William Carson Joyce
Inspiration for a rustic patio remodel in Santa Barbara with a roof extension

Quite often, homeowners neglect or don’t consider landscaping for the side of their homes. This photo shows how you can create a stunning look in even the smallest of spaces. The owners of this Spicewood, TX home, chose a path of river rocks leading from the privacy gate to the back yard. We laid the pebbles in a gently curving pattern to resemble a flowing river. This look was further enhanced with the addition of black soil at the sides. The camouflage looking pavers not only add another layer of visual appeal, but they also have a practical function as they provide a stable surface to walk on.

©️Maxwell MacKenzie THE HOME, ESSENTIALLY A RUIN WAS PRESERVED THROUGH NEGLECT. A CLARIFIED HISTORIC RENOVATION REMOVES BAY WINDOWS AND 1950’S WINDOWS FROM THE MAIN FAÇADE. TWO WINGS AND A THIRD FLOOR AND A SYMPATHETIC STAIRWAY ACCOMMODATE MODERN LIFE. MASONS WERE TASKED TO MAKE THE STONE WORK LOOK AS THOUGH “A FARMER BUILT THE WALLS DURING THE NON-PLANTING SEASON,” THE FINAL DESIGN SIMPLIFIES THE FIRST FLOOR PLAN AND LEAVES LOGICAL LOCATIONS FOR EXPANSION INTO COMING DECADES. AMONG OTHER AWARDS, THIS TRADITIONAL YET HISTORIC RENOVATION LOCATED IN MIDDLEBURG, VA HAS RECEIVED 2 AWARDS FROM THE AMERICAN INSTITUTE OF ARCHITECTURE.. AND A NATIONAL PRIVATE AWARD FROM VETTE WINDOWS WASHINGTON DC ARCHITECT DONALD LOCOCO UPDATED THIS HISTORIC STONE HOUSE IN MIDDLEBURG, VA.lauded by the American Institute of Architects with an Award of Excellence for Historic Architecture, as well as an Award of Merit for Residential Architecture

We touched every corner of the main level of the historic 1903 Dutch Colonial. True to our nature, Storie edited the existing residence by redoing some of the work that had been completed in the early 2000s, kept the historic moldings/flooring/handrails, and added new (and timeless) wainscoting/wallpaper/paint/furnishings to modernize yet honor the traditional nature of the home.

© Francis Dzikowski
Mid-sized minimalist wooden u-shaped open staircase photo in New York

Designed by Daniel Altmann of Reico Kitchen & Bath in Bethesda, MD this master bathroom remodeling project features Ultracraft Cabinetry in the Lafayette door style in Maple with a Pebble Grey with Nickel Linen finish. The double bowl bathroom vanity top is in the color Pearl Jasmine by Silestone. and the bathroom features Kohler fixtures as well. Photos courtesy of BTW Images LLC.

Location: Cohasset, MA, USA When my clients purchased this historic house, they saw that this garden held great potential, even though the property had been somewhat neglected. They wanted the new landscape to evoke the feeling of an Olde Maine house that time had forgotten. Sitting on the front veranda in the shade of the treasured Horse Chestnut and Maple trees that flank each side of the house, we explored the possibilities together. The front yard sloped a bit too much for comfort, so we determined that building a stone wall in the middle would create a terrace, making both parts of the lawn more usable. Visions of parties and children's weddings came to mind. We put a set of elegant arching steps in the middle, leading down to the sunken garden. Large, mature Rhododendrons were planted at the base of the Horse Chestnut and Maple trees just off the front veranda. Boxwoods undulate beneath the trees with Vinca as a ground cover. Ticonderoga stone was used for the walls and steps, which was the closest match to the existing stone foundation. The exquisite masonry by Doug Brooks Masonry makes this staircase as elegant as a tiered wedding cake.

2013 CHRYSALIS AWARD SOUTH REGION WINNER, RESIDENTIAL EXTERIOR This 1970’s split-level single-family home in an upscale Arlington neighborhood had been neglected for years. With his surrounding neighbors all doing major exterior and interior remodeling, however, the owner decided it was time to renovate his property as well. After several consultation meetings with the design team at Michael Nash Design, Build & Homes, he settled on an exterior layout to create an Art & Craft design for the home. It all got started by excavating the front and left side of the house and attaching a wrap-around stone porch. Key design attributes include a black metal roof, large tapered columns, blue and grey random style flag stone, beaded stain ceiling paneling and an octagonal seating area on the left side of this porch. The front porch has a wide stairway and another set of stairs leads to the back yard. All exterior walls of homes were modified with new headers to allow much larger custom-made windows, new front doors garage doors, and French side and back doors. A custom-designed mahogany front door with leaded glass provides more light and offers a wider entrance into the home’s living area. Design challenges included removing the entire face of the home and then adding new insulation, Tyvek and Hardiplank siding. The use of high-efficiency low-e windows makes the home air tight. The Arts & Crafts design touches include the front gable over the front porch, the prairie-style grill pattern on the windows and doors, the use of tapered columns sitting over stone columns and the leaded glass front door. Decorative exterior lighting provides the finishing touches to this look.

2011 NARI CAPITAL COTY FINALIST AWARD WINNER This 1970’s split-level single-family home in an upscale Arlington neighborhood had been neglected for years. With his surrounding neighbors all doing major exterior and interior remodeling, however, the owner decided it was time to renovate his property as well. After several consultation meetings with the design team at Michael Nash Design, Build & Homes, he settled on an exterior layout to create an Art & Craft design for the home. It all got started by excavating the front and left side of the house and attaching a wrap-around stone porch. Key design attributes include a black metal roof, large tapered columns, blue and grey random style flag stone, beaded stain ceiling paneling and an octagonal seating area on the left side of this porch. The front porch has a wide stairway and another set of stairs leads to the back yard. All exterior walls of the home were modified with new headers to allow much larger custom-made windows, new front doors garage doors, and French side and back doors. A custom-designed mahogany front door with leaded glass provides more light and offers a wider entrance into the home’s living area. Design challenges included removing the entire face of the home and then adding new insulation, Tyvek and Hardiplank siding. The use of high-efficiency low-e windows makes the home air tight. The Arts & Crafts design touches include the front gable over the front porch, the prairie-style grill pattern on the windows and doors, the use of tapered columns sitting over stone columns and the leaded glass front door. Decorative exterior lighting provides the finishing touches to this look. Inside, custom woodwork, crown molding, custom glass cabinets and interior pillars carry the design. Upon entering the space, visitors face a large partition that separates the living area from a gourmet Arts & Crafts kitchen and dining room. The home’s signature space, the kitchen offers contrasting dark and light cherry cabinets. Wide plank hard wood floors, exotic granite counters and stainless steel professional-grade appliances make this a kitchen fit for any chef.

2011 NARI CAPITAL COTY FINALIST AWARD WINNER This 1970’s split-level single-family home in an upscale Arlington neighborhood had been neglected for years. With his surrounding neighbors all doing major exterior and interior remodeling, however, the owner decided it was time to renovate his property as well. After several consultation meetings with the design team at Michael Nash Design, Build & Homes, he settled on an exterior layout to create an Art & Craft design for the home. It all got started by excavating the front and left side of the house and attaching a wrap-around stone porch. Key design attributes include a black metal roof, large tapered columns, blue and grey random style flag stone, beaded stain ceiling paneling and an octagonal seating area on the left side of this porch. The front porch has a wide stairway and another set of stairs leads to the back yard. All exterior walls of the home were modified with new headers to allow much larger custom-made windows, new front doors garage doors, and French side and back doors. A custom-designed mahogany front door with leaded glass provides more light and offers a wider entrance into the home’s living area. Design challenges included removing the entire face of the home and then adding new insulation, Tyvek and Hardiplank siding. The use of high-efficiency low-e windows makes the home air tight. The Arts & Crafts design touches include the front gable over the front porch, the prairie-style grill pattern on the windows and doors, the use of tapered columns sitting over stone columns and the leaded glass front door. Decorative exterior lighting provides the finishing touches to this look. Inside, custom woodwork, crown molding, custom glass cabinets and interior pillars carry the design. Upon entering the space, visitors face a large partition that separates the living area from a gourmet Arts & Crafts kitchen and dining room. The home’s signature space, the kitchen offers contrasting dark and light cherry cabinets. Wide plank hard wood floors, exotic granite counters and stainless steel professional-grade appliances make this a kitchen fit for any chef.

With a restrained hand, out interior designer set about bringing a new life in our clients petite apartment while also introducing easy to maintain, durable surfaces and furnishings as they love to entertain and have a lively St. Bernard. And as they had an extensive book collection and a single three-foot wide closet, the key challenge here was to make the best use of the entire space while injecting it with charming whimsy. After falling in love with our designer’s presentation, our clients went for a complete apartment overhaul and started from scratch. Since the space is small, our designer Anna S. wanted to create an urgent sense of vibrancy without coming off as too heavy handed. So she worked in expressive colors and decorative extras in small doses for subtle impact. Starting the project by changing several of the unit’s light fixtures for brighter, more minimal styles, Anna surveyed the apartment room to room to devise clever storage solutions that are easy on the eye. As they have friends over often, Anna created a warm and inviting living room boasting a slightly feminine take on mid-century modern layered with colorful pillows, patterned rugs, and eclectic art that doesn’t take over the apartment. In the kitchen, she added a strong yet gender neutral burlap wallpaper, floating wooden shelves, and new plumbing fixtures that were more sophisticated than the original, standard ones in place. However, our favorite part of the apartment is the moody, statement-making foyer. Though it was a long and narrow barely used, neglected space, Anna brought in wallpaper from Tempaper that features a matte black background covered with gold bird and floral illustrations, and added a long row of black glass cabinets and several large gold mirrors for an added sense of glamorous drama and an extra amount of storage space to boot.

Bathroom. Photography by Manolo Langis Located at the intersection where Sunset Boulevard meets the Pacific Ocean, this iconic board formed concrete structure was neglected for years. SUBU Design Architecture was brought in to reimagine the space along with a team of professionals. Through a collective effort, this unique structure has been reorganize to fit a variety of lifestyles and commercial needs.

Photo: Bonnie McCarthy © 2015 Houzz
Inspiration for a cottage home office remodel

Elegant laundry room photo in Los Angeles

Native wildflowers and grasses remain green and lush without watering or fertilizing while the turf grass in the foreground are dry and brown.
This is an example of a mid-sized rustic drought-tolerant and partial sun front yard landscaping in Minneapolis for summer.

This homeowner has long since moved away from his family farm but still visits often and thought it was time to fix up this little house that had been neglected for years. He brought home ideas and objects he was drawn to from travels around the world and allowed a team of us to help bring them together in this old family home that housed many generations through the years. What it grew into is not your typical 150 year old NC farm house but the essence is still there and shines through in the original wood and beams in the ceiling and on some of the walls, old flooring, re-purposed objects from the farm and the collection of cherished finds from his travels. Photos by Tad Davis Photography

To anchor a modern house, designed by Frederick Fisher & Partners, Campion Walker brought in a mature oak grove that at first frames the home and then invites the visitor to explore the grounds including an intimate culinary garden and stone fruit orchard. The neglected hillside on the back of the property once overgrown with ivy was transformed into a California native oak woodland, with under-planting of ceanothus and manzanitas. We used recycled water to create a dramatic water feature cut directly into the limestone entranceway framed by a cacti and succulent garden.

Photo of a southwestern landscaping in Phoenix.

To anchor a modern house, designed by Frederick Fisher & Partners, Campion Walker brought in a mature oak grove that at first frames the home and then invites the visitor to explore the grounds including an intimate culinary garden and stone fruit orchard. The neglected hillside on the back of the property once overgrown with ivy was transformed into a California native oak woodland, with under-planting of ceanothus and manzanitas. We used recycled water to create a dramatic water feature cut directly into the limestone entranceway framed by a cacti and succulent garden.