LIVING ROOMS
The team had done step ceilings in other projects but always with Douglas fir. “This one we decided to do drywall,” Sundius says. “It has a wonderful, white simplicity to it.” He knew he wanted to cut skylights, and he likes the way the drywall edges and skylights “merge to form a sculptural subtraction.” In order to make the space feel airy, Sundius decided to keep the walls a standard 8 feet tall instead of stretching them all the way up to the 15-foot-high vaulted roof. This lets the unit feel like one big open room. The vertical beams are construction-grade lumber. “We’ve always tried to make the most out of typical construction methods in order to keep costs down,” Sundius says.
When husband-and-wife designers Bo Sundius and Hisako Ichiki decided to build an additional dwelling unit (ADU) behind a single-family home they own in Los Angeles, they had big ideas for the small space. “We wanted to build something as big as possible with a real focus on the interior volume so we could make something people could live in all day long and not feel cabin fever,” Sundius says. Vaulted ceilings, multiple skylights and clerestory windows, along with cheery yellow paint, did the trick.
baskets designed This wall was challenging to decorate because of the thermostat and alarm box display. “I knew a framed picture wouldn’t work,” Welsh says. Instead, she hung a collection of round woven baskets. She had the mini bench re-covered in kantha fabric. All of the lower-level interior walls are painted in French White by Benjamin Moore. Welsh says she turned to Houzz stories to learn more about selecting neutral paint colors.
Ceiling A view of nature can go a long way toward making the workday more enjoyable. The designer Wendy Berry made sure the outdoors was the focus in this compact Cleveland office. She then put custom built-ins to good use to make the most of the tight space. And with the side walls taken up by cabinetry and the back wall by the view, she brought in visual interest through an eye-catching ceiling feature.
Designer Kieran Liebl says she pulled from her clients’ coastal New England roots when designing this new Shingle-style home in Minnesota. The living room features the layout and amenities of an open, contemporary home but showcases details often seen in classic coastal houses, including a beamed ceiling, stone fireplace surround and ocean-inspired colors. Glass fishing floats, vintage maps and other coastal decor reinforce the New England theme.
Warm ivories and rich browns anchor this Spanish-style living room in Palm Springs, California, while pops of pink add fun, colorful accents. The space feels crisp and current thanks to the clean-lined furniture and contemporary fabrics, but Designer Michael Ostrow of Grace Home Furnishings also wanted to layer in a feeling of heritage. “The vintage pieces — torchieres, wall clock and table lamps — all add a texture and distinctiveness to the room that new items would not,” he says.
The shed’s size and range of uses required the designers to get creative with storage and detailing. First and foremost, it’s a garden shed, so tool and garden storage was important. They framed two new closets — one for gardening tools and one for general storage — and used off-the-rack prehung doors. The contractors carefully installed the cedar planks across the doors so they would blend in seamlessly with the rest of the walls. They built a daybed in between the closets, including underbed storage and plywood paneling. They coated the plywood with Seafin Oil, a simple penetrating tung oil. It brightens the color a little, Bergdahl says, and also helps protect the plywood from dirt and oils that it may come into contact with.
Homeowners’ request. “We needed to honor the integrity and beauty of the home’s original Mediterranean features while making simple changes in color, lighting and decor to bring the home up to today’s standards,” designer Jennifer Montague Clark says. Special features. White walls (Benjamin Moore’s Simply White) and dark beams, windows and doors (Benjamin Moore’s Nightfall). Original arched doors flanking the fireplace. Modern brass nine-light chandelier and matching sconces. The floors are 100-year-old original oak hardwood, refinished and stained in True Black by Minwax. Clark used Houzz for inspiration photos, especially to help envision the black floors.
“The stairway is the centerpiece of the house,” Dean says, “threading through all three floors.” The stair functions as a bearing wall, as it supports the second floor. The open stair treads are walnut. The white-painted tube steel structure includes two sizes of steel pieces. “It’s a structural and decorative element,” Dean says.
Beautifully arranged shelves. Homeowners mixed in favorite artwork, souvenirs, photos, plants and other beloved objects with their books. This adds interesting shapes, colors and textures to the composition, giving the eye places to settle.
5. Cool Blues and Open Beams This charming dining room framed by natural wood beams and covered in fantastical leafy wallpaper belongs to Massachusetts couple Joy and Dan Harris, who happen to be the parents of Houzz contributor Becky Harris. Wanting to update a well-loved kitchen and give their dining space new life, the Harrises hired Violandi + Warner Interiors to help reimagine the interiors, which included cladding the dining walls in bold new wallpaper (Kalamkari Vine by Anna French for Thibaut) and exposing old beams that nod to the history of the home.
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