everything inside the house darker, even with a fantastic array of south facing windows, there were spaces in the home that felt dark and small. When they contacted us they wanted to know how could they make their brighter and more inviting, were there solutions to the 2nd floor sloped ceiling issues, and if they were going to do all of this work, how could they make their home more comfortable and efficient. A nagging water leak in the upstairs bathroom spurred them into action and here is how we solved their dilemma. Conclusion: First, we added a little dormer to the rear of the house so we could get full headroom in nearly all of the upstairs bathroom! Then we decided to extend that dormer one more timber bay over to create a walk in closet with natural light and plenty of space. Since we were contemplating energy efficiency, we resolved a nagging issue that is present in a lot of timber frame construction, air tightness. Commonly found in timber frame construction, fiberglass insulation is installed in the rafter bays and board ceilings are installed over top. Unfortunately, board ceilings are anything but air tight, and fiberglass insulation needs to be in an airtight cavity for maximum effectiveness. So we were able to solve two issues at the same time for this homeowner. We removed the board ceiling and fiberglass insulation, we dense packed the rafter bays with cellulose insulation, and installed sheetrock in place of the boards. The boards were salvaged for re-use by the homeowner, and the space and light quality was dramatically improved. Some may think that losing the board ceiling took something away from the space, but what you'll see in the pictures is that it highly accentuates the heavy timbers and really makes them stand out in a beautiful way. Now with this added airtightness, better insulation, and brighter space, the homeowner hardly runs their wood stove, and it's so quiet in the space, an added bonus from changing the insulation. It became necessary to also add a sheetrock ceiling to the living room to hide the plumbing from the new bathroom layout above. Changing this ceiling gave the homeowner some real quality lighting that was lacking in the living room before. The brighter ceiling and new lighting layout completely transforms the living room into a space you want to hang out, even though the layout didn't change at all. When the homeowner saw the finished spaces she said "I can't believe this is my house, I want to live in this house" Energy Efficiency: I touched a little on the efficiency above, but like all projects done with Mottram Architecture, we always want to leave you with a little extra. Timber frame construction with board ceilings and fiberglass insulation are notoriously leaky! If you want to know what we think about fiberglass insulation, check our our blog post on Why Fiberglass Insulation Sucks. By installing cellulose insulation and covering it with sheetrock we were able to greatly reduce the heat flowing out of this home. It not only improves cashflow it improves the comfort level in the space. Who wants to sit in their living room and feel a draft? Let us remind you, we are not saying cellulose insulation is an air barrier, we use the sheetrock to help with that, but it does significantly reduce the air flow over fiberglass insulation. And when we reduce the airflow, we reduce the heat flow. And when we reduce the heat flow, we reduce the need to re-heat that drafty air from outside. When it comes to energy efficiency the first and best place to start is air infiltration. We greatly reduced the air infiltration with the new insulation, but we also added a hat and warm boots. What I mean by that is, we improved the insulation in the roof, and we installed insulation in the basement. Maybe it's a silly analogy, but when you think about keeping warm, we always start with the hat and boots! With sustainability in mind, the next project will be to add a deck to the front of this house with rain catchment barrels from the metal roof. They are planning to plant a garden in the spring and the rain catchment system will help to irrigate the new garden. Builder: East Shore Builders Photographer: Michael Eric Berube

Milicent Harvey
Freestanding bathtub - contemporary master black floor and slate floor freestanding bathtub idea in Boston with a hinged shower door, flat-panel cabinets, a wall-mount toilet, an integrated sink and solid surface countertops

Duett Design LLC
Inspiration for a contemporary kids' room remodel in Atlanta

A beautiful hand loomed pure wool carpeting was used on this project. This subtle pattern can be used in a modern or transitional space. The dark hardwood floor relates nicely with the Taupe, White and Grey colors in the carpet. Our fabrication team used a complimentary color in a cotton binding material to complete the sides. Our installer completed this staircase install within a two day time frame. Wool carpet is a great choice for a staircase because it is an easy material to clean, stain resistant and flame retardant.

Craftsman Corners fit well with Pac Trim's Pioneer Series PIO190
Entryway - entryway idea in Sacramento

CDH Designs 15 East 4th St Emporium, PA 15834
Eat-in kitchen - mid-sized transitional porcelain tile eat-in kitchen idea in Philadelphia with shaker cabinets, granite countertops, gray backsplash, porcelain backsplash, stainless steel appliances, a double-bowl sink, white cabinets and an island

Rick Hernandez
Transitional basement photo in Atlanta