A favorite space for these clients—both editors and avid readers—the media room was transformed into a cozy, multifunctional lounge for books, movies, and games. Almost fully color-drenched in navy, the room now includes two custom and coordinating built-ins: a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf and entertainment wall with closed cabinetry below and a wood-topped media stand, as well as a built-in bar for entertaining. The closet housing the sump pump was insulated and refitted with a weather-stripped exterior door, significantly reducing the noise that once bothered the homeowners. The second closet was opened up to install a dry bar featuring matching navy cabinetry, a beverage fridge, and the same concrete-look countertop used in the laundry. With layered lighting and thoughtful storage, the room is now a perfect spot to relax solo or entertain friends.

This project is another example of how to maximize small spaces. This customer’s small Brentwood yard was centered around their new plunge pool. However, the existing pavers and layout left much to be desired. We reworked the pavers to create usable spaces and clean lines, and a vines and lighting work with the custom pergola to increase the privacy and add a soft vertical element to encourage the intimate feel of the space. Two other structures block the pool equipment and AC compressor from sight. This reduces the visual weight of these areas and allows the eye to focus on the crown jewel of the space… the pool.

A favorite space for these clients—both editors and avid readers—the media room was transformed into a cozy, multifunctional lounge for books, movies, and games. Almost fully color-drenched in navy, the room now includes two custom and coordinating built-ins: a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf and entertainment wall with closed cabinetry below and a wood-topped media stand, as well as a built-in bar for entertaining. The closet housing the sump pump was insulated and refitted with a weather-stripped exterior door, significantly reducing the noise that once bothered the homeowners. The second closet was opened up to install a dry bar featuring matching navy cabinetry, a beverage fridge, and the same concrete-look countertop used in the laundry. With layered lighting and thoughtful storage, the room is now a perfect spot to relax solo or entertain friends.

A favorite space for these clients—both editors and avid readers—the media room was transformed into a cozy, multifunctional lounge for books, movies, and games. Almost fully color-drenched in navy, the room now includes two custom and coordinating built-ins: a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf and entertainment wall with closed cabinetry below and a wood-topped media stand, as well as a built-in bar for entertaining. The closet housing the sump pump was insulated and refitted with a weather-stripped exterior door, significantly reducing the noise that once bothered the homeowners. The second closet was opened up to install a dry bar featuring matching navy cabinetry, a beverage fridge, and the same concrete-look countertop used in the laundry. With layered lighting and thoughtful storage, the room is now a perfect spot to relax solo or entertain friends.

The goal with this project was to create a functional kids’ bathroom for this family of five and the elegant master bath that their parents so deserve. The client was looking for classic, clean style but with unique details. In the kids’ bathroom, we did floor to ceiling shiplap on the walls and doors. We picked a textured porcelain for the floor tile to reduce slips! The master has herringbone Dolomite marble in two scales on the floor and shower floor, and we used the same Dolomite marble for the floor to ceiling feature wall. Both bathrooms feature custom vanities and modern polished chrome plumbing fixtures. The overall look is coastal, fresh and sophisticated.

Gotham Photo
Example of a small trendy master gray tile and porcelain tile marble floor alcove shower design in New York with flat-panel cabinets, white cabinets, a one-piece toilet, gray walls and an integrated sink

Example of a trendy galley dark wood floor kitchen design in Seattle with an undermount sink, flat-panel cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets, gray backsplash, subway tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and quartz countertops

Pattern tiles on floors combined with simple with subway tiles on shower walls give this modern farmhouse bathroom in Santa Monica a unique and interesting look.

Inspiration for a contemporary bathroom remodel in Los Angeles

"omega cast stone kitchen hood" "omega cast stone vent hood" "omega kitchen hood toronto" "cast stone kitchen hood" custom vent hood "cast stone kitchen hood montreal" "cast stone kitchen range hood" "kitchen design ideas" "kitchen vent hood molding" "carved kitchen range hood" "commercial cast stone vent hood" "limestone kitchen range hood" https://www.omegakitchenhoods.com/

Inspiration for a mid-sized transitional porcelain tile and multicolored floor mudroom remodel in Salt Lake City with gray walls

Photo: Jessie Preza Photography
Freestanding bathtub - large traditional master porcelain tile, gray floor and single-sink freestanding bathtub idea in Atlanta with shaker cabinets, white cabinets, beige walls, an undermount sink, quartz countertops, a hinged shower door, gray countertops and a built-in vanity

Elegant dark wood floor enclosed dining room photo in Houston with blue walls

The goal with this project was to create a functional kids’ bathroom for this family of five and the elegant master bath that their parents so deserve. The client was looking for classic, clean style but with unique details. In the kids’ bathroom, we did floor to ceiling shiplap on the walls and doors. We picked a textured porcelain for the floor tile to reduce slips! The master has herringbone Dolomite marble in two scales on the floor and shower floor, and we used the same Dolomite marble for the floor to ceiling feature wall. Both bathrooms feature custom vanities and modern polished chrome plumbing fixtures. The overall look is coastal, fresh and sophisticated.

Through a collaborate design effort between Doman Custom Carpentry and Reico Kitchen & Bath, this NARI Coty Award winning traditional white bathroom features Merillat Classic cabinets in Bellingham Maple and a Chiffon with Tuscan Glaze finish. Other products shown include Silestone Lyra counter tops, Moen faucets and accessories, Toto Aquia Dual Flush Toilet and Mosaic Tile’s Arabescato Marble with basket weave mosaic accents. Photos courtesy of June Stanich Photography / www.junestanichphoto.com

Timber frame homes offer unique challenges during a remodel. What often makes them beautiful and attractive to most homeowners, also makes them challenging for space requirements. Context: The lovely couple that owned this home were struggling with some interesting floor plan challenges that just didn't work for their family. The loved the beautiful timbers and woodwork of their home, but the dramatically sloping ceilings on the second floor, particularly in the bathroom, just didn't work for this 1 1/2 bath home. Needing to use the skylight to approach the toilet was a less then ideal scenario. Although the bathroom footprint was more then adequate, the sloped ceiling only made half of the space useable. Check out the Before/After post on our blog to see the photos of the house pre-renovation. As much as they loved all the wood features in their home, another challenge they had was light. The wood ceiling made everything inside the house darker, even with a fantastic array of south facing windows, there were spaces in the home that felt dark and small. When they contacted us they wanted to know how could they make their brighter and more inviting, were there solutions to the 2nd floor sloped ceiling issues, and if they were going to do all of this work, how could they make their home more comfortable and efficient. A nagging water leak in the upstairs bathroom spurred them into action and here is how we solved their dilemma. Conclusion: First, we added a little dormer to the rear of the house so we could get full headroom in nearly all of the upstairs bathroom! Then we decided to extend that dormer one more timber bay over to create a walk in closet with natural light and plenty of space. Since we were contemplating energy efficiency, we resolved a nagging issue that is present in a lot of timber frame construction, air tightness. Commonly found in timber frame construction, fiberglass insulation is installed in the rafter bays and board ceilings are installed over top. Unfortunately, board ceilings are anything but air tight, and fiberglass insulation needs to be in an airtight cavity for maximum effectiveness. So we were able to solve two issues at the same time for this homeowner. We removed the board ceiling and fiberglass insulation, we dense packed the rafter bays with cellulose insulation, and installed sheetrock in place of the boards. The boards were salvaged for re-use by the homeowner, and the space and light quality was dramatically improved. Some may think that losing the board ceiling took something away from the space, but what you'll see in the pictures is that it highly accentuates the heavy timbers and really makes them stand out in a beautiful way. Now with this added airtightness, better insulation, and brighter space, the homeowner hardly runs their wood stove, and it's so quiet in the space, an added bonus from changing the insulation. It became necessary to also add a sheetrock ceiling to the living room to hide the plumbing from the new bathroom layout above. Changing this ceiling gave the homeowner some real quality lighting that was lacking in the living room before. The brighter ceiling and new lighting layout completely transforms the living room into a space you want to hang out, even though the layout didn't change at all. When the homeowner saw the finished spaces she said "I can't believe this is my house, I want to live in this house" Energy Efficiency: I touched a little on the efficiency above, but like all projects done with Mottram Architecture, we always want to leave you with a little extra. Timber frame construction with board ceilings and fiberglass insulation are notoriously leaky! If you want to know what we think about fiberglass insulation, check our our blog post on Why Fiberglass Insulation Sucks. By installing cellulose insulation and covering it with sheetrock we were able to greatly reduce the heat flowing out of this home. It not only improves cashflow it improves the comfort level in the space. Who wants to sit in their living room and feel a draft? Let us remind you, we are not saying cellulose insulation is an air barrier, we use the sheetrock to help with that, but it does significantly reduce the air flow over fiberglass insulation. And when we reduce the airflow, we reduce the heat flow. And when we reduce the heat flow, we reduce the need to re-heat that drafty air from outside. When it comes to energy efficiency the first and best place to start is air infiltration. We greatly reduced the air infiltration with the new insulation, but we also added a hat and warm boots. What I mean by that is, we improved the insulation in the roof, and we installed insulation in the basement. Maybe it's a silly analogy, but when you think about keeping warm, we always start with the hat and boots! With sustainability in mind, the next project will be to add a deck to the front of this house with rain catchment barrels from the metal roof. They are planning to plant a garden in the spring and the rain catchment system will help to irrigate the new garden. Builder: East Shore Builders Photographer: Michael Eric Berube

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

The goal with this project was to create a functional kids’ bathroom for this family of five and the elegant master bath that their parents so deserve. The client was looking for classic, clean style but with unique details. In the kids’ bathroom, we did floor to ceiling shiplap on the walls and doors. We picked a textured porcelain for the floor tile to reduce slips! The master has herringbone Dolomite marble in two scales on the floor and shower floor, and we used the same Dolomite marble for the floor to ceiling feature wall. Both bathrooms feature custom vanities and modern polished chrome plumbing fixtures. The overall look is coastal, fresh and sophisticated.

LET'S GET PHYSICAL. | TARA LOGIC takes up the form of the Tara Classic single-lever mixer and radically modernizes it, although it is still instantly recognizable. It is narrower, extends upwards – but still has the same reduced design based on a cylindrical structure. Whether as a shower stem or a free-standing single-lever mixer on the tub, TARA LOGIC reaches elegantly upwards. It looks well-toned and encourages us to emulate it. Because there is no rosette, it looks even more streamlined and aspiring. This results in a progressive, minimalistic verticality that can be transferred to the architecture and design of the bathroom. | Available at www.shopstudio41.com