Xeriscaping is extremely popular, especially in Southern California. With rising water costs, many homeowners have turned to xeriscaping to lower their utility bills and reduce their carbon footprint. Xeriscaping entails the creative use of hardscape and native and succulant plants to create a beautiful, low-maintenance, drought-tolerant landscape design. Our experienced landscape architects and garden designers specialize in planning out practical, efficient garden designs that use little to no water.

SOLERA® Soft Shades ENERGY-EFFICIENT ROMAN SHADES WITH SCULPTURAL APPEAL Enjoy the timeless beauty of Roman shades with a contemporary twist. The fluid, unique look of Solera® Soft Shades is created by combining the soft folds of a classic Roman shade with the construction of a cellular shade. These cordless soft shades bring together soft, diaphanous folds of fabric with a cellular construction. The result? A striking soft window treatment that’s also energy-efficient. Smartly designed pockets trap air and keep your home warmer or cooler, depending on the season. Key Features Energy Efficiency—The cellular construction increases insulating properties and helps lower your energy consumption, ultimately reducing your heating and cooling bills. Fabrics & Colors—The Solera fabric collection is full of luxurious woven and innovative non-woven fabrics, colors, textures and patterns. To suit your needs, every fabric is available in both light-filtering and room-darkening opacities. Light Control—The Top-Down/Bottom-Up design option allows for versatile operation. All of your privacy needs are met, and you still have access to natural light. Sound Absorption—The insulating cellular construction can also improve your room’s acoustics while reducing the intensity of outside noise. LNG Blinds 19 Addison Pl Valley Stream, NY 11580 Call Us (516) 593-0044 #homesweethome #homedecor #lovemyhome #barenecessities #windows #instastyle #instadesign #interiordesign #blinds #privacy #embellishment #instahomes #propertyowner #renovation #customblindsbydesign #hunterdouglas #showcase #displays #windowtreatments #windowcoverings #shades #shutters #drapery #interiors #decor

Xeriscaping is extremely popular, especially in Southern California. With rising water costs, many homeowners have turned to xeriscaping to lower their utility bills and reduce their carbon footprint. Xeriscaping entails the creative use of hardscape and native and succulant plants to create a beautiful, low-maintenance, drought-tolerant landscape design. Our experienced landscape architects and garden designers specialize in planning out practical, efficient garden designs that use little to no water.

SOLERA® Soft Shades ENERGY-EFFICIENT ROMAN SHADES WITH SCULPTURAL APPEAL Enjoy the timeless beauty of Roman shades with a contemporary twist. The fluid, unique look of Solera® Soft Shades is created by combining the soft folds of a classic Roman shade with the construction of a cellular shade. These cordless soft shades bring together soft, diaphanous folds of fabric with a cellular construction. The result? A striking soft window treatment that’s also energy-efficient. Smartly designed pockets trap air and keep your home warmer or cooler, depending on the season. Key Features Energy Efficiency—The cellular construction increases insulating properties and helps lower your energy consumption, ultimately reducing your heating and cooling bills. Fabrics & Colors—The Solera fabric collection is full of luxurious woven and innovative non-woven fabrics, colors, textures and patterns. To suit your needs, every fabric is available in both light-filtering and room-darkening opacities. Light Control—The Top-Down/Bottom-Up design option allows for versatile operation. All of your privacy needs are met, and you still have access to natural light. Sound Absorption—The insulating cellular construction can also improve your room’s acoustics while reducing the intensity of outside noise. LNG Blinds 19 Addison Pl Valley Stream, NY 11580 Call Us (516) 593-0044 #homesweethome #homedecor #lovemyhome #barenecessities #windows #instastyle #instadesign #interiordesign #blinds #privacy #embellishment #instahomes #propertyowner #renovation #customblindsbydesign #hunterdouglas #showcase #displays #windowtreatments #windowcoverings #shades #shutters #drapery #interiors #decor

Deck - contemporary deck idea in Vancouver with a fire pit, decking and no cover

Nestled on the historic grounds of the original 1888 schoolhouse in Lafayette, Colorado, this early twentieth-century home underwent a transformative modern farmhouse renovation. Embracing sustainable design principles, it seamlessly blended contemporary design, comfort, and durability. The open floor plan enhances modern living, while energy-efficient upgrades reduce the carbon footprint and improve indoor air quality, fostering a resilient and eco-friendly home.

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

Glass - If “the eyes are the windows to the soul,” then “glass windows are the soul of your sunroom.” Nothing lets the light in (or keeps the bugs and the elements out) better than glass, and it’s not just any glass. The new high-tech performance glass blocks up to 90-percent of UV rays, and reduces energy costs. Depending on your needs and budget, a variety of glass options can be utilized in any Carolina Home Exteriors Sunroom. Single-Pane glass windows are the most affordable and will provide a durable, clear view to the outside. If you’re adding a Four Seasons Sunroom you’ll want to use Energy Star-rated insulted double-pane windows to maximize energy efficiency, reducing heating and cooling costs. Further, Carolina Home Exteriors installs tempered glass, which is the same formula used in automobile glass. It resists breaking, but if it does it shatters into tiny pieces, reducing the risk of injury and damage to surrounding materials. Energy Star is a U.S. Government-recognized classification designed to help consumers know the true cost of everything from appliances to HVAC, and even windows.

This photo highlights a stone landscape which includes Texas native plants and a combination of ornamental grasses.
Inspiration for a mid-sized eclectic full sun backyard brick landscaping in Austin.

Hunter Douglas Silhouette® Window Shadings Fills a Room with Beautiful Light. Brilliant Idea. Silhouette® window shadings diffuse and dispense the sun's rays into soft, natural light throughout the room, reducing your need for electric lighting during the daytime. A choice that's beautiful and smart. Energy Smart Style Promotion February 1 — March 31, 2014 Hunter Douglas Silhouette Window Shadings The Silhouette is the second energy-efficient window treatment to be offered in Hunter Douglas’ Energy Smart Style event; available in an advanced cordless LiteRise® system that allows you to control the vanes without the use of messy and unsightly cords, the Silhouette is as stylish as it is green. Copyright 2001-2013 Hunter Douglas, Inc. All rights reserved.

Photo credit: Scott McDonald @ Hedrich Blessing 7RR-Ecohome: The design objective was to build a house for a couple recently married who both had kids from previous marriages. How to bridge two families together? The design looks forward in terms of how people live today. The home is an experiment in transparency and solid form; removing borders and edges from outside to inside the house, and to really depict “flowing and endless space”. The house floor plan is derived by pushing and pulling the house’s form to maximize the backyard and minimize the public front yard while welcoming the sun in key rooms by rotating the house 45-degrees to true north. The angular form of the house is a result of the family’s program, the zoning rules, the lot’s attributes, and the sun’s path. We wanted to construct a house that is smart and efficient in terms of construction and energy, both in terms of the building and the user. We could tell a story of how the house is built in terms of the constructability, structure and enclosure, with a nod to Japanese wood construction in the method in which the siding is installed and the exposed interior beams are placed in the double height space. We engineered the house to be smart which not only looks modern but acts modern; every aspect of user control is simplified to a digital touch button, whether lights, shades, blinds, HVAC, communication, audio, video, or security. We developed a planning module based on a 6-foot square room size and a 6-foot wide connector called an interstitial space for hallways, bathrooms, stairs and mechanical, which keeps the rooms pure and uncluttered. The house is 6,200 SF of livable space, plus garage and basement gallery for a total of 9,200 SF. A large formal foyer celebrates the entry and opens up to the living, dining, kitchen and family rooms all focused on the rear garden. The east side of the second floor is the Master wing and a center bridge connects it to the kid’s wing on the west. Second floor terraces and sunscreens provide views and shade in this suburban setting. The playful mathematical grid of the house in the x, y and z axis also extends into the layout of the trees and hard-scapes, all centered on a suburban one-acre lot. Many green attributes were designed into the home; Ipe wood sunscreens and window shades block out unwanted solar gain in summer, but allow winter sun in. Patio door and operable windows provide ample opportunity for natural ventilation throughout the open floor plan. Minimal windows on east and west sides to reduce heat loss in winter and unwanted gains in summer. Open floor plan and large window expanse reduces lighting demands and maximizes available daylight. Skylights provide natural light to the basement rooms. Durable, low-maintenance exterior materials include stone, ipe wood siding and decking, and concrete roof pavers. Design is based on a 2' planning grid to minimize construction waste. Basement foundation walls and slab are highly insulated. FSC-certified walnut wood flooring was used. Light colored concrete roof pavers to reduce cooling loads by as much as 15%. 2x6 framing allows for more insulation and energy savings. Super efficient windows have low-E argon gas filled units, and thermally insulated aluminum frames. Permeable brick and stone pavers reduce the site’s storm-water runoff. Countertops use recycled composite materials. Energy-Star rated furnaces and smart thermostats are located throughout the house to minimize duct runs and avoid energy loss. Energy-Star rated boiler that heats up both radiant floors and domestic hot water. Low-flow toilets and plumbing fixtures are used to conserve water usage. No VOC finish options and direct venting fireplaces maintain a high interior air quality. Smart home system controls lighting, HVAC, and shades to better manage energy use. Plumbing runs through interior walls reducing possibilities of heat loss and freezing problems. A large food pantry was placed next to kitchen to reduce trips to the grocery store. Home office reduces need for automobile transit and associated CO2 footprint. Plan allows for aging in place, with guest suite than can become the master suite, with no need to move as family members mature.

Xeriscaping is extremely popular, especially in Southern California. With rising water costs, many homeowners have turned to xeriscaping to lower their utility bills and reduce their carbon footprint. Xeriscaping entails the creative use of hardscape and native and succulant plants to create a beautiful, low-maintenance, drought-tolerant landscape design. Our experienced landscape architects and garden designers specialize in planning out practical, efficient garden designs that use little to no water.

Photo: Carolyn Reyes Photography © 2017 Houzz
Transitional living room photo in Los Angeles

Interior Rehab/Renovation and Rear addition for a Multi-unit residential building in the historic Little Italy neighborhood. We converted this vintage 2 flat into a lovely private residence for the owners duplexing the 1st & 2nd floors. We also designed a separate "In-Law" unit at the gardel level for rentals. We also added a "living" Green roof which increased thermal efficiency and reduced energy costs for the owners. Probably the 1st and only Green roof in the Little Italy neighborhood for a private residence. Overall a very positive and sustainable renovation adding tons of Value for the client and great for the environment.

Xeriscaping is extremely popular, especially in Southern California. With rising water costs, many homeowners have turned to xeriscaping to lower their utility bills and reduce their carbon footprint. Xeriscaping entails the creative use of hardscape and native and succulant plants to create a beautiful, low-maintenance, drought-tolerant landscape design. Our experienced landscape architects and garden designers specialize in planning out practical, efficient garden designs that use little to no water.

Interior Rehab/Renovation and Rear addition for a Multi-unit residential building in the historic Little Italy neighborhood. We converted this vintage 2 flat into a lovely private residence for the owners duplexing the 1st & 2nd floors. We also designed a separate "In-Law" unit at the gardel level for rentals. We also added a "living" Green roof which increased thermal efficiency and reduced energy costs for the owners. Probably the 1st and only Green roof in the Little Italy neighborhood for a private residence. Overall a very positive and sustainable renovation adding tons of Value for the client and great for the environment.

Photo credit: Scott McDonald @ Hedrich Blessing 7RR-Ecohome: The design objective was to build a house for a couple recently married who both had kids from previous marriages. How to bridge two families together? The design looks forward in terms of how people live today. The home is an experiment in transparency and solid form; removing borders and edges from outside to inside the house, and to really depict “flowing and endless space”. The house floor plan is derived by pushing and pulling the house’s form to maximize the backyard and minimize the public front yard while welcoming the sun in key rooms by rotating the house 45-degrees to true north. The angular form of the house is a result of the family’s program, the zoning rules, the lot’s attributes, and the sun’s path. We wanted to construct a house that is smart and efficient in terms of construction and energy, both in terms of the building and the user. We could tell a story of how the house is built in terms of the constructability, structure and enclosure, with a nod to Japanese wood construction in the method in which the siding is installed and the exposed interior beams are placed in the double height space. We engineered the house to be smart which not only looks modern but acts modern; every aspect of user control is simplified to a digital touch button, whether lights, shades, blinds, HVAC, communication, audio, video, or security. We developed a planning module based on a 6-foot square room size and a 6-foot wide connector called an interstitial space for hallways, bathrooms, stairs and mechanical, which keeps the rooms pure and uncluttered. The house is 6,200 SF of livable space, plus garage and basement gallery for a total of 9,200 SF. A large formal foyer celebrates the entry and opens up to the living, dining, kitchen and family rooms all focused on the rear garden. The east side of the second floor is the Master wing and a center bridge connects it to the kid’s wing on the west. Second floor terraces and sunscreens provide views and shade in this suburban setting. The playful mathematical grid of the house in the x, y and z axis also extends into the layout of the trees and hard-scapes, all centered on a suburban one-acre lot. Many green attributes were designed into the home; Ipe wood sunscreens and window shades block out unwanted solar gain in summer, but allow winter sun in. Patio door and operable windows provide ample opportunity for natural ventilation throughout the open floor plan. Minimal windows on east and west sides to reduce heat loss in winter and unwanted gains in summer. Open floor plan and large window expanse reduces lighting demands and maximizes available daylight. Skylights provide natural light to the basement rooms. Durable, low-maintenance exterior materials include stone, ipe wood siding and decking, and concrete roof pavers. Design is based on a 2' planning grid to minimize construction waste. Basement foundation walls and slab are highly insulated. FSC-certified walnut wood flooring was used. Light colored concrete roof pavers to reduce cooling loads by as much as 15%. 2x6 framing allows for more insulation and energy savings. Super efficient windows have low-E argon gas filled units, and thermally insulated aluminum frames. Permeable brick and stone pavers reduce the site’s storm-water runoff. Countertops use recycled composite materials. Energy-Star rated furnaces and smart thermostats are located throughout the house to minimize duct runs and avoid energy loss. Energy-Star rated boiler that heats up both radiant floors and domestic hot water. Low-flow toilets and plumbing fixtures are used to conserve water usage. No VOC finish options and direct venting fireplaces maintain a high interior air quality. Smart home system controls lighting, HVAC, and shades to better manage energy use. Plumbing runs through interior walls reducing possibilities of heat loss and freezing problems. A large food pantry was placed next to kitchen to reduce trips to the grocery store. Home office reduces need for automobile transit and associated CO2 footprint. Plan allows for aging in place, with guest suite than can become the master suite, with no need to move as family members mature.

The home, designed for an avid sailor, seeks to be compact and efficient like a well-crafted sailboat. It is organized around the idea of a “light box.” This is expressed by a clerestory and light well that expand the spatial volume, engage the sky, and bring landscape into the center of the home. As one light box pushes up the other pushes down to create a dynamic exchange of interior and exterior environments that fill the primary living spaces with daylight and intimacy. Through special opportunities in the zoning code, the clerestory breaks the boundaries of the reduced height limit to introduce spatial variation.

Welcome to Arbor Walk, one of Livingston Parish’s premier subdivisions! Our beautiful homes feature a variety of amenities inside and out, such as fully sodded yards, granite countertops, and many energy-efficient features to reduce your monthly bills. This family orientated subdivision provides two stocked ponds for fishing, a children’s park, and a pavilion for functions and birthday parties. With over 60 floorplans to choose from and numerous amenities, you will quickly fall in love with Arbor Walk.