Autumn fern, Dryopteris erythrosora Le jardinet
Design ideas for a traditional landscaping in Seattle.

Hilarie Holdsworth
Inspiration for a country home design remodel in Boston

A healthy pond requires filtration, a strong pump, plants and fish. green slime and clear water are part of a healthy ecosystem. redhead-studios
Inspiration for a mid-sized eclectic full sun side yard stone water fountain landscape in Austin.

This LEED Platinum certified house reflects the homeowner's desire for an exceptionally healthy and comfortable living environment, within a traditional neighborhood. INFILL SITE. The family, who moved from another area of Wellesley, sought out this property to be within walking distance of the high school and downtown area. An existing structure on the tight lot was removed to make way for the new home. 84% of the construction waste, from both the previous structure and the new home, was diverted from a landfill. ZED designed to preserve the existing mature trees on the perimeter of the property to minimize site impacts, and to maintain the character of the neighborhood as well as privacy on the site. EXTERIOR EXPRESSION. The street facade of the home relates to the local New England vernacular. The rear uses contemporary language, a nod to the family’s Californian roots, to incorporate a roof deck, solar panels, outdoor living space, and the backyard swimming pool. ZED’s careful planning avoided to the need to face the garage doors towards the street, a common syndrome of a narrow lot. THOUGHTFUL SPACE. Homes with dual entries can often result in duplicate and unused spaces. In this home, the everyday and formal entry areas are one and the same; the front and garage doors share the entry program of coat closets, mudroom storage with bench for removing your shoes, and a laundry room with generous closets for the children's sporting equipment. The entry area leads directly to the living space, encompassing the kitchen, dining and sitting area areas in an L-shaped open plan arrangement. The kitchen is placed at the south-west corner of the space to allow for a strong connection to the dining, sitting and outdoor living spaces. A fire pit on the deck satisfies the family’s desire for an open flame while a sealed gas fireplace is used indoors - ZED’s preference after omitting gas burning appliances completely from an airtight home. A small study, with a window seat, is conveniently located just off of the living space. A first floor guest bedroom includes an accessible bathroom for aging visitors and can be used as a master suite to accommodate aging in place. HEALTHY LIVING. The client requested a home that was easy to clean and would provide a respite from seasonal allergies and common contaminants that are found in many indoor spaces. ZED selected easy to clean solid surface flooring throughout, provided ample space for cleaning supplies on each floor, and designed a mechanical system with ventilation that provides a constant supply of fresh outdoor air. ZED selected durable materials, finishes, cabinetry, and casework with low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and no added urea formaldehyde. YEAR-ROUND COMFORT. The home is super insulated and air-tight, paired with high performance triple-paned windows, to ensure it is draft-free throughout the winter (even when in front of the large windows and doors). ZED designed a right-sized heating and cooling system to pair with the thermally improved building enclosure to ensure year-round comfort. The glazing on the home maximizes passive solar gains, and facilitates cross ventilation and daylighting. ENERGY EFFICIENT. As one of the most energy efficient houses built to date in Wellesley, the home highlights a practical solution for Massachusetts. First, the building enclosure reduces the largest energy requirement for typical houses (heating). Super-insulation, exceptional air sealing, a thermally broken wall assembly, triple pane windows, and passive solar gain combine for a sizable heating load reduction. Second, within the house only efficient systems consume energy. These include an air source heat pump for heating & cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation, and high efficiency appliances. Lastly, photovoltaics provide renewable energy help offset energy consumption. The result is an 89% reduction in energy use compared to a similar brand new home built to code requirements. RESILIENT. The home will fare well in extreme weather events. During a winter power outage, heat loss will be very slow due to the super-insulated and airtight envelope– taking multiple days to drop to 60 degrees even with no heat source. An engineered drainage system, paired with careful the detailing of the foundation, will help to keep the finished basement dry. A generator will provide full operation of the all-electric house during a power outage. OVERALL. The home is a reflection of the family goals and an expression of their values, beautifully enabling health, comfort, safety, resilience, and utility, all while respecting the planet. ZED - Architect & Mechanical Designer Bevilacqua Builders Inc - Contractor Creative Land & Water Engineering - Civil Engineering Barbara Peterson Landscape - Landscape Design Nest & Company - Interior Furnishings Eric Roth Photography - Photography

Outdoor kitchen with wood fired pizza oven. Our Portuguese pizza ovens require no assembly - just make sure your support base is strong enough for 1200 lb and that you have few guys on hand to help set the oven in place in return for wood fired pizza. This is a lot easier and cheaper than building an oven from a pizza oven kit.

Photo of a small traditional shade side yard retaining wall landscape in St Louis.

At Degnan, we love Heartland Pergolas because they are made from vinyl with a structural aluminum interior, making them strong and durable. They require little or no maintenance, never need painting, and they have the ability to be customized to fit the specific needs of the homeowner. As a result, a Heartland Pergola will last almost indefinitely!

Feature In: Visit Miami Beach Magazine & Island Living A nice young couple contacted us from Brazil to decorate their newly acquired apartment. We schedule a meeting through Skype and from the very first moment we had a very good feeling this was going to be a nice project and people to work with. We exchanged some ideas, comments, images and we explained to them how we were used to worked with clients overseas and how important was to keep communication opened. They main concerned was to find a solution for a giant structure leaning column in the main room, as well as how to make the kitchen, dining and living room work together in one considerably small space with few dimensions. Whether it was a holiday home or a place to rent occasionally, the requirements were simple, Scandinavian style, accent colors and low investment, and so we did it. Once the proposal was signed, we got down to work and in two months the apartment was ready to welcome them with nice scented candles, flowers and delicious Mojitos from their spectacular view at the 41th floor of one of Miami's most modern and tallest building. Rolando Diaz Photography

Freestanding bathtub - large contemporary master freestanding bathtub idea in Los Angeles with white walls

The gift wrapping room is adult art projects plus an office work space. Grandparents can leave their projects out and undisturbed by little ones by simply closing the French doors. Custom Wellborn cabinetry becomes work tables with the addition of wood tops. The impressive floor-to-ceiling hutch cabinet that holds gift wrapping supplies is custom-designed and built by Mosby to fit exact crafting needs. Photo by Toby Weiss

Matteo Piazza
Inspiration for a mediterranean deck remodel in Naples

Architecture, design and construction by USI. -Engineering of strong focal elements required: -Exterior window removal -Appliance re-assignments -Plumbing re-assignments -Managing flow to connected areas -Curated theme

Architecture, design and construction by USI. -Engineering of strong focal elements required: -Exterior window removal -Appliance re-assignments -Plumbing re-assignments -Managing flow to connected areas -Curated theme

This project, located within the Camino Del Mar 'beach community', posed an interesting challenge. The project sits within the low lying areas of the San Dieguito River flood plain which required that the building finished floor be set at an elevation 7'-0" above the existing grade. Our goal in dealing with the flood plain requirements and the floor area restrictions was to create a simple, efficient plan that would maximize light, air and privacy, as well as have a strong connection between indoor and outdoor living. We have chosen durable materials appropriate to the neighborhood context that would perform well under a marine environment and satisfy the client's desire for an "autheticity of materials" with a contemporary aesthetic.

Ostrich ferns. Photo by Jay Sifford.
Design ideas for an eclectic landscaping in Charlotte.

Original concept with strong Moroccan influences and age in place requirements
Example of a mid-sized eclectic 3/4 green tile and ceramic tile porcelain tile, gray floor, double-sink and exposed beam walk-in shower design in Boston with white cabinets, a wall-mount toilet, white walls, an undermount sink, quartz countertops, gray countertops and a built-in vanity

These planters were all exisiting, scattered over the lanai space. Grouping them together makes for a strong visual statement. Filling them with pretty plants that require zero maintenance makes them that much more enjoyable.

A unique opportunity to create a campus feel for this island getaway. The property consists of a private island, requiring a bridge to accommodate the main residence. A large boathouse and ‘fish shack’ are located on the primary parcel. The design solution was to create three separate buildings that offer amenity to the family and friends, while allowing privacy for the owner. The structures are all designed in the same vocabulary with a strong ‘Coastal Michigan’ aesthetic.