Living Room Chair
Mid-sized eclectic formal and open concept ceramic tile and beige floor living room photo with white walls and a wall-mounted tv

Example of a minimalist kids' room design in Vancouver

As spring inches ever closer we yearn for the garden to come back to life. (Photo by RStarovich)

Inspiration for a modern wine cellar remodel in Las Vegas

This project was do in collaboration with my friends at Sweetwater Collaborative. Sweetwater Collaborative is a non-profit organization that work to educate the public about water wise and regenerative landscape practices. Funded by the City of Santa Barbara as well as several other business and agency Sweetwater Collaborative and I worked to installed this project with the help of volunteers. In a hands-on work shop we explained principles of water wise gardening and demonstrated best practices when installing sustainable landscapes. When the owner of this property decided to build an ADU ( Auxiliary Dwelling Unit) in their back yard they expanded the roof line of their property. In order to be in compliance with new California building the project required that a portion of the rain water coming onto this property must be stored on the property. That is where we came into help. Directing down spouts into basins, or swales in the soil is one of the most efficient and cost-effective way to capture and store rain water on a piece of land. Calculations were done to determine the volume of water coming of the roof line in a given rain event from the ADU. The calculations go: square footage of roofline times .62 times 1, for 1” of rain. That total gives you the amount of water in gallons. Then divide the number in gallons by 7.48 find the cubic feet in that number of gallons. Then a basin with that holding capacity was designed into the landscape. Then the plantings were chosen. In this project we went with an 100% California Native Plant palette. We did this to help educate people about all the benefits of growing natives and to show case some of the beautiful plants native to Southern California. Sothern California is how to some of the greatest biodiversity of plants in the world. Native Plants are best adapted to thrive conditions from which they are natively found plus they help provide forage to the native fauna such as birds and insects. Now the tenants in the ADU can look out and enjoy this colorful garden without the home owners needing to pay a huge water bill.

Ranalla Photography
Home design - rustic home design idea

Inspiration for a craftsman landscaping in Portland.

Jeff Downing
Trendy kitchen photo in Miami with glass countertops

There’s nothing as wonderful as walking into a mid-century gem with clients who love the character of their new home. Our goal for this project was to incorporate the mid-century bones of this home into a new design that would better meet the contemporary needs of our clients. We started by taking down the walls that had separated this kitchen from the rest of the home and creating a welcoming space that blended seamlessly with the new open concept. The new kitchen design was a win for our clients with increased storage, more work surfaces, and a peninsula with plenty of seating. We utilized wood finishes through out this space with light wood flooring, medium-tones on the cabinetry, and darker wood accents throughout giving us a beautiful balance and a calm backdrop. This home had beautiful horizontal lines that we wanted to accentuate, so we selected a dark wood finish for the central beam and tied it in with the dark finish on the wood fireplace mantel and the stair handrail to emphasize the horizontal features. But we never miss an opportunity for a fun mid-century pop, and this home provided plenty of inspiration! The boomerang hardware on the cabinets and escher backsplash tiles give us great geometric elements to break up the clean lines of the rest of the space. One of our favorite features of this home was the original plaster ceilings with the custom hand troweled texture. We knew from the beginning that this was an element we wanted to maintain and accentuate, so when we opened up the kitchen and added recessed lighting we reached out to a local plaster artisan to carry the texture throughout the space, and we couldn’t be happier with the results. This design brings together the mid-century aesthetics of clean lines and fun patterns with the modern-day functionality our clients were looking for in their new kitchen.

Contractor: Curry Construction 415 898 2243 curryconstruction@comcast.net Eric Hertz
Inspiration for a contemporary home design remodel in San Francisco

Distressed, reclaimed, and painted wood fence on horizontal. Contemporary privacy screen with Milk Weed plantings for Monarch Butterfly. Photo by Katrina Coombs

Inspiration for an asian yellow three-story wood gable roof remodel in Boston with a shingle roof

Example of a minimalist kitchen design in San Francisco