A 1980's townhouse located in the Fitler Square neighborhood of Philadelphia was in need of an upgrade. The project that resulted included substantial interior renovation to the four-story townhome overlooking the Schuylkill River. The Owners desired a fresh interpretation of their existing space, more suited for entertaining and uncluttered modern living. This led to a reinvention of the modern master suite and a refocusing of architectural elements and materials throughout the home. Originally comprised of a divided master bedroom, bathroom and office, the fourth floor was entirely redesigned to create a contemporary, open-plan master suite. The bedroom, now located in the center of the floor plan, is composed with custom built-in furniture and includes a glass terrarium and a wet bar. It is flanked by a dressing room on one side and a luxurious bathroom on the other, all open to one another both visually and by circulation. The bathroom includes a free-standing tub, glass shower, custom wood vanity, eco-conscious fireplace, and an outdoor terrace. The open plan allows for great breadth and a wealth of natural light, atypical of townhouse living. The main entertaining floor houses the kitchen, dining area and living room. A sculptural ceiling defines the open dining area, while a long, low concrete hearth connects the new modern fireplace with the concrete stair treads leading up. The bright, neutral color palette of the walls and finishes contrasts against the blackened wood floors. Sleek but comfortable furnishing, dramatic recessed lighting, and a full-home speaker system complete the entertaining space. Barry Halkin and Todd Mason Photography

Klopf Architecture, Arterra Landscape Architects, and Flegels Construction updated a classic Eichler open, indoor-outdoor home. Expanding on the original walls of glass and connection to nature that is common in mid-century modern homes. The completely openable walls allow the homeowners to truly open up the living space of the house, transforming it into an open air pavilion, extending the living area outdoors to the private side yards, and taking maximum advantage of indoor-outdoor living opportunities. Taking the concept of borrowed landscape from traditional Japanese architecture, the fountain, concrete bench wall, and natural landscaping bound the indoor-outdoor space. The Truly Open Eichler is a remodeled single-family house in Palo Alto. This 1,712 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom is located in the heart of the Silicon Valley. Klopf Architecture Project Team: John Klopf, AIA, Geoff Campen, and Angela Todorova Landscape Architect: Arterra Landscape Architects Structural Engineer: Brian Dotson Consulting Engineers Contractor: Flegels Construction Photography ©2014 Mariko Reed Location: Palo Alto, CA Year completed: 2014

Highlighting this Sonoma County estate’s natural textures and colors, this wood and steel spiral staircase with floating catwalk adds an open and airy lofted touch to this beautiful rustic space. Reclaimed wood accents throughout the home, a pivoting garage window to open the dining room to the outdoors, and custom light fixtures complete this home’s modern country feel.

Graced with an abundance of windows, Alexandria’s modern meets traditional exterior boasts stylish stone accents, interesting rooflines and a pillared and welcoming porch. You’ll never lack for style or sunshine in this inspired transitional design perfect for a growing family. The timeless design merges a variety of classic architectural influences and fits perfectly into any neighborhood. A farmhouse feel can be seen in the exterior’s peaked roof, while the shingled accents reference the ever-popular Craftsman style. Inside, an abundance of windows flood the open-plan interior with light. Beyond the custom front door with its eye-catching sidelights is 2,350 square feet of living space on the first level, with a central foyer leading to a large kitchen and walk-in pantry, adjacent 14 by 16-foot hearth room and spacious living room with a natural fireplace. Also featured is a dining area and convenient home management center perfect for keeping your family life organized on the floor plan’s right side and a private study on the left, which lead to two patios, one covered and one open-air. Private spaces are concentrated on the 1,800-square-foot second level, where a large master suite invites relaxation and rest and includes built-ins, a master bath with double vanity and two walk-in closets. Also upstairs is a loft, laundry and two additional family bedrooms as well as 400 square foot of attic storage. The approximately 1,500-square-foot lower level features a 15 by 24-foot family room, a guest bedroom, billiards and refreshment area, and a 15 by 26-foot home theater perfect for movie nights. Photographer: Ashley Avila Photography

Indoor outdoor living defines this open dining and living area. Open doors connect central courtyard to poolside patio.
Example of a mid-sized tuscan beige floor and light wood floor great room design in Santa Barbara with white walls and no fireplace

Modern dining room design Photo by Yulia Piterkina | www.06place.com
Example of a mid-sized trendy vinyl floor and gray floor kitchen/dining room combo design in Seattle with beige walls and no fireplace

Great Room indoor outdoor living, with views to the Canyon. Cozy Family seating in a Room & Board Sectional & Rejuvenation leather chairs. While dining with Restoration Hardware Dining table, leather dining chairs and their gorgeous RH chandelier. The interior hardwood floors where color matched to Trex outdoor decking material.

Property Marketed by Hudson Place Realty - Style meets substance in this circa 1875 townhouse. Completely renovated & restored in a contemporary, yet warm & welcoming style, 295 Pavonia Avenue is the ultimate home for the 21st century urban family. Set on a 25’ wide lot, this Hamilton Park home offers an ideal open floor plan, 5 bedrooms, 3.5 baths and a private outdoor oasis. With 3,600 sq. ft. of living space, the owner’s triplex showcases a unique formal dining rotunda, living room with exposed brick and built in entertainment center, powder room and office nook. The upper bedroom floors feature a master suite separate sitting area, large walk-in closet with custom built-ins, a dream bath with an over-sized soaking tub, double vanity, separate shower and water closet. The top floor is its own private retreat complete with bedroom, full bath & large sitting room. Tailor-made for the cooking enthusiast, the chef’s kitchen features a top notch appliance package with 48” Viking refrigerator, Kuppersbusch induction cooktop, built-in double wall oven and Bosch dishwasher, Dacor espresso maker, Viking wine refrigerator, Italian Zebra marble counters and walk-in pantry. A breakfast nook leads out to the large deck and yard for seamless indoor/outdoor entertaining. Other building features include; a handsome façade with distinctive mansard roof, hardwood floors, Lutron lighting, home automation/sound system, 2 zone CAC, 3 zone radiant heat & tremendous storage, A garden level office and large one bedroom apartment with private entrances, round out this spectacular home.

In this renovation, a spare bedroom was removed to expand the living and dining space. A central built in separates the living from the dining area and provides ample storage while serving as a media center. Featured in Interior Design, Sept. 2014, p. 216 and Serendipity, Oct. 2014, p. 30. Renovation, Interior Design, and Furnishing: Luca Andrisani Architect. Photo: Peter Murdock

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

Coronado, CA The Alameda Residence is situated on a relatively large, yet unusually shaped lot for the beachside community of Coronado, California. The orientation of the “L” shaped main home and linear shaped guest house and covered patio create a large, open courtyard central to the plan. The majority of the spaces in the home are designed to engage the courtyard, lending a sense of openness and light to the home. The aesthetics take inspiration from the simple, clean lines of a traditional “A-frame” barn, intermixed with sleek, minimal detailing that gives the home a contemporary flair. The interior and exterior materials and colors reflect the bright, vibrant hues and textures of the seaside locale.

[Our Clients] We were so excited to help these new homeowners re-envision their split-level diamond in the rough. There was so much potential in those walls, and we couldn’t wait to delve in and start transforming spaces. Our primary goal was to re-imagine the main level of the home and create an open flow between the space. So, we started by converting the existing single car garage into their living room (complete with a new fireplace) and opening up the kitchen to the rest of the level. [Kitchen] The original kitchen had been on the small side and cut-off from the rest of the home, but after we removed the coat closet, this kitchen opened up beautifully. Our plan was to create an open and light filled kitchen with a design that translated well to the other spaces in this home, and a layout that offered plenty of space for multiple cooks. We utilized clean white cabinets around the perimeter of the kitchen and popped the island with a spunky shade of blue. To add a real element of fun, we jazzed it up with the colorful escher tile at the backsplash and brought in accents of brass in the hardware and light fixtures to tie it all together. Through out this home we brought in warm wood accents and the kitchen was no exception, with its custom floating shelves and graceful waterfall butcher block counter at the island. [Dining Room] The dining room had once been the home’s living room, but we had other plans in mind. With its dramatic vaulted ceiling and new custom steel railing, this room was just screaming for a dramatic light fixture and a large table to welcome one-and-all. [Living Room] We converted the original garage into a lovely little living room with a cozy fireplace. There is plenty of new storage in this space (that ties in with the kitchen finishes), but the real gem is the reading nook with two of the most comfortable armchairs you’ve ever sat in. [Master Suite] This home didn’t originally have a master suite, so we decided to convert one of the bedrooms and create a charming suite that you’d never want to leave. The master bathroom aesthetic quickly became all about the textures. With a sultry black hex on the floor and a dimensional geometric tile on the walls we set the stage for a calm space. The warm walnut vanity and touches of brass cozy up the space and relate with the feel of the rest of the home. We continued the warm wood touches into the master bedroom, but went for a rich accent wall that elevated the sophistication level and sets this space apart. [Hall Bathroom] The floor tile in this bathroom still makes our hearts skip a beat. We designed the rest of the space to be a clean and bright white, and really let the lovely blue of the floor tile pop. The walnut vanity cabinet (complete with hairpin legs) adds a lovely level of warmth to this bathroom, and the black and brass accents add the sophisticated touch we were looking for. [Office] We loved the original built-ins in this space, and knew they needed to always be a part of this house, but these 60-year-old beauties definitely needed a little help. We cleaned up the cabinets and brass hardware, switched out the formica counter for a new quartz top, and painted wall a cheery accent color to liven it up a bit. And voila! We have an office that is the envy of the neighborhood.

Photography by Patrick Ray With a footprint of just 450 square feet, this micro residence embodies minimalism and elegance through efficiency. Particular attention was paid to creating spaces that support multiple functions as well as innovative storage solutions. A mezzanine-level sleeping space looks down over the multi-use kitchen/living/dining space as well out to multiple view corridors on the site. To create a expansive feel, the lower living space utilizes a bifold door to maximize indoor-outdoor connectivity, opening to the patio, endless lap pool, and Boulder open space beyond. The home sits on a ¾ acre lot within the city limits and has over 100 trees, shrubs and grasses, providing privacy and meditation space. This compact home contains a fully-equipped kitchen, ¾ bath, office, sleeping loft and a subgrade storage area as well as detached carport.

Open floor plan concept features a cozy family room with Ethan Allen Arcata sectional and dining area that sits right off of open kitchen. Designed by Deena Doherty for Ethan Allen Danbury. Several featured Ethan Allen pieces include: Arcata sectional, Vida stone top coffee table, Warren side table, Ming media cabinet and Nassau round ottoman.

This elegant 2600 sf home epitomizes swank city living in the heart of Los Angeles. Originally built in the late 1970's, this Century City home has a lovely vintage style which we retained while streamlining and updating. The lovely bold bones created an architectural dream canvas to which we created a new open space plan that could easily entertain high profile guests and family alike.

Great room - large contemporary dark wood floor great room idea in New York with white walls and no fireplace

This beautifully crafted Scandinavian kitchen remodel blends the warmth of white oak shaker cabinets with the sleek elegance of a quartzite island, creating a space that feels fresh yet timeless. Brass hardware, a farmhouse sink, and a custom range hood add character, while panel-ready appliances and a full-height backsplash keep the look seamless. The open plan layout offers a bright, airy atmosphere, enhanced by natural wood tones, pendant lighting, and light flooring. A central island with seating invites casual dining and conversation, making this kitchen as functional as it is welcoming—perfect for cooking, gathering, and everyday living.

Photo credit: Scott McDonald @ Hedrich Blessing 7RR-Ecohome: The design objective was to build a house for a couple recently married who both had kids from previous marriages. How to bridge two families together? The design looks forward in terms of how people live today. The home is an experiment in transparency and solid form; removing borders and edges from outside to inside the house, and to really depict “flowing and endless space”. The house floor plan is derived by pushing and pulling the house’s form to maximize the backyard and minimize the public front yard while welcoming the sun in key rooms by rotating the house 45-degrees to true north. The angular form of the house is a result of the family’s program, the zoning rules, the lot’s attributes, and the sun’s path. We wanted to construct a house that is smart and efficient in terms of construction and energy, both in terms of the building and the user. We could tell a story of how the house is built in terms of the constructability, structure and enclosure, with a nod to Japanese wood construction in the method in which the siding is installed and the exposed interior beams are placed in the double height space. We engineered the house to be smart which not only looks modern but acts modern; every aspect of user control is simplified to a digital touch button, whether lights, shades, blinds, HVAC, communication, audio, video, or security. We developed a planning module based on a 6-foot square room size and a 6-foot wide connector called an interstitial space for hallways, bathrooms, stairs and mechanical, which keeps the rooms pure and uncluttered. The house is 6,200 SF of livable space, plus garage and basement gallery for a total of 9,200 SF. A large formal foyer celebrates the entry and opens up to the living, dining, kitchen and family rooms all focused on the rear garden. The east side of the second floor is the Master wing and a center bridge connects it to the kid’s wing on the west. Second floor terraces and sunscreens provide views and shade in this suburban setting. The playful mathematical grid of the house in the x, y and z axis also extends into the layout of the trees and hard-scapes, all centered on a suburban one-acre lot. Many green attributes were designed into the home; Ipe wood sunscreens and window shades block out unwanted solar gain in summer, but allow winter sun in. Patio door and operable windows provide ample opportunity for natural ventilation throughout the open floor plan. Minimal windows on east and west sides to reduce heat loss in winter and unwanted gains in summer. Open floor plan and large window expanse reduces lighting demands and maximizes available daylight. Skylights provide natural light to the basement rooms. Durable, low-maintenance exterior materials include stone, ipe wood siding and decking, and concrete roof pavers. Design is based on a 2' planning grid to minimize construction waste. Basement foundation walls and slab are highly insulated. FSC-certified walnut wood flooring was used. Light colored concrete roof pavers to reduce cooling loads by as much as 15%. 2x6 framing allows for more insulation and energy savings. Super efficient windows have low-E argon gas filled units, and thermally insulated aluminum frames. Permeable brick and stone pavers reduce the site’s storm-water runoff. Countertops use recycled composite materials. Energy-Star rated furnaces and smart thermostats are located throughout the house to minimize duct runs and avoid energy loss. Energy-Star rated boiler that heats up both radiant floors and domestic hot water. Low-flow toilets and plumbing fixtures are used to conserve water usage. No VOC finish options and direct venting fireplaces maintain a high interior air quality. Smart home system controls lighting, HVAC, and shades to better manage energy use. Plumbing runs through interior walls reducing possibilities of heat loss and freezing problems. A large food pantry was placed next to kitchen to reduce trips to the grocery store. Home office reduces need for automobile transit and associated CO2 footprint. Plan allows for aging in place, with guest suite than can become the master suite, with no need to move as family members mature.

Our homeowners approached us for design help shortly after purchasing a fixer upper. They wanted to redesign the home into an open concept plan. Their goal was something that would serve multiple functions: allow them to entertain small groups while accommodating their two small children not only now but into the future as they grow up and have social lives of their own. They wanted the kitchen opened up to the living room to create a Great Room. The living room was also in need of an update including the bulky, existing brick fireplace. They were interested in an aesthetic that would have a mid-century flair with a modern layout. We added built-in cabinetry on either side of the fireplace mimicking the wood and stain color true to the era. The adjacent Family Room, needed minor updates to carry the mid-century flavor throughout.