Brandon Stengel
Laundry room - small traditional laundry room idea in Minneapolis

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

Home theater - large rustic medium tone wood floor and brown floor home theater idea in Atlanta with brown walls and no fireplace

This contemporary compact laundry room packs a lot of punch and personality. With it's gold fixtures and hardware adding some glitz, the grey cabinetry, industrial floors and patterned backsplash tile brings interest to this small space. Fully loaded with hanging racks, large accommodating sink, vacuum/ironing board storage & laundry shoot, this laundry room is not only stylish but function forward.

Picture Perfect House
Inspiration for a cottage kitchen remodel in Chicago

Photography: Nathan Schroder
Example of a trendy concrete exterior home design in Dallas

© Steve Freihon/ Tungsten LLC
Inspiration for a small contemporary master white tile and stone slab bamboo floor doorless shower remodel in New York with flat-panel cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets, an undermount sink, a wall-mount toilet, marble countertops and white walls

Pool - contemporary courtyard concrete and rectangular pool idea in Dallas

Full view of living room area.
Living room - contemporary medium tone wood floor and exposed beam living room idea in Kansas City

Eric Rorer
Mid-sized mid-century modern formal and enclosed dark wood floor living room photo in San Francisco with white walls, a ribbon fireplace, no tv and a concrete fireplace

Staircase - contemporary wooden u-shaped cable railing staircase idea in Austin

Denver Modern with natural stone accents.
Mid-sized modern gray three-story stone flat roof idea in Denver

Inspiration for a coastal bedroom remodel in New York

To create a unique kitchen, we take inspiration from the personality of our clients; it’s a collaborative effort to develop the exact look and feel that best suits their lifestyles. The challenge of this kitchen was to re-build the existing kitchen and adjoining full bath, creating a much better flow with plenty of storage for this active family (as they often entertain seaside). The two-toned cabinetry in both white and laguna blue reflected a true beach-feel adorned with a terrific choice of starfish and shell shaped hardware to draw attention to this creative and beautifully transformed seaside kitchen. We remind our clients that in order to be unique, do something unique! And this is nicely demonstrated in both the layout, color scheme and backsplash design details. Our client selected several hand painted decorative ocean creatures for the backsplash, drawing from colors in the room, and this created a truly unique conversation piece! A glint of sparkle from the white quartz countertops brings you closer to the beach in this impressive oceanfront home. From flooring to ceiling, we created a picture perfect beautiful beach house kitchen that is not only functional but provides a relaxed and inviting feel for these seaside owners.

Location: Bethesda, MD, USA This total revamp turned out better than anticipated leaving the clients thrilled with the outcome. Finecraft Contractors, Inc. Interior Designer: Anna Cave Susie Soleimani Photography Blog: http://graciousinteriors.blogspot.com/2016/07/from-cellar-to-stellar-lower-level.html

Winner of the 2018 Tour of Homes Best Remodel, this whole house re-design of a 1963 Bennet & Johnson mid-century raised ranch home is a beautiful example of the magic we can weave through the application of more sustainable modern design principles to existing spaces. We worked closely with our client on extensive updates to create a modernized MCM gem. Extensive alterations include: - a completely redesigned floor plan to promote a more intuitive flow throughout - vaulted the ceilings over the great room to create an amazing entrance and feeling of inspired openness - redesigned entry and driveway to be more inviting and welcoming as well as to experientially set the mid-century modern stage - the removal of a visually disruptive load bearing central wall and chimney system that formerly partitioned the homes’ entry, dining, kitchen and living rooms from each other - added clerestory windows above the new kitchen to accentuate the new vaulted ceiling line and create a greater visual continuation of indoor to outdoor space - drastically increased the access to natural light by increasing window sizes and opening up the floor plan - placed natural wood elements throughout to provide a calming palette and cohesive Pacific Northwest feel - incorporated Universal Design principles to make the home Aging In Place ready with wide hallways and accessible spaces, including single-floor living if needed - moved and completely redesigned the stairway to work for the home’s occupants and be a part of the cohesive design aesthetic - mixed custom tile layouts with more traditional tiling to create fun and playful visual experiences - custom designed and sourced MCM specific elements such as the entry screen, cabinetry and lighting - development of the downstairs for potential future use by an assisted living caretaker - energy efficiency upgrades seamlessly woven in with much improved insulation, ductless mini splits and solar gain

Tre Dunham, Fine Focus Photography
Open concept kitchen - mid-sized transitional u-shaped dark wood floor open concept kitchen idea in Austin with shaker cabinets, white cabinets, gray backsplash, subway tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and quartz countertops

Photo Credit: Annie M Design

A rare find in Bloomfield Township is new construction. This gem of a custom home not only featured a modern, open floorplan with great flow, it also had an 1,800 sq. ft. unfinished basement. When the homeowners of this beautiful house approached MainStreet Design Build, they understood the value of renovating the accessible, non-livable space—and recognized its unlimited potential. Their vision for their 1,800 sq. ft. finished basement included a lighter, brighter teen entertainment area—a space large enough for pool, ping pong, shuffle board and darts. It was also important to create an area for food and drink that did not look or feel like a bar. Although the basement was completely unfinished, it presented design challenges due to the angled location of the stairwell and existing plumbing. After 4 months of construction, MainStreet Design Build delivered—in spades! Details of this project include a beautiful modern fireplace wall with Peau de Beton concrete paneled tile surround and an oversized limestone mantel and hearth. Clearly a statement piece, this wall also features a Boulevard 60-inch Contemporary Vent-Free Linear Fireplace with reflective glass liner and crushed glass. Opposite the fireplace wall, is a beautiful custom room divider with bar stool seating that separates the living room space from the gaming area. Effectively blending this room in an open floorplan, MainStreet Design Build used Country Oak Wood Plank Vinyl flooring and painted the walls in a Benjamin Moore eggshell finish. The Kitchenette was designed using Dynasty semi-custom cabinetry, specifically a Renner door style with a Battleship Opaque finish; Top Knobs hardware in a brushed satin nickel finish; and beautiful Caesarstone Symphony Grey Quartz countertops. Tastefully coordinated with the rest of the décor is a modern Filament Chandelier in a bronze finish from Restoration Hardware, hung perfectly above the kitchenette table. A new ½ bath was tucked near the stairwell and designed using the same custom cabinetry and countertops as the kitchenette. It was finished in bold blue/gray paint and topped with Symphony Gray Caesarstone. Beautiful 3×12” Elemental Ice glass subway tile and stainless steel wall shelves adorn the back wall creating the illusion of light. Chrome Shades of Light Double Bullet glass wall sconces project from the wall to shed light on the mirror. Kate Benjamin Photography