Via Paladar
Via Paladar
Life is funny sometimes. When we were approached by these clients and when they gave me their address, I realized I had attended parties in this home in years past.
The home had been expanded and remodeled over the years. In particular, the kitchen-family room had been opened up and remodeled with a definite Craftsman feel while the living room held a Victorian mantel piece and paneled walls. The clients had lived in the home for several years before they called us in and had determined all existing furnishings and lighting were being replaced to create the new space. Our design concept was to pull the spaces into a more transitional feel while maintaining the “English library” feel of the living room that the husband particularly loved while keeping the design coherent with the architectural features that existed in the space.
The ceiling height in the kitchen and family room was just under eight feet in height. The room is large and the low ceiling height visually compressed the space. Our solution was to add ceiling beams to break up the ceiling span visually de-compressing the space. The beams were also a tie into existing beams in the entry providing a cohesive design element between the spaces. Removing some of the Craftsman molding details from the kitchen cabinetry, painting the previously stained cabinets, reconfiguring the island top to remove the bumped up bar height counters and replacing the countertops and backsplash further moved the space from Craftsman to transitional while still working within the existing architectural elements.
I have to say, the living room-dining room is one of my favorite spaces we’ve done. I love a client willing to go bold, and when we suggested a rich deep navy for the walls AND ceiling of these spaces, the clients went all in. Replacing the Victorian mantle piece (it went to a good home) with a contemporary fireplace façade pushed the room fully into a transitional space meant for adult entertaining.
We loved the finished space and so did our clients. We are now working with them to remodel a large game room and can’t wait to add photos of the finished space to this project.
