cape cod re-worked... complete!

i think the real success of this cape cod is that it just looks like it has always been there. the neighbors swear that they can't remember what it used to look like.

the house had already been renovated when the owners called us for some major re-working. the layout of the second floor was strange, with enormous areas of wasted space. in the original renovation, the design hadn't effectively used the clipped roof areas (hadn't used them at all, really) and the dormers were odd, long 3x10 hallways to nothingness. the two rooms upstairs were oversized and uncomfortable.

with some relatively minor changes to the roof, we were able to DOUBLE the square footage upstairs, adding an additional bedroom, bathroom, office, walk-in closets, study nooks, and more. it's a charming second story AND it can grow with this family.

working...

i love this photo of us at work this morning! diana and i visited our myers park georgian and spent some time reviewing the trim details. this is a very complicated project, and the goal of the architecture is to create something seemingly simple and clean. the alignments, rhythms, proportions... they're all so critical to the success of this project. it's getting close, and i can't wait to see it!

a room for my girls...

can i move into my daughter's room??? i have LOVED putting together her big girl room in advance of her baby sister's arrival.

a photographer friend of mine got me stuck on this turquoise scheme with red accents. i've loved this recent trend in jewelry - turquoise and coral - and find myself pairing bits of red with my grandmother's antique turquoise. my beloved grandmother passed away this spring so she's in my thoughts quite a lot. i found a strand of antique native american bird beads in her things and the bird theme has really stuck with me. so when i found the fabric at the top of the window panels - turquoise with red birds and little white dandelions - it all came together. i also found these wonderfully cheerful antique japanese woodblock prints in my grandmother's collection that complimented the colors perfectly. the natural light in this room is amazing so the barely contrasting white birdcages on the walls are so subtle. it's still evolving - as my personal projects always are - but i love the direction it's taking!

we've set the room up for the two girls to share, with 2 closets and lots of storage. it's got a sweet little reading corner with TONS of books and ledges for their artwork and favorite reads.

i especially love how ariana's sweet personality is already coming through in this room...

georgian refreshed... progress

things are happening really fast at our myers park georgian. here are some construction photos from the last few weeks!

connecting a dilworth family room...

this dilworth bungalow had a family room, but it needed some serious renovating. you can see the issues in the before photos (below). It was dark, with practically no natural light. It was completely disconnected from the backyard (a huge problem for this family, who liked to play outside). It had a massive beam running off-center through the room. And the traffic patterns were all over the place.

we worked with the some of the most charming details of the existing bungalow to re-imagine this family room. using large, cottage style windows, we could set the window sills along the existing shingle watertable on the exterior of the house - consistent with the original window configurations - while raising the head heights to match the new 8' patio doors. this flooded the family room with light, while simplifying and cleaning up the interior and exterior trim details. we created a pattern of dropped beams to balance out the existing eccentrically placed beam, and slightly lowered the finish ceiling to mediate the heaviness of the existing beam. we converted an old hallway secondary access to a small, built-in office to correct the traffic patterns through the space. the kitchen got a gorgeous facelift, too. there is a large screened porch off the back, linking the new family room to the backyard.

this all sums up to dramatic changes in the family's quality of life. the original, fragmented architecture left them disconnected. the new spaces - open, light-filled, and balanced - provide a sense of togetherness.

this home falls within the dilworth historic district and this project was approved by the HDC in july 2008.

blending into the blue ridge

this article was originally published in the raleigh news & observer and charlotte observer on june 27, 2009.

cotswald man-cave

i had the pleasure of designing a man-cave for a wonderful family in cotswald recently. it was such a fun project! hoping to get photos up soon...