The kitchen in this contemporary style home seemed to be an afterthought. While the rest of the house is open and expansive, the kitchen was small and detached, especially for a couple who loves to entertain. The very large and adjacent dining room seemed a more likely location for a kitchen, but they resisted the thought of swapping the two spaces. So their designer created a layout that allowed for a second – and larger – opening to the dining room and the expansive, light-filled living space beyond. A peninsula attaches to the wall that remained between the two openings. There the sink is located so that during food preparation or cleanup there is a view through the windows and the opportunity to socialize with people gathered at the countertop. The seating area is curved to encourage people to gather and chat. The granite countertop choice was a case of love at first sight for this homeowner since it brought his favorite shade of blue into the kitchen. The cooking center is spread out along the wall at the back of the house. There the eye-catching stainless steel hood creates a focal point above the sleek, low-profile cooktop. Glass tile pulls color from the countertops onto the wall where it glimmers in the light. One oven combined with a microwave/convection oven meet their cooking needs and the stainless steel adds brightness to the room. The stainless steel refrigerator is just a few steps away from the work center and the seating area and is easily accessible from other parts of the house. The original kitchen featured only one small window in addition to the sliding glass doors. Since it was almost new and the house had been resided, a second window was joined to the first, and cabinetry beneath them anchors them in the space. A tall pantry cabinet completes the kitchen, providing high quality storage and visual balance in this redesign. Sleek cherry cabinets give this kitchen a decidedly contemporary style. They were stained just enough to add warmth and color and are enhanced with oversized stainless steel pulls. From this redesigned space you can see into the main house and see out through the many windows there. When combined with a new layout that provides better traffic flow, there’s a new feeling of spaciousness to the kitchen. It’s no longer an afterthought. It’s an integral part of this home’s living space, enhancing the home and the lifestyle of its owners. Photography By Scott Sherman

In this Bucks County Dining Room, we designed, produced, and installed a dual layer of decorative ripplefold floor-to-ceiling draperies (manually operated on ceiling mounted, low-profile drapery tracks). These draperies offer a decorative focal point to the room, while also providing privacy when desired. Typically, the sheer layer of a drapery is spec'd to be installed closer to the glass, with the privacy layer in front of the sheer fabric (inside the room). Because the sheer layer of this application has such visual interest, we swapped the "normal" positioning of the layers to allow the privacy layer to act as a backdrop to the sheer layer, preventing the beauty of the sheer from being hidden behind the solid privacy fabric. In this photo, the privacy layer is fully stacked on the left and right walls beside the sliding doors, with the sheer layer of draperies in the closed position.

Relax in modern style with this versatile modular sectional sofa that is fully adaptable to your needs. The Manacor is a custom made piece of furniture crafted by the world-renowned Spanish manufacturer Famaliving. This sectional has the capability to be a left or right hand facing sectional with a quick swap of the sections. Seperate the two sections and have a setup for two individual seating sections or add the ottoman at the end for additional seating. The two sections can also be easily pushed together to form a bed perfect for friends or family. The Manacor can come upholstered in a wide variety of multi-colored and patterned fabrics. The frame of the Manacor is crafted from pine wood and MDF construction making it very durable. All Fama products use a webbing system for suspension and support instead of the old spring design that will sag over years to come. Attached to the bottom of the sofa is are brown finished wooden square leg supports that allow the sofa to maintain its low profile look. Dimensions: Customizable We deliver Nationwide! Visit our showroom at: Famaliving San Diego 401 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92103 Questions? Ready to purchase? Tel. 1-619-900-7674 sandiego@famaliving.com

Kristen Elizabeth Design was tapped to help create an inviting living space for a family to enjoy together or while entertaining. After completion of the architecturally significant great room, the design goal was to achieve a formality in aesthetic while providing comfort and ease in materials and maintenance. Keeping a neutral and classic design palette allows the family to swap colors and textures easily changing the mood of the room simply by updating the accents. The room invites reading, gather for games and entertain friends and family. Opposite the living space is the dining area where we added a quartet of mirrors to reflect the scale and detail of the mantle and original art. Shutter Avenue Photography

This 1930s Minneapolis kitchen was ready for a new layout and updated look. The kitchen and dining room swapped places to create a larger kitchen and connect the dining area with the living room. A clean Scandinavian design was requested by the homeowners and natural maple cabinets with light quartz countertops and soft blue tile achieved the look. Wood floors were added in the dining area, kitchen and back entry to tie into the existing living room floors. The new bathroom was given a larger footprint with space from the old dining room as well, allowing room for two sinks and two tall built-in cabinets for much improved storage.

This proposal is for a new two-story home on the vacant heavily wooded lot with an existing 150-foot-long driveway lined by several beautiful oak trees culminating in a behemoth 43-inch oak tree where the driveway meets the main lot. The far end of the driveway terminates in a grove of three 43/40/43-inch redwoods and at the very center of the vacant lot stands a gargantuan V-twin 59-inch redwood tree paired with a “small” 29-inch redwood tree. The owners want to build a beautiful contemporary-styled home for their family that fully enjoys and embraces the mature trees on their cozy 65-foot by 100-foot lot. As with all small, constrained lots, this project’s site design started first with meeting the relatively large parking and car maneuvering requirements. Menlo Park’s Department of Transportation typically requires side-facing garages to have 24-feet of backup space. So that they could give the largest feature redwood tree on site an added four feet (50%) of clearance outside of its critical root zone, the owners agreed to install a vehicle turntable at the end of their driveway to eliminate the extra four feet of space needed to back up and turnaround. This allowed them to pull their garage forward an additional four feet towards the front property line on the panhandle side, drastically reducing the rest of the home’s impact on the gargantuan V-Twin paired redwood tree at the center of the lot. One of the owners has mobility issues, and accordingly, they first sought to design a one-story floor plan that incorporated all their family’s needs including plenty of covered patio and deck space to enjoy our fantastic California weather. But that single-story footprint spread too far into the critical root zones of several of the redwood trees on site, even despite the use of the vehicle turntable. During my interview process with the owners, they made it clear to me that one of their primary concerns is ensuring that the largest trees on site would thrive and become features of their new home after construction is complete. The single-story designs that removed the grove of three huge redwood trees were non-starters, as was the skimpy 5x10 master bath I designed when trying to squeeze the whole house program into an overly compromised single-story design. It was therefore deemed necessary to go with a two-story design despite the owner’s mobility issues. This two-story design has a much more compact ground floor footprint and has no bedrooms downstairs, other than the detached ADU. The owners must give up the floor area and incur the costs to install a residential elevator to access their upstairs master suite. Our ground floor footprint is smaller due to the two-story design decision, and our foundation is pulled away from the trees thanks to the vehicle turntable. Yet, a tiny portion of the home’s ground floor footprint still encroaches into the critical root zones of the largest 59” redwood tree. Therefore, as outlined in the Arborist Report prepared by Aesculus Arboricultural Consulting, the structural engineers are incorporating an array of drilled piers and shallow-grade beams for the main home’s foundation and deck area nearest the redwood’s critical root zone. This drilled piers and grade beam foundation is a type of “bridging” foundation as outlined in Aesculus’ report to preserve the health of these trees that the property was designed around. The rest of the foundation will be constructed as an insulated slab-on-grade foundation to minimize the number of steps and ramps needed for the owners to enjoy their home and patio areas. Despite the owner’s desire to keep as many trees as possible on site, and despite the smaller ground floor footprint and the advantage of the vehicle turntable, the need for a 20x20-foot garage and 20x20/25-foot guest parking space on our panhandle lot requires the removal of two heritage trees in the required driveway, a 16” coast redwood, and a 17” coast redwood. An alternate design, such as swapping the garage and guest parking locations north-to-south, still requires the removal of these two trees for vehicle maneuvering but has the added disadvantage of cutting off the home’s sightlines to the behemoth 43” oak tree just outside the currently proposed front patio space and living room. Jim Redman of Elements Landscape is proposing 13 new trees be planted on site to replace the lost value of these two heritage coast redwood trees. This contemporary architectural design features clean lines, and an abundance of full-height windows and large skylights to best take in the immense trees on site. To blend in with the forest-like setting, the home boasts a mix of rich textures and features a color palette of natural wood tones contrasted with dark blue and black. Once through the new steel gate at the street and down the 150-foot tree-lined driveway, a large covered front patio becomes visible past the neighbor’s detached accessory structure. The covered patio is just across the driveway from the beautiful 43” behemoth coast live oak. The single plane of the covered patio roof is delicately supported by a pair of steel posts in a “V-twin” configuration much like the largest redwood trees that tower over the center of the lot and will still be visible above the new two-story home, even from the front yard. The patio is covered in a dark-colored standing seam roof, with steel C-channel fascias, and tongue-and-groove wood ceiling planks on the underside. Generously sized skylights on the patio roof and inside the living area allow for impressive views of the amazing oak canopy as well as precious natural light. Supporting the sloped covered patio on the other side is the two-car garage with a secondary bedroom suite stacked above the garage. This two-story volume is to be clad in vertical clear-coated redwood siding, to tie in with the grove of three 43-inch redwood trees just beyond. The garage door, and the bank of windows for Bedroom#2 above feature a steel fascia eyebrow header feature to provide shade and overhang protection, as we are not proposing a large overhang at this “redwood trunk”. The garage and bedroom volume are pulled 16 feet away from the side property line, instead of the minimum required setback of 6’-6”, thus leaving plenty of room for the redwood grove and existing mature pear tree to continue to thrive. This existing mature green screen in this 16-foot-wide side yard is a feature worth soaking in, which is why tall windows with low sill heights are proposed for both the stairs and the upstairs hallway. Though it may be infrequent to approve side-facing 2nd floor windows with sill heights as low as what we’re proposing, we are confident that the mature green screen and the over 16-foot-wide side yard are sufficient to provide for the continued privacy of our neighbor’s rear yard space, especially considering theses windows are in walkway zones. The covered patio at the front entry is also bound by the 10-foot-tall living room. The great room is clad in a dark blue brick veneer, which wraps around all three sides of the living room. Upon entering the home from the covered patio, you are immediately greeted with one of the most impressive features of the home’s design: a 10-foot-tall by 24-foot-wide set of sliding glass doors. From the entry, this huge opening gives merely an initial glimpse of the massive trunks of the gargantuan V-twin redwoods sitting at the center of the lot. All three sliding glass panels open directly out into the smaller partially covered deck in the rear. This roof overhang element matches the design of the front patio with a steel C-channel fascia and a large skylight. But the rear deck’s roof element is set flat at a ten-foot ceiling height so that the living room’s ceiling seems to float above and out beyond the expanse of full-height sliding doors, thus creating an indoor-outdoor living space that will feel much larger than the home’s actual footprint. This rear covered deck is smaller than the patio in the front and also has a mix of solid and open-slatted roofing to allow for more solar access for the relatively small amount of open sky available. The downstairs living room is open to the dining and kitchen areas, as well as the stair-and-elevator tower beyond. The stair tower is very open and glassy, and the stairs wind up and around the redwood-clad elevator tower. From certain perspectives in the 16-foot-wide side yard, it will almost seem as if the grove of three redwoods has a fourth tree that the house and the stairs were carefully built around. Other than the 3-foot-wide windows, the exterior walls of the stair tower, downstairs utility spaces, and Bedroom#3 above are finished in cement plaster, painted dark blue and black. The sloped roof over the stair-and-elevator tower continues cleanly over the area of upstairs Bedroom#3. This roof level is set by the side daylight plane and only yields an inside wall height of just under 6 feet in height. The owners are satisfied that the rest of this upstairs room has a nice vaulted ceiling to make up for the one short wall under the daylight plane. The rest of the ground floor adjacent to the stair tower consists of a small utility wing containing a half-bath, laundry, storage area, and an exterior alcove for the electric heat pump HVAC unit. This short wing also gives more accessible access to the rear yard deck, as well as a backdrop for an outdoor kitchen. The bright white stone backsplash for the outdoor kitchen provides contrast to the otherwise consistent use of cement plaster painted dark blue and black for the two-story wing closest to the detached ADU. Though Bedroom#3 is stacked directly above this small wing, it is relatively short to comply with the side daylight plane of this narrow lot. Still, to further help break up the scale of this wall, another steel fascia eyebrow element is set about 8 feet above the rear deck. The master suite sits centered above the ten-foot-tall great room. The master bedroom and its balcony, as well as the master bathtub area, have a commanding view of the central redwood trees and their impressive canopy, though the balcony is mostly recessed and should pose no privacy concerns to the neighbor’s rear yards. The master balcony parapet is clad in the same brick veneer continuing up from the living room below. A dark-painted metal rail makes up the rest of the open guardrail height. The entire length of the master balcony is comprised of 9-foot-tall sliding glass doors, but the area above the doors, as well as the area below the master bathroom windows, is accented with more redwood siding. The remainder of the master suite bathroom and walk-in closet is finished in cement plaster painted dark blue. The master bathroom has one side yard-facing window but will be frosted glass for both the owner’s and the neighbor’s privacy. The 2nd floor is capped under a simple gable roof design with one roof ridge and varying eave and rake overhangs depending on the 2nd-floor layout and solar orientation. Since these roof planes are quite difficult to see in the middle of the heavily wooded panhandle lot, we are proposing a white TPO roofing for these two upper roof planes as a more sustainable choice compared to more dark-colored roofing like the covered patios and detached ADU. The owners also wish to build a detached 292-square-foot Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) as an office and guest suite. For the ADU foundation to be situated outside the central redwood tree’s critical root zone, this relatively tiny structure takes advantage of the narrower 4-foot side and rear setbacks allowed for ADUs smaller than 800 square feet. The small L-shaped detached ADU frames a wonderful quasi-courtyard around the gargantuan V-twin redwoods at the center of the lot. The ADU shares a matching material palette consisting of cement plaster painted blue and black, vertical redwood siding and soffits, and thin brick veneer. The ADU also features large full-height windows. The only difference between the main home and the ADU material palette is that the roofing will be a dark composition shingle roofing since it will be quite visible from the master balcony.

The removal of walls meant we could swap the small kitchen and bathroom spaces and open up the area to include an expansive, functional new kitchen with clean, white cabinets. With the walls gone, the new kitchen is filled with light and gives the first floor an open, airy feeling. Photo credit: Perko Photography

A baluster replacement here in Houston, for the Ossman residence we removed all the wooden balusters and replaced them with out powder coated ones, with an old world copper finish. The new balusters, our PC 22/5 double S scroll balusters, PC 4/4 double twist balusters and PC6/4/OWC double basket balusters, were arranged in an alternating pattern. This job was completed in one day.

For the Watson residence, we did a full baluster swap. The old pickets were replaced with our PC4/2 and PC6/2 wrought iron balusters with a classic black finish. You can see how the iron complements the warm wood of the railing.

Two story great room featuring built in bookshelves, full height stone fireplace surround and an abundant amount of windows.
Example of a transitional open concept dark wood floor family room design in Seattle with beige walls, a standard fireplace, a stone fireplace and no tv

Reconfiguring the shower to add a shower seat creates a luxurious shower in small bathroom. Swapping a pedestal sink for a vanity and adding a linen cabinet provides abundant storage. The fun pattern on the encaustic like floor tile adds a pop of fun and ties in the blue cabinetry and blue hex deco tile in the shower.

These clients win the award for ‘Most Jarrett Design Projects in One Home’! We consider ourselves extremely fortunate to have been able to work with these kind folks so consistently over the years. The most recent project features their master bath, a room they have been wanting to tackle for many years. We think it was well worth the wait! It started off as an outdated space with an enormous platform tub open to the bedroom featuring a large round column. The open concept was inspired by island homes long ago, but it was time for some privacy. The water closet, shower and linen closet served the clients well, but the tub and vanities had to be updated with storage improvements desired. The clients also wanted to add organized spaces for clothing, shoes and handbags. Swapping the large tub for a dainty freestanding tub centered on the new window, cleared space for gorgeous his and hers vanities and armoires flanking the tub. The area where the old double vanity existed was transformed into personalized storage closets boasting beautiful custom mirrored doors. The bathroom floors and shower surround were replaced with classic white and grey materials. Handmade vessel sinks and faucets add a rich touch. Soft brass wire doors are the highlight of a freestanding custom armoire created to house handbags adding more convenient storage and beauty to the bedroom. Star sconces, bell jar fixture, wallpaper and window treatments selected by the homeowner with the help of the talented Lisa Abdalla Interiors provide the finishing traditional touches for this sanctuary. Jacqueline Powell Photography

This gorgeous new kitchen used to be just about half the size before we stepped in for renovations. Not only did we open up the space, but we completely changed nearly every design aspect! The kitchen went from a U-shape to an L-shape, we added an island with seating, swapped laminate counters for quartz and upgraded the backsplash tile. We replaced the old wood-tone cabinets with sleek, painted cabinets - and installed under cabinet lighting and plugs to keep the counters looking bright and clutter-free.

Sometimes we start with a few foundational items and a blank slate. We’ve worked with these Clients on their previous home, and they were ready to make their bedroom suite all their own. Keeping the built-ins was a requirement as was wallpaper, some new window treatments, a closet overhaul, and all the decor and details. We kept the bed and drapes and swapped the rest to create a luxe sleeping retreat. Phase 2 of this project was to tackle the dining room and adjacent powder room. The dining room had a small sun room attached to it that was not being utilized. We turned it into a luxe home bar with custom cabinetry and a stunning quartz countertop / backsplash. Gold wallpaper on the ceiling completed the room and highlighted all of the fun metal details throughout the space. We ran the color from the bar through the dining room and accented it with bold wallpaper. We added some contrasting colors with the rug selection and brought in wood tones with the furniture to ground the space. FUN FACT : The art over the fireplace is a vintage photo from District’s Vintage Chicago Project, featuring photos found in vintage furniture over the lifetime of the store. Bedroom Photography: Dustin Halleck / Dining Room & Bar Photography: Ryan McDonald

Relax in modern style with this versatile modular sectional sofa that is fully adaptable to your needs. The Manacor is a custom made piece of furniture crafted by the world-renowned Spanish manufacturer Famaliving. This sectional has the capability to be a left or right hand facing sectional with a quick swap of the sections. Seperate the two sections and have a setup for two individual seating sections or add the ottoman at the end for additional seating. The two sections can also be easily pushed together to form a bed perfect for friends or family. The Manacor can come upholstered in a wide variety of multi-colored and patterned fabrics. The frame of the Manacor is crafted from pine wood and MDF construction making it very durable. All Fama products use a webbing system for suspension and support instead of the old spring design that will sag over years to come. Attached to the bottom of the sofa is are brown finished wooden square leg supports that allow the sofa to maintain its low profile look. Dimensions: Customizable We deliver Nationwide! Visit our showroom at: Famaliving San Diego 401 University Ave, San Diego, CA 92103 Questions? Ready to purchase? Tel. 1-619-900-7674 sandiego@famaliving.com

By moving a portable dishwasher to the sink run and having the fridge and eat-in area swap places, the flow and function of this compact kitchen was greatly improved. No additional square footage was added illustrating how good space planning can have a dramatic effect. Changing the wall colour from butter yellow to a steely blue also made the cream of the original vinyl floor look much crisper and like a new floor.

Taking this outdated and loud space and transforming it in to a serene retreat with pull-out cabinets and a refreshing palette. Dive into this beach-style bathroom transformation where calm meets chic! The corner shower has made way for a spacious design, and those dated green vanities? Swapped for a timelessly elegant vanity, custom cabinetry, and a square tile that raps around this stunning refresh for our wonderful client.

The original layout of the tub/shower had the shower head installed on the awkward angled ceiling area, at a really low height, making it virtually unusable. By swapping the plumbing wall location, we were able to install a standard height shower head and tub combination, making this shower useable. We were able to install a small vanity by Dura Supreme Cabinetry. The lighting was also not adequate in this bath. Without a window and only a small light in the ceiling, the space was dimly lit. By adding in some cleverly placed sconces and keeping the finishes light, we were able to brighten up the space.

1950’s kitchens need love too... and make great remodels! These homeowners contacted Castle for help on their kitchen remodel. The biggest wish-list item was a larger and more functional kitchen layout (with expanded views into the previously completed rear addition/dining room). After some conceptual design concepts were assessed, we chose to keep this kitchen's existing footprint and expand the site lines into the rear dining space with a new drywall opening. We expanded the function of the kitchen by wrapping the peninsula around into the dining room with an additional pantry space for kitchen overflow storage. Each cabinet was well thought out for the homeowners use of the space to include functional storage accessories like plate divides, utensil pull-outs, and trash/recycle bins. Working with the designer, the homeowners found a beautiful balance of some contemporary aesthetics like the overall color scheme combined with some classic elements such as the detailed cabinetry and herringbone tile backsplash. One of our favorite details in the kitchen is the new tile floor that continues into the dining room. The wood texture plank tile adds depth and texture as well as contrasts nicely with the softer and refined finishes above. New Cambria quartz countertops, new cabinetry, herringbone tile backsplash, new tile floors, custom lighting, and new plumbing fixtures complete the space. The new transitional styled kitchen can grow with the family for many years to come. With a swap out of some furniture the whole space can transition between contemporary or traditional. Truly timeless! Designed by: Emily Blonigen. See the full details (including before photos) on our website: http://www.castlebri.com/kitchens/project-3309-1/ Make sure to check out this project on the Castle Educational Home Tour, September 29 - 30th, 2018!