This home embodies a refined balance between timeless elegance and modern ease—where each room flows effortlessly into the next through a shared language of material warmth, subtle contrast, and thoughtful proportion.

Custom glass chandelier designed for a foyer, creating a strong first impression while integrating with the architectural language of the home.
Dining room - contemporary dining room idea in Los Angeles

This home embodies a refined balance between timeless elegance and modern ease—where each room flows effortlessly into the next through a shared language of material warmth, subtle contrast, and thoughtful proportion.

A defining feature of the home is a series of courtyards that pull the natural world deep into the interior spaces. The gradual transition from interior to courtyard to landscape is purposeful and supports the home’s overall design language.

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Glass guardrail with a wood cap rail overlooking the floating stair, continuing the clean, open design language throughout the upper level.
Example of a minimalist wooden open and glass railing staircase design in New York

Example of a large beach style open concept light wood floor and exposed beam living room design in Grand Rapids with white walls, a standard fireplace, a shiplap fireplace and a wall-mounted tv

This home embodies a refined balance between timeless elegance and modern ease—where each room flows effortlessly into the next through a shared language of material warmth, subtle contrast, and thoughtful proportion.

Explore the top UX writing trends 2025 shaping digital experiences. Learn how conversational design, AI-driven content, and inclusive language enhance clarity, engagement, and brand communication.

This home embodies a refined balance between timeless elegance and modern ease—where each room flows effortlessly into the next through a shared language of material warmth, subtle contrast, and thoughtful proportion.

This home embodies a refined balance between timeless elegance and modern ease—where each room flows effortlessly into the next through a shared language of material warmth, subtle contrast, and thoughtful proportion.

Clean, modern lines in the polished chrome legs of the chairs and the new display cabinet mimic the lines of the existing furniture pieces, creating a cohesive, contemporary design language within the assemblage of old and new.

Based on traditional Ghanaian artistry, this elegant mask boasts bold colors. Ali Mohammed creates an original design of graceful lines. Carved by hand of seasoned sese wood, it is named Odehyie, or "royal mask" in the Akan language.

This home embodies a refined balance between timeless elegance and modern ease—where each room flows effortlessly into the next through a shared language of material warmth, subtle contrast, and thoughtful proportion.

This home embodies a refined balance between timeless elegance and modern ease—where each room flows effortlessly into the next through a shared language of material warmth, subtle contrast, and thoughtful proportion.

This LEED Platinum certified house reflects the homeowner's desire for an exceptionally healthy and comfortable living environment, within a traditional neighborhood. INFILL SITE. The family, who moved from another area of Wellesley, sought out this property to be within walking distance of the high school and downtown area. An existing structure on the tight lot was removed to make way for the new home. 84% of the construction waste, from both the previous structure and the new home, was diverted from a landfill. ZED designed to preserve the existing mature trees on the perimeter of the property to minimize site impacts, and to maintain the character of the neighborhood as well as privacy on the site. EXTERIOR EXPRESSION. The street facade of the home relates to the local New England vernacular. The rear uses contemporary language, a nod to the family’s Californian roots, to incorporate a roof deck, solar panels, outdoor living space, and the backyard swimming pool. ZED’s careful planning avoided to the need to face the garage doors towards the street, a common syndrome of a narrow lot. THOUGHTFUL SPACE. Homes with dual entries can often result in duplicate and unused spaces. In this home, the everyday and formal entry areas are one and the same; the front and garage doors share the entry program of coat closets, mudroom storage with bench for removing your shoes, and a laundry room with generous closets for the children's sporting equipment. The entry area leads directly to the living space, encompassing the kitchen, dining and sitting area areas in an L-shaped open plan arrangement. The kitchen is placed at the south-west corner of the space to allow for a strong connection to the dining, sitting and outdoor living spaces. A fire pit on the deck satisfies the family’s desire for an open flame while a sealed gas fireplace is used indoors - ZED’s preference after omitting gas burning appliances completely from an airtight home. A small study, with a window seat, is conveniently located just off of the living space. A first floor guest bedroom includes an accessible bathroom for aging visitors and can be used as a master suite to accommodate aging in place. HEALTHY LIVING. The client requested a home that was easy to clean and would provide a respite from seasonal allergies and common contaminants that are found in many indoor spaces. ZED selected easy to clean solid surface flooring throughout, provided ample space for cleaning supplies on each floor, and designed a mechanical system with ventilation that provides a constant supply of fresh outdoor air. ZED selected durable materials, finishes, cabinetry, and casework with low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and no added urea formaldehyde. YEAR-ROUND COMFORT. The home is super insulated and air-tight, paired with high performance triple-paned windows, to ensure it is draft-free throughout the winter (even when in front of the large windows and doors). ZED designed a right-sized heating and cooling system to pair with the thermally improved building enclosure to ensure year-round comfort. The glazing on the home maximizes passive solar gains, and facilitates cross ventilation and daylighting. ENERGY EFFICIENT. As one of the most energy efficient houses built to date in Wellesley, the home highlights a practical solution for Massachusetts. First, the building enclosure reduces the largest energy requirement for typical houses (heating). Super-insulation, exceptional air sealing, a thermally broken wall assembly, triple pane windows, and passive solar gain combine for a sizable heating load reduction. Second, within the house only efficient systems consume energy. These include an air source heat pump for heating & cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation, and high efficiency appliances. Lastly, photovoltaics provide renewable energy help offset energy consumption. The result is an 89% reduction in energy use compared to a similar brand new home built to code requirements. RESILIENT. The home will fare well in extreme weather events. During a winter power outage, heat loss will be very slow due to the super-insulated and airtight envelope– taking multiple days to drop to 60 degrees even with no heat source. An engineered drainage system, paired with careful the detailing of the foundation, will help to keep the finished basement dry. A generator will provide full operation of the all-electric house during a power outage. OVERALL. The home is a reflection of the family goals and an expression of their values, beautifully enabling health, comfort, safety, resilience, and utility, all while respecting the planet. ZED - Architect & Mechanical Designer Bevilacqua Builders Inc - Contractor Creative Land & Water Engineering - Civil Engineering Barbara Peterson Landscape - Landscape Design Nest & Company - Interior Furnishings Eric Roth Photography - Photography

Montauk Beach House living room after an extensive renovation and interior rebuild. Walls and ceiling clad in staggered board width shiplap for interest and architectural language.

Our Austin studio used quirky patterns and colors as well as eco-friendly furnishings and materials to give this home a unique design language that suits the young family who lives there. Photography Credits: Molly Culver --- Project designed by Sara Barney’s Austin interior design studio BANDD DESIGN. They serve the entire Austin area and its surrounding towns, with an emphasis on Round Rock, Lake Travis, West Lake Hills, and Tarrytown. For more about BANDD DESIGN, click here: https://bandddesign.com/ To learn more about this project, click here: https://bandddesign.com/eco-friendly-colorful-quirky-austin-home/

Our Indiana design studio gave this Centerville Farmhouse an urban-modern design language with a clean, streamlined look that exudes timeless, casual sophistication with industrial elements and a monochromatic palette. Photographer: Sarah Shields http://www.sarahshieldsphotography.com/ Project completed by Wendy Langston's Everything Home interior design firm, which serves Carmel, Zionsville, Fishers, Westfield, Noblesville, and Indianapolis. For more about Everything Home, click here: https://everythinghomedesigns.com/ To learn more about this project, click here: https://everythinghomedesigns.com/portfolio/urban-modern-farmhouse/