the dark house project – main living area

Things have been a little busy around here lately on the local side of design, which is a wonderful thing. We’re so very grateful for any opportunity, and it’s an honor to be trusted to work with our amazing clients and helping them create their own dream home, in the space they live now. If you check in with us often, you may have noticed things slowed down a bit with us this fall. We took a step back as we decided to take a break from managing all the things, to finish up our very own pool room addition. We had enough to manage on the website and brand collaboration side, along with our own build, and it was nice to breathe a little. But we’re back at it and we couldn’t be more excited to create more beautiful spaces with wonderful people, while we continue to grow our little business.

We’re trying to share more of our process here, per our wonderful readers’ requests. So, I’m starting out by saying this one may be a little more detail than you wanted to know, since it’s including the beginning stages. A few of you wrote that you like to see the process, and we get that. It’s easy to get caught up in the “commercial magic” where it’s ‘presto changeotada!’ and everything is different.

So there’s a lot of details here. You can see more real time action in our insta stories, as we also plan to share more from that angle with videos, too. 

We nickname each project as we go along, without sharing the street or client name for privacy reasons. But this house was built along the same timeline, so these befores may look pretty similar to our home befores. We named it the dark house project because well… you’ll see. It hasn’t been touched since 1980 something. Our kitchen was very similar in the look, Here’s a little reminder of what we were working with – the only real difference is, our house had been painted on the inside. The similarities are striking.

our house before: 

our house after

our house before: Note the layout of the kitchen compared with the shot above.

Our house after:

So here’s more of our client’s fab kitchen, that we can’t wait to get our hands on.

Designs go through tweaks depending on many factors from the initial ideas, so we’ll try to explain more of what has already changed and why, and keep you in the loop with that process. This is actually a hard part for me because we stay so busy, and because deep down, I really ADORE that big wowsa surprise at the end. I’m trying to evolve, guys. 

Our client was looking to open up her space. She had been living in this house for a while, and had never had the chance to make design choices of her own. She is ready for a fresh start. We have to say, these are our very favorite kinds of spaces because they really are such a fun, dramatic before and after. Original paneling, y’all.

So on our first visit, we met with her and talked about the changes she would like to make, along with her needs and wishes. Along with the big B – budget.

This included opening up her main living area to allow for more of a gathering space for children and grandchildren, expanding new floors, paint and cleaning off those ceilings. Along with a fresh HVAC and just some general changes that needed to be made for better long term health reasons, in an older home. The entire house is getting a new look, and we’ll be covering bathroom changes in our next update.

Bye 1980 something. 

So on our second meeting, we met to propose some design ideas, as well as the over all layout. We presented her with opening up her kitchen area, along with expanding into the original formal dining room area. Right now, her laundry has been in the basement, so she’s excited to have all of that in one nice succinct area. This was a quick mockup of the preliminary design ideas. 

So we also pulled some inspiration boards to help formulate a plan for the over all look. Some of these have already changed a little, based on personal preferences, material availability, and more… which we will indicate below. I always find this interesting once we’ve moved forward with an initial plan. It’s neat to see how the ideas evolve with the plans. It’s essential to have a guide, and to stay flexible throughout a renovation like this. We focused on kitchen materials, along with final furnishings for the over all look. Here are a few of the details behind this board, though some things have already changed and tweaked a bit. 

A few of the design details: 

• Tile: We adore this new look from Jeffrey Court. I would say I’m borderline obsessed. I was thrilled when she was thrilled, so we can’t wait to see how much it does for her fun new space. 

• Lights: We’re using two of these large and in charge Aster pendants over her island. And a beautiful light over her new dining room table. 

• Fixtures: sink + faucet + pot filler can all be found from Hausera. I’m having a current love affair with all things Brizo.

• Hardware: we love this line from D Lawless

• Furnishings: I’ll be getting into specifics down the line with furnishings, as a few of these have changed. Kitchen table from here.

Cabinets: 

And here’s a look at her new cabinet plans – a quick sketch I drew up with the tile so she can see the look, before we hand it over to our cabinet people. This helps the client get a good idea on what she wants where, and is just a jumping off point before we get the entire design underway. For instance, she wanted as many drawers as possible to help with organization, so we tried to give her that in the island and lower cabinet designs. And the right will hold her pantry items, as well as storage on the top. 

Along with her island views. I love the idea that she can tuck her barstools underneath. 

 

For the living room area, we proposed some ideas to bring it up to date. We’ll be sharing more on that, later. But think mortar wash on the fireplace with a new mantel, and some great fresh furnishings. Her TV was originally situated where the island will be going, so we will be providing a solution for that as well. Oh, and that ceiling is totally getting smoothed. We can’t wait. I have no idea why they felt the need to go overboard in 1950-1980 something. #calmdown

So here’s where we are with demo… we’ve marked electrical, framed out the pantry/laundry area {which we have great plans for} and opened up the space so that cabinetry plans can begin. 

And here’s this photo again, so that you understand orientation-wise, along with the after of the same angle.

To the right of this space, is her office, and she works at home. It was important to keep that in tact, as well as the rest of the home down this hallway. She also has an attic space over the kitchen ceiling, so after installing an LVL beam, the ceiling here will be kept in tact, just cleaned and simplified. 

Open spaces are not for every home, or every one. This house is definitely benefitting from a great plan, to really bring her rooms to life and utilize her square footage.

Here’s the kitchen view – all cleaned out with new framing for mini laundry room/pantry closet

Living room view where the paneled walls once stood.

We’ve finalized flooring and paint, along with countertops + tile… so we can’t wait to get started on the fun part of putting it all back together gain. She chose a really pretty and simple quartz, to brighten everything, and contrast beautifully with Sherwin Williams Night Owl.

Stay tuned… we’ll be sharing the bathroom progress on both spaces, next week!

We’ll be providing more of this detailed stuff in the future, alongside our usual content. So be sure to let us know if you have any questions, we’re happy to answer or clarify below!

Have an inspired day!

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And just in case you’re curious…

We don’t believe in the dream home, we believe in your home.
And we can’t wait to help you discover it all over again.

The Handmade Home : Love Where You Dwell. 

The Handmade Home is thrilled to bring both full on rehab and design services to our clients.

We offer in-person, full service design options, from a complete kitchen overhaul to a simple consult in your home on how to spruce it all up. If your kiddo needs a big kid room, your home could use some paint palette ideas, or even a brand new build from the ground up… we’re glad to help. Both nationally and locally in the Nashville area, we even offer a wealth of resources for our clients, right at their fingertips.

If you’d like to hear more about what we have to offer for you {because the possibilities really are endless} please be sure to check out our design services page, here! While you’re at it, be sure to check out our completed projects here. We love working with our client’s needs. 

We look forward to hearing from you, and we welcome the opportunity to work with you!

To read more about us, be sure to check out this page here, as well.

Have an inspired day!