Example of a classic gray floor entryway design in New York with beige walls and a white front door

Photo: Sarah Dowlin © 2019 Houzz
Inspiration for an eclectic home design remodel in Cincinnati

Erin Lau
This is an example of a traditional landscaping in Seattle.

Sean Malone
Living room - large traditional formal and enclosed living room idea in San Francisco with beige walls, a standard fireplace, a stone fireplace and no tv

Inspiration for a contemporary brown floor single front door remodel in San Diego with beige walls and a dark wood front door

Photo: Caela McKeever © 2015 Houzz
Inspiration for a bathroom remodel in Seattle

Small mid-century modern one-story metal exterior home photo in Milwaukee

Kids' room - country kids' room idea in Other

Entry Stair Photo: Eric Rorer
Transitional two-story exterior home photo in San Francisco

Love is all around Dick "RJ" Valentine, especially when he enters his home garage. A professional race car driver, entrepreneur, chairman of The MBA Group of Companies, and owner of F1 Boston and F1 Outdoors kart racing facility, Dick is surrounded by some of his most prized possessions: a radiant blue Hennessey Venom Viper 650, a twin turbo Porsche, a 500e Mercedes, and a BMW model 750il, an M5 and an M6. And that's just the four-wheelers. Dick's garage is also home to four motorcycles: a BMW 1200LT, a BMW 1200RS, a Ducati 996F, and a Ducati ST4F. "I've basically driven everything short of the space shuttle," he jokes. His wife adds, "If it doesn't make noise, leak or have wheels, Dick doesn't want any part of it!" Driving for gold. RJ has been racing professionally for 30 years and has raced virtually every type of competitive race car at tracks all over the world, including IMSA Corvettes, Trans-Am Camaros, Riley & Scott MK3 World Sports Cars, BMW M3 V8's, Dodge Vipers, Porsche 911s, Pontiac GTO.Rs and Porsche GT3s. He has more than 325 professional road racing starts, and is one of only seven people to eclipse 120 starts in the Trans-Am Series. RJ's career Trans-Am record includes a 62% incidence of top ten finishes and in excess of 20 top-five finishes. In 2007, RJ and teammate Andy Lally claimed 5 victories, 2 seconds and placed 3rd for the 2007 GT Championship in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series aboard the #66 TRG CRG/Maxter Porsche GT3. He has driven in over 20 consecutive Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, a significant achievement given the grueling nature of this 24-hour endurance race. He uses his garage to house and service not only his personal vehicles, but his professional karts as well. That's where Lista comes in. Dick stores all his tools and parts using Lista garage workbenches with drawer cabinet pedestals, stationary riser shelves and overhead cabinets with retractable doors. "We use only Lista equipment in our racing trailers and at F1 Boston. In the racing environment, precision and quality are the name of the game. Lista is the gold standard in the business. So I wouldn't have used anything but Lista in my own garage."

Eat-in kitchen - large contemporary u-shaped light wood floor eat-in kitchen idea in New York with an undermount sink, flat-panel cabinets, white cabinets, quartz countertops, white backsplash, stone slab backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and white countertops

Houston Interior Designer Lisha Maxey took this Museum District condo from the dated, mirrored walls of the 1980s to Mid Century Modern with a gallery look featuring the client's art collection. "The place was covered with glued-down, floor-to-ceiling mirrors," says Lisha Maxey, senior designer for Homescapes of Houston and principal at LGH Design Services in Houston. "When we took them off the walls, the walls came apart. We ended up taking them down to the studs." The makeover took six months to complete, primarily because of strict condo association rules that only gave the Houston interior designers very limited access to the elevator - through which all materials and team members had to go. "Monday through Friday, we could only be noisy from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., and if we had to do something extra loud, like sawing or drilling, we had to schedule it with the management and they had to communicate that to the condo owners. So it was just a lot of coordination. But a lot of Inner City Loopers live in these kinds of buildings, so we're used to handling that kind of thing." The client, a child psychiatrist in her 60s, recently moved to Houston from northeast Texas to be with friends. After being widowed three years ago, she decided it was time to let go of the traditionally styled estate that wasn't really her style anyway. An avid diver who has traveled around the world to pursue her passion, she has amassed a large collection of art from her travels. Downsizing to 1,600 feet and wanting to go more contemporary, she wanted the display - and the look - more streamlined. "She wanted clean lines and muted colors, with the main focus being her artwork," says Maxey. "So we made the space a palette for that." Enter the white, gallery-grade paint she chose for the walls: "It's halfway between satin and flat," explains Maxey. "It's not glossy and it's not chalky - just very smooth and clean." Adding to the gallery theme is the satin nickel track lighting with lamps aimed to highlight pieces of art. "This lighting has no wires," notes Maxey. "It's powered by a positive and negative conduit." The new flooring throughout is a blended-grey porcelain tile that looks like wood planks. "It's gorgeous, natural-looking and combines all the beauty of wood with the durability of tile," says Maxey. "We used it throughout the condo to unify the space." After Maxey started looking at the client's bright, vibrant, colorful artwork, she felt the palette couldn't stay as muted anymore. Hence the Mid Century Modern orange leather sofas from West Elm and bright green chairs from Joybird, plus the throw pillows in different textures, patterns and shades of gold, orange and green. The concave lines of the Danish-inspired chairs, she notes, help them look beautiful from all the way around - a key to designing spaces for loft living. "The table in the living room is very interesting," notes Maxey. "It was handmade for the client in 1974 and has a signature on it from the artist. She was adamant about including the piece, which has all these hand-painted black-and-white art tiles on the top. I took one look at it and said 'It's not really going to go.'" However, after cutting 6 inches off the bottom and making it look a little distressed, the table ended up being the perfect complement to the sofas. The dining room table - from Design Within Reach - is a solid piece of mahogany, the chair upholstery a mix of grey velvet and leather and the legs a shiny brass. "The side chairs are leather and the end ones are velvet," says Maxey. "It's a nice textural mix that lends depth and texture." The galley kitchen, meanwhile, has been lightened and brightened, with white quartz countertops and backsplashes mimicking the look of Carrara marble, stainless steel appliances and a velvet green bench seat for a punch of color. The cabinets are painted a cool grey color called "Silverplate." The two bathrooms have been updated with contemporary white vanities and vessel sinks and the master bath now features a walk-in shower tiled in Dolomite white marble (the floor is Bianco Carrara marble mosaic, done in a herringbone pattern. In the master bedroom, Homescapes of Houston knocked down a wall between two smaller closets with swing doors to make one large walk-in closet with pocket doors. The closet in the guest bedroom also came out 13 more inches. The client's artwork throughout personalizes the space and tells the story of a life. There's a huge bowl of shells from the client's diving adventures, framed art from her child psychiatry patients and a 16th century wood carving from a monastery that's been in her family forever. "Her collection is quite impressive," says Maxey. "There's even a framed piece of autographed songs written by John Lennon." (You can see this black-framed piece of art on the wall in the photo above of two green chairs). "We're extremely happy with how the project turned out, and so is the client," says Maxey. "No expense was spared for her. It was a labor of love and we were excited to do it."

Love is all around Dick "RJ" Valentine, especially when he enters his home garage. A professional race car driver, entrepreneur, chairman of The MBA Group of Companies, and owner of F1 Boston and F1 Outdoors kart racing facility, Dick is surrounded by some of his most prized possessions: a radiant blue Hennessey Venom Viper 650, a twin turbo Porsche, a 500e Mercedes, and a BMW model 750il, an M5 and an M6. And that's just the four-wheelers. Dick's garage is also home to four motorcycles: a BMW 1200LT, a BMW 1200RS, a Ducati 996F, and a Ducati ST4F. "I've basically driven everything short of the space shuttle," he jokes. His wife adds, "If it doesn't make noise, leak or have wheels, Dick doesn't want any part of it!" Driving for gold. RJ has been racing professionally for 30 years and has raced virtually every type of competitive race car at tracks all over the world, including IMSA Corvettes, Trans-Am Camaros, Riley & Scott MK3 World Sports Cars, BMW M3 V8's, Dodge Vipers, Porsche 911s, Pontiac GTO.Rs and Porsche GT3s. He has more than 325 professional road racing starts, and is one of only seven people to eclipse 120 starts in the Trans-Am Series. RJ's career Trans-Am record includes a 62% incidence of top ten finishes and in excess of 20 top-five finishes. In 2007, RJ and teammate Andy Lally claimed 5 victories, 2 seconds and placed 3rd for the 2007 GT Championship in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series aboard the #66 TRG CRG/Maxter Porsche GT3. He has driven in over 20 consecutive Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, a significant achievement given the grueling nature of this 24-hour endurance race. He uses his garage to house and service not only his personal vehicles, but his professional karts as well. That's where Lista comes in. Dick stores all his tools and parts using Lista garage workbenches with drawer cabinet pedestals, stationary riser shelves and overhead cabinets with retractable doors. "We use only Lista equipment in our racing trailers and at F1 Boston. In the racing environment, precision and quality are the name of the game. Lista is the gold standard in the business. So I wouldn't have used anything but Lista in my own garage."

Love is all around Dick "RJ" Valentine, especially when he enters his home garage. A professional race car driver, entrepreneur, chairman of The MBA Group of Companies, and owner of F1 Boston and F1 Outdoors kart racing facility, Dick is surrounded by some of his most prized possessions: a radiant blue Hennessey Venom Viper 650, a twin turbo Porsche, a 500e Mercedes, and a BMW model 750il, an M5 and an M6. And that's just the four-wheelers. Dick's garage is also home to four motorcycles: a BMW 1200LT, a BMW 1200RS, a Ducati 996F, and a Ducati ST4F. "I've basically driven everything short of the space shuttle," he jokes. His wife adds, "If it doesn't make noise, leak or have wheels, Dick doesn't want any part of it!" Driving for gold. RJ has been racing professionally for 30 years and has raced virtually every type of competitive race car at tracks all over the world, including IMSA Corvettes, Trans-Am Camaros, Riley & Scott MK3 World Sports Cars, BMW M3 V8's, Dodge Vipers, Porsche 911s, Pontiac GTO.Rs and Porsche GT3s. He has more than 325 professional road racing starts, and is one of only seven people to eclipse 120 starts in the Trans-Am Series. RJ's career Trans-Am record includes a 62% incidence of top ten finishes and in excess of 20 top-five finishes. In 2007, RJ and teammate Andy Lally claimed 5 victories, 2 seconds and placed 3rd for the 2007 GT Championship in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series aboard the #66 TRG CRG/Maxter Porsche GT3. He has driven in over 20 consecutive Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, a significant achievement given the grueling nature of this 24-hour endurance race. He uses his garage to house and service not only his personal vehicles, but his professional karts as well. That's where Lista comes in. Dick stores all his tools and parts using Lista garage workbenches with drawer cabinet pedestals, stationary riser shelves and overhead cabinets with retractable doors. "We use only Lista equipment in our racing trailers and at F1 Boston. In the racing environment, precision and quality are the name of the game. Lista is the gold standard in the business. So I wouldn't have used anything but Lista in my own garage."

Love is all around Dick "RJ" Valentine, especially when he enters his home garage. A professional race car driver, entrepreneur, chairman of The MBA Group of Companies, and owner of F1 Boston and F1 Outdoors kart racing facility, Dick is surrounded by some of his most prized possessions: a radiant blue Hennessey Venom Viper 650, a twin turbo Porsche, a 500e Mercedes, and a BMW model 750il, an M5 and an M6. And that's just the four-wheelers. Dick's garage is also home to four motorcycles: a BMW 1200LT, a BMW 1200RS, a Ducati 996F, and a Ducati ST4F. "I've basically driven everything short of the space shuttle," he jokes. His wife adds, "If it doesn't make noise, leak or have wheels, Dick doesn't want any part of it!" Driving for gold. RJ has been racing professionally for 30 years and has raced virtually every type of competitive race car at tracks all over the world, including IMSA Corvettes, Trans-Am Camaros, Riley & Scott MK3 World Sports Cars, BMW M3 V8's, Dodge Vipers, Porsche 911s, Pontiac GTO.Rs and Porsche GT3s. He has more than 325 professional road racing starts, and is one of only seven people to eclipse 120 starts in the Trans-Am Series. RJ's career Trans-Am record includes a 62% incidence of top ten finishes and in excess of 20 top-five finishes. In 2007, RJ and teammate Andy Lally claimed 5 victories, 2 seconds and placed 3rd for the 2007 GT Championship in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series aboard the #66 TRG CRG/Maxter Porsche GT3. He has driven in over 20 consecutive Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, a significant achievement given the grueling nature of this 24-hour endurance race. He uses his garage to house and service not only his personal vehicles, but his professional karts as well. That's where Lista comes in. Dick stores all his tools and parts using Lista garage workbenches with drawer cabinet pedestals, stationary riser shelves and overhead cabinets with retractable doors. "We use only Lista equipment in our racing trailers and at F1 Boston. In the racing environment, precision and quality are the name of the game. Lista is the gold standard in the business. So I wouldn't have used anything but Lista in my own garage."

Love is all around Dick "RJ" Valentine, especially when he enters his home garage. A professional race car driver, entrepreneur, chairman of The MBA Group of Companies, and owner of F1 Boston and F1 Outdoors kart racing facility, Dick is surrounded by some of his most prized possessions: a radiant blue Hennessey Venom Viper 650, a twin turbo Porsche, a 500e Mercedes, and a BMW model 750il, an M5 and an M6. And that's just the four-wheelers. Dick's garage is also home to four motorcycles: a BMW 1200LT, a BMW 1200RS, a Ducati 996F, and a Ducati ST4F. "I've basically driven everything short of the space shuttle," he jokes. His wife adds, "If it doesn't make noise, leak or have wheels, Dick doesn't want any part of it!" Driving for gold. RJ has been racing professionally for 30 years and has raced virtually every type of competitive race car at tracks all over the world, including IMSA Corvettes, Trans-Am Camaros, Riley & Scott MK3 World Sports Cars, BMW M3 V8's, Dodge Vipers, Porsche 911s, Pontiac GTO.Rs and Porsche GT3s. He has more than 325 professional road racing starts, and is one of only seven people to eclipse 120 starts in the Trans-Am Series. RJ's career Trans-Am record includes a 62% incidence of top ten finishes and in excess of 20 top-five finishes. In 2007, RJ and teammate Andy Lally claimed 5 victories, 2 seconds and placed 3rd for the 2007 GT Championship in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series aboard the #66 TRG CRG/Maxter Porsche GT3. He has driven in over 20 consecutive Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona, a significant achievement given the grueling nature of this 24-hour endurance race. He uses his garage to house and service not only his personal vehicles, but his professional karts as well. That's where Lista comes in. Dick stores all his tools and parts using Lista garage workbenches with drawer cabinet pedestals, stationary riser shelves and overhead cabinets with retractable doors. "We use only Lista equipment in our racing trailers and at F1 Boston. In the racing environment, precision and quality are the name of the game. Lista is the gold standard in the business. So I wouldn't have used anything but Lista in my own garage."

This kitchen remodel was designed to make a statement—balancing bold character with refined craftsmanship to create a space that’s both highly functional and visually unforgettable. At the heart of the design is a striking contrast palette. Crisp white perimeter cabinetry keeps the space bright and open, while rich black lower cabinets and a substantial island ground the room with depth and sophistication. The oversized island serves as both a functional workspace and a central gathering point, topped with a dramatic stone surface that adds movement and texture. The flooring plays a defining role in the overall aesthetic. A custom black-and-white patterned tile layout introduces energy and personality, transforming the kitchen into a true design centerpiece while maintaining a timeless appeal. This bold foundation is thoughtfully balanced by clean lines, classic shaker cabinetry, and elegant hardware selections. Functionality was a key driver throughout the project. The layout maximizes workflow efficiency with dedicated zones for cooking, prep, and cleanup. A professional-grade range anchors the island, while the farmhouse sink positioned beneath large windows brings in natural light and enhances the everyday experience. Custom storage solutions—including extended cabinetry, integrated dish storage, and built-in appliance areas—ensure everything has its place without compromising the clean aesthetic. Lighting was carefully layered to elevate both form and function. Statement pendant fixtures above the island add architectural interest, while recessed lighting provides consistent illumination throughout the space. The result is a kitchen that feels both elevated and livable—where bold design choices meet practical everyday use. It’s a space designed not just to cook in, but to gather, entertain, and truly enjoy.

This kitchen remodel was designed to make a statement—balancing bold character with refined craftsmanship to create a space that’s both highly functional and visually unforgettable. At the heart of the design is a striking contrast palette. Crisp white perimeter cabinetry keeps the space bright and open, while rich black lower cabinets and a substantial island ground the room with depth and sophistication. The oversized island serves as both a functional workspace and a central gathering point, topped with a dramatic stone surface that adds movement and texture. The flooring plays a defining role in the overall aesthetic. A custom black-and-white patterned tile layout introduces energy and personality, transforming the kitchen into a true design centerpiece while maintaining a timeless appeal. This bold foundation is thoughtfully balanced by clean lines, classic shaker cabinetry, and elegant hardware selections. Functionality was a key driver throughout the project. The layout maximizes workflow efficiency with dedicated zones for cooking, prep, and cleanup. A professional-grade range anchors the island, while the farmhouse sink positioned beneath large windows brings in natural light and enhances the everyday experience. Custom storage solutions—including extended cabinetry, integrated dish storage, and built-in appliance areas—ensure everything has its place without compromising the clean aesthetic. Lighting was carefully layered to elevate both form and function. Statement pendant fixtures above the island add architectural interest, while recessed lighting provides consistent illumination throughout the space. The result is a kitchen that feels both elevated and livable—where bold design choices meet practical everyday use. It’s a space designed not just to cook in, but to gather, entertain, and truly enjoy.

This kitchen remodel was designed to make a statement—balancing bold character with refined craftsmanship to create a space that’s both highly functional and visually unforgettable. At the heart of the design is a striking contrast palette. Crisp white perimeter cabinetry keeps the space bright and open, while rich black lower cabinets and a substantial island ground the room with depth and sophistication. The oversized island serves as both a functional workspace and a central gathering point, topped with a dramatic stone surface that adds movement and texture. The flooring plays a defining role in the overall aesthetic. A custom black-and-white patterned tile layout introduces energy and personality, transforming the kitchen into a true design centerpiece while maintaining a timeless appeal. This bold foundation is thoughtfully balanced by clean lines, classic shaker cabinetry, and elegant hardware selections. Functionality was a key driver throughout the project. The layout maximizes workflow efficiency with dedicated zones for cooking, prep, and cleanup. A professional-grade range anchors the island, while the farmhouse sink positioned beneath large windows brings in natural light and enhances the everyday experience. Custom storage solutions—including extended cabinetry, integrated dish storage, and built-in appliance areas—ensure everything has its place without compromising the clean aesthetic. Lighting was carefully layered to elevate both form and function. Statement pendant fixtures above the island add architectural interest, while recessed lighting provides consistent illumination throughout the space. The result is a kitchen that feels both elevated and livable—where bold design choices meet practical everyday use. It’s a space designed not just to cook in, but to gather, entertain, and truly enjoy.