Hidden pool revealed. Kelly Daacon
Small minimalist backyard rectangular pool photo in Austin with decking

The Mazama house is located in the Methow Valley of Washington State, a secluded mountain valley on the eastern edge of the North Cascades, about 200 miles northeast of Seattle. The house has been carefully placed in a copse of trees at the easterly end of a large meadow. Two major building volumes indicate the house organization. A grounded 2-story bedroom wing anchors a raised living pavilion that is lifted off the ground by a series of exposed steel columns. Seen from the access road, the large meadow in front of the house continues right under the main living space, making the living pavilion into a kind of bridge structure spanning over the meadow grass, with the house touching the ground lightly on six steel columns. The raised floor level provides enhanced views as well as keeping the main living level well above the 3-4 feet of winter snow accumulation that is typical for the upper Methow Valley. To further emphasize the idea of lightness, the exposed wood structure of the living pavilion roof changes pitch along its length, so the roof warps upward at each end. The interior exposed wood beams appear like an unfolding fan as the roof pitch changes. The main interior bearing columns are steel with a tapered “V”-shape, recalling the lightness of a dancer. The house reflects the continuing FINNE investigation into the idea of crafted modernism, with cast bronze inserts at the front door, variegated laser-cut steel railing panels, a curvilinear cast-glass kitchen counter, waterjet-cut aluminum light fixtures, and many custom furniture pieces. The house interior has been designed to be completely integral with the exterior. The living pavilion contains more than twelve pieces of custom furniture and lighting, creating a totality of the designed environment that recalls the idea of Gesamtkunstverk, as seen in the work of Josef Hoffman and the Viennese Secessionist movement in the early 20th century. The house has been designed from the start as a sustainable structure, with 40% higher insulation values than required by code, radiant concrete slab heating, efficient natural ventilation, large amounts of natural lighting, water-conserving plumbing fixtures, and locally sourced materials. Windows have high-performance LowE insulated glazing and are equipped with concealed shades. A radiant hydronic heat system with exposed concrete floors allows lower operating temperatures and higher occupant comfort levels. The concrete slabs conserve heat and provide great warmth and comfort for the feet. Deep roof overhangs, built-in shades and high operating clerestory windows are used to reduce heat gain in summer months. During the winter, the lower sun angle is able to penetrate into living spaces and passively warm the exposed concrete floor. Low VOC paints and stains have been used throughout the house. The high level of craft evident in the house reflects another key principle of sustainable design: build it well and make it last for many years! Photo by Benjamin Benschneider

photography by Anice Hoachlander
Bathroom - large contemporary master gray tile gray floor bathroom idea in DC Metro with flat-panel cabinets, beige cabinets, gray walls and quartz countertops

Organize small items that easily get misplaced. The sliding top tray of this Vanity Wood Tiered Storage Divider is perfect for organizing cosmetics and personal care items.

Pool - rustic pool idea in Other

This traditional Spanish style home in Willow Glen was updated and transformed into a blend of Spanish and Japandi style, to honor both the architectural style of the home, as well as the owners' personal and cultural aesthetic. This was designed in collaboration with architect Story Build Design.

Linen closet in the VNA House Tour in Monmouth County NJ Down to Basics.
Example of a classic laundry room design in New York

This modern green home offers both a vacation destination on Cape Cod near local family members and an opportunity for rental income. FAMILY ROOTS. A West Coast couple living in the San Francisco Bay Area sought a permanent East Coast vacation home near family members living on Cape Cod. As academic professionals focused on sustainability, they sought a green, energy efficient home that was well-aligned with their values. With no green homes available for sale on Cape Cod, they decided to purchase land near their family and build their own. SLOPED SITE. Comprised of a 3/4 acre lot nestled in the pines, the steeply sloping terrain called for a plan that embraced and took advantage of the slope. Of equal priority was optimizing solar exposure, preserving privacy from abutters, and creating outdoor living space. The design accomplished these goals with a simple, rectilinear form, offering living space on the both entry and lower/basement levels. The stepped foundation allows for a walk-out basement level with light-filled living space on the down-hill side of the home. The traditional basement on the eastern, up-hill side houses mechanical equipment and a home gym. The house welcomes natural light throughout, captures views of the forest, and delivers entertainment space that connects indoor living space to outdoor deck and dining patio. MODERN VISION. The clean building form and uncomplicated finishes pay homage to the modern architectural legacy on the outer Cape. Durable and economical fiber cement panels, fixed with aluminum channels, clad the primary form. Cedar clapboards provide a visual accent at the south-facing living room, which extends a single roof plane to cover the entry porch. SMART USE OF SPACE. On the entry level, the “L”-shaped living, dining, and kitchen space connects to the exterior living, dining, and grilling spaces to effectively double the home’s summertime entertainment area. Placed at the western end of the entry level (where it can retain privacy but still claim expansive downhill views) is the master suite with a built-in study. The lower level has two guest bedrooms, a second full bathroom, and laundry. The flexibility of the space—crucial in a house with a modest footprint—emerges in one of the guest bedrooms, which doubles as home office by opening the barn-style double doors to connect it to the bright, airy open stair leading up to the entry level. Thoughtful design, generous ceiling heights and large windows transform the modest 1,100 sf* footprint into a well-lit, spacious home. *(total finished space is 1800 sf) RENTAL INCOME. The property works for its owners by netting rental income when the owners are home in San Francisco. The house especially caters to vacationers bound for nearby Mayo Beach and includes an outdoor shower adjacent to the lower level entry door. In contrast to the bare bones cottages that are typically available on the Cape, this home offers prospective tenants a modern aesthetic, paired with luxurious and green features. Durable finishes inside and out will ensure longevity with the heavier use that comes with a rental property. COMFORT YEAR-ROUND. The home is super-insulated and air-tight, with mechanical ventilation to provide continuous fresh air from the outside. High performance triple-paned windows complement the building enclosure and maximize passive solar gain while ensuring a warm, draft-free winter, even when sitting close to the glass. A properly sized air source heat pump offers efficient heating & cooling, and includes a carefully designed the duct distribution system to provide even comfort throughout the house. The super-insulated envelope allows us to significantly reduce the equipment capacity, duct size, and airflow quantities, while maintaining unparalleled thermal comfort. ENERGY EFFICIENT. The building’s shell and mechanical systems play instrumental roles in the home’s exceptional performance. The building enclosure reduces the most significant energy glutton: heating. Continuous super-insulation, thorough air sealing, triple-pane windows, and passive solar gain work together to yield a miniscule heating load. All active energy consumers are extremely efficient: an air source heat pump for heating and cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation (ERV), and high efficiency appliances. The result is a home that uses 70% less energy than a similar new home built to code requirements. OVERALL. The home embodies the owners’ goals and values while comprehensively enabling thermal comfort, energy efficiency, a vacation respite, and supplementary income. PROJECT TEAM ZeroEnergy Design - Architect & Mechanical Designer A.F. Hultin & Co. - Contractor Pamet Valley Landscape Design - Landscape & Masonry Lisa Finch - Original Artwork European Architectural Supply - Windows Eric Roth Photography - Photography

Sophisticated and fun were the themes in this design. This bathroom is used by three young children. The parents wanted a bathroom whose decor would be fun for the children, but "not a kiddy bathroom". This family travels to the beach quite often, so they wanted a beach resort (emphasis on resort) influence in the design. Storage of toiletries & medications, as well as a place to hang a multitude of towels, were the primary goals. Besides meeting the storage goals, the bathroom needed to be brightened and needed better lighting. Ocean-inspired blue & white wallpaper was paired with bright orange, Moroccan-inspired floor & accent tiles from Fireclay Tile to give the "resort" look the clients were looking for. Light fixtures with industrial style accents add additional interest, while a seagrass mirror adds texture & warmth. Photos: Christy Kosnic

The Arcadia Louvered Roof enhances the beauty of any style home and provides the flexibility of having an open roof when the weather is good or a solid roof to keep the rain off your patio when the weather turns bad. Eco-friendly Construction The Arcadia system is made up of recycled aluminum making it an extremely Green product. It is also eco-friendly, helping consumers save on passive solar heating and cooling. We Think Green Arcadia is proud to continue the company's tradition with its approach to Environmental Innovation. From the choice of lightweight materials and lean production methods to the efficiency of its drive system and designs, Arcadia is committed to operating as a more sustainable business and reducing its overall environmental impact. High-quality Building Materials Each Arcadia system is a work of art, constructed with care and attention to every little detail. Our system is powered coated, extruded aluminum with stainless steel components giving us the most durable louvered roof on the market today. From our superior drive system, which is UL & CE certified, down to the stainless steel tex screws that secures the system together. Nothing but the best! Our low-maintenance components eliminate painting, staining, and waterproofing of traditional shading structures. Using powder-coated aluminum construction prevents warping, cracking, and corrosion. Photographed by: Roger Chafin

Inspiration for a modern home design remodel in Chicago

Bathroom - bathroom idea in San Francisco

View coming out of walkout basement to outdoor living space
This is an example of a traditional landscaping in Boston.

Laundry may be a chore we all face, but it doesn't have to feel like one. Clean and serene is the theme for this laundry center. Located in a busy part of the house next to the back door and combined with coat and shoe storage into a mud room, it still offers a sense of peace and calm by providing a place for everything and preventing chaos from taking over. It's easier to keep the room looking tidy when you have a good organizational system like this one. Shelves and cabinets above the side-by-side front loading washer and dryer provide convenient storage for detergent, dryer sheets, fabric softener and other laundry aids. A shelf with a basket is a great place to temporarily store all the little items that were left in pockets and shouldn't go in the wash. The small hanging rod in the corner takes care of the delicate drip dry items that can't go in the dryer, while the small sink with storage cabinets is large enough for hand wash and things you want to quickly rinse out like swim suits. It's also a great place to stop and wash dirty hands before continuing into the rest of the house. A garbage can is hidden in the cabinet beneath the sink. The lower shelves with baskets next to the sink can store either folded clothing that has yet to be put away, or a basket or dirty laundry waiting to go into the wash. The oil rubbed bronze finish on the cabinet handles and faucet ties in with blue, beige, dark brown and white color scheme present throughout the first floor of the home and is a strong accent against the white. It also ties in perfectly with the dark wood look ceramic tiles on the floor. Designer - Gerry Ayala Photo - Cathy Rabeler

Garden 32 in Altadena
Photo of a craftsman landscaping in Los Angeles.

Example of a large trendy master single-sink bathroom design in Portland with flat-panel cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets, marble countertops, white countertops and a built-in vanity

Located in Menlo Park, California, this 3,000 sf. remodel was carefully crafted to generate excitement and make maximum use of the owner’s strict budget and comply with the city’s stringent planning code. It was understood that not everything was to be redone from a prior owner’s quirky remodel which included odd inward angled walls, circular windows and cedar shingles. Remedial work to remove and prevent dry rot ate into the budget as well. Studied alterations to the exterior include a new trellis over the garage door, pushing the entry out to create a new soaring stair hall and stripping the exterior down to simplify its appearance. The new steel entry stair leads to a floating bookcase that pivots to the family room. For budget reasons, it was decided to keep the existing cedar shingles. Upstairs, a large oak multi-level staircase was replaced with the new simple run of stairs. The impact of angled bedroom walls and circular window in the bathroom were calmed with new clean white walls and tile. Photo Credit: John Sutton Photography.

Our clients are seasoned home renovators. Their Malibu oceanside property was the second project JRP had undertaken for them. After years of renting and the age of the home, it was becoming prevalent the waterfront beach house, needed a facelift. Our clients expressed their desire for a clean and contemporary aesthetic with the need for more functionality. After a thorough design process, a new spatial plan was essential to meet the couple’s request. This included developing a larger master suite, a grander kitchen with seating at an island, natural light, and a warm, comfortable feel to blend with the coastal setting. Demolition revealed an unfortunate surprise on the second level of the home: Settlement and subpar construction had allowed the hillside to slide and cover structural framing members causing dangerous living conditions. Our design team was now faced with the challenge of creating a fix for the sagging hillside. After thorough evaluation of site conditions and careful planning, a new 10’ high retaining wall was contrived to be strategically placed into the hillside to prevent any future movements. With the wall design and build completed — additional square footage allowed for a new laundry room, a walk-in closet at the master suite. Once small and tucked away, the kitchen now boasts a golden warmth of natural maple cabinetry complimented by a striking center island complete with white quartz countertops and stunning waterfall edge details. The open floor plan encourages entertaining with an organic flow between the kitchen, dining, and living rooms. New skylights flood the space with natural light, creating a tranquil seaside ambiance. New custom maple flooring and ceiling paneling finish out the first floor. Downstairs, the ocean facing Master Suite is luminous with breathtaking views and an enviable bathroom oasis. The master bath is modern and serene, woodgrain tile flooring and stunning onyx mosaic tile channel the golden sandy Malibu beaches. The minimalist bathroom includes a generous walk-in closet, his & her sinks, a spacious steam shower, and a luxurious soaking tub. Defined by an airy and spacious floor plan, clean lines, natural light, and endless ocean views, this home is the perfect rendition of a contemporary coastal sanctuary. PROJECT DETAILS: • Style: Contemporary • Colors: White, Beige, Yellow Hues • Countertops: White Ceasarstone Quartz • Cabinets: Bellmont Natural finish maple; Shaker style • Hardware/Plumbing Fixture Finish: Polished Chrome • Lighting Fixtures: Pendent lighting in Master bedroom, all else recessed • Flooring: Hardwood - Natural Maple Tile – Ann Sacks, Porcelain in Yellow Birch • Tile/Backsplash: Glass mosaic in kitchen • Other Details: Bellevue Stand Alone Tub Photographer: Andrew, Open House VC

Inspiration for an eclectic dining room remodel in Chicago