The first Net Zero Minto Dream Home: At Minto Communities, we’re always trying to evolve through research and development. We see building the Minto Dream Home as an opportunity to push the boundaries on innovative home building practices, so this year’s Minto Dream Home, the Hampton—for the first time ever—has been built as a Net Zero Energy home. This means the home will produce as much energy as it consumes. Carefully considered East-coast elegance: Returning this year to head up the interior design, we have Tanya Collins. The Hampton is based on our largest Mahogany design—the 3,551 sq. ft. Redwood. It draws inspiration from the sophisticated beach-houses of its namesake. Think relaxed coastal living, a soft neutral colour palette, lots of light, wainscotting, coffered ceilings, shiplap, wall moulding, and grasscloth wallpaper. * 5,641 sq. ft. of living space * 4 bedrooms * 3.5 bathrooms * Finished basement with oversized entertainment room, exercise space, and a juice bar * A great room featuring stunning views of the surrounding nature

Inspiration for a transitional living room remodel in New York

Arctostaphylos 'Pacific Mist', a California native. This garden will be open to the public as "Tranquil California" on Saturday, April 9th for the California Native Plant Society spring garden tour. Register here for tour info: http://gngt.org/GNGT/HomeRO.php This home went from "blah" to beautiful with the addition of a deck and lush, California native plantings. All that boring, time-consuming lawn is gone, making room for bids, bees, and butterflies. Now this garden is a fit habitat for a much wider range of party animals!

Transitional kitchen photo in Philadelphia

Design Builders & Remodeling is a one stop shop operation. From the start, design solutions are strongly rooted in practical applications and experience. Project planning takes into account the realities of the construction process and mindful of your established budget. All the work is centralized in one firm reducing the chances of costly or time consuming surprises. A solid partnership with solid professionals to help you realize your dreams for a new or improved home. Nina Pomeroy

"We love having a large island where we can sit around and talk, eat, and spend time with our family and friends." - The Pasquarello Family
Mid-sized transitional u-shaped medium tone wood floor and brown floor eat-in kitchen photo in New York with a farmhouse sink, raised-panel cabinets, white cabinets, quartzite countertops, gray backsplash, ceramic backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and beige countertops

Example of a large tuscan l-shaped beige floor and ceramic tile eat-in kitchen design in Houston with beige cabinets, beige backsplash, an island, granite countertops, an undermount sink, recessed-panel cabinets, ceramic backsplash and stainless steel appliances

Garrya elliptica 'Evie', a native to the California coast and great as a privacy hedge. This garden will be open to the public as "Tranquil California" on Saturday, April 9th for the California Native Plant Society spring garden tour. Register here for tour info: http://gngt.org/GNGT/HomeRO.php This home went from "blah" to beautiful with the addition of a deck and lush, California native plantings. All that boring, time-consuming lawn is gone, making room for bids, bees, and butterflies. Now this garden is a fit habitat for a much wider range of party animals!

Normally tenons are hidden in mortises, but when the tenon passes entirely through the piece it is joining, it is called a through tenon. Through tenons are more time-consuming to cut, and are one of the characteristics of Arts & Crafts and Mission style furniture. We like to think of through tenons as "visible joinery" and a demonstration of the craftsperson's skill. © Carolina Timberworks

Design Builders & Remodeling is a one stop shop operation. From the start, design solutions are strongly rooted in practical applications and experience. Project planning takes into account the realities of the construction process and mindful of your established budget. All the work is centralized in one firm reducing the chances of costly or time consuming surprises. A solid partnership with solid professionals to help you realize your dreams for a new or improved home. Nina Pomeroy

Garrya elliptica 'Evie', a native to the California coast and great as a privacy hedge. This garden will be open to the public as "Tranquil California" on Saturday, April 9th for the California Native Plant Society spring garden tour. Register here for tour info: http://gngt.org/GNGT/HomeRO.php This home went from "blah" to beautiful with the addition of a deck and lush, California native plantings. All that boring, time-consuming lawn is gone, making room for bids, bees, and butterflies. Now this garden is a fit habitat for a much wider range of party animals!

This spice drawer was overflowing with mismatched containers, loose packets, and hard-to-read labels. Finding the right spice was a challenge, making cooking frustrating and time-consuming.

This garden will be open to the public as "Tranquil California" on Saturday, April 9th for the California Native Plant Society spring garden tour. Register here for tour info: http://gngt.org/GNGT/HomeRO.php This home went from "blah" to beautiful with the addition of a deck and lush, California native plantings. All that boring, time-consuming lawn is gone, making room for bids, bees, and butterflies. Now this garden is a fit habitat for a much wider range of party animals!

Gut renovation of an existing home in downtown Amherst, MA. Best Remodel of the Year Award: Andrew Webster of Coldham & Hartman Architects Since 2007, the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NESEA) has hosted the Zero Net Energy Building Award, to find "the best building in the Northeast that captures as much energy as it consumes". This year, for the first time, the Award was given to a Deep Energy Retrofit project, The Ross Residence. Photos by Ethan Drinker.

"We love having a large island where we can sit around and talk, eat, and spend time with our family and friends." - The Pasquarello Family
Example of a mid-sized transitional u-shaped medium tone wood floor and brown floor eat-in kitchen design in New York with a farmhouse sink, raised-panel cabinets, white cabinets, quartzite countertops, gray backsplash, ceramic backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and beige countertops

"We love having a large island where we can sit around and talk, eat, and spend time with our family and friends." - The Pasquarello Family
Example of a mid-sized transitional u-shaped medium tone wood floor and brown floor eat-in kitchen design in New York with a farmhouse sink, raised-panel cabinets, white cabinets, quartzite countertops, gray backsplash, ceramic backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and beige countertops

This is an old farm style bourbon bar made from beams and planks from an old barn built in 1890 that was dismantled. Traditional Bourbon Bars were actually rubbed with bourbon and then burned to stain the grain and treat the wood. On this particular bar I added a bleaching substance to age the wood as well as rust from steal wool for affect. It turned out beautifully, although it was a little time consuming but worth it. The thud sound of bottles and glasses you hear from placing them back on the bar is wonderful. No hard surface clanks and chink sounds for me. The TV plays a l10 hour looping video of a fireplace and it's beautiful!

From left to right, purple coral bells, Penstemon 'Midnight', Coast Live Oak tree, Garrya elliptica 'Evie' (Coast Silktassel) hedge, Muhlenbergia rigens (Deer Grass), Elfin thyme. This garden will be open to the public as "Tranquil California" on Saturday, April 9th for the California Native Plant Society spring garden tour. Register here for tour info: http://gngt.org/GNGT/HomeRO.php This home went from "blah" to beautiful with the addition of a deck and lush, California native plantings. All that boring, time-consuming lawn is gone, making room for bids, bees, and butterflies. Now this garden is a fit habitat for a much wider range of party animals!

"We love having a large island where we can sit around and talk, eat, and spend time with our family and friends." - The Pasquarello Family
Eat-in kitchen - mid-sized transitional u-shaped medium tone wood floor and brown floor eat-in kitchen idea in New York with a farmhouse sink, raised-panel cabinets, white cabinets, quartzite countertops, gray backsplash, ceramic backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and beige countertops