RE-IMAGINED ABODE
When their current home just wasn’t quite meeting the needs of their very large family, these treasured clients came to us to help them reimagine most of their entire first floor. Through several design meetings and careful contemplation, we were able to deliver a remarkably new series of spaces where their family of five (and all their many nearby relatives) can live, work, play, eat, and entertain for many years ahead!!!
One of the most prominent design moves made was the relocation of the dining room from a tucked away alcove in the front of the house to the former great room space located directly adjacent to the kitchen. And in the former dining room, a new family study was born complete with custom built-ins and a hidden passage through the new expanded pantry and into the kitchen. This newly relocated and expanded dining room being so close to the social center of the home now affords our clients ample space to host large family dinners and gatherings. Furthermore, the original great room fireplace was then removed to make way for a quaint and comfy window seat nook, which doubles to bring in abundant more loads of natural light into the home. To increase the spacious feeling of the home and to improve traffic flow to and from the rear deck outside, we creatively designed a banquette seating area to anchor the large dining room table closer to the edge of the room as opposed to the typically common placement in the middle of the room.
Perhaps the most notable improvement in the home is the spacious custom kitchen personalized to fit the homeowners’ specific needs and desires. But before we could even get very far along, the existing framing in this part of the home was so unique that opening up a couple of walls required two substantially sized steel beams with specially designed plumbing ‘portholes’ in its webbing supported by steel posts down a story to the foundation below just to make the project possible. With increased cabinet storage (including lots of drawers), the huge center island is perfect for preparing large family feasts. And for more informal social gatherings or just grabbing a quick bite to eat, we created a unique raised counter peninsula with spacious room for seven and a flanking large panel TV perfect for gameday events at the home. And as is a common theme in this exciting project, we more than doubled the amount of natural light coming into the kitchen increasing overall brightness as well as desirable sightlines to the rear yard. This was a fun and exciting project to be a part of – one that was both creative and rewarding. We are very blessed for our relationship with these terrific clients!