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After: The kitchen went from cramped and dark to open, light and bright with improved lighting and the removal of the dropped soffits and the wall separating the space from the dining area. Jamentz also had her team remove the space-hogging peninsula and replace it with a multifunctional 10-foot island. New cream-colored quartz countertops and custom white oak cabinets with ribbed panels also lighten the look and add textural interest.
The counter stools in synthetic rattan bring in some texture and the dark legs echo the cabinet hardware color. Jamentz reupholstered the counter stools in a faux leather to work with the room palette.
Her team wove in new engineered hardwood flooring for an exact match with the existing floor. “It took the flooring subcontractor quite a while to find the exact match, but luckily he did, and it is nearly impossible to detect where the old floor meets the new,” Jamentz says.
“Aesthetically engineered hardwood flooring is a wonderful choice for kitchen floors, as there is a wide variety of wood species and stain colors to choose from, and it is much softer to stand on when cooking or doing the dishes than a hard surface such as porcelain tile,” she says. “That said, if you have a very active household with pets and kids, preengineered floors might not be the best choice because it can scratch easily.”
Jamentz focused on wellness by helping improve air quality and refrigeration and adding healthy steam cooking. “In this project, our solution was to create a wellness-centric kitchen that provides the opportunity to cook nutritious meals, feel more energetic due to increased daylight, enjoy filtered water on demand, breathe cleaner indoor air, entertain with ease, recycle and compost effortlessly and feel organized through personalized storage solutions,” she says.
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This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
This garden in Excelsior, Minnesota, grows in memory of Beau Taunton, who tragically passed away at 22 years old from a fentanyl overdose. His mother, Kristin, wanted an area at her home where she could honor Beau, raise awareness and welcome friends, family and neighbors to gather and celebrate his life. Working with Mom’s Design Build, she transformed her front lawn into a peaceful, uplifting space for joy, love and reflection.
Photos by Spacecrafting
Yard at a Glance
Who lives here: Kristin Taunton, a mother
Location: Excelsior, Minnesota
Size: 2,400 square feet (223 square meters)
Landscape designer and contractor: Mom’s Design Build (lead designer: Heather Sweeney)
Kristin envisioned her front yard in this tight-knit neighborhood as a communal space, where loved ones could be together, remember Beau and celebrate who he was. She didn’t want to conceal what had happened or focus too heavily on loss. Instead, she chose to honor his life through this garden.
The team asked Kristin to share with them what Beau had loved, what his interests and hobbies had been, so they could capture and best express his spirit in their design. “I wanted more than a pretty garden for my son. I wanted a garden that told his story and was bold like him,” Kristin says. Special touches such as a custom sculpture and a QR code linked to his obituary allow people walking by to connect with the memory of Beau.
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Before: The front yard was mostly lawn, with a brick walkway and a small set of stairs leading from the sidewalk to the front door.
It was important to Kristin to preserve the existing trees, particularly the maple, whose canopy we can see on the left side of this photo. Beau liked to climb and spend time in this tree, and his mom would often keep him company on the ground below.
After: In the redesigned yard, Bobo panicle hydrangeas (Hydrangea paniculata ‘ILVOBO’, USDA zones 3 to 8; find your zone) greet visitors from the sidewalk and project above a new stacked-bluestone wall like radiant white candles. “They are the highlight of the garden,” designer Heather Sweeney says. These spring-to-fall-blooming shrubs set a joyful tone for the space and will eventually reach 3 feet tall, enhancing privacy without obscuring the yard and its main features.
How to Design Your Garden for More Meaning and Connection
On the other side of the hydrangeas, and throughout the yard, more flowering plants add color, life and brightness across seasons. Some plantings, including ‘Summer Beauty’ allium (Allium ‘Summer Beauty’, zones 4 to 9), attract bees and other pollinators.
Little Trudy catmint (Nepeta ‘Psfike’, zones 4 to 9) was planted for Beau’s cat, Keegan, who lives with Kristin now. The designers stuck to a blue, white and pop-of-pink color palette, choosing beautiful plants that would encourage Kristin to spend time outside.
Some of the other species featured include: Dakota burgundy beardtongue (Penstemon ‘TNPENDB’, zones 3 to 8), Royal Candles spiked speedwell (Veronica spicata ‘Glory’, zones 3 to 8), ‘Pink Cotton Candy’ betony (Stachys officinalis ‘Pink Cotton Candy’, zones 4 to 8), ‘PowWow White’ purple coneflower (Echinacea purpurea ‘PowWow White’, zones 3 to 8), blazing star (Liatris sp.) and boxwood (Buxus sp.).
A memorial sculpture made of Cor-Ten steel anchors one side of the yard. The piece spells out Beau’s name and stands at roughly the height he was. Beau was very artistic and a fan of graffiti art, Sweeney says, and the sculpture’s material and style nod to the rustic, industrial spaces where you might see that kind of work.
A recirculating fountain carved from a basalt boulder gently bubbles in front of the Beau statue. It’s autofilled through a drip irrigation system the team installed in the yard. Bluestone pavers and Mexican beach pebbles surround the water feature.
Next to the fountain sits another, slightly smaller, carved stone. Water collects in the basin when it rains, creating a birdbath for the garden’s winged visitors.
10 Ways to Cope With Grief During the Holidays
Beau also liked to skateboard, and the team propped a Cor-Ten steel board next to the water feature, which Kristin can move around the yard as she likes. Beau’s friends will often sit on the stone beside the fountain and skateboard around to take in the space.
Sweeney says that since these photos were taken, friends and family have left objects and mementos around the sculptures and water features. “Beau’s friends use [the space] all the time, and at night when it is lit, you can see his name,” she says. If Kristin moves, she’ll be able to bring the sculptures with her.
Rumbled coco clay brick frames a grassy path that connects the sculptures and water feature to this fire pit lounge. The subtle detail allows other design elements in the yard to shine and also complies with the site’s hard paving restrictions.
Regrading the front yard created the flat, usable outdoor space this seating area occupies. (The team was careful not to disturb the maple tree during construction.) The patio is Greydon sandstone. Four Adirondack chairs surround a concrete gas fire pit, which can be easily turned on and off from a switch inside the house.
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Winters in Minnesota are extremely cold, so Kristin turns off and drains the fountain and covers the fire pit and furniture for the season. When spring rolls around, the front yard will be ready to be enjoyed again.
For those inspired to create a memorial garden of their own, Kristin offers this advice: “Spend time with [your] landscape design company and convey to them as much as possible about what kind of person [your] loved one was. Tell them their quirks, their favorite things, their hobbies, their funny and inside jokes, their favorite words or sayings, their pets — and share pictures with them. Don’t hold back, so your design team can see the whole picture.”
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Photos by Ryan Bent Photography
Kitchen at a Glance
Who lives here: A couple with four kids
Location: Shelburne, Vermont
Size: 353 square feet (33 square meters)
Designers: Jillian Bartolo of Peregrine Design Build (lead designer) and Lauren Miles (interior design)
Bartolo removed a structural wall to absorb the former dining room into the new kitchen, increasing the layout by 155 square feet. “We ended up relocating the dining room across the house,” says Bartolo, who worked with Miles on selecting finishes.
A 4½ -by-10-foot island with a flat-sawn white oak countertop creates a warm and welcoming spot for the family to gather. “It was my recommendation to go with a 2-inch-thick top that’s dramatic and creates a focal point,” Bartolo says. “For the scale of the island that big, the thickness is appropriate.”
Custom Shaker-style wood cabinetry is painted a warm green (Shade-Grown by Sherwin-Williams). A 36-inch paneled built-in refrigerator column and 30-inch paneled freezer (back right) and paneled dishwasher to the left of the sink help maintain the warm and inviting look. The wood-and-green palette join engineered wide-plank European white oak flooring, hand-painted marble backsplash tiles and marble perimeter countertops for an inviting English country look and feel.
A pocket door next to the refrigerator leads to the renovated mudroom, which has slate tile flooring. To the right of that doorway, on the white wall, is another pocket door (not shown) that opens to a spacious butler’s pantry.
Backsplash: Willow in Walnut, Artisan Stone Tile, StoneImpressions; paint colors: Ivory White (ceiling and trim) and Tapestry Beige (walls), Benjamin Moore; cabinetry: Pomerantz Woodworking; flooring: Tresor collection, Provenza Floors
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Mosquitoes, biting yellow flies and countless other insects and critters make screened-in porches a must for comfort on the Florida panhandle. A couple living in Atlanta hired architect Danny Martin to design a home for their retirement in a new panhandle community called Draper Lake, and a screened-in porch plays a key role in the home’s design and in their lifestyle.
The couple uses the screened-in porch for dining, grilling, lounging and enjoying a favorite hobby — making pizza in a wood-fired oven. Working within a tight lot overlooking a dune lake, Martin also used the porch as a key connector between the carriage house, the main house and the yard.
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4. Dark Green, Black and Greige
Designer: Giana Shorthouse of Studio Giana
Location: Atlanta
Homeowners’ request. “The original kitchen was small, cramped and lacked storage and space to gather with friends and family,” designer Giana Shorthouse says. “It was remodeled to an expansive and multifunctional kitchen that includes a range of more function, spanning from the island and range wall to the custom-designed pantry, wall-to-wall china storage, a separate bar and a reworked butler’s pantry. We also built it out to include an adjacent covered outdoor space that carries the space from inside to outside.”
Shorthouse uses Houzz Pro business software to manage projects. “I use it for proposals, invoicing, purchase orders, and time and expenses,” she says.
Dark and moody features. Dark warm-green island base (Andiron, Sherwin-Williams). Black-framed stools. Black pendant lights. “We went dark to give the space a richer and more dynamic feeling,” Shorthouse says. “The homeowners had lived in the home for over a decade with old, nonfunctioning windows and years of white paint, so when it came to colors we decided to go dark to give the space dimension and a richness it was missing before. Coming from prior years of loft living, the homeowners’ personal style reflects a more modern and industrial perspective, so when it came to finishes, we chose black to honor their personal style. Mixing dark green, black and aged brass details allowed us to blend their more modern outlook in a home that was fit for a more traditional style. I designed the island base with more classic detailing and color in mind but paired it with a more modern waterfall countertop to add contrast to the style.”
Other special features. Warm greige perimeter cabinets (Skipping Stone, Benjamin Moore). Pacific White marble countertops and backsplash.
Designer tip. “Balance through contrast,” Shorthouse says. “When you look at the material selections, you’ll notice that there is an inherent balance between materials because I chose to place darker materials next to lighter materials to create a lot of contrast.”
“Uh-oh” moment. “We had a construction mishap with the installation of the flooring,” Shorthouse says. “We chose to go with a limestone floor, and due to the settling in the home between the original foundation and the new foundation underneath the new addition, we started seeing cracks in the floor shortly after install, which had to be repaired and wasn’t ideal for such a beautiful flooring selection.”
Stools: Asher, Jamie Young; faucet: Lombardia, Rohl; wall, ceiling and trim paint: Alabaster, Sherwin-Williams
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The kitchen in this Minneapolis-area rambling ranch wasn’t cutting it for a home cook who loves to prepare meals for her family. Armed with inspiration images from designer Emily Pueringer’s portfolio as well as a favorite blogger’s kitchen with a very long island, she hired Pueringer herself to design the kitchen.
By combining the existing kitchen and adjacent dining room, the designer gave her clients a large kitchen with plenty of space for cooking, baking and gathering. The layout includes a long island down the center, a significant range alcove, a desk area for writing letters and separate fridge and freezer units. The new kitchen’s style evokes old-world European charm with ceiling beams, marble, hand-painted terra-cotta tiles and brass accents.
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Floor plan: To get a better understanding of the wet-room layout, let’s jump into the floor plan. A wet-room strategy can save space when both a generous shower stall and bathtub are desired. Gilmour enclosed the wet area on the right side of the bathroom with two hinged glass shower doors.
The area with the X shape is a double shower area, with the shower heads marked at the top and bottom of the plan. The shower area is about 3 feet wide, but because of the wet-room layout, it feels larger. “With the tub height, it’s not like they will bump their elbows on a wall when they are washing their hair,” Gilmour says. The freestanding tub occupies the area under the window. The shower floor slopes slightly toward the drain, represented by the square in the middle of the X shape on the plan.
The toilet wasn’t photographed, but it’s at the bottom left corner, with the entry from the bedroom to its right. The double vanity runs across the top of the plan.
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This Austin, Texas, couple loved their home, but they did not love that it had no covered parking or place to safely store electric bikes, throw an outdoor party or let their French bulldog, Cash, roam free. They embarked on a long design journey with Dick Clark + Associates and Stephen Thomas Construction to add style and functionality to their steeply sloped front yard.
“This project required a variance, and the permitting process was long and challenging,” project manager Bob Perez says. “From the time the architects started the design to the time we finished building was about two years.” Luckily, the couple’s patience paid off. They now have a two-car carport, a protected bike garage, a reworked entry and an expanded patio that includes an outdoor kitchen, a covered area and full smart home technology outdoors for fans, heaters, lighting, speakers and misters.
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4. Rich and Creamy
Designer: Tonia Coleman of Le Belle Maison Interiors
Location: Frisco, Texas
Size: 546 square feet (51 square meters); 21 by 26 feet
Homeowners’ request. “My clients wanted an oversize kitchen where they could entertain large gatherings, but they wanted the space to feel defined between the kitchen and dining areas in an open concept,” designer Tonia Coleman says. “The homeowner envisioned a warm and inviting kitchen that marries the elegance of French Country style with a modern twist, perfect for hosting large gatherings.”
Warm and welcoming elements. Custom stained quartersawn oak island. Wood range hood detail. European white oak floors. Warm white cabinets. Creamy white zellige backsplash tile. Creamy white quartzite countertops. Brass details. “They wanted a space that feels timeless yet fresh, where traditional elements like the soft neutral tones, natural island with a mix of painted cabinets and the reclaimed-wood-wrapped hood coexist with the sleek, functional design,” Coleman says. “The open and airy spaces allow guests to flow effortlessly, with an oversize 12-foot island as the heart of the kitchen, designed to accommodate a crowd and serve as the perfect spot for entertaining.”
Other special features. Five-foot workstation sink with two faucets and integrated accessories such as cutting boards, colanders, drying racks and serving trays.
Designer tip. “For a unique, rustic touch, we used a reclaimed-wood skin wrap for the kitchen hood instead of a traditional beam cut to size,” Coleman says. “This design trick brought an organic, textured element into the space, echoing the charm of reclaimed-wood beams but with a lighter, more refined silhouette. The wrap adds depth and warmth, blending seamlessly into the modern
Country French style while highlighting the natural beauty of aged wood.”
“Uh-oh” moment. “We had an ‘uh-oh’ moment after the island was installed when the client realized she wanted a bit more room between the kitchen island and the range wall for added comfort and flow,” Coleman says. “Thankfully we were able to adjust and move the island, creating the extra space she envisioned. It was a reminder that even the best-laid plans sometimes need a little tweaking, and we were glad to make it work to ensure the kitchen was just right for her needs.”
Coleman used Houzz “to explore and refine our client’s design style,” she says. “Together we browsed through numerous inspirational pictures, discussing what elements resonated most with her and envisioning how they could come to life in her kitchen. This visual approach allowed us to align specific details, helping her articulate her vision and making the design journey both enjoyable and clear.”
Custom cabinetry plan: KBH Texas, Andrew Risinger, Kitchen, Bath and Home; cabinetmaker: Custom Wood Products; builder: Kirlin Custom Homes; reclaimed wood: Olde Wood; project photos: Stacy Markow Photography; wall and ceiling paint: White Dove, Benjamin Moore
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This article was originally published by a www.houzz.com . Read the Original article here. .
The counter stools in synthetic rattan bring in some texture and the dark legs echo the cabinet hardware color. Jamentz reupholstered the counter stools in a faux leather to work with the room palette.
Her team wove in new engineered hardwood flooring for an exact match with the existing floor. “It took the flooring subcontractor quite a while to find the exact match, but luckily he did, and it is nearly impossible to detect where the old floor meets the new,” Jamentz says.
“Aesthetically engineered hardwood flooring is a wonderful choice for kitchen floors, as there is a wide variety of wood species and stain colors to choose from, and it is much softer to stand on when cooking or doing the dishes than a hard surface such as porcelain tile,” she says. “That said, if you have a very active household with pets and kids, preengineered floors might not be the best choice because it can scratch easily.”
Jamentz focused on wellness by helping improve air quality and refrigeration and adding healthy steam cooking. “In this project, our solution was to create a wellness-centric kitchen that provides the opportunity to cook nutritious meals, feel more energetic due to increased daylight, enjoy filtered water on demand, breathe cleaner indoor air, entertain with ease, recycle and compost effortlessly and feel organized through personalized storage solutions,” she says.
Shop for kitchen furniture