Joe Fletcher Atop a ridge in the Santa Lucia mountains of Carmel, California, an oak tree stands elevated above the fog and wrapped at its base in this ranch retreat. The weekend home’s design grew around the 100-year-old Valley Oak to form a horseshoe-shaped house that gathers ridgeline views of Oak, Madrone, and Redwood groves at its exterior and nestles around the tree at its center. The home’s orientation offers both the shade of the oak canopy in the courtyard and the sun flowing into the great room at the house’s rear façades. This modern take on a traditional ranch home offers contemporary materials and landscaping to a classic typology. From the main entry in the courtyard, one enters the home’s great room and immediately experiences the dramatic westward views across the 70 foot pool at the house’s rear. In this expansive public area, programmatic needs flow and connect - from the kitchen, whose windows face the courtyard, to the dining room, whose doors slide seamlessly into walls to create an outdoor dining pavilion. The primary circulation axes flank the internal courtyard, anchoring the house to its site and heightening the sense of scale by extending views outward at each of the corridor’s ends. Guest suites, complete with private kitchen and living room, and the garage are housed in auxiliary wings connected to the main house by covered walkways. Building materials including pre-weathered corrugated steel cladding, buff limestone walls, and large aluminum apertures, and the interior palette of cedar-clad ceilings, oil-rubbed steel, and exposed concrete floors soften the modern aesthetics into a refined but rugged ranch home.

Our clients need a complete update to their master bathroom. Storage and comfort were the main focus with this remodel. Design elements included built in medicine cabinets, cabinet pullouts and a beautiful teak wood shower floor. Textured tile in the shower gives an added dimension to this luxurious new space.

Designing the Master Suite custom furnishings, bedding, window coverings and artwork to compliment the modern architecture while offering an elegant, serene environment for peaceful reflection were the chief objectives. The color scheme remains a warm neutral, like the limestone walls, along with soft accents of subdued greens, sage and silvered blues to bring the colors of the magnificent, long Hill country views into the space. Special effort was spent designing custom window coverings that wouldn't compete with the architecture, but appear integrated and operate easily to open wide the prized view fully and provide privacy when needed. To achieve an understated elegance, the textures are rich and refined with a glazed linen headboard fabric, plush wool and viscose rug, soft leather bench, velvet pillow, satin accents to custom bedding and an ultra fine linen for the drapery with accents of natural wood mixed with warm bronze and aged brass metal finishes. The original oil painting curated for this room sets a calming and serene tone for the space with an ever important focus on the beauty of nature. The original fine art landscape painting for this room was created by Christa Brothers, of Brothers Fine Art Marfa.

The Owners of a home that had been consumed by the moving dunes of Lake Michigan wanted a home that would not only stand the test of aesthetic time, but survive the vicissitudes of the environment. With the assistance of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality as well as the consulting civil engineer and the City of Grand Haven Zoning Department, a soil stabilization site plan was developed based on raising the new home’s main floor elevation by almost three feet, implementing erosion studies, screen walls and planting indigenous, drought tolerant xeriscaping. The screen walls, as well as the low profile of the home and the use of sand trapping marrum beachgrass all help to create a wind shadow buffer around the home and reduce blowing sand erosion and accretion. The Owners wanted to minimize the stylistic baggage which consumes most “cottage” residences, and with the Architect created a home with simple lines focused on the view and the natural environment. Sustainable energy requirements on a budget directed the design decisions regarding the SIPs panel insulation, energy systems, roof shading, other insulation systems, lighting and detailing. Easily constructed and linear, the home harkens back to mid century modern pavilions with present day environmental sensitivities and harmony with the site. James Yochum

tonystakis@shopgothic.com Gothic Cabinet Craft has made custom furniture for over 40 years. Whether you need a custom fit built-in wall unit of cabinets or a unique piece that until now has only been in your imagination, Gothic can make it for you. With the American Dream and a lot of hard work. Gothic Cabinet Craft was started in 1969 in NYC by a Greek immigrant Theodore Zaharopoulos, who was determined to make it. With a focus on quality and affordability, our founder's designs evolved into practical storage solutions for urban areas. The Original ™ Storage, Original ™ Platform, and Original ™ Captains beds were all developed by him and are now a common staple in all furniture stores. A family operated business, Gothic continues to offer high quality affordable furniture for every home. To back this up, Gothic is one of the only furniture companies anywhere in the world to provide a lifetime warranty. Now serving the entire US, Gothic is the largest manufacturer of unfinished furniture on the East Coast. Gothic Cabinet Craft is a family operated business that manufacturers affordable real wood furniture for every room in your home. Stop into our stores today and experience the Gothic difference.

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.

This kitchen, laundry room, and bathroom in Elkins Park, PA was completely renovated and re-envisioned to create a fresh and inviting space with refined farmhouse details and maximum functionality that speaks not only to the client's taste but to and the architecture and feel of the entire home. The design includes functional cabinetry with a focus on organization. We enlarged the window above the farmhouse sink to allow as much natural light as possible and created a striking focal point with a custom vent hood and handpainted terra cotta tile. High-end materials were used throughout including quartzite countertops, beautiful tile, brass lighting, and classic European plumbing fixtures.

Our designer has achieved a stylish look by combining dark cabinets and light-colored marbles.

Trendy sunroom photo in Austin

Living room - mid-century modern medium tone wood floor living room idea in San Francisco with white walls

Justin Krug Photography
Example of a huge country backyard concrete patio kitchen design in Portland with a roof extension

Source : Ancient Surfaces Product : Basalt Stone Kitchen Sink & Countertop. Phone#: (212) 461-0245 Email: Sales@ancientsurfaces.com Website: www.AncientSurfaces.com For the past few years the trend in kitchen decor has been to completely remodel your entire kitchen in stainless steel. Stainless steel counter-tops and appliances, back-splashes even stainless steel cookware and utensils. Some kitchens are so loaded with stainless that you feel like you're walking into one of those big walk-in coolers like you see in a restaurant or a sterile operating room. They're cold and so... uninviting. Who wants to spend time in a room that reminds you of the frozen isle of a supermarket? One of the basic concepts of interior design focuses on using natural elements in your home. Things like woods and green plants and soft fabrics make your home feel more warm and welcoming. In most homes the kitchen is where everyone congregates whether it's for family mealtimes or entertaining. Get rid of that stainless steel and add some warmth to your kitchen with one of our antique stone kitchen hoods that were at first especially deep antique fireplaces retrofitted to accommodate a fully functional metal vent inside of them.

Example of a trendy courtyard patio design in Los Angeles with a fire pit and no cover

This remodel of a mid century gem is located in the town of Lincoln, MA a hot bed of modernist homes inspired by Gropius’ own house built nearby in the 1940’s. By the time the house was built, modernism had evolved from the Gropius era, to incorporate the rural vibe of Lincoln with spectacular exposed wooden beams and deep overhangs. The design rejects the traditional New England house with its enclosing wall and inward posture. The low pitched roofs, open floor plan, and large windows openings connect the house to nature to make the most of its rural setting. Photo by: Nat Rea Photography

Countertop Brand: Cambria Style: Hazelford
Large trendy l-shaped light wood floor and beige floor open concept kitchen photo with an undermount sink, light wood cabinets, quartz countertops, stainless steel appliances, an island, glass-front cabinets and brown countertops

Our main focus to the pool area was this lovely #poolsidepavilion In the ceiling we added continous strip lighting w/ smart controls so the client can operate from thier phones.

The Espresso project demonstrates how boutique commercial architecture can define a brand’s identity. For this Sandy Springs cafe, we focused on maximizing operational flow and street-level visibility. Every element, from the industrial brickwork to the high-performance glazing, was coordinated in BIM to ensure a seamless transition from design to construction in the North Atlanta market.

Every area of the condo was re-worked from the baseboard and door casing to the new custom crown molding in the living room. The living room also includes new, wide plank walnut floors and battery operated motorized shades, which were installed on the concrete ceiling.

Fixed windows over tilt-only windows offer fresh air ventilation.
Freestanding bathtub - mid-sized contemporary master gray tile porcelain tile, gray floor and double-sink freestanding bathtub idea in Salt Lake City with flat-panel cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets, white walls, a vessel sink, wood countertops, brown countertops and a floating vanity