Fine Line Home Design LLC

we draw on your ideas.

Opening up a Shepherdstown rambler

If you're like these homeowners (and like me), you have underutilized space in your existing house - a room or two whose square footage could be better used elsewhere.  In this example, that room was a rarely-used living room beyond their foyer, in the center of their house.  They already had two other family rooms, yet had a small master bedroom with a tiny bath.  We worked together on a concept where part of the living room was retained for a reading nook, but the rest of the space was up for grabs by a new master bath and a larger master bedroom.

If imagining this as your own house gives you chest pains, you may wish to reconsider whether you can handle a massive interior renovation.  Also, please consult a physician.

If imagining this as your own house gives you chest pains, you may wish to reconsider whether you can handle a massive interior renovation.  Also, please consult a physician.

My clients moved into the basement while the majority of their first floor was gutted. In return for their inconvenience they were rewarded with a true Master Suite, a new hall bath, a Reading Nook, a roomier Foyer, and an opened-up basement stair and kitchen entry.

After the first floor renovations were completed the couple moved back upstairs so that the basement renovations could begin.  A lower level bath was renovated/modernized, and a door was added to connect it directly to the larger of two bedrooms beside it.  The house is utterly transformed and feels nothing like its former 1960's self.

 

Master Bath & Hall Bath reconfiguration

The challenge:  update the existing master bath with a larger shower, smaller tub, smaller linen closet, and same size vanity, while also reducing the room size in order to widen the existing hall bath next to it.  I only took a bit of space out of the master bathroom, but by carefully planning for an angled wall between the two, it makes a huge impact in the hall bathroom and gives the master bathroom a more contemporary feel.  I was also able to keep nearly all the plumbing in the same locations.  The only exception was the toilets, which only moved a few feet, but are now backed up to each other for efficiency.

Kitchen renovation in Rohrersville, with feline consideration.

Oh, how I loved designing this project, and I think it shows!  This is an old house, built in a few phases.  The kitchen was small, dark and had a very low ceiling.  In the corner of it was a steep winding staircase - a secondary stair that was once perhaps for servants, but is now only used by the cat.  There were also multiple doorways off the kitchen - one to a hall, one to a living room, one to a dining room, one to the back patio, and one to the covered front porch.  Fitting in a larger kitchen with that many paths of travel was a challenge. But by removing the corner staircase and moving the main exterior door a few feet toward that corner of the room, I was able to enlarge the working area of the kitchen.  And, in honor of Miss Kitty, I came up with a concept of a built-in cabinet in the corner with a concealed 12" deep chase behind the shelves.  There are also little ledges acting as cat stairs back there.  The cat can enter at the bottom and emerge on the top shelf to survey her domain.  Then, at the very top is an opening through which she can get to the room above the kitchen.  My client says the cat likes to hang out on that top shelf, watching her making dinner.  Fortunately the dog is too large for pursuit in the secret passage.
 

 

Fine Line Home Design LLCP.O.  Box 367, Williamsport MD  21795  ph:  301.416.8499  fax:  877.490.3543
Remodeling and Home Design
Tracy Moller in Williamsport, MD on Houzz