From Close Quarters to Calming Retreat - The Before & After Story
Take a peek at this California kitchen before and after interior design project by E.L. Designs.
Taking out interior walls and reconfiguring the existing space gave these homeowners their dream home!
Reconfiguring space is one of my favorite things to do! When you’ve lived in a home for decades, it can be challenging see what’s possible in the space you have and it can be scary to make drastic changes…
…But sometimes taking out some interior walls (with the blessing of a structural engineer, of course!) and utilizing the space you already have can be the solution for giving you the new kitchen or bath you’ve been dreaming of!
These homeowners had plenty of space - in fact, the main living area of their home that included the kitchen, breakfast nook, dining room, family room and living room was divided up into smaller rooms that didn’t get used. (See the before plan image above! See how the space is cornered and closed off?)
When we started, the area where they spent the most time - the kitchen and family room - were cramped and disconnected. They wanted a large, open kitchen for cooking and entertaining and they wanted a great room where the kitchen was open to the dining area and family room; so, naturally, we took out the interior walls and completely changed the layout of the kitchen!
Below you can see just how cramped the space felt while using it VS. how naturally bright, spacious, and inviting the remodeled space became.
The kitchen, dining room, and family room weren’t the only area of the home we worked on - this project was a whole house remodel (a.k.a. we took everything down to the studs and redid the whole home!).
Another area that I love in this home is how we completely reconfigured the primary suite to give the homeowners a spacious bathroom with a double sink vanity, water closet and large accessible shower, and we converted office nook space to a large walk in closet - staying completely within the existing exterior walls (we didn’t make the house any larger).
Above on the left, you can see the primary suite and accompanying bath pointed outl it was a small basic space with a single sink, very little storage, toilet and shower all crammed into a small ‘box’.
Above on the right, you’ll see the big changes we made by changing the floorplan and overall layout to have a large vanity, double sinks, and plenty of storage, a private water closet, and expanded closet space.
One of my biggest pet peeves is when the bathroom door is open and you can see the toilet (plus - it’s bad Feng Shui!)… so when I can hide a toilet, I do! Take a look below at the before and after images to see for yourself how we made that toilet disappear from view!
Having the floor space to accommodate a water closet (where the toilet has it’s very own little room), is a really great privacy option when it comes to bathroom design, allowing two people to use different areas of the bathroom without completely disturbing one another (if you catch my drift).
These homeowners plan to age gracefully in their home and so they wanted their shower to be as accessible as possible. Because this home was on a concrete slab foundation and creating a barrier free (curbless) shower wasn’t a financially feasible option, we designed a shower with a low curb, wider opening and no shower door. YES! You CAN custom design a shower to help give you a space that will serve you well for years to come.
You may look at the after images above and think, wow the shower must get the floor a bit wet… Not at all! For this design the main rain head shower head is tucked far enough into the shower alcove, so we weren’t concerned about water entering the bathroom from the shower. We also installed a shower bench and hand held shower head for ease of use with age.
If you like what you see here, check out the full Calming Retreat gallery for more inspiration!
Gutting your home and starting from scratch can feel daunting, but with the right designer you can have a space curated to fit your every need.
Looking for help designing your dream home? Contact me today!