Starting with a multi-level, splintering old deck that didn’t transition well to the pool area - our goal was to great a more enjoyable and useable space where the homeowners can spend time relaxing & hosting poolside parties. We worked closely with the township to maximize the allowable impervious coverage for the property, which included reconfiguring all the landscaping to allow for more hardscaping. To say this backyard got a facelift is an understatement. Everything got some attention; from staining & sealing the concrete around the pool, tucking away the pool equipment, building an all new porch complete with gorgeous stonework & fireplace. Meeting the needs of the homeowners & surpassing their dreams is one of our favorite things, and with this design – that was exactly the case.

This project is the definition of where the finesse of craftsmanship and structural brute must meet and far exceed client expectations. ​ The massive undertaking of excavating 700 cubic yards of soil to add a new basement below the existing structure took this 2-story home to 4,000 square feet. This now 3-story Victorian boasts 1,800 additional square feet of useable space including a third living room with soundproof insulation and custom built-in cabinetry, a wet bar, full bathroom with Waterworks fixtures and intricate marble tile, private office, laundry room equipped with a chute from every floor, and a gym & guest room. ​ Restoring, the original upper 2 floors of this stunning Victorian to its former glory was another challenge in and of itself. Rehabbing vaulted coved ceilings & original early 19th century mantels, renovating the bedrooms and bathrooms, updating the kitchen and creating an indoor/outdoor experience by installing doors in the former window locations between the dining room and patio were just a few key elements of this project.

Luxurious Mountain Home in Park City, Utah. Built by Cameo Homes Inc., Park City Luxury Home Builders.
Example of a huge mountain style brown one-story mixed siding exterior home design in Salt Lake City with a clipped gable roof

This is an example of a mid-sized rustic backyard mulch landscaping in Other with a fire pit.

We started with a small crowded patio and we transformed it into a larger, useable outdoor living space by adding a circular seat wall with built in LED low voltage lighting, a natural wood burning fire pit, 480 sq feet of Belgard pavers, custom build Cedar Pergola and flagstone walkway for side access. We also fixed all of the disrupted sod areas and built natural areas for future planting and added Low voltage LED lighting along the flagstone pathway.

This couple had lived in their home over 20-years, with their handicapped adult daughter. 5 years-ago they added onto the back of their home to accommodate appropriate housing needs for her, such as a wheel-chair lift. However, their home needed wheelchair-accessibility, beginning with transition from daughter’s room on lower level, to main kitchen level, via existing lift. The project was budget-driven so it was critical to utilize practical cost-effective materials, while transforming home’s overall dated-look. My House Design/Build Team Ltd. successfully opened-up the space, increased use-ability for whole family, and provided the ‘wow-factor’. The renewed kitchen is much more efficient providing a practical solution for family.

This is an example of a mediterranean landscaping in Santa Barbara.

As is often the case in the homes that I see, this bathroom was dark, run down and used more out of necessity than anything else. In much need of attention, I redesigned this space to be open and flooded with natural light. Highly reflective surfaces, allow the eye to bounce around the room. A re-built, high end shower now feels like a spa with multiple controls at a user’s service. A sculptural bathtub, sets relaxation up for long lingering and highlights the lake side view. Automated, custom designed window treatments are remoted controlled for ease and vanities are wide and softly cheery to leave the mornings with lots of useable space. We completely changed the footprint of this master bath, adding a water closet clad in a wonderful high gloss veneer. Giving the space richness through color, materials, texture and all of this glorious marble flooring and wall tiles, this space now makes you want to spend extra time getting ready.

This contemporary craftsman kitchen uses of square inch of useable space. The layout gives a great amount of work space. The open concept lends a great entertaining kitchen with it opening into the living and dining room.

A transformation inspired by the owner’s love of modern architecture, art and color (and the adjacent sand, rock, water, and the northwest landscape), the Indianola House sought to bring the soul of a home to a colorless muted box. The original house was a drab 1990’s-era box with no personality or presence sited on a beautiful secluded bay, facing water and island views, northwest of the City of Seattle. The existing mono-colored stucco-clad exterior and pyramidal glass-block openings had led the neighborhood to dub the structure, unflatteringly, “The Miami Vice House”. Rhodes Architecture’s Residential Architects careful use of natural light, rich, collaged finishes and ability to open the house to gardens, beach, and outdoor gathering was critical to the design. The house soon became “The Gallery”. The original home’s grey stucco exterior made the house seem both large and featureless; the introduction of no-maintenance exterior materials that collage and complement each other was a goal of the homeowner and the Seattle Architects who teamed up for this residential design. The bloated scale of the house cried out for the establishment and definition of the parts of the structure, a breaking down of the home’s form and its apparent bland size. Living, sleeping, and bathing areas that started as staid spaces were in need of opening to the natural environment with additions of large doors, folding glass walls and useable balconies were crucial to each space having a dialogue with the outdoors. The owner’s extensive art collection was highlighted and became the focus of interior places, well-lit naturally and through a new lighting system. Energy use and sustainable systems were a key component of the design which used high-efficacy lighting, better cladding on a rain-screen system, high-efficiency doors and windows, new insulation and weather barriers, and which added a photovoltaic-generated electrical system. The contemporary design sought to integrate all of these systems, materials, and finishes into a seamless whole that lent interest and drama to a residence which was previously lusterless. How radically this house was transformed is evident in the exteriors, gardens and the natural spaces the house now opens to, as well as the gallery-like interiors. This home is a stunning testament to what is possible “before-and-after” when remade by Rhodes Architecture + Light. The clients are an older couple with long professional and political careers, a love of art and a clear desire to connect with the Northwest environment and enliven their daily lives with spaces full of color and natural light. Rhodes Architecture + Light was hired in 2019 to add new exteriors and interiors, natural light, larger openings to beach and bay, seismic and foundation upgrades to the home, and to infuse life into the house through the re-use of existing space and varied materials, color, textures, and lighting. The only actual change to the exterior “shell” of the house was the introduction of a low “gull-wing” roof with wood soffits above the central atrium space, to add drama and bring natural light into the entry gallery space. Interior spaces, including bedrooms and bathrooms, were re-planned and opened to each other, to greater natural light, to roof decks, and to the incredible views and sea-side environment. The Builder, Fairbank Construction Company of Bainbridge Island, Washington, met the challenge of the design, first completely deconstructing the finishes inside and out, then precisely interlocking new claddings, windows and doors, cabinetry, finishes and a new gull-wing central roof in a beautiful transformation. The construction was total, thorough, and very detailed, resulting a house that, far from seeming a “remodeling”, is far more present and fitting to the owner’s lives and the natural environment than the house we started with.

Another design that creates a useable front yard that includes a fire pit, a large rock retaining wall, and easy low maintenance plants creating amazing curb appeal. The side yard has beautiful large steps and a false creek. The back yard is a simple sodded area for kids and grandkids to play.

New 2500sqft. house build with a full walk-out superior wall basement, 3 bedroom 2.5 Bath home. Full LVP floors throughout, with tile in all bathrooms on the floors and shower surrounds. Hardi board siding, fiberglass exterior doors, double-hung vinyl windows, and aluminum gutters with oversized down spouts. This was a nice floor plan and had very useable space'

THEME There are two priorities in this room: Hockey (in this case, Washington Capitals hockey) and FUN. FOCUS The room is broken into two main sections (one for kids and one for adults); and divided by authentic hockey boards, complete with yellow kickplates and half-inch plexiglass. Like a true hockey arena, the room pays homage to star players with two fully autographed team jerseys preserved in cases, as well as team logos positioned throughout the room on custom-made pillows, accessories and the floor. The back half of the room is made just for kids. Swings, a dart board, a ball pit, a stage and a hidden playhouse under the stairs ensure fun for all. STORAGE A large storage unit at the rear of the room makes use of an odd-shaped nook, adds support and accommodates large shelves, toys and boxes. Storage space is cleverly placed near the ballpit, and will eventually transition into a full storage area once the pit is no longer needed. The back side of the hockey boards hold two small refrigerators (one for adults and one for kids), as well as the base for the audio system. GROWTH The front half of the room lasts as long as the family’s love for the team. The back half of the room grows with the children, and eventually will provide a useable, wide open space as well as storage. SAFETY A plexiglass wall separates the two main areas of the room, minimizing the noise created by kids playing and hockey fans cheering. It also protects the big screen TV from balls, pucks and other play objects that occasionally fly by. The ballpit door has a double safety lock to ensure supervised use.

Locally quarried sandstone walls, steps, patio and pond. The design reclaimed a steep slope and made for a visually appealing area that becomes very useable. Simple plantings allow the wall to be the star. Photo: The Ardent Gardener Landscape

Timber frame homes offer unique challenges during a remodel. What often makes them beautiful and attractive to most homeowners, also makes them challenging for space requirements. Context: The lovely couple that owned this home were struggling with some interesting floor plan challenges that just didn't work for their family. The loved the beautiful timbers and woodwork of their home, but the dramatically sloping ceilings on the second floor, particularly in the bathroom, just didn't work for this 1 1/2 bath home. Needing to use the skylight to approach the toilet was a less then ideal scenario. Although the bathroom footprint was more then adequate, the sloped ceiling only made half of the space useable. Check out the Before/After post on our blog to see the photos of the house pre-renovation. As much as they loved all the wood features in their home, another challenge they had was light. The wood ceiling made everything inside the house darker, even with a fantastic array of south facing windows, there were spaces in the home that felt dark and small. When they contacted us they wanted to know how could they make their brighter and more inviting, were there solutions to the 2nd floor sloped ceiling issues, and if they were going to do all of this work, how could they make their home more comfortable and efficient. A nagging water leak in the upstairs bathroom spurred them into action and here is how we solved their dilemma. Conclusion: First, we added a little dormer to the rear of the house so we could get full headroom in nearly all of the upstairs bathroom! Then we decided to extend that dormer one more timber bay over to create a walk in closet with natural light and plenty of space. Since we were contemplating energy efficiency, we resolved a nagging issue that is present in a lot of timber frame construction, air tightness. Commonly found in timber frame construction, fiberglass insulation is installed in the rafter bays and board ceilings are installed over top. Unfortunately, board ceilings are anything but air tight, and fiberglass insulation needs to be in an airtight cavity for maximum effectiveness. So we were able to solve two issues at the same time for this homeowner. We removed the board ceiling and fiberglass insulation, we dense packed the rafter bays with cellulose insulation, and installed sheetrock in place of the boards. The boards were salvaged for re-use by the homeowner, and the space and light quality was dramatically improved. Some may think that losing the board ceiling took something away from the space, but what you'll see in the pictures is that it highly accentuates the heavy timbers and really makes them stand out in a beautiful way. Now with this added airtightness, better insulation, and brighter space, the homeowner hardly runs their wood stove, and it's so quiet in the space, an added bonus from changing the insulation. It became necessary to also add a sheetrock ceiling to the living room to hide the plumbing from the new bathroom layout above. Changing this ceiling gave the homeowner some real quality lighting that was lacking in the living room before. The brighter ceiling and new lighting layout completely transforms the living room into a space you want to hang out, even though the layout didn't change at all. When the homeowner saw the finished spaces she said "I can't believe this is my house, I want to live in this house" Energy Efficiency: I touched a little on the efficiency above, but like all projects done with Mottram Architecture, we always want to leave you with a little extra. Timber frame construction with board ceilings and fiberglass insulation are notoriously leaky! If you want to know what we think about fiberglass insulation, check our our blog post on Why Fiberglass Insulation Sucks. By installing cellulose insulation and covering it with sheetrock we were able to greatly reduce the heat flowing out of this home. It not only improves cashflow it improves the comfort level in the space. Who wants to sit in their living room and feel a draft? Let us remind you, we are not saying cellulose insulation is an air barrier, we use the sheetrock to help with that, but it does significantly reduce the air flow over fiberglass insulation. And when we reduce the airflow, we reduce the heat flow. And when we reduce the heat flow, we reduce the need to re-heat that drafty air from outside. When it comes to energy efficiency the first and best place to start is air infiltration. We greatly reduced the air infiltration with the new insulation, but we also added a hat and warm boots. What I mean by that is, we improved the insulation in the roof, and we installed insulation in the basement. Maybe it's a silly analogy, but when you think about keeping warm, we always start with the hat and boots! With sustainability in mind, the next project will be to add a deck to the front of this house with rain catchment barrels from the metal roof. They are planning to plant a garden in the spring and the rain catchment system will help to irrigate the new garden. Builder: East Shore Builders Photographer: Michael Eric Berube

Basement finished in preparation for a phase 2 renovation which will include underpinning for an 8ft ceiling. This phase involved making the space comfortable, useable and stylish for the mid-term as the kids play area.

➤ GO TO THE PRODUCT PAGE
❤ GET FREE FABRIC SAMPLES

Cassius D.E.L. has a classic sofa design that, with an easy conversion method provides a versatile queen-sized sofa bed. Cassius’s excess pocket spring mattress and large bed size ensure highest comfort during the day and at night. Its exquisite details of the stitched surfaces combined with upholstered armrests provide an elegant design with maximum lounge comfort satisfying multiple needs for years to come. Do yourselves the favor to add the D.E.L. ottoman to complete the sofa and lounger arrangement, useable as temporary seat or best as comfortable chaise lounge.

A Beautiful Outdoor Kitchen with a Beautiful Wood Arbor and Stone Pillars. Ashley Farrell Landscape Design
Patio - mediterranean patio idea in Santa Barbara

We designed this extension of the family room to function as a useable every-day dining room. The soft grey tones compliment bold blues and the round shape encourages conversation. Underneath this table , lies a machine washable area rug. The buffet in this room also doubles as work storage for our work-at-home client. Upholstered chairs finish out the look and offer additional seating that can be brought into the living space for extra guests.