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.

Kitchen Remodeling for a Modest Colonial Part 2

This is the 2nd part of a series about how objectives and lifestyle can dramatically affect the configuration of the “right” remodel for the same house.  In the Part 1, we suggested a remodeling configuration for the same house that we’re looking at today.  But in Part 1, the house is owned by a young family that does a lot of entertaining of their extended family.  Today we’re looking at the identical modest 1933 Colonial. 
 
Goal:  Open Kitchen and Dining Area for 2 Adults.  The homeowner in this scenario is a professional couple that spends many of their weekends traveling.  They’ve lived in the home only 6 months and assume that they will be moving within 5 years due to one of their jobs.  They are not planning children in the foreseeable future.  They rarely entertain at home; instead they meet other couples for dinner or at the theatre.  Cooking tends to be simple fare and might only be heating up take-out — but they share the details of their day while they prepare and cleanup after dinner.  They want a place to spread out with two laptops.  They want to be comfortable and to be able to talk while one partner or the other cooks and cleans – jobs that they informally rotate.

Their wish-list is quite short including an expanded kitchen with good counter space, better storage and more modern appliances.  Also on their wish list is a 1st floor powder room.

Below are both the proposed and the existing floor plan.  The existing home it’s a quite modest home with a very small, inefficient kitchen cut off from both the dining room and kitchen.

Floor Plan After - Open Kitchen to Dining Room

BEFORE - Modest Colonial

Modest but Open Kitchen:  Our plan for this homeowner is limited to removing the wall between the existing kitchen and living room and expanding the kitchen into the combined area.  Because the homeowners do limited cooking and even less entertaining, we encouraged them to limit appliances to only those needed and to make space available for counter space and storage. 

A large island allows one partner to work at a laptop or just sit with a glass of wine while reviewing their day with the partner preparing food or cleaning up. 

Limit Costs:  We’ve recommended a number of steps to limit costs including limiting the appliances to a range, counter-depth refrigerator and dishwasher.  This couple doesn’t need separate wall ovens, a built-in refrigerator or multiple sinks.  We never even considered any solution other than staying within the existing footprint.  We’ve left the sink in-place and left the windows and doors in their current configuration.  The couple also decided to forego a 1st floor powder room. 

View 2 - Modest Kitchen Solution

This solution – while actually yielding a larger kitchen than the first configuration – is much less expensive and much more attuned to the needs of this couple than the first family.

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

Wedge Shaped Counter Makes Tiny Bath Work

Of course, to keep costs down we kept the toilet and shower in their existing locations.  We moved the sink just slighting along the wall.  The room configuration eliminated the ability to have both a glass shower door and a normal vanity.

Floating Wedge-Shaped Countertop with Vessel Sink:  Our solution was a wedge-shaped floating limestone countertop.  The shape of the countertop dictated the use of a vessel sink and a wall-mounted faucet.

Floating Shelving Below & Opposite: We used floating wedge-shaped open shelving below the countertop.  This look is echoed on the opposite side by smaller wedge shaped shelving at the same heights.  The open shelving allows for more accessible and efficient storage.

Floating Shelves Help Make Tiny Bath Feel More Open

Stone-Look Porcelain Tile: We used stone-look porcelain tile to keep costs reasonable.

Custom Square Shower: To give maximum range to the shower door we built a 5” wide wing wall on which to mount the hinges for the door.  A door stop mounted under the countertop keeps the shower door from hitting the countertop, sink or lighting.  The custom size and wing wall dictated a tiled shower pan.  We used 2” mosaic porcelain tile that matches the tile used in the rest of the bath.  The glass is etched to provide privacy since the bath is used by the more than one individual.

Shower Bar & Corner Shelf: We used a shower bar which allows the girls to adjust the shower head to their height.  It also allows them to shower without getting their hair wet if they desire.  I have a strong preference for Jado shower bars.  They are designed to provide a better range of up and down as well as side-to-side flexibility in directing the shower head.  We selected a head with multiple jet options.  A corner storage shelf mounted relatively high stores soap as well as shampoo and bodywash up and away from the stream of the shower.

Shower Bar Is Flexible for Taller & Shorter Occupants

Wall mirror plus tall mirrored medicine cabinet: A large wall mounted mirror gives the girls a good view of themselves and their clothing.  We recessed a tall medicine cabinet on the opposite wall.  By opening the door of the medicine cabinet to varying degrees, the girls can see their backs and the back of their hair.  [Note: one of the girls has written “you are beautiful” in red in two places on the medicine cabinet.]

Lighting, Heat & Ventilation: Sconces mounted on the wall mirror needed to be shallow enough not to interfere with the open shower door.  They are positioned for good lighting for applying makeup.  The same scone is mounted horizontally above the medicine cabinet.  We selected an exhaust fan that also provides heat and lighting.  The heater helps warm the room on cold winter days without heating the rest of the house.  The unit also has a ceiling light and nighlight as part of the unit.

To keep the room looking neat, we installed hooks on the door for towels and robes.  A towel bar on the shower door and a towel ring on the mirror provide additional places for hand and bath towels.

Scroll down to see the new floor plan and “before” pictures.

Floor Plan Shows How Wedge-Shaped Countertop Opens Up Tiny Bath

Before Photo with Shower Curtain & Standard Vanity

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.

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.

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