A Home Renovation For Now and Down the Road

Tim Birsin — Wed, 30 Sep 2015 12:06:43 +0000

The goal of this whole house renovation was to update and expand an existing Cape Cod style home while maintaining the quaint architectural structure of the existing home. It was important to the homeowners that the remodel fit in with the rest of the neighborhood and be less obvious than many of the other recent nearby remodels. The homeowners were looking for more space and better flow of the home to more efficiently meet their needs.

BEFORE

Extensive renovations including adding new space were made to the home. The scope of work on the first floor included: relocating the kitchen, remodeling the bathroom, adding a laundry room which was previously in the basement, adding a side entry mudroom, building a covered entry, and in the new space adding a living room and screened in porch.

FLOOR and ELEVATION PLANS

Second floor renovations included: a new master suite, converting an existing hall bath into a jack and jill bath for the kids, and adding a new HVAC unit.

AFTER

The biggest challenge of the project was figuring out the kitchen space. The homeowners wanted a larger kitchen but doing that in its original space would have created a very narrow room. The idea to move it to the other side of the house allowed for the perfect space for an expanded kitchen with an ideal layout.

The homeowner could not have been more thrilled with the end result. The renovations turned out exactly as they wanted them. They loved working with their designer because he listened to what they wanted, and didn’t just try to pressure them into taking only his ideas. The front cedar porch is warm and inviting and has amazing curb appeal. The family love that they now have seating at the bar in the kitchen for quick meals and couldn’t be happier with all of their new bathrooms. The additional space allowed for all of the changes they wanted to make their home work perfectly for them now and down the road.

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An Accessible Design Bath on a Very Short Timeline

Tim Birsin — Fri, 07 Aug 2015 19:33:38 +0000

This award-winning bathroom remodel/renovation was truly unique. The client has ALS, a progressive neurodegenerative disease, and therefore needed to convert a basically brand new 18th floor condominium bathroom into an accessible bathroom. Returning from Florida to the DC area in less than a month, the modifications had to be done extremely quickly. The client was away for the duration of construction. They came back to a completely made over bathroom and couldn’t have been more thrilled. The renovation included relocating some existing items and installing others completely new. The items that were removed from the existing bathroom included: a platform and a tub, a shower seat and a niche, a shower glass enclosure, a marble shower and bath floor and walls, a framed partition, a stone countertop, a wall-hung glass mirror, a sliding door and a toilet. The existing medicine cabinet, vanity base cabinets, and sink were relocated within the room.

Unusual Challenges
The biggest challenge on this job was the fact that we had one month to complete the project and being on the 18th floor of the condominium building presented challenges in terms of ease of getting in and out of the building. Working in condos regularly; our team knew the ins and outs of being as efficient as possible when dealing with parking, elevator and other building issues. Working with limited design options, we had to choose materials that we knew would look great and be available to fit our timeframe for completion. Knowing which products are easier to get than others, we were able to select materials that would meet our time constraints while at the same time look great. And knowing that we had limited design options being a condo bathroom, we were able to come up with a plan that suited the space perfectly while accommodating the clients’ needs.

Before

Before and After Floor Plans

The Result

The result of this project was a re-designed condominium bathroom that looked beautiful and provided the functionality that the homeowner desired. An accessible shower, a toilet and sink along with grab bars transformed the room perfectly. The homeowner’s didn’t see the project until it was complete and were truly shocked by the transformation. They didn’t realize an accessible bathroom could look so beautiful at the same time. They couldn’t wait to show off the new space to their friends. View Project