Designed by Jessica Soto Photo by Randall Perry
Kitchen - traditional kitchen idea in Boston with raised-panel cabinets, gray backsplash and stainless steel appliances

Rosenberg Kolb Architects is proud to announce our renovation of a 1747 timber frame house on Nantucket Island, completed in 2011. The first historic renovation project in Nantucket to receive LEED Gold status. The project was given a Grand Award by Eco Home Magazine in July, 2011. The project included: Restructuring the foundations to align and stabilize the structure in addition to providing for a new insulated crawl space; A 260 square foot addition for a kitchen, bath, and new entry; New cedar shingles, roof shingles, and restored historic windows; The house met the strict regulations of Nantucket's Historic District. On the inside, LEED Gold certification was met through: High R-value insulation and reduced air leakage; High efficiency heating, air conditioning, plumbing fixtures, and appliances; Low-emission paints and finishes as well as a clay wall finish; Using reclaimed materials from the original house and other sites. The project has been published in: N Magazine July 2011 Eco Home Magazine July 2011 New England Home June 2011

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

A platform tub and shower were hidden behind an intrusive wing wall and crammed into a corner, respectively. We reduced the wing wall to pony height, bringing the new, more streamlined built-in tub into harmony with the rest of the space. At the same time, expanding the shower into the closet and making it frameless, added room, light and beauty to the arrangement. A double vanity with a makeup space enjoys natural light from a window, while a trio of stone finishes, including veined quartz and two separate textures of marble, come together, creating a subtle palette.

In earlier times this 1920’s foursquare-style house contained a beautiful, generous dining room. At some point, a previous owner constructed a guest bathroom within the space reducing its grace and openness. Our clients asked us to remove and relocate the bath and restore the space to its original proportions. They requested built-in cabinets where the bath had been and new wood sash windows. In addition, the owner asked for a small greenhouse to hold her prized Meyer lemon tree. Photos by: Matt Swain Photography

Frameless Mirrored Medicine Cabinet with Vertical LED Task Lights GlassCrafters’ Vertical LED Task Lights illuminate your daily grooming activities with energy efficient, optimal warm white light and integrate seamlessly into any décor. Providing a minimal, low profile design aesthetic, the 2 - 1/2" wide Vertical LED Task Lights are easy to install and complement GlassCrafters’ 24", 30" and 36" high, frameless flat or beveled mirrored cabinets.

This hall bath felt cramped and closed off with a full wall separating the toilet from the sink. The wall was reduced to a pony wall and topped with a custom shelf. New vanity, counter, sinks, faucets and floors helped the original yellow tile pop.

Trendy bathroom photo in Bengaluru

Master bath retreat with Aging in Place features you may not spot. Reinforced towel bars and matching grab bars decorate the room and add safety. The curbless shower has room to roll in, a seat, and fixtures that make morning duties easier. Heated towel bar and heat lamp reduce the sting of the cold that only get worse with age. All with the beauty you deserve in your long, wonderful life. Let JOMA Construction help you plan your perfect bathroom. Call 706 352 1052 to make an appt.

Large transitional master pink tile and glass tile concrete floor, blue floor and single-sink corner shower photo in Chicago with flat-panel cabinets, brown cabinets, a bidet, white walls, an undermount sink, quartz countertops, a hinged shower door, white countertops and a niche

Dale Combelic -view from front door A nineteenth century house that was originally modified to accommodate a "modern" kitchen and baths was updated with an open plan style kitchen. An existing adjacent bath / laundry space was included in the larger kitchen space that also included a new 1/2 bath. The laundry and full tub were added to a 2nd floor bath that had just a small 30" x 30" shower for bathing. Existing window locations in the abandon bath and a new glass door to a side deck provide additional natural light and direct access to the driveway. An existing brick chimney was partially exposed to reduce mass to allow for an enlarged cabinet array and through aisle. Visible connection to the dining area was also provided. Existing sink and cabinets were utilized

The goal for this main floor bath was to keep the costs reasonable by using the same basic layout, while adding luxurious touches such as a deep soaking tub, a bidet toilet, a vanity with ample storage space, and vivid blue wall tile by Fireclay. We also reduced the size of the window for additional privacy and installed heated floors for added comfort.

This 80's neighborhood home was purchased by a young couple from the Chicago area and it needed an update in a big way. The soffits could not be removed and stay on budget so the soffits were reduced. A wall was removed and an island to maximize cabinet space. Now they are expecting their first kiddo and have plenty of room to grow into.

This 80's neighborhood home was purchased by a young couple from the Chicago area and it needed an update in a big way. The soffits could not be removed and stay on budget so the soffits were reduced. A wall was removed and an island to maximize cabinet space. Now they are expecting their first kiddo and have plenty of room to grow into.

This 80's neighborhood home was purchased by a young couple from the Chicago area and it needed an update in a big way. The soffits could not be removed and stay on budget so the soffits were reduced. A wall was removed and an island to maximize cabinet space. Now they are expecting their first kiddo and have plenty of room to grow into.

An organic warm natural modern update for a primary bath that used to be dark and dingy. This new spa inspired bright open primary bathroom now functions better and helps to reduce stress and restore the homeowners after a long day. The materials used were green glass subway tiles, marble looking porcelain tiles, engineered quartz countertop, hand blown glass chandelier, and a custom designed floating walnut vanity.

For their daughter’s bathroom, the homeowners selected Calacutta Gold Arabesque water jet tile for the accent wall, Waterworks unlacquered brass fixtures, and a gold iridescent penny round tile for the floor and shower accent. The result is both feminine and ageless. Photographer Greg Hadley

In earlier times this 1920’s foursquare-style house contained a beautiful, generous dining room. At some point, a previous owner constructed a guest bathroom within the space reducing its grace and openness. Our clients asked us to remove and relocate the bath and restore the space to its original proportions. They requested built-in cabinets where the bath had been and new wood sash windows. In addition, the owner asked for a small greenhouse to hold her prized Meyer lemon tree. Photos by: Matt Swain Photography

This powder bath remodel turnd out beutifl and classy. The pictures do not represent the wallpapered ceiling that was brought down the walls to reduce the ceiling height, floating curved vantiy with scalloped backsplash, all designed to work with the existing travertine floors.