Mid-sized contemporary bathroom in Hyderabad with stone tile.

Simple indoor plants delicately decorate the bedroom while bringing in a relaxing vibe as well.
Inspiration for a contemporary bedroom in Orange County with dark hardwood floors, a standard fireplace and a stone fireplace surround.

Photo of a traditional backyard patio in Los Angeles with an outdoor kitchen, natural stone pavers and a pergola.

This is an example of a scandinavian living room in Sydney.

Garden makeovers by Shirley Bovshow in Los Angeles. Glowing ornamental grasses and other low water plants enhance the natural style gardens surrounding this pool makeover expertly crafted by Southern California Landscape. Why start from scratch if you can "recreate" a pool scape that you will love for a fraction of the price. See the transformation: http://edenmakersblog.com/?p=533 Photo by Shirley Bovshow EdenMakersBlog.com

A strong landscape structure of topiary, climbers and hedges allow the garden design to be visible all year. Within the structure, shrubs, herbaceous plants and bulbs create an ever-changing feast for the eyes. Barnes Walker Ltd

My clients are parents of 4 children under the age of 5 - they requested that their living room be functional, practical and of course look good! They wanted to maximize seating in the room but also did not want the room to feel cluttered. The main seating area includes a matching sofa and love seat along with a large comfortable chair. Both sofas are upholstered in a faux leather, which has proven to be very durable and cleanable. We agreed that two small ottomans were a good alternative to a large coffee table, so that they too could be used for extra seating and/or moved out of the way so her children could play games on the carpet. The ottomans are also upholstered in the faux leather to protect them from staining. A small shelf below the upholstered ottoman top is great for displaying books or other small decorative items. The large rug is a shag! I had this made by Barry Carpet on Pico Blvd. It is both stain resistant and adds to this warm and inviting living room. I suggested a storage bench on the far wall with a cushion atop of it to create an additional seating area. She knew she wanted blues, browns and tans for the color palette so we first selected the sofa fabric and I found this fabulous Clark & Clarke floral fabric at Durelee for the large chair. I always love a wow factor in each room and this chair is definitely just that! We pulled the colors together with the blue upholstered ottomans, bench cushion and coordinating, colorful stripe and floral pillows. The Ghost chairs on the sides of the fire place not only fill in the space around the fire place but also serve as additional seating. I tried to create a focal point on the fireplace with the round silver mirror, white coral, pair of floral vases and the plant of course. Another interesting feature in the room are the custom made two tone angled book cases. Not only do they look great, but they are both unique and functional as well. We chose shutters for the window treatments because we wanted the room to feel light and airy. The walls were painted blue to match the furniture. Art work, the small accessories all over the room, along with fresh flowers were the final touches. My client was thrilled with the results - it met her expectations that the room be a warm, cheery, inviting space for both her family to play and entertain. She once told me that she smiles every time she walks downstairs and sees the bench with the beautiful blue floral bench cushion. An expectation of mine that I have fulfilled as a designer.

A local Houston art collector hired us to create a low maintenance, sophisticated, contemporary landscape design. She wanted her property to compliment her eclectic taste in architecture, outdoor sculpture, and modern art. Her house was built with a minimalist approach to decoration, emphasizing right angles and windows instead of architectural keynotes. The west wing of the house was only one story, while the east wing was two-story. The windows in both wings were larger than usual, so that visitors could see her art collection from the home’s exterior. Near one of the large rear windows, there was an abstract metal sculpture designed in the form of a spiral. When she initially contacted us, the surrounding property had only a few trees and indigenous grass as vegetation. This was actually a good beginning point with us, because it allowed us to develop a contemporary landscape design that featured a very linear, crisp look supportive of the home and its contents. We began by planting a garden around the large contemporary sculpture near the window. Landscape designers planted horsetail reed under windows, along the sides of the home, and around the corners. This vegetation is very resilient and hardy, and requires little trimming, weeding, or mulching. This helped unite the diverse elements of sculpture, contemporary architecture, and landscape design into a more fluid harmony that preserved the proportions of each unique element, but eliminated any tendency for the elements to clash with one another. We then added two stonework designs to the landscape surrounding the contemporary art collection and home. The first was a linear walkway we build from concrete pads purchased through a retail vendor as a cost-saving benefit to our client. We created this walkway to follow the perimeter of the home so that visitors could walk around the entire property and admire the outdoor sculptures and the collections of modern art visible through the windows. This was especially enjoyable at night, when the entire home was brightly lit from within. To add a touch of tranquility and quite repose to the stark right angles of the home and surrounding contemporary landscape, we designed a special seating area toward the northwest corner of the property. We wanted to create a sense of contemplation in this area, so we departed from the linear and angular designs of the surrounding landscape and established a theme of circular geometry. We laid down gravel as ground cover, then placed large, circular pads arranged like giant stepping stones that led up to a stone patio filled with chairs. The shape of the granite pads and the contours of the graveled area further complimented the spirals and turns in the outdoor metal sculpture, and balanced the entire contemporary landscape design with proportional geometric forms of lines, angles, and curves. This particular contemporary landscape design also has a sense of movement attached to it. All stonework leads to a destination of some sort. The linear pathway provides a guided tour around the home, garden, and modern art collection. The granite pathway stones create movement toward separate space where the entire experience of art, vegetation, and architecture can be viewed and experienced as a unity. Contemporary landscaping designs like create form out of feeling by using basic geometric forms and variations of forms. Sometimes very stark forms are used to create a sense of absolutism or contrast. At other times, forms are blended, or even distorted to suggest a sense of complex emotion, or a sense of multi-dimensional reality. The exact nature of the design is always highly subjective, and developed on a case-by-case basis with the client.

An urban oasis in East London. This space has been transformed into a lush garden perfect for indoor-outdoor living. This garden has been designed so that it is divided into 3 distinct areas, each surrounded by lush. abundant planting. closest to the house a dining patio with a large built in parasol for sunny and slightly rainy days, a second patio area with sofa and chairs offers a great space for coffee, working and drinks near the outdoor kitchen and BBQ area. The substantial built in benches at the rear of the garden offers a wonderful space for relaxing and entertaining with dappled shade from the overhead pergola and plants in summer and warmth of the fire pit on colder nights.

Salt Interiors custom joinery was featured in the August issue of House & Garden Magazine. For this project, Salt Interiors worked with Senior Interior Designer for Coco Republic, Natasha Levak to provide custom joinery for the 1930s Spanish-revival home. Levak’s vision for a neutral palette helped to determine the polyurethane paint for the renovated joinery unit Salt installed in the room.

Inspiration for a mediterranean full sun garden in Santa Barbara with a container garden.

After many years of having no outdoor living space and dealing with overgrown plants and trees the owner’s decided it was time to revitalize their backyard. They knew they wanted a large sitting area with a wood burning fireplace, room for outdoor dining and a place for the grill. A connecting walk would be needed to get guests from the driveway to the outdoor space. Last but not least, the owners wanted the ability to and a reason for stepping out of their unusable patio doors. The designers decided from the start the fireplace would be the prominent feature and focal point for the entire project. A large fireplace accented with sitting walls and arbors was positioned to anchor the corner of the patio. Stone was chosen to set the fireplace apart as its own element. Brick was used for the sitting walls and brick accents were added to the fireplace to tie into the house. An inlaid herringbone brick detail was incorporated above the stone mantle to simulate artwork which is typically found above indoor fireplaces. Flagstone was used for the wall caps and hearth to match the patio and thicker flagstone tread stock was used for the mantle and top. The arbors were added to visually balance the pergolas at the opposite side of the patio. For the patio the designers created a series of offset spaces to help subtly divide the space into two areas, sitting and dining. Two large existing trees also help dictate the shape of the patio. Cut flagstone was chosen for the surface bordered by a double soldier edge of brick. The brick edging also surrounds a decorative gravel area topped with an urn fountain which provides a secondary focal point and the sound of water. Large flagstone treads were used for the steps leading to the previously unused patio doors. Opposite the fireplace a short walk leads to a square transition area with a statue chosen by the owner. The statue provides a strong focal point when entering from the driveway. A longer walk leads from this space along the house to the driveway. The pergolas and arbors were designed by the landscape designer as part of this project but were ultimately contracted separately by the owner. The larger square pergola was intended as an area for a bench or two separate from the main patio. The longer pergola was added later in the design phase to help provide shade to the interior of the house. The arbors at the fireplace were added to balance out the wood elements at the opposite side while adding additional architectural interest to the fireplace. While this project was predominantly hardscaping, planting and lighting were also incorporated into the design. Several large existing trees were retained and serious of smaller understory trees were added to help enclose the space. The designer’s took advantage of the large trees to place down lights on the branches to achieve a moonlight effect at night. Additional lighting was used on the pergola, to accent focal points, to up light the smaller trees and around the patio. Massed planting of Japanese forest grass provides bold foliage color for the shady garden. A mulch path leads off behind the fireplace to another garden and a secluded area ideal for a bench or small table and chairs. Additional plantings were added along the rear property line to screen and unsightly fence. This project has obviously completely changed the way the owners use their backyard. They now have a seamless transition from indoors to outdoors with the use of the patio doors. The large patio allows for entertaining small gatherings outdoors for the first time. The fireplace has definitely become the primary gathering place for family and friends.

Rosemary Fletcher Photography
This is an example of a contemporary home design in Boston.

Martha O'Hara Interiors, Interior Selections & Furnishings | Charles Cudd De Novo, Architecture | Troy Thies Photography | Shannon Gale, Photo Styling

Lap pool addition. Photographer:Reid Dalland
This is an example of a traditional indoor pool in New York.

Semi-custom & custom cabinetry is used throughout the home in the Brookhaven & Wood-Mode cabinet lines (both manufactured by Wood-Mode). In the kitchen, the cabinetry displays a modern feel with a simple door style in a custom opaque and dark walnut wood. A large (+11') island with seating for 8 is at the center of the layout. This design includes several built-in appliances: refrigerator, freezer, coffee machine, microwave oven, cooktop, custom hood, steam oven, (2) dishwashers, warming drawer & (2) single ovens.

MLR PHOTO
Photo of an eclectic master bathroom in London with a freestanding tub, multi-coloured walls, white tile and subway tile.

Klopf Architecture and Outer space Landscape Architects designed a new warm, modern, open, indoor-outdoor home in Los Altos, California. Inspired by mid-century modern homes but looking for something completely new and custom, the owners, a couple with two children, bought an older ranch style home with the intention of replacing it. Created on a grid, the house is designed to be at rest with differentiated spaces for activities; living, playing, cooking, dining and a piano space. The low-sloping gable roof over the great room brings a grand feeling to the space. The clerestory windows at the high sloping roof make the grand space light and airy. Upon entering the house, an open atrium entry in the middle of the house provides light and nature to the great room. The Heath tile wall at the back of the atrium blocks direct view of the rear yard from the entry door for privacy. The bedrooms, bathrooms, play room and the sitting room are under flat wing-like roofs that balance on either side of the low sloping gable roof of the main space. Large sliding glass panels and pocketing glass doors foster openness to the front and back yards. In the front there is a fenced-in play space connected to the play room, creating an indoor-outdoor play space that could change in use over the years. The play room can also be closed off from the great room with a large pocketing door. In the rear, everything opens up to a deck overlooking a pool where the family can come together outdoors. Wood siding travels from exterior to interior, accentuating the indoor-outdoor nature of the house. Where the exterior siding doesn’t come inside, a palette of white oak floors, white walls, walnut cabinetry, and dark window frames ties all the spaces together to create a uniform feeling and flow throughout the house. The custom cabinetry matches the minimal joinery of the rest of the house, a trim-less, minimal appearance. Wood siding was mitered in the corners, including where siding meets the interior drywall. Wall materials were held up off the floor with a minimal reveal. This tight detailing gives a sense of cleanliness to the house. The garage door of the house is completely flush and of the same material as the garage wall, de-emphasizing the garage door and making the street presentation of the house kinder to the neighborhood. The house is akin to a custom, modern-day Eichler home in many ways. Inspired by mid-century modern homes with today’s materials, approaches, standards, and technologies. The goals were to create an indoor-outdoor home that was energy-efficient, light and flexible for young children to grow. This 3,000 square foot, 3 bedroom, 2.5 bathroom new house is located in Los Altos in the heart of the Silicon Valley. Klopf Architecture Project Team: John Klopf, AIA, and Chuang-Ming Liu 
Landscape Architect: Outer space Landscape Architects 
Structural Engineer: ZFA Structural Engineers 
Staging: Da Lusso Design 
Photography ©2018 Mariko Reed 
Location: Los Altos, CA
 Year completed: 2017

The two brick walls originally framed an alleyway parking spot. Everything else was added to create a flourishing garden in the city. Photograph: Jeff Totaro