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 Michael Eric Berube, Maine Virtual Home Tours

Shop the Look, See the Photo Tour here: https://www.studio-mcgee.com/studioblog/2016/4/4/modern-mountain-home-tour Watch the Webisode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JtwvqrNPjhU Travis J Photography

This custom piece of cabinetry was specially designed and built by the homeowner's father! 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 Michael Eric Berube, Maine Virtual Home Tours

This new 1,700 sf two-story single family residence for a young couple required a minimum of three bedrooms, two bathrooms, packaged to fit unobtrusively in an older low-key residential neighborhood. The house is located on a small non-conforming lot. In order to get the maximum out of this small footprint, we virtually eliminated areas such as hallways to capture as much living space. We made the house feel larger by giving the ground floor higher ceilings, provided ample natural lighting, captured elongated sight lines out of view windows, and used outdoor areas as extended living spaces. To help the building be a “good neighbor,” we set back the house on the lot to minimize visual volume, creating a friendly, social semi-public front porch. We designed with multiple step-back levels to create an intimacy in scale. The garage is on one level, the main house is on another higher level. The upper floor is set back even further to reduce visual impact. By designing a single car garage with exterior tandem parking, we minimized the amount of yard space taken up with parking. The landscaping and permeable cobblestone walkway up to the house serves double duty as part of the city required parking space. The final building solution incorporated a variety of significant cost saving features, including a floor plan that made the most of the natural topography of the site and allowed access to utilities’ crawl spaces. We avoided expensive excavation by using slab on grade at the ground floor. Retaining walls also doubled as building walls.

Michael Eric Berube, Maine Virtual Home ToursTimber 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 half bath was converted into a full bath by adding a shower and changing the location of the existing fixtures. Now these homeowners have a first floor bedroom/bath space. 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 Michael Eric Berube, Maine Virtual Home Tours

The Watermill House is a beautiful example of a classic Hamptons wood shingle style home. The design and renovation would maintain the character of the exterior while transforming the interiors to create an open and airy getaway for a busy and active family. The house comfortably sits within its one acre lot surrounded by tall hedges, old growth trees, and beautiful hydrangeas. The landscape influenced the design approach of the main floor interiors. Walls were removed and the kitchen was relocated to the front of the house to create an open plan for better flow and views to both the front and rear yards. The kitchen was designed to be both practical and beautiful. The u-shape design features modern appliances, white cabinetry and Corian countertops, and is anchored by a beautiful island with a knife-edge marble countertop. The island and the dining room table create a strong axis to the living room at the rear of the house. To further strengthen the connection to the outdoor decks and pool area of the rear yard, a full height sliding glass window system was installed. The clean lines and modern profiles of the window frames create unobstructed views and virtually remove the barrier between the interior and exterior spaces. The open plan allowed a new sitting area to be created between the dining room and stair. A screen, comprised of vertical fins, allows for a degree of openness, while creating enough separation to make the sitting area feel comfortable and nestled in its own area. The stair at the entry of the house was redesigned to match the new elegant and sophisticated spaces connected to it. New treads were installed to articulate and contrast the soft palette of finishes of the floors, walls, and ceilings. The new metal and glass handrail was intended to reduce visual noise and create subtle reflections of light. Photo by Guillaume Gaudet

The Craftsman fireplace sets a new standard for wood burning beauty, performance and convenience. The bedrock of the Astria wood burning family, the Craftsman features the industry’s finest, most realistic textured refractory brick liners. Hidden screen pockets maximize the viewing area of the fireplace. An easy access damper handle and position lock outside air controls support consistent performance. The Craftsman is designed with gas line knockouts to allow homeowners the option of installing an Astria gas log set, with all gas connections and controls hidden out of sight. Aesthetics Realistic textured refractory brick liner Clean face and louvered models available. Screens retract into hidden screen pockets for a clean elegant look. Heavy duty log grate. Glass doors available with black, Brushed brass or platinum trim. Comfort Radiant heat delivers relaxing warmth in the room environment. Outside combustion air kit available. Performance Fully insulated firebox (on select models) for increased performance in colder climates. Easy access damper with position lock outside air controls. 8” double wall wood-burning chimney. Durable textured powder coat finish. Fan kit available (for circulating models only). Gas log ready. Available with PureFire Technology The Craftsman CAT comes with all of the great features of the Craftsman and the added benefits of PureFire technology! PureFire is a passive catalyst system that reduces particulate emissions by approximately 75%. PureFire virtually eliminates carbon monoxide (including CO from gas logs) and is maintenance free, no cleaning or special care required!

Asterix Cab Home Elevator The Cibes Symmetry Asterix Cab is a premium residential elevator that combines timeless craftsmanship with modern elevator technology to deliver an elegant, fully enclosed lift for luxury homes. Designed for homeowners who want the classic look of a traditional elevator with the efficiency of a machine-room-less system, the Asterix Cab provides exceptional comfort, accessibility, and style. Featuring a beautifully finished enclosed cab with customizable wall panels, premium lighting, elegant handrails, and refined interior details, the Asterix Cab enhances any home while providing safe and reliable access between floors. Whether incorporated into a new custom home or added during a renovation, it seamlessly blends with traditional, transitional, or contemporary interiors. Unlike many conventional residential elevators, the Cibes Symmetry Asterix Cab is engineered for efficient installation with no separate machine room and a compact footprint, helping reduce construction complexity while maximizing usable living space. Its smooth screw-driven technology delivers quiet, dependable operation with low maintenance requirements and outstanding long-term reliability. Built with safety and convenience in mind, the Asterix Cab includes advanced features such as obstruction sensors, battery-powered emergency lowering, emergency communication, automatic lighting, and intuitive controls, giving homeowners confidence with every ride. Perfect For: Luxury homes Aging in place Wheelchair accessibility Multigenerational living Custom home construction Home renovations and remodels Universal Design and accessible living The Cibes Symmetry Asterix Cab is the ideal choice for homeowners seeking a sophisticated home elevator that combines elegant design, premium craftsmanship, and everyday functionality. With extensive customization options, smooth performance, and industry-leading engineering, the Asterix Cab adds lasting value, accessibility, and convenience to virtually any home.

Transform your dining space into a sophisticated entertainment area with our custom wallpaper installation services in Seguin. Specializing in luxury wallcoverings, durable vinyl options, and breathtaking murals, we create stunning backdrops perfect for family dinners and special occasions. Why Choose Wallpaper for Your Seguin Dining Room? ✔ Texas-Tested Durability – Fade-resistant & humidity-stable materials ✔ Style That Wows – From formal damasks to Texas-inspired designs ✔ Easy Maintenance – Wipeable surfaces for easy cleaning ✔ Space Enhancement – Clever patterns that elevate your room's dimensions Popular Dining Room Styles in Seguin: ? Texas Chic – Subtle cactus prints or rustic leather textures ? Classic Elegance – Embossed metallics or silk-textured wallpapers ? Winery Inspired – Vineyard murals or grapevine patterns ✨ Modern Farmhouse – Shiplap-effect or neutral geometrics Our Seguin Dining Room Services Include: ✅ Free Design Consultation – On-site or virtual styling advice ✅ Precision Pattern Matching – Flawless alignment for upscale results ✅ Lighting Considerations – Glare-reducing finishes for chandelier settings ✅ Complete Wall Prep – Smoothing and priming for perfect adhesion The Seguin Advantage: • Local Texas Experts – We understand Central Texas style • Weekend Installations – Perfect for busy households • Luxury Material Access – Grasscloths, textured linens & designer collections Serving: Downtown Seguin, Geronimo, Kingsbury & surrounding areas

Asterix Cab Home Elevator The Cibes Symmetry Asterix Cab is a premium residential elevator that combines timeless craftsmanship with modern elevator technology to deliver an elegant, fully enclosed lift for luxury homes. Designed for homeowners who want the classic look of a traditional elevator with the efficiency of a machine-room-less system, the Asterix Cab provides exceptional comfort, accessibility, and style. Featuring a beautifully finished enclosed cab with customizable wall panels, premium lighting, elegant handrails, and refined interior details, the Asterix Cab enhances any home while providing safe and reliable access between floors. Whether incorporated into a new custom home or added during a renovation, it seamlessly blends with traditional, transitional, or contemporary interiors. Unlike many conventional residential elevators, the Cibes Symmetry Asterix Cab is engineered for efficient installation with no separate machine room and a compact footprint, helping reduce construction complexity while maximizing usable living space. Its smooth screw-driven technology delivers quiet, dependable operation with low maintenance requirements and outstanding long-term reliability. Built with safety and convenience in mind, the Asterix Cab includes advanced features such as obstruction sensors, battery-powered emergency lowering, emergency communication, automatic lighting, and intuitive controls, giving homeowners confidence with every ride. Perfect For: Luxury homes Aging in place Wheelchair accessibility Multigenerational living Custom home construction Home renovations and remodels Universal Design and accessible living The Cibes Symmetry Asterix Cab is the ideal choice for homeowners seeking a sophisticated home elevator that combines elegant design, premium craftsmanship, and everyday functionality. With extensive customization options, smooth performance, and industry-leading engineering, the Asterix Cab adds lasting value, accessibility, and convenience to virtually any home.

Ascenda XL Shaftless Home Elevator The Cibes Symmetry Ascenda XL is a premium shaftless home elevator designed to provide safe, stylish, and space-saving accessibility for modern homes. Ideal for homeowners planning to age in place, improve wheelchair accessibility, or add luxury and convenience to a new or existing home, the Ascenda XL offers one of the largest cab sizes available in a shaftless residential elevator. Unlike a traditional residential elevator, the Ascenda XL requires no elevator shaft, machine room, or deep pit, significantly reducing construction time and installation costs. Its compact footprint makes it an excellent solution for retrofit projects, renovations, and custom homes where space is at a premium. The spacious cab comfortably accommodates larger wheelchairs, mobility scooters, walkers, multiple passengers, groceries, luggage, and everyday household items. Large panoramic glass panels, Scandinavian-inspired styling, premium finishes, and integrated LED lighting create a modern aesthetic that complements virtually any home design. Powered by Cibes Symmetry's reliable screw-driven lift technology, the Ascenda XL delivers smooth, quiet operation with minimal maintenance. Advanced safety features include obstruction sensors, battery-powered emergency lowering, emergency communication, automatic lighting, and intuitive controls, providing peace of mind for homeowners and families alike. Perfect For: Aging in place Wheelchair-accessible homes Multigenerational living Luxury home renovations New custom home construction Universal Design and accessible living Whether you're looking to improve mobility, increase your home's value, or create a forever home, the Cibes Symmetry Ascenda XL combines Scandinavian design, innovative engineering, and exceptional accessibility in a residential elevator that blends seamlessly into your living space.

Asterix Cab Home Elevator The Cibes Symmetry Asterix Cab is a premium residential elevator that combines timeless craftsmanship with modern elevator technology to deliver an elegant, fully enclosed lift for luxury homes. Designed for homeowners who want the classic look of a traditional elevator with the efficiency of a machine-room-less system, the Asterix Cab provides exceptional comfort, accessibility, and style. Featuring a beautifully finished enclosed cab with customizable wall panels, premium lighting, elegant handrails, and refined interior details, the Asterix Cab enhances any home while providing safe and reliable access between floors. Whether incorporated into a new custom home or added during a renovation, it seamlessly blends with traditional, transitional, or contemporary interiors. Unlike many conventional residential elevators, the Cibes Symmetry Asterix Cab is engineered for efficient installation with no separate machine room and a compact footprint, helping reduce construction complexity while maximizing usable living space. Its smooth screw-driven technology delivers quiet, dependable operation with low maintenance requirements and outstanding long-term reliability. Built with safety and convenience in mind, the Asterix Cab includes advanced features such as obstruction sensors, battery-powered emergency lowering, emergency communication, automatic lighting, and intuitive controls, giving homeowners confidence with every ride. Perfect For: Luxury homes Aging in place Wheelchair accessibility Multigenerational living Custom home construction Home renovations and remodels Universal Design and accessible living The Cibes Symmetry Asterix Cab is the ideal choice for homeowners seeking a sophisticated home elevator that combines elegant design, premium craftsmanship, and everyday functionality. With extensive customization options, smooth performance, and industry-leading engineering, the Asterix Cab adds lasting value, accessibility, and convenience to virtually any home.

Asterix Cab Home Elevator The Cibes Symmetry Asterix Cab is a premium residential elevator that combines timeless craftsmanship with modern elevator technology to deliver an elegant, fully enclosed lift for luxury homes. Designed for homeowners who want the classic look of a traditional elevator with the efficiency of a machine-room-less system, the Asterix Cab provides exceptional comfort, accessibility, and style. Featuring a beautifully finished enclosed cab with customizable wall panels, premium lighting, elegant handrails, and refined interior details, the Asterix Cab enhances any home while providing safe and reliable access between floors. Whether incorporated into a new custom home or added during a renovation, it seamlessly blends with traditional, transitional, or contemporary interiors. Unlike many conventional residential elevators, the Cibes Symmetry Asterix Cab is engineered for efficient installation with no separate machine room and a compact footprint, helping reduce construction complexity while maximizing usable living space. Its smooth screw-driven technology delivers quiet, dependable operation with low maintenance requirements and outstanding long-term reliability. Built with safety and convenience in mind, the Asterix Cab includes advanced features such as obstruction sensors, battery-powered emergency lowering, emergency communication, automatic lighting, and intuitive controls, giving homeowners confidence with every ride. Perfect For: Luxury homes Aging in place Wheelchair accessibility Multigenerational living Custom home construction Home renovations and remodels Universal Design and accessible living The Cibes Symmetry Asterix Cab is the ideal choice for homeowners seeking a sophisticated home elevator that combines elegant design, premium craftsmanship, and everyday functionality. With extensive customization options, smooth performance, and industry-leading engineering, the Asterix Cab adds lasting value, accessibility, and convenience to virtually any home.

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 Michael Eric Berube, Maine Virtual Home Tours

Home design - traditional home design idea in Minneapolis

We used: Custom cherry cabinetry in Arts & Crafts Shaker style by Kabinart in Boulder and Espresso stains. Liberty Hardware Venetian bronze 1-1/2" cabinet knobs. KitchenAid Architect II Series 22 CF counter-depth French door refrigerator. KitchenAid Architect Series II 27" convection single wall oven. KitchenAid 36" 6-burner dual fuel freestanding commercial-style range. KitchenAid Architect II Series 24" dishwasher. Sharp Insight Pro Series 24" built-in microwave drawer (Model #KB6524PS). Crystorama Solaris 12" wide pendant lights in English bronze. Granite countertops in Brown Fantasy. 3"x6" polished marble backsplash. Paint colors: Walls: Glidden Silver Cloud 30YY 63/024 Ceilings/Trims/Doors: Glidden Swan White GLC23 Robert B. Narod Photography

"Guest Room Wallpaper Installation in Coral Springs, FL – Create a Lasting Impression" Transform your guest room into a welcoming retreat with luxury wallpaper installation that combines comfort and style. As Coral Springs' premier wallpaper installation specialist, I create spaces that make visitors feel pampered while standing up to frequent use. Why Wallpaper Your Guest Room? ✔ Designer Looks – From tropical motifs to modern metallic finishes ✔ Durable Surfaces – Scratch-resistant materials for luggage and high traffic ✔ Temperature-Stable – Florida-humidity approved adhesives and materials ✔ Quick Transformations – Complete before your next guests arrive ✔ Airbnb Ready – Instagram-worthy accent walls that get 5-star reviews Our Coral Springs Process: ✅ Complimentary Design Consultation – Virtual or in-home options ✅ Climate-Adapted Materials – Specialized for South Florida homes ✅ Precision Installation – Flawless pattern matching on all walls ✅ 1-2 Day Completion – Minimal disruption to your household Most Popular Guest Room Styles: • Florida Coastal – Nautical stripes and seashell textures • Modern Resort – Palm leaf patterns and spa-like neutrals • Boutique Hotel – Custom mural feature walls • Tropical Glam – Metallic botanicals and lush greenery designs Premium Features: Fade-Resistant – Maintains vibrancy in sunny rooms Easy Refresh – Simple to update between guest stays Sound-Dampening – Some textures help reduce noise transfer Serving All Coral Springs Areas: Including Wyndham Lakes, Forest Hills, and Ramblewood. "Your guests will think they're at a five-star resort!"