Margaret Kois Photography
Example of a country dark wood floor family room design in New York with white walls

Trent Bell Photography
Contemporary exterior home idea in Portland Maine

Kate Benjamin Photography, Shot for Dillman & Upton, SL Smith Design
Powder room - traditional dark wood floor powder room idea in Detroit with a vessel sink, furniture-like cabinets, gray walls and distressed cabinets

Child's bedroom designed by Veronica Martin Design Studio www.veronicamartindesignstudio.com Photography by Urszula Muntean Photography
Inspiration for a bedroom and mid-sized transitional girl dark wood floor and brown floor kids' bedroom remodel in Ottawa with multicolored walls

Alise O'Brien
Inspiration for a cottage light wood floor family room remodel in Austin

This modern green home offers both a vacation destination on Cape Cod near local family members and an opportunity for rental income. FAMILY ROOTS. A West Coast couple living in the San Francisco Bay Area sought a permanent East Coast vacation home near family members living on Cape Cod. As academic professionals focused on sustainability, they sought a green, energy efficient home that was well-aligned with their values. With no green homes available for sale on Cape Cod, they decided to purchase land near their family and build their own. SLOPED SITE. Comprised of a 3/4 acre lot nestled in the pines, the steeply sloping terrain called for a plan that embraced and took advantage of the slope. Of equal priority was optimizing solar exposure, preserving privacy from abutters, and creating outdoor living space. The design accomplished these goals with a simple, rectilinear form, offering living space on the both entry and lower/basement levels. The stepped foundation allows for a walk-out basement level with light-filled living space on the down-hill side of the home. The traditional basement on the eastern, up-hill side houses mechanical equipment and a home gym. The house welcomes natural light throughout, captures views of the forest, and delivers entertainment space that connects indoor living space to outdoor deck and dining patio. MODERN VISION. The clean building form and uncomplicated finishes pay homage to the modern architectural legacy on the outer Cape. Durable and economical fiber cement panels, fixed with aluminum channels, clad the primary form. Cedar clapboards provide a visual accent at the south-facing living room, which extends a single roof plane to cover the entry porch. SMART USE OF SPACE. On the entry level, the “L”-shaped living, dining, and kitchen space connects to the exterior living, dining, and grilling spaces to effectively double the home’s summertime entertainment area. Placed at the western end of the entry level (where it can retain privacy but still claim expansive downhill views) is the master suite with a built-in study. The lower level has two guest bedrooms, a second full bathroom, and laundry. The flexibility of the space—crucial in a house with a modest footprint—emerges in one of the guest bedrooms, which doubles as home office by opening the barn-style double doors to connect it to the bright, airy open stair leading up to the entry level. Thoughtful design, generous ceiling heights and large windows transform the modest 1,100 sf* footprint into a well-lit, spacious home. *(total finished space is 1800 sf) RENTAL INCOME. The property works for its owners by netting rental income when the owners are home in San Francisco. The house especially caters to vacationers bound for nearby Mayo Beach and includes an outdoor shower adjacent to the lower level entry door. In contrast to the bare bones cottages that are typically available on the Cape, this home offers prospective tenants a modern aesthetic, paired with luxurious and green features. Durable finishes inside and out will ensure longevity with the heavier use that comes with a rental property. COMFORT YEAR-ROUND. The home is super-insulated and air-tight, with mechanical ventilation to provide continuous fresh air from the outside. High performance triple-paned windows complement the building enclosure and maximize passive solar gain while ensuring a warm, draft-free winter, even when sitting close to the glass. A properly sized air source heat pump offers efficient heating & cooling, and includes a carefully designed the duct distribution system to provide even comfort throughout the house. The super-insulated envelope allows us to significantly reduce the equipment capacity, duct size, and airflow quantities, while maintaining unparalleled thermal comfort. ENERGY EFFICIENT. The building’s shell and mechanical systems play instrumental roles in the home’s exceptional performance. The building enclosure reduces the most significant energy glutton: heating. Continuous super-insulation, thorough air sealing, triple-pane windows, and passive solar gain work together to yield a miniscule heating load. All active energy consumers are extremely efficient: an air source heat pump for heating and cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation (ERV), and high efficiency appliances. The result is a home that uses 70% less energy than a similar new home built to code requirements. OVERALL. The home embodies the owners’ goals and values while comprehensively enabling thermal comfort, energy efficiency, a vacation respite, and supplementary income. PROJECT TEAM ZeroEnergy Design - Architect & Mechanical Designer A.F. Hultin & Co. - Contractor Pamet Valley Landscape Design - Landscape & Masonry Lisa Finch - Original Artwork European Architectural Supply - Windows Eric Roth Photography - Photography

A family-friendly home with a modern and contemporary vibe. David Duncan Livingston
Mid-sized transitional open concept light wood floor and beige floor living room photo in Sacramento with a standard fireplace, a stone fireplace, a wall-mounted tv and white walls

Creating a space that combined the warmth of an older home with the features and materials of today was the task for the designer on this project located on Cape Cod. The designer used Mouser Cabinetry with a beaded face frame and the Stratford inset door style in white throughout the kitchen. Wood beams are the focal point and draw the eye to the vaulted ceiling. Kyle J Caldwell Photography

Jim Brady
Eat-in kitchen - contemporary eat-in kitchen idea in San Diego

An Indoor Lady
Huge trendy l-shaped light wood floor eat-in kitchen photo in Austin with a single-bowl sink, flat-panel cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets, quartzite countertops, white backsplash, stone slab backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and white countertops

This lakefront home's kitchen draws from traditional Swedish design and style. A deep basin sink and calm color palette branch from cabinets to tile backsplash and articulate fixtures. All elements combine and bathe in the gorgeous natural light reflecting off the lake outside. Like a picture frame around a work of art, this kitchen complements, rather than competes, with the element the owners loved most: the view. Photos by: Jeff Roberts Project by: Maine Coast Kitchen Design

Meghan Bob Photography
Bedroom - huge transitional guest medium tone wood floor and gray floor bedroom idea in Los Angeles with white walls and no fireplace

Storage at Entry Hall
Inspiration for a contemporary medium tone wood floor entry hall remodel in New York

Inspiration for a cottage dark wood floor living room remodel in Los Angeles with white walls, a standard fireplace and a wall-mounted tv

Inspiration for a mid-sized southwestern slate floor and blue floor sunroom remodel in Orange County with a standard ceiling and no fireplace

TEAM Architect: LDa Architecture & Interiors Builder: 41 Degrees North Construction, Inc. Landscape Architect: Wild Violets (Landscape and Garden Design on Martha's Vineyard) Photographer: Sean Litchfield Photography

Mid-sized trendy medium tone wood floor dining room photo in San Francisco with white walls

Inspiration for a cottage l-shaped medium tone wood floor and brown floor kitchen remodel in Salt Lake City with shaker cabinets, white cabinets, white backsplash, subway tile backsplash, paneled appliances and two islands

Inspiration for an asian courtyard landscaping in Kyoto.