Amber Frederiksen Photography
Inspiration for a large contemporary freestanding bathtub remodel in Miami with a vessel sink, flat-panel cabinets, dark wood cabinets and gray walls

Kitchen - rustic kitchen idea

Builder: John Kraemer & Sons | Design: Murphy & Co. Design | Interiors: Manor House Interior Design | Landscaping: TOPO | Photography: Landmark Photography

©Finished Basement Company
Basement - huge contemporary look-out dark wood floor and brown floor basement idea in Denver with gray walls, a ribbon fireplace and a tile fireplace

Craig Westerman
Inspiration for a large timeless backyard deck remodel in Baltimore with no cover

Inspiration for a large transitional backyard deck remodel in Minneapolis with no cover

Trish Hennessey
Inspiration for a timeless bedroom remodel in Boston

For her own home in New Canaan, CT, Shelley Morris gutted a mid-century, ranch style house, transforming it inside and out. Reinvisioning the exterior architectural elevation and interior floor plan, the designer orchestrated rich, textured materials including Venetian plaster walls, reclaimed wood beams, floor to ceiling mutton windows, wide plank white oak floors, painted custom millwork, and horizontal wainscot. Raising ceiling heights in most of the rooms (either cathedral or tray style), she also introduced round windows, French doors, a black granite surround fireplace, and all-new bathrooms, kitchen, plumbing and lighting. The furnishings are a layered collage of subtle textures and color.

Inviting and warm, this home is built to be lived in, enjoyed and for entertainment, with lots of details within and great use of space. From the outside, we see a wide, welcoming front porch, flanked by stacked stone pillars.

This hardwood deck on this New England front porch floor is mixed with warm, rich tones of ebony, chocolate and cinnamon, in a variety of interesting plank formations. The center, which leads to the homes front door, was installed on the horizontal for an easy sight line into the home. The two adjacent seating areas consist of two opposed 45 degree angle board placements, adding a beautiful contrast to the center area.

The planning phase of this modern retreat was an intense collaboration that took place over the course of more than two years. While the initial design concept exceeded the clients' expectations, it also exceeded their budget beyond the point of comfort. The next several months were spent modifying the design, in attempts to lower the budget. Ultimately, the decision was made that they would hold off on the project until they could budget for the original design, rather than compromising the vision. About a year later, we repeated that same process, which resulted in the same outcome. After another year-long hiatus, we met once again. We revisited design thoughts, each of us bringing to the table new ideas and options. Each thought simply solidified the fact that the initial vision was absolutely what we all wanted to see come to fruition, and the decision was finally made to move forward. The main challenge of the site was elevation. The Southeast corner of the lot stands 5'6" above the threshold of the rear door, while the Northeast corner dropped a full 2' below the threshold of the door. The backyard was also long and narrow, sloping side-to-side and toward the house. The key to the design concept was to deftly place the project into the slope and utilize the elevation changes, without allowing them to dominate the yard, or overwhelm the senses. The unseen challenge on this project came in the form of hitting every underground issue possible. We had to relocate the sewer main, the gas line, and the electrical service; and since rock was sitting about 6" below the surface, all of these had to be chiseled through many feet of dense rock, adding to our projected timeline and budget. As you enter the space, your first stop is an outdoor living area. Smooth finished concrete, colored to match the 'Leuder' limestone coping, has a subtle saw-cut pattern aligned with the edges of the recessed fire pit. In small spaces, it is important to consider a multi-purpose approach. So, the recessed fire pit has been fitted with an aluminum cover that allows our client to set up tables and chairs for entertaining, right over the top of the fire pit. From here, it;s two steps up to the pool elevation, and the floating 'Leuder' limestone stepper pads that lead across the pool and hide the dam wall of the flush spa. The main retaining wall to the Southeast is a poured concrete wall with an integrated sheer descent waterfall into the spa. To bring in some depth and texture, a 'Brownstone' ledgestone was used to face both the dropped beam on the pool, and the raised beam of the water feature wall. The main water feature is comprised of five custom made stainless steel scuppers, supplied by a dedicated booster pump. Colored concrete stepper pads lead to the 'Ipe' wood deck at the far end of the pool. The placement of this wood deck allowed us to minimize our use of retaining walls on the Northeast end of the yard, since it drops off over three feet below the elevation of the pool beam. One of the most unique features on this project has to be the structure over the dining area. With a unique combination of steel and wood, the clean modern aesthetic of this structure creates a visual stamp in the space that standard structure could not accomplish. 4" steel posts, painted charcoal grey, are set on an angle, 4' into the bedrock, to anchor the structure. Steel I-beams painted in green-yellow color--aptly called "frolic"--act as the base to the hefty cedar rafters of the roof structure, which has a slight pitch toward the rear. A hidden gutter on the back of the roof sends water down a copper rain chain, and into the drainage system. The backdrop for both this dining area , as well as the living area, is the horizontal screen panel, created with alternating sizes of cedar planks, stained to a calm hue of dove grey.

Multi-station kitchen Amy Haskell Photography
Example of a trendy kitchen design in Phoenix with flat-panel cabinets, dark wood cabinets and granite countertops

Landmark
Elegant exterior home photo in Minneapolis

View the house plans at: http://houseplans.co/house-plans/2472 Photos by Bob Greenspan

Venetian plaster surround with component cabinet belo and TV above. Linear fireplace, storage full height. Pocket door with multiplied track to exterior garden area. Oak floors

Mudroom - country gray floor mudroom idea in New York with beige walls and a white front door

This is an example of a mid-sized traditional full sun backyard retaining wall landscape in Austin for spring.

The client’s request was quite common - a typical 2800 sf builder home with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths, living space, and den. However, their desire was for this to be “anything but common.” The result is an innovative update on the production home for the modern era, and serves as a direct counterpoint to the neighborhood and its more conventional suburban housing stock, which focus views to the backyard and seeks to nullify the unique qualities and challenges of topography and the natural environment. The Terraced House cautiously steps down the site’s steep topography, resulting in a more nuanced approach to site development than cutting and filling that is so common in the builder homes of the area. The compact house opens up in very focused views that capture the natural wooded setting, while masking the sounds and views of the directly adjacent roadway. The main living spaces face this major roadway, effectively flipping the typical orientation of a suburban home, and the main entrance pulls visitors up to the second floor and halfway through the site, providing a sense of procession and privacy absent in the typical suburban home. Clad in a custom rain screen that reflects the wood of the surrounding landscape - while providing a glimpse into the interior tones that are used. The stepping “wood boxes” rest on a series of concrete walls that organize the site, retain the earth, and - in conjunction with the wood veneer panels - provide a subtle organic texture to the composition. The interior spaces wrap around an interior knuckle that houses public zones and vertical circulation - allowing more private spaces to exist at the edges of the building. The windows get larger and more frequent as they ascend the building, culminating in the upstairs bedrooms that occupy the site like a tree house - giving views in all directions. The Terraced House imports urban qualities to the suburban neighborhood and seeks to elevate the typical approach to production home construction, while being more in tune with modern family living patterns. Overview: Elm Grove Size: 2,800 sf, 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms Completion Date: September 2014 Services: Architecture, Landscape Architecture Interior Consultants: Amy Carman Design

Example of a small transitional u-shaped dark wood floor and brown floor eat-in kitchen design in New York with an undermount sink, white cabinets, white backsplash, mosaic tile backsplash, stainless steel appliances, an island and white countertops