Design: modernedgedesign.com Photo: Edmunds Studios Photography
Inspiration for a mid-sized contemporary backyard concrete patio remodel in Milwaukee with a fire pit and a pergola

Mediterranean Equestrian Estate Architect: John Malick & Associates Photographs © 2012 Rusell Abraham
Tuscan kitchen photo in San Francisco with black appliances

Inspiration for a contemporary kids' room remodel in San Francisco

Sweet Pea cutting garden. Flowers, seeds & photo by Floret.
This is an example of a farmhouse landscaping in Seattle.

Inspiration for a contemporary exterior home remodel in San Francisco

This new way to relax and enjoy peace and quiet has a lot to do with a method that you have never experienced in this form before. Design: Kurt Beier The accentuated floor-free design in the shape of a bridge underlines the modernity of this elegant piece. Decorative seams with contrasting threads accentuate the straightforward lines. adjustable armrests in different positions pull-up back cushions for a high back seat comfort with or without seat depth adjustment with or without back adjustment (recliners are also available with TOUCH IT)

Set on a narrow lot in a private ski club development in Collingwood, Ontario, Canada, this hpuse is concieved as a contemporary reinterpretation of the traditional chalet. Its form retains the convention of a gable roof, yet is reduced to an elegant two storey volume in which the top floor slides forward, engaging an adjacent ski hill on axis with the chalet. The cantilever of the upper volume embodies a kinetic energy likened to that of a leading ski or a skier propelled in a forward trajectory. The lower level counter balances this movement with a rhythmic pattern of solid and void. Architect: AKB - Atelier Kastelic Buffey. Photography: Peter A. Sellar / www.photoklik.com

sweet peas in the kitchen garden by Jo Alderson Phillips
Inspiration for a huge farmhouse backyard landscaping in Oxfordshire.

This new way to relax and enjoy peace and quiet has a lot to do with a method that you have never experienced in this form before. Design: Kurt Beier The accentuated floor-free design in the shape of a bridge underlines the modernity of this elegant piece. Decorative seams with contrasting threads accentuate the straightforward lines. adjustable armrests in different positions pull-up back cushions for a high back seat comfort with or without seat depth adjustment with or without back adjustment (recliners are also available with TOUCH IT)

This new way to relax and enjoy peace and quiet has a lot to do with a method that you have never experienced in this form before. Design: Kurt Beier The accentuated floor-free design in the shape of a bridge underlines the modernity of this elegant piece. Decorative seams with contrasting threads accentuate the straightforward lines. adjustable armrests in different positions pull-up back cushions for a high back seat comfort with or without seat depth adjustment with or without back adjustment (recliners are also available with TOUCH IT)

We bought a plot of land on which stood a very old house. We wanted to knock the old house down and build new. This sounds pretty straightforward until you start looking at the designs of new houses. We probably had five or six architects design us a house. We’re not talking about a big house we are talking about four/five-bedrooms. We just wanted something modern, practical, something a little bit different, something a bit interesting. Anyway, five architects later we still hadn’t found anything remotely interesting in our design for a house and we happened to be sitting with a friend for dinner. He was talking about a new village he wanted to build with sustainable housing - something a bit different, with interesting architecture and he was singing the praises of Baufritz and their designers and the quality of the build. There were a number of challenges constructing a new build in rural Hampshire. Tradition had to be respected to blend into the surroundings, while the design had to inspire. Planning constraints meant that roof line and building foot print were fixed and the planners were not going to accept a modern box on site. We had one meeting with the Baufritz architect. He had the brief from my husband who is passionate about the designs of Le Corbusier the Swiss-French architect, designer, urban planner and one of the pioneers of what is now called modern architecture. This would require something a bit different something angular, something that was not altogether normal, it had to fit in with the Hampshire landscape and it had to have a bit of flint on it. He went away and came back with an amazing design that we immediately liked and really from his initial design to what was built there were only tweaks and not much else. Baufritz absolutely nailed it straight away. The house’s design is unique, a combination of locally prevalent traditional materials and sustainable modern construction methods which creates an attractive and sustainable dwelling. The use of flint cladding and small windows within the walls provides a contrast to the timber cladding and glazing of the central gable and entrance. I went to the Baufritz design centre to choose all the fixtures and fittings and it was very very efficiently done. I spent a day a day and a half there. I had forgotten how many choices and decisions you have to make, down to the skirting board, door handles, to the taps. As soon as you have 5 bathrooms you’ve got tons of taps to choose. Anyway, it was very efficient, really well done. All the fixtures and fittings were of fantastic quality and pretty much I think I made all the right choices. We made some radical choices we turned a laundry room into another bathroom, but it wasn’t too late as they hadn’t started constructing the house and changes were allowed. I looked around the factory which was incredible, absolutely unbelievable and the quality of the materials again was staggering, so it’s actually really good fun. I would advise anyone doing a Baufritz house to get to Germany and look at the production line and look at all of the materials on site. The completed house is so functional and our friends who live there are having a wonderful time, they just love the house. With five bedrooms and bathrooms and open plan living, the house is so easy and comfortable. Floor to ceiling glass accentuates the wonderful rural surrounding, allowing abundant natural light and seamless inside outside interaction. I think that sustainability is a big selling point these days, it has to be at the top of the list, and for Baufritz the more they can do there the better. The household bills have gone down enormously. The house is not solar, it is just that it is more efficient, because its effectively sealed so you’re not losing heat, the heat is circulated. You’ve got underfloor heating and a heat pump as well, it’s purely just more efficient, that’s the big selling point. From the point of view of our experience of Baufritz, you know we are obviously doing the very top end so we cannot really talk about the mass-market. I think I’m making the point that actually Baufritz can do something really interesting architecturally, with their modular form of construction. The way they build houses in the factory is the interesting thing and I think it would surprise a lot of people that they can do something that is really pushing the boundaries on the architectural side.

We bought a plot of land on which stood a very old house. We wanted to knock the old house down and build new. This sounds pretty straightforward until you start looking at the designs of new houses. We probably had five or six architects design us a house. We’re not talking about a big house we are talking about four/five-bedrooms. We just wanted something modern, practical, something a little bit different, something a bit interesting. Anyway, five architects later we still hadn’t found anything remotely interesting in our design for a house and we happened to be sitting with a friend for dinner. He was talking about a new village he wanted to build with sustainable housing - something a bit different, with interesting architecture and he was singing the praises of Baufritz and their designers and the quality of the build. There were a number of challenges constructing a new build in rural Hampshire. Tradition had to be respected to blend into the surroundings, while the design had to inspire. Planning constraints meant that roof line and building foot print were fixed and the planners were not going to accept a modern box on site. We had one meeting with the Baufritz architect. He had the brief from my husband who is passionate about the designs of Le Corbusier the Swiss-French architect, designer, urban planner and one of the pioneers of what is now called modern architecture. This would require something a bit different something angular, something that was not altogether normal, it had to fit in with the Hampshire landscape and it had to have a bit of flint on it. He went away and came back with an amazing design that we immediately liked and really from his initial design to what was built there were only tweaks and not much else. Baufritz absolutely nailed it straight away. The house’s design is unique, a combination of locally prevalent traditional materials and sustainable modern construction methods which creates an attractive and sustainable dwelling. The use of flint cladding and small windows within the walls provides a contrast to the timber cladding and glazing of the central gable and entrance. I went to the Baufritz design centre to choose all the fixtures and fittings and it was very very efficiently done. I spent a day a day and a half there. I had forgotten how many choices and decisions you have to make, down to the skirting board, door handles, to the taps. As soon as you have 5 bathrooms you’ve got tons of taps to choose. Anyway, it was very efficient, really well done. All the fixtures and fittings were of fantastic quality and pretty much I think I made all the right choices. We made some radical choices we turned a laundry room into another bathroom, but it wasn’t too late as they hadn’t started constructing the house and changes were allowed. I looked around the factory which was incredible, absolutely unbelievable and the quality of the materials again was staggering, so it’s actually really good fun. I would advise anyone doing a Baufritz house to get to Germany and look at the production line and look at all of the materials on site. The completed house is so functional and our friends who live there are having a wonderful time, they just love the house. With five bedrooms and bathrooms and open plan living, the house is so easy and comfortable. Floor to ceiling glass accentuates the wonderful rural surrounding, allowing abundant natural light and seamless inside outside interaction. I think that sustainability is a big selling point these days, it has to be at the top of the list, and for Baufritz the more they can do there the better. The household bills have gone down enormously. The house is not solar, it is just that it is more efficient, because its effectively sealed so you’re not losing heat, the heat is circulated. You’ve got underfloor heating and a heat pump as well, it’s purely just more efficient, that’s the big selling point. From the point of view of our experience of Baufritz, you know we are obviously doing the very top end so we cannot really talk about the mass-market. I think I’m making the point that actually Baufritz can do something really interesting architecturally, with their modular form of construction. The way they build houses in the factory is the interesting thing and I think it would surprise a lot of people that they can do something that is really pushing the boundaries on the architectural side.

This new way to relax and enjoy peace and quiet has a lot to do with a method that you have never experienced in this form before. Design: Kurt Beier The accentuated floor-free design in the shape of a bridge underlines the modernity of this elegant piece. Decorative seams with contrasting threads accentuate the straightforward lines. adjustable armrests in different positions pull-up back cushions for a high back seat comfort with or without seat depth adjustment with or without back adjustment (recliners are also available with TOUCH IT)

Indoor-Outdoor Porcelain continuing the same material through from the Patio into the Kitchen. Creating an open feel with a modern look. Outdoor tiles laid on a raised 'pod' system. Kent, UK

Helen Jermyn
Trendy galley kitchen photo in London with an undermount sink, shaker cabinets and blue cabinets