A circular firepit surrounded by an informal patio consisting of widely spaced irregular flagstones with Creeping Jenny (Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea') growing between them, and a semi-circular fieldstone sitting wall at the back. This was designed and built by Outdoor Expressions with the help of a former employee of ours.

The owners of this kitchen had spent the money to upgrade the finishes in their kitchen upon building the home 12 years ago, but after living in the space for several years they realized how nonfunctional the layout really was. The (then) two preschool aged children had grown into busy, hungry teenagers with many friends who also liked to hang out at the house. So the family needed a more functional kitchen with better traffic flow, space for daily activities revolving around the kitchen at different times of day, and a kitchen that could accommodate cooking for and serving large groups. Furthermore, the dark, traditional finishes no longer reflected the homeowners’ style. They requested a brighter, more relaxed, coastal style that reflected their love of the seaside cities they like to visit. Originally, the kitchen was U-shaped with a narrow island in the middle. The island created narrow aisles that bottle-necked at the dishwasher, refrigerator, and cooktop areas. There was a pass-through from the foyer into the kitchen, but the owners never liked that the pass-through was also located so close to the powder room. The awkward proximity was unappealing and made guests feel uncomfortable. The kitchen’s storage was made up of lots of narrow cabinets, apothecary drawers, clipped corner units, and very few drawers. It lacked useful storage for the larger items the family used on a daily basis. And the kitchen’s only pantry was small closet that had only builder-grade, narrow shelving with no illumination to be able to see the contents inside. Overall, the kitchen’s lighting plan was poorly executed. Only six recessed cans illuminated the entire kitchen and nook areas. The under cabinet lighting was not evenly distributed either. In fact, the builder had mis-placed the under cabinet lighting around the decorative pilasters which made for choppy, dark cubbies. Further, the builder didn’t include any lighting over the sink or the bar area, which meant whoever was doing the dishes was always in their own shadow. That, coupled with the steep overhang of the game room above made the bar area feel like a dim, cavernous space that wasn’t inviting or task oriented. The kitchen looked out into the main living space, but the raised bar and a narrow wall (which held the only large cabinet in the kitchen) created more of a barrier than a relationship to the living room or breakfast nook. In fact, one couldn’t even see the breakfast nook from the cooktop or sink areas due to its orientation. The raised bar top was too narrow to comfortably sit to either dine at or chat from due to the lack of knee space. The the homeowners confided that the kitchen felt more like a dark, dirty prison than place where the family, or their guests, wanted to gather and commune. The clients' needs and desires were: ➢ to create a kitchen that would be a space the family loved to be in; to relate to the adjacent spaces all around, and to have better flow for entertaining large groups ➢ to remove the walls between the breakfast nook and living area and to be able to utilize the natural light from the windows in both those areas ➢ to incorporate a functional chopping block for prepping fresh food for home cooked meals, an island with a large sink and drain board, 2 pull out trash cans, and seating for at least the 2 teens to eat or do homework ➢ to design a kitchen and breakfast nook with an airy, coastal, relaxed vibe that blended with the rest of the house's coastal theme ➢ to integrate a layered lighting plan which would include ample general illumination, specific task lighting, decorative lighting, and lots of illuminated storage ➢ to design a kitchen with not only more storage for all the husband’s kitchen gadgets and collection of oils and spices, but smart storage, including a coffee/breakfast bar and a place to store and conceal the toaster oven and microwave ➢ to find a way to utilize the large open space between the kitchen, pantry area, and breakfast nook Twelve Stones Designs achieved the owner's goals by: ➢ removing the walls between the kitchen and living room to allow the natural light to filter in from the adjacent rooms and to create a connection between the kitchen, nook, and living spaces for a sense of unity and communion ➢ removing the existing pantry and designing 3 large pantry style cabinets with LED tape lights and rollout drawers to house lots of kitchen appliances, gadgets, and tons of groceries. We also took the cabinets all the way up to the 9’ ceiling for additional storage for seasonal items and bulk storage. ➢ designing 2 islands - 1 with a gorgeous black walnut chopping block that houses a drawer for chopping and carving knives and a custom double pull out trash unit for point of use utilization - and 1 that houses the dishwasher, a large Blanco Gourmet sink with integrated drain board, woven baskets for fresh root vegetables and kitchen towels, plenty of drawer storage for kitchen items, and bar seating for up to 4 diners. ➢ closing off the space between the kitchen and the powder room to create a beautiful new private alcove for the powder room as well as adding some decorative storage. This also gave us space to include more tall storage near the new range for precision placement of the husband’s extensive oil and spice collection as well as a location for a combo-steam oven the wife wanted for baking and cooking healthy meals. The project is enhanced functionally by: ➢ incorporated USB and standard receptacles for the kids’ laptops and phone charging in the large island ➢ designing the small island to include additional open shelving for items used on a daily basis such as a variety of bowls, plates, and colanders. This set up also works well for the husband who prefers to “plate” his dinners in restaurant-style fashion before presenting them to the table. ➢ the integration of specific storage units, such as double stacked cutlery drawers, a custom spice pull-out, a Kuerig coffee and tea pod drawer, and custom double stacked utensil drawers ➢ moving the refrigerator to the old oven location - this eliminated the bottle neck as well as created a better relationship to the eating table. It also utilizes the floor space between the pantry, nook, and kitchen ➢ creating a banquet style breakfast nook - this banquette seating not only doubles the amount of seating for large gatherings but it better utilizes the odd space between the kitchen and the previous nook area. It also helps to create a distinct pathway from the mudroom room through the pantry area, kitchen, nook, and living room. ➢ the coffee/breakfast bar area which includes the perfect location for the concealed microwave and toaster oven, convenient storage for the coffee pods and tea accoutrements. Roll-out drawers below also house the smoothie maker, hot water kettle, and a plethora of smoothie-making ingredients such as protein powders, smoothie additives, etc. Furthermore, the drawers below the Keurig house measuring utensil, cutlery, baking supplies and tupperware storage. ➢ incorporating lots of wide drawers and pullouts to accommodate large cookware. ➢ utilizing as much vertical space as possible by building storage to the ceiling which accommodates the family’s abundant amount of serving platters, baking sheets, bakeware, casserole dishes, and additional cutting boards. The project is enhanced aesthetically by: ➢ new 5-piece Versailles pattern porcelain tile that now seamlessly joins the entire down stairs area together creating a bright, cohesiveness feeling instead of choppy separated spaces - it also adds a coastal feeling ➢ designing a cabinet to conceal the microwave and toaster oven ➢ the coastal influenced light fixtures over the nook table and island ➢ the sandy colors of the Langdon Cambria countertops. The swirling pattern and sparkling quartz pieces remind the homeowner of black-and-tan sandy beaches ➢ the striped banquet seating whose creamy white background and blue-green stripes were the inspiration for the cabinet and wall colors. ➢ All the interior doors were painted black to coordinate with the blacks and grays in the backsplash tile and countertop. This also adds a hint of tailored formality to an otherwise casual space. ➢ the use of WAC's Oculux small aperture LED units for the overhead lighting complimented with Diode LED strips for task lighting under the cabinets and inside the pantry and glass wall cabinets. All of the lighting applications are on separate dimmer switches. Innovative uses of materials or construction methods by Realty Restoration LLC: ➢ Each 1-1/2” x 3” block of reclaimed end-grain black walnut that makes up the center island chopping block was hand milled and built in the shop. It was designed to look substantial and proportional to the surrounding elements, executed by creating the 4 inch tall top with a solid wood chamfered edge band. ➢ The metal doors on either side of the vent hood were also custom designed for this project and built in the Realty Restoration LLC shop. They are made 1x2, 11-gauge mild steel with ribbed glass. Weighing 60 lbs a piece, heavy duty cabinet hinges were added to support the weight of the door and keep them from sagging. ➢ Under-cabinet receptacles were added along the range wall in order to have a clean, uninterrupted backsplash. Design obstacles to overcome: ➢ Because we were removing the demising walls between the kitchen and living room, we had to find a way to plumb and vent the new island. We did this by tunneling through the slab (the slab had post tension cables which prevented us from just trenching) to run a new wet vent through a nearby structural wall. We pulled the existing hot and cold lines between upper floor joists and ran them down the structural wall as well and up through a conduit in the tunnel. ➢ Since we were converting from wall overs to a gas range it allowed us to utilize the 220 feed for the wall ovens to provide a new sub panel for all the new kitchen circuits ➢ Due to framing deficiencies inherited from the original build there was a 1-1/2” differential in the floor-to-ceiling height over a 20 foot span; by utilizing the process of cutting and furring coupled with the crown moulding details on the cabinet elevations we were able to mask the problem and provide seamless transitions between the cabinet components. Evidence of superior craftsmanship: ➢ uniquely designed, one-of-a-kind metal “X” end panels on the large island. The end panels were custom made in the Realty Restoration LLC shop and fitted to the exact dimensions of the island. The welding seams are completely indistinguishable - the posts look like they are cut from a single sheet of metal ➢ square metal posts on the small island were also custom made and designed to compliment and carry through the metal element s throughout the kitchen ➢ the beautiful, oversized end panels on the pantry cabinets which give the breakfast nook a tailored look ➢ integrating a large format 5 piece Versailles tile pattern to seamlessly flow from the existing spaces into the new kitchen space ➢ By constructing a custom cabinet that jogged around a corner we could not remodel (housing the entry way coat closet) we were able to camouflage the adjacent wall offset within the upper and lower cabinets. By designing around the existing jog in the structural walls we accomplished a few things: we were able to find the space to house, and hide, the microwave and toaster oven yet still have a clean cohesive appearance from the kitchen side. Additionally, the owners were able to keep their much needed coat closet and we didn’t have to increase the budget with unnecessary structural work.

Clean lined and simple yet still amazing this kitchen has custom made cabinets with european hinges that allow the cabinets to flip open. Flat panel cabinet doors with long european bar pulls give a sleek and timeless look. Counter tops are Ceasar Stone with white glass tile for the back splash laid in a grid pattern. Atop the center island are individual clear and frosted glass pendant lighting with a thick glass table top "sliding" out from the side of the island with the Ceasar Stone cascading down the side. The kitchen chairs are done in silver and royal blue vinyl with wood backs from Euro Trends USA. The remaining walls in the kitchen are done with wood panels to match the finish of the cabintetry, giving a totally custom look and feel.

This vacation home in Park City, Utah was transformed from a dark rustic ski lodge to a contemporary light and airy home. Extensive space planning changes to the kitchen, great room, and master suite made for much better use of the space. The materials selected, such as wood, stone, and painted brick, make the home feel like it still belongs in Park City, but now in a much more sophisticated way. Photography: Miranda Kimberlin Construction: Blackdog Builders Interior Design: WPL Interior Design

DKOR INTERIORS - A bold and comfortable interior design project at The Beach Club in Hallendale, Florida.

DESIGN STATEMENT: GOLD COAST KITCHEN Interior Designer: Darren James www.interiorsbydarrenjames.com.au Precision, attention to detail and an appreciation for the finer things in life are qualities often associated with the German culture. So when the German owners engaged Interiors by Darren James to design and build their dream kitchen they wanted premium quality in every detail: design, materials, workmanship and finish. This project clearly demonstrates what is possible when you combine good design, the latest technical mechanisms, quality materials and handcraft production techniques – a project that exceeds every expectation. Whilst the clients requested an ultramodern design they still wanted it to suit their Australian lifestyle. Central to the brief was the need to satisfy an enthusiastic and demanding gourmand by creating a kitchen that “feels like home” yet still packs a punch visually and supports the entertaining of family and friends. The result is a free flowing functional kitchen design that makes the best possible use of the available space in this long and narrow room. The existing space The original kitchen was small, cramped and non-functional. To pave the way for a larger space highly sought after by the clients, the diving wall that separated the previous kitchen and an unused sitting room was bought down – a concept the clients hadn’t considered until now. The resulting space was a larger room, approximately 7.5 x 3.2m. Starting from scratch we were now able to square set all the walls, ceilings and windows. The existing windows and sliding doors were also removed and replaced with new double glazed windows. Hidden work space hides the mess and reduced visual depth To shorten the visual depth in such a long room, a scullery focused purely on function is placed at the rear of the room to hide the mess when entertaining and ensures the kitchen is kept clutter free. Housing a large side by side Miele Fridge-Freezer and providing storage for food and everyday bulky appliances, the scullery also acts as an out of the way prep zone. A stainless steel benchtop provides the ultimate surface in terms of hygiene, heat resistant and food preparation for this home chef who avidly enjoys cooking. Wall Oven feature & room divider A strategically placed wall oven feature surrounded by LED strip lighting is suspended 300mm off the floor and 300mm off the ceiling creating a unique floating look and provides access either side to the cleverly hidden scullery. Metal supports and bracing was incorporated into the construction of the wall and thicker timber framing was also used to ensure structural integrity. A selected range of stainless steel Miele appliances included in the feature wall further enhance the cutting edge look whilst providing all the functional requirements of the clients’ healthy cooking style. The black glass finish on the feature door and drawer fronts complement the ‘piano finish’ of the surrounding ‘Ebony Maccassar’natural veneer. In keeping with the desired minimalist look, all the black glass fronts are handless and open electronically using Blums ‘Servo drive’ mechanisms. Thanks to this technology with the simple press of the button the wall oven feature easily transforms from a stunning furniture piece to a fully functional storage space. To complete the high class finish, black ‘intivo’ drawers, black internals and 10mm glass shelves are incorporated ensuring this feature wall remains a showpiece whether open or closed. It is important to note that due to the clients’ sensitivity to formaldehyde all the board that was used throughout the kitchen both internal and external was ‘EO’ class substrate. Functional cooking and cleaning zones A number of work zones within the kitchen ensure the space operates efficiently at all times. The cooking zone includes an induction cooktop for efficient cooking whilst the Neff rangehood is cleverly concealed in the piano finish ‘Ebony Maccassar’ natural veneer which is highlighted by LED strip lighting. To enhance the overall look the veneer work on the rangehood feature box is grain matched and mitred to create a superior and seamless finish. The sink area consists of a large single bowl ‘professional series’ Oliveri sink and a water efficient KWC Inox vege spray mixer ensures even bulky baking items and trays are easy to clean. A three bin system is placed at the bottom of the sink cupboard on a servo drive mechanism allowing the client to easily open without the need of any hands. A zip hydro boil with its own font and drain unit is also incorporated into the sink area. Due to its placement above the dishwasher a thicker benchtop was required to handle the drain depth that extends from the bottom of the zip font. For this reason the benchtop is 100mm thick and to create visual impact the ‘Metero’ Staron benchtop reduces to 20mm over and into the cooktop area. Practical Island Bench that packs a punch…. The visually stunning island bench serves dual function purposes. Staron ‘ solid surface was selected for its contemporary appearance as well as for its durability and has been raised 20mm to define a casual seating and dining area. The client has a passion for baking, making her own pastry, pasta and breads. Like many a pastry chef she prefers working on natural stone. Therefore a 20mm piece of ‘Calacutta’ marble was selected and inlayed into the 100mm Staron ‘Metero’ benchtop. The gorgeous showpiece slab gives the impression of elegance, adds visual character and complements the other natural elements perfectly. Piano finish natural veneer open-shelves supported with steel rods to eliminate the need for visible gables are located either side of the island to house the clients loved collection of frequently used cookbooks. A custom made stainless steel light rack provides functional task lighting, bottle glass storage and further enhances the professional look of this ‘home chef’ style kitchen. Again, supports are positioned between the trusses in the ceiling to provide appropriate support. Storage Storage has been well considered in this kitchen with a scullery providing ample space for groceries as well as specific areas that have been custom designed to house items such as recipe books, small appliances and cutting boards. Every storage item has been thoughtfully located in terms of function and frequency of use. Storage space has been optimized with the use of easy access drawers using Blum’s slow motion drawers. Again the kitchen has been fitted out with the full range of Blum organizational accessories including plate racks, spice racks, knife racks as well as ‘orgaline’ for cutlery and utensil. Luxurious quality finishes One of the main requests of the owners was to include luxurious quality finishes to create maximum visual impact. A combination of different textures and finishes were incorporated to ensure high esthetic qualities as well as top performance. This was created by creatively combining an array of high end materials and textures: The piano finish ‘Ebony Macassar’ natural veneer, black painted glass, automotive high gloss grey lacquer, stainless steel, Calacutta Oro marble and Staron Tempest all combine to create a sophisticated and visually stunning space. The incorporation of the mirror splash back not only adds to the sense of space but ensures nothing is taken away the sophisticated simplicity that this kitchen already boasts. Light it up LED stip lighting is thoughtfully placed for both ambient, feature and practical purposes. It particularly highlights the stunning design of cabinetry features seen throughout this kitchen. Natural lighting is maximised with the inclusion of a sliding door in the scullery which conveniently opens out to the alfresco area. LED Downlights have been thoughtfully placed throughout the kitchen to illuminate task areas and work surfaces.

Outdoor patio area featuring barbecue island and outdoor fireplace.

This Hawaiian home takes nature to the interior by highlighting custom items like concrete bathtubs and sinks. The large, pocket doors create the walls to this home--walls that can be added and removed as desired. This Kukio home rests on the sunny side of the Big Island and serves as a perfect example of our style, blending the outdoors with the inside of a home.

Wall Cladding Stone by 'Ancient Surfaces' Product: Antique 'Mesa' Wall Cladding Stone Contacts: (212) 461-0245 Email: Sales@ancientsurfaces.com Website: www.AncientSurfaces.com The Antique Reclaimed 'Mesa' Limestone Wall Cladding selection is unique in its blend and authenticity, rare in it's hardness and beauty. Draping your inside and outside walls with the 'Mesa' Stone, gives you a feel of timelessness allowing you to travel back in time into the untouched North Mediterranean domains of fallen Empires and ancient bustling coastal trading villages, where a mercantile class have built some of the most luxurious estates out of the breath taking local stone blocks all along the shoreline of Southern Europe. This exclusive 'Ancient Surfaces' stone wall cladding blend might just be the missing link needed to transform your home from a logging space to your dream space...

Frank de Biasi Interiors

Photography by Richard Mandelkorn

Lake Forest Residence Outdoor Living Terrace and Pergola Landscape. ____Project Designed and Constructed by Arrow. Marco Romani, RLA - Landscape Architect.

Vaulted ceiling master bathroom with stone wall.

We created a warm contemporary look with the combination of clean lines, different textures and the color palate. The high polished marble floors provide an elegant back drop with rich dark and exotic woods to ground the space. Special attention was given to the architectural details such as the stacked stone wall, the contoured walls, the ceiling details, trim-less lighting, color changing lighting and the lighting control system.

Level One: The elevator column, at left, is clad with the same stone veneer - mountain ash - as the home's exterior. Interior doors are American white birch. We designed feature doors, like the elevator door and wine cave doors, with stainless steel inserts, echoing the entry door and the steel railings and stringers of the staircase. Photograph © Darren Edwards, San Diego