This case study features a bathroom remodel in Oak Brook, Illinois. Here we showcase the details of the renovation, to give clients an in depth look at our design and remodel process.

Our design studio fully renovated this beautiful 1980s home. We divided the large living room into dining and living areas with a shared, updated fireplace. The original formal dining room became a bright and fun family room. The kitchen got sophisticated new cabinets, colors, and an amazing quartz backsplash. In the bathroom, we added wooden cabinets and replaced the bulky tub-shower combo with a gorgeous freestanding tub and sleek black-tiled shower area. We also upgraded the den with comfortable minimalist furniture and a study table for the kids. --- Project designed by Miami interior designer Margarita Bravo. She serves Miami as well as surrounding areas such as Coconut Grove, Key Biscayne, Miami Beach, North Miami Beach, and Hallandale Beach. For more about MARGARITA BRAVO, click here: https://www.margaritabravo.com/ To learn more about this project, click here https://www.margaritabravo.com/portfolio/greenwood-village-home-renovation

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

Inspiration for a small timeless built-in desk medium tone wood floor study room remodel in Portland with beige walls

Open kitchen with two islands, green cabinets, iron ore island, floating iron shelving, white oak vent hood, double oven, brass hardware.
Inspiration for a large country brown floor kitchen remodel in Dallas with a farmhouse sink, shaker cabinets, green cabinets, quartz countertops, white backsplash, ceramic backsplash, stainless steel appliances, two islands and white countertops

Our Austin studio decided to go bold with this project by ensuring that each space had a unique identity in the Mid-Century Modern style bathroom, butler's pantry, and mudroom. We covered the bathroom walls and flooring with stylish beige and yellow tile that was cleverly installed to look like two different patterns. The mint cabinet and pink vanity reflect the mid-century color palette. The stylish knobs and fittings add an extra splash of fun to the bathroom. The butler's pantry is located right behind the kitchen and serves multiple functions like storage, a study area, and a bar. We went with a moody blue color for the cabinets and included a raw wood open shelf to give depth and warmth to the space. We went with some gorgeous artistic tiles that create a bold, intriguing look in the space. In the mudroom, we used siding materials to create a shiplap effect to create warmth and texture – a homage to the classic Mid-Century Modern design. We used the same blue from the butler's pantry to create a cohesive effect. The large mint cabinets add a lighter touch to the space.

Inspiration for a kids' room remodel in San Diego

Our Austin studio decided to go bold with this project by ensuring that each space had a unique identity in the Mid-Century Modern style bathroom, butler's pantry, and mudroom. We covered the bathroom walls and flooring with stylish beige and yellow tile that was cleverly installed to look like two different patterns. The mint cabinet and pink vanity reflect the mid-century color palette. The stylish knobs and fittings add an extra splash of fun to the bathroom. The butler's pantry is located right behind the kitchen and serves multiple functions like storage, a study area, and a bar. We went with a moody blue color for the cabinets and included a raw wood open shelf to give depth and warmth to the space. We went with some gorgeous artistic tiles that create a bold, intriguing look in the space. In the mudroom, we used siding materials to create a shiplap effect to create warmth and texture – a homage to the classic Mid-Century Modern design. We used the same blue from the butler's pantry to create a cohesive effect. The large mint cabinets add a lighter touch to the space.

Casey Dunn Photography
Small eclectic built-in desk dark wood floor study room photo in Houston with blue walls

Example of a large farmhouse built-in desk light wood floor and brown floor study room design in Boston with white walls

Our Austin studio decided to go bold with this project by ensuring that each space had a unique identity in the Mid-Century Modern style bathroom, butler's pantry, and mudroom. We covered the bathroom walls and flooring with stylish beige and yellow tile that was cleverly installed to look like two different patterns. The mint cabinet and pink vanity reflect the mid-century color palette. The stylish knobs and fittings add an extra splash of fun to the bathroom. The butler's pantry is located right behind the kitchen and serves multiple functions like storage, a study area, and a bar. We went with a moody blue color for the cabinets and included a raw wood open shelf to give depth and warmth to the space. We went with some gorgeous artistic tiles that create a bold, intriguing look in the space. In the mudroom, we used siding materials to create a shiplap effect to create warmth and texture – a homage to the classic Mid-Century Modern design. We used the same blue from the butler's pantry to create a cohesive effect. The large mint cabinets add a lighter touch to the space.

New Master Bath in converted previous study. Walk in curbless shower. Vessel tub moved from former Master Bath
Example of a large transitional master beige tile and ceramic tile limestone floor and beige floor bathroom design in San Francisco with white cabinets, white walls, an undermount sink, quartz countertops, white countertops and recessed-panel cabinets

Example of a transitional u-shaped medium tone wood floor, brown floor and exposed beam open concept kitchen design in Austin with a farmhouse sink, shaker cabinets, white cabinets, quartz countertops, gray backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and white countertops

This renovated brick rowhome in Boston’s South End offers a modern aesthetic within a historic structure, creative use of space, exceptional thermal comfort, a reduced carbon footprint, and a passive stream of income. DESIGN PRIORITIES. The goals for the project were clear - design the primary unit to accommodate the family’s modern lifestyle, rework the layout to create a desirable rental unit, improve thermal comfort and introduce a modern aesthetic. We designed the street-level entry as a shared entrance for both the primary and rental unit. The family uses it as their everyday entrance - we planned for bike storage and an open mudroom with bench and shoe storage to facilitate the change from shoes to slippers or bare feet as they enter their home. On the main level, we expanded the kitchen into the dining room to create an eat-in space with generous counter space and storage, as well as a comfortable connection to the living space. The second floor serves as master suite for the couple - a bedroom with a walk-in-closet and ensuite bathroom, and an adjacent study, with refinished original pumpkin pine floors. The upper floor, aside from a guest bedroom, is the child's domain with interconnected spaces for sleeping, work and play. In the play space, which can be separated from the work space with new translucent sliding doors, we incorporated recreational features inspired by adventurous and competitive television shows, at their son’s request. MODERN MEETS TRADITIONAL. We left the historic front facade of the building largely unchanged - the security bars were removed from the windows and the single pane windows were replaced with higher performing historic replicas. We designed the interior and rear facade with a vision of warm modernism, weaving in the notable period features. Each element was either restored or reinterpreted to blend with the modern aesthetic. The detailed ceiling in the living space, for example, has a new matte monochromatic finish, and the wood stairs are covered in a dark grey floor paint, whereas the mahogany doors were simply refinished. New wide plank wood flooring with a neutral finish, floor-to-ceiling casework, and bold splashes of color in wall paint and tile, and oversized high-performance windows (on the rear facade) round out the modern aesthetic. RENTAL INCOME. The existing rowhome was zoned for a 2-family dwelling but included an undesirable, single-floor studio apartment at the garden level with low ceiling heights and questionable emergency egress. In order to increase the quality and quantity of space in the rental unit, we reimagined it as a two-floor, 1 or 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a modern aesthetic, increased ceiling height on the lowest level and provided an in-unit washer/dryer. The apartment was listed with Jackie O'Connor Real Estate and rented immediately, providing the owners with a source of passive income. ENCLOSURE WITH BENEFITS. The homeowners sought a minimal carbon footprint, enabled by their urban location and lifestyle decisions, paired with the benefits of a high-performance home. The extent of the renovation allowed us to implement a deep energy retrofit (DER) to address air tightness, insulation, and high-performance windows. The historic front facade is insulated from the interior, while the rear facade is insulated on the exterior. Together with these building enclosure improvements, we designed an HVAC system comprised of continuous fresh air ventilation, and an efficient, all-electric heating and cooling system to decouple the house from natural gas. This strategy provides optimal thermal comfort and indoor air quality, improved acoustic isolation from street noise and neighbors, as well as a further reduced carbon footprint. We also took measures to prepare the roof for future solar panels, for when the South End neighborhood’s aging electrical infrastructure is upgraded to allow them. URBAN LIVING. The desirable neighborhood location allows the both the homeowners and tenant to walk, bike, and use public transportation to access the city, while each charging their respective plug-in electric cars behind the building to travel greater distances. OVERALL. The understated rowhouse is now ready for another century of urban living, offering the owners comfort and convenience as they live life as an expression of their values. Photography: Eric Roth Photo

This cozy lake cottage skillfully incorporates a number of features that would normally be restricted to a larger home design. A glance of the exterior reveals a simple story and a half gable running the length of the home, enveloping the majority of the interior spaces. To the rear, a pair of gables with copper roofing flanks a covered dining area and screened porch. Inside, a linear foyer reveals a generous staircase with cascading landing. Further back, a centrally placed kitchen is connected to all of the other main level entertaining spaces through expansive cased openings. A private study serves as the perfect buffer between the homes master suite and living room. Despite its small footprint, the master suite manages to incorporate several closets, built-ins, and adjacent master bath complete with a soaker tub flanked by separate enclosures for a shower and water closet. Upstairs, a generous double vanity bathroom is shared by a bunkroom, exercise space, and private bedroom. The bunkroom is configured to provide sleeping accommodations for up to 4 people. The rear-facing exercise has great views of the lake through a set of windows that overlook the copper roof of the screened porch below.

Situated on the west slope of Mt. Baker Ridge, this remodel takes a contemporary view on traditional elements to maximize space, lightness and spectacular views of downtown Seattle and Puget Sound. We were approached by Vertical Construction Group to help a client bring their 1906 craftsman into the 21st century. The original home had many redeeming qualities that were unfortunately compromised by an early 2000’s renovation. This left the new homeowners with awkward and unusable spaces. After studying numerous space plans and roofline modifications, we were able to create quality interior and exterior spaces that reflected our client’s needs and design sensibilities. The resulting master suite, living space, roof deck(s) and re-invented kitchen are great examples of a successful collaboration between homeowner and design and build teams.

Benjamin Benschneider
Inspiration for a tropical built-in desk home office remodel in Seattle

A study in understated elegance, this kitchen proves that simplicity can be profoundly sophisticated. The breathtaking quartz backsplash elevates the space to an artful level, while the harmonious blend of wood and glossy white cabinetry reinforces the refined aesthetic.

Study room - contemporary built-in desk dark wood floor and brown floor study room idea in San Francisco with white walls