better homes and gardens ellis shutter bookcase cabinet

Jan Gleysteen Architects, Inc

Photography by Richard Mandelkorn
Design ideas for a traditional family room in Boston with beige walls, dark hardwood floors, a standard fireplace and a stone fireplace surround.

Urban Townhome Living Room

LORRAINE G VALE, Allied ASID

In this combination living room/ family room, form vs function is at it's best.. Formal enough to host a cocktail party, and comfortable enough to host a football game. The wrap around sectional accommodates 5-6 people and the oversized ottoman has room enough for everyone to put their feet up! The high back, stylized wing chair offers comfort and a lamp for reading. Decorative accessories are placed in the custom built bookcases freeing table top space for drinks, books, etc. Magazines and current reading are neatly placed in the rattan tray for easy access. The overall neutral color palette is punctuated by soft shades of blue around the room. LORRAINE G VALE photo by Michael Costa

Lionsgate Design Inc

John Goldstein www.JohnGoldstein.net
Photo of a large traditional open concept family room in Toronto with a stone fireplace surround, beige walls, medium hardwood floors, a standard fireplace, a wall-mounted tv and brown floor.

Contemporary Living Room with Cathedral Ceiling

Annie Elliott Design

Expansive cathedral-ceilinged great room in this contemporary Cleveland Park home. Photo credit: Michael K. Wilkinson for bossy color
This is an example of an expansive contemporary open concept living room in DC Metro with a concrete fireplace surround, concrete floors, a standard fireplace, white walls and no tv.

Vicki Simon Interior Design

A custom bookcase for cookbook collection was built from recycled wood. Maker was found at a local home show in Portland. All furniture pieces were made or found and selected/designed maximizing height to accentuate tall ceilings. The vestibule in the background shows tiny space added by new nib walls as entry way to existing bathroom. Designer hand-painted stripes on the wall when an appropriate wallpaper could not be located. Photo by Lincoln Barbour

Whitten Architects

photography by Trent Bell
This is an example of a beach style hallway in Portland Maine with white walls and medium hardwood floors.

Small Bespoke in Brooklyn Heights

Nastasi Vail Design

This apartment had been vacant for five years before it was purchased, and it needed a complete renovation for the two people who purchased it - one of whom works from home. Built shortly after the WWII, the building has high ceilings and fairly generously proportioned rooms, but lacked sufficient closet space and was stripped of any architectural detail. We installed a floor to ceiling bookcase that ran the full length of the living room - 23'-0" which incorporates: a hidden bar, files, a pull out desk , and tv and stereo components. New baseboards, crown moulding, and a white oak floor stained dark walnut were also added along with the picture lights and many additional outlets. The two small chairs client's mother and were recovered in a Ralph Lauren herringbone fabric, the wing chair belonged to the other owner's grandparents and dates from the 1940s - it was recovered in linen and trimmed in a biege velvet. The curtain fabric is from John Robshaw and the sofa is from Hickory Chair. Photos by Ken Hild, http://khphotoframeworks.com/

Harrison Design

Photos by John Umberger
This is an example of a traditional hallway in Other with white walls and dark hardwood floors.

Studio III architects

Photography by Susan Teare
Inspiration for a contemporary hallway in Burlington with beige walls, light hardwood floors and beige floor.

Raad Studio

Photo by Allan Zepeda
This is an example of a small contemporary formal open concept living room in New York with white walls and medium hardwood floors.

Julie Williams Design

Family room adjacent to kitchen. Paint color on fireplace mantel is Benjamin Moore #1568 Quarry Rock. The trim is Benjamin Moore OC-21. The bookcases are prefinished by the cabinet manufacturer, white with a pewter glaze. Designed by Julie Williams Design, Photo by Eric Rorer Photgraphy, Justin Construction

Mark Brand Architecture

For our client, who had previous experience working with architects, we enlarged, completely gutted and remodeled this Twin Peaks diamond in the rough. The top floor had a rear-sloping ceiling that cut off the amazing view, so our first task was to raise the roof so the great room had a uniformly high ceiling. Clerestory windows bring in light from all directions. In addition, we removed walls, combined rooms, and installed floor-to-ceiling, wall-to-wall sliding doors in sleek black aluminum at each floor to create generous rooms with expansive views. At the basement, we created a full-floor art studio flooded with light and with an en-suite bathroom for the artist-owner. New exterior decks, stairs and glass railings create outdoor living opportunities at three of the four levels. We designed modern open-riser stairs with glass railings to replace the existing cramped interior stairs. The kitchen features a 16 foot long island which also functions as a dining table. We designed a custom wall-to-wall bookcase in the family room as well as three sleek tiled fireplaces with integrated bookcases. The bathrooms are entirely new and feature floating vanities and a modern freestanding tub in the master. Clean detailing and luxurious, contemporary finishes complete the look.

Quarter-sawn White Oak Desk/Bookcase Wall and Coffered Ceiling Library

WrightWorks, LLC

The library/music room desk wall was fabricated from quarter-sawn white oak. The white coffered ceiling was enhanced with a larger crown moulding. Dual gray rugs sit beneath the desk chair and piano. The entry from the grand hall is made through double french doors. Design by MWHarris Photo by Christopher Wright, CR Built by WrightWorks, LLC Serving Indianapolis and Carmel, IN

Guest & Family Room Addition

OLSON LEWIS + Architects

Shingle-style guest cottage addition with garage below and interior connector from the main dining room of an early 1900 existing house. Sited so that garage entrance and drive works within the existing landscape elevation and orientation, the guest cottage connects directly to the first floor of the main house. This results in an interesting structural dynamic where the walls of the second floor addition are square to the main house, and the lower garage walls corkscrew at a forty-five degree angle to the walls above. Inspired by their fond memories of travels to the island of Malta, the client requested warm neutral finishes and chose honed cream marble flooring with tight fitting grout lines and an intricate pattern of a Walker Zanger marble tile for the fireplace surround. "Dove White" walls with "Antique White" trim were selected in traditional simplicity to replicate the standard of the existing house and create a seamless transition to the addition. Locally handcrafted copper sconces gently illuminate the space and maintain the period-style of the home.

Mary Cook

Taylor Photography
Inspiration for a traditional living room in Philadelphia with grey walls, dark hardwood floors, a standard fireplace, a stone fireplace surround and a wall-mounted tv.

Modern, Eclectic, Traditional Austin Addition... Thanks Houzz

Moontower

A book loving family of four, Dan, Julia and their two daughters were looking to add on to and rearrange their three bedroom, one bathroom home to suit their unique needs for places to study, rest, play, and hide and go seek. A generous lot allowed for a addition to the north of the house connecting to the middle bedroom/den, and the design process, while initially motivated by the need for a more spacious and private master bedroom and bathroom, evolved to focus around Dan & Julia distinct desires for home offices. Dan, a Minnesotan Medievalist, craved a cozy, wood paneled room with a nook for his reading chair and ample space for books, and, Julia, an American Studies professor with a focus on history of progressive children's literature, imagined a bright and airy space with plenty of shelf and desk space where she could peacefully focus on her latest project. What resulted was an addition with two offices, one upstairs, one downstairs, that were animated very differently by the presence of the connecting stair--Dan's reading nook nestled under the stair and Julia's office defined by a custom bookshelf stair rail that gave her plenty of storage down low and a sense of spaciousness above. A generous corridor with large windows on both sides serves as the transitional space between the addition and the original house as well as impromptu yoga room. The master suite extends from the end of the corridor towards the street creating a sense of separation from the original house which was remodeled to create a variety of family rooms and utility spaces including a small "office" for the girls, an entry hall with storage for shoes and jackets, a mud room, a new linen closet, an improved great room that reused an original window that had to be removed to connect to the addition. A palette of local and reclaimed wood provide prominent accents throughout the house including pecan flooring in the addition, barn doors faced with reclaimed pine flooring, reused solid wood doors from the original house, and shiplap paneling that was reclaimed during remodel. Photography by: Michael Hsu