A collaboration with an outside interior designer yielded a complete transformation of this family room including sleek built-in cabinetry and gas fireplace. Photo by Eric Roth

Eric Roth Photography
Staircase - mid-sized farmhouse wooden l-shaped staircase idea in Boston with wooden risers

View outside from the Dining/Music Room. The windows are in a north facing wall yielding lots of consistent natural light without the heat gain.
Home design - large southwestern home design idea in Austin

USA Quartz is made in the USA, offering high-quality quartz at a great value. Designs available in super jumbo slabs offer great yield, especially for large kitchen island designs.

Holly Felsen Welch

Lincoln Farmhouse LEED-H Platinum, Net-Positive Energy OVERVIEW. This LEED Platinum certified modern farmhouse ties into the cultural landscape of Lincoln, Massachusetts - a town known for its rich history, farming traditions, conservation efforts, and visionary architecture. The goal was to design and build a new single family home on 1.8 acres that respects the neighborhood’s agrarian roots, produces more energy than it consumes, and provides the family with flexible spaces to live-play-work-entertain. The resulting 2,800 SF home is proof that families do not need to compromise on style, space or comfort in a highly energy-efficient and healthy home. CONNECTION TO NATURE. The attached garage is ubiquitous in new construction in New England’s cold climate. This home’s barn-inspired garage is intentionally detached from the main dwelling. A covered walkway connects the two structures, creating an intentional connection with the outdoors between auto and home. FUNCTIONAL FLEXIBILITY. With a modest footprint, each space must serve a specific use, but also be flexible for atypical scenarios. The Mudroom serves everyday use for the couple and their children, but is also easy to tidy up to receive guests, eliminating the need for two entries found in most homes. A workspace is conveniently located off the mudroom; it looks out on to the back yard to supervise the children and can be closed off with a sliding door when not in use. The Away Room opens up to the Living Room for everyday use; it can be closed off with its oversized pocket door for secondary use as a guest bedroom with en suite bath. NET POSITIVE ENERGY. The all-electric home consumes 70% less energy than a code-built house, and with measured energy data produces 48% more energy annually than it consumes, making it a 'net positive' home. Thick walls and roofs lack thermal bridging, windows are high performance, triple-glazed, and a continuous air barrier yields minimal leakage (0.27ACH50) making the home among the tightest in the US. Systems include an air source heat pump, an energy recovery ventilator, and a 13.1kW photovoltaic system to offset consumption and support future electric cars. ACTUAL PERFORMANCE. -6.3 kBtu/sf/yr Energy Use Intensity (Actual monitored project data reported for the firm’s 2016 AIA 2030 Commitment. Average single family home is 52.0 kBtu/sf/yr.) o 10,900 kwh total consumption (8.5 kbtu/ft2 EUI) o 16,200 kwh total production o 5,300 kwh net surplus, equivalent to 15,000-25,000 electric car miles per year. 48% net positive. WATER EFFICIENCY. Plumbing fixtures and water closets consume a mere 60% of the federal standard, while high efficiency appliances such as the dishwasher and clothes washer also reduce consumption rates. FOOD PRODUCTION. After clearing all invasive species, apple, pear, peach and cherry trees were planted. Future plans include blueberry, raspberry and strawberry bushes, along with raised beds for vegetable gardening. The house also offers a below ground root cellar, built outside the home's thermal envelope, to gain the passive benefit of long term energy-free food storage. RESILIENCY. The home's ability to weather unforeseen challenges is predictable - it will fare well. The super-insulated envelope means during a winter storm with power outage, heat loss will be slow - taking days to drop to 60 degrees even with no heat source. During normal conditions, reduced energy consumption plus energy production means shelter from the burden of utility costs. Surplus production can power electric cars & appliances. The home exceeds snow & wind structural requirements, plus far surpasses standard construction for long term durability planning. ARCHITECT: ZeroEnergy Design http://zeroenergy.com/lincoln-farmhouse CONTRACTOR: Thoughtforms http://thoughtforms-corp.com/ PHOTOGRAPHER: Chuck Choi http://www.chuckchoi.com/

With a complete gut and remodel, this home was taken from a dated, traditional style to a contemporary home with a lighter and fresher aesthetic. The interior space was organized to take better advantage of the sweeping views of Lake Michigan. Existing exterior elements were mixed with newer materials to create the unique design of the façade. Photos done by Brian Fussell at Rangeline Real Estate Photography

For the under-deck, we installed a stained square edge cedar ceiling to allow for proper ventilation and finished it with TWP Cedartone oil to match the screen room. The combination of the finishes yields a very inviting and enjoyable covered outdoor area.

Rafael Gamo
Trendy open concept living room photo in Mexico City with a ribbon fireplace

The best desserts always include a touch of salt to enhance the sweet flavors. In this dining room, the unlikely pairing of the Miles Talbott-manufactured formal skirted Parsons chairs with more casual tufted armchairs yields delectable results. The lamps on either side of the expansive windows lend scale to the room, while the clear bases melt effortlessly into the background, giving the impression of more space. A fade-resistant Sunbrella rug, part of the Renaissance collection and available through Colonial Mills, grounds the table and chairs and ties together the neutral color scheme. In a dining room where interesting friends and lively conversation convene, this simple design allows you and your guests to concentrate on the most important part of the meal, dessert.

For the under-deck, we installed a stained square edge cedar ceiling to allow for proper ventilation and finished it with TWP Cedartone oil to match the screen room. The combination of the finishes yields a very inviting and enjoyable covered outdoor area.

The blackberry bushes are trained on a wire fence and provide quarts and quarts of succulent berries. Below them are asparagus and above are artichokes. This bed of artichokes yielded several bushels.

The Family room is flooded with natural light and has views of the woods below. A large comfortable sectional sofa and lounge chairs are arranged around the room, with a focal point of a flat-screen tv above the linear eco-smart fireplace. A wool-and-silk rug defines the area.

I built this on my property for my aging father who has some health issues. Handicap accessibility was a factor in design. His dream has always been to try retire to a cabin in the woods. This is what he got. It is a 1 bedroom, 1 bath with a great room. It is 600 sqft of AC space. The footprint is 40' x 26' overall. The site was the former home of our pig pen. I only had to take 1 tree to make this work and I planted 3 in its place. The axis is set from root ball to root ball. The rear center is aligned with mean sunset and is visible across a wetland. The goal was to make the home feel like it was floating in the palms. The geometry had to simple and I didn't want it feeling heavy on the land so I cantilevered the structure beyond exposed foundation walls. My barn is nearby and it features old 1950's "S" corrugated metal panel walls. I used the same panel profile for my siding. I ran it vertical to match the barn, but also to balance the length of the structure and stretch the high point into the canopy, visually. The wood is all Southern Yellow Pine. This material came from clearing at the Babcock Ranch Development site. I ran it through the structure, end to end and horizontally, to create a seamless feel and to stretch the space. It worked. It feels MUCH bigger than it is. I milled the material to specific sizes in specific areas to create precise alignments. Floor starters align with base. Wall tops adjoin ceiling starters to create the illusion of a seamless board. All light fixtures, HVAC supports, cabinets, switches, outlets, are set specifically to wood joints. The front and rear porch wood has three different milling profiles so the hypotenuse on the ceilings, align with the walls, and yield an aligned deck board below. Yes, I over did it. It is spectacular in its detailing. That's the benefit of small spaces. Concrete counters and IKEA cabinets round out the conversation. For those who cannot live tiny, I offer the Tiny-ish House. Photos by Ryan Gamma Staging by iStage Homes Design Assistance Jimmy Thornton

Pollinator-friendly plant scheme to promote the bee population, and amazing crop yields for our chef clients.
Mountain style home design photo in San Francisco

Tom Grimes
Eat-in kitchen - mid-sized traditional u-shaped limestone floor and beige floor eat-in kitchen idea in New York with a farmhouse sink, beaded inset cabinets, white cabinets, marble countertops, beige backsplash, terra-cotta backsplash, white appliances, an island and white countertops

This angled base cabinet at the entrance to the kitchen yields additional storage.
Enclosed kitchen - small transitional light wood floor enclosed kitchen idea in New York with an undermount sink, flat-panel cabinets, white cabinets, quartz countertops and stainless steel appliances

The G Series by European Home is a natural gas burner that can be used in custom built or pre-existing fireplaces. In this photo, a custom concrete hearth featuring the G Series burner. The perfect example of an idea coming into practice, yielding gorgeous results.

Amazing trim work by Ken, the builder. Years of working in this field have yielded the finest trim carpenter in Westfield, NJ Photo Credit: N. Leonard