2 tier granite counter tops, custom cabinetry, copper sinks, hardwood floors, dark wood paneled island, bar stools, neutral colors update this beautiful kitchen remodel open to a dining area and family room area. Photographer Curtis Martin

We removed and lifted the ceiling replacing it with a gabled, exposed beam ceiling, extending it over the new deck. Installing seamless corner windows and post-less sliding doors create a light filled open space environment.

The most noteworthy quality of this suburban home was its dramatic site overlooking a wide- open hillside. The interior spaces, however, did little to engage with this expansive view. Our project corrects these deficits, lifting the height of the space over the kitchen and dining rooms and lining the rear facade with a series of 9' high doors, opening to the deck and the hillside beyond. Photography: SaA

Loni Parker, editor and founder of Adore Home Magazine, has done just that with the extensive laundry renovation in her newly purchased home. Loni transformed a laundry she describes as “unusable” into a fabulous and functional room that makes the everyday sorting-washing-folding chore enjoyable – yes, really! The ‘before’ part of the makeover wasn’t pretty, a dank and mouldy laundry with leaking taps, exposed pipes and a broken hot water system. Design-wise, Loni wanted to create a fresh space with a predominant use of white. She chose Smartstone Arcadia for the benchtop, one of Smartstone’s superb range of white quartz surfaces and also one of the most popular whites for benchtops, a versatile cool white with a fine to medium grain.

TEAM Architect: LDa Architecture & Interiors Interior Design: Nina Farmer Interiors Builder: Wellen Construction Landscape Architect: Matthew Cunningham Landscape Design Photographer: Eric Piasecki Photography