There are few things greater than the mark a talented interior designer can leave on a home. So imagine how lucky homeowners John Larsen and Mike Stewart feel to have had 30 designers work on their 100-year-old home on the Lakes of the Isles in Minneapolis, Minn.

As owners of the 2012 American Society of Interior Designers Showcase Home, Larsen and Stewart agreed to work with Minneapolis-St. Paul Magazine and a large team of designers and contractors months before moving in. In fact, a total of 30 ASID designers worked on the project, which includes an underground tunnel linking the house to an office, an artist’s studio, a meditation room, a gift-wrapping room and a full vegetable garden. Marvin Windows and Doors is one of the project’s sponsors.

Before Larsen and Stewart, the home was owned by Stanley and Martha Platte and was the grounds for many fund-raisers and events hosted by the civic-minded and politically active family. Its new owners are also known for their civic engagement and charitable efforts.

“We were really searching for a home that would appeal to local design aficionados and people with an appreciation for historic homes,” said ASID Showcase Home Committee Co-Chair Holly Bayer. “Not only is the home a perfect example of great design and beauty in the Twin Cities, but John and Mike’s passion for design mixed with their philanthropic commitments make them ideal candidates for this incredible transformation.”

The ASID Showcase Home at 2002 Lake of the Isles Parkway in Minneapolis will be open to the public from 10 a.m., Wednesday through Sunday, May 19-June 10. Tickets are available online at www.mspmag.com/hometour.

We are certainly guilty of posting photos of spacious, sprawling kitchens. For a lot of homeowners — especially those who live in older homes — that’s just not reality. But that doesn’t mean you can’t make your kitchen feel bigger.

We stumbled upon some greats tips from Lisa Frederick on Houzz that help create the illusion of a bigger kitchen. And here’s the good news: You won’t need a sledgehammer! Here’s a few ideas we highly recommend:

Replace solid cabinet doors with glass ones. Frederick nails it: “Glass fronts lighten the look of cabinetry and allow the eye to travel through to the back, which helps the kitchen seem more expansive.” But this doesn’t mean you should cram your cabinets full, Frederick warns. “Don’t clutter the interiors with bric-a-brac — you’ll defeat the purpose.”

Choose furnishings with a small footprint. Two common casualties lost to a small kitchen — counter space and room for seating. But that doesn’t have to be so, Frederick writes. “Select petite islands, slim chairs, streamlined stools and narrow tables that don’t eat up valuable floor space.”

Recess storage. This is easily the biggest space saver and it can create some major functionality to your kitchen. Frederick writes, “Tuck a pantry, shelving or cabinets flush with the wall to keep from obstructing the kitchen’s flow.”

To see more great tips for making a small kitchen seem larger, check out Frederick’s article on Houzz. We highly recommend it!

The staircase is one of the most practical elements to any multistory home, which is probably why it’s so often overlooked. For example, look at one of the great ongoing gags on the ABC sitcom Modern Family, where Phil Dumphy vows to “fix that step” every time he trips going up the staircase.

Let’s give the staircase some much-needed love, because in far too many homes, it’s a missed opportunity.

We wrote about high-end, architectural staircases yesterday, but today, we’re highlighting two fun and simple ideas for sprucing up the stairs from Gabrielle Blair at The Stir:

Painted runners. Carpet runners may be more traditional, but they can easily slip, which is a viable concern for aging homeowners or those who have kids. Painted runners (pictured above) can create depth and contrast, as well as hide nicks and blemishes if you have light-colored wood or white steps.

Staircase wallpaper. Talk about bold! Adding wallpaper to stair risers (seen below) is as simple as purchasing fresh wallpaper or perhaps using some leftovers used elsewhere in the home. For instance, if you have a hip washroom on the top floor, use the same wallpaper for the staircase to make it pop.

[Photos courtesy The Stir and The Haystack Needle]

When this rural property in Pennsylvania was recently sold, its new owners wanted to maintain its sense of history — the land is in the area of a key Civil War-era battlefield, and the house and barns on the property oozed historic charm and character.

But in an effort to maintain and update the structures, it was determined the house main — which had “undergone many unsympathetic additions and alterations over the centuries,” according to architect Jim Rill. Instead, a new house was build that fit the style of the property and the character of the area, mixing modern comforts with a style that looks like it’s aged over time.

One of the defining characteristics of the home is its use of windows (from Marvin Windows and Doors, we’re proud to say). According to a write-up on TrendsIdeas.com:

Despite the expanse of wood ceilings and walls, the interior is light and airy, thanks to large banks of colonial-style windows on both sides of the house.

“Transparency right through the house was essential,” says Rill. “The windows let the house breathe and make for an immediate connection to the outdoors. In fact, the outdoor living areas are treated as extra rooms that are as much a part of the house as the rooms inside.

Read the full story here.

[photo courtesy of TrendsIdeas.com]

Check your local movie listings and you would have a hard time finding a ticket for less than $10. Over the past few years, movie night has become absurdly expensive.

At the same time, media rooms are becoming more popular as home-theater systems have not only improved in quality but become easier to plan a room around. (Remember those bulky big-screen TVs from the late 1990s? Oy vey.)

Whether you’re finishing a basement or you’ve included a media room in your new home, planning includes more than a visit to your nearest home electronics retail store. Here’s a list of tips from Houzz to create the perfect media room for your home:

• Include storage and shelves for all of your favorite books and movies
• Have fun with the paint scheme. Go with a mural like a star-speckled sky or dark, rich colors to accommodate dim lighting
• Prioritize comfort when choosing furniture
• Create theater-like acoustics by using sound paneling or wall upholstery
• Include a bar or kitchenette to serve as your at-home concessions stand

Do you have a media room in your home? What’s your favorite feature?

[Photo from Deep River Partners]

We recently introduced our readers to Southern Living magazine’s 2012 Idea House project, a great annual project that documents the renovation of aging homes as some of the best in the business breathe new life into them. Marvin Windows and Doors is a sponsor of the project, and we’re doing some of our own documentary work, as well.

Our video series will follow the project from beginning to end. This most recent video (episode 3, embedded just below) shows the house resting on its new foundation, after it was moved to a new position on the lot, and some other updates taking place — like window replacement.

Learn more about the project from Southern Living, and be sure to follow the story on Marvin.com.

Let’s just ignore the bizarre weather that has left parts of the country stunned the past few weeks and welcome spring, a magical time of year when homes are reinvigorated by warming weather and bright colors. (Quick poll: Is there any better feeling than the first night you can choose to leave the windows open?)

Of course, spring time is when various around-the-home projects are revisited or thought up. But hold your paint roller right there, because a recent story from the folks at House Beautiful shows how the softer colors of spring can make for a great choice for your bedroom walls.

Steal some inspiration from spring and check out some of these great paint schemes from the House Beautiful story that could work year-round (including the photo above):

A recent article from Builder Magazine tells the tale of an all too common struggle architects face when a client’s desires seem to clash with the instinct to preserve the traditional character of an old home:

This 1915 house had good proportions, a protective roofline, and a view over the water. So architect Rob Whitten winced when the owners asked him to winterize it and add on. “Many such cottages have been brought to their knees by people wanting to turn them into four-season residences,” he says.

The renovated cottage includes Marvin double-hung windows that blend well with the other rustic but sophisticated materials in the home: wood-paneled walls, pine flooring, a farmhouse sink and cherry cabinets. Learn more about Marvin double-hung windows at marvin.com, and read the full article at Builder Online.

11 Tips for Adding Personality and Style to Your Kitchen
CasaSugar
Make your kitchen quintessentially you without swinging a single sledgehammer. CasaSugar shows how you can revitalize the kitchen through deliberate use of artwork, accessories and personal artifacts. Besides, what can a stainless steel refrigerator really say about you?

Home Offices That Earn Their Keep
Houzz
Whether you run a business out of your home or you’re in the business of bring work home, a home office should be just that — equal parts home and office. Here’s a look at functional home offices that also reflect the personality and style of their owners. Bottom line: There’s no harm in adding some creature comforts to your workspace.

Space Planning 101
Home Renovation Guide
For most homeowners, spacing is a matter of feel. But feel doesn’t work so well for architects and interior designers. Here, the National Kitchen and Bath Association (NKBA) and Design Works, Inc. have formalize the art of spacing with a very helpful tipsheet.

It’s no secret families are spending more and more time in the kitchen, a room that’s increasingly blending with or even occasionally replacing more traditional gathering spaces. With that in mind:

The owners of this kitchen in a classic house asked designer Mary Jane Pappas and her team to transform their existing work area to make it lighter, longer, and out of the way of foot traffic between the back door and the dining room. The design also had to provide pedestrian access to the garden, bring in more natural light, and combine modern efficiency with a refined, transitional appeal, says Pappas.

“To achieve this, we pushed out the rear of the kitchen, adding a breakfast area for four in the extra space. Beyond this, I added French doors that open directly to the back garden. Previously there were only windows at this end of the room.”

Those French doors are Marvin Ultimate Inswing French Doors. They provide a beautiful anchor for this reworked, wide-open kitchen layout. Read more about this great remodel project at TrendsIdeas.com.

[photo via TrendsIdeas.com]