Window Nook

Thu, 26 Apr 2012 11:49:11 -0500

Craftsman style home gets charming window bench.
This light-filled room captures the view, and creates a wonderful, cozy place to read

This space was once an open sleeping porch that had been enclosed with whatever windows they could find. We took out the old windows and replaced them with windows more appropriate to the original home, repaired exterior stucco, insulated, drywalled, and built a custom bench.

Family Room Addition

Mon, 23 Jan 2012 14:45:39 -0600

Screen Porch becomes Family Room
The existing screen porch was surrounded by a deck that was divided into areas that were too small to be very useful. We removed the screen porch and pushed the family room off to one side, so the deck would be big enough.

The addition has a small covered entry, which creates an “in-between” zone between inside and out.
The stairs flare out at the base, to create an informal seating area in the yard.

Fixing a Broken Kitchen

Wed, 7 Dec 2011 11:47:31 -0600

Currently in the design phase:
This kitchen is chopped up by circulation paths- leaving the refrigerator in another room!

Outdoor Room

Tue, 25 Oct 2011 17:17:02 -0500

We added a pergola and trellis to this deck.
This deck, built over the garage needed some shade and privacy. Adding a pergola above and a trellis to block the western sun helped turn this deck into a better place to hang out in summer.

Brick Patio Replacement

Thu, 25 Aug 2011 14:47:38 -0500

Bad details tore this porch apart
When this brick patio was originally built, the die was cast. It was bound to fail eventually. They put the concrete slab on sand.
Over the years, rain soaked into the sand below the slab through cracks at the edges, and in winter, that wet sand froze, expanding in the process. Bricks pushed out, leaving homeowners with a never-ending repair job.
Starting over allowed us to fix the problem
We measured and drew the existing patio, then obtained the engineering required to make the concrete slab structurally span across a crawlspace (It doesn’t have sand under it).
While we had the chance, we added some electrical outlets and step lighting.
Brick match issues
The original house had a rugged bark texture with quite a range in color, and we couldn’t find any bricks that matched. So, we matched the texture as closely as we could, and stained the brick to match in color. Staining is all hand work, and is guaranteed to last for at least 50 years.

New Kitchen Opens Up House

Thu, 4 Aug 2011 16:16:16 -0500

It was a dark and stormy kitchen...
The kitchen in this house felt dark and isolated as a result of additions being built around it over the years. Also, the lack of circulation through the center of the house forced the family to use the kitchen as a hallway, which brought clutter and chaos to the kitchen.
This reminded us of another project we had recently completed. Adding a hallway to reach the back of the house made a lot of sense there too.
Opened up walls
To connect the kitchen to the 2-story family room in the back of the house, and an informal dining room at the front, we took down some walls, bringing light and activity to the heart of the house.
The kitchen features a warming tray above the stove, with an infrared lamp that keeps food warm.
The microwave, conveniently located next to the fridge, has a small curved countertop- just big enough to hold a plate. This arrangement allows the kids to serve themselves easily which suits this busy family well.

Major Renovation nears completion

Mon, 21 Mar 2011 16:42:05 -0500

Our big winter project is nearly finished.
We’re pretty proud of this project. It included a new kitchen, a home office, a charming den addition with a real brick fireplace and slate roof, 5 new bathrooms, new lighting, interior finishes throughout.
Formerly the Dining room, this new Kitchen is filled with light, and is now the social hub of the house.
This sunny space became the new Formal Dining Room.
This home office takes the place of the former kitchen. We designed and built custom beams and cabinetry to match the rest of the house.
We cut a hole into the attic to provide a dome for the master bedroom, echoing the shape of the room.

Classic Style Bathroom Upgrade

Mon, 7 Mar 2011 14:09:46 -0600

Fixtures replaced and new tile added.
For this project, we switched out a rotting double hung window in the bath with a pre-fab glass block window, and installed new tile throughout. New toilet, sink and bathtub were chosen to give a period look to this 1920’s era craftsman style home.

Better flow brings this home to life

Wed, 2 Mar 2011 10:10:50 -0600

Center Hallway opens up plan.
Sometimes an addition is not the cure for a sick plan- it’s the problem. In this case, surgically inserting a hall into existing space was the cure.
This house had an addition built in the 1960’s that, turns out, was missing a crucial element- a hallway. The only way to get to the back of the house, where the family spent all their time, was though other rooms. This flow ruined the ability to furnish the living room well, and made the kitchen seem cramped.
So, we took out the coat closet and added a powder room in the old house, in the process restoring space for a formal dining room at the front of the house.
Then, we moved the kitchen out into the 1960’s addition, where it could share space with the family room. One big open space. One happy family.

Home for the Holidays

Tue, 14 Dec 2010 14:45:33 -0600

Christmas comes to this french masterpiece.
This whole-house project included 4 new fireplaces, a new kitchen, 4 new baths, and new finishes throughout.
The stone mantels in the Living Room and Dining Room were carved in the French Baroque style and give expression to the owner’s love for french architecture and furniture.

Modern Great Room

Thu, 27 May 2010 16:31:09 -0500

Dramatic two story space becomes the home’s focal point.
In this project, we assigned a formerly unused space to a bar function, with wet bar and custom built-ins for the TV and wine storage. Then we opened up the 8 ft. wide opening to the living room to 16 ft. wide by removing the pocket doors.
We took the fireplace off the inside wall and placed it on the outside wall to take advantage of the great views outside.

Zen Bathroom

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 17:08:51 -0600

Tranquility. Spaciousness.
The muted color palette, shoji screen closet door, natural stone tile, and a unique vessel sink, made from a boulder, give this bath a calm and distinctly asian feel.

Jewelry finishes off this french mansion

Tue, 27 Oct 2009 16:55:01 -0500

1949 home gets the royal treatment it lacked.
This house was built well, with concrete floors and brick walls throughout, even on the inside. However, it lacked style.
This project also included a new Kitchen, Master Bath, upstairs Laundry Room, three new fireplaces with carved stone mantels, and four re-done bathrooms. We added crown moulding everywhere, and the tile foyer is absolutely stunning.

Master Bedroom Suite addition

Fri, 9 Oct 2009 16:11:56 -0500

Executive home gets new luxury bath and bedroom.
Blending a modern zen sensibility with the owner’s request for “tuscan”, we came up with this warm and simple design.

Some interesting features: The water for the tub drops from a hole in the ceiling. The lights on either side of the mirrors are actually pendant lights hung from the ceiling. The mirrors and sink bases were custom built in our shop. Radiant heat in the floor.

Stately Garage Makes Grand Entrance

Fri, 9 Oct 2009 15:32:30 -0500

Period details. Easy access.
This lovely Tudor style home was cursed with a fearsome driveway slope. Adding a new driveway in front with a detached garage tamed that slope and provided for a more gracious and welcoming entrance.

Extensive landscape walls, paving and foundation work pushed the cost beyond any garage we’ve ever built, but a home of this stature called for it.

Period Pergola

Mon, 20 Oct 2008 15:25:50 -0500

Turn of the century home gets the detail it deserved.
The thought was there, but artlessly so. What began as a bare-bones attempt to extend the porch to the pool and driveway, Monarch finished with the period style that was missing.

Tour of Remodeled Homes

Mon, 22 Sep 2008 10:13:04 -0500

Local Residence featured in Des Moines Home Builders’ Tour of Remodeled Homes.
Like a lot of Beaverdale brick homes, this one had plenty of charm up front, but the rear entry, kitchen and garage didn't function very well for a modern family. The only link from the single-car garage to the outdated kitchen was a steep cramped stairway - via the basement. And a lack of connection to the outdoors left everyone inside feeling slightly claustrophobic.

This innovative renovation addressed the home's functional problems while bringing it a dose of fresh style, too. The solution started with a floor plan that opened up the wall between the kitchen and dining room. Swapping the location for the stove and fridge got the stove out of the main circulation path, and put the refrigerator where the family can get to it more easily. Extending the countertop into the dining room really expanded the kitchen, visually. Cherry cabinets, solid-surface countertops, and new appliances make it a place the family is happy to come home to.

A space-efficient addition gave the home a much-needed family room and mudroom. Combined with a new attached two-car garage, the addition dramatically increased the usability of the house. A full glass door now connects the family room to a patio for outdoor entertaining.

Kitchen circulation

Fri, 1 Aug 2008 15:44:57 -0500

Doors kill kitchens!
Doors into and out of kitchens can ruin the usability of the space. This poor kitchen had three doors. A stove without countertop space on each side isn’t just inconvenient, it’s dangerous. This problem seemed impossible to fix until we hit on the idea of putting the basement stair under the upper stair, near the front door. This not only gave us more area to work with, but allowed uninterrupted countertop space that completely transformed this kitchen.

Thoughts on outdoor living

Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:46:20 -0500

Outdoor rooms.
People feel comfortable outside when they have a sense of enclosure, yet have a vista. We want to feel safe, yet in control.
Outside spaces can range in degree of enclosure from feeling room-like at one end of the spectrum to a wide-open field at the other end. When do people want to use a screen porch? A screen porch is almost an inside space, but with a taste of the weather. When it’s too buggy to eat outside, but the weather is nice, we retreat to this safer place.
What makes a deck appealing? It’s protected and elevated, a place to "perch". It connects us to the yard with a sense of detachment and dominion.
When is a patio best? A patio is on-grade. When you're there, you are grounded, part of the landscape, where the action is. Even a patio should have some kind of definition. Trees or shrubs at the corners, or level changes can give the place a room-like quality.
Each of these types of spaces have varying degrees of safety and protection balanced with freedom and openness.
Transitions
Ideally, all of these places should "feel" close to each other- so that the transition from one place to the next is seamless. The transitions can be "places" in and of themselves. For example, roof overhangs that allow you to get a taste of the outdoors, the next place along the path. Staircases that act like places to hang out.
Think of each place and transition as an opportunity to draw people to the outside. This is how outdoor entertaining works best.
What are your favorite places to be outside, and why do you prefer them?

Graceful Entry

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:46:53 -0500

Two front doors become one.
This home was built for a family with a separate apartment. When circumstances changed, the apartment became unnecessary. The problem became how to make the entrance experience feel gracious and welcoming, and yet look like it had always been that way.