After – The background arch is seen in the Before Picture Below. The foreground arch is new.

Before – Same View. In the after view you can see that we divided & raised one section of the living room to make it feel larger and more connected to the outside

Before - Another Before View Showing How the Windows felt separated from the living area

My client lives in a delightful late-1920’s art-deco building close to Rock Creek Park and the National Zoo — in the neighborhood known as Woodley Park.  The building was converted to condos in 1973 and offers high ceilings and classic details. 

While my client loves the building and her unit, the living room was awkward – long and narrow.  The only natural light comes from windows at one end of the room.  The windows felt seperated from the living area because that section was raised on a platform — probably a former porch.  While Rock Creek Park was right outside, my client felt cut off from it.  She also wanted more built-in bookcases and storage.  She showed me pictures of window seats and built-ins clipped from magazines that she liked. 

During the conceptual design phase, I developed 5 different options for the living area – most of the options – including the one she selected — broke the living room into 2 areas.  The floor height of the area furthest from the foyer and closest to the large windows was raised to the height of the old porch platform.  Raising the floor 5” is hardly noticeable with original 9’ 3” ceilings.  This allowed us to incorporate the natural light into the main living area.  The area closest to the foyer was converted into a “piano” room.  A new arch – that matches the arches original to the unit – divides the reconfigured living room from the newly created piano room. 

All options included a window seat and my client selected my favorite — an asymmetrical window seat that invites you to lounge with a view out the window while still being engaged in conversation within the room.  It also provides additional storage and display space.  The design also has a less formal feel.  The homeowner can sit on the window seat to watch TV or use it as a cozy reading nook with lots of natural light.  And with this summer’s excessive heat, she often sat on the window seat reading and watching the park.  The original design was for a curved seat.  We changed it to straight lines to save a bit of money.   Also to save money, we made the back of the window seat square and plumb and specified the back cushion to be wedge shaped for comfort.  The top of the window seat and surrounding cabinetry became the window sill for a clean look and for function.  The casings around the windows were in bad shape so we replaced them but kept the same profile. 

The asymetrical window seat encourages lounging while looking out the window and still being engaged in conversation

The window sill becomes the top of the window seat & cabinet.

Window Seat with Adjacent Storage & Built-ins

Built-ins surround the window seat plus we designed an additional full wall of built-ins in the reconfigured living room.  Crown molding was added throughout the living room, piano room and foyer adding additional architectural detail to an already rich unit.  The large flat-panel TV plus hidden components were selected before designing the built-ins so they fit-in well.  A perforated metal panel keeps the components out of sight but still allows line of sight for remote controls to operate.  We used a square grid that looks a bit more modern.  We also replaced the metal panel on the radiator to match.  We left the brushed aluminum unpainted. 

Custom Designed Built-ins

We also updated the paint, fixed lighting and art arrangements throughout the unit.  Originally the living room and foyer were painted in antique white because the homeowner was afraid the unit would feel too dark otherwise.  Even though we used quite saturated colors in the new palette, the unit feels larger and brighter.  The deep reddish brown in the foyer really sets off the living and dining rooms.  The semi-gloss paint of the built-ins – particularly the window seat — reflects light into the room.  The matte finish on the walls and ceiling absorb the reflected light.  As I do for almost all my clients, we used deeper tones in the center of the unit and moved toward lighter tones as you move toward natural light.  This helps make the whole unit feel larger and brighter than when it was painted a single light color. 

My client has a lot of artwork but didn’t have most of it displayed.  To display all the work, we grouped lots of different artworks into large groupings on several walls.  As additional cost-savings measures, we kept the existing frames and deliberately created interesting mixes of art and framing.  We also put a threshold between the foyer and the new piano room, this eliminated the need to refinish the floors in the rest of the unit. 

The New Color Palette Makes Home Feel Larger

Groupings of Artwork with mis-matched frames lend detail and character

Another Grouping of Artwork

Foyer After - Notice How it Welcomes You Either from the Living Room or as You Enter

Foyer Before

The Deep Reddish-Brown was used in the hallway as well as the Foyer Resulting in a Feeling of Expansion as you Enter the Lighter Colored Rooms

My client says she feels happy each time she opens the door to enter her remodeled unit.  “I just can’t believe how great everything looks.  I especially like how the outdoors feels so much closer.  I can’t wait until autumn arrives so I can sit on the window seat and watch the leaves change color.” 

Floor Plan After

Floor Plan Before

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

Use Barndoor Hardware to Hide A Pocket Home Office - Courtesy of Sunset Magazine

A home office is almost a requirement today.  As with all design projects, start with objectives and needs.  Too often, homeowners jump to thinking through available space.  When you start with the solution instead of defining the goal, you can miss important opportunities.  Write down the answers to the following questions: 

1. Is this your primary work space or secondary?
2. How often will you use your office (all day, a few hours a day, a few hours a week?)
3. Will you have clients visit?
4. Do you need visual or acoustic privacy from other members of your household?
5. What equipment do you need?
6. How much storage do you need and does all it need to be proximate? 

Then answer some questions about your work habits:

1. Do you need everything at your fingertips?
2. Do you want to be able to hide everything away either so you can put work out of your mind or to hide it from visitors?
3. Do you need distraction or need to block it?
4. Do you need a certain aesthetic environment to work?
5. What do you need to feel connected to … (the family, the garden, your colleagues …)?  
6. Do you need to multi-task while working?  And if so, what other tasks do you handle at the same time – maybe child care or cooking?

The answers to both sets of questions will help you figure out where in your home you should locate your home office.  Don’t rule anything out.  Thinking through your objectives can also help you see you way clear to realizing that space you originally thought was unavailable can be made available. 

For example, if you need to meet with clients, you’ll absolutely need to find space near an outside door so your clients don’t need to traipse through your messy kitchen.  If your “formal” living room is never used, consider using it for your office.  You can separate it from your living space with French doors – either etched or clear – that say this is private.  Putting storage on the walls adjacent to your living space will also provide an acoustic barrier to make meetings with clients private – or to just separate yourself from the family activities.  And when you need connection, open the French doors to invite the family inside.
 

Convert Your Living Room For a Client-Focused Home Office

As another example, if you need to multi-task but also need to create “out of sight / out of mind”, you’ll need a location centrally located but that can be easily closed off – like creating or converting a closet space.  In the image at the top of the article, a project by Greene Partners,  the homeowner uses barndoor hardware to create a large door that will completely conceal the workspace – and the clutter – when not in use.  In another example, below, an office is built-into a modern cabinetry right off the living room.  It’s completely hidden when not in use. 

Built-in Pocket Home Office - courtesy of BHG

 These are but 3 examples of using space in unusual ways to create an effective home-office.   Are you having trouble figuring out how to make a home office work?  Contact me with your problem and I’ll try to help find a solution.  It might become the topic of another article.  Like the recent one on creating privacy for a home office with an arched doorway.

We created abundant storage without appreciably making the room any smaller – in fact, the room actually feels larger!  The feeling of additional space comes from the rich detailing that adds a feeling of depth and from the additional light that’s bounced off the reflective wood work.

AFTER - 2 Walls of Build-In Storage in the Style of the Building

We built-in storage on two walls in a style that could have been original to the building.  It feels much more appropriate than the original bedroom, below (from the same viewpoint).

BEFORE Work Began

The drawers on the bottom are only one stack of clothing deep but provide abundant “dresser” space.  They take up only as much depth as the original radiator on one wall and are actually less deep than the armoire that was on the wall opposite the bed.  Closed shelving above is good for clothes as well as for hats and other accessories.  Each wall also contains a bit of display space to add interest and the ability to personalize the space.

Storage on Window Wall Takes Up No More Depth Than Radiator

Notice How The Blinds Reflect the Color of the Hallway

The wall opposite the bed has a spot for a small TV as well as 6 shallow drawers so jewelry and accessories don’t get lost in regular sized drawers.

We also paid attention to details.  In the image, above, notice how the color of the natural woven blinds picks up the deep reddish brown of the hallway (to the far left of the photo).  The reddish-brown helps make the sage green feel clean and crisp.  Notice the graceful curve of the “leg” of the cabinets while still retaining a toe kick so that dirt doesn’t get trapped beneath.  Notice how the curve of the leg is repeated in the curve of large drawer pulls.  The large pulls mean that you don’t need 2 hands to open a wide drawer.  Notice how the proportions of the built-in cabinets — the tall doors and vertical lines of the fluting — actually makes the tall ceilings both more dramatic and more personal.  Notice how the top of the radiator cover becomes the molding between the upper and lower cabinets.  Notice in the upper images how the lighter, reflective paint on the cabinets beside the window reflect additional light into the room.

Notice, below, the palette of a deep sage green on the wall and a lighter more greyed sage green on the wood work.  It’s a restful and sophisticated palette with the reddish brown of the blinds adding just a punch of color and texture.  And finally, notice in the final image the appealing  juxtaposition of textures in the aluminum perforated metal covering the radiator contrasting with the fluting contrasting with the smooth curve of the cabinet pulls and the semi-gloss finish of the paint.

Notice the Sophisticated Color Palette

The textures play against each other

My client reports that she wouldn’t change a thing!  She says it turned out even better than she expected — and she expected a lot.

Create a Vanity Alcove with a Cabinet

Build a 12” deep, full-height or 72” high cabinet to create an alcove for the sink.  In this bath, the cabinet (on the right) also forms a partial wall hiding the toilet.  I put one or more outlets inside the cabinet so that hairdryer, electric toothbrush, electric razor can all be easily accessible at waist-height or above but easily stowed behind closed doors.  Makeup and other toiletries are also easily stored out of sight but still close to hand.  At 30” wide, 12” deep, and 72” high, all the daily items are close at hand with room below to store toilet tissue, towels, extra soap, extra shampoos and other bath items below waist level.  With a deck-mounted soap dispenser (not used here), you can have a convenient yet still completely uncluttered countertop.

Bath Storage - Build A Storage Tower Beside the Vanity

Create tower storage next to a vanity to serve both the toilet and the vanity.  In the bath, above, a storage tower to the right of the vanity has an alcove with shelves facing the vanity into which the countertop extends; there are 2 outlets – one at each shelf level inside the tower.  So the water pick and razor are stored out-of-sight.  A hotel-style wall-mounted hair dryer is mounted just to the left of the tower.  The door below the alcove opens so that someone sitting on the toilet can easily reach excess toilet tissue.  The doors above the alcove open so that someone standing at the vanity can easily reach items.  The shallow countertop with wall-mounted faucet puts the center mirror close to someone shaving so that they don’t need to bend forward.  The vanity itself has custom-built drawers that fit around the valves and trap – providing useful drawer space instead of less useful space behind doors.

Recess a Cabinet into the Adjoining Room

Recess a cabinet into the wall and borrow a small amount of space from the adjoining room.

Carve Out Space in Wing Wall

Carve out space in a wing wall for items often stored in a medicine cabinet..

Claim Space Wasted in the Tub Surround

Claim space inside the curve of a bathtub by building tilt-out bins into the tub surround.

Deep Drawers & Shallow Cabinets

Build drawers and cabinets alongside a sink cabinet:  In the bath, above, a 9” deep tall cabinet provides lots of room for toiletries and makeup.  An identical cabinet above the toilet (not shown) provides storage for extra toiletries.  Deep drawers provide storage for extra soap, shampoos, and towels.  Fresh towels are also available in the space under the sink.  Again, an outlet inside one of the drawers keeps the hairdryer closet to hand but out of sight.

I would love to get photos of some of the storage solutions you’ve done in your own remodels.  Contact me and I’ll give you instructions for sending me your photos.