Photography by Patrick Brickman Interior Design by Bobbi Jo Engelby of Domain Interiors
Kitchen - coastal kitchen idea in Charleston with an island

Michael Moran
Deck - large contemporary three-story stucco white deck idea in DC Metro

Front porch addition to house
Transitional front porch idea in New York with decking and a roof extension

BOOT STABILITY: This boot storage is designed to stow in an upright position that helps retain boot shape and quality. Our product has been carefully designed to support and handle EVERYDAY BOOTS. NO TOOL REQUIRED: In a few seconds, you can put up this boot organizer without using any tools; Please make sure the shoe last in the same direction when install. PROLONG LIFE OF BOOTS: This boot organizer allows air to properly circulate within the boots to eliminate unwanted creases promote air circulation allowing the material to breathe, keeping them dry and fresh all the time to prolong long life of your boots. SPACE-SAVING: This 3-pair boot shoe rack suitable for limited storage space in closets or entryway.

Builder: Vital Habitats, Farrell Building Company Photography: Spacecrafting
Inspiration for a coastal guest light wood floor and beige floor bedroom remodel with white walls

This charming cape located in Bonnet Shores, Narragansett, RI was in need of updating and adding to in support of this five person family. We approached this project with an attitude of creating a comfortable, small scale addition / renovation that would not overwhelm the area. We instead created an addition that has a great amount of detail and functionality while adding just the right amount of space for everyone in the family. As this is a vacation home located by the ocean; we wanted to create enough space for entertaining and the flow of the living areas was an important consideration. The entertainment room is small enough for movie watching, the living room is spacious enough for entertaining or curling up with a book, the sun porch is perfectly positioned to capture the sun’s rays while offering views to the private beach club. The family can go easily from the enlarged kitchen to the screened porch with views to the private beach to the southwest and to the Jamestown bridge to the northeast. The bedrooms are spacious enough for each family member with one doubling as a comfortable guest suite. The master bedroom suite offers the same views to the southwest and northeast, appreciating the views to the beach club and Jamestown Bridge. The evening views from the master offer the Jamestown Bridge fully lit in spectacular glory. We outfitted the master with a second floor balcony space to the southwest that serves perfectly for morning coffee or evening cocktails. This home exemplifies how we approach our designs. We did not simply want to add large spaces for the sake of additional living area. We wanted to provide a comfortable environment for this family and offer the detail that maintains the character of the existing cape charm without overdeveloping the site, which is the largest parcel in Bonnet Shores. This project was featured in the February issue of Builder / Architect magazine 2011! Eric Roth Photography

Mountain style basement photo in Philadelphia

THE NEW OPULENCE. | As an architect, he is internationally successful. He designed the Federation Tower in Moscow, the highest skyscraper in Europe and also the AquaDom in Berlin, the largest free-standing aquarium in the world. Sergei Tchoban has now designed a bathroom range for Duravit: Esplanade – luxurious, spacious and visually impressive. Tchoban deliberately plays with the splendour of times gone by paired with a touch of irony. So it is no coincidence that the fl oorstanding toilet resembles an ancient chair, the washbasin a chest of drawers and the bathtub a chaise longue. The Esplanade furniture is available in two completely different styles. Either in exquisite silk or comfortable oak wood panelling, blending the bathroom beautifully with the living area. | Available at www.ShopStudio41.com

This kitchen had no windows so Pineapple House designers removed the hallway-kitchen, kitchen-dining and kitchen-living walls to gain a view/air/natural light. Pineapple House designed a window-like partition between the kitchen and foyer entry for both structural support/visual separation. The kitchen walls glisten with luminous mother-of-pearl miniature tiles. Daniel Newcomb Architectural Photography

Dare to design... the fireplace of your dreams, while being environmentally friendly! Frontenac is not only the name of a grand hotel located in the heart of Quebec City, Canada. It is also the largest fireplace of the Valcourt brand. Majestic and imposing, this bravery symbol of the Count of Frontenac, who has fiercely defended the French colony, is quite appropriate to represent the enormous challenge overtaken when designing and manufacturing this fireplace. Exceptionally large, the FP11 Frontenac uses advanced technology to reduce air pollution and is already qualifies for Phase II of the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) voluntary program for manufacturers of decorative wood burning fireplaces. With particulate emissions below 5.1 g/kg (which is approximately 70 percent cleaner than unqualified models), this model will surely give you elegance without compromising the quality of air. Just like the FP7-LM Antoinette, the FP11 Frontenac has a guillotine door that disappears in the hearth, allowing you to easily load wood on the fire and have an unrivalled view of the flames. The fire screen is also equipped with a guillotine mechanism. You will thus enjoy an open fire in safety when the ceramic glass door is open. Finally, the bare front allows significant flexibility and creativity in the design of your interior décor. Discover the additional qualities of the ambiance fireplace Valcourt Frontenac

Stuart Wade, Envision Virtual Tours The second-largest and most developed of Georgia's barrier islands, St. Simons is approximately twelve miles long and nearly three miles wide at its widest stretch (roughly the size of Manhattan Island in New York). The island is located in Glynn County on Georgia's coast and lies east of Brunswick (the seat of Glynn County), south of Little St. Simons Island and the Hampton River, and north of Jekyll Island. The resort community of Sea Island is separated from St. Simons on the east by the Black Banks River. Known for its oak tree canopies and historic landmarks, St. Simons is both a tourist destination and, according to the 2010 U.S. census, home to 12,743 residents. Early History The earliest St. Simons Island Village record of human habitation on the island dates to the Late Archaic Period, about 5,000 to 3,000 years ago. Remnants of shell rings left behind by Native Americans from this era survive on many of the barrier islands, including St. Simons. Centuries later, during the period known by historians as the chiefdom era, the Guale Indians established a chiefdom centered on St. Catherines Island and used St. Simons as their hunting and fishing grounds. By 1500 the Guale had established a permanent village of about 200 people on St. Simons, which they called Guadalquini. Beginning in 1568, the Spanish attempted to create missions along the Georgia coast. Catholic missions were the primary means by which Georgia's indigenous Native American chiefdoms were assimilated into the Spanish colonial system along the northern frontier of greater Spanish Florida. In the 1600s St. Simons became home to two Spanish missions: San Buenaventura de Guadalquini, on the southern tip of the island, and Santo Domingo de Asao (or Asajo), on the northern tip. Located on the inland side of the island were the pagan refugee villages of San Simón, the island's namesake, and Ocotonico. In 1684 pirate raids left the missions and villages largely abandoned. Colonial History As Fort Frederica early as 1670, with Great Britain's establishment of the colony of Carolina and its expansion into Georgia territory, Spanish rule was threatened by the English. The Georgia coast was considered "debatable land" by England and Spain, even though Spain had fully retreated from St. Simons by 1702. Thirty-one years later General James Edward Oglethorpe founded the English settlement of Savannah. In 1736 he established Fort Frederica, named after the heir to the British throne, Frederick Louis, prince of Wales, on the west side of St. Simons Island to protect Savannah and the Carolinas from the Spanish threat. Between 1736 and 1749 Fort Frederica was the hub of British military operations along the Georgia frontier. A town of the same name grew up around the fort and was of great importance to the new colony. By 1740 Frederica's population was 1,000. In 1736 the congregation of what would become Christ Church was organized within Fort Frederica as a mission of the Church of England. Charles Wesley led the first services. In 1742 Britain's decisive victory over Spain in the Battle of Bloody Marsh, during the War of Jenkins' Ear, ended the Spanish threat to the Georgia coast. When the British regimen disbanded in 1749, most of the townspeople relocated to the mainland. Fort Frederica went into decline and, except for a short time of prosperity during the 1760s and 1770s under the leadership of merchant James Spalding, never fully recovered. Today the historic citadel's tabby ruins are maintained by the National Park Service. Plantation Era By the start of the American Revolution (1775-83), Fort Frederica was obsolete, and St. Simons was left largely uninhabited as most of its residents joined the patriot army. Besides hosting a small Georgia naval victory on the Fort Frederica River, providing guns from its famous fort for use at Fort Morris in Sunbury, and serving as an arena for pillaging by privateers and British soldiers, the island played almost no role in the war. Following the war, many of the townspeople, their businesses destroyed, turned to agriculture. The island was transformed into fourteen cotton plantations after acres of live oak trees were cleared for farm land and used for building American warships, including the famous USS Constitution, or "Old Ironsides." Although rice was the predominant crop along the neighboring Altamaha River, St. Simons was known for its production of long-staple cotton, which soon came to be known as Sea Island cotton. Between Ebos Landing the 1780s and the outbreak of the Civil War (1861-65), St. Simons's plantation culture flourished. The saline atmosphere and the availability of cheap slave labor proved an ideal combination for the cultivation of Sea Island cotton. In 1803 a group of Ebo slaves who survived the Middle Passage and arrived on the west side of St. Simons staged a rebellion and drowned themselves. The sacred site is known today as Ebos Landing. One of the largest owners of land and slaves on St. Simons was Pierce Butler, master of Hampton Point Plantation, located on the northern end of the island. By 1793 Butler owned more than 500 slaves, who cultivated 800 acres of cotton on St. Simons and 300 acres of rice on Butler's Island in the Altamaha River delta. Butler's grandson, Pierce Mease Butler, who at the age of sixteen inherited a share of his grandfather's estate in 1826, was responsible for the largest sale of human beings in the history of the United States: in 1859, to restore his squandered fortune, he sold 429 slaves in Savannah for more than $300,000. The British actress and writer Fanny Kemble, whose tumultuous marriage to Pierce ended in divorce in 1849, published an eyewitness account of the evils of slavery on St. Simons in her book Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation in 1838-1839 (1863). Another Retreat Plantation large owner of land and slaves on St. Simons was Major William Page, a friend and employee of Pierce Butler Sr. Before purchasing Retreat Plantation on the southwestern tip of the island in 1804, Page managed the Hampton plantation and Butler's Island. Upon Page's death in 1827, Thomas Butler King inherited the land together with his wife, Page's daughter, Anna Matilda Page King. King expanded his father-in-law's planting empire on St. Simons as well as on the mainland, and by 1835 Retreat Plantation alone was home to as many as 355 slaves. The center of life during the island's plantation era was Christ Church, Frederica. Organized in 1807 by a group of island planters, the Episcopal church is the second oldest in the Diocese of Georgia. Embargoes imposed by the War of 1812 (1812-15) prevented the parishioners from building a church structure, so they worshiped in the home of John Beck, which stood on the site of Oglethorpe's only St. Simons residence, Orange Hall. The first Christ Church building, finished on the present site in 1820, was ruined by occupying Union troops during the Civil War. In 1884 the Reverend Anson Dodge Jr. rebuilt the church as a memorial to his first wife, Ellen. The cruciform building with a trussed gothic roof and stained-glass windows remains active today as Christ Church. Civil War and Beyond The St. Simons Island Lighthouse outbreak of the Civil War in 1861 put a sudden end to St. Simons's lucrative plantation era. In January of that year, Confederate troops were stationed at the south end of the island to guard the entrance to Brunswick Harbor. Slaves from Retreat Plantation, owned by Thomas Butler King, built earthworks and batteries. Plantation residents were scattered—the men joined the Confederate army and their families moved to the mainland. Cannon fire was heard on the island in December 1861, and Confederate troops retreated in February 1862, after dynamiting the lighthouse to keep its beacon from aiding Union troops. Soon thereafter, Union troops occupied the island, which was used as a camp for freed slaves. By August 1862 more than 500 former slaves lived on St. Simons, including Susie King Taylor, who organized a school for freed slave children. But in November the ex-slaves were taken to Hilton Head, South Carolina, and Fernandina, Florida, leaving the island abandoned. After the Civil War the island never returned to its status as an agricultural community. The plantations lay dormant because there were no slaves to work the fields. After Union general William T. Sherman's January 1865 Special Field Order No. 15 —a demand that former plantations be divided and distributed to former slaves—was overturned by U.S. president Andrew Johnson less than a year later, freedmen and women were forced to work as sharecroppers on the small farms that dotted the land previously occupied by the sprawling plantations. By St. Simons Lumber Mills 1870 real economic recovery began with the reestablishment of the timber industry. Norman Dodge and Titus G. Meigs of New York set up lumber mill operations at Gascoigne Bluff, formerly Hamilton Plantation. The lumber mills provided welcome employment for both blacks and whites and also provided mail and passenger boats to the mainland. Such water traffic, together with the construction of a new lighthouse in 1872, designed by architect Charles B. Cluskey, marked the beginning of St. Simons's tourism industry. The keeper of the lighthouse created a small amusement park, which drew many visitors, as did the seemingly miraculous light that traveled from the top of the lighthouse tower to the bottom. The island became a summer retreat for families from the mainland, particularly from Baxley, Brunswick, and Waycross. The island's resort industry was thriving by the 1880s. Beachfront structures, such as a new pier and grand hotel, were built on the southeastern end of the island and could be accessed by ferry. Around this time wealthy northerners began vacationing on the island. Twentieth Century The St. Simons Island Pier and Village opening in 1924 of the Brunswick–St. Simons Highway, today known as the Torras Causeway, was a milestone in the development of resorts in the area. St. Simons's beaches were now easily accessible to locals and tourists alike. More than 5,000 automobiles took the short drive from Brunswick to St. Simons via the causeway on its opening day, paving the way for convenient residential and resort development. In 1926 automotive pioneer Howard Coffin of Detroit, Michigan, bought large tracts of land on St. Simons, including the former Retreat Plantation, and constructed a golf course, yacht club, paved roads, and a residential subdivision. Although the causeway had brought large numbers of summer people to the island, St. Simons remained a small community with only a few hundred permanent residents until the 1940s. The St. Simons Island outbreak of World War II (1941-45) brought more visitors and residents to St. Simons. Troops stationed at Jacksonville, Florida; Savannah; and nearby Camp Stewart took weekend vacations on the island, and a new naval air base and radar school became home to even more officers and soldiers. The increased wartime population brought the island its first public school. With a major shipyard for the production of Liberty ships in nearby Brunswick, the waters of St. Simons became active with German U-boats. In April 1942, just off the coast, the Texas Company oil tanker S. S. Oklahoma and the S. S. Esso Baton Rouge were torpedoed by the Germans, bringing the war very close to home for island residents. Due in large part to the military's improvement of the island's infrastructure during the war, development on the island boomed in the 1950s and 1960s. More permanent homes and subdivisions were built, and the island was no longer just a summer resort but also a thriving community. In 1950 the Methodist conference and retreat center Epworth by the Sea opened on Gascoigne Bluff. In 1961 novelist Eugenia Price visited St. Simons and began work on her first works of fiction, known as the St. Simons Trilogy. Inspired by real events on the island, Price's trilogy renewed interest in the history of Georgia's coast, and the novelist herself relocated to the island in 1965 and lived there for thirty-one years. St. Simons is also home to contemporary Georgia writer Tina McElroy Ansa. Since Epworth by the Sea 1980 St. Simons's population has doubled. The island's continued status as a vacation destination and its ongoing development boom have put historic landmarks and natural areas at risk. While such landmarks as the Fort Frederica ruins and the Battle of Bloody Marsh site are preserved and maintained by the National Park Service, and while the historic lighthouse is maintained by the Coastal Georgia Historical Society, historic Ebos Landing has been taken over by a sewage treatment plant. Several coastal organizations have formed in recent years to save natural areas on the island. The St. Simons Land Trust, for example, has received donations of large tracts of land and plans to protect property in the island's three traditional African American neighborhoods. Despite its rapid growth and development, St. Simons remains one of the most beautiful and important islands on the Georgia coast.

Lincoln Farmhouse LEED-H Platinum, Net-Positive Energy OVERVIEW. This LEED Platinum certified modern farmhouse ties into the cultural landscape of Lincoln, Massachusetts - a town known for its rich history, farming traditions, conservation efforts, and visionary architecture. The goal was to design and build a new single family home on 1.8 acres that respects the neighborhood’s agrarian roots, produces more energy than it consumes, and provides the family with flexible spaces to live-play-work-entertain. The resulting 2,800 SF home is proof that families do not need to compromise on style, space or comfort in a highly energy-efficient and healthy home. CONNECTION TO NATURE. The attached garage is ubiquitous in new construction in New England’s cold climate. This home’s barn-inspired garage is intentionally detached from the main dwelling. A covered walkway connects the two structures, creating an intentional connection with the outdoors between auto and home. FUNCTIONAL FLEXIBILITY. With a modest footprint, each space must serve a specific use, but also be flexible for atypical scenarios. The Mudroom serves everyday use for the couple and their children, but is also easy to tidy up to receive guests, eliminating the need for two entries found in most homes. A workspace is conveniently located off the mudroom; it looks out on to the back yard to supervise the children and can be closed off with a sliding door when not in use. The Away Room opens up to the Living Room for everyday use; it can be closed off with its oversized pocket door for secondary use as a guest bedroom with en suite bath. NET POSITIVE ENERGY. The all-electric home consumes 70% less energy than a code-built house, and with measured energy data produces 48% more energy annually than it consumes, making it a 'net positive' home. Thick walls and roofs lack thermal bridging, windows are high performance, triple-glazed, and a continuous air barrier yields minimal leakage (0.27ACH50) making the home among the tightest in the US. Systems include an air source heat pump, an energy recovery ventilator, and a 13.1kW photovoltaic system to offset consumption and support future electric cars. ACTUAL PERFORMANCE. -6.3 kBtu/sf/yr Energy Use Intensity (Actual monitored project data reported for the firm’s 2016 AIA 2030 Commitment. Average single family home is 52.0 kBtu/sf/yr.) o 10,900 kwh total consumption (8.5 kbtu/ft2 EUI) o 16,200 kwh total production o 5,300 kwh net surplus, equivalent to 15,000-25,000 electric car miles per year. 48% net positive. WATER EFFICIENCY. Plumbing fixtures and water closets consume a mere 60% of the federal standard, while high efficiency appliances such as the dishwasher and clothes washer also reduce consumption rates. FOOD PRODUCTION. After clearing all invasive species, apple, pear, peach and cherry trees were planted. Future plans include blueberry, raspberry and strawberry bushes, along with raised beds for vegetable gardening. The house also offers a below ground root cellar, built outside the home's thermal envelope, to gain the passive benefit of long term energy-free food storage. RESILIENCY. The home's ability to weather unforeseen challenges is predictable - it will fare well. The super-insulated envelope means during a winter storm with power outage, heat loss will be slow - taking days to drop to 60 degrees even with no heat source. During normal conditions, reduced energy consumption plus energy production means shelter from the burden of utility costs. Surplus production can power electric cars & appliances. The home exceeds snow & wind structural requirements, plus far surpasses standard construction for long term durability planning. ARCHITECT: ZeroEnergy Design http://zeroenergy.com/lincoln-farmhouse CONTRACTOR: Thoughtforms http://thoughtforms-corp.com/ PHOTOGRAPHER: Chuck Choi http://www.chuckchoi.com/

THE NEW OPULENCE. | As an architect, he is internationally successful. He designed the Federation Tower in Moscow, the highest skyscraper in Europe and also the AquaDom in Berlin, the largest free-standing aquarium in the world. Sergei Tchoban has now designed a bathroom range for Duravit: Esplanade – luxurious, spacious and visually impressive. Tchoban deliberately plays with the splendour of times gone by paired with a touch of irony. So it is no coincidence that the fl oorstanding toilet resembles an ancient chair, the washbasin a chest of drawers and the bathtub a chaise longue. The Esplanade furniture is available in two completely different styles. Either in exquisite silk or comfortable oak wood panelling, blending the bathroom beautifully with the living area. | Available at www.ShopStudio41.com

Seong Kwon Photography
Trendy kitchen photo in New York

Photo: Caela McKeever © 2017 Houzz
Photo of an eclectic landscaping in Seattle.

Reclaimed wood contrasted with corrugated steel and fresh wood. Centennial Woods LLC was founded in 1999, we reclaim and repurpose weathered wood from the snow fences in the plains and mountains of Wyoming. We are now one of the largest providers of reclaimed wood in the world with an international clientele comprised of home owners, builders, designers, and architects. Our wood is FSC 100% Recycled certified and will contribute to LEED points.

2 inch walnut slab counters with bow tie splices to keep shape and character of wood. The burl and grain of the walnut provide visual interest and showcase the beauty of natural materials. A matte marine grade finish will keep this counter in beautiful working order for years to come. David Papazian Photography

Wellness doesn't have to mean going somewhere special. At Arden Springdale, it's part of the experience of coming home. Homeowners can choose from features such as invigorating cold plunges and relaxing saunas, enjoying the colorful raised garden beds, and enhanced air and water filtration systems. These details are designed to support a healthier, more balanced lifestyle without having to leave home to find it. It's a thoughtful approach to modern homeownership: creating spaces that are more than simply beautiful, they support the way you want to live.

Chad Mellon
Example of a beach style home design design in Los Angeles