Martin King
Inspiration for a mid-sized transitional women's dark wood floor and brown floor walk-in closet remodel in Orange County with flat-panel cabinets and light wood cabinets

This room was designed with the intent to be functional for family living space, but also carry a clean style of global influence to be the center of the home. Photo: Jessica White Photography

A view from the Kitchen that includes a soffit arch detail and transition into the two-story great room and foyer area, a unique feature in this rambler home. There is no shortage of large windows and bright light in this happy home. Two-story painted millwork detailing and arched openings create the visual of a big-beautiful space. Floating bookshelves provide room for soft and colorful accessories. Herringbone marble surrounds the fireplace for an added soft detail. Photo by Spacecrafting Photography Inc.

Essential, contemporary, and inviting defines this extremely energy efficient, Energy Star certified, Passive House design-inspired home in the Pacific Northwest. Designed for an active family of four, the one-story 3 bedroom, 2 bath floor plan offers tasteful aging in place features, a strong sense of privacy for both kids and parents, and a low profile that doesn’t impinge on the natural landscape. This house will heat itself in the dead of winter with less energy than it takes to run a hair dryer, and be sensual to live in while it does it. The forms throughout the home are simple and neutral, allowing for ample natural light, rich warm materials, and of course, room for the Guinea pigs makes this a great example of artful architecture applied to a genuine family lifestyle. This ultra energy efficient home relies on extremely high levels of insulation, air-tight detailing and construction, and the implementation of high performance, custom made European windows and doors by Zola Windows. Zola’s ThermoPlus Clad line, which boasts R-11 triple glazing and is thermally broken with a layer of patented German Purenit®, was selected for the project. Natural daylight enters both from the tilt & turn and fixed windows in the living and dining areas, and through the terrace door that leads seamlessly outside to the natural landscape. Designed and constructed by The Artisans Group out of Olympia, Washington - a small but mighty firm co-owned by Randy Foster and Tessa Smith. Fun, funky and innovative, The Artisans Group has designed and built more Passive Houses than any other firm on the West Coast. Known for their striking, award winning, and sensible work, they provide solutions for projects of any size and budget. Photography: Art Gray of Art Gray Photography

We love it when a home becomes a family compound with wonderful history. That is exactly what this home on Mullet Lake is. The original cottage was built by our client’s father and enjoyed by the family for years. It finally came to the point that there was simply not enough room and it lacked some of the efficiencies and luxuries enjoyed in permanent residences. The cottage is utilized by several families and space was needed to allow for summer and holiday enjoyment. The focus was on creating additional space on the second level, increasing views of the lake, moving interior spaces and the need to increase the ceiling heights on the main level. All these changes led for the need to start over or at least keep what we could and add to it. The home had an excellent foundation, in more ways than one, so we started from there. It was important to our client to create a northern Michigan cottage using low maintenance exterior finishes. The interior look and feel moved to more timber beam with pine paneling to keep the warmth and appeal of our area. The home features 2 master suites, one on the main level and one on the 2nd level with a balcony. There are 4 additional bedrooms with one also serving as an office. The bunkroom provides plenty of sleeping space for the grandchildren. The great room has vaulted ceilings, plenty of seating and a stone fireplace with vast windows toward the lake. The kitchen and dining are open to each other and enjoy the view. The beach entry provides access to storage, the 3/4 bath, and laundry. The sunroom off the dining area is a great extension of the home with 180 degrees of view. This allows a wonderful morning escape to enjoy your coffee. The covered timber entry porch provides a direct view of the lake upon entering the home. The garage also features a timber bracketed shed roof system which adds wonderful detail to garage doors. The home’s footprint was extended in a few areas to allow for the interior spaces to work with the needs of the family. Plenty of living spaces for all to enjoy as well as bedrooms to rest their heads after a busy day on the lake. This will be enjoyed by generations to come.

Landscape & Pool Details
Patio - contemporary concrete patio idea in New York with a fire pit

George Oakley
Inspiration for a contemporary home office remodel in Salt Lake City

The previously modest entry is now highlighted by an enlarged entry door with exterior lights and a wide stepping stone path. New window openings were delicately created to provide a dynamic composition.

This Woodland Style home is a beautiful combination of rustic charm and modern flare. The Three bedroom, 3 and 1/2 bath home provides an abundance of natural light in every room. The home design offers a central courtyard adjoining the main living space with the primary bedroom. The master bath with its tiled shower and walk in closet provide the homeowner with much needed space without compromising the beautiful style of the overall home.

This looks like a traditional pergola, but it is an Equinox Adjustable Louvered Roof. With the touch of a remote, the louvers open to let in the light, rotate 160 degrees to provide cooling shade in the heat of the day or fully close to provide a watertight seal and protection from rain. Design options to fit any architectural style plus options for fans, lighting, sound systems, heaters, retractable screening, etc... transform a patio or deck into a 3-4 season outdoor living space. Contact Core Outdoor Living to find out if Equinox Adjustable Louvered Roof is right for your outdoor living needs.

A smaller patio adjacent to the main dining area was added for smaller groups to hang out in and provides a great spot for the grill. Westhauser Photography

Powder room - contemporary white tile and marble tile gray floor powder room idea in Austin with flat-panel cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets, white walls, a vessel sink, wood countertops and brown countertops

Sean Litchfield
Example of a classic home design design in Boston

Example of a patio design in Houston

Master bathroom
Example of a transitional beige tile bathroom design in Chicago with flat-panel cabinets and white cabinets

Custom Laundry space with basin for 2nd Floor of this Luxury Row Home in Philadelphia, PA. The surround for the front load washer and dryer serves as a folding station as well as a counter surface for cleaning supplies. Wall storage allows for overflow storage for the 2nd floor while providing a decorative feel to this unique space. Hanging Rail provides area to hang delicates or laundry requiring air dry. This room is approximately 5'x 11'.

AFTER--Tiered steel clad planters flank the new stairs connecting to the waterfront. When the shrubs fill in they will provide more privacy.
This is an example of a contemporary full sun side yard landscaping in Seattle.

This end of a long, narrow walk-in closet provides the perfect respite for this husband's colorful wardrobe - and you would never know there is an ironing board at arm's reach.. Atlanta Closet & Storage Solutions/David Buchsbaum

Craig Thompson Photography The client was looking for a contemporary but comfortable space as a gathering place for themselves, their family and friends in the city. They wanted color, which was right up my alley. The specific color requests were orange, aqua and purple. We used the orange and aqua in the main living space adding a rich chocolate to the mix to provide a bold color palette. One theme that was consistent in the design was the use of circles, ellipses, and flowing curves. This was evidenced in the fabrics, furniture, wall sconces, bar design, artwork, TV area wall covering, and artwork. Often times contemporary design is very angular, straight lined and rigid. This was not the desired look for this client. They desired an open layout in the main living space to accentuate the breathtaking view. With these units there are always structural issues to be worked through. There is a structural column in an inopportune place in the main Living area. To make sense of this, it was incorporated into a bar that goes right up to the full height window. When sitting at the bar, it almost feels like you are floating in mid air, looking down on the hustle and bustle of the city. The bar is faced with dimensional glass tile with quartz countertops. An elliptical shaped floating bulkhead is intersected by the bold orange column. The bulkhead was finished in the dark chocolate with a silver deco molding around the face like a bracelet, architectural jewelry as I like to refer to it as. The bar creates an interesting architectural focal point, but also provides function for entertaining. We did a softer version of the aqua, combined with gray and cream for the color palette in the Master suite. I was able to give the client her request for purple which we did in the Guest Bedroom (not photographed) as the accent wall behind the bed and combined it with gold to complete the scheme.