MODERN ACRE STUDIOCUSTOM LUXURY HOME DESIGNS
Articles

Experience in Written Form

What makes beautiful & comfortable homes

Filter by category
Sort by
MaterialsFEATURED

Taller Doors, Thinner Trim: Designing the Interior Doors of a Custom Home

Interior doors set the scale of every room. In our custom homes we usually take doors to 8 feet or full ceiling height, choose solid-core slabs, and decide casing versus trimless openings early, because each choice changes the framing, drywall and budget.

READ ARTICLE →
Design 101

Shade Pockets and Drapery Tracks: Designing Window Treatments Into the House

The best window treatments in a custom home are planned during design, not bought after move-in. Recessed shade pockets, ceiling drapery tracks, blocking, and power at every window let shades disappear when raised and work quietly when lowered.

Design 101

Kids' Rooms That Grow Up: Designing Bedrooms, Bunk Rooms, and Shared Baths

A child's bedroom should be designed for the teenager, not the toddler. Plan the shell for fifteen years of change: size, light, storage, outlets and a shared bath that works for two schedules, then let furniture and color handle the early years.

Materials

How to Mix Metal Finishes in a House Without It Looking Accidental

Yes, you can mix metal finishes in one house. Pick one dominant metal, one or two supporting ones, give each a job (hardware, plumbing, lighting), and repeat every finish at least twice so it reads as a decision, not a leftover.

Design 101

Work Zones or the Work Triangle? How to Lay Out a Custom Kitchen

The work triangle still suits a one-cook kitchen, but most custom kitchens now plan in zones: prep, cooking, cleanup, storage, and a drop zone. Here is how we size aisles, place appliances, and keep two cooks and a crowd out of each other's way.

Inspiration

The Powder Room: Why the Smallest Room Deserves the Boldest Design

A powder room is the one room nearly every guest uses, and it is small enough to take real design risks. Place it off the main path, give it one statement element, like a carved stone sink or full-coverage wallpaper, and keep everything else quiet.

Process

What Drawings Do You Actually Get? A Custom Home Design Set, Phase by Phase

A custom home design set arrives in three waves: schematic design (the idea), design development (the decisions), and construction documents (the instructions). Here is what is in each set, what it is for, and what it cannot tell you yet.

Design 101

Curbless Showers and Wet Rooms: What It Takes to Build One Right

A curbless shower or wet room works when the floor is planned for it from the start: a recessed slab or lowered framing, a continuous slope to a linear drain, full waterproofing, and strong ventilation. Decided late, it leaks, puddles, or ends up with a curb anyway.

Process

The Design Brief: What to Bring to Your First Meeting With an Architect

Bring five things to a first architect meeting: your lot details, a working budget, a list of how you actually live, 5 to 10 images you love, and a short list of non-negotiables. Together they form a design brief, and it shapes every drawing that follows.

Design 101

Slab or Pier and Beam? Choosing a Foundation for a Houston Custom Home

Most Houston custom homes sit on a post-tensioned slab engineered for expansive clay. Pier and beam earns its higher cost on flood-prone lots, sloped sites, and designs that want a raised floor. The soil report, not habit, should make the call.

Design 101

How to Build a Color Palette for the Whole House

Build a whole-house color palette from the fixed finishes out: floors, stone and wood first, then two or three wall colors that share an undertone, then accents for small rooms. Test every color in its own room's light before you commit.

Design 101

One Story or Two? How to Choose the Shape of a Custom Home

A two-story house usually costs less per square foot and fits a tighter lot. A one-story house costs more to build but lives easier. Here is how the foundation, roof, lot, heat and flood rules tip the decision, and why many clients land on a primary-down plan.

Design 101

Outdoor Kitchen Design: Placement, Cover, and Smoke

A good outdoor kitchen is decided by three things: where it sits relative to the indoor kitchen, whether it cooks under a roof, and where the smoke goes. Get those right in the plan and the appliances, counters, and finishes fall into place.

Every Article

The full journal, oldest thinking to newest — 88 pieces.

2026

2025

2024

Subscribe, to stay updated with best home designsLuxury design thinking straight to your inbox. No noise.