Modern custom home nestled in quiet Arcadia neighborhood. The expansive glass window wall has stunning views of Camelback Mountain and natural light helps keep energy usage to a minimum. CIP concrete walls also help to reduce the homes carbon footprint while keeping a beautiful, architecturally pleasing finished look to both inside and outside. The artfully blended look of metal, concrete, block and glass bring a natural, raw product to life in both visual and functional way

As a professional nutritionist and chef, our client wanted to have a brighter and more functional kitchen with more counter space for meal prep and more storage. We created plans with a more functional peninsula counter with stools as well as more storage on the dining room side including a second small fridge. We also recommended the colour palette, lighting, cabinetry, counters, floor, and backsplash tiles. We assisted our client in materials selection with access to interesting discounts for her purchases. She is now able to develop healthy recipes for her clients as well as entertain larger groups of people. There is room for everyone and a place for everything. She is excited and so are we! Materials used: Quartz countertops, Marrakech patchwork 8 x 8 cement backsplash tile, grey vinyl 12 x 24 floor tile , Glossy white custom cabinets, Industrial iron lighting, stainless steel sink and chrome faucet

This laundry room, was a space room in the back of the house where all the extra items would normally go. We converted it into a laundry room for better usage of the space. The compact design holds the laundry, linen closet, water meter, electrical panel and tons of storage all blend in seememless into the space to make this room fresh and inviting.

This exceptional hillside estate project, completed in 2017 is a dramatic, California Hills inspired home with dramatic views that are hard to find in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. Using low maintenance and drought tolerant plantings to reduce water usage, we created a very striking landscape design to embrace the house and site. The rear garden features a dramatic, infinity edge pool, fireplace and boulder waterfall, built by Gold Medal Pools, which creates a dramatic overlook affect for the views from the rear of the house. Other design details included were drought tolerant plantings, ornamental grasses, decorative gravel & rubble, corten planters, fire bowl features, textured concrete pads and LED landscape lighting.

Clients were looking for an open space that had the feel of a relaxed weekend retreat in the kitchen. Counter seating includes interaction with the cook, and there is ample storage space without feeling closed in. The appliances are of adequate size for family and entertaining guests, and there is great traffic flow. Some special features included are: Stone facade focal point and flanking stone end walls; Dual counter heights on island provide height for laptop usage plus creates a visual transition from the working space of the island; faux beam between kitchen and family room adding to the open feel; new hardwood floor; stainless steel farm sink and service sink; LED lighting fixtures. Photo cred: Carbajal

Minimal window trim and modern shades draw the eye outside. The glass table and matching contemporary white dining chairs create a simple elegance in the room. The expansive space boasts 10 ft ceilings and a light color palette that accentuates the open and airy feel. With ReAlta, we are introducing for the first time in Charlotte a fully solar community. Each beautifully detailed home will incorporate low profile solar panels that will collect the sun’s rays to significantly offset the home’s energy usage. Combined with our industry-leading Home Efficiency Ratings (HERS), these solar systems will save a ReAlta homeowner thousands over the life of the home. Credit: Brendan Kahm

A complete ‘to the studs’ sustainable renovation of an early 1960’s mountain residence originally designed by Robert Calhoun Smith, final architect for the National Cathedral. This home now meets the Silver rating criteria for LEED for Homes, currently under development by the USGBC. Perched on the first ridge of the Appalachians west of Washington D.C. with a beautiful valley view, the house faces slightly east of south. This orientation makes it ideal for a new 28 foot window seat acting as a passive solar window wall with a carefully designed sun shade. Energy usage was reduced further by utilizing a multi-well geothermal HVAC system and installing a Energy Recovery Ventilator with a high-performance super-insulated envelope. Extensive clerestory windows and a light interior color palette negates the need for lighting during the day, even when the mountain is fogged in. The original interior vertical paneling, a dark stained mahogany, was resurfaced and recycled as exterior horizontal siding. All wood trim and new decking are FSC certified. Scott Smith Photography

This exceptional hillside estate project, completed in 2017 is a dramatic, California Hills inspired home with dramatic views that are hard to find in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. Using low maintenance and drought tolerant plantings to reduce water usage, we created a very striking landscape design to embrace the house and site. The rear garden features a dramatic, infinity edge pool, fireplace and boulder waterfall, built by Gold Medal Pools, which creates a dramatic overlook affect for the views from the rear of the house. Other design details included were drought tolerant plantings, ornamental grasses, decorative gravel & rubble, corten planters, fire bowl features, textured concrete pads and LED landscape lighting.

Ocean Blue Pools LLC is widely recognized for extravagant swimming pool construction and unmatched customer service. Our specialties include custom designed swimming pools, spas, beautiful rock and stone water features and astounding outdoor kitchens and living spaces. The designing process incorporates classic principles, proportioned balance and expert design in accordance with your topography and space. We strive to make your outdoor living space as user friendly as it is beautiful. With profound focus on our client’s needs, we will design around your unique lifestyle and taste and create a space that is inviting, comfortable, safe, and engages the senses. Your swimming pool, which becomes the focal point, is just one component of the backyard. The landscape, lighting, water features, fire pit or outdoor kitchen will define your pool and evoke emotion. Our design team will offer several feature choices to create the most exciting and relaxing outdoor environment using the harmony of these elements. The design process begins with a consultation to understand your lifestyle and vision for your new outdoor living space. We will inquire about your usage plans and the vision you would like to achieve. We take into consideration, location of views, site conditions and accessibility. We will examine your homes existing architectural design to ensure continuity and flow from your home into to your new outdoor living space. Our design team and graphic artists will then transform your vision into conceptual drawings and renderings. A visual presentation will also be prepared to convey the look and feel of the proposed project. Under the design process, materials will be recommended which may include: pavers, travertine, glass tile, stone veneer, precast concrete, landscape and lighting. The final design drawings will provide an accurate representation of your new outdoor living space. Once the design process is complete, we will construct your project to the exact vision of the original design concept. We will maintain relentless attention to detail with our latest innovations and technology. All projects are managed from decades of experience by our trained superintendent who will manage timeframes, quality, and most of all, the client’s expectations. Our goal is to exceed your expectations. Randall Schmidt / Design and Construction

Mid-sized trendy l-shaped dark wood floor open concept kitchen photo in Chicago with an undermount sink, recessed-panel cabinets, white cabinets, quartz countertops, gray backsplash, stone tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances and an island

This exceptional hillside estate project, completed in 2017 is a dramatic, California Hills inspired home with dramatic views that are hard to find in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. Using low maintenance and drought tolerant plantings to reduce water usage, we created a very striking landscape design to embrace the house and site. The rear garden features a dramatic, infinity edge pool, fireplace and boulder waterfall, built by Gold Medal Pools, which creates a dramatic overlook affect for the views from the rear of the house. Other design details included were drought tolerant plantings, ornamental grasses, decorative gravel & rubble, corten planters, fire bowl features, textured concrete pads and LED landscape lighting.

This charming family home in Belmont was in dire need of some tender loving care. The original builder-grade cabinetry and countertops were outdated and in need of an upgrade. The kitchen was once isolated from the dining room and living room, making entertaining guests a real chore. Cooking in the kitchen meant being cut off from the rest of the household, leading to a disconnect during family time. So, we decided to make some sweeping changes. The most transformative change was the removal of the load bearing wall separating the kitchen and living room. This created a spacious open-concept kitchen with a massive island, perfect for hosting and socializing. We upgraded the cabinets to reflect a contemporary aesthetic and added a stunning hood vent. The built-in hutch was replaced by a refrigerator and beverage center, providing ample storage space and more practical usage. The kitchen was also equipped with modern features such as roll-out trays, a trash can pull-out, spice racks, and utensil organizers. We replaced the older-style double door base cabinets with modern drawer bases for easy access, and increased the height of the cabinets from 30 inches to 36 inches, giving the kitchen a fresh, airy look and additional storage space. The laundry room also received a makeover, with new cabinets above the washer and dryer and a tall linen/storage closet, making it more functional and storage-friendly. The small pantry closet was transformed into a sprawling 12 foot deep walk-in pantry with new shelves, cabinetry and lighting, providing ample space for all your pantry essentials. We also upgraded the flooring on the first floor with durable LVP flooring, elevating the overall aesthetic and feel of the home. All of these changes were completed in a mere 21 days, from start to finish.

Kitchen photo in New Orleans

Mode of Action • Maximizing space usage by changing Jacuzzi into tub • Changing room layout – installing sink and vanity across the room to maximize space usage • Creating multiple storage spaces by making custom-made vanities • New granite countertop • New construction for shower extending • New wood tiles and accents – the wood was handle in a special way in order to seal it for maximize water resistant • New glass doors • New flooring • Fresh natural paint • Replacing pluming in bathroom area • Using existing mirror Materials Used: • Wood tiles • Granite counter top • Dark stone tile for the romantic environment • Light tile wood plank look a like for the floor (neutral color - resale purpose) • Solid wood custom made vanity • Dark solid wood shelves • Luxurious water fixture that includes double shower rain head and matching faucets • New wall texture and relaxing paint color • Lots of love and passion for our work

This exceptional hillside estate project, completed in 2017 is a dramatic, California Hills inspired home with dramatic views that are hard to find in the Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. Using low maintenance and drought tolerant plantings to reduce water usage, we created a very striking landscape design to embrace the house and site. The rear garden features a dramatic, infinity edge pool, fireplace and boulder waterfall, built by Gold Medal Pools, which creates a dramatic overlook affect for the views from the rear of the house. Other design details included were drought tolerant plantings, ornamental grasses, decorative gravel & rubble, corten planters, fire bowl features, textured concrete pads and LED landscape lighting.

Modern custom home nestled in quiet Arcadia neighborhood. The expansive glass window wall has stunning views of Camelback Mountain and natural light helps keep energy usage to a minimum. CIP concrete walls also help to reduce the homes carbon footprint while keeping a beautiful, architecturally pleasing finished look to both inside and outside. The artfully blended look of metal, concrete, block and glass bring a natural, raw product to life in both visual and functional way

This is the lakeside of a home that combines modern lake house design with a number of sustainable best practices to create a stunning and amazingly comfortable low carbon home. To maximize the view out to the lake, a very large segemented window wall was designed that integrated the structure directly into the window mulls to minimize visual obstructions. Skylights on remotes are set above the great room to encourage natural ventilation. Except for the bedrooms and bathrooms, the rooms are all open to one another, again for natural ventilation. The energy concept for the home was to be all electric to reduce fracked natural gas usage. Natural gas is only used as a starter for the high efficiency, sealed combustion, outside combustion air fireplace and for a back up generator. The 9.8 kW PV 35 Panel array provides 32% of the homes energy usage, with the remaining electricity coming from 100% renewable energy credits from the grid. The mechanical system is provided by a series of all electric, ultra high efficiency mini-splits, controlled by an integrated smart home system. An induction cooktop, hybrid electric water heater and hybrid electric dryer complete the items that typically use natural gas. Lighting is all high efficiency correctly colored LED’s. A home office is included on the second floor complete with a balcony, facing towards the lake. Their zero carbon work commute consists of walking across the 2nd floor hallway.

IN 2021, PETE AND BECKY MEIER HIRED LANDSCAPE DESIGN WEST, LLC, TO CREATE AN EXTRAORDINARY RENOVATION DESIGN FOR THE CANYON PASS HOUSE LOCATED IN THE GATED COMMUNITY OF CANYON PASS AT THE PINNACLE OF DOVE MOUNTAIN, IN TUCSON, ARIZONA. EXISTING LANDSCAPE DID NOT COMPLIMENT THE OUTSTANDING ADJACENT DESERT NOR THE UNIQUE MARK SOLOWAY ARCHITECTURE. GOAL WAS TO CREATE A BEAUTIFUL DIALOGUE WITH THE ADJACENT DESERT AND RESIDENCE. DESIRED OUTCOME: INCREASE VISUAL APPEAL/LOWER WATER USE WITH NUMEROUS SPECIMEN SUCCULENTS AND A PLANTING DESIGN THAT IS INVITING, COLORFUL AND GRACIOUS, INCREASE YEAR AROUND COLOR AND BLOOMS TO ATTRACT NATIVE POLLINATORS SUCH AS BIRDS, BATS, HUMMINGBIRDS AND BUTTERFLIES MITIGATE DAMAGE TO PORTIONS OF THE PROPERTY PREVIOUSLY USED AS CONSTRUCTION STAGING AREAS LOWER WATER USAGE REPLACING EXISTING FAULTY IRRIGATION LOWER ENERGY/INCREASED NIGHTTIME LIGHTING AESTHETICS WITH A PROFESSIONAL DESIGN AND USING HUNTER/FX LED LIGHTING CHALLENGES: HILLSIDE/SLOPE WILDLIFE ROCKY SOILS DIFFICULT ACCESS Robin Stancliff Photography