PORTFOLIO

Wolseley Evolution

From a tiny bungalow to a beautiful mid-sized character home! We first met this beautiful, ambitious, young professional in 2003 when she approached us with a few wonderful ideas that would allow her to take her home, which was approximately 850 square feet, to what is now a lovely mid-sized home which is just shy of 1100 square feet on the main floor. The now-renovated attic - approximately additional 700 square feet – has become a beautiful, cozy, functional, loft-style master bedroom! Therefore making the once tiny master bedroom on the main floor into a beautiful office and den.

2003

Our client's dream was to tackle the kitchen first and she wondered if we could do anything with the old porch attached to the kitchen. We analyzed and visualized and thus began the design process that would bring this tired old kitchen and run-down porch into the 21st century. We didn't have the amazing colored perspectives and visual aids that we have today, so with the old black and white line drawings, we put our client's dreams and wishes on paper, and with her imagination working well, we began the design and building process! The contractor reinforced the support system for the porch. We incorporated heated tile floors, a concept fairly new to the industry. We changed the footprint of the kitchen, which now included the porch, from an inefficient tiny space with approximately fourteen lineal feet of cabinetry to an amazingly large space with thirty-one lineal feet of cabinetry. We left all the beautiful character windows, allowing it to remain a bright cheery space. We also included a breakfast nook! The cabinets were done in earthy colors - one for the uppers and one for the lowers, a design style that is still very current today. After fourteen years, the kitchen looks like it was designed and renovated yesterday!

2006

Moving forward to the year 2006! We removed a small front porch and added a beautiful big sunroom across the entire front of the house, adding another 216 square feet to the home. We designed a roofline that would not interfere with the tiny window up in the pitch of the roof. We designed it so that it was flat under the little window so it would still allow the window to be opened. We then slanted the new roof so that it was exactly parallel to the existing roofline. The addition complimented the exterior of the home perfectly and kept the integrity of the home and neighborhood.

In the interior, we re-designed the entire south wall – approximately thirty one lineal feet – and totally lined it with shelves and storage that flanked and complimented the fireplace. The cabinets were built as high as the fireplace mantle. They looked like they had always been there. Some of the storage was open-shelving; some of it was cabinets with doors while in other areas there were drawers. The amount of new cabinet space and therefore storage was phenomenal! Three new windows that matched the existing were installed and four new doors – interior and exterior. New electrical fixtures, new placement of furniture and fresh new paint pulled the old and the new together beautifully.

2006-2016

During our 10 year hiatus from our client, the attic was completely gutted due to water damage and re-worked by the client to evolve into a beautiful new large, loft-style master bedroom. Although we did not work on this project, it bears mentioning because the client quotes "this is a good plug for doing things properly, because that was a giant headache to live through!" We had talked about it and it demonstrates how you can take a small home built in the forties and essentially double the living space.

2016

Fast forward to 2016! So, we get a call from this industrious young lady and she says she would like to talk to us about upgrading her existing bathroom. But, again, she has ideas to borrow some space from the adjoining guest room and enlarge her bathroom to a gorgeous, large spa with a "laundry area". We design, we evolve and we get to work! We "borrow" the closet from the existing guest room and we take over most of the "hallway" that once led to what is now the office/den and to the bathroom. We designed and constructed a new archway from the dining room to the den and we closed the hallway except for a section that allows a "new" French Door – actually we re-purposed an existing door from the "old" house – to open into the new bathroom. The end of the once-hallway becomes the "niche" for the laundry centre. In the beautiful new bathroom, we feature a pair of French doors leading to and from the guest room, a full sized tub with a glass-walled shower, beautiful wall-hung vanity and a new energy efficient toilet. Here our client enjoys a large, all-encompassing, efficient space – a spa for the homeowner and a luxurious bath and guest room for any visitor. In the existing guest room, we built a beautiful, large, Armoire to match the cabinets in the laundry and the vanity.

In the span of fourteen years or so, we've been witness to a metamorphosis of a tiny bungalow to a beautiful mid-sized home. We managed to keep the character of the home both inside and out and it still fits beautifully into the neighborhood. I'm proud to say that we've had a part in evolving this home from what was once a pretty little character home to a beautiful efficient, mid-sized home.

Staged Home: SOLD IN DAYS !!!

Superior Design and Staging, along with minor renovations and painting brought this character home back to its premier state.

The careful attention to detail increased the monetary value and exceeded the home owners original asking price. Offers were received from the very first viewing.

This home sold within four (4) days.