When I first met with Stephanie and Dan at their home, I knew we’d be a good fit. Their home was built in 1989 and was ready for some updates. The kitchen still had the original cabinets and countertops. It had a compartmental floor plan that made them feel isolated from the living room. And the dining felt distant during social interactions. The primary bath was also nearing (or had reached…) the end of its functional life. Plus the architecture at the time was into angled walls and archways, which made the spaces feel dated.
They had explored the option of moving, but found little that they liked on the market. It made them realize that they enjoyed their neighborhood, so they didn’t really want to leave. Plus the house had other virtues that were worth keeping. Hence, they decided to invest in their existing home and tailor it to their upcoming needs for the years to come.
It was a daunting task to tear out the kitchen and the primary bath. They worked hard to find a collaborative design team that could work through different design ideas and find the best solution. So we started with the Initial Design Phase; it included 3 variations for each space. The 1st design was focused on staying within their budget. The second design explored a couple of cool features that expanded the budget. And the 3rd design was more “outside the box”, which included ideas that the owners hadn’t really thought about.
Then we dissected these three designs together and created a fourth plan, called the composite plan. It included approximations for the budget as well. Now we had a solid enough plan to write the Scope of Work and build a more accurate budget. These drawings and budget became our baselines for the final design phase.
I loved the direction we went with the kitchen. It became more open and bright. The new island was a game changer for everyday life. During the design phase, we targeted the removal of non-structural walls, saving them money in regards to engineering, materials, and labor. The efficiency of the cabinet storage and layout was so much more useful than their old layout. They ended up choosing modern finishes with some excellent lighting. Overall, the kitchen became a great expression of themselves and was nicely balanced for day-to-day living and the occasional social event.
The primary bath was another fun transition. Pulling it out of the nineties and into the modern world was very rewarding. We ended up relocating all of the major fixtures. The new layout made so much more sense. In line with the kitchen, they chose modern finishes that expressed their personal style. I think the bath feels more like a vacation, it truly has an elegant, spa-like feel.
The economies of scale were working in their favor when they decided to include the remodel of the hall bathroom (they were expecting their first born during the project…) We could never do “just” the hall bath for the price that we ended up doing it for. Since we already had plumbers, electricians, tile setters, etc. coming through the house for the kitchen and the primary bath, it kept costs down. We could combine the projects to best utilize the efficiencies of schedule and budget.
The owners were thrilled with the final results. We keep in touch with them and have heard their child is doing well.
