kelly_smith20's Ideas
A fun way to open up the kitchen to the outside is by incorporating a pass-through window: While the cook is dishing up snacks or drinks, the guests can sit at the bar outdoors and chat. This kitchen takes the idea a step further with the addition of a folding glass door beside the pass-through window. The setup creates a continuous opening to the deck and brings a flood of natural light into the kitchen.
Dark palette. Black walls, ceiling and cabinetry (all painted in Pitch Black by Farrow & Ball). “We offset the darkness with white honed Carrara marble countertops, and added the rust brick backsplash to really give the space an urban feel,” Babaeian says. “An abundance of natural light pours in from the indoor-outdoor counter pass-through, which really gives the space life.” Other special features. Floating wire-brushed wood shelves. Reclaimed-oak flooring. Exposed ductwork. Designer tip. “Lighting — the key is all in the lighting,” Babaeian says. “When working with a dark palette, it’s important to make sure you have great lighting to highlight and accentuate the space. We added lighting on shelves to illuminate all of the kitchenware, which really made the space pop. Also, it’s very important to make sure everything is on dimmers, so that you can set the mood.”
Fava found out that Christie loves shiplap, so she incorporated it on the vanity wall. She then used elongated white porcelain tile for the shower wall to give a shiplap effect that would hold up better in moisture than wood. She used a design trick to enhance the mimicry too. She made wide horizontal grout lines but ultrathin vertical grout lines so that the tiles look like long boards.
Contemporary Living Room by Ardington and Associates Design Inc.Ardington and Associates Design Inc. Save Graham used a standard black barn door rail to mount the door. But instead of placing the rail hardware on the front of the door as it is typically done, she put it on the back so it doesn’t show. “I wanted a much cleaner, modern look,” she says. Aligning the fireplace, TV and adjacent shelves took careful work to be sure everything fit precisely. First the tiler installed the black slate tiles for the fireplace surround. Next came the box that holds the TV in the wall. Then came the mantel, followed by the display cabinet to the right of the television. The last steps were installing the door and the slats on the wall above the door. Local cabinetmaker Mike Hilchie made the door, mantel and display cabinet shelves and installed them to line up precisely. The slats have a walnut veneer and are all cut from a single large sheet. “The whole sheet was sliced and numbered so that the grain remains consistent across every slat,” Graham says. Centered on the fireplace surround is a marble engraving of an Inuit family that the homeowners purchased some 30 years ago.
Space saver. The sink is situated to the right side of the vanity, with a wall-mounted faucet on a side wall rather than the back wall to provide more countertop space.
Special features. V-pattern shower tile. Black penny tile with white grout that runs from the floor up the wall behind the vanity. Custom wood trim and tub apron. “It set this bathroom apart,” Jung says. Designer tip. “We spent a larger portion of the money on the shower enclosure tile,” Jung says. “Yet one of the most distinctive design elements in this bathroom is the penny tiles lining up the walls. Penny tiles are a relatively low-cost tile, but they really elevate the space.”
8x5 bath.wood on tub
Office space. The design team added a custom half-wall with wood-trimmed niches to make room for a semiprivate office, which is ideal for the client, who works from home.
Backsplash idea Large subway tile in a herringbone pattern puts a fresh spin on the classic backsplash material.
Mid century bath
Wood behind TV. Mix dark and light colors
Paint: Agreeable gray by Sherwin Williams
Paint PPG Delicate white. tip. “I often like to paint the ceiling, walls and trim one color to disguise lower ceilings,” Gargano says. “I think this worked really well to freshen the space up and also allow for a nice backdrop for our light taupe cabinets in the kitchen
One of the safest ways to do this is to mix leather chairs with a fabric sofa or vice versa, so the materials contrast in an obviously intentional way. It gives the living room design some diversity, which can also give members of the family different options to suit their seating preferences.
The large soaking tub also has expansive views of the forest. Attention to subtle details keeps the bathroom feeling open and stylish — the 12-by-24-inch tiles with minimal grout lines in a matching color create a smooth and cohesive look. And even the grab bar is well integrated with its dark finish that matches the oil-rubbed bronze faucets and black window frames.
Mansard
Fiber cement wall panels primarily cover the home’s western facade. The lack of windows minimizes overheating during the hot afternoon. The corner windows open for cross ventilation.
Reading nook in br
Minimalist kitchen with one wall and fridge built ins
If you think of sliding glass doors as being boring or dated, think again. In this San Francisco home designed by Alexander and Ivan Terry of Terry & Terry Architecture, a fixed glass transom above and panes that extend to the walls on each side of the sliding glass doors connect kitchen and garden in a big way. Concrete walls that extend indoors and out and the repeating use of wood further the connection.
Live in a hot climate? If central air conditioning is a must all summer, a wide wall opening like this probably won’t make much sense. Instead, go for expansive windows and a glass door.
Minimal kitchen onto pool
Pocket glass walls open a corner to patio
Outdoor dining wall
Folding window meets folding door in kitchen
New Technology Allows for Thinner Engineered Surfaces Wilsonart introduced ultrathin countertops in a range of designs: stone and quartz looks as well as wood-look and steel patterns. The European-inspired ultrathin surfaces are one-half-inch thick and can be installed with an undermount sink. The material is a new composite made of resins and paper. Cosentino also introduced a thin surface with a 4-millimeter-thick version of its Dekton product, an engineered material made of glass, quartz and porcelain known for outdoor uses due to its durability and resistance to fading. Thanks to its new thinner profile, the product can be used on cabinetry doors and drawers, backsplashes and wall cladding in kitchens and baths, as well as on furniture, and Cosentino is hoping designers will start incorporating the product more indoors. Dekton Slim is available in nine colors.
Coriander wood look
Dark cabinets
Laundry
Lucie Ayres of 22 Interiors to help them pull their galley kitchen together. Ayers knew that her clients wanted to add interest to the long and narrow space. The bright backsplash tile is a big pick-me-up that’s complemented by a black-and-white cement tile floor. Light aqua cabinetry, carefully selected light fixtures and a vintage stove maintain a retro vibe.
Industrial Style With a Nod to the Railroad Location: Alexandria, Virginia Size: 49 square feet (4.5 square meters) Designer: Schmauder Group Designer Michelle Schmauder enlarged the bathroom of a couple’s 1940s row house by 16 square feet by expanding into a linen closet in the hallway. A pocket door and fixed shower partition make the most of the long, narrow space. “And now one of [the clients] can walk past when the other is brushing their teeth,” Schmauder says. The couple requested the white, wood and black accent color scheme. “My clients were drawn to industrial style,” Schmauder says. “And their row house is right next to the railroad tracks — you can feel the train in the house when it goes by.” The train tracks also inspired the bathroom’s design. Vanity and countertop. Schmauder repurposed a reclaimed-fir TV console into a double vanity. “This piece was easier to convert into a vanity in terms of plumbing, because we didn’t have to cut around drawers like we would have had to with a dresser,” she says. “And the storage it offers makes up for the loss of the linen closet.” The homeowners opted to forgo having a tub in order to have the double vanity. Wall paint: Snowb...
A shower ledge is much more straightforward and requires a build-out of only a few inches into the shower space. Run it along the length
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