Lincoln, NE
A single-story home built around a stone fireplace and beam ceilings, with a blue-gray kitchen island and natural wood cabinetry tying the main level together.
The stone on this fireplace is laid tight to the mantel with no visible shelf gap, and that joint between natural stone and stained wood only stays clean if the mason is working to a consistent depth line across the full face.
We painted that island a navy blue and ran white countertops across it, and the decision to keep the perimeter cabinetry in natural wood tone against the same vaulted ceiling and beam structure you see in the great room is what lets the kitchen hold its own identity while staying connected to the rest of the open floor plan.
The master bath has gray flat-panel cabinets under dual sinks, hexagon tile on the floor, and a walk-in shower with a built-in bench and recessed niche, and when you light the mirrors from behind instead of overhead you get even, shadow-free light across the vanity that a standard bar fixture just can't match.
Gray cabinets mounted above the hookups with gray tile running below is a simple laundry room on paper, but the fact that we carried matching trim profiles and the same cabinet hardware in here that you see in the kitchen tells you something about how we think about rooms people use every day but rarely show off.
That grey brick surround on the electric fireplace was set with a flush mortar joint so the face stays flat and modern, and flanking it with built-in shelving at the same depth as the firebox frame gives the whole basement family room wall a sense of proportion that a standalone unit sitting against drywall would never get you.