The Cicero is a modern styled home for today’s contemporary lifestyle. It features sweeping facades with deep overhangs, tall windows, and grand outdoor patio. The contemporary lifestyle is reinforced through a visually connected array of communal spaces. The kitchen features a symmetrical plan with large island and is connected to the dining room through a wide opening flanked by custom cabinetry. Adjacent to the kitchen, the living and sitting rooms are connected to one another by a see-through fireplace. The communal nature of this plan is reinforced downstairs with a lavish wet-bar and roomy living space, perfect for entertaining guests. Lastly, with vaulted ceilings and grand vistas, the master suite serves as a cozy retreat from today’s busy lifestyle. Photographer: Brad Gillette

Bedroom - transitional medium tone wood floor and brown floor bedroom idea with white walls

Sunroom - contemporary light wood floor sunroom idea in New York with a standard ceiling

The stunning two story dining room in this Bloomfield Hills home, completed in 2015, allows the twenty foot wall of windows and the breathtaking lake views beyond to take center stage as the key focal point. Twin built in buffets grace the two side walls, offering substantial storage and serving space for the generously proportioned room. The floating cabinets are topped with leathered granite mitered countertops in Fantasy Black. The backsplashes feature Peau de Béton, lightweight fiberglass reinforced concrete panels, in a dynamic Onyx finish for a sophisticated industrial look. The custom walnut table sports a metal edge binding, furthering the modern industrial theme of the buffets. The soaring ceiling is treated to a stepped edge detail with indirect LED strip lighting above to provide ambient light to accent the scene below.

Laura Mettler
Example of a mid-sized mountain style carpeted and beige floor hallway design in Other with beige walls

Example of a minimalist beige two-story exterior home design in Dallas

Inspiration for a contemporary bathroom remodel in Portland Maine

Large elegant dark wood floor enclosed dining room photo in Dallas with white walls and no fireplace

Bathroom - scandinavian gray floor and double-sink bathroom idea in San Francisco with flat-panel cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets, white walls, an undermount sink, white countertops, a floating vanity and marble countertops

Designed by Norman Ward, AIA Photo by Chad Davis, AIA
Photo of a modern full sun front yard landscaping in Dallas for winter.

photography by Joy von Tiedemann
Elegant medium tone wood floor and brown floor living room photo in Toronto with beige walls and a standard fireplace

Mid-sized trendy galley dark wood floor open concept kitchen photo in Seattle with an undermount sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, black backsplash, an island, granite countertops, stone slab backsplash and stainless steel appliances

Pivoting louvers were devised inside the Entry, providing shading for the S façade, and privacy from the busy street and neighbors. As the louvers pivot, it transforms the Entry from transparent to opaque, reinforcing a welcoming gesture as an extension of the public spaces, or conveying privacy desired as an extension of the plinth mass. Steve Hall - Hedrich Blessing

Dustin Halleck www.dustinhalleck.com 614.581.5531
Kitchen/dining room combo - large transitional dark wood floor and brown floor kitchen/dining room combo idea in Chicago with beige walls and no fireplace

Michael Merrill Design Studio completely reworked this 53 square-foot bathroom. This is the only bathroom in the 815 square-foot Edwardian residence. The floating cabinet increases the sense of space in this tiny bathroom. We relocated the bathroom so it is no longer located in the kitchen.

“Compelling.” That’s how one of our judges characterized this stair, which manages to embody both reassuring solidity and airy weightlessness. Architect Mahdad Saniee specified beefy maple treads—each laminated from two boards, to resist twisting and cupping—and supported them at the wall with hidden steel hangers. “We wanted to make them look like they are floating,” he says, “so they sit away from the wall by about half an inch.” The stainless steel rods that seem to pierce the treads’ opposite ends are, in fact, joined by threaded couplings hidden within the thickness of the wood. The result is an assembly whose stiffness underfoot defies expectation, Saniee says. “It feels very solid, much more solid than average stairs.” With the rods working in tension from above and compression below, “it’s very hard for those pieces of wood to move.” The interplay of wood and steel makes abstract reference to a Steinway concert grand, Saniee notes. “It’s taking elements of a piano and playing with them.” A gently curved soffit in the ceiling reinforces the visual rhyme. The jury admired the effect but was equally impressed with the technical acumen required to achieve it. “The rhythm established by the vertical rods sets up a rigorous discipline that works with the intricacies of stair dimensions,” observed one judge. “That’s really hard to do.”

Jaime Alverez
Inspiration for a mid-sized transitional guest dark wood floor and brown floor bedroom remodel in Philadelphia with beige walls and no fireplace

A young family of five seeks to create a family compound constructed by a series of smaller dwellings. Each building is characterized by its own style that reinforces its function. But together they work in harmony to create a fun and playful weekend getaway.

CASA 1O Contemporary on a Mid-century Scaffold. Largely unmodified since its design by Russell Forester and construction in 1957, the structure housed the original family until 2013. An intimate 1,910 square foot space, the house acquired a separate 600 square foot cottage in the 70’s designed by another architect. New owners purchased the house with the idea of keeping the original architect’s intent intact – the simple accommodation of everyday life with a focus on outdoor living only possible in Southern California. At the same time the house needed insulation, new electrical, plumbing, siding – everything but new studs and foundations. A single roof beam travels south from the north fireplace wall all the way to the bedrooms in the back. Functions occur to either side, with private access to exterior courtyards. How do we accentuate the uncomplicated while enhancing the qualities of the chosen materials? Contemporary applied to a mid-century scaffold. We focused on reduction, a few things performing many tasks. Each component, material or color performs more than one duty. Lighting is paramount, enhancing the design’s procession from front to back, north to south, public to private. Strip LED’s reinforce the beam’s linear presence and spot LED’s make punctuation points of the roof purlins. Hidden up and down-lights in the cabinets and elsewhere provide the rooms with a quiet glow. Exterior grass plantings give the only vertical dimension to the design, waving as the breeze moves them. All else is horizontal: caramelized bamboo siding, porcelain tile, roof line and ocean horizon. Architect: Heather Johnston Architect Landscaping: HJA Photography: Brady Architectural Photography