small room

Spotted gum flooring was used throughout the living spaces. The ground floor houses the kitchen, living room, and dining areas as well as two bedrooms. The upper floor contains the master suite.

Here is another one of the built-in office nooks.

A detail of the office nooks with a teal daybed and built-in shelving.

The second-floor bedrooms feature built-in nooks with storage.

Contemporary details in the kitchen flow into the dining room where a preserved sense of the home's original Edwardian character continues to exist.

One wall of the kitchen is entirely clad in Heath Ceramics tile with a highly irregular glaze.

A custom-made glass door has been integrated to maximize the natural light throughout.

Using wood pallets, a common shipping material, is a cost-effective (and, if they're reused, also eco-friendly) solution for a low-lying mattress that doesn't sit directly on the floor. Its wood construction pairs well with just about any color palette, and it can also be painted.

An upper-level media room.

In this sustainable home in Silicon Valley, the primary suite opens to a deck and fern garden with large, sliding glass doors.

The bed sits atop a platform; above it is an HVAC vent.

A guest room in this repurposed barn in the English countryside lets the ceiling do the talking. Photo by Christoffer Rudquist.

A bridge links the living area to the kitchen.

The bedroom opens out onto the deck and meadow beyond.

Always put contingencies aside. During any renovation, it is critical to set aside money for the "what if" or emergency scenarios. For example, there might be plumbing that you didn’t anticipate needing to replace. Conventional wisdom suggests adding 15 to 20 percent to your contractor’s renovation cost to safely consider these contingencies.

Beach Haven Residence, Living Room.

Beach Haven Residence, Living Room.

An expansive sliding glass door retracts into the zinc facade, opening up the master suite to a garden terrace. This echoes a 15-foot Corian wall that transforms a children's bedroom into an entertainment space, allowing flexibility and anticipating the time when the boys leave for college.