High Volume - Photos & Ideas

The family room was conceived as a double-height architectural volume anchored by a monolithic stone fireplace and integrated millwork niches. Ceiling pitch, vertical planes, and material transitions were addressed during the design selection phase to ensure the scale of the architecture remained balanced once furnished. Soft, low-profile seating was selected to maintain clear sightlines across the room while allowing the fireplace surround and wood-lined alcoves to remain the primary focal elements. The furniture plan creates a structured conversational arrangement without interrupting circulation or visual flow. Textural layering — woven upholstery, stone, wood paneling, and subtle metal accents — reinforces warmth within the height and openness of the space. The result is a family room that reads as composed architecture first, furnishing second: grounded, scaled, and designed to support both gathering and daily use without visual noise.

House By The Sea

Maugel DeStefano Architects

High on the cliffs overlooking the sea, this residence exudes a sense of place—seemingly originating from the ledge that supports it. Jutting forms and crashing volumes are reminiscent of the relationship between the land and the sea. An irregular footprint radiates from the entry tower. Strictly following the client's wish for minimal use of structure and maximum use of glass, the walls rise up on ball bearings and effortlessly roll away. The second and third stories of the tower feature the master bath suite. With a glass-enclosed shower on an outside wall, the openness continues. The jacuzzi tub offers a 360-degree vista of the five lighthouses adorning the coast from Maine to Cape Ann. Photos: Michael Penney

Central Park Apartment

Neumann & Rudy Architecture

This is a quintessentially urban prewar-into-modern hybrid: a broad, laterally organized reception room whose principal architectural gesture is the corner glazing that dissolves two walls into a panoramic register of treetops and distant skyline. The plan reads as a series of soft, overlapping conversational precincts rather than a single axial arrangement — a pair of swivel-capable lounge chairs anchoring the window wall, a facing pair of high-backed tub chairs, and a deep tuxedo-profile sofa closing the composition toward the viewer — all orbiting an organically contoured cocktail table that performs as the room's centrifugal keystone. The ceiling is treated with a recessed reveal and shallow soffit that traces the perimeter, a device that both conceals drapery hardware and lifts the plane visually, granting the low-slung modern floor plate an unexpected sense of loft. A blade wall carrying a single framed canvas performs critical spatial work, terminating the living volume while permitting an enfilade sightline through to a secondary dining zone beyond, where a glazed wall of ivy-clad courtyard reads as a green tapestry. The geometry throughout is deliberately curvilinear — barrel-backed seating, amoeboid tabletops, splayed tapered legs — set against the orthogonal discipline of window mullions, drapery pleats, and rectilinear millwork, producing a productive tension between architectural rigor and furnishings that behave sculpturally. **II. Materiality, Color & Texture** The palette is a study in tonal restraint calibrated for maximum textural incident. Walls are finished in a matte, faintly striated plaster or grasscloth with a warm ecru undertone that absorbs rather than reflects light, establishing a neutral field against which every surface differential registers. Seating is upholstered in a lustrous chenille or crushed velvet of pale greige, whose short pile catches raking daylight and reads almost pearlescent, while the foreground sofa introduces a coarser boucle in an oatmeal register and the opposing sofa shifts decisively into a saturated tobacco-and-umber channel-tufted chenille, its French-polished rosewood or macassar ebony frame supplying the room's darkest, most reflective note. Stone is deployed with connoisseurial precision: the cocktail tables are honed alabaster or backlit-quality onyx, their translucent creamy strata and honey veining offering a warm mineral counterpoint to the cool, ink-washed abstraction of the hand-knotted area rug, which functions as a painterly ground — a gestural silver-and-charcoal wash pooling beneath the furniture. Bronze, patinated brass, and stainless accents appear in table bases, the vessel-form vase, and the sconce, providing metallic punctuation without gleam. Drapery in a heavy sand-toned linen, edged in a beaded or embroidered tape, softens the glazing perimeter and reinforces the room's tactile vocabulary of nap, weave, slub, and polish. **III. Lighting, Atmosphere & Style Profile** Natural light is the dominant luminous strategy: the corner glazing admits a soft, diffuse northern wash under overcast conditions, which the designer has intelligently accepted rather than resisted — the flat, shadowless quality flatters the velvet piles and plaster walls, and the drapery is stacked to admit maximum daylight while modulating glare at the jambs. Artificial sources are almost entirely concealed or decorative: a slim architectural sconce on the blade wall, a sculptural biomorphic table lamp in white lacquer or ceramic in the dining zone, and an extraordinary petal-form pendant in patinated metal that reads as an art object first and a fixture second. The resulting atmosphere is hushed, cerebral, and quietly patrician — a room of low chroma and high material intelligence, where drama is supplied by silhouette and surface rather than by color or ornament. Stylistically, the project synthesizes into what might best be termed **Modernist Salon** or **Warm Continental Minimalism**: the DNA of mid-century French decorative arts — Royère, Frank, Adnet — filtered through a contemporary sensibility of tonal layering and soft geometry, with an Art Deco undertow in the ebonized woods and channel tufting. It is a scheme of curatorial discipline: nothing is decorative for its own sake, the view is treated as the primary artwork, and every material is selected for how it behaves in light.

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The goal in this renovation was to provide open living, dining and kitchen spaces with an abundance of light and air. The cathedral ceilings and wood beams really add volume and drama to the space.

Williamsburg Custom Curved Staircase

European Cabinets & Design Studios

Swedish design firm Cortina & Käll were tasked with connecting a new 1,400-square-foot apartment to an existing 3,000-square-foot apartment in a New York City high-rise. Their goal was to give the apartment a scale and flow benefitting its new larger size. “We envisioned a light and sculptural spiral staircase at the center of it all. The staircase and its opening allowed us to achieve the desired transparency and volume, creating a dramatically new and generous apartment,” said Francisco Cortina. Read more about this project on our blog: https://www.europeancabinets.com/news/cast-curved-staircase-nyc-cortina-kall/ Photo: Tim Williams Photography

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Columbus, OH

Bella Casa LLC17 Reviews

The Leading Interior Design Studio in Franklin County

Pondosa Avenue, San Gabriel

K & S Design Build Inc

We recently completed a custom 900 sq. ft. ADU in San Gabriel for a young family seeking to maximize the potential of their property with a smart, functional living space. Designed from the ground up, this unit features three bedrooms, 2 full bathrooms, a bright and open-concept kitchen and living room, and a dedicated laundry area, all thoughtfully laid out to maximize the compact footprint. Every inch of the space was carefully considered for modern family living. Large windows and vaulted ceilings were incorporated to enhance volume and natural light, while finishes were selected for both durability and style. The kitchen features clean lines and ample storage, creating a practical hub for day-to-day life. Throughout the ADU, we focused on high-function design that feels spacious, comfortable, and move-in ready. This project reflects our commitment to delivering high-quality builds that meet the needs of growing families while adding long-term value to the property. We’re proud to have partnered with our clients to bring their vision to life.

Robern UC36276RPTE4N Cabinet, Uplift, 36IN, NL & DEFOG, TUN

Focal Point Hardware

This Robern Item Features: Finish: TUN Technology Innovative door lifts straight up and holds in position A lighted option, which features a perimeter border of light projecting high-efficiency illumination The handle design features curved edges for a sleek shape - available in matte gold, matte black, chrome, and polished nickel Two USB ports, seamless interior illumination, fine-tuned defogging, several electrical outlets, and a programmable night light integrated into the handle’s design TUN Technology lets you fine-tune the color temperature to groom for where you’re going, whether it’s a candlelit dinner or a bright office space Length: 42" Width: 24" Height: 33" Volume: 19.25 Gross Weight: 98 lbs Net Weight: 98 lbs The image is for sample purposes only and all orders are placed via model number.

Pac Heights refined continuity: BRIDGING CLASSIC ARCHITECTURE & MODERN LIVING

EAG Studio

Refined Continuity: Bridging Classical Architecture and Modern Living This comprehensive remodel of a grand Cow Hollow residence reimagines a historically expressive envelope through a lens of contemporary livability, precision detailing, and material restraint. The design approach carefully balances the home’s classical proportions and ornamental heritage with a refined, modern sensibility—evident in the disciplined palette of warm neutrals, soft plasters, pale oak flooring, and tailored millwork. Circulation has been clarified and subtly expanded to enhance spatial flow, while openings are leveraged to capture light, garden outlooks, and distant water views. Throughout, architectural interventions are executed with a high level of craft, ensuring that new insertions—whether cabinetry, railings, or apertures—read as seamless continuations of the original structure rather than applied elements. The kitchen serves as the operational and visual anchor of the home, conceived as a sculptural yet highly functional environment. Custom rift-cut cabinetry, softened through a desaturated finish, is paired with honed stone surfaces and integrated brass hardware to create a quiet, tactile richness. A monolithic island establishes a central gathering point, while perimeter work zones are carefully layered with concealed storage, integrated appliances, and open, backlit shelving that elevates everyday objects into curated displays. The adjacent bar and entertaining areas extend this language, reinforcing a cohesive hospitality-driven program. In parallel, the primary bathroom is designed as a serene, spa-like retreat, where bookmatched stone, frameless glass enclosures, and finely detailed metalwork converge. The composition prioritizes symmetry, clarity, and light—balancing generous volumes with intimate moments through integrated lighting, custom vanities, and a restrained material hierarchy. The library and ancillary living spaces introduce a more intimate scale, anchored by bespoke built-ins that combine closed storage with illuminated display niches, creating depth and rhythm along the walls. Here, material transitions and furniture integration are handled with particular nuance, allowing the architecture to support both quiet retreat and social gathering. A continuous language of custom railings—executed in refined metal profiles—threads through the interior and extends outward, where the exterior gate and garden elements have been reinterpreted to align with the home’s renewed identity. The entry sequence is now defined by a calibrated interplay of solidity and transparency, with sculptural metalwork and landscape integration establishing a sense of arrival that is both secure and elegant. Collectively, the project reflects a holistic transformation—one that elevates performance, livability, and aesthetic clarity while preserving the inherent dignity of the original architecture.

Central Park Apartment

Neumann & Rudy Architecture

**Spatial Composition & Architectural Volume** The kitchen is organized as a tightly disciplined L-configuration, with a perimeter run terminating against a full-height flanking volume of pale oak that functions less as cabinetry than as a piece of architecture — a plinth-like wall plane that crops the composition and establishes a deliberate foreground register. The photograph is constructed around this layered depth: a near-field vertical panel in figured, high-gloss timber, a middle ground of stone counter and backsplash, and a partial view of the island's marble slab entering from the right, its mitred waterfall edge implying a broader room beyond the frame. Overhead, a recessed coffer with a slender illuminated reveal introduces a subtractive geometry that lightens the ceiling plane and visually widens the volume, while a bronze-toned reveal band above the upper cabinetry acts as a horizontal datum, resolving the tall casework into a controlled cornice line. The millwork is resolutely frameless and handleless — grain-matched, push-latch or channel-pull, with a single elongated vertical bar as the sole legible hardware gesture — producing an unbroken rhythm of vertical joints that reads as continuous paneling rather than a sequence of doors. Sightlines are horizontal and calm, with the sink and cooktop absorbed into the counter plane so that no appliance disrupts the elevation's monolithic character. **Materiality, Color & Texture** The palette is a study in tonal wood contrast: a light, straight-grained rift-cut white oak with cool, slightly greyed undertones on the flanking wall and upper wall plane, set against a deeply fumed or shou-sugi-ban-inflected timber — likely charred cedar or ebonized ash — whose cathedral figuring erupts across the cabinet fronts in swirling, almost calligraphic pattern. The dark casework carries a lacquered or oiled sheen high enough to register soft specular reflection, an unexpected gloss that animates the grain and prevents the mass from reading as flat or inert. Countertops and the full-height backsplash are executed in a pale calcite or quartzite with a scratched, hairline-veined surface and a warm ivory-to-buff cast, honed rather than polished so that light diffuses rather than bounces. Metals are exclusively unlacquered brass in varying states of patina — the gooseneck faucet, cross-handle valves and pot-filler read as aged, almost archaeological, their warm amber oxidation echoed by the burnished spun-brass pendant. Accessory objects sustain the discipline: a dark turned-wood fruit bowl with citrus supplying the only chromatic accent, matte stoneware mugs in a two-tone glaze, and a raw olivewood board with sage — organic, low-saturation, tactile counterpoints to the machined precision of the joinery. **Lighting, Atmosphere & Style Profile** Illumination is almost entirely architectural and indirect. A concealed linear source beneath the upper cabinets grazes the stone backsplash, throwing a soft luminous gradient that dissolves upward and makes the slab appear internally lit — the room's principal light event and its emotional center. This is reinforced by the ceiling's perimeter reveal, which washes the plane without visible fixtures, and by the alabaster-diffused brass pendant, whose disc of translucent stone glows with a low-kelvin warmth entirely consonant with the metalwork below. Daylight appears to enter obliquely from beyond the frame, modelling the oak wall in a gentle falloff; the overall exposure is low-key and chiaroscuro-adjacent, with deep, velvety shadow permitted in the lower casework. The resulting atmosphere is hushed, cellar-cool yet materially warm — contemplative rather than performative. Stylistically, the project synthesizes into a refined **warm minimalism with distinct Japandi inheritance**: the reductive planarity and joint discipline of European modernist cabinetry married to a Japanese sensibility for charred timber, grain expression, and the elevation of patina and imperfection. It is a kitchen conceived as a quiet interior landscape — appliance-suppressed, ornament-free, and dependent for its richness entirely on the intrinsic character of its materials.