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. Spatiousness.
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, still under construction, includes a new Kitchen, Master Bath, upstairs Laundry Room, and three new fireplaces with carved stone mantels. We’ve 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.

Kitchen expansion

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:35:20 -0500

Re-arranging the Cherry Cabinets
This kitchen occupies the space of what was once two kitchens in a duplex home. We took down the wall between them and redesigned the kitchen, taking the cabinets from one side and moving them around so they made sense in the larger space. We added custom cabinets, as needed, to match.

Craftsman Re-do

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:16:37 -0500

The owner of this house has a love of Craftsman Style antiques, but lived in a typical house with little character. Monarch Renovations was given the challenge of bringing the interior architecture up to the level of their furniture collection.
We started with the Library project here. Gradually, in phases, we trimmed out all the woodwork in the house with beautiful quarter-sawn oak.

Appropriateness

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 17:02:06 -0500

“Remuddling”: remodeling without a clue. The skinny Victorian columns, the too-high railing, all the details-- were out of scale and proportion and didn’t match the house’s style, making the porch look inauthentic.
We started by cleaning off the painted brick, then built new brick piers with paired columns reminiscent of other houses in the 1920’s neighborhood. We widened the space between the columns so that the bays corresponded to the social use of the space and widened the stairs to make the entry more inviting.

New Victorian Porch

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 16:22:29 -0500

We added a porch to this house. We identified the house as Shingle Style with some elements of Stick Style, so this new porch design used elements of each. Many people are surprised when they find out it hasn’t always been there.