Project Spotlight: Tudor Revival

These clients wanted a low maintenance, side-yard entertainment and dining space that would flow from their newly remodeled kitchen and look intentional rather than as an afterthought. Horrible soil conditions, an unfortunate electrical service location and the elevations of the driveway and doors presented many challenges to senior designer Heather Sweeney.

The team combined smart material selections, innovative construction techniques and a stepped design to create a traditional outdoor living environment with a modern touch that is as functional as it is beautiful. Colors and shapes are so well integrated it truly looks like an extension of the house itself.

The landings and stairs flow organically from the patio doors to the lawn below. The mix of materials, angles and shapes blend with strategically placed plantings for privacy and visual balance.

Project Spotlight: Elevated Entertaining

The main level of this home has a beautiful wood-panel pub that led to a deck that was barely big enough for a grill. The clients wanted to open the room to a much more substantial deck to accommodate larger gatherings and integrate the indoor and outdoor living spaces while preserving privacy from the neighbors.

The new space needed to offer relief from evening insects and untimely showers, but also extend the outdoor season and add direct access to the yard. The roof line was low and the side yard setback restrictions dictated that the new structure could not extend beyond the side of the garage.

So, senior designer Heather Sweeney created a complete solution with a tall, mechanically-louvered pergola, disappearing screens, a line-of-sight fireplace wall, glass bifold doors and an open deck that wraps around the back of the house. While it extends the pub’s black and brown tones, the project achieved the clean contemporary look the clients desired.

Project Spotlight: Modern Oasis

These clients desired a more beautiful, functional and low maintenance space for the steep yard between their contemporary, urban home and the creek below. They not only wanted to update the look and feel but they wanted something that would work for entertaining beyond Minnesota’s short pool season. The couple envisioned a contemporary, less curvilinear, more private poolscape that would suit the house and include a water feature and more modern fire pit. Plantings were to be minimal, except for colorful annuals dispersed throughout.

Project Spotlight: Terraced Paradise

Nestled within a golf club community, these clients were hoping to take their steeply sloped backyard and transform it into a private oasis for their whole family to enjoy! They had an existing upper patio area that was installed when they moved in, but wanted to expand upon it and create more areas to relax, play and retreat.

Project Spotlight: Sky Lane

These homeowners bought their large home in the brand new development largely because it looked out over a pastoral preserve that can never be developed. But the foreground was nothing but an elevated screened porch on spindly posts and an expansive, flat lawn. They tasked designer Heather Sweeney to create an outdoor environment that could accommodate frequent 20 to 30 person events and extend the home’s lower level entertainment space outdoors. It needed to reflect their favorite travel destination, Tuscany, but fit the home’s modern farmhouse architecture. They credit the team with nailing the design (no pun intended!) and working into winter to have the magnificent space ready for 2019.

Rooftop Party: A Luxury Minneapolis Moment

Who says we can’t have a little west coast Hollywood glam in Minnesota? (Writer’s Note: Please don’t answer that if you’re going to say ‘me!’) When we think of luxury, we instantly remember this rooftop moment in Minneapolis. Let’s take a moment of our day to revel in what Minnesota has to offer regarding rooftop luxury views.

Project Spotlight: Lakeside Living

These clients wanted to connect their new kitchen bump out to the outdoors via a sheltered area that would block bugs and rain but not the view of the lake below. Senior Designer Heather Sweeney exceeded those goals with a design that actually makes the lake appear closer and seamlessly integrates the indoors and out. It even expanded cool weather use with strategically placed heaters and a large fire table. The project features an operable pergola with motorized screen walls and architectural columns over a bluestone patio.

Design Spotlight: Coastal Cottage Charm

Before the designer could create this charming country cottage landscape in the heart of posh Wayzata, she had to win the trust of a client who had been disappointed by three previous contractors. Her own bold plan called for removing a row of failing cedars and creating an enchanting garden in the now sunny front yard. The plan would bring sense to the home’s complex elevation that had resulted from joining the main house and carriage house.

The goal was to make it easier to find the front entrance and to reclaim the space for a private garden that would feature improved paving, classic architectural elements, dog security and more manageable maintenance. By the time construction was underway the client was so confident she would simply refer questions to the designer.

New Year’s Checklist: Fun Ways to Organize Your Home in 2020

Curb appeal is real. A front entry will draw the admirable eyes of many and gives homeowners an opportunity to express themselves through home design. The front of the home sets the tone for whoever is visiting. You never get a second chance to make a first impression, after all! That’s why we put together a list of ways you can refresh your entryway in 2020. New Year Resolutions can involve the home, too!

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Mom's & Design Build

12275 Weckman Road
Shakopee, MN, 55379
United States

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