Example of a mid-sized trendy porcelain tile and gray floor great room design in Miami with white walls and no fireplace

Photos: Beth Singer Architect & Builder: LUXE Homes Design + Build Interior design: Ellwood Interiors, Inc
Enclosed dining room - transitional medium tone wood floor and brown floor enclosed dining room idea in Detroit with brown walls

Ryann Ford
Inspiration for a mediterranean dark wood floor dining room remodel in Austin with white walls

All furniture and accessories were bought at Serenity Design. If you are interested in purchasing anything you see in our photographs please contact us at the store 609-494-5162. Many of the items can be shipped throughout the country. Photographs by John Martinelli

The Magnolia Renovation has been primarily concerned with the design of a new, highly crafted modern kitchen in a traditional home located in the Magnolia neighborhood of Seattle. The kitchen design relies on the creation of a very simple continuous space that is occupied by highly crafted pieces of furniture, cabinets and fittings. Materials such as steel, bronze, bamboo, stained elm, woven cattail, and sea grass are used in juxtaposition, allowing each material to benefit from adjacent contrasts in texture and color. The existing kitchen and dining room consisted of separate rooms with a dividing wall. This wall was removed to create a long, continuous, east-west space, approximately 34 feet long, with cabinets and counters along each wall. The west end of the space has glass doors and views to the Puget Sound. The east end also has glass doors, leading to a small garden space. In the center of the new kitchen/dining space, we designed two long, custom tables from reclaimed elm planks (20" wide, 2" thick). The first table is a working kitchen island, the second table is the dining table. Both tables have custom blued-steel bases with laser-cut bronze overlay. We also designed custom stools with blued-steel bases and woven cattail rush seats. The lighting of the kitchen consists of 15 small, candle-like fixtures arranged in a random array with custom steel brackets. The cabinets are custom designed, with bleached Alaskan yellow cedar frames and bamboo panels. The counters are a dark limestone with a beautiful stone mosaic backsplash with a bamboo-like pattern. Adjacent to the backsplash is a long horizontal window with a “beargrass” resin panel placed on the interior side of the window. The “beargrass” panel contains actual sea grasses, which are backlit by the window behind the panel. Photo: Benjamin Benschneider

Peter Rymwid
Large elegant dark wood floor enclosed dining room photo in New York with beige walls, a standard fireplace and a stone fireplace

Inspiration for a transitional medium tone wood floor and brown floor enclosed dining room remodel in Indianapolis with white walls

The Mazama house is located in the Methow Valley of Washington State, a secluded mountain valley on the eastern edge of the North Cascades, about 200 miles northeast of Seattle. The house has been carefully placed in a copse of trees at the easterly end of a large meadow. Two major building volumes indicate the house organization. A grounded 2-story bedroom wing anchors a raised living pavilion that is lifted off the ground by a series of exposed steel columns. Seen from the access road, the large meadow in front of the house continues right under the main living space, making the living pavilion into a kind of bridge structure spanning over the meadow grass, with the house touching the ground lightly on six steel columns. The raised floor level provides enhanced views as well as keeping the main living level well above the 3-4 feet of winter snow accumulation that is typical for the upper Methow Valley. To further emphasize the idea of lightness, the exposed wood structure of the living pavilion roof changes pitch along its length, so the roof warps upward at each end. The interior exposed wood beams appear like an unfolding fan as the roof pitch changes. The main interior bearing columns are steel with a tapered “V”-shape, recalling the lightness of a dancer. The house reflects the continuing FINNE investigation into the idea of crafted modernism, with cast bronze inserts at the front door, variegated laser-cut steel railing panels, a curvilinear cast-glass kitchen counter, waterjet-cut aluminum light fixtures, and many custom furniture pieces. The house interior has been designed to be completely integral with the exterior. The living pavilion contains more than twelve pieces of custom furniture and lighting, creating a totality of the designed environment that recalls the idea of Gesamtkunstverk, as seen in the work of Josef Hoffman and the Viennese Secessionist movement in the early 20th century. The house has been designed from the start as a sustainable structure, with 40% higher insulation values than required by code, radiant concrete slab heating, efficient natural ventilation, large amounts of natural lighting, water-conserving plumbing fixtures, and locally sourced materials. Windows have high-performance LowE insulated glazing and are equipped with concealed shades. A radiant hydronic heat system with exposed concrete floors allows lower operating temperatures and higher occupant comfort levels. The concrete slabs conserve heat and provide great warmth and comfort for the feet. Deep roof overhangs, built-in shades and high operating clerestory windows are used to reduce heat gain in summer months. During the winter, the lower sun angle is able to penetrate into living spaces and passively warm the exposed concrete floor. Low VOC paints and stains have been used throughout the house. The high level of craft evident in the house reflects another key principle of sustainable design: build it well and make it last for many years! Photo by Benjamin Benschneider

Photography by Bob Fortner
Inspiration for a large 1950s kitchen/dining room combo remodel in Raleigh

1st Place, National Design Award Winning Kitchen. Remodeling in Warwick, NY. From a dark, un-inspiring kitchen (see before photos), to a bright, white, custom kitchen. Dark wood floors, white carrera marble counters, solid wood island-table and much more. Photos - Ken Lauben

Bernhardt Interiors
Dining room - traditional dining room idea in Detroit with red walls

Inspiration for a transitional light wood floor dining room remodel in Miami with gray walls

Open Dining / Kitchen / Living - European fumed chestnut cabinetry, featuring quarter-sawn, sequenced veneers and an oiled finish, Louis Poulsen pendant lights, Recreated original baseboards, window trim, and picture rail from original 1905 detailing, Vintage rosewood bar stools by Erik Buc, Vintage Danish dining table by Gunni Omann Photo Credit: Christopher Stark

The second open kitchen/dining room features an IKEA kitchen island with butcher's block countertop, The Newburg Green by Benjamin Moore paint adds a splash of color and contrasts nicely with the white washed oak floor boards. Tolix bar stools and a West Elm dining table.

Light gray walls provide a neutral backdrop for this traditional dining room’s inventive use of color. Floral draperies in shades of navy, turquoise and robin’s egg blue are accented by a navy band and hang from gold metal rods with clear glass finials. The light grey ceiling is adorned with a hand-painted design in two-toned metallic gold. A corner cabinet has been given a fresh coat of white paint to match the trim, while the interior is painted aqua showcasing the blue and white porcelain and antiqued mirror accessories adorning the shelves. This elegant space is a study in blues, from the wool rug bearing a floral pattern in shades of light blue, baby blue and navy to the lacquered dining chairs, which have been upholstered in a modern tone-on-tone geometric velvet along with a navy chenille and accented with black nickel nails. The dining table is stained deep espresso and given a high gloss finish. Gold metallic accents on the table provide a touch of glam befitting the crown jewel of the room - a chandelier of clear glass orbs dangling from a gold frame. A pot at the center of the table is filled with purple hydrangeas and greenery adding another lush layer to the decadent design. Carter Tippins Photography

Richard Leo Johnson
Enclosed dining room - large transitional carpeted and gray floor enclosed dining room idea in Atlanta with gray walls and no fireplace

This one-room sunroom addition is connected to both an existing wood deck, as well as the dining room inside. As part of the project, the homeowners replaced the deck flooring material with composite decking, which gave us the opportunity to run that material into the addition as well, giving the room a seamless indoor / outdoor transition. We also designed the space to be surrounded with windows on three sides, as well as glass doors and skylights, flooding the interior with natural light and giving the homeowners the visual connection to the outside which they so desired. The addition, 12'-0" wide x 21'-6" long, has enabled the family to enjoy the outdoors both in the early spring, as well as into the fall, and has become a wonderful gathering space for the family and their guests.

JOAN DYER
Example of a trendy dining room design in Austin with gray walls

Large transitional dark wood floor enclosed dining room photo in Tampa with beige walls and no fireplace