This casual living room of KIllara House by Nathan Gornall Design offers a more relaxed alternative to the formal areas of the home. This open plan room enjoys painstakingly restored details with a blend of contemporary as well as classical inspired furniture and art pieces. A large custom joinery piece in timber and brass houses all the home owners' tech when not in use.

Periscope House draws light into a young family’s home, adding thoughtful solutions and flexible spaces to 1950s Art Deco foundations. Our clients engaged us to undertake a considered extension to their character-rich home in Malvern East. They wanted to celebrate their home’s history while adapting it to the needs of their family, and future-proofing it for decades to come. The extension’s form meets with and continues the existing roofline, politely emerging at the rear of the house. The tones of the original white render and red brick are reflected in the extension, informing its white Colorbond exterior and selective pops of red throughout. Inside, the original home’s layout has been reimagined to better suit a growing family. Once closed-in formal dining and lounge rooms were converted into children’s bedrooms, supplementing the main bedroom and a versatile fourth room. Grouping these rooms together has created a subtle definition of zones: private spaces are nestled to the front, while the rear extension opens up to shared living areas. A tailored response to the site, the extension’s ground floor addresses the western back garden, and first floor (AKA the periscope) faces the northern sun. Sitting above the open plan living areas, the periscope is a mezzanine that nimbly sidesteps the harsh afternoon light synonymous with a western facing back yard. It features a solid wall to the west and a glass wall to the north, emulating the rotation of a periscope to draw gentle light into the extension. Beneath the mezzanine, the kitchen, dining, living and outdoor spaces effortlessly overlap. Also accessible via an informal back door for friends and family, this generous communal area provides our clients with the functionality, spatial cohesion and connection to the outdoors they were missing. Melding modern and heritage elements, Periscope House honours the history of our clients’ home while creating light-filled shared spaces – all through a periscopic lens that opens the home to the garden.

Large contemporary open concept family room in Melbourne with a built-in media wall.

Design ideas for a mid-sized contemporary enclosed family room in Sydney with a library, brown walls, painted wood floors, a standard fireplace, a stone fireplace surround, a built-in media wall, beige floor and recessed.

Builder: Mike Schaap Builders Photographer: Ashley Avila Photography Both chic and sleek, this streamlined Art Modern-influenced home is the equivalent of a work of contemporary sculpture and includes many of the features of this cutting-edge style, including a smooth wall surface, horizontal lines, a flat roof and an enduring asymmetrical appeal. Updated amenities include large windows on both stories with expansive views that make it perfect for lakefront lots, with stone accents, floor plan and overall design that are anything but traditional. Inside, the floor plan is spacious and airy. The 2,200-square foot first level features an open plan kitchen and dining area, a large living room with two story windows, a convenient laundry room and powder room and an inviting screened in porch that measures almost 400 square feet perfect for reading or relaxing. The three-car garage is also oversized, with almost 1,000 square feet of storage space. The other levels are equally roomy, with almost 2,000 square feet of living space in the lower level, where a family room with 10-foot ceilings, guest bedroom and bath, game room with shuffleboard and billiards are perfect for entertaining. Upstairs, the second level has more than 2,100 square feet and includes a large master bedroom suite complete with a spa-like bath with double vanity, a playroom and two additional family bedrooms with baths.

Inspiration for a large contemporary enclosed family room in New York with a game room, blue walls, carpet, a wall-mounted tv, no fireplace and multi-coloured floor.

Stacking doors roll entirely away, blending the open floor plan with outdoor living areas // Image : John Granen Photography, Inc.
Contemporary open concept family room in Seattle with black walls, a ribbon fireplace, a metal fireplace surround, a built-in media wall and wood.

Fireplace: - 9 ft. linear Bottom horizontal section-Tile: Emser Borigni White 18x35- Horizontal stacked Top vertical section- Tile: Emser Borigni Diagonal Left/Right- White 18x35 Grout: Mapei 77 Frost Fireplace wall paint: Web Gray SW 7075 Ceiling Paint: Pure White SW 7005 Paint: Egret White SW 7570 Photographer: Steve Chenn

Inspiration for a contemporary family room in Chicago with beige walls, dark hardwood floors, a ribbon fireplace and a freestanding tv.

This beautiful, new construction home in Greenwich Connecticut was staged by BA Staging & Interiors to showcase all of its beautiful potential, so it will sell for the highest possible value. The staging was carefully curated to be sleek and modern, but at the same time warm and inviting to attract the right buyer. This staging included a lifestyle merchandizing approach with an obsessive attention to detail and the most forward design elements. Unique, large scale pieces, custom, contemporary artwork and luxurious added touches were used to transform this new construction into a dream home.

Mauricio Fuertes // Susanna Cots · Interior Design
Inspiration for a large contemporary open concept family room in Barcelona with white walls, medium hardwood floors, a corner fireplace, a concrete fireplace surround and a wall-mounted tv.

Large contemporary family room in San Francisco with white walls, no fireplace and a built-in media wall.

Peter Murdock
Inspiration for a contemporary enclosed family room in New York with beige walls, no fireplace and a built-in media wall.

emr photography www.emrphotography.com
Photo of a contemporary family room in Denver with beige walls and a built-in media wall.

Interior Design: Mod & Stanley Design Inc. (www.modandstanley.com) Photography: Chris Boyd (www.chrisboydphoto.com)
Photo of a contemporary family room in Other with black walls, medium hardwood floors, a ribbon fireplace and a wall-mounted tv.

Lounge area directly connected to the bedrooms. The room is warm and colourful to inspire the inhabitants.
This is an example of a small contemporary open concept family room in Berlin with a library, white walls, light hardwood floors, no fireplace, a wall-mounted tv and beige floor.

The Atherton House is a family compound for a professional couple in the tech industry, and their two teenage children. After living in Singapore, then Hong Kong, and building homes there, they looked forward to continuing their search for a new place to start a life and set down roots. The site is located on Atherton Avenue on a flat, 1 acre lot. The neighboring lots are of a similar size, and are filled with mature planting and gardens. The brief on this site was to create a house that would comfortably accommodate the busy lives of each of the family members, as well as provide opportunities for wonder and awe. Views on the site are internal. Our goal was to create an indoor- outdoor home that embraced the benign California climate. The building was conceived as a classic “H” plan with two wings attached by a double height entertaining space. The “H” shape allows for alcoves of the yard to be embraced by the mass of the building, creating different types of exterior space. The two wings of the home provide some sense of enclosure and privacy along the side property lines. The south wing contains three bedroom suites at the second level, as well as laundry. At the first level there is a guest suite facing east, powder room and a Library facing west. The north wing is entirely given over to the Primary suite at the top level, including the main bedroom, dressing and bathroom. The bedroom opens out to a roof terrace to the west, overlooking a pool and courtyard below. At the ground floor, the north wing contains the family room, kitchen and dining room. The family room and dining room each have pocketing sliding glass doors that dissolve the boundary between inside and outside. Connecting the wings is a double high living space meant to be comfortable, delightful and awe-inspiring. A custom fabricated two story circular stair of steel and glass connects the upper level to the main level, and down to the basement “lounge” below. An acrylic and steel bridge begins near one end of the stair landing and flies 40 feet to the children’s bedroom wing. People going about their day moving through the stair and bridge become both observed and observer. The front (EAST) wall is the all important receiving place for guests and family alike. There the interplay between yin and yang, weathering steel and the mature olive tree, empower the entrance. Most other materials are white and pure. The mechanical systems are efficiently combined hydronic heating and cooling, with no forced air required.

Game Room of Newport Home.
Photo of a large contemporary enclosed family room in Nashville with a game room, white walls, medium hardwood floors, a built-in media wall and recessed.

Detail image of day bed area. heat treated oak wall panels with Trueform concreate support for etched glass(Cesarnyc) cabinetry.
Mid-sized contemporary loft-style family room in New York with a library, brown walls, porcelain floors, a standard fireplace, a stone fireplace surround, a wall-mounted tv, beige floor, exposed beam and panelled walls.