The upstairs bathroom (which serves all 5 bedrooms) was small, difficult to use and poorly laid out. To preserve the original layout of the house, we opted to reconfigure within the existing footprint and remove an unused utility chimney that divided the sink and tub. We reorganized the bathroom to fit two sinks in a period style cabinet, which was a must for this busy household. The existing clawfoot tub was sand-blasted and re-enameled before being placed in front of the window. With the new configuration, we were able to successfully maintain the small footprint and historic character of the bath.

Kitchen is open to the dining area and the living room. Mix of quart finishes and wood colors to create interest.
Open concept kitchen - mid-sized transitional l-shaped dark wood floor and brown floor open concept kitchen idea in Charlotte with a single-bowl sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, quartz countertops, white backsplash, porcelain backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and multicolored countertops

Sometimes the cost of painting an existing vanity vs. a new vanity isn't only the cost of the labor, fixing the old doors, the inside shelves were in poor condition, and the overall space the vanity provided was sub par...so we did replace the vanity and they have so much more functioning space. We did however paint the linen cabinet and the adjoining wall, and it really makes it look built it. I think this transformation is a home run!!!

Looking at this home today, you would never know that the project began as a poorly maintained duplex. Luckily, the homeowners saw past the worn façade and engaged our team to uncover and update the Victorian gem that lay underneath. Taking special care to preserve the historical integrity of the 100-year-old floor plan, we returned the home back to its original glory as a grand, single family home. The project included many renovations, both small and large, including the addition of a a wraparound porch to bring the façade closer to the street, a gable with custom scrollwork to accent the new front door, and a more substantial balustrade. Windows were added to bring in more light and some interior walls were removed to open up the public spaces to accommodate the family’s lifestyle. You can read more about the transformation of this home in Old House Journal: http://www.cummingsarchitects.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/Old-House-Journal-Dec.-2009.pdf Photo Credit: Eric Roth

Simon Jacobsen
Inspiration for a mid-sized coastal medium tone wood floor enclosed dining room remodel in Boston with white walls

Photograph by: Ethan Tweedie
Freestanding bathtub - tropical beige tile freestanding bathtub idea in Hawaii with flat-panel cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets and an undermount sink

The library shared a terrace with the living room of this home. The home owner can relax in style while enjoying views of the East River. The bookcase were original to the room but were in poor condition. They were removed and taken to the workroom to be french polished restoring the original patina. Books being a personal favorite posession they can finally showcase their extensive collection along with vintage camera's, antique boxes and an original old Dow Jones stock market tally. Comfortable upholstery, swivel chairs and expansive coffee table make entertaining a breeze. The black and white "Pony" art is hung between the two french doors. Photography by Tom Grimes

DHM Remodeling
Basement - contemporary basement idea in Indianapolis

Poor drainage was an enoromous obstacle we were happy to solve for this SW Portland family. Decorative Mexican Black Pebbles cover standard drain rock that leads to a perforated pipe, gathering storm water run-off and depositing it into a nearby dry stream bed. Photography by: Joe Hollowell

Renovation of an existing mews house, transforming it from a poorly planned out and finished property to a highly desirable residence that creates wellbeing for its occupants. Wellstudio demolished the existing bedrooms on the first floor of the property to create a spacious new open plan kitchen living dining area which enables residents to relax together and connect. Wellstudio inserted two new windows between the garage and the corridor on the ground floor and increased the glazed area of the garage door, opening up the space to bring in more natural light and thus allowing the garage to be used for a multitude of functions. Wellstudio replanned the rest of the house to optimise the space, adding two new compact bathrooms and a utility room into the layout.

The owners of this kitchen had spent the money to upgrade the finishes in their kitchen upon building the home 12 years ago, but after living in the space for several years they realized how nonfunctional the layout really was. The (then) two preschool aged children had grown into busy, hungry teenagers with many friends who also liked to hang out at the house. So the family needed a more functional kitchen with better traffic flow, space for daily activities revolving around the kitchen at different times of day, and a kitchen that could accommodate cooking for and serving large groups. Furthermore, the dark, traditional finishes no longer reflected the homeowners’ style. They requested a brighter, more relaxed, coastal style that reflected their love of the seaside cities they like to visit. Originally, the kitchen was U-shaped with a narrow island in the middle. The island created narrow aisles that bottle-necked at the dishwasher, refrigerator, and cooktop areas. There was a pass-through from the foyer into the kitchen, but the owners never liked that the pass-through was also located so close to the powder room. The awkward proximity was unappealing and made guests feel uncomfortable. The kitchen’s storage was made up of lots of narrow cabinets, apothecary drawers, clipped corner units, and very few drawers. It lacked useful storage for the larger items the family used on a daily basis. And the kitchen’s only pantry was small closet that had only builder-grade, narrow shelving with no illumination to be able to see the contents inside. Overall, the kitchen’s lighting plan was poorly executed. Only six recessed cans illuminated the entire kitchen and nook areas. The under cabinet lighting was not evenly distributed either. In fact, the builder had mis-placed the under cabinet lighting around the decorative pilasters which made for choppy, dark cubbies. Further, the builder didn’t include any lighting over the sink or the bar area, which meant whoever was doing the dishes was always in their own shadow. That, coupled with the steep overhang of the game room above made the bar area feel like a dim, cavernous space that wasn’t inviting or task oriented. The kitchen looked out into the main living space, but the raised bar and a narrow wall (which held the only large cabinet in the kitchen) created more of a barrier than a relationship to the living room or breakfast nook. In fact, one couldn’t even see the breakfast nook from the cooktop or sink areas due to its orientation. The raised bar top was too narrow to comfortably sit to either dine at or chat from due to the lack of knee space. The the homeowners confided that the kitchen felt more like a dark, dirty prison than place where the family, or their guests, wanted to gather and commune. The clients' needs and desires were: ➢ to create a kitchen that would be a space the family loved to be in; to relate to the adjacent spaces all around, and to have better flow for entertaining large groups ➢ to remove the walls between the breakfast nook and living area and to be able to utilize the natural light from the windows in both those areas ➢ to incorporate a functional chopping block for prepping fresh food for home cooked meals, an island with a large sink and drain board, 2 pull out trash cans, and seating for at least the 2 teens to eat or do homework ➢ to design a kitchen and breakfast nook with an airy, coastal, relaxed vibe that blended with the rest of the house's coastal theme ➢ to integrate a layered lighting plan which would include ample general illumination, specific task lighting, decorative lighting, and lots of illuminated storage ➢ to design a kitchen with not only more storage for all the husband’s kitchen gadgets and collection of oils and spices, but smart storage, including a coffee/breakfast bar and a place to store and conceal the toaster oven and microwave ➢ to find a way to utilize the large open space between the kitchen, pantry area, and breakfast nook Twelve Stones Designs achieved the owner's goals by: ➢ removing the walls between the kitchen and living room to allow the natural light to filter in from the adjacent rooms and to create a connection between the kitchen, nook, and living spaces for a sense of unity and communion ➢ removing the existing pantry and designing 3 large pantry style cabinets with LED tape lights and rollout drawers to house lots of kitchen appliances, gadgets, and tons of groceries. We also took the cabinets all the way up to the 9’ ceiling for additional storage for seasonal items and bulk storage. ➢ designing 2 islands - 1 with a gorgeous black walnut chopping block that houses a drawer for chopping and carving knives and a custom double pull out trash unit for point of use utilization - and 1 that houses the dishwasher, a large Blanco Gourmet sink with integrated drain board, woven baskets for fresh root vegetables and kitchen towels, plenty of drawer storage for kitchen items, and bar seating for up to 4 diners. ➢ closing off the space between the kitchen and the powder room to create a beautiful new private alcove for the powder room as well as adding some decorative storage. This also gave us space to include more tall storage near the new range for precision placement of the husband’s extensive oil and spice collection as well as a location for a combo-steam oven the wife wanted for baking and cooking healthy meals. The project is enhanced functionally by: ➢ incorporated USB and standard receptacles for the kids’ laptops and phone charging in the large island ➢ designing the small island to include additional open shelving for items used on a daily basis such as a variety of bowls, plates, and colanders. This set up also works well for the husband who prefers to “plate” his dinners in restaurant-style fashion before presenting them to the table. ➢ the integration of specific storage units, such as double stacked cutlery drawers, a custom spice pull-out, a Kuerig coffee and tea pod drawer, and custom double stacked utensil drawers ➢ moving the refrigerator to the old oven location - this eliminated the bottle neck as well as created a better relationship to the eating table. It also utilizes the floor space between the pantry, nook, and kitchen ➢ creating a banquet style breakfast nook - this banquette seating not only doubles the amount of seating for large gatherings but it better utilizes the odd space between the kitchen and the previous nook area. It also helps to create a distinct pathway from the mudroom room through the pantry area, kitchen, nook, and living room. ➢ the coffee/breakfast bar area which includes the perfect location for the concealed microwave and toaster oven, convenient storage for the coffee pods and tea accoutrements. Roll-out drawers below also house the smoothie maker, hot water kettle, and a plethora of smoothie-making ingredients such as protein powders, smoothie additives, etc. Furthermore, the drawers below the Keurig house measuring utensil, cutlery, baking supplies and tupperware storage. ➢ incorporating lots of wide drawers and pullouts to accommodate large cookware. ➢ utilizing as much vertical space as possible by building storage to the ceiling which accommodates the family’s abundant amount of serving platters, baking sheets, bakeware, casserole dishes, and additional cutting boards. The project is enhanced aesthetically by: ➢ new 5-piece Versailles pattern porcelain tile that now seamlessly joins the entire down stairs area together creating a bright, cohesiveness feeling instead of choppy separated spaces - it also adds a coastal feeling ➢ designing a cabinet to conceal the microwave and toaster oven ➢ the coastal influenced light fixtures over the nook table and island ➢ the sandy colors of the Langdon Cambria countertops. The swirling pattern and sparkling quartz pieces remind the homeowner of black-and-tan sandy beaches ➢ the striped banquet seating whose creamy white background and blue-green stripes were the inspiration for the cabinet and wall colors. ➢ All the interior doors were painted black to coordinate with the blacks and grays in the backsplash tile and countertop. This also adds a hint of tailored formality to an otherwise casual space. ➢ the use of WAC's Oculux small aperture LED units for the overhead lighting complimented with Diode LED strips for task lighting under the cabinets and inside the pantry and glass wall cabinets. All of the lighting applications are on separate dimmer switches. Innovative uses of materials or construction methods by Realty Restoration LLC: ➢ Each 1-1/2” x 3” block of reclaimed end-grain black walnut that makes up the center island chopping block was hand milled and built in the shop. It was designed to look substantial and proportional to the surrounding elements, executed by creating the 4 inch tall top with a solid wood chamfered edge band. ➢ The metal doors on either side of the vent hood were also custom designed for this project and built in the Realty Restoration LLC shop. They are made 1x2, 11-gauge mild steel with ribbed glass. Weighing 60 lbs a piece, heavy duty cabinet hinges were added to support the weight of the door and keep them from sagging. ➢ Under-cabinet receptacles were added along the range wall in order to have a clean, uninterrupted backsplash. Design obstacles to overcome: ➢ Because we were removing the demising walls between the kitchen and living room, we had to find a way to plumb and vent the new island. We did this by tunneling through the slab (the slab had post tension cables which prevented us from just trenching) to run a new wet vent through a nearby structural wall. We pulled the existing hot and cold lines between upper floor joists and ran them down the structural wall as well and up through a conduit in the tunnel. ➢ Since we were converting from wall overs to a gas range it allowed us to utilize the 220 feed for the wall ovens to provide a new sub panel for all the new kitchen circuits ➢ Due to framing deficiencies inherited from the original build there was a 1-1/2” differential in the floor-to-ceiling height over a 20 foot span; by utilizing the process of cutting and furring coupled with the crown moulding details on the cabinet elevations we were able to mask the problem and provide seamless transitions between the cabinet components. Evidence of superior craftsmanship: ➢ uniquely designed, one-of-a-kind metal “X” end panels on the large island. The end panels were custom made in the Realty Restoration LLC shop and fitted to the exact dimensions of the island. The welding seams are completely indistinguishable - the posts look like they are cut from a single sheet of metal ➢ square metal posts on the small island were also custom made and designed to compliment and carry through the metal element s throughout the kitchen ➢ the beautiful, oversized end panels on the pantry cabinets which give the breakfast nook a tailored look ➢ integrating a large format 5 piece Versailles tile pattern to seamlessly flow from the existing spaces into the new kitchen space ➢ By constructing a custom cabinet that jogged around a corner we could not remodel (housing the entry way coat closet) we were able to camouflage the adjacent wall offset within the upper and lower cabinets. By designing around the existing jog in the structural walls we accomplished a few things: we were able to find the space to house, and hide, the microwave and toaster oven yet still have a clean cohesive appearance from the kitchen side. Additionally, the owners were able to keep their much needed coat closet and we didn’t have to increase the budget with unnecessary structural work.

The directive was unusual, to say the least. “We want simple, modern, black. Now go do your thing.” One additional requirement was then added: the house would need to be built for the same price per square foot as the “normal” new homes around it. In this traditional 1920s enclave, a poorly executed solution would not sit well with the neighbors. The design team embraced this challenge. The solution is bold, simple, striking, and inviting — all at once. The team was careful to eliminate first-floor visual barriers. The result, clean views from front porch to back yard, softens the Johnny Cash look for a more inviting feel. The dark stained cedar and black steel palette diminishes the scale of the home and provides a striking contrast to the spartan white interior. Adding to the dramatic effect, an oversized steel front door amplifies the threshold crossing experience. A single steel column supports a deep porch roof to contrast the tapered wood columns found elsewhere in adjacent homes and simultaneously maintain the “front porch neighborhood” feel.

Trendy dark wood floor and brown floor living room photo with black walls

This growing family of six was struggling with a dysfunctional kitchen design. The center island had been installed at an odd angle that limited accessibility and traffic flow. Additionally, storage space was limited by poor cabinet design. Finally, doorways in and out of the kitchen were narrow and poorly located, especially for children dashing in and out. Other design challenges included how to better use a 10’ x 12’ room for children’s jackets and toys and how to add a professional-quality gas range in a neighborhood were natural gas wasn’t available. The new design would address all of these issues. DESIGN SOLUTIONS The new kitchen design revolves around a more proportional island. Carefully placed in the center of the new space with seating for four, it includes a prep sink, a second dishwasher and a beverage center. The distressed ebony-stained island and hutch provides a brilliant contrast between the white color cabinetry. White Carrera marble countertops and backsplash top both island and perimeter cabinets. Tall, double stacked cabinetry lines two walls to maximize storage space. Across the room there was an unused wall that now contains a 36” tower fridge and freezer, both covered with matching panels, and a tall cabinet that contains a microwave, steam unit and warming drawer. A propane tank was buried in the back yard to provide gas to a new 60” professional range and cooktop. A custom-made wood mantel hood blends perfectly with the cabinet style. The old laundry room was reconfigured to have lots of locker space for all kids and added cabinetry for storage. A double entry door separated the new mudroom from the rest of the back hall. In the back hall the back windows were replaced with a set of French door and added decking to create a direct access to deck and backyard. The end result is an open floor plan, high-end appliances, great traffic flow and pleasing colors. The homeowner calls it the “kitchen of her dreams.”

In a neighborhood of 3-story Italianate houses called “Mansion Hill” by the locals, the new homeowners of this 2-story brick home called to say that they wanted to have the stand-out house on the block. The house, originally known as the Kirker-Fischer House had history, an elegant interior and a rather plain exterior, compared with many of its neighbors. The homeowners also said that they envisioned an all-black house. Fortunately they are not only bold, but have great taste, demonstrated by immediately approving a new color palette. The palette has lots of deep gray, dark purple tones and five different blacks, highlighted with metallic copper. The house had been poorly maintained and quickly-rehabbed more than once. The carved stone details were filled in with several layers of old paint. The most recent repaint was fairly fresh, but in some places was barely attached to the brick substrate. Lots of old paint was hand-scraped from brick walls and both stone and wood trim. The trim was sanded smooth and some mortar was replaced in the brick. Material-specific primers were used on all bare surfaces. The details in the wood window trim were so badly scarred that it was impossible to bring them back, so we clad them with new poplar molding. Other carpentry projects included some minor repairs to the fascia boards plus a line of trim on the front porch roof to add another copper highlight to a very plain area. After all this preparation and repair, the highly-detailed plan for painting took another two weeks. Meticulous attention was paid to the surfaces to accent each level and maximize the amount of visible detail. The top coats were Sherwin-Williams Emerald along with some Resilience. The project took a 3-person crew three weeks to finish. We knew right away that this was the project we were submitting for American Painting Contractor magazine’s Top Job Award, and we’re very pleased that APC recognized the Kirker-Fischer House as a winner in the category of restoration.

Inspiration for a mid-sized transitional l-shaped medium tone wood floor and brown floor eat-in kitchen remodel in Baltimore with an undermount sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, quartz countertops, white backsplash, ceramic backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and white countertops

Gorgeous master bath with dramatic retro "wave" tile. Peak Photography
Example of a 1950s bathroom design in Los Angeles

Joan Dyer
Example of a transitional concrete floor kitchen design in Austin with an undermount sink, shaker cabinets, multicolored backsplash, glass tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances, white walls and an island

In this major kitchen remodel, we switched the locations of a half bath and a kitchen pantry, and gave an outdated and poorly laid out kitchen a total upgrade, including creating a better work triangle for people who actually cook in their kitchens. A spare, modern aesthetic was used with warm wood tones to offset the white counters. Photos by Jay Groccia at OnSite Studios