garage retrofit...

you'd never know that this space was once a garage! this family needed a maxed out side entry, mudroom / laundry, and playroom with full bathroom. the house had very generous spaces so it was critical that this project feel equally generous and not cramped. quite an impressive transformation! photos coming soon...

re-thinking a tight master bath...

what a great dilworth master bath renovation - this one was a bit of a mess in the beginning! very cluttered and claustrophobic... the space itself wasn't bad, but it was laid out really poorly and was low-functioning for this family.

we love the peaceful qualities of the finished master bath (and how high-functioning it is now!). it took some re-working, but it feels really generous and it's gorgeous. (opposite this photo are a custom shower and private toilet area.) this interior renovation actually used the existing room - the generosity of the renovated space is an amazing transformation.

my living room - in progress...

we've been working on our house from time to time - whenever i can find a break in my work schedule to give it some attention! one of our recent projects has been our living room. like most bungalows, you enter directly into this room. and we spend all of our time in here. i have a lot of goals for this space. i'd like it to easily transform from a casual to formal space. i'd like it to handle the mess and chaos of our family life, and easily clean up so that i can meet with clients here. i'd like to improve on the scale and proportions. i'd like to showcase my husband's and grandfather's photography and my grandmother's art. i'd like it to be a working library because we are always reading. i'd like to integrate the sound and lighting so that it has a feeling of reductive simplicity. and i'd like it to feel consistent with my craftsman home - as if the changes are refreshingly contemporary but could have always been this way...

here are some progress shots. we still have a lot of work to do - ultimately we have different plans for the furniture, rug, gas logs, window seats, shelf arrangements, etc. but the foundation is there and i'm really happy with it! i spent a lot of time designing different configurations and nuances of the built-ins so that the 'thick walls' on either side would function on many levels.

i love that the design of this space helps me be a better mom. i never worry about the mess and chaos... this room has so much storage for my kids toys that it takes all of 3 minutes to clean the place up - and my 3 year old really gets into helping. we spend all of our time in this room and it easily transforms into everything that we need.

oh, and we salvaged the little undersized mantle original to the house and used it on the chimney upstairs in the baby's nursery. it is such a great detail up there, and i love how it honors the history of our home.

crafty retreat

this article was originally published in the raleigh news & observer on april 26, 2008.