A little vacation to a cottage as beautiful and soothing and easy on the eye as this one would be a dream. This neutral stone & thatched roof cottage in The Cotswolds is all wood and white and sisal and stone and wicker and linen/cotton….it’s heaven. Available as a location home via Shoot Factory. (Photographer: Richard Oxford)

The minute I spotted this house I had to show my husband. I imagine us building something like this – simple architecture that blurs the lines between indoors and outdoors – one day on a lake and living our best geriatric lives 🙂 Designed by Berman Horn Studio. Little Peek, a small home fifteen miles from Maine’s mid-coast on the island of Vinalhaven, is both an escape and a refuge from today’s urban existence. The house is a contemporary reinterpretation of the New England connected farmhouse. Organized as a long bar that faces the water to the west, the Camden Hills to the north and untouched ledges to the east, it includes a main house, a small guest cottage, and a custom designed fully screened porch that links the two. This porch, which creates a shared exterior room and frames views to the landscape, extends the profile of the roofline to tie the two houses together. Along its length the house transforms from cape to saltbox to create the traditional “Ell” found in historic buildings in the area. Within the whitewashed interior, the decision was made to limit the visual presence of wood to give nature the chance to enter uncontested through the large industrial windows and bring focus onto the textures and colors of the stone, huckleberry, bay and lichen that surround the house. Details are both modest and spare, recalling the cleanliness of the Shaker aesthetic. The interiors are inspired by a casual but edited mix of American and French antiques and textiles juxtaposed with the clean lines and playful finishes of late 20th century contemporary design. The vibrant colors and painted surfaces create a warm counterpoint to the ever-changing vista of the outdoors. (Photos: Greta Rybus)

Woodwork that should never EVERRRRRRRR be painted over. Lisa Staton doing god’s work and NOT giving in to painting out such beauty. AMEN. This classic Tudor home was a diamond in the rough when our clients acquired it. It had all of its original charm intact: classic oak paneling, leaded glass windows and 1920’s detailing throughout. Our clients choose to restore the classic bones of the home while updating all systems for modern family living. All bathrooms and the kitchen were completely gutted and re-worked. Careful attention was paid to repeating original details in newly renovated areas, including a leaded glass transom between breakfast room and kitchen and custom commissioned cabinets for the kitchen that match original library paneling. Windows were meticulously restored rather than replaced. And much original lighting from the house was re-wired and re-installed. For furnishings we chose to pair classic pieces with more modern art and shapes. Repeated throughout the house is a rhythm of black and white. We then married grays and blues with warmer woods and vintage rugs and textiles. (Photos: Haris Kenjar)

Brian Paquette is a favourite designer of ours and we’ve featured his work on here many times in the past. I found out recently that he launched his first book last month which I’m excited to get my hands on. And with that, I am sharing some of his recent spaces because they are always classic, and so very easy on the eye.

Simple and elegant and timeless. A gorgeous restoration designed by Lisa Staton. Perched up on a hill in a bustling Seattle neighborhood, our clients came to us wanting to do a full gut remodel and restoration of their classic Craftsman house. The request was for us to restore the old bones of the house where years of various renovations had stripped it away (especially in the kitchen). They wanted a generous kitchen that flowed easily into the dining room for entertaining. Key to making the new space-plan work was moving the powder room to the opposite side of the house which also allowed us to create a butlers bar area. Windows on the main floor were re-configured to match the size and proportion of existing original wood windows. In the dining room inky gray walls and a crisp white ceiling marry well with the new kitchen. While the kitchen is all brand new, details like the new windows, open shelves in brass and marble and the vintage 1900s French cabinet keep it true to the old house. A simple mudroom sits off the kitchen. Upstairs the main bath was fully redone with a combo of black marble hexagon floor, putty pink cabinets and custom lights and mirrors. (Photos: Aaron Leitz)