Better Homes And Gardens Collection Exclusively By Home Interiors

Kerrie Kelly Design Lab

Inspiration for a modern beige tile bathroom remodel in Sacramento with a vessel sink, flat-panel cabinets and white cabinets

Ian Engberg

Bedroom - modern dark wood floor bedroom idea in New York with beige walls

Vicente Burin Architects

The kitchen was left as open as possible so that the view of the water could be accessible from the family room through the kitchen and out of the large bow window in the dining room. This kitchen's clean contemporary lines stand in contrast to the homes otherwise traditional framework. Photographed by: Rana Faure

CHRISTIAN DEAN ARCHITECTURE, LLC

Exterior renovation to mid-century modern home. New composite cement board siding, cypress siding, railings, and soffits. Photo: Chad Holder
Large minimalist two-story mixed siding flat roof photo in Minneapolis

CONTENT Architecture

Photo by Peter Molick
Inspiration for a modern home office remodel in Houston with white walls

Josh Partee | Architectural Photographer

© Josh Partee 2013
Inspiration for a modern kitchen remodel in Portland with flat-panel cabinets, white cabinets, gray backsplash, slate backsplash and white countertops

American Coastal Properties

Property developed by American Residential Partners. Photo courtesy of Andrew Bramasco. Property located in Mar Vista, adjacent to Venice, CA.
Inspiration for a modern wood exterior home remodel in Los Angeles

FINNE Architects

The Redmond Residence is located on a wooded hillside property about 20 miles east of Seattle. The 3.5-acre site has a quiet beauty, with large stands of fir and cedar. The house is a delicate structure of wood, steel, and glass perched on a stone plinth of Montana ledgestone. The stone plinth varies in height from 2-ft. on the uphill side to 15-ft. on the downhill side. The major elements of the house are a living pavilion and a long bedroom wing, separated by a glass entry space. The living pavilion is a dramatic space framed in steel with a "wood quilt" roof structure. A series of large north-facing clerestory windows create a soaring, 20-ft. high space, filled with natural light. The interior of the house is highly crafted with many custom-designed fabrications, including complex, laser-cut steel railings, hand-blown glass lighting, bronze sink stand, miniature cherry shingle walls, textured mahogany/glass front door, and a number of custom-designed furniture pieces such as the cherry bed in the master bedroom. The dining area features an 8-ft. long custom bentwood mahogany table with a blackened steel base. The house has many sustainable design features, such as the use of extensive clerestory windows to achieve natural lighting and cross ventilation, low VOC paints, linoleum flooring, 2x8 framing to achieve 42% higher insulation than conventional walls, cellulose insulation in lieu of fiberglass batts, radiant heating throughout the house, and natural stone exterior cladding.

Wud Furniture Design

Striking Red Gum wood floating console with Zinc encased in Resin countertop. Custom designed by Wud Furniture.
Example of a minimalist entryway design in New York

Minimalist bathroom photo in Miami

Bathroom - small modern white tile and ceramic tile ceramic tile and gray floor bathroom idea in Los Angeles with flat-panel cabinets, white cabinets, a one-piece toilet, white walls, an undermount sink, quartz countertops and a hinged shower door

Maple Avenue Construction

Kitchen - modern l-shaped gray floor kitchen idea in Phoenix with an undermount sink, shaker cabinets, medium tone wood cabinets, stainless steel appliances, an island and white countertops

Exterior Worlds Landscaping & Design

The problem this Memorial-Houston homeowner faced was that her sumptuous contemporary home, an austere series of interconnected cubes of various sizes constructed from white stucco, black steel and glass, did not have the proper landscaping frame. It was out of scale. Imagine Robert Motherwell's "Black on White" painting without the Museum of Fine Arts-Houston's generous expanse of white walls surrounding it. It would still be magnificent but somehow...off. Intuitively, the homeowner realized this issue and started interviewing landscape designers. After talking to about 15 different designers, she finally went with one, only to be disappointed with the results. From the across-the-street neighbor, she was then introduced to Exterior Worlds and she hired us to correct the newly-created problems and more fully realize her hopes for the grounds. "It's not unusual for us to come in and deal with a mess. Sometimes a homeowner gets overwhelmed with managing everything. Other times it is like this project where the design misses the mark. Regardless, it is really important to listen for what a prospect or client means and not just what they say," says Jeff Halper, owner of Exterior Worlds. Since the sheer size of the house is so dominating, Exterior Worlds' overall job was to bring the garden up to scale to match the house. Likewise, it was important to stretch the house into the landscape, thereby softening some of its severity. The concept we devised entailed creating an interplay between the landscape and the house by astute placement of the black-and-white colors of the house into the yard using different materials and textures. Strategic plantings of greenery increased the interest, density, height and function of the design. First we installed a pathway of crushed white marble around the perimeter of the house, the white of the path in homage to the house's white facade. At various intervals, 3/8-inch steel-plated metal strips, painted black to echo the bones of the house, were embedded and crisscrossed in the pathway to turn it into a loose maze. Along this metal bunting, we planted succulents whose other-worldly shapes and mild coloration juxtaposed nicely against the hard-edged steel. These plantings included Gulf Coast muhly, a native grass that produces a pink-purple plume when it blooms in the fall. A side benefit to the use of these plants is that they are low maintenance and hardy in Houston's summertime heat. Next we brought in trees for scale. Without them, the impressive architecture becomes imposing. We placed them along the front at either corner of the house. For the left side, we found a multi-trunk live oak in a field, transported it to the property and placed it in a custom-made square of the crushed marble at a slight distance from the house. On the right side where the house makes a 90-degree alcove, we planted a mature mesquite tree. To finish off the front entry, we fashioned the black steel into large squares and planted grass to create islands of green, or giant lawn stepping pads. We echoed this look in the back off the master suite by turning concrete pads of black-stained concrete into stepping pads. We kept the foundational plantings of Japanese yews which add green, earthy mass, something the stark architecture needs for further balance. We contoured Japanese boxwoods into small spheres to enhance the play between shapes and textures. In the large, white planters at the front entrance, we repeated the plantings of succulents and Gulf Coast muhly to reinforce symmetry. Then we built an additional planter in the back out of the black metal, filled it with the crushed white marble and planted a Texas vitex, another hardy choice that adds a touch of color with its purple blooms. To finish off the landscaping, we needed to address the ravine behind the house. We built a retaining wall to contain erosion. Aesthetically, we crafted it so that the wall has a sharp upper edge, a modern motif right where the landscape meets the land.