This residence was a complete gut renovation of a 4-story row house in Park Slope, and included a new rear extension and penthouse addition. The owners wished to create a warm, family home using a modern language that would act as a clean canvas to feature rich textiles and items from their world travels. As with most Brooklyn row houses, the existing house suffered from a lack of natural light and connection to exterior spaces, an issue that Principal Brendan Coburn is acutely aware of from his experience re-imagining historic structures in the New York area. The resulting architecture is designed around moments featuring natural light and views to the exterior, of both the private garden and the sky, throughout the house, and a stripped-down language of detailing and finishes allows for the concept of the modern-natural to shine. Upon entering the home, the kitchen and dining space draw you in with views beyond through the large glazed opening at the rear of the house. An extension was built to allow for a large sunken living room that provides a family gathering space connected to the kitchen and dining room, but remains distinctly separate, with a strong visual connection to the rear garden. The open sculptural stair tower was designed to function like that of a traditional row house stair, but with a smaller footprint. By extending it up past the original roof level into the new penthouse, the stair becomes an atmospheric shaft for the spaces surrounding the core. All types of weather – sunshine, rain, lightning, can be sensed throughout the home through this unifying vertical environment. The stair space also strives to foster family communication, making open living spaces visible between floors. At the upper-most level, a free-form bench sits suspended over the stair, just by the new roof deck, which provides at-ease entertaining. Oak was used throughout the home as a unifying material element. As one travels upwards within the house, the oak finishes are bleached to further degrees as a nod to how light enters the home. The owners worked with CWB to add their own personality to the project. The meter of a white oak and blackened steel stair screen was designed by the family to read “I love you” in Morse Code, and tile was selected throughout to reference places that hold special significance to the family. To support the owners’ comfort, the architectural design engages passive house technologies to reduce energy use, while increasing air quality within the home – a strategy which aims to respect the environment while providing a refuge from the harsh elements of urban living. This project was published by Wendy Goodman as her Space of the Week, part of New York Magazine’s Design Hunting on The Cut. Photography by Kevin Kunstadt

Scott Shigley
Photo of a large traditional shade backyard stone formal garden in Chicago.

Steve Hall @ Hedrich Blessing Photographers
Photo of a mid-sized contemporary full sun rooftop gravel landscaping in Chicago.

Example of a large classic formal and enclosed medium tone wood floor living room design in Other with green walls and no tv

©toddhaiman2014
Design ideas for a mid-sized transitional shade backyard gravel garden path in New York for spring.

Reading garden. 4x4 'Tennessee Tumbled' cobblestones and blue slate chips. Bloodgood Japanese Maple. Architect: Drawing Dept Contractor: Camery Hensley Construction Photography: Ross Van Pelt

Design ideas for a traditional formal garden in Other.

Steel pergola and infrared heaters
This is an example of a large contemporary partial sun rooftop landscaping in New York for summer.

Holger Obenaus
Example of a classic wooden curved staircase design in Charleston with painted risers

Roxanne Kim-Perez
Inspiration for a modern home design remodel in San Diego

The height of the natural stone wall is 26" and perfect height for sitting. A six inch space between the side walk and the wall is planted with Cerastium tomentosum or snow-in-summer.

This green living wall art is actually preserved moss in a burned pine frame. It is accented by a glass vase that is made to look opaque and down. The reeds in the vase offset the green of the vertical garden. The green wall really pops out against the white background and mid-century cabinet.

A slightly more formal garden layout was included to accentuate this section of the house. The boxwood hedge surrounds a garden space kept in scale with this façade. The yellow cast to the leaves of the Spirea compliments the colour of the window trim and the creamy colour of the stucco.

The Yin-Yang House is a net-zero energy single-family home in a quiet Venice, CA neighborhood. The design objective was to create a space for a large and growing family with several children, which would create a calm, relaxed and organized environment that emphasizes public family space. The home also serves as a place to entertain, and a welcoming space for teenagers as they seek social space with friends. The home is organized around a series of courtyards and other outdoor spaces that integrate with the interior of the house. Facing the street the house appears to be solid. However, behind the steel entry door is a courtyard, which reveals the indoor-outdoor nature of the house behind the solid exterior. From the entry courtyard, the entire space to the rear garden wall can be seen; the first clue of the home’s spatial connection between inside and out. These spaces are designed for entertainment, and the 40 foot sliding glass door to the living room enhances the harmonic relationship of the main room, allowing the owners to host many guests without the feeling of being overburdened. The tensions of the house’s exterior are subtly underscored by a 12-inch steel band that hews close to, but sometimes rises above or falls below the floor line of the second floor – a continuous loop moving inside and out like a pen that is never lifted from the page, but reinforces the intent to spatially weave together the indoors with the outside as a single space. Scale manipulation also plays a formal role in the design of the structure. From the rear, the house appears to be a single-story volume. The large master bedroom window and the outdoor steps are scaled to support this illusion. It is only when the steps are animated with people that one realizes the true scale of the house is two stories. The kitchen is the heart of the house, with an open working area that allows the owner, an accomplished chef, to converse with friends while cooking. Bedrooms are intentionally designed to be very small and simple; allowing for larger public spaces, emphasizing the family over individual domains. The breakfast room looks across an outdoor courtyard to the guest room/kids playroom, establishing a visual connection while defining the separation of uses. The children can play outdoors while under adult supervision from the dining area or the office, or do homework in the office while adults occupy the adjacent outdoor or indoor space. Many of the materials used, including the bamboo interior, composite stone and tile countertops and bathroom finishes are recycled, and reinforce the environmental DNA of the house, which also has a green roof. Blown-in cellulose insulation, radiant heating and a host of other sustainable features aids in the performance of the building’s heating and cooling. The active systems in the home include a 12 KW solar photovoltaic panel system, the largest such residential system available on the market. The solar panels also provide shade from the sun, preventing the house from becoming overheated. The owners have been in the home for over nine months and have yet to receive a power bill.

Example of a mid-sized transitional medium tone wood floor, brown floor and shiplap wall breakfast nook design in San Francisco with white walls

Panel Track Shades are sliding panel shades that sit on a track and are designed to be used on large windows, including sliding glass doors. These shades are in the closed position. (Unfortunately, the photo didn't come out well - the shades are actually one color, the sunlight played havoc with the exposure.) The available material is either in the woven wood or roller shade lines, so the choices are virtually endless! The shades can be made to match any blinds in the room, which is the case here but again the exposure in the photo doesn't do it justice. They also come with a custom, matching valance.

Marshall Morgan Erb Design Inc. Photo: Nick Johnson
Elegant ceramic tile dedicated laundry room photo in Chicago with an undermount sink, recessed-panel cabinets, soapstone countertops, white walls and beige cabinets

The Ina Wall Trellis by Terra Trellis, powdercoated with a new, lustrous silvery finish color "zinc". The trellis weaves a gorgeous tapestry of trumpet vine, softening this modern garden fence.

A metal sink brings an industrial flair to offset the transitional wall-paneling. Matthew Willams Photography Victoria Kirk Interiors Co-Designer
Bathroom - small transitional 3/4 mosaic tile floor bathroom idea in Auckland with a console sink, open cabinets and white walls