Photographer: Greg Thomas
Inspiration for a large modern drought-tolerant and full sun front yard stone garden path in Austin.

The 'black water' pool reflects the house, sky, and desert landscape on its mirror-like surface. Architecture and Interiors - Tate Studio Architects, Builder - Platinum Homes, Photography - Thompson Photographic.

This kitchen renovation is a true blend of comfort, style, and practicality. In a home that’s over 50 years old, we reimagined the entire space—removing outdated cabinetry and closed-off walls to create a spacious, open-concept layout filled with natural light. The remodel features white semi-custom shaker cabinets that provide timeless charm, paired with a sleek quartz countertop and porcelain subway tile backsplash that offer both elegance and easy upkeep. New stainless-steel appliances and durable, wood-look vinyl plank flooring bring in a modern edge, all while maintaining warmth and character. The result? A kitchen that feels inviting, fresh, and ready for years of memory-making.

Crafted for luxury. Engineered for performance. Inspired by natural travertine stone, Travertina Raw Slabs blend the elegance of classic Mediterranean estates with the resilience required for modern outdoor living. Their delicate veining and subtle texture provide the timeless beauty of natural stone, while the concrete core ensures resistance to weathering, salt, chlorine, and freeze-thaw cycles. This serene pool deck installation invites barefoot relaxation and effortless style. The neutral hues keep surfaces cool under the sun, making it an ideal choice for sun loungers and high-exposure areas. Unlike traditional travertine, these slabs won’t crack, fade, or stain and they require minimal upkeep. It’s the beauty of stone, reimagined with cutting-edge performance. Create a sanctuary where form meets function. Schedule a material consultation today at 516-522-8249.

Design ideas for a traditional landscaping in Charleston.

Discover Silestone Ethereal by Cosentino, created with the new HybriQ Technology®
Example of a trendy kitchen design in Miami

Discover Silestone Ethereal by Cosentino, created with the new HybriQ Technology®

Photo of a mid-sized modern rock and full sun backyard stone formal garden in Seattle.

Inspiration for a modern patio remodel in Miami

We fabricated this vanity top out of a Calacatta Ocielo remnant, engineered quartz with a bright white background and soft gray veining moving through it. Working from a remnant piece takes a different kind of attention. There's no reordering a fresh slab if we get the layout wrong, so we template the vanity carefully, dry lay the piece, and figure out where the veining reads best before we ever start the cnc saw. For a bathroom this size, it's the right way to work. You get a full quartz top with real movement in the stone without paying for a whole slab you'd only use a fraction of. Quartz makes sense in a bathroom for reasons beyond looks. It's non-porous, so there's no sealing to keep up with and no worrying about lotions, hairspray, or standing water affecting the surface. Calacatta Ocielo gives you a bright field with soft gray veins and a clean, bright look that suits a vanity well. For a top that sees daily use, that combination of appearance and low upkeep matters more than people expect until they've lived with it. We cut the sink opening clean and kept the edge eased, which suits a vanity like this. It's a detail people don't think about until they're leaning on the counter or wiping it down, and an eased edge just feels right under the hand. Nothing about the fabrication was rushed. Day to day, this top is going to hold up. Quartz resists scratching and staining better than most surfaces you'd put in a bathroom, and it doesn't need periodic resealing. Wipe it down, and it stays looking like it did the day we set it. It's a small job in the scope of things, a single vanity top, but it's the kind of work we like doing right here in Columbia. Remnant pieces like this Calacatta Ocielo let us put a higher end material into a smaller space without the waste, and the finished bathroom gets a top that looks a lot bigger than its price tag suggests.

You can see the dark green dill in the foreground of this edible garden patch surrounding a rustic moss-rock water feature. What you may not notice is the soapwort growing along the edge of the pathway because it is not in bloom. Back before phosphates, people used this nifty little plant for washing. It contains saponins, which cause boiled solutions made with soapwort to lather up. It's like nature's little bar of soap.

The genesis of design for this desert retreat was the informal dining area in which the clients, along with family and friends, would gather. Located in north Scottsdale’s prestigious Silverleaf, this ranch hacienda offers 6,500 square feet of gracious hospitality for family and friends. Focused around the informal dining area, the home’s living spaces, both indoor and outdoor, offer warmth of materials and proximity for expansion of the casual dining space that the owners envisioned for hosting gatherings to include their two grown children, parents, and many friends. The kitchen, adjacent to the informal dining, serves as the functioning heart of the home and is open to the great room, informal dining room, and office, and is mere steps away from the outdoor patio lounge and poolside guest casita. Additionally, the main house master suite enjoys spectacular vistas of the adjacent McDowell mountains and distant Phoenix city lights. The clients, who desired ample guest quarters for their visiting adult children, decided on a detached guest casita featuring two bedroom suites, a living area, and a small kitchen. The guest casita’s spectacular bedroom mountain views are surpassed only by the living area views of distant mountains seen beyond the spectacular pool and outdoor living spaces. Project Details | Desert Retreat, Silverleaf – Scottsdale, AZ Architect: C.P. Drewett, AIA, NCARB; Drewett Works, Scottsdale, AZ Builder: Sonora West Development, Scottsdale, AZ Photographer: Dino Tonn Featured in Phoenix Home and Garden, May 2015, “Sporting Style: Golf Enthusiast Christie Austin Earns Top Scores on the Home Front” See more of this project here: http://drewettworks.com/desert-retreat-at-silverleaf/

A new clear-grade cedar rainscreen system at the exterior brings texture and warmth to the existing stucco facade, with flush minimalist window and door trim finish details. myd studio, inc

Out by the lake in Chapin, an outdoor kitchen calls for stone that can take whatever the Midlands throws at it, and leathered Steel Gray granite handles that job without complaint. The leathered finish gives the surface a soft, textured feel instead of a glossy one, so it reads more like natural rock sitting outside where it belongs. Under sun or porch light it doesn't throw glare back at you, and that texture actually helps hide water spots and fingerprints that would show up fast on a polished top. Steel Gray is a tough granite to begin with, dense and consistent, and it holds up to the swings in temperature and humidity you get living near Lake Murray. Outdoor kitchens take a beating that indoor counters never see: grills throwing off heat, rain, pollen, the occasional forgotten pot left sitting too long. This stone doesn't flinch. We fabricated and set the slabs with the same care we'd give an indoor kitchen, tight seams, level surfaces, everything templated to the grill and prep layout so there's no guesswork once it's installed. We finished the edges eased, which is the right call for a space like this. It keeps the line clean and durable without adding anything fussy that would just catch chips or wear oddly outside over time. Day to day, this countertop is built for real use, not just looks. Set a hot pan down, wipe up sauce, hose off pollen in the spring, it all rolls off without drama. Leathered granite doesn't need to be babied, and a light sealing keeps it performing that way for years with minimal upkeep. It's the kind of stone that fits right into lake life in Chapin: durable, low-maintenance, and built for people who actually cook and entertain outside instead of just looking at a nice kitchen through a window.

Out by the lake in Chapin, an outdoor kitchen calls for stone that can take whatever the Midlands throws at it, and leathered Steel Gray granite handles that job without complaint. The leathered finish gives the surface a soft, textured feel instead of a glossy one, so it reads more like natural rock sitting outside where it belongs. Under sun or porch light it doesn't throw glare back at you, and that texture actually helps hide water spots and fingerprints that would show up fast on a polished top. Steel Gray is a tough granite to begin with, dense and consistent, and it holds up to the swings in temperature and humidity you get living near Lake Murray. Outdoor kitchens take a beating that indoor counters never see: grills throwing off heat, rain, pollen, the occasional forgotten pot left sitting too long. This stone doesn't flinch. We fabricated and set the slabs with the same care we'd give an indoor kitchen, tight seams, level surfaces, everything templated to the grill and prep layout so there's no guesswork once it's installed. We finished the edges eased, which is the right call for a space like this. It keeps the line clean and durable without adding anything fussy that would just catch chips or wear oddly outside over time. Day to day, this countertop is built for real use, not just looks. Set a hot pan down, wipe up sauce, hose off pollen in the spring, it all rolls off without drama. Leathered granite doesn't need to be babied, and a light sealing keeps it performing that way for years with minimal upkeep. It's the kind of stone that fits right into lake life in Chapin: durable, low-maintenance, and built for people who actually cook and entertain outside instead of just looking at a nice kitchen through a window.

This fun classic kitchen in Gold River features Columbia frameless cabinets in Sandy Hook grey. A green glass backsplash in a random matte and polished pattern complements the cabinets which are faced with both painted wood and frosted glass. The Silestone countertops in the Lyra finish have an ogee bullnose edge. The floors are finished in a rich brown porcelain tile of varying sizes that are made to resemble distressed wood. Photo Credit: Nar Fine Carpentry, Inc

Out by the lake in Chapin, an outdoor kitchen calls for stone that can take whatever the Midlands throws at it, and leathered Steel Gray granite handles that job without complaint. The leathered finish gives the surface a soft, textured feel instead of a glossy one, so it reads more like natural rock sitting outside where it belongs. Under sun or porch light it doesn't throw glare back at you, and that texture actually helps hide water spots and fingerprints that would show up fast on a polished top. Steel Gray is a tough granite to begin with, dense and consistent, and it holds up to the swings in temperature and humidity you get living near Lake Murray. Outdoor kitchens take a beating that indoor counters never see: grills throwing off heat, rain, pollen, the occasional forgotten pot left sitting too long. This stone doesn't flinch. We fabricated and set the slabs with the same care we'd give an indoor kitchen, tight seams, level surfaces, everything templated to the grill and prep layout so there's no guesswork once it's installed. We finished the edges eased, which is the right call for a space like this. It keeps the line clean and durable without adding anything fussy that would just catch chips or wear oddly outside over time. Day to day, this countertop is built for real use, not just looks. Set a hot pan down, wipe up sauce, hose off pollen in the spring, it all rolls off without drama. Leathered granite doesn't need to be babied, and a light sealing keeps it performing that way for years with minimal upkeep. It's the kind of stone that fits right into lake life in Chapin: durable, low-maintenance, and built for people who actually cook and entertain outside instead of just looking at a nice kitchen through a window.

Out by the lake in Chapin, an outdoor kitchen calls for stone that can take whatever the Midlands throws at it, and leathered Steel Gray granite handles that job without complaint. The leathered finish gives the surface a soft, textured feel instead of a glossy one, so it reads more like natural rock sitting outside where it belongs. Under sun or porch light it doesn't throw glare back at you, and that texture actually helps hide water spots and fingerprints that would show up fast on a polished top. Steel Gray is a tough granite to begin with, dense and consistent, and it holds up to the swings in temperature and humidity you get living near Lake Murray. Outdoor kitchens take a beating that indoor counters never see: grills throwing off heat, rain, pollen, the occasional forgotten pot left sitting too long. This stone doesn't flinch. We fabricated and set the slabs with the same care we'd give an indoor kitchen, tight seams, level surfaces, everything templated to the grill and prep layout so there's no guesswork once it's installed. We finished the edges eased, which is the right call for a space like this. It keeps the line clean and durable without adding anything fussy that would just catch chips or wear oddly outside over time. Day to day, this countertop is built for real use, not just looks. Set a hot pan down, wipe up sauce, hose off pollen in the spring, it all rolls off without drama. Leathered granite doesn't need to be babied, and a light sealing keeps it performing that way for years with minimal upkeep. It's the kind of stone that fits right into lake life in Chapin: durable, low-maintenance, and built for people who actually cook and entertain outside instead of just looking at a nice kitchen through a window.