A Front Porch with Acid-Stained Concrete Floor

I love to sit on my front porch at the end of the day or on the weekend with a book and a cup of coffee.  Almost always my neighbors stop to chat.  Sometimes it’s just for a minute and sometimes it morphs into dinner or drinks on the porch.  And then other neighbors stop by… and I catch up on what’s going on without leaving the shade and comfy chairs of my front porch.

Adding a front porch or other outdoor garden room is one of the most dramatic and cost-effective changes you can make to your home.  Here are 2 porches I’ve done in the past few years where my clients report benefits much like I’ve observed with my own porch. 

Cigars on the Concrete Front Porch

The Porch is Close to the Ground without Intervening Railings Which Further Connects to the Neighborhood

The husband, Dan, was initially reluctant to add a porch.  Now he wonders “why didn’t we build it sooner?  We never used our front yard. It was just a way to get into the house. Our porch has given us a place we sit, meet neighbors, and enjoy our street”.  Their Porch has two sitting area – one very open to the neighborhood (above) and one more secluded and private (below).  When they want to interact with the neighbors they sit on the side that’s more open to the street.  The acid-stained concrete porch is very close to the ground so there are no railings to separate them from the yard and the street. 

Shrubbery and a Higher Elevation Separates This Side From the Street

The other side, above, is more sheltered by landscaping and — while railing is still not needed — the porch is higher off the ground providing more separation from the street.  Arlene laughs about sending Dan and his friends to the porch to smoke cigars after dinner.  The ceiling fans on both sides keep both the cigar smoke and the mosquitoes away.  The central wood bench hides the gas and electric services and Arlene reports that she often sits on the bench to go through the mail while their cat lounges on the sun-heated stone insert.

A Side Porch That Acts As a Front Porch

A More Traditional House Needs a More Traditional Porch

A Ground-Level Porch Grounds the House to the Neighborhood

The remodel of the home, above, won an award from the local historic preservation group for reconnecting the home to the neighborhood.  The house is situated on a corner and the front entry was steep (see before picture, below).  We added the porch to the right side of the house.  Now friends and family always enter from the more level alternate street side.  Again, note that the porch is low to the ground – without railings – which welcomes the neighbors to say hello and stop and visit.  The porch also helps balance the addition built on the left side of the house.  Many neighbors commented on how much better balanced the house now feels. 

Before - Without Porch & Before Remodel

So what’s the value of a front porch?

New Rooms To Live In: An expansive, shady front porch offers a delightful retreat. Add ceiling fans, comfortable chairs and tables and you’ve just added alot more square footage to your home! Not to mention, a special place to unwind and watch the rest of the world whirl by.

Neighborhood Integration:  You’ll meet and talk with neighbors you’ve only nodded to before.  Your kid’s friends will prefer your place to others for playing on the porch.  Nothing beats a covered front porch for entertaining! It’s a wonderful place to socialize, catch up on the latest news or just relax and enjoy the company.

Curb Appeal: The front entry sets the stage for your home.  First impressions make a huge difference in how your family, friends and neighbors view your home.  A dramatic transformation happens when a “flat-faced” home receives a new, covered front porch.

Added Value: Enhanced curb appeal can translate into a higher selling price and faster sale for your home down the road.

Protection from the Elements: A front entry with no covering exposes your guests and home to damaging sun and rain. A porch or portico provides great protection for your front door, hardware, trim, lighting—and even, foyer. And your guests will truly appreciate it on rainy or hot, sunny day. It can even help lower your summer energy bills.

So now back to my porch (below).  It is in desperate need of repair – like the cobbler’s children going barefoot.  But the general disrepair doesn’t in any way detract from my use of the porch as an extension of my living room and an extension of my studio.  One side is for enjoying informal interactions with my neighbors.  I think of the other side as part of my studio with a work table where I do dirty work I don’t want in inside.  Both sides are wonderful places to watch the world go by. 

My Front Porch

 And here’s one of my favorite Porches:

One of My Favorite Porches

To read more about these front porches:
http://www.braitmandesign.com/design-solutions/curbappeal-2week-makeover/
http://www.braitmandesign.com/home-remodeling/a-sense-of-place/
http://www.braitmandesign.com/home-remodeling/remodeling-within-the-existing-footprint-case-study/

The New Hall Bath

My client’s home in the Cleveland Park neighborhood of Washington DC is a 1970’s “modern” home with a vaulted living room ceiling and great views.  But it basically hasn’t been updated since it was built.  The bathrooms were 1970’s generic with cultured marble countertop and shower surrounds that were typical of the period.  This bath measuring 5 ft by 8 ft is slightly larger than the generic 5’ x 7’ boxes found in earlier homes allowing for a slightly larger vanity.  But the vanity was largely useless for storage.

The wife uses it as her main bathroom – leaving the Master Bath – for the husband.  But she was frustrated at the lack on storage and the aging fixtures. 

What Makes The Remodeled Bath Work Better:  I’ve listed, below, the features we added to make the same space work much, much better.

Bath tub to Shower:  Few adults take baths on a regular basis.  For daily use, a 30 x 60 shower – replacing the standard tub – is a much more useful option when space is limited.  Multiple shelves plus a soap dish keep the shower organized and shampoo and body wash at hand. 

Extended Countertop:  We extended the new Crema Marfil Marble countertop over the toilet.  This is often called a banjo countertop because of its shape.  It makes the bath both feel and function larger. 

Custom Vanity for Extra Storage:  For a few hundred dollars more, we custom specified the vanity for lots of additional storage.  The central door leaves space to access the plumbing and for cleaning supplies.  The side drawers are shallow and great for make-up items.  The bottom drawers are more than large enough to store extra towels.

35 Cubic Feet of Additional Storage – Recessed into the Adjacent Room:  The adjacent room wasn’t used much especially in the front corner adjacent to the bath.  So we stole some space from that room and recessed a 24” Deep, 30” wide Full height cabinet into the adjacent room.  Drawers on bottom act as dresser space and shelving above is more than adequate for additional clothes or for linens or other storage.  We placed a GFI outlet in the cabinet perfect for keeping the hairdryer and electric toothbrush recharger close at hand but out of sight. 

Lot’s of Energy-Efficient Light:  The sconces installed on a wall of mirrors feature warm-white fluorescent bulbs with instant-on and non-buzzing electronic ballasts.  At 18 watts each, they are the equivalent of 75 watt incandescent bulbs.  The light bounces off the mirror magnifying the brightness.  A medicine cabinet is recessed into the wall with its mirrored door flush with the surrounding wall mirrors.  A small stainless steel disk over the magnetic push latch provides unobtrusive instruction about how to open the door. 

A 2nd Medicine Cabinet:  We mounted a 2nd medicine cabinet on the adjacent wall.  By adjusting both doors, you can view your back to check your hair or clothing.  It, of course, also provides conveniently located storage for makeup and toiletries.

Luxury of Some Spa Features at a Small Price and with Water Efficiency in Mind:  We located a rain shower head on the ceiling.  It’s designed to provide a drenching light rain at reduced water flow.  A multi-function hand-held on a bar is mounted where you might normally find the main shower head.  It can be lowered  and set to massage your back while also using the overhead fixtures.  Both fixtures can be operated at the same time or separately and both temperature and flow can be set independently. 

Heater:  Rather than go to the expense of in-floor heat, we opted for an exhaust fan/heater/light combination.

Few Grout Lines:  We used 12” x 24” oversized tile for a clean look and fewer grout lines.  This client wanted a monochromatic, serene feel.  I might have used a darker grout in other circumstances to highlight the vertical feel of the tiles and to add a little definition.

Tactile Enjoyment:  We replace the hollow-core doors and brass doorknobs with a single recessed panel solid wood door that reflects the cabinetry and has a nice feel of solidity with greater sound-proofing.  We used stainless steel lever handles by Omnia.

We borrrowed 35 Cubic Feet of Storage From an Adjacent Room

Spa-Like Features Without the Expense

A Wall of Mirrors Adds Depth & Light - The Medicine Cabinet is Mounted Flush with the Mirrors

We Added Tactile Pleasures Like a Solid Wood Door & Stainless Door Levers

BEFORE The Remodel

Opening A Modest Kitchen to Outside Makes It Feel & Act Larger

I’m starting a follow-on series today about how objectives can radically change kitchen remodeling decisions.  A few days ago, I wrote about planning a kitchen remodel
In my experience, kitchen remodeling is about lifestyle more than about kitchen details.  Homeowners often focus too soon on the details such as what type of appliances or cabinets to buy and fail to concentrate on the lifestyle they want.

This series will take 3 classic home configurations from the 1920’s through the 1940’s – the age of the homes that I most often work on – and will investigate how dramatically the “right” configuration depends upon the homeowner’s living style and objectives.  After we’ve looked at objectives we’ll also look at how budget factors in.

Today we’ll look at a modest center-hall colonial built in 1933 in Bethesda, MD — a close-in suburb of Washington, DC.  And we’ll look at how the remodel would change for 3 different homeowners and with different budgets.  Today we’ll look at a young family that does a lot of entertaining of their extended family.  In a few days we’ll look at the needs of a professional couple that spends many of their weekends traveling.  And a few days after that, we’ll look at a professional couple with teenage children and that does more formal entertaining for work.

Goal:  Informal Extended Family Get-Togethers With Many Cooks and Seamless Indoor/Outdoor Connection. The homeowners in this scenario are a young couple with 2 small children.  They both come from close families that grew up in the area and both have married siblings with young children that live nearby.  Their home is the most centrally located.  As a result, they host informal extended family gatherings almost weekly.  There are often 6-10 children in attendance.  They want a home that’s bullet-proof, that’s as comfortable when it’s the 4 of them or when there are 20 extended family members visiting for the day.  They also anticipate living here indefinitely.  So the home needs to work as well when the children are teenagers as it does now. Their wish-list also includes a powder room on the first floor.  This couple also wants to limit their budget and want lots of outdoor space for games and gathering.

Below is the existing floor plan.  As I said, it’s a quite modest home with a very small, inefficient kitchen cut off from both the dining room and kitchen.  The entire home is cut-off from the outdoor – as is common with houses of this age.

BEFORE - 1930's Modest Colonial Floor Plan

AFTER - Modest Colonial Floor Plan

Here;s how we approached the house from the objectives of our first family:

Existing Footprint: To save money and to preserve outdoor play space we stayed within the existing footprint.  While it might feel small from today’s  standpoint, the greater openness, new circulation and new access to the outdoors lets the house live much larger than its square footage.

Create Foyer & Storage:  While our client didn’t emphasize the lack of a foyer, they definitely wanted a coat closet and a better sense of arrival.  By putting the powder room, coat closet and pantry at the front of the house, we created a new foyer area and separation of the arrival and living.

Open to Back: Across the back, are 4 door size openings of glass — 2 are doors and 2 are non-operable doors.  In the new dining area, we replaced a window with a new glass door, and we replaced a single smaller window with 2 larger windows that give good views to the back.  .

More Open Floor Plan: We also opened all the interior doorways to create a more open floor plan and longer views through the house.  By congregating the utilities up front, we got them out of the circulation path and allowed us to create much greater openness and circulation.

Small but Functional Kitchen: While the kitchen is small, it packs a lot into a small space and because it is open to the back, it feels and acts much larger.  The pantry — while also small — and full-height cabinet help isolate the powder room from the kitchen and provide a lot of very useful storage.

Patio or Deck in Back: A more extensive outdoor living area might be a phase 2 — but even with little additional landscaping the change in doors allows for multiple “garden” rooms in the back and side.  By putting a door off the new dining area and moving the door off the screen porch, we created a somewhat smaller and private courtyard framed by these 2 exterior walls.  This is in addition to the larger outdoor room off the back of the house.

Opening A Modest Kitchen to Outside Makes It Feel & Act Larger

View from Front of Living Room: Connected with Kitchen, Dining & Outside

View from Back of Kitchen to Front: Pantry, Coat Closet & Full Height Cab Create Alcove for Powder Room

The clients – now empty nesters in Washington, DC – want to take advantage of wonderful park-like views – opening their home to the back-yard.   Also on their wish-list is opening the kitchen to the rest of the house and creating a study for him for when he retires in a few years.

Rendering of View From Foyer thru New Addition

The concept calls for replacing an existing deck with a new family room addition and removing the wall between the kitchen and existing dining room.  We’ll leave all the appliances in the existing locations.  It’s a big cost reduction and the work triangle is efficient.  The homeowners – while cooking often – don’t feel the need to put money into fancy appliances or a multiple ovens.  They do want more counter space and mor display storage.  Replacing the dividing wall with an island provides additional work area, storage and a place for guests and family to gather.  Across the extended hallway/gathering space, a large custom hutch provides storage and display space.

Rendering of Newly Opened Kitchen Using Exposed Beams

By using exposed timber beams we create a very appealing effect as well as save money.  The stone veneer – inside and out – on the addition helps tie the home to it’s beautiful park-like setting.  Refacing the fireplace with the same ledgerstone helps tie the old portions of the home with the new.  The wall between the kitchen and living room will be turned into a partial height wall just high enough to hang the upper cabinets.  This change will help bring light into the living room and creates a surface to rest an additional decorative beam.

Rendered Back View of Cape Remodel

You can see from both the interior views and the exterior view that the remodeled home will be now fully integrated with its wooded site with abundant daylight and views.  Because we’re limiting the addition to the area covered by the existing deck, the mature woodland landscape need not be disturbed.  We are extending to the right of the deck only enough to convert the study’s window into a glass door into the new addition.  This space will become the husband’s study with views to the back.

"After" Floor Plan

Existing Floor Plan

Here are the before pictures:

"Before" - Back of House

View from Foyer - Before Remodel

All images courtesy of Braitman Design/Build

Here are 4 solutions to the problem.

Solution 1: Select one side of the house to open up and create a foyer and study on the other side

Solution 1: Take Room for the non-public side

Floor Plan of Solution 1 - After

Existing Floor Plan for Solutions 1 & 2

Solution 2: Create an open “center hall” with Views Straight Through to the Back.  The load-bearing center wall is replaced with a wooden beam and columns that echo the columns on the front porch.

Solutions: Create an open hallway with columns

Solution 2 - View from Front Door Thru to Back Garden/Deck

Floor Plan for Solution 2

Solution 3: For a 1950’s post-war construction home, modern built-ins and a re-faced fireplace create a functional and welcoming entry and living room.  The built-ins provide views into the living room and a place to display sculpture as well as hanging space and drawers

Solution 3: Custom Build-ins

Solution 4: Add a powder room and closet to bound a new foyer.

Solution 4: Use Soffit & Flooring with New Closet & Powder Room

Solution 4: Floor Plan

Solution 4: Existing Floor Plan

When the projects are finished, I’ll be sure to add images of the remodels.

All computer renderings courtesy of Braitman Design/Build.

Computer Rendering of Remodeled Ranch

My client owns a typical 1950’s post-war construction 3-bedroom ranch house in Silver Spring.  Virtually the same house can be found in many communities throughout the area including Bethesda, Wheaton, Gaithersburg and Rockville.  It’s a small brick house where the front door opens directly into the living room.  There’s a small living room, a dining room and kitchen plus 3 small bedrooms and a bath on the first floor.  It has a full basement – originally unfinished.  The house has relatively small windows and no connection to the outdoors.

This home is on a very large lot that backs up to park land – creating a private green way in the back yard – a very desirable reason for opening up the house to the outdoors.

We are still in the conceptual design phase but I thought I would share 3 separate approaches I developed for them to think about.  My client’s priorities include:
-    Bringing the outdoors in
-    A modern/open/informal lifestyle
-    Both a  foyer and a mud entrance
-    A Master Suite
-    A Carport with ample closed storage for recreational & outdoor equipment
-    Preserving or replacing the existing attic storage
-    The back of the house has a southern exposure and the client would like to be able to add photovoltaics in the future.

The following are computer renderings of the home after construction for each approach.  Since we’re at the beginning of conceptual design, the drawings are not fully detailed.  There will be many changes in whatever approach (or combination of approaches) they choose.

The options go from big to small and more expensive to less expensive.  All the options maintain the character of house from the street so the house will continue to fit into the neighborhood.

Option 1 – 775 square foot addition in the back of the house.

Option 1: View from Dining to Living, Kitchen & Deck

Option 1: View of Kitchen & Dining through to Entry

Option 1: Floor Plan

This option fulfills the client’s entire wish-list albeit at a fairly steep price of approximately $350,000 to $400,000 which includes refinishing the entire first floor.  The existing living room is transformed into a separate foyer.  From the front door you can see all the way through the house into the deck and gardens in the back.   The dining room, living room, kitchen and new master suite all open onto a large deck.  A new mud entrance off a new carport is close to the kitchen and bath.  The new carport has lots of enclosed storage for outdoor and sports equipment.  The new space has a new roof volume that can take advantage of future photovoltaic arrays and allows for clerestory windows to let soft northern light into the middle of the house.  A large southern roof overhang prevents solar build-up in the summer but promotes passive solar in the winter months.  While drawn here as wood, stone floors would provide further passive solar benefits.  With a generous master suite, 3 additional bedrooms, and an office all on the 1st floor – this home would provide substantial value with relatively small footprint and continued fit within the established neighborhood.

Option 2 – 800 square foot 2nd Floor

Option 2: View From Entry Through to Deck

Option 2: View of Living, Kitchen & Deck

Option 2: First Floor Floor Plan

Option 2: 2nd Floor Floor Plan

The second option involves adding a partial second floor instead of a back addition.  The result is a home that feels more traditional but still feels open.  Because the 2nd floor only spans part of the house, it still fits in with the homes on the block.  In option 2, we added almost exactly the same amount of space and met the full wish-list at a smaller price tag.  It’s often cheaper to build up rather than out.  In this case we’re re-using the existing foundation — investigation shows that the existing foundation and wall will support a 2nd floor.  We’re also saving money because we’re able to tie into the existing waste stack and other plumbing lines.

One small bedroom on the first floor was sacrificed to create an open stairway.  This change creates a large airy foyer with large coat closet and views through the house to the deck and garden.  The 2nd floor contains a master suite and 4th bedroom or study.

Compared with the first option, the kitchen is smaller and we lose a separate mud entrance from the carport – in this option, the mud entrance is incorporated to the side of the kitchen.  The deck is smaller with fewer access points.  We also end up with one less bedroom/study.  But the master suite is larger with killer views of parkland and a larger master bath with his and her sinks.

Option 3 – 290 square foot Back Addition and Remodeled Basement Master Suite

Option 3: View from Dining to Living, Kitchen & Deck

Option 3: View of New Foyer & Thru to Deck

Option 3: Exterior View of New Deck & Basement Master Suite

Option 3: Floor Plan of First Floor

Option 3: Floor Plan of Basement

The house is on a slight hill and so the floor of the basement is only about 3ft below grade at the back.  The basement also enjoys full 8’ ceilings.  It is dry and already conditioned (heating and cooling) but is essentially never used except for some storage.

The least expensive way to fulfill my client’s wish list is to build a small addition in the back – creating a pleasing L-shaped house with good views and access to the outdoor – and to build a new master suite in the under-used basement.  We would excavate a small sunken patio just outside the new master suite with access through French doors.

The remodeled home would be modern in feel – with an airy, open foyer including a skylight over the stairway that brings abundant daylight to the middle of the basement.  A large open foyer and separate large mud entrance off the new carport would serve family and friends well.  The existing living room is turned into a study with a small but adequate open space with dining, living, and kitchen open to the back deck.  Corner windows in the kitchen add significantly to the open feel.  The master suite is large enough for a sitting area, plenty of closet space, his-and-hers sinks in the master bath and a study opposite the new stairway.
This option – at $65,000 to $85,000 less than the first option – still fulfills my client’s wish-list.  I also like this option because the work can be phased – if desired – to spread out the payment over 2 or 3 phases of work.

Conclusion

For me, the real less here is the value of the conceptual design phase.  For less than $5,000 my clients are able to fully visualize and understand their choices before investing in expensive construction documents.  None of these options were options originally conceived of by my client.  They were thinking that they would remove the entire back wall and double the size of the house – an option that yielded fewer benefits at greater cost than any of these options.  The conceptual designs presented to my clients included 2 additional options than presented here and all options contained much greater detail and more internal and external renderings than presented here.  It’s the right way to start thinking about remodeling.

Before Pictures

BEFORE - Dining Room

Front Exterior - Before

All images courtesy of Braitman Design/Build.

New Basement Powder Room

My clients, in the Chevy Chase neighborhood of Washington, DC, own a 1920’s federal style duplex.  When they called me, their basement included a partially finished laundry room with a toilet.  We succeeded in giving them everything on their wish list including:

• A separate laundry
• A separate powder room
• A finish level similar to the rest of their home
• Ceramic tile on the floor
• Beadboard Wainscoting
• Making all the exposed utilities — including phone lines, ducts, and vents — disappear.
• Extensive storage built into the new spaces since, like many homes built in the 1920’s, they had limited closet and storage space

And we did so while still meeting their limitations:

• They didn’t want to take away any space from the utility room or the family room so we were restricted to the existing space.
• And finally, they didn’t want to spend more than $20,000.

Basement Laundry

As you can see in the Before and After floor plans, below, we split the room in half and relocated the washer and dryer.  New interior walls adjoin the existing exterior walls and allowed us to hide the plumbing without the additional expense of breaking into the concrete floor.  We used the same walls to hide the exposed vent pipe, waste stack and drain – adding access panels where appropriate.  Initially my clients thought the sink should be located next to the toilet.  However, by locating the new pedestal sink across from the toilet on a new wall, we could tie into an existing vent and the drain line for the washing machine — again, avoid breaking into the concrete floor.  We also hid the dryer duct this way and shortened the duct by about 10 feet – thus increasing the efficiency of the dryer.  The dryer now vents out to a narrow pathway between our client’s duplex and the one next door.  Exposed phone wires were hidden behind new trimwork around the glass block window.

Economical and efficient storage in the powder room was created by building a closet with an interior dimension of 24” x 36”.  The placement of the closet also makes the powder room area feel more intimate and more separated from the family room beyond.  By setting the height of the wainscoting at the height of the window sill we helped unify the odd angles of the bath.

By flipping the washer/dryer to the adjacent wall we provided sufficient room in front so the homeowners don’t feel cramped and we moved them out of view should the door to the laundry be open when guests use the powder room.  We used the existing washer, dryer and toilet.  We used cost-saving ventilated shelving in the laundry.

Lighting in the laundry room is provided by re-using a 4 ft fluorescent fixture.  Lighting in the powder room is provided by a single sconce mounted above the new medicine cabinet and by the light in the exhaust fan.

The combination of decisions resulted in a bright and efficient combination of rooms with almost triple the storage.  It also saved between $5,000 and $7,000 in plumbing, cabinetry, lighting and other costs.

Closet for Storage & to Enclose Toilet

Closet Provide Efficient & Cost-Effective Space

Floor Plan After

Floor Plan - Before

Laundry Before Remodeling

Images courtesy of Braitman Design/Build.

Master Bedroom with Soffit & Cove Lighting

My client’s wish list for a remodeled master suite in the upper Northwest Washington, DC neighborhood of the Palisades included an enlarged bath and dressing area and bumping up the ceiling to create a tray ceiling.  Unlike many clients, they were not particularly looking for increased daylighting, however the wife definitely wanted to lighten up the heavy feel of the Spanish carved furniture and heavy drapes.  Another problem she wanted fixed was the tight and awkward entryway to the bedroom.

As is my practice, unless required, I prefer to work within the existing footprint — which was quite do-able in this home.  The 1950’s split-level had plain vanilla rooms with small baths.  In order to acquire the space for the enlarged master bath and dressing area, we appropriated closets near the existing small master bath and a 1970’s addition that had been used as a sewing room and closet for the husband.  With three daughters now grown and out of the house, a bedroom was re-purposed for the sewing room.

View Toward Hallway & Master Bath

Even though the husband was concerned that the room was small, we actually moved the bath wall 9” into the bedroom.  We also enlarged the doorway and moved it toward the right.  A niche right as you enter, see picture above, will eventually house a small floating valet cabinet and mirror.  We reduced the width of the doorway into the new dressing area and the windows in the dressing area and aligned both with the new entryway.  Rather than bump-up the ceiling into the attic – which would have cost $30,000 to $40,000 because of the extensive structural changes to the joist and rafters – we added a 6” high soffit around the entire room and opened up a tray ceiling in the soffit.  We left the soffit lowered to distinguish the passageway to the bath and dressing area from the bedroom proper.  In the “After” Floor Plan, the dotted lines represent the edges of soffit and the hatched walls indicate the walls that were added or changed.

These combination of changes – that actually reduced the size and volume of the room — created a feeling of greater size and openness.  We also used color to make the bedroom feel larger – the hallway is a dark color which gives a sense of compression in the hallway and expansion as you walk into the room.  The soffit is painted a darker color than either the bedroom walls or ceiling.  Again – a sense of compression and shadow leading to areas of expansion and light.  With the structural changes, the coordinated and deliberate palette helps the space feel larger.

The dressing area provides a quite generous 4 feet clear area between the cabinets.  We provided a mix of hanging and folding space – open cabinets and closed cabinets; shelves and drawers.  While not going overboard, we also provided some customized accessories.  The one that seems to be the biggest hit are the 2 pullout luggage shelves.  When pushed in the overnight bags are stored out of the way.  When pulled out, they are just the right height for packing with clothes conveniently nearby.  We also included valet rods and pull-out tie and belt racks that take up otherwise unused room within the cabinets.

Dressing Room

Custom Pull-Out Luggage Shelf

Custom Pull-out Luggage Shelf - In Use

We paid a lot of attention to lighting throughout the master suite.  We used LED cove lighting in the tray ceiling and low voltage recessed lighting in the soffit – first to highlight further the path to the bath and dressing areas, second for individual reading lights over the bed, and third to highlight artwork and as wall washers.

Row of Low-Voltage Recessed Lights Mark Way to Dressing Room

In the bath was used a combination of ceiling washers and task lighting (see “Enlarging a Master Bath”)

In the dressing area, we used “warm colored” fluorescent lighting at the top of the cabinets and, in a different finish, as sconces on either side of the mirror (see image of dressing room)

Finally, as part of the master suite remodel and additional work at the home, all the windows in the home were switched from double-hung windows to casements.  Casements are much easier to open and given better ventilation.  To get a better proportion but to limit costs, we used replacement windows but with a custom vertical divider so that they look like double casements.  These lines increase the modern feel that the homeowners desired.

Floor Plan "AFTER"

Floor Plan "BEFORE"

Bedroom BEFORE Remodeling

Dressing Room BEFORE Remodeling

All images courtesy of Braitman Design/Build