Photo Credit: Eric Roth
This is an example of a rustic shade backyard stone landscaping in Boston.

Inspiration for a bedroom remodel in Providence with green walls

Designer Showhouse Meditation Room for The Holiday House 2019: Designed by Sara Touijer
Bedroom - mid-sized contemporary guest carpeted and blue floor bedroom idea in New York with white walls, a hanging fireplace and a plaster fireplace

Lori Dennis Interior Design SoCal Contractor
Example of a large transitional master gray tile and glass tile marble floor freestanding bathtub design in Los Angeles with shaker cabinets, white cabinets, white walls, an undermount sink and marble countertops

Design ideas for a landscaping in Los Angeles.

Photo by Ashley Elizabeth Ford
Photo of a small drought-tolerant and partial sun backyard landscaping in Los Angeles with decking.

Homeowner wanted a space for meditating. The white gravel is calming and represents water. Knox lighting core drilled into bluestone patio highlights the view of the space from her living room.

carolyn schmitz
Inspiration for an asian landscaping in Providence.

Flagstone patio with Rust Patina Steel planters that containerize the soil and serve as retaining walls. We cut into the slope to level the garden and create space for dining. Photo by Ashley Elizabeth Ford.

“The floating bamboo ceiling references the vertical reed-like wallpaper behind the LED candles in the niches of the chiseled stone.” - San Diego Home/Garden Lifestyles August 2013 James Brady Photography

Our client’s intension was to make this bathroom suite a very specialized spa retreat. She envisioned exquisite, highly crafted components and loved the colors gold and purple. We were challenged to mix contemporary, traditional and rustic features. Also on the wish-list were a sizeable wardrobe room and a meditative loft-like retreat. Hydronic heated flooring was installed throughout. The numerous features in this project required replacement of the home’s plumbing and electrical systems. The cedar ceiling and other places in the room replicate what is found in the rest of the home. The project encompassed 400 sq. feet. Features found at one end of the suite are new stained glass windows – designed to match to existing, a Giallo Rio slab granite platform and a Carlton clawfoot tub. The platform is banded at the floor by a mosaic of 1″ x 1″ glass tile. Near the tub platform area is a large walnut stained vanity with Contemporary slab door fronts and shaker drawers. This is the larger of two separate vanities. Each are enhanced with hand blown artisan pendant lighting. A custom fireplace is centrally placed as a dominant design feature. The hammered copper that surrounds the fireplace and vent pipe were crafted by a talented local tradesman. It is topped with a Café Imperial marble. A lavishly appointed shower is the centerpiece of the bathroom suite. The many slabs of granite used on this project were chosen for the beautiful veins of quartz, purple and gold that our client adores. Two distinct spaces flank a small vanity; the wardrobe and the loft-like Magic Room. Both precisely fulfill their intended practical and meditative purposes. A floor to ceiling wardrobe and oversized built-in dresser keep clothing, shoes and accessories organized. The dresser is topped with the same marble used atop the fireplace and inset into the wardrobe flooring. The Magic Room is a space for resting, reading or just gazing out on the serene setting. The reading lights are Oil Rubbed Bronze. A drawer within the step up to the loft keeps reading and writing materials neatly tucked away. Within the highly customized space, marble, granite, copper and art glass come together in a harmonious design that is organized for maximum rejuvenation that pleases our client to not end!

Emily Minton Redfield
Inspiration for a mid-sized farmhouse enclosed medium tone wood floor and brown floor family room remodel in Denver with white walls, no fireplace and no tv

This shade arbor, located in The Woodlands, TX north of Houston, spans the entire length of the back yard. It combines a number of elements with custom structures that were constructed to emulate specific aspects of a Zen garden. The homeowner wanted a low-maintenance garden whose beauty could withstand the tough seasonal weather that strikes the area at various times of the year. He also desired a mood-altering aesthetic that would relax the senses and calm the mind. Most importantly, he wanted this meditative environment completely shielded from the outside world so he could find serenity in total privacy. The most unique design element in this entire project is the roof of the shade arbor itself. It features a “negative space” leaf pattern that was designed in a software suite and cut out of the metal with a water jet cutter. Each form in the pattern is loosely suggestive of either a leaf, or a cluster of leaves. These small, negative spaces cut from the metal are the source of the structure’ powerful visual and emotional impact. During the day, sunlight shines down and highlights columns, furniture, plantings, and gravel with a blend of dappling and shade that make you feel like you are sitting under the branches of a tree. At night, the effects are even more brilliant. Skillfully concealed lights mounted on the trusses reflect off the steel in places, while in other places they penetrate the negative spaces, cascading brilliant patterns of ambient light down on vegetation, hardscape, and water alike. The shade arbor shelters two gravel patios that are almost identical in space. The patio closest to the living room features a mini outdoor dining room, replete with tables and chairs. The patio is ornamented with a blend of ornamental grass, a small human figurine sculpture, and mid-level impact ground cover. Gravel was chosen as the preferred hardscape material because of its Zen-like connotations. It is also remarkably soft to walk on, helping to set the mood for a relaxed afternoon in the dappled shade of gently filtered sunlight. The second patio, spaced 15 feet away from the first, resides adjacent to the home at the opposite end of the shade arbor. Like its twin, it is also ornamented with ground cover borders, ornamental grasses, and a large urn identical to the first. Seating here is even more private and contemplative. Instead of a table and chairs, there is a large decorative concrete bench cut in the shape of a giant four-leaf clover. Spanning the distance between these two patios, a bluestone walkway connects the two spaces. Along the way, its borders are punctuated in places by low-level ornamental grasses, a large flowering bush, another sculpture in the form of human faces, and foxtail ferns that spring up from a spread of river rock that punctuates the ends of the walkway. The meditative quality of the shade arbor is reinforced by two special features. The first of these is a disappearing fountain that flows from the top of a large vertical stone embedded like a monolith in the other edges of the river rock. The drains and pumps to this fountain are carefully concealed underneath the covering of smooth stones, and the sound of the water is only barely perceptible, as if it is trying to force you to let go of your thoughts to hear it. A large piece of core-10 steel, which is deliberately intended to rust quickly, rises up like an arced wall from behind the fountain stone. The dark color of the metal helps the casual viewer catch just a glimpse of light reflecting off the slow trickle of water that runs down the side of the stone into the river rock bed. To complete the quiet moment that the shade arbor is intended to invoke, a thick wall of cypress trees rises up on all sides of the yard, completely shutting out the disturbances of the world with a comforting wall of living greenery that comforts the thoughts and emotions.

Designer Showhouse Meditation Room for The Holiday House 2019: Designed by Sara Touijer
Example of a mid-sized trendy guest carpeted and blue floor bedroom design in New York with white walls, a hanging fireplace and a plaster fireplace

A room dedicated to the daily practice of meditation. Custom screens create a calm tranquil light within the room. Karen Melvin Photography
Inspiration for a contemporary home gym remodel in Minneapolis

Designer Showhouse Meditation Room for The Holiday House 2019: Designed by Sara Touijer
Example of a mid-sized trendy guest carpeted and blue floor bedroom design in New York with white walls, a hanging fireplace and a plaster fireplace

Photo of the West and North sides of the Pavilion and the fire pit area before we finished the fire pit. Photo credits: Dan Drobnick
Design ideas for a mid-sized shade backyard stone landscaping in Cleveland with a fire pit.

Photo: Sarah Greenman © 2015 Houzz
Shed - rustic shed idea in Dallas

The many patterns and warm colors make this space extra calming and peaceful. We also love the Asian elements brought in along with the Buddha statue and flowers.