The simple plantings reflect the geometry of the home. Renn Kuhnen Photography
Design ideas for a mid-sized modern full sun front yard formal garden in Milwaukee for summer.

This generous living room with 12 ft. ceilings was hard to make warm and inviting. Its original state had massive gothic chandeliers and a stark white brick fireplace (ask us if you would like to see the before photos!). We worked carefully at articulating the fireplace facade, changing it's geometry to change the scale. By adding hand hewn wood cladding to the non fire side and a warm textural limestone adjacent, created a fireplace you area ready to snuggle up to. Additionally, thoughtful lighting and creating room definition through the furniture plan, helped to define and inhabit this great space.

I built this on my property for my aging father who has some health issues. Handicap accessibility was a factor in design. His dream has always been to try retire to a cabin in the woods. This is what he got. It is a 1 bedroom, 1 bath with a great room. It is 600 sqft of AC space. The footprint is 40' x 26' overall. The site was the former home of our pig pen. I only had to take 1 tree to make this work and I planted 3 in its place. The axis is set from root ball to root ball. The rear center is aligned with mean sunset and is visible across a wetland. The goal was to make the home feel like it was floating in the palms. The geometry had to simple and I didn't want it feeling heavy on the land so I cantilevered the structure beyond exposed foundation walls. My barn is nearby and it features old 1950's "S" corrugated metal panel walls. I used the same panel profile for my siding. I ran it vertical to match the barn, but also to balance the length of the structure and stretch the high point into the canopy, visually. The wood is all Southern Yellow Pine. This material came from clearing at the Babcock Ranch Development site. I ran it through the structure, end to end and horizontally, to create a seamless feel and to stretch the space. It worked. It feels MUCH bigger than it is. I milled the material to specific sizes in specific areas to create precise alignments. Floor starters align with base. Wall tops adjoin ceiling starters to create the illusion of a seamless board. All light fixtures, HVAC supports, cabinets, switches, outlets, are set specifically to wood joints. The front and rear porch wood has three different milling profiles so the hypotenuse on the ceilings, align with the walls, and yield an aligned deck board below. Yes, I over did it. It is spectacular in its detailing. That's the benefit of small spaces. Concrete counters and IKEA cabinets round out the conversation. For those who cannot live tiny, I offer the Tiny-ish House. Photos by Ryan Gamma Staging by iStage Homes Design Assistance Jimmy Thornton

Lucite sconces flank the front window of the space. We wanted to gain general lighting but wanted a simple fixture which would not compete with the dramatic chandelier. The blue wool draperies with embroidered detail add an extra layer of texture. Amy Aidinis Hirsch LLC

Modern Retreat is one of a four home collection located in Paradise Valley, Arizona. The site, formerly home to the abandoned Kachina Elementary School, offered remarkable views of Camelback Mountain. Nestled into an acre-sized, pie shaped cul-de-sac, the site’s unique challenges came in the form of lot geometry, western primary views, and limited southern exposure. While the lot’s shape had a heavy influence on the home organization, the western views and the need for western solar protection created the general massing hierarchy. The undulating split-faced travertine stone walls both protect and give a vivid textural display and seamlessly pass from exterior to interior. The tone-on-tone exterior material palate was married with an effective amount of contrast internally. This created a very dynamic exchange between objects in space and the juxtaposition to the more simple and elegant architecture. Maximizing the 5,652 sq ft, a seamless connection of interior and exterior spaces through pocketing glass doors extends public spaces to the outdoors and highlights the fantastic Camelback Mountain views. Project Details // Modern Retreat Architecture: Drewett Works Builder/Developer: Bedbrock Developers, LLC Interior Design: Ownby Design Photographer: Thompson Photographic

Visit Our Showroom 8000 Locust Mill St. Ellicott City, MD 21043 Metrie True Craft Interior Door - Designer: Donna Guerra, ASID Dallas, Texas, USA This room invokes a cozy, rustic feel with the beautiful look of vertical grain Fir from the True Craft Scene III elements. Large, wedge-shaped mouldings create a unique style around the room, including the crafting of the fireplace treatment. The custom oil finish was applied using a dry brush technique which highlights the Fir’s natural graining. The chair rail installed vertically, creates a unique wainscot that draws in your gaze. Finishing Details Gray finish uses a "white" oil and a dry brush gray stain technique Panel Moulding and inverted baseboard were layered together to form header over barn door hardware Doors painted in a grey satin finish with a muted green undertone The warmth and honesty of authentic, utilitarian design. There’s nothing quite like the aesthetic created by the Craftsman, Mission and Prairie Style movements. Simple, linear, direct. Use these elements as the setting to create a Southwest Style with sun-washed tones. Go Mountain Modern by dry brushing a cool grey stain. Create a mid-century Bungalow feel by letting the Fir grain show through a warm whitewashed paint. So many places to land when you start here.

entrance In the woods zen home http://ZenArchitect.com
Photo of a mid-sized contemporary full sun front yard landscaping in Orange County with decking.

The cabin typology redux came out of the owner’s desire to have a house that is warm and familiar, but also “feels like you are on vacation.” The basis of the “Hewn House” design starts with a cabin’s simple form and materiality: a gable roof, a wood-clad body, a prominent fireplace that acts as the hearth, and integrated indoor-outdoor spaces. However, rather than a rustic style, the scheme proposes a clean-lined and “hewned” form, sculpted, to best fit on its urban infill lot. The plan and elevation geometries are responsive to the unique site conditions. Existing prominent trees determined the faceted shape of the main house, while providing shade that projecting eaves of a traditional log cabin would otherwise offer. Deferring to the trees also allows the house to more readily tuck into its leafy East Austin neighborhood, and is therefore more quiet and secluded. Natural light and coziness are key inside the home. Both the common zone and the private quarters extend to sheltered outdoor spaces of varying scales: the front porch, the private patios, and the back porch which acts as a transition to the backyard. Similar to the front of the house, a large cedar elm was preserved in the center of the yard. Sliding glass doors open up the interior living zone to the backyard life while clerestory windows bring in additional ambient light and tree canopy views. The wood ceiling adds warmth and connection to the exterior knotted cedar tongue & groove. The iron spot bricks with an earthy, reddish tone around the fireplace cast a new material interest both inside and outside. The gable roof is clad with standing seam to reinforced the clean-lined and faceted form. Furthermore, a dark gray shade of stucco contrasts and complements the warmth of the cedar with its coolness. A freestanding guest house both separates from and connects to the main house through a small, private patio with a tall steel planter bed. Photo by Charles Davis Smith

Intersecting eras create interesting designs. Contemporary vanities, LED mirrors and wall tile, integrate seamlessly with a claw foot tub and old-world faux cement porcelain tile. The 12 x 18 wall tile creates a subtle tactile geometry, in harmony with the matte floor tile. The vanity has clean simple lines with easily accessible storage space.

The cabin typology redux came out of the owner’s desire to have a house that is warm and familiar, but also “feels like you are on vacation.” The basis of the “Hewn House” design starts with a cabin’s simple form and materiality: a gable roof, a wood-clad body, a prominent fireplace that acts as the hearth, and integrated indoor-outdoor spaces. However, rather than a rustic style, the scheme proposes a clean-lined and “hewned” form, sculpted, to best fit on its urban infill lot. The plan and elevation geometries are responsive to the unique site conditions. Existing prominent trees determined the faceted shape of the main house, while providing shade that projecting eaves of a traditional log cabin would otherwise offer. Deferring to the trees also allows the house to more readily tuck into its leafy East Austin neighborhood, and is therefore more quiet and secluded. Natural light and coziness are key inside the home. Both the common zone and the private quarters extend to sheltered outdoor spaces of varying scales: the front porch, the private patios, and the back porch which acts as a transition to the backyard. Similar to the front of the house, a large cedar elm was preserved in the center of the yard. Sliding glass doors open up the interior living zone to the backyard life while clerestory windows bring in additional ambient light and tree canopy views. The wood ceiling adds warmth and connection to the exterior knotted cedar tongue & groove. The iron spot bricks with an earthy, reddish tone around the fireplace cast a new material interest both inside and outside. The gable roof is clad with standing seam to reinforced the clean-lined and faceted form. Furthermore, a dark gray shade of stucco contrasts and complements the warmth of the cedar with its coolness. A freestanding guest house both separates from and connects to the main house through a small, private patio with a tall steel planter bed. Photo by Charles Davis Smith

The lower pool's border eases the transition from the clean geometries of the pool and house to the woods beyond. Photo credit: George Dzahristos
Design ideas for a large transitional hillside water fountain landscape in Detroit.

Coastal Modern Farmhouse Flavin Architects designed a structure that inherits its silhouette from the New England farmhouse and orients itself to the adjacent wetlands. The elegance of its shape is an effect of an austere geometry. The cedar shingle cladding underneath the lines of the metal roof reinforces this sense of confident understatement. A screened porch looks over a gentle downslope and a stretch of verdant wetlands into Kettle Cove. The interior extends the sense of local inheritance with a cadence of heavy timber beams that cross a tongue-and-groove ceiling to meet exposed steel beams. This set up echoes the simple framing of local colonial homes. A wood-burning fireplace also evokes this history, and with its mantle of reclaimed railroad ties, and the raw edged monolithic hearth, creates a sense of organic relation to the surrounding landscape. The interior symmetry of our Kettle Cove Farmhouse is illuminated by a generous sweep of windows that face east toward the rising sun. Flavin Architects has created a sense of flow from the interior to the exterior of the house.

Close up of cafe curtains featuring narrow jute trim woven into fabric on cafe curtains.
Dining room - rustic dining room idea in Houston

This new multifamily development was designed to fit into a single family neighborhood. The design includes horizontal and vertical open plans to maximize the space giving a feeling of light and modern elegance. By providing a simple roof form and geometry as a preliminary design feature, accommodations of evolving programmatic requirements were made without compromising the initial design direction, much to the delight of both the owner and the architect. Large corner windows on the upper floors and large corner sliding glass doors on the main floor open the interior spaces to town views and the landscaped rear yard. Phillip Jensen-Carter Photographer

Modern Retreat is one of a four home collection located in Paradise Valley, Arizona. The site, formerly home to the abandoned Kachina Elementary School, offered remarkable views of Camelback Mountain. Nestled into an acre-sized, pie shaped cul-de-sac, the site’s unique challenges came in the form of lot geometry, western primary views, and limited southern exposure. While the lot’s shape had a heavy influence on the home organization, the western views and the need for western solar protection created the general massing hierarchy. The undulating split-faced travertine stone walls both protect and give a vivid textural display and seamlessly pass from exterior to interior. The tone-on-tone exterior material palate was married with an effective amount of contrast internally. This created a very dynamic exchange between objects in space and the juxtaposition to the more simple and elegant architecture. Maximizing the 5,652 sq ft, a seamless connection of interior and exterior spaces through pocketing glass doors extends public spaces to the outdoors and highlights the fantastic Camelback Mountain views. Project Details // Modern Retreat Architecture: Drewett Works Builder/Developer: Bedbrock Developers, LLC Interior Design: Ownby Design Photographer: Thompson Photographic

Marcel designed this simple entry system and was accented it by adding a custom built transom by Pella Window and Doors . . . The Craftsman trim work accents the the geometry of while arched transom echoing the barrel vaulted ceiling.

Located in the historic Central Gardens neighborhood in Memphis, the project sought to revive the outdoor space of a 1920’s traditional home with a new pool, screened porch and garden design. After renovating the 1920’s kitchen, the client sought to improve their outdoor space. The first step was replacing the existing kidney pool with a smaller pool more suited to the charm of the site. With careful insertion of key elements the design creates spaces which accommodate, swimming, lounging, entertaining, gardening, cooking and more. “Strong, organized geometry makes all of this work and creates a simple and relaxing environment,” Designer Jeff Edwards explains. “Our detailing takes on updated freshness, so there is a distinction between new and old, but both reside harmoniously.” The screened porch actually has some modern detailing that compliments the previous kitchen renovation, but the proportions in materiality are very complimentary to the original architecture from the 1920s. The screened porch opens out onto a small outdoor terrace that then flows down into the backyard and overlooks a small pool.

Coastal Modern Farmhouse Flavin Architects designed a structure that inherits its silhouette from the New England farmhouse and orients itself to the adjacent wetlands. The elegance of its shape is an effect of an austere geometry. The cedar shingle cladding underneath the lines of the metal roof reinforces this sense of confident understatement. A screened porch looks over a gentle downslope and a stretch of verdant wetlands into Kettle Cove. The interior extends the sense of local inheritance with a cadence of heavy timber beams that cross a tongue-and-groove ceiling to meet exposed steel beams. This set up echoes the simple framing of local colonial homes. A wood-burning fireplace also evokes this history, and with its mantle of reclaimed railroad ties, and the raw edged monolithic hearth, creates a sense of organic relation to the surrounding landscape. The interior symmetry of our Kettle Cove Farmhouse is illuminated by a generous sweep of windows that face east toward the rising sun. Flavin Architects has created a sense of flow from the interior to the exterior of the house.

This classic post-and-beam house sits on a ridge in the Riviera neighborhood of Santa Barbara, CA. With stunning views of Gibraltar Rock, Mission Canyon, and Cielito Overlook, the house’s original designers sited it perfectly and implemented an elegantly simple structural system based on a clear design vision. Unfortunately, several subsequent owners lacked that same clarity and made questionable remodeling choices based on passing style fads, effectively turning the house into something it was not and – most perplexing of all – turning their backs to the majesty of the surrounding mountains and valley. Working with the new owner, who saw through the noise of these misguided remodels, we set out to return the house to its roots and recreate its rhythmic geometry and interior flow. We added new wall-to-wall double sliding doors that open to the expansive northern views, bringing space and light to the living, dining, and kitchen areas and providing easy access to the surrounding natural environment. We also reconsidered the color palette and materials, simplified detailing and trim, and highlighted interior focal points such as the original slump block fireplace and newly remodeled kitchen. The house now entertains easily and provides a comfortable and gracious living space for its owner and guests.