Home Addition or Renovation?
This renovation began as an addition with a tight budget. On my first visit my new clients shared their detailed ideas for an addition to their home. Additions require many of the planning details you would need when building a new home. You must consider site preparation, exterior walls, doors windows, all electrical, plumbing, heating needs and then the interior details. My first recommendation was to get an architect involved. So I referred them to an architect I know who is good at developing cost effective concepts.
The architect actually came up with a plan to reworking rooms and passageways within the house. This was a huge cost savings versus building an addition. In fact, the cost savings were big enough to allow the homeowners to renovate double the amount of space they had thought possible.
After the basic structural concepts were reworked, the project was handed back to me for layout and finishes. I was able to create a new budget friendly kitchen and dining room space with all their desired details.
The Kitchen Island Plan
The clients love to cook, bake and entertain. The new design factored in a super-efficient kitchen. I designed a custom kitchen with an island. We had no filler panels. Every square inch had 1 or more functions. We selected painted shaker cabinets; painted white except for the island for which I selected a contrasting color.
Paint and color planning is a detailed combination of art and science. Your feelings, attitudes and energy level are subtly altered by the colors that surround you and also by colors you may be walking toward. An experienced designer can save money and keep interest alive with a detailed room by room paint color plan.
Above the island, we installed locally handmade, porcelain pendent lights with a contemporary feel. .
The client and I went shopping together and chose warm hued, subway tiles for the back-splash. We did both fall in love with more expensive tiles but she was very good at keeping within the budget and these tiles enhanced the color palette plan nicely
The client inherited meaningful family heirloom furniture. She wanted to use her antiques in her home. I also grew up with antiques collected by my mother. She had a reserved front row seat at some of the best auctions in central New Hampshire & Vermont. In my clients homes I enjoy the opportunities to mixing heirlooms with new items in unexpected ways.
An Open Concept Living Room Plan
In this project, we achieved a light hearted feeling mixing the antique chairs around the new dining room table. Over the table we achieved a vintage feel by hanging a large drum shade pendent, In the adjacent living room area, we placed new chairs (the ones that came with the dining room table) around an antique table.
I tied everything together with reclaimed flooring. I was able to source.enough to run through all the renovated rooms. I used a special finish on the floor so they're easy to touch up as needed with oil. The idea is to allow the flooring to show it's age with wear marks, dents or scratches giving it more character as it ages