The Poinciana House was the renovation of a 1937 Colonial house located in the Idelwyld Neighborhood of Fort Lauderdale. The objective of the renovation was taking this internally oriented home and opening up the interior spaces to the exterior making the outdoors an extension of the living space. The addition of a new master bathroom was also a part of the program An enclosed exterior entry courtyard was created using a newly built privacy wall. Interior spaces that bordered the entry courtyard were connected through French doors which open to an adjoining veranda. A lily pond was added as a point of interest in the courtyard. An existing asphalt single roof was replaced with a new standing seam metal roof to giving the house a touch of the tropics and a modern “Cracker” aesthetic. Other exterior improvements included a new swimming pool in the back yard surrounded by a concrete paver deck with new landscaping. A new roof deck was also placed adjoining the second floor master bedroom. The living room was reworked using a short glass block wall to define an entry just to the inside of the newly placed French doors. These French doors were built with pocketed sliding screen doors so the living room could be opened up to the prevailing breeze and naturally ventilated. A polished concrete floor was placed in the living room along with a new lighting system. Biedermeir furniture was selected to create an eclectic aesthetic in contrast to the polished concrete floor. French doors were also installed at the rear of the house opening to the backyard. In the dining room in addition to the newly installed French doors the original “Ketchum” tile floor was excavated from under an existing parquet wood floor, were restored. An existing garage was demolished and replaced with a new second level master bathroom with a new carport below. Features of note in the bathroom are the hanging double sided mirrors over double wide granite vanities with the lighting fixture “The Beverly” above, designed for and named after the client. The claw foot cast iron tub was sourced from a salvage yard. This bathroom was also featured in Interior Design Magazine and a number newspaper articles and other periodicals. Bill Sanders Photography

The Kiguchi family moved into their Austin, Texas home in 1994. Built in the 1980’s as part of a neighborhood development, they happily raised their family here but longed for something more contemporary. Once they became empty nesters, they decided it was time for a major remodel. After spending many years visiting Austin AIA Home Tours that highlight contemporary residential architecture, they had a lot of ideas and in 2013 were ready to interview architects and get their renovation underway. The project turned into a major remodel due to an unstable foundation. Architects Ben Arbib and Ed Hughey, of Arbib Hughey Design were hired to solve the structural issue and look for inspiration in the bones of the house, which sat on top of a hillside and was surrounded by great views. Unfortunately, with the old floor plan, the beautiful views were hidden by small windows that were poorly placed. In order to bring more natural light into the house the window sizes and configurations had to be addressed, all while keeping in mind the homeowners desire for a modern look and feel. To achieve a more contemporary and sophisticated front of house, a new entry was designed that included removing a two-story bay window and porch. The entrance of the home also became more integrated with the landscape creating a template for new foliage to be planted. Older exterior materials were updated to incorporate a more muted palette of colors with a metal roof, dark grey siding in the back and white stucco in the front. Deep eaves were added over many of the new large windows for clean lines and sun protection. “Inside it was about opening up the floor plan, expanding the views throughout the house, and updating the material palette to get a modern look that was also warm and inviting,” said Ben from Arbib Hughey Design. “Prior to the remodel, the house had the typical separation of rooms. We removed the walls between them and changed all of the windows to Milgard Thermally Improved Aluminum to connect the inside with the outside. No matter where you are you get nice views and natural light.” The architects wanted to create some drama, which they accomplished with the window placement and opening up the interior floor plan to an open concept approach. Cabinetry was used to help delineate intimate spaces. To add warmth to an all-white living room, white-washed oak wood floors were installed and pine planks were used around the fireplace. The large windows served as artwork bringing the color of nature into the space. An octagon shaped, elevated dining room, (named “the turret”), had a big impact on the design of the house. They architects rounded the corners and added larger window openings overlooking a new sunken garden. The great room was also softened by rounding out the corners and that circular theme continued throughout the house, being picked up in skylight wells and kitchen cabinetry. A staircase leading to a catwalk was added and the result was a two-story window wall that flooded the home with natural light. When asked why Milgard® Thermally Improved Aluminum windows were selected, the architectural team listed many reasons: 1) Aesthetics: “We liked the slim profiles and narrow sightlines. The window frames never get in the way of the view and that was important to us. They also have a very contemporary look that went well with our design.” 2) Options: “We liked that we could get large sliding doors that matched the windows, giving us a very cohesive look and feel throughout the project.” 3) Cost Effective: “Milgard windows are affordable. You get a good product at a good price.” 4) Custom Sizes: “Milgard windows are customizable, which allowed us to get the right window for each location.” Ready to take on your own traditional to modern home remodeling project? Arbib Hughey Design advises, “Work with a good architect. That means picking a team that is creative, communicative, listens well and is responsive. We think it’s important for an architect to listen to their clients and give them something they want, not something the architect thinks they should have. At the same time you want an architect who is willing and able to think outside the box and offer up design options that you may not have considered. Design is about a lot of back and forth, trying out ideas, getting feedback and trying again.” The home was completely transformed into a unique, contemporary house perfectly integrated with its site. Internally the home has a natural flow for the occupants and externally it is integrated with the surroundings taking advantage of great natural light. As a side note, it was highly praised as part of the Austin AIA homes tour.

This luxury master bathroom remodel in West Chester, Pennsylvania was designed to create a calm, elegant space that blends classic detailing with modern functionality. Completed by Craftsworth Construction, this Chester County bathroom renovation focuses on timeless materials, custom cabinetry, and thoughtful layout improvements that transform the space into a relaxing retreat. The centerpiece of the room is a freestanding soaking tub positioned beneath a large window, allowing natural light to flood the space while creating a spa-like atmosphere for relaxation. Surrounding the tub, traditional wainscoting and soft neutral wall tones help balance the bright finishes and add warmth to the overall design. A custom double vanity with gray painted cabinetry provides generous storage while maintaining a refined transitional style. The vanity is topped with elegant marble countertops and paired with brushed nickel fixtures, creating a subtle contrast against the cabinetry while reinforcing the timeless character of the bathroom. The frameless glass walk-in shower features classic white subway tile walls paired with a striking herringbone tile accent wall, adding depth and visual interest to the shower enclosure. A contrasting hex tile shower floor introduces texture and complements the marble-look tile flooring used throughout the bathroom. Large-format marble-style floor tile brings brightness and continuity to the space while enhancing the luxurious feel of the room. Carefully selected lighting, mirrors, and plumbing fixtures complete the design, giving the bathroom a polished yet comfortable atmosphere. The finished result is a transitional master bathroom that combines classic craftsmanship with modern comfort, creating a space that feels both elegant and functional for everyday living. This project was completed by Craftsworth Construction, a bathroom remodeling contractor serving West Chester, Chester County, and the surrounding communities throughout southeastern Pennsylvania.

This luxury master bathroom remodel in West Chester, Pennsylvania was designed to create a calm, elegant space that blends classic detailing with modern functionality. Completed by Craftsworth Construction, this Chester County bathroom renovation focuses on timeless materials, custom cabinetry, and thoughtful layout improvements that transform the space into a relaxing retreat. The centerpiece of the room is a freestanding soaking tub positioned beneath a large window, allowing natural light to flood the space while creating a spa-like atmosphere for relaxation. Surrounding the tub, traditional wainscoting and soft neutral wall tones help balance the bright finishes and add warmth to the overall design. A custom double vanity with gray painted cabinetry provides generous storage while maintaining a refined transitional style. The vanity is topped with elegant marble countertops and paired with brushed nickel fixtures, creating a subtle contrast against the cabinetry while reinforcing the timeless character of the bathroom. The frameless glass walk-in shower features classic white subway tile walls paired with a striking herringbone tile accent wall, adding depth and visual interest to the shower enclosure. A contrasting hex tile shower floor introduces texture and complements the marble-look tile flooring used throughout the bathroom. Large-format marble-style floor tile brings brightness and continuity to the space while enhancing the luxurious feel of the room. Carefully selected lighting, mirrors, and plumbing fixtures complete the design, giving the bathroom a polished yet comfortable atmosphere. The finished result is a transitional master bathroom that combines classic craftsmanship with modern comfort, creating a space that feels both elegant and functional for everyday living. This project was completed by Craftsworth Construction, a bathroom remodeling contractor serving West Chester, Chester County, and the surrounding communities throughout southeastern Pennsylvania.

This luxury master bathroom remodel in West Chester, Pennsylvania was designed to create a calm, elegant space that blends classic detailing with modern functionality. Completed by Craftsworth Construction, this Chester County bathroom renovation focuses on timeless materials, custom cabinetry, and thoughtful layout improvements that transform the space into a relaxing retreat. The centerpiece of the room is a freestanding soaking tub positioned beneath a large window, allowing natural light to flood the space while creating a spa-like atmosphere for relaxation. Surrounding the tub, traditional wainscoting and soft neutral wall tones help balance the bright finishes and add warmth to the overall design. A custom double vanity with gray painted cabinetry provides generous storage while maintaining a refined transitional style. The vanity is topped with elegant marble countertops and paired with brushed nickel fixtures, creating a subtle contrast against the cabinetry while reinforcing the timeless character of the bathroom. The frameless glass walk-in shower features classic white subway tile walls paired with a striking herringbone tile accent wall, adding depth and visual interest to the shower enclosure. A contrasting hex tile shower floor introduces texture and complements the marble-look tile flooring used throughout the bathroom. Large-format marble-style floor tile brings brightness and continuity to the space while enhancing the luxurious feel of the room. Carefully selected lighting, mirrors, and plumbing fixtures complete the design, giving the bathroom a polished yet comfortable atmosphere. The finished result is a transitional master bathroom that combines classic craftsmanship with modern comfort, creating a space that feels both elegant and functional for everyday living. This project was completed by Craftsworth Construction, a bathroom remodeling contractor serving West Chester, Chester County, and the surrounding communities throughout southeastern Pennsylvania.

This custom piece of cabinetry was specially designed and built by the homeowner's father! Timber frame homes offer unique challenges during a remodel. What often makes them beautiful and attractive to most homeowners, also makes them challenging for space requirements. Context: The lovely couple that owned this home were struggling with some interesting floor plan challenges that just didn't work for their family. The loved the beautiful timbers and woodwork of their home, but the dramatically sloping ceilings on the second floor, particularly in the bathroom, just didn't work for this 1 1/2 bath home. Needing to use the skylight to approach the toilet was a less then ideal scenario. Although the bathroom footprint was more then adequate, the sloped ceiling only made half of the space useable. Check out the Before/After post on our blog to see the photos of the house pre-renovation. As much as they loved all the wood features in their home, another challenge they had was light. The wood ceiling made everything inside the house darker, even with a fantastic array of south facing windows, there were spaces in the home that felt dark and small. When they contacted us they wanted to know how could they make their brighter and more inviting, were there solutions to the 2nd floor sloped ceiling issues, and if they were going to do all of this work, how could they make their home more comfortable and efficient. A nagging water leak in the upstairs bathroom spurred them into action and here is how we solved their dilemma. Conclusion: First, we added a little dormer to the rear of the house so we could get full headroom in nearly all of the upstairs bathroom! Then we decided to extend that dormer one more timber bay over to create a walk in closet with natural light and plenty of space. Since we were contemplating energy efficiency, we resolved a nagging issue that is present in a lot of timber frame construction, air tightness. Commonly found in timber frame construction, fiberglass insulation is installed in the rafter bays and board ceilings are installed over top. Unfortunately, board ceilings are anything but air tight, and fiberglass insulation needs to be in an airtight cavity for maximum effectiveness. So we were able to solve two issues at the same time for this homeowner. We removed the board ceiling and fiberglass insulation, we dense packed the rafter bays with cellulose insulation, and installed sheetrock in place of the boards. The boards were salvaged for re-use by the homeowner, and the space and light quality was dramatically improved. Some may think that losing the board ceiling took something away from the space, but what you'll see in the pictures is that it highly accentuates the heavy timbers and really makes them stand out in a beautiful way. Now with this added airtightness, better insulation, and brighter space, the homeowner hardly runs their wood stove, and it's so quiet in the space, an added bonus from changing the insulation. It became necessary to also add a sheetrock ceiling to the living room to hide the plumbing from the new bathroom layout above. Changing this ceiling gave the homeowner some real quality lighting that was lacking in the living room before. The brighter ceiling and new lighting layout completely transforms the living room into a space you want to hang out, even though the layout didn't change at all. When the homeowner saw the finished spaces she said "I can't believe this is my house, I want to live in this house" Energy Efficiency: I touched a little on the efficiency above, but like all projects done with Mottram Architecture, we always want to leave you with a little extra. Timber frame construction with board ceilings and fiberglass insulation are notoriously leaky! If you want to know what we think about fiberglass insulation, check our our blog post on Why Fiberglass Insulation Sucks. By installing cellulose insulation and covering it with sheetrock we were able to greatly reduce the heat flowing out of this home. It not only improves cashflow it improves the comfort level in the space. Who wants to sit in their living room and feel a draft? Let us remind you, we are not saying cellulose insulation is an air barrier, we use the sheetrock to help with that, but it does significantly reduce the air flow over fiberglass insulation. And when we reduce the airflow, we reduce the heat flow. And when we reduce the heat flow, we reduce the need to re-heat that drafty air from outside. When it comes to energy efficiency the first and best place to start is air infiltration. We greatly reduced the air infiltration with the new insulation, but we also added a hat and warm boots. What I mean by that is, we improved the insulation in the roof, and we installed insulation in the basement. Maybe it's a silly analogy, but when you think about keeping warm, we always start with the hat and boots! With sustainability in mind, the next project will be to add a deck to the front of this house with rain catchment barrels from the metal roof. They are planning to plant a garden in the spring and the rain catchment system will help to irrigate the new garden. Builder: East Shore Builders Photographer: Michael Eric Berube Michael Eric Berube, Maine Virtual Home Tours

This project consists of a full backyard remodel in the San Diego CA region. New outdoor living elements designed and installed by System Pavers include: Over sized pergola with built in lighting, paver sitting wall extending the entire length of backyard, paver patio and courtyard, full built in kitchen equipped with large grill, over sized bar top, double side burners, refrigerator, and outdoor sink, built in fireplace, artificial turf and a paver driveway, outdoor living room and dining area

This luxury master bathroom remodel in West Chester, Pennsylvania was designed to create a calm, elegant space that blends classic detailing with modern functionality. Completed by Craftsworth Construction, this Chester County bathroom renovation focuses on timeless materials, custom cabinetry, and thoughtful layout improvements that transform the space into a relaxing retreat. The centerpiece of the room is a freestanding soaking tub positioned beneath a large window, allowing natural light to flood the space while creating a spa-like atmosphere for relaxation. Surrounding the tub, traditional wainscoting and soft neutral wall tones help balance the bright finishes and add warmth to the overall design. A custom double vanity with gray painted cabinetry provides generous storage while maintaining a refined transitional style. The vanity is topped with elegant marble countertops and paired with brushed nickel fixtures, creating a subtle contrast against the cabinetry while reinforcing the timeless character of the bathroom. The frameless glass walk-in shower features classic white subway tile walls paired with a striking herringbone tile accent wall, adding depth and visual interest to the shower enclosure. A contrasting hex tile shower floor introduces texture and complements the marble-look tile flooring used throughout the bathroom. Large-format marble-style floor tile brings brightness and continuity to the space while enhancing the luxurious feel of the room. Carefully selected lighting, mirrors, and plumbing fixtures complete the design, giving the bathroom a polished yet comfortable atmosphere. The finished result is a transitional master bathroom that combines classic craftsmanship with modern comfort, creating a space that feels both elegant and functional for everyday living. This project was completed by Craftsworth Construction, a bathroom remodeling contractor serving West Chester, Chester County, and the surrounding communities throughout southeastern Pennsylvania.

This luxury master bathroom remodel in West Chester, Pennsylvania was designed to create a calm, elegant space that blends classic detailing with modern functionality. Completed by Craftsworth Construction, this Chester County bathroom renovation focuses on timeless materials, custom cabinetry, and thoughtful layout improvements that transform the space into a relaxing retreat. The centerpiece of the room is a freestanding soaking tub positioned beneath a large window, allowing natural light to flood the space while creating a spa-like atmosphere for relaxation. Surrounding the tub, traditional wainscoting and soft neutral wall tones help balance the bright finishes and add warmth to the overall design. A custom double vanity with gray painted cabinetry provides generous storage while maintaining a refined transitional style. The vanity is topped with elegant marble countertops and paired with brushed nickel fixtures, creating a subtle contrast against the cabinetry while reinforcing the timeless character of the bathroom. The frameless glass walk-in shower features classic white subway tile walls paired with a striking herringbone tile accent wall, adding depth and visual interest to the shower enclosure. A contrasting hex tile shower floor introduces texture and complements the marble-look tile flooring used throughout the bathroom. Large-format marble-style floor tile brings brightness and continuity to the space while enhancing the luxurious feel of the room. Carefully selected lighting, mirrors, and plumbing fixtures complete the design, giving the bathroom a polished yet comfortable atmosphere. The finished result is a transitional master bathroom that combines classic craftsmanship with modern comfort, creating a space that feels both elegant and functional for everyday living. This project was completed by Craftsworth Construction, a bathroom remodeling contractor serving West Chester, Chester County, and the surrounding communities throughout southeastern Pennsylvania.

This luxury master bathroom remodel in West Chester, Pennsylvania was designed to create a calm, elegant space that blends classic detailing with modern functionality. Completed by Craftsworth Construction, this Chester County bathroom renovation focuses on timeless materials, custom cabinetry, and thoughtful layout improvements that transform the space into a relaxing retreat. The centerpiece of the room is a freestanding soaking tub positioned beneath a large window, allowing natural light to flood the space while creating a spa-like atmosphere for relaxation. Surrounding the tub, traditional wainscoting and soft neutral wall tones help balance the bright finishes and add warmth to the overall design. A custom double vanity with gray painted cabinetry provides generous storage while maintaining a refined transitional style. The vanity is topped with elegant marble countertops and paired with brushed nickel fixtures, creating a subtle contrast against the cabinetry while reinforcing the timeless character of the bathroom. The frameless glass walk-in shower features classic white subway tile walls paired with a striking herringbone tile accent wall, adding depth and visual interest to the shower enclosure. A contrasting hex tile shower floor introduces texture and complements the marble-look tile flooring used throughout the bathroom. Large-format marble-style floor tile brings brightness and continuity to the space while enhancing the luxurious feel of the room. Carefully selected lighting, mirrors, and plumbing fixtures complete the design, giving the bathroom a polished yet comfortable atmosphere. The finished result is a transitional master bathroom that combines classic craftsmanship with modern comfort, creating a space that feels both elegant and functional for everyday living. This project was completed by Craftsworth Construction, a bathroom remodeling contractor serving West Chester, Chester County, and the surrounding communities throughout southeastern Pennsylvania.

This luxury master bathroom remodel in West Chester, Pennsylvania was designed to create a calm, elegant space that blends classic detailing with modern functionality. Completed by Craftsworth Construction, this Chester County bathroom renovation focuses on timeless materials, custom cabinetry, and thoughtful layout improvements that transform the space into a relaxing retreat. The centerpiece of the room is a freestanding soaking tub positioned beneath a large window, allowing natural light to flood the space while creating a spa-like atmosphere for relaxation. Surrounding the tub, traditional wainscoting and soft neutral wall tones help balance the bright finishes and add warmth to the overall design. A custom double vanity with gray painted cabinetry provides generous storage while maintaining a refined transitional style. The vanity is topped with elegant marble countertops and paired with brushed nickel fixtures, creating a subtle contrast against the cabinetry while reinforcing the timeless character of the bathroom. The frameless glass walk-in shower features classic white subway tile walls paired with a striking herringbone tile accent wall, adding depth and visual interest to the shower enclosure. A contrasting hex tile shower floor introduces texture and complements the marble-look tile flooring used throughout the bathroom. Large-format marble-style floor tile brings brightness and continuity to the space while enhancing the luxurious feel of the room. Carefully selected lighting, mirrors, and plumbing fixtures complete the design, giving the bathroom a polished yet comfortable atmosphere. The finished result is a transitional master bathroom that combines classic craftsmanship with modern comfort, creating a space that feels both elegant and functional for everyday living. This project was completed by Craftsworth Construction, a bathroom remodeling contractor serving West Chester, Chester County, and the surrounding communities throughout southeastern Pennsylvania.h

This luxury master bathroom remodel in West Chester, Pennsylvania was designed to create a calm, elegant space that blends classic detailing with modern functionality. Completed by Craftsworth Construction, this Chester County bathroom renovation focuses on timeless materials, custom cabinetry, and thoughtful layout improvements that transform the space into a relaxing retreat. The centerpiece of the room is a freestanding soaking tub positioned beneath a large window, allowing natural light to flood the space while creating a spa-like atmosphere for relaxation. Surrounding the tub, traditional wainscoting and soft neutral wall tones help balance the bright finishes and add warmth to the overall design. A custom double vanity with gray painted cabinetry provides generous storage while maintaining a refined transitional style. The vanity is topped with elegant marble countertops and paired with brushed nickel fixtures, creating a subtle contrast against the cabinetry while reinforcing the timeless character of the bathroom. The frameless glass walk-in shower features classic white subway tile walls paired with a striking herringbone tile accent wall, adding depth and visual interest to the shower enclosure. A contrasting hex tile shower floor introduces texture and complements the marble-look tile flooring used throughout the bathroom. Large-format marble-style floor tile brings brightness and continuity to the space while enhancing the luxurious feel of the room. Carefully selected lighting, mirrors, and plumbing fixtures complete the design, giving the bathroom a polished yet comfortable atmosphere. The finished result is a transitional master bathroom that combines classic craftsmanship with modern comfort, creating a space that feels both elegant and functional for everyday living. This project was completed by Craftsworth Construction, a bathroom remodeling contractor serving West Chester, Chester County, and the surrounding communities throughout southeastern Pennsylvania.

Timber frame homes offer unique challenges during a remodel. What often makes them beautiful and attractive to most homeowners, also makes them challenging for space requirements. Context: The lovely couple that owned this home were struggling with some interesting floor plan challenges that just didn't work for their family. The loved the beautiful timbers and woodwork of their home, but the dramatically sloping ceilings on the second floor, particularly in the bathroom, just didn't work for this 1 1/2 bath home. Needing to use the skylight to approach the toilet was a less then ideal scenario. Although the bathroom footprint was more then adequate, the sloped ceiling only made half of the space useable. Check out the Before/After post on our blog to see the photos of the house pre-renovation. As much as they loved all the wood features in their home, another challenge they had was light. The wood ceiling made everything inside the house darker, even with a fantastic array of south facing windows, there were spaces in the home that felt dark and small. When they contacted us they wanted to know how could they make their brighter and more inviting, were there solutions to the 2nd floor sloped ceiling issues, and if they were going to do all of this work, how could they make their home more comfortable and efficient. A nagging water leak in the upstairs bathroom spurred them into action and here is how we solved their dilemma. Conclusion: First, we added a little dormer to the rear of the house so we could get full headroom in nearly all of the upstairs bathroom! Then we decided to extend that dormer one more timber bay over to create a walk in closet with natural light and plenty of space. Since we were contemplating energy efficiency, we resolved a nagging issue that is present in a lot of timber frame construction, air tightness. Commonly found in timber frame construction, fiberglass insulation is installed in the rafter bays and board ceilings are installed over top. Unfortunately, board ceilings are anything but air tight, and fiberglass insulation needs to be in an airtight cavity for maximum effectiveness. So we were able to solve two issues at the same time for this homeowner. We removed the board ceiling and fiberglass insulation, we dense packed the rafter bays with cellulose insulation, and installed sheetrock in place of the boards. The boards were salvaged for re-use by the homeowner, and the space and light quality was dramatically improved. Some may think that losing the board ceiling took something away from the space, but what you'll see in the pictures is that it highly accentuates the heavy timbers and really makes them stand out in a beautiful way. Now with this added airtightness, better insulation, and brighter space, the homeowner hardly runs their wood stove, and it's so quiet in the space, an added bonus from changing the insulation. It became necessary to also add a sheetrock ceiling to the living room to hide the plumbing from the new bathroom layout above. Changing this ceiling gave the homeowner some real quality lighting that was lacking in the living room before. The brighter ceiling and new lighting layout completely transforms the living room into a space you want to hang out, even though the layout didn't change at all. When the homeowner saw the finished spaces she said "I can't believe this is my house, I want to live in this house" Energy Efficiency: I touched a little on the efficiency above, but like all projects done with Mottram Architecture, we always want to leave you with a little extra. Timber frame construction with board ceilings and fiberglass insulation are notoriously leaky! If you want to know what we think about fiberglass insulation, check our our blog post on Why Fiberglass Insulation Sucks. By installing cellulose insulation and covering it with sheetrock we were able to greatly reduce the heat flowing out of this home. It not only improves cashflow it improves the comfort level in the space. Who wants to sit in their living room and feel a draft? Let us remind you, we are not saying cellulose insulation is an air barrier, we use the sheetrock to help with that, but it does significantly reduce the air flow over fiberglass insulation. And when we reduce the airflow, we reduce the heat flow. And when we reduce the heat flow, we reduce the need to re-heat that drafty air from outside. When it comes to energy efficiency the first and best place to start is air infiltration. We greatly reduced the air infiltration with the new insulation, but we also added a hat and warm boots. What I mean by that is, we improved the insulation in the roof, and we installed insulation in the basement. Maybe it's a silly analogy, but when you think about keeping warm, we always start with the hat and boots! With sustainability in mind, the next project will be to add a deck to the front of this house with rain catchment barrels from the metal roof. They are planning to plant a garden in the spring and the rain catchment system will help to irrigate the new garden. Builder: East Shore Builders Photographer: Michael Eric Berube

This luxury master bathroom remodel in West Chester, Pennsylvania was designed to create a calm, elegant space that blends classic detailing with modern functionality. Completed by Craftsworth Construction, this Chester County bathroom renovation focuses on timeless materials, custom cabinetry, and thoughtful layout improvements that transform the space into a relaxing retreat. The centerpiece of the room is a freestanding soaking tub positioned beneath a large window, allowing natural light to flood the space while creating a spa-like atmosphere for relaxation. Surrounding the tub, traditional wainscoting and soft neutral wall tones help balance the bright finishes and add warmth to the overall design. A custom double vanity with gray painted cabinetry provides generous storage while maintaining a refined transitional style. The vanity is topped with elegant marble countertops and paired with brushed nickel fixtures, creating a subtle contrast against the cabinetry while reinforcing the timeless character of the bathroom. The frameless glass walk-in shower features classic white subway tile walls paired with a striking herringbone tile accent wall, adding depth and visual interest to the shower enclosure. A contrasting hex tile shower floor introduces texture and complements the marble-look tile flooring used throughout the bathroom. Large-format marble-style floor tile brings brightness and continuity to the space while enhancing the luxurious feel of the room. Carefully selected lighting, mirrors, and plumbing fixtures complete the design, giving the bathroom a polished yet comfortable atmosphere. The finished result is a transitional master bathroom that combines classic craftsmanship with modern comfort, creating a space that feels both elegant and functional for everyday living. This project was completed by Craftsworth Construction, a bathroom remodeling contractor serving West Chester, Chester County, and the surrounding communities throughout southeastern Pennsylvania.

Timber frame homes offer unique challenges during a remodel. What often makes them beautiful and attractive to most homeowners, also makes them challenging for space requirements. Context: The lovely couple that owned this home were struggling with some interesting floor plan challenges that just didn't work for their family. The loved the beautiful timbers and woodwork of their home, but the dramatically sloping ceilings on the second floor, particularly in the bathroom, just didn't work for this 1 1/2 bath home. Needing to use the skylight to approach the toilet was a less then ideal scenario. Although the bathroom footprint was more then adequate, the sloped ceiling only made half of the space useable. Check out the Before/After post on our blog to see the photos of the house pre-renovation. As much as they loved all the wood features in their home, another challenge they had was light. The wood ceiling made everything inside the house darker, even with a fantastic array of south facing windows, there were spaces in the home that felt dark and small. When they contacted us they wanted to know how could they make their brighter and more inviting, were there solutions to the 2nd floor sloped ceiling issues, and if they were going to do all of this work, how could they make their home more comfortable and efficient. A nagging water leak in the upstairs bathroom spurred them into action and here is how we solved their dilemma. Conclusion: First, we added a little dormer to the rear of the house so we could get full headroom in nearly all of the upstairs bathroom! Then we decided to extend that dormer one more timber bay over to create a walk in closet with natural light and plenty of space. Since we were contemplating energy efficiency, we resolved a nagging issue that is present in a lot of timber frame construction, air tightness. Commonly found in timber frame construction, fiberglass insulation is installed in the rafter bays and board ceilings are installed over top. Unfortunately, board ceilings are anything but air tight, and fiberglass insulation needs to be in an airtight cavity for maximum effectiveness. So we were able to solve two issues at the same time for this homeowner. We removed the board ceiling and fiberglass insulation, we dense packed the rafter bays with cellulose insulation, and installed sheetrock in place of the boards. The boards were salvaged for re-use by the homeowner, and the space and light quality was dramatically improved. Some may think that losing the board ceiling took something away from the space, but what you'll see in the pictures is that it highly accentuates the heavy timbers and really makes them stand out in a beautiful way. Now with this added airtightness, better insulation, and brighter space, the homeowner hardly runs their wood stove, and it's so quiet in the space, an added bonus from changing the insulation. It became necessary to also add a sheetrock ceiling to the living room to hide the plumbing from the new bathroom layout above. Changing this ceiling gave the homeowner some real quality lighting that was lacking in the living room before. The brighter ceiling and new lighting layout completely transforms the living room into a space you want to hang out, even though the layout didn't change at all. When the homeowner saw the finished spaces she said "I can't believe this is my house, I want to live in this house" Energy Efficiency: I touched a little on the efficiency above, but like all projects done with Mottram Architecture, we always want to leave you with a little extra. Timber frame construction with board ceilings and fiberglass insulation are notoriously leaky! If you want to know what we think about fiberglass insulation, check our our blog post on Why Fiberglass Insulation Sucks. By installing cellulose insulation and covering it with sheetrock we were able to greatly reduce the heat flowing out of this home. It not only improves cashflow it improves the comfort level in the space. Who wants to sit in their living room and feel a draft? Let us remind you, we are not saying cellulose insulation is an air barrier, we use the sheetrock to help with that, but it does significantly reduce the air flow over fiberglass insulation. And when we reduce the airflow, we reduce the heat flow. And when we reduce the heat flow, we reduce the need to re-heat that drafty air from outside. When it comes to energy efficiency the first and best place to start is air infiltration. We greatly reduced the air infiltration with the new insulation, but we also added a hat and warm boots. What I mean by that is, we improved the insulation in the roof, and we installed insulation in the basement. Maybe it's a silly analogy, but when you think about keeping warm, we always start with the hat and boots! With sustainability in mind, the next project will be to add a deck to the front of this house with rain catchment barrels from the metal roof. They are planning to plant a garden in the spring and the rain catchment system will help to irrigate the new garden. Builder: East Shore Builders Photographer: Michael Eric Berube

Another beautiful Bungalow kitchen remodel in the Northrop neighborhood of South Minneapolis. These homeowners contacted Castle planning for a whole kitchen renovation, which included opening the existing kitchen into the dining room so the family could enjoy a more multi-purpose space. The original (1927) built-in buffet cabinet between the kitchen and dining was re-homed to a vintage salvage room in Minneapolis for a new future life. The homeowners did not want a boring kitchen. We also focused on matching the original style/feel of the home but rejuvenated. A fresh traditional kitchen design was planned to provide better function for the family’s needs and also a beautiful style to the heart of their home. New hardwood floors carry into the kitchen to match the existing hardwoods. New custom-built flush-inset cabinetry was designed with a wonderful two-tone color scheme. The new cabinetry includes custom storage, glass uppers and accessories; silverware tray divides, trash pull-out, outlet docking drawer for phones to charge, custom shelf roll-outs and lazy susan corners. Castle selected historic paint colors by Benjamin Moore to keep within the period of the home. The base cabinets are painted in Benjamin Moore, Tarrytown green and the uppers in a soft white (BM, Ballet white). By doing two cabinetry colors, Castle was able to create some unique interest and anchor the base cabinet to the floor while still having light walls with the white cabinetry. New marble patterned Cambria Quartz countertops were selected in the luxurious and classic Torquay design. To complete the walls, traditional white subway tile was installed. Along with the beautiful finishes, we also improved light quality in the space. New windows were installed increasing from 2 windows to 3 windows with an additional window to the backyard. We also installed 2 Solatubes for additional natural lighting. The Solatubes also include a solar-powered night light and additional light kit for night time use. Overall, the new traditional kitchen is much like a spring day – light, airy and inviting! Come see the space on Castle’s Educational Home Tour, Fall 2018!

This project is one of the most extensive TVL scopes to date! This house sits in a phenomenal site location in Golden and features a number of incredible and original architectural details. However, years of shifting had caused massive structural damage to the home on both the main and basement levels, resulting in shifting door frames, split drywall, and sinking floors. These shifts prompted the clients to seek remodeling assistance in the beginning of their renovation adventure. At first, the scope involved a new paint and lighting scheme with a focus on wall repair and structural improvement. However, the scope eventually evolved into a re-design of the entire home. Few spaces in this house were left untouched, with the remodeling scope eventually including the kitchen, living room, pantry, entryway and staircase, master bedroom, master bathroom, full basement, and basement bedrooms and bathrooms. Expanding the scope in this way allowed for a design that is cohesive space to space, and creates an environment that captures the essence of the family's persona at every turn. There are many stunning elements to this renovation, but a few favorites include the insanely gorgeous custom steel elements at the front entry, Tharp custom cabinetry in the kitchen and pantry, and unique stone in just about every room of the house. Our clients for this project are both geologists. This alone opened an entire world of unique interest in material that we have never explored before. From natural quartzite countertops that mimic mountain ranges to silky metallic accent tiles behind the bathtub, this project does not shy away from unique stone finds and accents. Conceptually, the clients' love for stone and natural elements is present just about everywhere: the dining room chandelier conceptually takes the form of stalactite, the island pendants are formed concrete, stacked stone adorns the large back wall of the shower, and a back-lit onyx art piece sits in a dramatic niche at the home's entry. We love the dramatic result of this renovation and are so thrilled that our clients can enjoy a home that truly reflects their passions for years to come!

Custom Surface Solutions (www.css-tile.com) - Owner Craig Thompson (512) 430-1215. This project shows a complete Master Bathroom remodel with before, during and after pictures. Master Bathroom features a Japanese soaker tub, enlarged shower with 4 1/2" x 12" white subway tile on walls, niche and celling., dark gray 2" x 2" shower floor tile with Schluter tiled drain, floor to ceiling shower glass, and quartz waterfall knee wall cap with integrated seat and curb cap. Floor has dark gray 12" x 24" tile on Schluter heated floor and same tile on tub wall surround with wall niche. Shower, tub and vanity plumbing fixtures and accessories are Delta Champagne Bronze. Vanity is custom built with quartz countertop and backsplash, undermount oval sinks, wall mounted faucets, wood framed mirrors and open wall medicine cabinet.

Another beautiful Bungalow kitchen remodel in the Northrop neighborhood of South Minneapolis. These homeowners contacted Castle planning for a whole kitchen renovation, which included opening the existing kitchen into the dining room so the family could enjoy a more multi-purpose space. The original (1927) built-in buffet cabinet between the kitchen and dining was re-homed to a vintage salvage room in Minneapolis for a new future life. The homeowners did not want a boring kitchen. We also focused on matching the original style/feel of the home but rejuvenated. A fresh traditional kitchen design was planned to provide better function for the family’s needs and also a beautiful style to the heart of their home. New hardwood floors carry into the kitchen to match the existing hardwoods. New custom-built flush-inset cabinetry was designed with a wonderful two-tone color scheme. The new cabinetry includes custom storage, glass uppers and accessories; silverware tray divides, trash pull-out, outlet docking drawer for phones to charge, custom shelf roll-outs and lazy susan corners. Castle selected historic paint colors by Benjamin Moore to keep within the period of the home. The base cabinets are painted in Benjamin Moore, Tarrytown green and the uppers in a soft white (BM, Ballet white). By doing two cabinetry colors, Castle was able to create some unique interest and anchor the base cabinet to the floor while still having light walls with the white cabinetry. New marble patterned Cambria Quartz countertops were selected in the luxurious and classic Torquay design. To complete the walls, traditional white subway tile was installed. Along with the beautiful finishes, we also improved light quality in the space. New windows were installed increasing from 2 windows to 3 windows with an additional window to the backyard. We also installed 2 Solatubes for additional natural lighting. The Solatubes also include a solar-powered night light and additional light kit for night time use. Overall, the new traditional kitchen is much like a spring day – light, airy and inviting! Come see the space on Castle’s Educational Home Tour, Fall 2018!