Example of a mountain style staircase design in Calgary

THE SETUP Client Background: Our clients, a couple who have transitioned into the empty nest phase, have cherished their home for over three decades without undergoing any significant renovations. With a newfound desire to adapt their living space to better suit their current lifestyle, they’ve embarked on a journey to reimagine their kitchen — the heart of their home. Their aspiration is to cultivate a serene, neutral-toned sanctuary on the first floor that seamlessly merges with their family room, ensuring a harmonious and inviting environment. Design Inspiration: The renovation is inspired by the couple’s penchant for soft, calming neutrals, using their cherished family room and the kitchen’s existing tile flooring as the cornerstone for the color scheme. This approach aims to foster a sense of warmth and tranquility throughout. Design Objectives: Harmonize the kitchen with the family room by adopting a soothing, neutral color scheme, ensuring a seamless flow across the first floor. Enhance kitchen functionality with thoughtfully designed cabinetry, providing a designated place for every item and maximizing storage efficiency. Cultivate an inviting and comfortable atmosphere that reflects the homeowners’ desire for a calm and relaxing space. Design Challenges: The homeowners wish to retain the existing kitchen tile flooring and integrate it into a refreshed, modern design. Accommodating a dining area spacious enough for family visits without compromising the kitchen’s open feel or functional layout. Despite liking the current placement of plumbing and appliances, the homeowners aspire for a more open floor plan to facilitate better movement and interaction. The need to amplify natural light in the kitchen, especially around the sink area, where existing lighting is insufficient. Preserving the half-wall between the kitchen and family room, a feature the homeowners want to keep, while ensuring it complements the new design. THE RENEWED SPACE Design Solutions: By choosing a neutral color palette that complements the existing tile, the design unifies the kitchen with the adjacent spaces. The tile’s grout was cleaned and restored, enhancing the floor’s appearance and integrating it seamlessly with the new kitchen aesthetic. The inclusion of a larger island with seating for two, alongside maintaining a substantial dining table, was achieved by optimizing the spatial layout. This allowed for a sociable yet functional kitchen, accommodating large family gatherings without feeling crowded. Minor adjustments to the kitchen’s layout maintained the preferred locations for plumbing and appliances while introducing an ‘open’ design concept. Strategic modifications, such as angling the pantry wall, improved the flow and accessibility within the space. Replacing the garden window with a broader, standard window significantly increased natural light, transforming the sink area into a bright, welcoming space with enhanced views of the outdoors. The decision to keep the half-wall was ingeniously leveraged to define the dining area while maintaining an open connection to the family room. This feature not only serves as a visual separator but also ties the two spaces together through the shared color scheme and design elements. The homeowners are thrilled with their newly remodeled kitchen, which has become a hub of warmth and hospitality. Hosting a wedding shower and a birthday party, they have shared their renewed space with friends and family, who have been equally enamored. This remodel has not only met their functional and aesthetic desires but has also enriched their home with a fresh sense of serenity and joy. The upstairs part of the home is shaping up nicely. Here’s their newly remodeled primary bathroom.

The clean, calm, restful interiors of this heart-of-the-city home are an antidote to urban living, and busy professional lives. As well, they’re an ode to enduring style that will accommodate the changing needs of the young family who lives here. Photos by June Suthigoseeya

Reminiscent of a villa in south of France, this Old World yet still sophisticated home are what the client had dreamed of. The home was newly built to the client’s specifications. The wood tone kitchen cabinets are made of butternut wood, instantly warming the atmosphere. The perimeter and island cabinets are painted and captivating against the limestone counter tops. A custom steel hammered hood and Apex wood flooring (Downers Grove, IL) bring this room to an artful balance. Project specs: Sub Zero integrated refrigerator and Wolf 36” range Interior Design by Tony Stavish, A.W. Stavish Designs Craig Dugan - Photographer

A modern Style interior, this condo is an old condo project in the heart of Pattaya. The old condos, have low ceilings, and small bathroom, which must be fixed :) We increased the bathroom size and lift up the ceiling, the project got a new kitchen, new bathroom, and a modern style living area.

A modern Style interior, this condo is an old condo project in the heart of Pattaya. The old condos, have low ceilings, and small bathroom, which must be fixed :) We increased the bathroom size and lift up the ceiling, the project got a new kitchen, new bathroom, and a modern style living area.

Klopf Architecture, Outer Space Landscape Architects, Sezen & Moon Structural Engineer and Flegels Construction updated a classic Eichler open, indoor-outdoor home. Everyone loved the classic, original bones of this house, but it was in need of a major facelift both inside and out. The owners also wanted to remove the barriers between the kitchen and great room, and increase the size of the master bathroom as well as make other layout changes. No addition to the house was contemplated. The owners worked with Klopf Architecture in part because of Klopf’s extensive mid-century modern / Eichler design portfolio, and in part because one of their neighbors who had worked with Klopf on their Eichler home remodel referred them. The Klopf team knew how to update the worn finishes to make a more sophisticated, higher quality home that both looks better and functions better. In conjunction with the atrium and the landscaped rear yard / patio, the glassy living room feels open on both sides and allows an indoor / outdoor flow throughout. The new, natural wood exterior siding runs through the house from inside to outside to inside again, updating one of the classic design features of the Eichler homes. Picking up on the wood siding, walnut vanities and cabinets offset the white walls. Gray porcelain tiles evoke the concrete slab floors and flow from interior to exterior to make the spaces appear to flow together. Similarly the ceiling decking has the same white-washed finish from inside to out. The continuity of materials and space enhances the sense of flow. The large kitchen, perfect for entertaining, has a wall of built-ins and an oversized island. There’s plenty of storage and space for the whole group to prep and cook together. One unique approach to the master bedroom is the bed wall. The head of the bed is tucked within a line of built-in wardrobes with a high window above. Replacing the master closet with this wall of wardrobes allowed for both a larger bathroom and a larger bedroom. This 1,953 square foot, 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom Double Gable Eichler remodeled single-family house is located in Mountain View in the heart of the Silicon Valley. Klopf Architecture Project Team: John Klopf, AIA, Klara Kevane, and Yegvenia Torres-Zavala Landscape Architect: Outer Space Landscape Architects Structural Engineer: Sezen & Moon Contractor: Flegels Construction Landscape Contractor: Roco's Gardening & Arroyo Vista Landscaping, Inc. Photography ©2016 Mariko Reed Location: Mountain View, CA Year completed: 2015

Gillian Jackson
Example of a trendy stone slab freestanding bathtub design in Toronto

Klopf Architecture, Outer Space Landscape Architects, Sezen & Moon Structural Engineer and Flegels Construction updated a classic Eichler open, indoor-outdoor home. Everyone loved the classic, original bones of this house, but it was in need of a major facelift both inside and out. The owners also wanted to remove the barriers between the kitchen and great room, and increase the size of the master bathroom as well as make other layout changes. No addition to the house was contemplated. The owners worked with Klopf Architecture in part because of Klopf’s extensive mid-century modern / Eichler design portfolio, and in part because one of their neighbors who had worked with Klopf on their Eichler home remodel referred them. The Klopf team knew how to update the worn finishes to make a more sophisticated, higher quality home that both looks better and functions better. In conjunction with the atrium and the landscaped rear yard / patio, the glassy living room feels open on both sides and allows an indoor / outdoor flow throughout. The new, natural wood exterior siding runs through the house from inside to outside to inside again, updating one of the classic design features of the Eichler homes. Picking up on the wood siding, walnut vanities and cabinets offset the white walls. Gray porcelain tiles evoke the concrete slab floors and flow from interior to exterior to make the spaces appear to flow together. Similarly the ceiling decking has the same white-washed finish from inside to out. The continuity of materials and space enhances the sense of flow. The large kitchen, perfect for entertaining, has a wall of built-ins and an oversized island. There’s plenty of storage and space for the whole group to prep and cook together. One unique approach to the master bedroom is the bed wall. The head of the bed is tucked within a line of built-in wardrobes with a high window above. Replacing the master closet with this wall of wardrobes allowed for both a larger bathroom and a larger bedroom. This 1,953 square foot, 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom Double Gable Eichler remodeled single-family house is located in Mountain View in the heart of the Silicon Valley. Klopf Architecture Project Team: John Klopf, AIA, Klara Kevane, and Yegvenia Torres-Zavala Landscape Architect: Outer Space Landscape Architects Structural Engineer: Sezen & Moon Contractor: Flegels Construction Landscape Contractor: Roco's Gardening & Arroyo Vista Landscaping, Inc. Photography ©2016 Mariko Reed Location: Mountain View, CA Year completed: 2015

Refinished heart-pine floors, coffered beams, and a new iron stair guard keep sight lines open between spaces. New opening to basement level was created and walls removed to increase the connection to the basement level from the main level. A blend of vintage lighting with modern fixtures from Visual Comfort.

An All Heart Redwood bulk custom wine rack can be seen here. It is of the diamond bin variety, and stores wine bottles one on top of the other in a space-efficient fashion. A bulk wine rack such as this can increase your cellar's wine storage capacity considerably. Wine Cellar Specialists 1134 Commerce Drive Richardson (972)454-0480 75081 https://winecellarspec.com/

Relocating to Portland, Oregon from California, this young family immediately hired Amy to redesign their newly purchased home to better fit their needs. The project included updating the kitchen, hall bath, and adding an en suite to their master bedroom. Removing a wall between the kitchen and dining allowed for additional counter space and storage along with improved traffic flow and increased natural light to the heart of the home. This galley style kitchen is focused on efficiency and functionality through custom cabinets with a pantry boasting drawer storage topped with quartz slab for durability, pull-out storage accessories throughout, deep drawers, and a quartz topped coffee bar/ buffet facing the dining area. The master bath and hall bath were born out of a single bath and a closet. While modest in size, the bathrooms are filled with functionality and colorful design elements. Durable hex shaped porcelain tiles compliment the blue vanities topped with white quartz countertops. The shower and tub are both tiled in handmade ceramic tiles, bringing much needed texture and movement of light to the space. The hall bath is outfitted with a toe-kick pull-out step for the family’s youngest member!

Relocating to Portland, Oregon from California, this young family immediately hired Amy to redesign their newly purchased home to better fit their needs. The project included updating the kitchen, hall bath, and adding an en suite to their master bedroom. Removing a wall between the kitchen and dining allowed for additional counter space and storage along with improved traffic flow and increased natural light to the heart of the home. This galley style kitchen is focused on efficiency and functionality through custom cabinets with a pantry boasting drawer storage topped with quartz slab for durability, pull-out storage accessories throughout, deep drawers, and a quartz topped coffee bar/ buffet facing the dining area. The master bath and hall bath were born out of a single bath and a closet. While modest in size, the bathrooms are filled with functionality and colorful design elements. Durable hex shaped porcelain tiles compliment the blue vanities topped with white quartz countertops. The shower and tub are both tiled in handmade ceramic tiles, bringing much needed texture and movement of light to the space. The hall bath is outfitted with a toe-kick pull-out step for the family’s youngest member!

Andrea Rugg
Inspiration for a mid-sized transitional u-shaped medium tone wood floor and brown floor kitchen remodel in Los Angeles with an undermount sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, white backsplash, subway tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances and an island

This North Raleigh kitchen renovation focused on transforming an outdated layout into a bright, functional, and welcoming space. The goal was to improve flow, increase storage, and modernize finishes while maintaining a timeless feel. The new design features updated cabinetry, durable countertops, and improved lighting that enhances both everyday use and entertaining. Thoughtful details throughout the space create a balance of style and practicality, making the kitchen truly the heart of the home.

Kitchen remodeling! A thrilling project that can breathe new life into your home's heart. Here's a comprehensive guide to help you about how we remodeling this kitchen: - Update outdated design and layout - Increase functionality and efficiency - Improve safety and accessibility - Enhance overall livability

Winner of the 2018 Tour of Homes Best Remodel, this whole house re-design of a 1963 Bennet & Johnson mid-century raised ranch home is a beautiful example of the magic we can weave through the application of more sustainable modern design principles to existing spaces. We worked closely with our client on extensive updates to create a modernized MCM gem. Extensive alterations include: - a completely redesigned floor plan to promote a more intuitive flow throughout - vaulted the ceilings over the great room to create an amazing entrance and feeling of inspired openness - redesigned entry and driveway to be more inviting and welcoming as well as to experientially set the mid-century modern stage - the removal of a visually disruptive load bearing central wall and chimney system that formerly partitioned the homes’ entry, dining, kitchen and living rooms from each other - added clerestory windows above the new kitchen to accentuate the new vaulted ceiling line and create a greater visual continuation of indoor to outdoor space - drastically increased the access to natural light by increasing window sizes and opening up the floor plan - placed natural wood elements throughout to provide a calming palette and cohesive Pacific Northwest feel - incorporated Universal Design principles to make the home Aging In Place ready with wide hallways and accessible spaces, including single-floor living if needed - moved and completely redesigned the stairway to work for the home’s occupants and be a part of the cohesive design aesthetic - mixed custom tile layouts with more traditional tiling to create fun and playful visual experiences - custom designed and sourced MCM specific elements such as the entry screen, cabinetry and lighting - development of the downstairs for potential future use by an assisted living caretaker - energy efficiency upgrades seamlessly woven in with much improved insulation, ductless mini splits and solar gain

This Encinitas home was completely remodelled and included a substantial addon. The French COuntry kitchen, being the heart of the home, increased to twice the original size and featured luxurious appliances and finishes.. Wooden cabinets, with beautiful glass front wrap the kitchen, while the dramatic island was designed to stand as a piece of furniture and is home to a magnificent cooktop. The extra wide peninsula has room enough for ample seating. Beautiful lighting, magnificent travertine flooring and ample cabinet space makes this kitchen a center hub for years to come..

U-shaped industrial style kitchen with stainless steel cabinets, backsplash, and floating shelves. Restaurant grade appliances with center worktable. Heart pine wood flooring in a modern farmhouse style home on a ranch in Idaho. Photo by Tory Taglio Photography