This is a perfect use of a large double hung barn door used to close off the upstairs area

The lower level living room. Photos by Gibeon Photography

Donna Ventrice

HomeSource Builders

For this residential project on the North side of Fort Wayne, Indiana we used a penetrating dye to color the concrete. We started by grinding the floor to remove the cure and seal, and going through the necessary passes to bring the floor to an 800-level shine - a reflective shine that is easy to maintain. We then cleaned the floor, added the custom dye, (with a mixture of black and sand), rinsed the floor, densified and finished with a final polish.

THEME Inspired by the Magic Tree House series of children’s books, this indoor tree house provides entertainment, fun and a place for children to read about or imagine adventures through time. A blue sky, green meadows, and distant matching beech trees recreate the magic of Jack and Annie’s Frog Creek, and help bring the characters from the series to life. FOCUS A floor armoire, ceiling swing and climbing rope give the structure a true tree house look and feel. A drop-down drawing and writing table, wheeled work table and recessed ceiling lights ensure the room can be used for more than play. The tree house has electric interior lighting, a window to the outdoors and a playful sliding shutter over a window to the room. The armoire forms a raised, nine-foot-wide play area, while a TV within one of the wall’s floor-to-ceiling cabinets — with a delightful sliding ladder — transforms the room into a family theater perfect for watching movies and holding Wii competitions. STORAGE The bottom of the drawing table is a magnetic chalk board that doubles as a display for children’s art works. The tree’s small niches are for parents’ shoes; the larger compartment stores children’s shoes and school bags. Books, games, toys, DVDs, Wii and other computer accessories are stored in the wall cabinets. The armoire contains two spacious drawers and four nifty hinged storage bins. A rack of handy “vegetable buckets” above the armoire stores crayons, scissors and other useful items. GROWTH The room easily adapts from playroom, to party room, to study room and even to bedroom, as the tree house easily accommodates a twin-size mattress. SAFETY The rungs and rails of the ladder, as well as the grab bars beside the tree house door are wrapped with easy-grip rope for safe climbing. The drawing table has spring-loaded hinges to help prevent it from dropping dangerously from the wall, and the table door has double sets of locks up top to ensure safety. The interior of each storage compartment is carpeted like the tree house floor to provide extra padding.

Photo Credit: N. Leonard

Michael J Gibbs

A large recreation room includes an open area for the pool table, luxurious bar, generous T.V. space, and built-n shelving.

This is an older basement that we renovated, however many of the features are still interesting to showcase. The media wall is a "dummy" wall between the mechanical room and the main space. There is a door to the left of the TV that is clad with the cabinet panels and trim so it blends in with the wall. We were also able to take the utility paint grade stairs and have the stain mixed in with the finish to resemble stain grade stairs. Photographed by: Matt Hoots