Photo: Philip Otto Photography

6" Backbay Black Powder Coat Aluminum Modern House Numbers (modernhousenumbers.com) Available in 4”, 6”, 8”, 12” or 15” high. Aluminum numbers are 3/8” thick, black powder coat finish and a ½” standoff providing a subtle shadow.

THE SETUP Client Background: Our clients, a couple who have transitioned into the empty nest phase, have cherished their home for over three decades without undergoing any significant renovations. With a newfound desire to adapt their living space to better suit their current lifestyle, they’ve embarked on a journey to reimagine their kitchen — the heart of their home. Their aspiration is to cultivate a serene, neutral-toned sanctuary on the first floor that seamlessly merges with their family room, ensuring a harmonious and inviting environment. Design Inspiration: The renovation is inspired by the couple’s penchant for soft, calming neutrals, using their cherished family room and the kitchen’s existing tile flooring as the cornerstone for the color scheme. This approach aims to foster a sense of warmth and tranquility throughout. Design Objectives: Harmonize the kitchen with the family room by adopting a soothing, neutral color scheme, ensuring a seamless flow across the first floor. Enhance kitchen functionality with thoughtfully designed cabinetry, providing a designated place for every item and maximizing storage efficiency. Cultivate an inviting and comfortable atmosphere that reflects the homeowners’ desire for a calm and relaxing space. Design Challenges: The homeowners wish to retain the existing kitchen tile flooring and integrate it into a refreshed, modern design. Accommodating a dining area spacious enough for family visits without compromising the kitchen’s open feel or functional layout. Despite liking the current placement of plumbing and appliances, the homeowners aspire for a more open floor plan to facilitate better movement and interaction. The need to amplify natural light in the kitchen, especially around the sink area, where existing lighting is insufficient. Preserving the half-wall between the kitchen and family room, a feature the homeowners want to keep, while ensuring it complements the new design. THE RENEWED SPACE Design Solutions: By choosing a neutral color palette that complements the existing tile, the design unifies the kitchen with the adjacent spaces. The tile’s grout was cleaned and restored, enhancing the floor’s appearance and integrating it seamlessly with the new kitchen aesthetic. The inclusion of a larger island with seating for two, alongside maintaining a substantial dining table, was achieved by optimizing the spatial layout. This allowed for a sociable yet functional kitchen, accommodating large family gatherings without feeling crowded. Minor adjustments to the kitchen’s layout maintained the preferred locations for plumbing and appliances while introducing an ‘open’ design concept. Strategic modifications, such as angling the pantry wall, improved the flow and accessibility within the space. Replacing the garden window with a broader, standard window significantly increased natural light, transforming the sink area into a bright, welcoming space with enhanced views of the outdoors. The decision to keep the half-wall was ingeniously leveraged to define the dining area while maintaining an open connection to the family room. This feature not only serves as a visual separator but also ties the two spaces together through the shared color scheme and design elements. The homeowners are thrilled with their newly remodeled kitchen, which has become a hub of warmth and hospitality. Hosting a wedding shower and a birthday party, they have shared their renewed space with friends and family, who have been equally enamored. This remodel has not only met their functional and aesthetic desires but has also enriched their home with a fresh sense of serenity and joy. The upstairs part of the home is shaping up nicely. Here’s their newly remodeled primary bathroom.

Patio - small craftsman front yard concrete paver patio idea in Boston

Beautiful feature wall made from Australian Spotted Gum. Our recent projects have included seamless hidden doors, creating a unique and stylish entrance to any room. Read more about our projects to find out how we can bring a special touch to your home.

Westside Masonry, Inc.
Home design - traditional home design idea in Portland

Ambient Elements creates conscious designs for innovative spaces by combining superior craftsmanship, advanced engineering and unique concepts while providing the ultimate wellness experience. We design and build outdoor kitchens, saunas, infrared saunas, steam rooms, hammams, cryo chambers, salt rooms, snow rooms and many other hyperthermic conditioning modalities.

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600 sq. foot Master Bedroom addition in Danville, California. [ Includes Master Suite, Master Bathroom, Master Walk-in Closet. ] Master Bathroom with Hidden Shower Drain.

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Castle Rock Construction Castle Rock Construction
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Kitchen remodel with wall removal in Geneseo, Illinois. Featured: Koch cabinetry in the Ridgegate door and Ivory Painted finish with Umber Highlights applied. MSI countertops in the Calacatta Valentin quartz design and Provenza hardwood flooring in Heirloom Oak Wells color. Accent hood in Rustic Beech wood an Driftwood stain. Design, materials, and complete remodel by Village Home Stores.

The custom color laser cut panels are an abstract palm leaf design to complement the palm allay on the opposite side of the driveway. There is a constant play of shade, shadows and light dancing across them throughout the day. The custom color was chosen to complement the house, but closely mimic the color of the palms.

Blending graciously with this Cape Cod home’s architecture is an expansive and impressive Walpole custom attached pergola. It creates a spectacular outdoor room for relaxing and entertaining throughout the warmer months. Crafted in low maintenance AZEK, the custom pergola measures 35’ long by 11’ 10” high. The reinforced 5” deep by 14” high carrying beam sits atop four 9’ high by 10”dia. columns set into the homeowners’ blue stone patio. Joists are 1 1/2” by 7 1/4” and are attached to an 11/2” by 7 1/4” ledger board on the house. Walpole custom pergolas are limited only by your imagination. We will work from your sketches, architects drawings, or photographs. We also offer pergola kits in sizes from 10’ by 10’ to 14’ by 14’. For a free consultation, call Walpole at 800-343-6948 or complete our Design Consultation form.

Saturday August 8, 9:00 to 10:30am | Denver Cranmer Park Residence by Gretchen Wilson and Laurel Raines of Dig Studio Perched on a high point of Denver’s Cranmer Park, one of the great park landmarks of the Mile-High City, this designed landscape complements and enhances the architectural aesthetic of the home; a stucco-clad Italianate mansion built in 1917 by renowned architect Jacques Benedict and listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The landscape, designed and constructed in three phases over a twelve-year period from 1998 to 2010, creates a functional outdoor living space that supports the owners’ contemporary lifestyle while remaining sensitive to the original architectural vision and elegance of the home. An Italianate garden, framed by the home’s loggias and a stunning boxwood garden, reinforce the design of the historic property. In contrast, the addition of a pool house and outdoor spa area add a modern touch. A linear lap pool, fountain, patio area, basketball court, and fire pit contrast with elements of the earlier landscape, providing a relaxing private outdoor space with spectacular views of Cranmer Park, and the great Rocky Mountains that dominate the Denver skyline. Photo copyright Williamson Images

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