The North Lee residence was in need of an innovative overhaul that would offer more flexibility, functionality, and comfort to the home. The project's target-goals were to work with the existing massing, redesign the floor plan to expand the areas used on a daily basis, maximize small spaces, maintain the budget, and satisfy the client's vision.

The proposed interior schematic-design switched the kitchen and office spaces and combined the laundry room and bath area to provide more room to better serve the family and accommodate their out-of town visitors.

The kitchen, which was originally located in the front of the dwelling, now attaches to the cozy dining area at the rear of the house, allowing for a view of and easy access to the exterior. Shaping the ceiling upward adds more height to create an abundance of light, and makes this room the most popular space in the home. Using cost-effective kitchen cabinets from IKEA, saved enough to splurge on the custom-fabricated Maple countertops.

By designing a space-saving full bath and laundry room in one, we created an open bath area with multiple functions. The shower curtain moves along the ceiling-track and doubles as a partition for the washer-dryer unit. When the shower is not in use, the space is available to dry laundry on a portable rack.

In keeping with our not-so-big-house philosophy, the final design is functional, fresh, and simple, paralleling the client's existing lifestyle; lots of Scandinavian furniture in an uncluttered interior environment. This formula makes for great teamwork and seamless communication between the client and architect.