Learn seed starting basics and get a jump start on growing the flower garden of your dreams. In this striking guide you will find everything you need to grow, harvest, and arrange stunning seasonal blooms. With equal parts instruction and inspiration, Floret Farm’s Cut Flower Garden welcomes you into Erin Benzakein’s abundant, bloom-filled world, and is a feast for every flower lover’s eyes and soul. Floret Farm's Cut Flower Garden. Written by Erin Benzakein with Julie Chai. Photos by Michèle M. Waite. Published by Chronicle Books.

Photo by Amanda Kirkpatrick
Living room - industrial living room idea in Austin with white walls and no fireplace

Modern ski chalet with walls of windows to enjoy the mountainous view provided of this ski-in ski-out property. Formal and casual living room areas allow for flexible entertaining. Construction - Bear Mountain Builders Interiors - Hunter & Company Photos - Gibeon Photography

Photography by Rebecca Lehde
Large contemporary two-story wood exterior home idea in Charleston with a hip roof

Lower level cabana. Photography by Lucas Henning.
Patio kitchen - small contemporary backyard concrete patio kitchen idea in Seattle with a roof extension

Example of a large trendy backyard tile patio design in Santa Barbara with a fire pit and no cover

Modern loft. Surfaces built into the new railing atop the stair create a functional work area with a fantastic view and clear shot to the play space below. A wall separating the master bedroom from the double height living space was replaced with a folding glass door to open the bedroom to the living space while still allowing for both visual and acoustical privacy. Photos by Eric Roth. Construction by Ralph S. Osmond Company. Green architecture by ZeroEnergy Design. http://www.zeroenergy.com

Brigida Gonzalez
Inspiration for a mid-sized modern beige two-story stucco exterior home remodel in Other

Cozy bright greatroom with coffered ceiling detail. Beautiful south facing light comes through Pella Reserve Windows (screens roll out of bottom of window sash). This room is bright and cheery and very inviting. We even hid a remote shade in the beam closest to the windows for privacy at night and shade if too bright.

Photo by: Mike P Kelley Styling by: Jennifer Maxcy, hoot n anny home
Home gym - traditional blue floor home gym idea in Los Angeles with green walls

Maple Plywood custom cabinetry painted a beautiful grey with a stunning chandelier and brass hardware accents. The upper cabinets all enclosed behind solid panel doors to keep things clean and organized.

Klopf Architecture and Outer space Landscape Architects designed a new warm, modern, open, indoor-outdoor home in Los Altos, California. Inspired by mid-century modern homes but looking for something completely new and custom, the owners, a couple with two children, bought an older ranch style home with the intention of replacing it. Created on a grid, the house is designed to be at rest with differentiated spaces for activities; living, playing, cooking, dining and a piano space. The low-sloping gable roof over the great room brings a grand feeling to the space. The clerestory windows at the high sloping roof make the grand space light and airy. Upon entering the house, an open atrium entry in the middle of the house provides light and nature to the great room. The Heath tile wall at the back of the atrium blocks direct view of the rear yard from the entry door for privacy. The bedrooms, bathrooms, play room and the sitting room are under flat wing-like roofs that balance on either side of the low sloping gable roof of the main space. Large sliding glass panels and pocketing glass doors foster openness to the front and back yards. In the front there is a fenced-in play space connected to the play room, creating an indoor-outdoor play space that could change in use over the years. The play room can also be closed off from the great room with a large pocketing door. In the rear, everything opens up to a deck overlooking a pool where the family can come together outdoors. Wood siding travels from exterior to interior, accentuating the indoor-outdoor nature of the house. Where the exterior siding doesn’t come inside, a palette of white oak floors, white walls, walnut cabinetry, and dark window frames ties all the spaces together to create a uniform feeling and flow throughout the house. The custom cabinetry matches the minimal joinery of the rest of the house, a trim-less, minimal appearance. Wood siding was mitered in the corners, including where siding meets the interior drywall. Wall materials were held up off the floor with a minimal reveal. This tight detailing gives a sense of cleanliness to the house. The garage door of the house is completely flush and of the same material as the garage wall, de-emphasizing the garage door and making the street presentation of the house kinder to the neighborhood. The house is akin to a custom, modern-day Eichler home in many ways. Inspired by mid-century modern homes with today’s materials, approaches, standards, and technologies. The goals were to create an indoor-outdoor home that was energy-efficient, light and flexible for young children to grow. This 3,000 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom new house is located in Los Altos in the heart of the Silicon Valley. Klopf Architecture Project Team: John Klopf, AIA, and Chuang-Ming Liu 
Landscape Architect: Outer space Landscape Architects 
Structural Engineer: ZFA Structural Engineers 
Staging: Da Lusso Design 
Photography ©2018 Mariko Reed 
Location: Los Altos, CA
 Year completed: 2017

Example of a farmhouse vinyl floor kitchen design in Salt Lake City with quartz countertops, white backsplash and gray countertops

Inspiration for a contemporary bedroom remodel in DC Metro with beige walls

This unique city-home is designed with a center entry, flanked by formal living and dining rooms on either side. An expansive gourmet kitchen / great room spans the rear of the main floor, opening onto a terraced outdoor space comprised of more than 700SF. The home also boasts an open, four-story staircase flooded with natural, southern light, as well as a lower level family room, four bedrooms (including two en-suite) on the second floor, and an additional two bedrooms and study on the third floor. A spacious, 500SF roof deck is accessible from the top of the staircase, providing additional outdoor space for play and entertainment. Due to the location and shape of the site, there is a 2-car, heated garage under the house, providing direct entry from the garage into the lower level mudroom. Two additional off-street parking spots are also provided in the covered driveway leading to the garage. Designed with family living in mind, the home has also been designed for entertaining and to embrace life's creature comforts. Pre-wired with HD Video, Audio and comprehensive low-voltage services, the home is able to accommodate and distribute any low voltage services requested by the homeowner. This home was pre-sold during construction. Steve Hall, Hedrich Blessing

This renovated brick rowhome in Boston’s South End offers a modern aesthetic within a historic structure, creative use of space, exceptional thermal comfort, a reduced carbon footprint, and a passive stream of income. DESIGN PRIORITIES. The goals for the project were clear - design the primary unit to accommodate the family’s modern lifestyle, rework the layout to create a desirable rental unit, improve thermal comfort and introduce a modern aesthetic. We designed the street-level entry as a shared entrance for both the primary and rental unit. The family uses it as their everyday entrance - we planned for bike storage and an open mudroom with bench and shoe storage to facilitate the change from shoes to slippers or bare feet as they enter their home. On the main level, we expanded the kitchen into the dining room to create an eat-in space with generous counter space and storage, as well as a comfortable connection to the living space. The second floor serves as master suite for the couple - a bedroom with a walk-in-closet and ensuite bathroom, and an adjacent study, with refinished original pumpkin pine floors. The upper floor, aside from a guest bedroom, is the child's domain with interconnected spaces for sleeping, work and play. In the play space, which can be separated from the work space with new translucent sliding doors, we incorporated recreational features inspired by adventurous and competitive television shows, at their son’s request. MODERN MEETS TRADITIONAL. We left the historic front facade of the building largely unchanged - the security bars were removed from the windows and the single pane windows were replaced with higher performing historic replicas. We designed the interior and rear facade with a vision of warm modernism, weaving in the notable period features. Each element was either restored or reinterpreted to blend with the modern aesthetic. The detailed ceiling in the living space, for example, has a new matte monochromatic finish, and the wood stairs are covered in a dark grey floor paint, whereas the mahogany doors were simply refinished. New wide plank wood flooring with a neutral finish, floor-to-ceiling casework, and bold splashes of color in wall paint and tile, and oversized high-performance windows (on the rear facade) round out the modern aesthetic. RENTAL INCOME. The existing rowhome was zoned for a 2-family dwelling but included an undesirable, single-floor studio apartment at the garden level with low ceiling heights and questionable emergency egress. In order to increase the quality and quantity of space in the rental unit, we reimagined it as a two-floor, 1 or 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a modern aesthetic, increased ceiling height on the lowest level and provided an in-unit washer/dryer. The apartment was listed with Jackie O'Connor Real Estate and rented immediately, providing the owners with a source of passive income. ENCLOSURE WITH BENEFITS. The homeowners sought a minimal carbon footprint, enabled by their urban location and lifestyle decisions, paired with the benefits of a high-performance home. The extent of the renovation allowed us to implement a deep energy retrofit (DER) to address air tightness, insulation, and high-performance windows. The historic front facade is insulated from the interior, while the rear facade is insulated on the exterior. Together with these building enclosure improvements, we designed an HVAC system comprised of continuous fresh air ventilation, and an efficient, all-electric heating and cooling system to decouple the house from natural gas. This strategy provides optimal thermal comfort and indoor air quality, improved acoustic isolation from street noise and neighbors, as well as a further reduced carbon footprint. We also took measures to prepare the roof for future solar panels, for when the South End neighborhood’s aging electrical infrastructure is upgraded to allow them. URBAN LIVING. The desirable neighborhood location allows the both the homeowners and tenant to walk, bike, and use public transportation to access the city, while each charging their respective plug-in electric cars behind the building to travel greater distances. OVERALL. The understated rowhouse is now ready for another century of urban living, offering the owners comfort and convenience as they live life as an expression of their values. Photography: Eric Roth Photo

Inspiration for a mid-sized mediterranean gray floor kitchen remodel in Minneapolis with shaker cabinets, quartz countertops, multicolored backsplash, stainless steel appliances and gray cabinets

Photography by Ron Ruscio
Trendy dark wood floor dining room photo in Denver with blue walls and a standard fireplace

Placed within an idyllic beach community, this modern family home is filled with both playful and functional spaces. Natural light reflects throughout and oversized openings allow for movement to the outdoor spaces. Custom millwork completes the kitchen with concealed appliances, and creates a space well suited for entertaining. Accents of concrete add strength and architectural context to the spaces. Livable finishes of white oak and quartz are simple and hardworking. High ceilings in the bedroom level allowed for creativity in children’s spaces, and the addition of colour brings in that sense of playfulness. Art pieces reflect the owner’s time spent abroad, and exude their love of life – which is fitting in a place where the only boundaries to roam are the ocean and railways. KBC Developments Photography by Ema Peter www.emapeter.com