Brett Mountain
Example of an urban wooden straight open staircase design in Detroit

5,411 SF two story home in the Encino Hills overlooking Los Angeles. This home features an attached two-car garage, 4 Bedrooms, 5 1/2 Baths, 2 Offices, Foyer, Gallery, Gym, Great Room, Den, Dining, Kitchen, Morning Room, Mud Room, Laundry, Loggia, Jacuzzi, and a pool with a gorgeous view overlooking Los Angeles. Walls of glass, natural stone surfaces featuring Porcelanosa tile, high ceilings, and sweeping vistas fuse the home's indoor and outdoor environments. The outdoor space features a fire pit, Jacuzzi, and swimming pool; the extensive use of windows not only brings the view inside but maximizes the use of natural light. Photovoltaic panels supply power to the home and pool and dramatically reduce energy consumption year round. Tankless water heaters, bamboo cabinetry and flooring, and tight high quality insulation further reduce the environmental footprint of the home and make it more sustainable...this home is also featured in FIND BLISS and LUXE Magazine. Eco Friendly and Green Home. Photo by: Latham Architectural

Inspiration for a bedroom and large transitional girl medium tone wood floor and brown floor kids' bedroom remodel in Los Angeles with pink walls

This renovated brick rowhome in Boston’s South End offers a modern aesthetic within a historic structure, creative use of space, exceptional thermal comfort, a reduced carbon footprint, and a passive stream of income. DESIGN PRIORITIES. The goals for the project were clear - design the primary unit to accommodate the family’s modern lifestyle, rework the layout to create a desirable rental unit, improve thermal comfort and introduce a modern aesthetic. We designed the street-level entry as a shared entrance for both the primary and rental unit. The family uses it as their everyday entrance - we planned for bike storage and an open mudroom with bench and shoe storage to facilitate the change from shoes to slippers or bare feet as they enter their home. On the main level, we expanded the kitchen into the dining room to create an eat-in space with generous counter space and storage, as well as a comfortable connection to the living space. The second floor serves as master suite for the couple - a bedroom with a walk-in-closet and ensuite bathroom, and an adjacent study, with refinished original pumpkin pine floors. The upper floor, aside from a guest bedroom, is the child's domain with interconnected spaces for sleeping, work and play. In the play space, which can be separated from the work space with new translucent sliding doors, we incorporated recreational features inspired by adventurous and competitive television shows, at their son’s request. MODERN MEETS TRADITIONAL. We left the historic front facade of the building largely unchanged - the security bars were removed from the windows and the single pane windows were replaced with higher performing historic replicas. We designed the interior and rear facade with a vision of warm modernism, weaving in the notable period features. Each element was either restored or reinterpreted to blend with the modern aesthetic. The detailed ceiling in the living space, for example, has a new matte monochromatic finish, and the wood stairs are covered in a dark grey floor paint, whereas the mahogany doors were simply refinished. New wide plank wood flooring with a neutral finish, floor-to-ceiling casework, and bold splashes of color in wall paint and tile, and oversized high-performance windows (on the rear facade) round out the modern aesthetic. RENTAL INCOME. The existing rowhome was zoned for a 2-family dwelling but included an undesirable, single-floor studio apartment at the garden level with low ceiling heights and questionable emergency egress. In order to increase the quality and quantity of space in the rental unit, we reimagined it as a two-floor, 1 or 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a modern aesthetic, increased ceiling height on the lowest level and provided an in-unit washer/dryer. The apartment was listed with Jackie O'Connor Real Estate and rented immediately, providing the owners with a source of passive income. ENCLOSURE WITH BENEFITS. The homeowners sought a minimal carbon footprint, enabled by their urban location and lifestyle decisions, paired with the benefits of a high-performance home. The extent of the renovation allowed us to implement a deep energy retrofit (DER) to address air tightness, insulation, and high-performance windows. The historic front facade is insulated from the interior, while the rear facade is insulated on the exterior. Together with these building enclosure improvements, we designed an HVAC system comprised of continuous fresh air ventilation, and an efficient, all-electric heating and cooling system to decouple the house from natural gas. This strategy provides optimal thermal comfort and indoor air quality, improved acoustic isolation from street noise and neighbors, as well as a further reduced carbon footprint. We also took measures to prepare the roof for future solar panels, for when the South End neighborhood’s aging electrical infrastructure is upgraded to allow them. URBAN LIVING. The desirable neighborhood location allows the both the homeowners and tenant to walk, bike, and use public transportation to access the city, while each charging their respective plug-in electric cars behind the building to travel greater distances. OVERALL. The understated rowhouse is now ready for another century of urban living, offering the owners comfort and convenience as they live life as an expression of their values. Photography: Eric Roth Photo

Trendy open concept medium tone wood floor family room photo in Austin with a corner fireplace and a media wall

Ed Ritger Photography
Transitional open concept medium tone wood floor and brown floor living room photo in San Francisco with a wall-mounted tv and beige walls

informal family room with bookcases, limestone fireplace, tv mounted over fireplace, expansive windows
Example of a classic open concept dark wood floor family room library design with white walls, a standard fireplace, a stone fireplace and a wall-mounted tv

Adding a penthouse perch to this 1899 row house with a harbor view demanded unusual tactics. To circumvent municipal limitations on floor area, a section of floor was removed from one level and “transferred” to the roof as a new studio space. To comply with local height limitations, an innovative structure of solid wood studs was deployed to reduce floor and ceiling thicknesses to the bare minimum. Aside from creating the desired rooftop refuge, these gymnastics also created a dynamic cascade of interior living spaces for an urban designer and his family. Photos by Bruce Buck

The master bedroom sitting area. Shelley Zatsky
Bedroom - mid-sized traditional master medium tone wood floor bedroom idea in Boston with blue walls and no fireplace

Transitional dark wood floor bedroom photo in San Francisco with white walls

Example of a transitional family room design in San Francisco

Example of a large trendy wooden u-shaped metal railing staircase design in Dallas with painted risers

This home was a complete gut, so it got a major face-lift in each room. In the powder and hall baths, we decided to try to make a huge impact in these smaller spaces, and so guests get a sense of "wow" when they need to wash up! Powder Bath: The freestanding sink basin is from Stone Forest, Harbor Basin with Carrara Marble and the console base is Palmer Industries Jamestown in satin brass with a glass shelf. The faucet is from Newport Brass and is their wall mount Jacobean in satin brass. With the small space, we installed the Toto Eco Supreme One-Piece round bowl, which was a huge floor space saver. Accessories are from the Newport Brass Aylesbury collection. Hall Bath: The vanity and floating shelves are from WW Woods Shiloh Cabinetry, Poplar wood with their Cadet stain which is a gorgeous blue-hued gray. Plumbing products - the faucet and shower fixtures - are from the Brizo Rook collection in chrome, with accessories to match. The commode is a Toto Drake II 2-piece. Toto was also used for the sink, which sits in a Caesarstone Pure White quartz countertop.

Amy Bartlam
Mid-sized trendy porcelain tile and brown floor front door photo in Los Angeles with white walls and a blue front door

Bob O'Connor
Nursery - contemporary gender-neutral white floor nursery idea in Boston with multicolored walls

Topkat photography
Example of a mountain style medium tone wood floor wet bar design in Burlington with an undermount sink, glass-front cabinets and blue cabinets

David Angello
Hallway - mid-sized contemporary hallway idea

Kitchen - cottage brick floor kitchen idea with a farmhouse sink, shaker cabinets, beige cabinets and stainless steel appliances

Beach style u-shaped medium tone wood floor and brown floor patio photo in Orange County with shaker cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets, white backsplash, mosaic tile backsplash, paneled appliances and an island