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Example of a mountain style enclosed kitchen design in Seattle with a drop-in sink, flat-panel cabinets, light wood cabinets and wood countertops

Inspiration for a rustic master carpeted bedroom remodel in Orange County with white walls

Lissa Gotwals
Country brick floor mudroom photo in Raleigh with white walls

Petr Krejci
Inspiration for a transitional light wood floor bedroom remodel in London

Elegant detached greenhouse photo in Atlanta

Shane Homes
Kitchen/dining room combo - transitional kitchen/dining room combo idea in Minneapolis with black walls

While not overly large by way of swimming purposes, the Pool allows the comfort of sunbathing on its umbrella covered wet shelf that is removable when full sunlight is required to work away those winter whites. Illuminated water runs around a wooden deck that feels as if you are floating over the pool and a submerged spa area transports you to the back of a yacht in harbor at night time. The linear fire pit provides warmth on those rarely found winter days in Naples, yet offers nightly ambiance to the adjacent Spa or Lanai area for a focal point when enjoying the use of it. 12” x 24” Shell Stone lines the pool and lanai deck to create a tranquil pallet that moves the eye across its plain feel and focuses on the glass waterline tile and light grey glass infused pebble finish. LED Bubblers line the submerged gas heated Spa so as to create both a sound and visual barrier to enclose the resident of this relaxation space and allow them to disappear into the warmth of the water while enjoying the ambient noise of their affects.

Kitchen - transitional kitchen idea in New York

This LEED Platinum certified house reflects the homeowner's desire for an exceptionally healthy and comfortable living environment, within a traditional neighborhood. INFILL SITE. The family, who moved from another area of Wellesley, sought out this property to be within walking distance of the high school and downtown area. An existing structure on the tight lot was removed to make way for the new home. 84% of the construction waste, from both the previous structure and the new home, was diverted from a landfill. ZED designed to preserve the existing mature trees on the perimeter of the property to minimize site impacts, and to maintain the character of the neighborhood as well as privacy on the site. EXTERIOR EXPRESSION. The street facade of the home relates to the local New England vernacular. The rear uses contemporary language, a nod to the family’s Californian roots, to incorporate a roof deck, solar panels, outdoor living space, and the backyard swimming pool. ZED’s careful planning avoided to the need to face the garage doors towards the street, a common syndrome of a narrow lot. THOUGHTFUL SPACE. Homes with dual entries can often result in duplicate and unused spaces. In this home, the everyday and formal entry areas are one and the same; the front and garage doors share the entry program of coat closets, mudroom storage with bench for removing your shoes, and a laundry room with generous closets for the children's sporting equipment. The entry area leads directly to the living space, encompassing the kitchen, dining and sitting area areas in an L-shaped open plan arrangement. The kitchen is placed at the south-west corner of the space to allow for a strong connection to the dining, sitting and outdoor living spaces. A fire pit on the deck satisfies the family’s desire for an open flame while a sealed gas fireplace is used indoors - ZED’s preference after omitting gas burning appliances completely from an airtight home. A small study, with a window seat, is conveniently located just off of the living space. A first floor guest bedroom includes an accessible bathroom for aging visitors and can be used as a master suite to accommodate aging in place. HEALTHY LIVING. The client requested a home that was easy to clean and would provide a respite from seasonal allergies and common contaminants that are found in many indoor spaces. ZED selected easy to clean solid surface flooring throughout, provided ample space for cleaning supplies on each floor, and designed a mechanical system with ventilation that provides a constant supply of fresh outdoor air. ZED selected durable materials, finishes, cabinetry, and casework with low or no volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and no added urea formaldehyde. YEAR-ROUND COMFORT. The home is super insulated and air-tight, paired with high performance triple-paned windows, to ensure it is draft-free throughout the winter (even when in front of the large windows and doors). ZED designed a right-sized heating and cooling system to pair with the thermally improved building enclosure to ensure year-round comfort. The glazing on the home maximizes passive solar gains, and facilitates cross ventilation and daylighting. ENERGY EFFICIENT. As one of the most energy efficient houses built to date in Wellesley, the home highlights a practical solution for Massachusetts. First, the building enclosure reduces the largest energy requirement for typical houses (heating). Super-insulation, exceptional air sealing, a thermally broken wall assembly, triple pane windows, and passive solar gain combine for a sizable heating load reduction. Second, within the house only efficient systems consume energy. These include an air source heat pump for heating & cooling, a heat pump hot water heater, LED lighting, energy recovery ventilation, and high efficiency appliances. Lastly, photovoltaics provide renewable energy help offset energy consumption. The result is an 89% reduction in energy use compared to a similar brand new home built to code requirements. RESILIENT. The home will fare well in extreme weather events. During a winter power outage, heat loss will be very slow due to the super-insulated and airtight envelope– taking multiple days to drop to 60 degrees even with no heat source. An engineered drainage system, paired with careful the detailing of the foundation, will help to keep the finished basement dry. A generator will provide full operation of the all-electric house during a power outage. OVERALL. The home is a reflection of the family goals and an expression of their values, beautifully enabling health, comfort, safety, resilience, and utility, all while respecting the planet. ZED - Architect & Mechanical Designer Bevilacqua Builders Inc - Contractor Creative Land & Water Engineering - Civil Engineering Barbara Peterson Landscape - Landscape Design Nest & Company - Interior Furnishings Eric Roth Photography - Photography

Cesar Rubio
Photo of a farmhouse full sun gravel vegetable garden landscape in San Francisco.

The Mazama house is located in the Methow Valley of Washington State, a secluded mountain valley on the eastern edge of the North Cascades, about 200 miles northeast of Seattle. The house has been carefully placed in a copse of trees at the easterly end of a large meadow. Two major building volumes indicate the house organization. A grounded 2-story bedroom wing anchors a raised living pavilion that is lifted off the ground by a series of exposed steel columns. Seen from the access road, the large meadow in front of the house continues right under the main living space, making the living pavilion into a kind of bridge structure spanning over the meadow grass, with the house touching the ground lightly on six steel columns. The raised floor level provides enhanced views as well as keeping the main living level well above the 3-4 feet of winter snow accumulation that is typical for the upper Methow Valley. To further emphasize the idea of lightness, the exposed wood structure of the living pavilion roof changes pitch along its length, so the roof warps upward at each end. The interior exposed wood beams appear like an unfolding fan as the roof pitch changes. The main interior bearing columns are steel with a tapered “V”-shape, recalling the lightness of a dancer. The house reflects the continuing FINNE investigation into the idea of crafted modernism, with cast bronze inserts at the front door, variegated laser-cut steel railing panels, a curvilinear cast-glass kitchen counter, waterjet-cut aluminum light fixtures, and many custom furniture pieces. The house interior has been designed to be completely integral with the exterior. The living pavilion contains more than twelve pieces of custom furniture and lighting, creating a totality of the designed environment that recalls the idea of Gesamtkunstverk, as seen in the work of Josef Hoffman and the Viennese Secessionist movement in the early 20th century. The house has been designed from the start as a sustainable structure, with 40% higher insulation values than required by code, radiant concrete slab heating, efficient natural ventilation, large amounts of natural lighting, water-conserving plumbing fixtures, and locally sourced materials. Windows have high-performance LowE insulated glazing and are equipped with concealed shades. A radiant hydronic heat system with exposed concrete floors allows lower operating temperatures and higher occupant comfort levels. The concrete slabs conserve heat and provide great warmth and comfort for the feet. Deep roof overhangs, built-in shades and high operating clerestory windows are used to reduce heat gain in summer months. During the winter, the lower sun angle is able to penetrate into living spaces and passively warm the exposed concrete floor. Low VOC paints and stains have been used throughout the house. The high level of craft evident in the house reflects another key principle of sustainable design: build it well and make it last for many years! Photo by Benjamin Benschneider

Jesse Snyder
Family room - mid-sized transitional enclosed medium tone wood floor and brown floor family room idea in DC Metro with gray walls, no fireplace and no tv

Peter Murdock
Mid-sized trendy great room photo in New York with a standard fireplace

This condo underwent an amazing transformation! The kitchen was moved from one side of the condo to the other so the homeowner could take advantage of the beautiful view. This beautiful hutch makes a wonderful serving counter and the tower on the left hides a supporting column. The beams in the ceiling are not only a great architectural detail but they allow for lighting that could not otherwise be added to the condos concrete ceiling. The lovely crown around the room also conceals solar shades and drapery rods.

Yorgos Efthymiadis
Hallway - coastal light wood floor hallway idea in New York with white walls

Photos by Holly Lepere
Corner shower - large coastal master white tile and subway tile marble floor corner shower idea in Los Angeles with an undermount sink, blue walls, marble countertops, recessed-panel cabinets, gray cabinets and an undermount tub

bianco gioia marble with metro taupe flooring
Example of a large classic master gray tile, white tile and marble tile porcelain tile and beige floor alcove shower design in Dallas with beige cabinets, beige walls, an undermount sink, marble countertops, a hinged shower door and recessed-panel cabinets

Example of a small transitional subway tile bathroom design in Boston with shaker cabinets, gray cabinets, gray walls, an undermount sink, marble countertops and gray countertops

Roger Davies Photography
Inspiration for a huge transitional master dark wood floor freestanding bathtub remodel in New York with beige walls