This featured remodeling project was located in Imperial Beach and included a tri-level addition to the front of the house with bedrooms, baths, a kitchenette as well as a deck with ocean views. The client often rents out the main house and wanted a private space for his family to enjoy. Their elegant yet modern design was incorporated by combining simplistic materials with more detailed accessories and lighting. Overall, it created a high-end beachy feel. Some of the fixtures and finishes include: Daltile EL40 6x18” tile in Lunar White Stonemark Granite Crystal Chandelier by Home Decorator’s Collections Take a look at renderings, plans and before & after photos to see how the process was executed from start to end. Video Link: https://youtu.be/mZ1ZRwaAE00

This featured remodeling project was located in Imperial Beach and included a tri-level addition to the front of the house with bedrooms, baths, a kitchenette as well as a deck with ocean views. The client often rents out the main house and wanted a private space for his family to enjoy. Their elegant yet modern design was incorporated by combining simplistic materials with more detailed accessories and lighting. Overall, it created a high-end beachy feel. Some of the fixtures and finishes include: Daltile EL40 6x18” tile in Lunar White Stonemark Granite Crystal Chandelier by Home Decorator’s Collections Take a look at renderings, plans and before & after photos to see how the process was executed from start to end. Video Link: https://youtu.be/mZ1ZRwaAE00

This featured remodeling project was located in Imperial Beach and included a tri-level addition to the front of the house with bedrooms, baths, a kitchenette as well as a deck with ocean views. The client often rents out the main house and wanted a private space for his family to enjoy. Their elegant yet modern design was incorporated by combining simplistic materials with more detailed accessories and lighting. Overall, it created a high-end beachy feel. Some of the fixtures and finishes include: Daltile EL40 6x18” tile in Lunar White Stonemark Granite Crystal Chandelier by Home Decorator’s Collections Take a look at renderings, plans and before & after photos to see how the process was executed from start to end. Video Link: https://youtu.be/mZ1ZRwaAE00

This featured remodeling project was located in Imperial Beach and included a tri-level addition to the front of the house with bedrooms, baths, a kitchenette as well as a deck with ocean views. The client often rents out the main house and wanted a private space for his family to enjoy. Their elegant yet modern design was incorporated by combining simplistic materials with more detailed accessories and lighting. Overall, it created a high-end beachy feel. Some of the fixtures and finishes include: Daltile EL40 6x18” tile in Lunar White Stonemark Granite Crystal Chandelier by Home Decorator’s Collections Take a look at renderings, plans and before & after photos to see how the process was executed from start to end. Video Link: https://youtu.be/mZ1ZRwaAE00

This single family home sits on a tight, sloped site. Within a modest budget, the goal was to provide direct access to grade at both the front and back of the house. The solution is a multi-split-level home with unconventional relationships between floor levels. Between the entrance level and the lower level of the family room, the kitchen and dining room are located on an interstitial level. Within the stair space “floats” a small bathroom. The generous stair is celebrated with a back-painted red glass wall which treats users to changing refractive ambient light throughout the house. Black brick, grey-tinted glass and mirrors contribute to the reasonably compact massing of the home. A cantilevered upper volume shades south facing windows and the home’s limited material palette meant a more efficient construction process. Cautious landscaping retains water run-off on the sloping site and home offices reduce the client’s use of their vehicle. The house achieves its vision within a modest footprint and with a design restraint that will ensure it becomes a long-lasting asset in the community. Photo by Tom Arban

The following post is follows on from the Limestone tiled kitchen floor restoration I recently completed in Cardiff. You may recall that the floor had not been maintained properly since it was first installed in 2008 and one of the key problems I had to deal with during that particular restoration was a number of dark stains left on the tiles by the kitchen dustbin. Here’s a detailed account of how I tacked the staining. To deal with the stains, I suggested to the client that I experiment with a Tile Doctor product called Reduxa, which is formulated to remove certain stains, including red wine stains, from natural stone. It is suitable on Limestone, Marble and Travertine tiles, amongst others. Nonetheless, I did have to advise the client that unfortunately some stains are unavoidably permanent and that there was no guarantee that the product would be able to remove these particular stains. Had the sealer been maintained on this floor, then the problem would have been much easier to tackle. However, in this case the sealer had worn off over the years. I began treating the problem area by applying the Reduxa solution, before heating up the tile with a heat gun to lift out the stains. This process of spraying and heating was repeated around eight times. To cut a long story short, the process worked very well, and both myself and the client were amazed at the results the Reduxa stain removal solution had on the floor. This product really does what it says on the label! If you would like more information on the product, check out the video on the Reduxa page on the Tile Doctor website. Julian Iancono SE Wales Tile Doctor

Watch our project videos with before and after pictures: http://www.larisamcshane.com/projects/ An outdated master bathroom was transformed into a visually interesting, revitalizing master spa with a large steam shower and an infrared sauna in a spacious room with natural light. According to a unique style survey, which is a cornerstone in our design process, the client responded to striking primary colors. Creating a design concept from this idea, we used bold 4'x4' flower tiles, which visually connect the floor and wall of the bathroom and accented the vanity and shower walls with red mosaic tile. Our team also designed exotic solid sapelle wood doors, installed a glass towel warmer, a massaging thermostatic shower system, a steam unit, an in-wall tank water-saving toilet, and radiant floors.

Located in a rustic mountain ski town, the client requested the ultimate in performance and aesthetic for this high performance private theater in his family's vacation home. Paradise Theater was hired very early in the project planning process, giving us the ability to coordinate with the architect to specify the ideal room footprint from the ground up. A robust JBL Synthesis audio system, Digital projection projector and Stewart Filmscreen, coupled with the performance engineered room by Paradise Theater delivered the pinnacle in private theater performance for this client. Natural stone details were incorporated into the decor, providing aesthetic appeal, but also contributing a diffusive characteristic to the acoustical performance.

Watch our project videos with before and after pictures: http://www.larisamcshane.com/projects/ An outdated master bathroom was transformed into a visually interesting, revitalizing master spa with a large steam shower and an infrared sauna in a spacious room with natural light. According to a unique style survey, which is a cornerstone in our design process, the client responded to striking primary colors. Creating a design concept from this idea, we used bold 4'x4' flower tiles, which visually connect the floor and wall of the bathroom and accented the vanity and shower walls with red mosaic tile. Our team also designed exotic solid sapelle wood doors, installed a glass towel warmer, a massaging thermostatic shower system, a steam unit, an in-wall tank water-saving toilet, and radiant floors.

Example of a mid-sized transitional freestanding desk dark wood floor and brown floor study room design in New York with beige walls and no fireplace

Trendy living room photo in San Francisco

This project includes multiple hardwired outdoor speaker bollards around the backyard space which also integrates with outdoor TV.
This is an example of a backyard landscaping in Miami.

Durston Saylor
Deck - transitional deck idea in Denver

This is an example of a full sun backyard landscaping in Miami.

We designed a new front walk with more stone steps to eliminate the odd pitch of the existing front walk. Lannon stone medallions mimic the tri-window detail above on the home. Renn Kuhnen Photography

This La Mesa project started with a video call from across the country. The homeowners’ son had just gotten a job in San Diego and needed a place to land—but the rental market was brutal, and they wanted him close. “Can you build something in our backyard before he moves in September?” It was May. We had four months. Here’s the thing about ADU construction in La Mesa: the permitting process can be unpredictable. We got lucky with a new streamlined approval process the city had just implemented, but we still had to navigate setback requirements and that magnificent old oak tree you see shading the front. That tree wasn’t going anywhere—we designed around it. The exterior keeps things classic California cottage: cream stucco, a pitched roofline that echoes the main house, and that warm wood door with glass panels that the homeowner picked out herself during a Saturday morning trip to the salvage yard. The lattice privacy screen on the side patio was a last-minute addition—turns out the neighbors’ kitchen window looked right into the ADU’s bedroom, so we needed a creative solution that didn’t feel like a wall. Inside, we opened everything up. The kitchen became the heart of the space, with white shaker cabinets that maximize storage and that pop-of-color island in teal blue. The homeowner’s wife insisted on it—”He needs at least one thing with personality,” she said. Those glass-front upper cabinets with interior lighting? Her idea too, and she was right. They make the whole space feel bigger and more intentional. The skylight was our contribution. In a compact ADU, natural light is everything, and that one feature completely transformed how the space feels during the day. Did we finish before September? Of Course! The son moved in August with his beat-up Honda Civic and three boxes of belongings. Six months later, he’s still there, and according to his mom, he cooks dinner for the family twice a week. Mission accomplished!

Our clients wanted to increase the size of their kitchen, which was small, in comparison to the overall size of the home. They wanted a more open livable space for the family to be able to hang out downstairs. They wanted to remove the walls downstairs in the front formal living and den making them a new large den/entering room. They also wanted to remove the powder and laundry room from the center of the kitchen, giving them more functional space in the kitchen that was completely opened up to their den. The addition was planned to be one story with a bedroom/game room (flex space), laundry room, bathroom (to serve as the on-suite to the bedroom and pool bath), and storage closet. They also wanted a larger sliding door leading out to the pool. We demoed the entire kitchen, including the laundry room and powder bath that were in the center! The wall between the den and formal living was removed, completely opening up that space to the entry of the house. A small space was separated out from the main den area, creating a flex space for them to become a home office, sitting area, or reading nook. A beautiful fireplace was added, surrounded with slate ledger, flanked with built-in bookcases creating a focal point to the den. Behind this main open living area, is the addition. When the addition is not being utilized as a guest room, it serves as a game room for their two young boys. There is a large closet in there great for toys or additional storage. A full bath was added, which is connected to the bedroom, but also opens to the hallway so that it can be used for the pool bath. The new laundry room is a dream come true! Not only does it have room for cabinets, but it also has space for a much-needed extra refrigerator. There is also a closet inside the laundry room for additional storage. This first-floor addition has greatly enhanced the functionality of this family’s daily lives. Previously, there was essentially only one small space for them to hang out downstairs, making it impossible for more than one conversation to be had. Now, the kids can be playing air hockey, video games, or roughhousing in the game room, while the adults can be enjoying TV in the den or cooking in the kitchen, without interruption! While living through a remodel might not be easy, the outcome definitely outweighs the struggles throughout the process.

The neutral tones of the furnishings, classic lighting, and strategically bold accents create a soothing and sophisticated ambiance. The design embraces the welcoming and relaxing purpose of the room. The fireplace and bookcase were reimagined to reflect the era of the home and create a much more functional and beautiful focal point. Fresh paint throughout the room and soft drapery create the perfect backdrop.

Next around the color wheel is the yellow based piece. This was actually the second in order of how I developed the series, and it was also the second shot at getting a yellow based piece to turn out how I was hoping. It followed a failure that a friend described to me as “it looks like a ……” - well let’s just say it wasn’t an analogy to something of beauty! What it was however was an experiment with the bronze powder and a yellow acrylic paint that reacted with each other to create a gross muddy green combination. And it wasn’t what I was hoping for. This one in the photo - named “Yellow Flood” - doesn’t contain nearly as much metallic powder as a result. The gold powder I used was more subdued in this one. It’s most prominent near the top where the orange hues flowed out of the yellow. This piece is available framed or unframed. Custom versions of this piece can also be ordered in a variety of sizes and shapes to suit the space you are decorating. Please contact me directly to get the process started. Video overview: https://youtu.be/2-kX4Ar4UXc Prints of Original: www.wmcreativeart.com/shop-prints