Country l-shaped dark wood floor, brown floor and exposed beam kitchen photo in Atlanta with a farmhouse sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, wood countertops, wood backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and brown countertops

Photographer- Lisa Gotwals http://www.lissagotwals.com/ Designer- Alys Protzman http://www.houzz.com/pro/alysdesign/alys-design Aug/Sept 2015 Renewing Old World Charm http://urbanhomemagazine.com/feature/1405

Example of a classic l-shaped kitchen design in Minneapolis with shaker cabinets, white cabinets, stainless steel appliances and an island

Laundry room - farmhouse laundry room idea in Seattle with white cabinets and a side-by-side washer/dryer

Farmhouse inspired laundry room, made complete with a gorgeous, pattern cement floor tile!
Mid-sized trendy l-shaped ceramic tile and multicolored floor dedicated laundry room photo in San Diego with an undermount sink, recessed-panel cabinets, blue cabinets, beige walls, a side-by-side washer/dryer, beige countertops and quartz countertops

Family room - country open concept medium tone wood floor, brown floor, coffered ceiling and shiplap wall family room idea in Atlanta with beige walls, a brick fireplace, a standard fireplace and a wall-mounted tv

Joe Coulson
Living room - traditional open concept living room idea in Atlanta with white walls

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.

Kids' room - large contemporary gender-neutral medium tone wood floor and brown floor kids' room idea in Denver with gray walls

We love how this bay window adds extra seating area and also makes the room appear larger!
Example of a large farmhouse enclosed dining room design in Minneapolis with pink walls

This Boulder, Colorado remodel by fuentesdesign demonstrates the possibility of renewal in American suburbs, and Passive House design principles. Once an inefficient single story 1,000 square-foot ranch house with a forced air furnace, has been transformed into a two-story, solar powered 2500 square-foot three bedroom home ready for the next generation. The new design for the home is modern with a sustainable theme, incorporating a palette of natural materials including; reclaimed wood finishes, FSC-certified pine Zola windows and doors, and natural earth and lime plasters that soften the interior and crisp contemporary exterior with a flavor of the west. A Ninety-percent efficient energy recovery fresh air ventilation system provides constant filtered fresh air to every room. The existing interior brick was removed and replaced with insulation. The remaining heating and cooling loads are easily met with the highest degree of comfort via a mini-split heat pump, the peak heat load has been cut by a factor of 4, despite the house doubling in size. During the coldest part of the Colorado winter, a wood stove for ambiance and low carbon back up heat creates a special place in both the living and kitchen area, and upstairs loft. This ultra energy efficient home relies on extremely high levels of insulation, air-tight detailing and construction, and the implementation of high performance, custom made European windows and doors by Zola Windows. Zola’s ThermoPlus Clad line, which boasts R-11 triple glazing and is thermally broken with a layer of patented German Purenit®, was selected for the project. These windows also provide a seamless indoor/outdoor connection, with 9′ wide folding doors from the dining area and a matching 9′ wide custom countertop folding window that opens the kitchen up to a grassy court where mature trees provide shade and extend the living space during the summer months. With air-tight construction, this home meets the Passive House Retrofit (EnerPHit) air-tightness standard of

Photographer- Lisa Gotwals http://www.lissagotwals.com/ Designer- Alys Protzman http://www.houzz.com/pro/alysdesign/alys-design Aug/Sept 2015 Renewing Old World Charm http://urbanhomemagazine.com/feature/1405

Inspiration for a large timeless l-shaped dark wood floor and brown floor kitchen remodel in Boston with an undermount sink, recessed-panel cabinets, white cabinets, gray backsplash, subway tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances and an island

Photo credit: Michael Moran/OTTO. We designed this home with a flat roof so that you can barely see the large arrays of PVs (solar panels). If you look very carefully, you can see the outline of the panels above the eaves, but they're almost impossible to spot. The design concept for this home is that you wouldn't see anything on top of the roofs, but the truth is that the photovoltaics contribute significantly to the home's energy efficiency. The home is LEED certified and our clients tell us it's comfortable and cozy throughout the year.

Grant Mott Photography
Kitchen - mid-sized traditional u-shaped light wood floor and beige floor kitchen idea in Portland with a drop-in sink, raised-panel cabinets, gray cabinets, granite countertops, beige backsplash, ceramic backsplash, stainless steel appliances and a peninsula

Inspiration for an industrial open concept living room remodel in Providence with gray walls

Dane Cronin Photography
Inspiration for a mid-sized mediterranean enclosed medium tone wood floor living room remodel in Salt Lake City with beige walls, a corner fireplace and a plaster fireplace

Inspiration for a large contemporary master gray tile and mosaic tile travertine floor and beige floor bathroom remodel in Other with flat-panel cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets, beige walls, an undermount sink, quartzite countertops and a two-piece toilet

Large transitional medium tone wood floor and brown floor kitchen photo in Denver with a drop-in sink, recessed-panel cabinets, white cabinets, paneled appliances, two islands and granite countertops