Traditional Main Floor Transformation
The owners of a home built in the 90s, wanted a complete main level remodel. They didn’t like the cookie cutter feel of their home, but instead wanted to add some drama to the design. The home has "great bones" with spacious rooms and lots of floor to ceiling windows, but the drab wall color left lots to be desired. The kitchen was still in nice shape, but lacked interest. The cooktop location seemed like an afterthought. The family room was a gem, but the cabinet to the right of the fireplace was too tall, too narrow, lacked proportion.
DESIRED CHANGES:
- define the foyer from the rest of the house
- design the kitchen, bar area and adjacent eating area to look like their favorite Irish pub
- switch out the lighter stained kitchen cabinets and skinny profile woodwork for darker cabinetry and contrasting millwork with depth and interest
- change an awkwardly asymmetric cabinet arrangement on the fireplace wall and replace it with a more functional and visually balanced design
- update the fireplace and install a large flat screen TV over the fireplace
- install hand scraped hardwood flooring in all areas except for the family room
- give the entrance to the family room a “grander” feel
- give the drab powder room some pizzazz
THREE CHALLENGES
CHALLENGE: There was no definition between the main areas of the home
a) the front and side halls
b) the dining room which was to become the everyday eating area and
c) the family/fireplace room
SOLUTION: Delineate the areas by the addition of archways flanked by decorative pillars. Remove partial wall in dining room to open up the space and treat the kitchen and new eating area as one large space. Refer to the "before and after" floor plans for specifics.
CHALLENGE: The homeowners selected a large amount of dark surfaces with the cabinetry, countertops and flooring.
SOLUTION: With that much dark surface we used color and lighting along with the many banks of floor to ceiling windows. The ivory enameled woodwork gave a lively contrast to the floor and wall colors. Finally we used dimmable lighting and many zones to sculpt a wide variety of moods and lighting levels.
DESIRED CHANGES:
- define the foyer from the rest of the house
- design the kitchen, bar area and adjacent eating area to look like their favorite Irish pub
- switch out the lighter stained kitchen cabinets and skinny profile woodwork for darker cabinetry and contrasting millwork with depth and interest
- change an awkwardly asymmetric cabinet arrangement on the fireplace wall and replace it with a more functional and visually balanced design
- update the fireplace and install a large flat screen TV over the fireplace
- install hand scraped hardwood flooring in all areas except for the family room
- give the entrance to the family room a “grander” feel
- give the drab powder room some pizzazz
THREE CHALLENGES
CHALLENGE: There was no definition between the main areas of the home
a) the front and side halls
b) the dining room which was to become the everyday eating area and
c) the family/fireplace room
SOLUTION: Delineate the areas by the addition of archways flanked by decorative pillars. Remove partial wall in dining room to open up the space and treat the kitchen and new eating area as one large space. Refer to the "before and after" floor plans for specifics.
CHALLENGE: The homeowners selected a large amount of dark surfaces with the cabinetry, countertops and flooring.
SOLUTION: With that much dark surface we used color and lighting along with the many banks of floor to ceiling windows. The ivory enameled woodwork gave a lively contrast to the floor and wall colors. Finally we used dimmable lighting and many zones to sculpt a wide variety of moods and lighting levels.
Country: United States
