Willie & Leslie of Barrington Hills loved the location of their home. Its breathtaking views overlooked a wooded backyard and a captivating lake. They didn’t want to move, but they needed more space. But the house was missing that big family room where everyone could gather, relax and converse, and the house was completely cut off visually from the beautiful outdoor view right outside! They knew what they wanted meant building an addition to their home. They began searching the internet and came across Advance Design Studio, and after browsing through project after project and reading one outstanding client review after another, they were sold on Advance Design. Additionally, they loved Advance Design’s “Common Sense Remodeling” process and felt confident that it would allow the Design/Build company to easily coordinate the multiple projects they wanted to complete all at one time. Willie and Leslie immediately set up a meeting with Owner Todd Jurs and Project Designer Claudia Pop. When the meeting ended, they were sure that Advance Design were the right people and the right approach for their project. "Establishing a direction and a budget is always key in project of this size," Todd said. "This house was screaming for a family room and it didn't have one. Ultimately, it's about working together towards the same goal of a beautiful functional addition." The project consisted of a significant family room addition with an extraordinary vaulted ceiling and floor to ceiling fireplace, a guest suite renovation with a luxury bath, a garage addition, and an adjoining outdoor patio renovation complete with a fantastic built in grilling station. The main goal was to add comfort and space to the existing home that would last their lifetime, and finally allow them to capture the amazing view of the backyard and lake that they never could really enjoy previously. Willie, Leslie and Claudia paid special attention to designing the space to make sure that the footprint of the room did not interfere with the views. Floor to ceiling Pella windows were incorporated into a spectacular window wall to provide plenty of natural light. Vaulted ceilings gave the room a bigger feel and the stunning floor to ceiling masonry fireplace was designed giving the room a rustic, comfortable feel of a Colorado Lodge. Barnwood doors and exposed wooden beams accentuate the crackling fireplace and family gathering space. An oversized statement chandelier bathes the space in soft light once the sun sets and compliments the exposed wood and fireplace perfectly. “It simple elegant and beautiful,” Designer Claudia Pop said. “It is a great family room that captures the views perfectly. They love the fireplace, the barndoors and the openness of the space we designed for the whole family now to enjoy.” And when warm weather beckons, the outdoor patio is a terrific place to spend an evening. The family now enjoys fall nights in front of their outdoor fireplace overlooking the quiet lake. Dekton Trillium Quartz counters tops adorn an amazing grilling bar. Nearly indestructible, they are the only manufactured stone product designed exclusively to withstand high heat in summer and extreme cold temperatures in winter. The guest bath renovation makes Willie and Leslie’s friends and family feel like they are staying at a 5-star hotel. Carlisle colored Maple cabinets from Medallion make a roomy dual vanity more than adequate with plenty of space to get ready for the day after a peaceful night’s sleep. Cambria Quartz countertops are durable and elegant, while contrasting the neutral cabinets flawlessly. Heated flooring from Warmly Yours is the cherry on top for this cozy guest bath. All the projects turned out better than they even imagined. Willie and Leslie now have a spacious family room with even better views of the lake and woods, a much larger garage, a fantastic relaxing outdoor patio, and a guest bath that makes it almost impossible to get the guest to leave after their stay. Are you thinking about a remodeling project? Talk to the experts at Advance Design about the renovation of your dreams. Now is the perfect time to renovate. Check out other amazing projects here. With “Common Sense Remodeling”, the process of renovating your home has never been easier. Contact us today at 847-836-2600 or schedule an appointment to talk with us about your kitchen remodeling project, or any other home renovation you are planning. Our talented team can help you design and build the new space you’ve been dreaming about.

Our MOSS customers wanted to add a master suite to their home that would provide them with room for an office area, large walk-in closet, and ensuite bathroom in addition to a full bedroom set. In addition, a new screened porch off the bedroom and nearby kitchen was a long held dream for the family. MOSS took space from a smaller, original bedroom to build out the master suite (in the process also creating a new pantry in the kitchen, which was a bonus) and worked with the customers to create the ambiance and functionality they longed for. We especially love the tile selection in the bathroom shower - stunningly bright and a colorful complement to all the family's heirlooms and collections from their travels displayed throughout the home.

Shed - shed idea in Milwaukee

The third-floor addition adds 660 sq ft above their existing main floor and accessed via a dedicated staircase between their girl’s rooms. At the top, you immediately enter into a sitting room that features a fireplace, room for a sofa and chair, and is perfect for enjoying a rainy winter day or serves as additional workspace should the couple need it. Just past the sitting room’s pocket doors is a large bedroom with plenty of room for bedroom furniture, side tables and nightstands, but the real draw is the covered Juliet balcony where the couple now relax on nice evenings. A ceiling patio heater is nestled into the cedar ceiling planks and makes the space habitable year-round, while Pebble Grey Trex decking keeps it low maintenance and looking good. An adjacent en-suite laundry room separates the primary bathroom and walk-in closet, allowing the couple to do laundry and put away clothing easily, without having to navigate stairs. The primary bathroom features a vanity with double sinks, large shower with dual showerheads, heated towel bar, toilet room, and soaking tub. Their primary suite addition offers sufficient space for sleeping, laundry and bathing, along with working options for these hardworking parents, as desired. The sitting room provides a fireplace and seating for a nightcap, or alternative work spot. Sam and Jenny’s home addition allowed them to fall in love with their home all over again.

Example of a sunroom design in DC Metro

The main goal for the owners of this 1926 house was an addition to gain more closet space near their main floor master bedroom. During the design stage, they also decided to create a zen home office for one of the owner’s reiki business that had direct access for visitors from the backyard, rather than walking through the house. Painted stucco was used on the new addition to match a previously added sunroom at the other side of the house. Matching windows were also added. The proposed design featured a simple shed roof at the side addition and a hip roof at the front and back. View of addition from the back of the house – the French doors lead into the office. We extended the existing flagstone patio to the addition and office entry. In assessing the feasibility of the project, the first thing the designer did was to check the zoning regulations. After a thorough study, it was determined that a 7-foot side addition was possible. This 7-foot addition was adequate for a built-in cabinetry storage and a new powder room. The design proposal also included a rear wraparound 13ftx13ft home office, that gave the existing rear patio a courtyard feel. The proposed addition was accessed from both the existing master bedroom and another bedroom that was converted into a family/ TV room. The main access to the home office addition was through the backyard.

Kyra Construction completed this 970 sq ft home addition in Los Angeles to improve comfort, flow, and long-term functionality. The project was planned with 3D design and managed from permits through construction and final finishes. The addition included a new master bedroom and full master bathroom, while the existing home was upgraded with a kitchen expansion, laundry relocation, a new guest bathroom, and new flooring throughout the entire house. The result is a seamless expansion that modernized the home and added valuable, livable space.

Camel Back in Black is the quintessential “mullet house,” which is the common name for a renovated historic home in the front (business) with a modern addition in the rear (party). In this case the existing structure was an early 20th century New Orleans Shotgun Duplex Home that was adapted to be shorter due to both site constraints and an existing carport addition, which was removed. The design strategy was to create a distinct new entry to the main unit of the home along the side of the property. This was achieved through a clear delineation of a modern massing of a second story addition (called a Camelback in New Orleans) with a roof that wraps to frame an exterior gate. The gate leads to a raised rear yard, which was filled in to be the same height as the main home to make it more of an extension of some of the public spaces rather than a small sunken pit, which can often be a lifeless space. Many time you will see new Camelback additions in the city that take a more blended approach, but in this case because of the corner lot and the desire to create a prominent entry (along that side) a clear line is delineated between old and new. This was done intentionally to clearly represent the original form with appropriately renovate historic details true to the original, without creating a false sense of history through an addition that would have not represented a proportion that was standard for the time the original structure was built. The existing home was the childhood dwelling of the owner, who inherited it years after it fell into disrepair. There was mold, rot and structural disrepair, but it was important to the owner that NFA preserved as much of the existing portions of the home as possible; so where there was flooring that could be preserved (and refinished) it was, where there were historic interior and exterior trim detailing that could be preserved it was and if not it was replicated in kind to the original. On the other hand, there were certain modern needs and updates that were desired and didn’t want the design to feel overly constrained by certain replicas of historic troupes. So, the addition and many of the interior finishes were intentionally contemporary.

Our MOSS customers wanted to add a master suite to their home that would provide them with room for an office area, large walk-in closet, and ensuite bathroom in addition to a full bedroom set. In addition, a new screened porch off the bedroom and nearby kitchen was a long held dream for the family. MOSS took space from a smaller, original bedroom to build out the master suite (in the process also creating a new pantry in the kitchen, which was a bonus) and worked with the customers to create the ambiance and functionality they longed for. We especially love the tile selection in the bathroom shower - stunningly bright and a colorful complement to all the family's heirlooms and collections from their travels displayed throughout the home.

Example of an exterior home design in DC Metro

Kyra Construction completed this 970 sq ft home addition in Los Angeles to improve comfort, flow, and long-term functionality. The project was planned with 3D design and managed from permits through construction and final finishes. The addition included a new master bedroom and full master bathroom, while the existing home was upgraded with a kitchen expansion, laundry relocation, a new guest bathroom, and new flooring throughout the entire house. The result is a seamless expansion that modernized the home and added valuable, livable space.

Taragano Design & Build completed this great room addition in Walnut Creek, California. The addition sits between the two existing wings at the rear of the house, filling what had been an open gap where the two roof lines came together. Building into that void rather than extending outward kept the footprint compact and gave the new room exterior walls on only one side, which is what made the full height glass possible. That roof junction was the structural problem. Two gables meeting a new flat roofed volume creates a valley condition that has to shed water in two directions, and the connection to both existing structures had to be detailed so nothing telegraphs at the seam through the first wet season. The parapet was carried above the adjacent ridge lines so the new roof drains clear of both, rather than tucking under them where debris collects. The glass wall faces the pool and slides fully open. At that opening width the header carries meaningful load across an unsupported span, which is a structural engineering question answered during design rather than a door selection made at the end. The room was oriented to the rear yard for a specific reason. Placing it here meant the rooms it connects to on either side kept their own windows, so nothing in the existing house became an interior space without daylight. Licensed general contractor, CSLB #1143420. Diamond Certified.

Andrew Sariti In the sitting room, we kept the home’s original brick wall and the rear window. That wall is painted orange and is now the focal point in the sitting room. The original window opening was converted into a decorative niche with frosted glass and asymmetrical shelves. The guest bedroom is on the other side of the window. The addition’s interior ceiling has the same sloped angle as the shed roof. The center of the addition has a ceiling fan with light. The addition is heated with a split unit that is discreetly placed on the wall in the addition. The angled shed roof of the addition is echoed in the interior ceiling.

Design rendering for a rear home addition in Pleasant Hill, California, by Taragano Design & Build. The addition is placed at the corner of the rear elevation rather than centered on it. That position was chosen to protect the existing windows along the back of the house. Extending straight off the middle would have added a room and darkened two others behind it, which is the most common way an addition makes a house worse while making it bigger. Set to the side, the new volume gets glass on two exposures and leaves the original rooms their daylight. It also creates a sheltered corner between old and new, and that corner becomes the patio without any structure built to define it. The roof runs as its own gable rather than tying into the existing pitch. On a house with a busy roof line already, extending the original would have meant a valley condition that collects debris and complicates drainage. A separate gable sheds independently and reads as a deliberate wing. Hardscape was planned to move water as much as to move people. The paver patio drains toward a rock swale rather than back toward the foundation, which matters in Contra Costa where expansive soils make foundation drainage the thing that determines whether the work holds up. Licensed general contractor, CSLB #1143420. Diamond Certified.

Our MOSS customers wanted to add a master suite to their home that would provide them with room for an office area, large walk-in closet, and ensuite bathroom in addition to a full bedroom set. In addition, a new screened porch off the bedroom and nearby kitchen was a long held dream for the family. MOSS took space from a smaller, original bedroom to build out the master suite (in the process also creating a new pantry in the kitchen, which was a bonus) and worked with the customers to create the ambiance and functionality they longed for. We especially love the tile selection in the bathroom shower - stunningly bright and a colorful complement to all the family's heirlooms and collections from their travels displayed throughout the home.

Baron Construction & Remodeling Co. Master Suite Room Addition above Garage in Redwood City Master Suite Design Build Master Bedroom & Bathroom Design Build Room Addition Design Build Firm

Inspiration for an exterior home remodel in DC Metro