Wednesday, October 7, 2015

Design Consult - Contemporary Style

I rarely do design consultations, but when I was contacted about a house that I had wanted to buy and renovate (but missed out on it!),  I couldn't resist helping the new owners.  We teamed up with Waterhouse Builders and got started.

This house was built in the late 1800's and had been divided into two apartments.  The highlight - it has a fabulous location at the top of a hill, with sweeping views of Casco Bay.  The lowlight - it had a distinctive 80's vibe.  With dark cabinetry and tired spaces - made worse because it's chopped into two apartments.

The new owners wanted to change all of that and turn it back into a single family home.  Yay!  Fans of contemporary design, they wanted a modern look, with a bit of traditional thrown in - to help connect to the original structure.  The plan is for this to be their forever home and they're thinking ahead.  They want one floor living for their senior years, but for now they'd like to capitalise on the fabulous views with a great second floor living space.  

We jumped into the design and quickly came up with some ideas to reconfigure the space.  This included moving the original staircase and creating a master suite on the first floor.  And of course, eliminating the kitchen upstairs.  That required some major demolition, to prep for the new interior.

And the result?  It's an amazing transformation.  They plan to take their time adding more furniture, artwork and other elements, but it's already a fantastic home.



Let's start at the top - in the upstairs apartment.  










It originally had a small, dark kitchen with a great view.  






























Next to that was a living room with a french door out to a large deck.
Deck before - look at that view!
Now, it's a huge open space with a wall of windows to enjoy the view.  The staircase sports a cable system, which adds to the contemporary, open feel of the space.
There are two bedrooms on the second floor, off of the family room.

And the bathroom?  Well as you can see, it was ready for some updating!
We expanded the space by just a few inches, but that made a huge difference.  Now it has a nice open tub, with a beautiful glass surround.

On the first floor, we eliminated the old staircase and built this new one.  It connects to a big, open hallway, that lets you enjoy the water views as soon as you walk in the front door.


The new master suite replaced the old living room.  

Believe it or not, this living space is now the master bath.  Don't you love the  glass 'barn door' for the shower?


And the kitchen?  Well it has seen a huge transformation - and no longer includes a bathroom behind the refrigerator!





Deck and back of house - before
Don't you love this place?  The owners certainly do - and enjoy many hours on the new deck, watching the ships go by!
New wall of windows, to allow the sunlight to stream in.



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7 comments:

  1. I love the light and the openness now. The home now has great bones!

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  2. Absolutely love it! You may want to consider more consultations! You renovations are always the best!

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Laura - but I have enough trouble keeping up with my own projects :-)

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  3. This is beyond beautiful. Gorgeous transformation!

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  4. This is really great, I love the light and airy feel. As per your recommendation we met with Mike from Waterhouse today, so thanks for the recommendation.

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  5. Just catching up on your blog today. This transformation is amazing. You have such a good feel of space and what works!

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