The family room is our relaxing room with a fire place in the corner, a 72" High Def TV surrounded by natural stone. The floors are Hickory wood 3/4" thick with hydronic heating under the wood floors. This room has an abundance of natural light.

This stunning, light-filled two story great room has a full height fireplace made from Northern Irish black limestone.

The focal point of this beautiful family room is the bookmatched marble fireplace wall. A contemporary linear fireplace and big screen TV provide comfort and entertainment for the family room, while a large sectional sofa and comfortable chaise provide seating for up to nine guests. Lighted LED bookcase cabinets flank the fireplace with ample storage in the deep drawers below. This family room is both functional and beautiful for an active family.

The entry herringbone floor pattern leads way to a wine room that becomes the jewel of the home with a viewing window from the dining room that displays a wine collection on a floating stone counter lit by Metro Lighting. The hub of the home includes the kitchen with midnight blue & white custom cabinets by Beck Allen Cabinetry, a quaint banquette & an artful La Cornue range that are all highlighted with brass hardware. The kitchen connects to the living space with a cascading see-through fireplace that is surfaced with an undulating textural tile.

This renovated brick rowhome in Boston’s South End offers a modern aesthetic within a historic structure, creative use of space, exceptional thermal comfort, a reduced carbon footprint, and a passive stream of income. DESIGN PRIORITIES. The goals for the project were clear - design the primary unit to accommodate the family’s modern lifestyle, rework the layout to create a desirable rental unit, improve thermal comfort and introduce a modern aesthetic. We designed the street-level entry as a shared entrance for both the primary and rental unit. The family uses it as their everyday entrance - we planned for bike storage and an open mudroom with bench and shoe storage to facilitate the change from shoes to slippers or bare feet as they enter their home. On the main level, we expanded the kitchen into the dining room to create an eat-in space with generous counter space and storage, as well as a comfortable connection to the living space. The second floor serves as master suite for the couple - a bedroom with a walk-in-closet and ensuite bathroom, and an adjacent study, with refinished original pumpkin pine floors. The upper floor, aside from a guest bedroom, is the child's domain with interconnected spaces for sleeping, work and play. In the play space, which can be separated from the work space with new translucent sliding doors, we incorporated recreational features inspired by adventurous and competitive television shows, at their son’s request. MODERN MEETS TRADITIONAL. We left the historic front facade of the building largely unchanged - the security bars were removed from the windows and the single pane windows were replaced with higher performing historic replicas. We designed the interior and rear facade with a vision of warm modernism, weaving in the notable period features. Each element was either restored or reinterpreted to blend with the modern aesthetic. The detailed ceiling in the living space, for example, has a new matte monochromatic finish, and the wood stairs are covered in a dark grey floor paint, whereas the mahogany doors were simply refinished. New wide plank wood flooring with a neutral finish, floor-to-ceiling casework, and bold splashes of color in wall paint and tile, and oversized high-performance windows (on the rear facade) round out the modern aesthetic. RENTAL INCOME. The existing rowhome was zoned for a 2-family dwelling but included an undesirable, single-floor studio apartment at the garden level with low ceiling heights and questionable emergency egress. In order to increase the quality and quantity of space in the rental unit, we reimagined it as a two-floor, 1 or 2 bedroom, 2 bathroom apartment with a modern aesthetic, increased ceiling height on the lowest level and provided an in-unit washer/dryer. The apartment was listed with Jackie O'Connor Real Estate and rented immediately, providing the owners with a source of passive income. ENCLOSURE WITH BENEFITS. The homeowners sought a minimal carbon footprint, enabled by their urban location and lifestyle decisions, paired with the benefits of a high-performance home. The extent of the renovation allowed us to implement a deep energy retrofit (DER) to address air tightness, insulation, and high-performance windows. The historic front facade is insulated from the interior, while the rear facade is insulated on the exterior. Together with these building enclosure improvements, we designed an HVAC system comprised of continuous fresh air ventilation, and an efficient, all-electric heating and cooling system to decouple the house from natural gas. This strategy provides optimal thermal comfort and indoor air quality, improved acoustic isolation from street noise and neighbors, as well as a further reduced carbon footprint. We also took measures to prepare the roof for future solar panels, for when the South End neighborhood’s aging electrical infrastructure is upgraded to allow them. URBAN LIVING. The desirable neighborhood location allows the both the homeowners and tenant to walk, bike, and use public transportation to access the city, while each charging their respective plug-in electric cars behind the building to travel greater distances. OVERALL. The understated rowhouse is now ready for another century of urban living, offering the owners comfort and convenience as they live life as an expression of their values. Eric Roth Photo

FX Home Tours Interior Design: Osmond Design

This stunning living room was our clients new favorite part of their house. The orange accents pop when set to the various shades of gray. This room features a gray sectional couch, stacked ledger stone fireplace, floating shelving, floating cabinets with recessed lighting, mounted TV, and orange artwork to tie it all together. Warm and cozy. Time to curl up on the couch with your favorite movie and glass of wine!

Michael Lowry Photography

This warm and rustic home, set in the spacious Lakeview neighborhood, features incredible reclaimed wood accents from the vaulted ceiling beams connecting the great room and dining room to the wood mantel and other accents throughout.

Family Room with reclaimed wood beams for shelving and fireplace mantel. Performance fabrics used on all the furniture allow for a very durable and kid friendly environment.

Remodel of family room with new fireplace stone, custom mantle, painting recessed ceiling panels white and re staining beams, new wall paint and remodel of existing wall shelves.

Matthew Niemann Photography www.matthewniemann.com

Amy Pearman, Boyd Pearman Photography

The 3615™ gas fireplace is the smallest model in the three-part Linear Gas Fireplace Series and is perfect for more intimate spaces, such as bedrooms, bathrooms and cozy dens. Like its larger counterparts, the 4415™ gas fireplace and 6015™ gas fireplace, this gas fireplace showcases a stunning fire view unlike anything else available. Its sleek, heavy gauge steel firebox displays tall, dynamic flames over a bed of reflective crushed glass which is illuminated by bottom-lit Accent Lights and accompanied by a unique fireback and optional interior fire art. The transitional architecture and design of the 3615™ gas fireplaceallows this model to complement both traditional and contemporary homes. The 3615™ gas fireplace has a high heat output of 33,000 BTUs and has the ability to heat up to 1,700 square feet by utilizing two concealed 90 CFM blowers. It features high quality, ceramic glass that comes standard with the 2015 ANSI approved low visibility safety barrier, increasing the overall safety of this unit for you and your family. This gas fireplace also allows you to heat up to two other rooms in your home with the optional Power Heat Vent Kit. The new GreenSmart™ 2 Wall Mounted Remote is included with the 3615™ gas fireplace and allows you to control virtually every component of this fully-loaded unit. See the different in superior quality and performance with the 3615™ HO Linear Gas Fireplace.