Michael J. Lee
Inspiration for a transitional living room library remodel in Boston with beige walls

Cathy and Wayne walked the land. They identified the sweet spot for the house. They planned the locations for utility hookups, septic system, chicken coop, and dog kennels. They talked about how they wanted drainage to work. The property is a designated wildlife sanctuary, and Cathy wanted to make sure rainwater runoff was directed to her future garden and to the pond at the back of the property.

We used a gorgeous calcutta marble slab for the center island, with white cabinets for a crisp, clean and simple look.
Example of a mid-sized beach style u-shaped dark wood floor and brown floor eat-in kitchen design in New York with a farmhouse sink, recessed-panel cabinets, white cabinets, marble countertops, white backsplash, ceramic backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and white countertops

Inspiration for a country home design remodel in Boston

Bliss Garden Design
Photo of a contemporary landscaping in Seattle.

The homeowners wanted a contemporary space with an Asian vibe. The wall to wall, floor to ceiling windows is diffused with sheers to allow natural daylight to penetrate the space. Photo credit: Elliott Schofield

Photography by Erin Little Photo
Example of a transitional kitchen design in Portland Maine

This award-winning guest bedroom project tells the story of Pennsylvania's role in the Revolutionary War. The quilted bedspread is in a Thibaut fabric, and has a reverse sham, sometimes called a French flap. Banding at the hem of the custom quilted bedspread, and on the leading edge of the draperies were inspired by the leather collar of the portrait opposite. A contrast welting defines the edge of the mattress and of the reverse sham. Two naval battles with a Pennsylvania connection were custom framed, and are shown to the right of the window, while an engraving of William Penn signing a treaty with the Indians, from the Anderson House museum collection, is above the bed. An embroidered pillow shows the seal of the Society of the Cincinnati. The small tables used as nightstands are from Maitland Smith, while the headboard and bed frame were found in a Pennsylvania antique store. The new wall color adds warmth and contrast to the linen white trim color. Bob Narod, Photographer, LLC

McKeesport Downtown Housing, formerly a YMCA, is an 84-unit SRO for people at risk of homelessness. The old brick and terracotta building was important historically for McKeesport. The decision to design the project to Passive House criteria actually went a long way to making the pro-forma work. This project was the first large scale retrofit to be designed to meet Passive House Standards in the US. Another major concern of the project team was to maintain the historic charm of the building. Space was at a premium and a reorganization of space allowed for making larger resident rooms. Through a community process with various stakeholders, amenities were identified and added to the project, including a community room, a bike storage area, exterior smoking balconies, single-user rest rooms, a bed bug room for non-toxic treatment of bed bugs, and communal kitchens to provide healthy options for food. The renovation includes new additional lighting, air-conditioning, make-up air and ventilation systems, an elevator, and cooking facilities. A cold-weather shelter, 60-day emergency housing, bridge housing, and section 8 apartment rentals make up the housing programs within the shelter. Thoughtful Balance designed the interiors, and selected the furniture for durability and resistance to bed bugs. The project team worked closely with Zola Windows to specify a unique uPVC window that not only offers passive house performance levels at an affordable cost, but also harmonizes with the building’s historic aesthetic. Zola’s American Heritage SDH (simulated double hung) from the popular, budget-friendly Thermo uPVC line was specified for the project. The windows implemented in this project feature a lower tilt & turn window and a fixed upper for maximum airtightness and thermal performance. The implementation of these windows helped the project team achieve a very significant energy consumption reduction of at least 75%. Photographer: Alexander Denmarsh

A zen like outdoor garden was placed outside the master bedroom for a quiet parental moment. ©Daniel Bosler Photography
Photo of a mid-sized contemporary drought-tolerant and full sun front yard gravel garden path in Los Angeles.

This adaptive reuse project brought new life to an old carriage house in one of Philadelphia’s most historic neighborhoods. After serving a multitude of functions over the years, Philadelphia’s Historic commission was brought in to help identify original details and colors that brought the building back to its original beauty.

This classic dining room features blue gray paint with white wainscoting. The strong dark furniture contrasts well to make the furniture stand out. The two leather dining chairs work very nicely with the soft upholstered back dining chairs. Photographer: Leslie Farinacci

Mid-sized mountain style l-shaped medium tone wood floor kitchen photo in Charleston with an undermount sink, flat-panel cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets, stainless steel appliances and an island

Project professionals include A2 Architect, Belida Associates, Inc., Elephants Custom Furniture, Inc., Kitchen Solutions.
Example of a trendy open concept kitchen design in New York with shaker cabinets, white cabinets, white backsplash, subway tile backsplash and stainless steel appliances

McKeesport Downtown Housing, formerly a YMCA, is an 84-unit SRO for people at risk of homelessness. The old brick and terracotta building was important historically for McKeesport. The decision to design the project to Passive House criteria actually went a long way to making the pro-forma work. This project was the first large scale retrofit to be designed to meet Passive House Standards in the US. Another major concern of the project team was to maintain the historic charm of the building. Space was at a premium and a reorganization of space allowed for making larger resident rooms. Through a community process with various stakeholders, amenities were identified and added to the project, including a community room, a bike storage area, exterior smoking balconies, single-user rest rooms, a bed bug room for non-toxic treatment of bed bugs, and communal kitchens to provide healthy options for food. The renovation includes new additional lighting, air-conditioning, make-up air and ventilation systems, an elevator, and cooking facilities. A cold-weather shelter, 60-day emergency housing, bridge housing, and section 8 apartment rentals make up the housing programs within the shelter. Thoughtful Balance designed the interiors, and selected the furniture for durability and resistance to bed bugs. The project team worked closely with Zola Windows to specify a unique uPVC window that not only offers passive house performance levels at an affordable cost, but also harmonizes with the building’s historic aesthetic. Zola’s American Heritage SDH (simulated double hung) from the popular, budget-friendly Thermo uPVC line was specified for the project. The windows implemented in this project feature a lower tilt & turn window and a fixed upper for maximum airtightness and thermal performance. The implementation of these windows helped the project team achieve a very significant energy consumption reduction of at least 75%. Photographer: Alexander Denmarsh

This adaptive reuse project brought new life to an old carriage house in one of Philadelphia’s most historic neighborhoods. After serving a multitude of functions over the years, Philadelphia’s Historic commission was brought in to help identify original details and colors that brought the building back to its original beauty.

Inspiration for a large transitional u-shaped dark wood floor and brown floor enclosed kitchen remodel in San Francisco with an undermount sink, recessed-panel cabinets, white cabinets, granite countertops, white backsplash, stone tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances and an island

In 17th century Isaac Newton identified the colors (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet) that make up the visible spectrum. And as his discovery at a time shocked the world and became a first step for a new era of discoveries and world evolution, we believe that the new Electric collection, creation of which is based on a solid theory of photon spectrum and physical characteristics of 4 speeds of rays which travel between Gamma as form of nuclear and cosmic radiation to infrared rays, a result of movement of lower-energy photons, will become a breakthrough of contemporary interior design. This collection reflects a principally new approach to perception of rug in interior making it an art object at the first place. Nevertheless, very important value that remains untouched whatever we do and however futuristic our works are is extreme care about ecologic background and sustainability of our product. Through all the history of Atelier Tapis Rouge each of our rugs has been manually drawn by the team of our designers and afterwards tinted and knotted by hands of best Nepalese craftsmen, who carefully maintain tradition of rug knotting throughout the centuries. The world has gone through a very hard time during last 2 years and perception of things, behavior, philosophic approach of people has changed drastically. We all need a recharge of energy and inspiration to restart our live paths in a new reality and there is no better place where we get energetic feed as home and family. Therefore, having created Electtrico we meant to boost the homes with warm solar energy – eternal source of life and continuity and we believe that it is a good start for new conquests. Designed by Natalia Enze