It’s not unusual for rental houses to turn over year after year in Bloomington, Indiana, the leafy city where Indiana University is located. Students rent for a while and then move out, and the usual wear and tear needs to be tended to. But when Aaron Denton was tasked as a subcontractor with refinishing the floors and painting the walls of a circa-1964 split-level, he didn’t expect it to be work he was doing on his own future home.

Near the end of the job, in summer 2015, the owner asked if Aaron, a graphic designer, and his now-wife, Anna, a photographer, wanted to move in and rent. Fast-forward five years, during the height of the pandemic, and their landlord came back with an even better offer: Did they want to buy it? “Since we had rented for five years, we knew exactly what we loved and didn’t love about the house,” Anna explains, noting that they immediately wanted to replace the entry’s dark wood paneling and update the bathroom. “And then, all of a sudden, we had the opportunity to do that,” she adds.

After seeing what architect Andrew Heathfield of MINOH did in another Bloomington home (for this Domino editor), they were enthusiastic to talk with him about their ideas. They also liked that he was a Midwesterner, based in Detroit. “It felt like he was really excited about our project and cared about our project. He made everything seem a little bit more possible,” Anna remembers of their video chat.

“For Anna and Aaron, MINOH focused on integrating segmented spaces, maximizing natural light, and enhancing functionality,” Andrew says. “The overall palette is clean and minimal, which really helped to highlight our tile selections, as well as the pair’s collection of art and photography. I think we created a space that is a reflection of them.” What came to be is a central hub of spaces that complement one another and suit the couple’s lifestyle, aesthetics, and, yes, their cats, too.

Plan for It to Take Longer Than You Think

As new home buyers, the Dentons held no illusions about the unfamiliar process they were about to dive into. But something they were sure of was that they didn’t want to do the project piecemeal or live in a construction zone. From that initial meeting with Heathfield in January 2021 to having a finished space in September 2022, the project took more than a year and a half. While that was partially due to the majority of it taking place during the pandemic, the tasks that took the longest were getting the drawings just right (remotely); finding a contractor who would take on their size of the job; and then the actual reconstruction of the kitchen, living room, entry, and bathroom. Ultimately, they ended up with exactly what they wanted: a fresh start with nuance that can grow with them as their lives evolve. 

There Will Be First-Time Renovation Hiccups

Something the Dentons didn’t expect was that their scale of renovation—not a full gut nor a one-room situation—made it difficult to source a contractor willing to take it on, especially because the couple was acting as project managers. They wanted to be the ones ordering and tracking the materials as well as storing them in their garage. “It became a matter of finding someone to do it,” Aaron says. “That took a while—reaching out to people, and people just being like, ‘No, this is too small. We don’t want to bid on this.’” Luckily, the home’s former owner recommended Chris Valliant, who was skilled in tile installation. Valliant then introduced the couple to Hewins Cabinet Company, which was an essential partner for the Dentons for the kitchen and bathroom.

It was smooth sailing until construction began. First, there was the hiccup of a long lead time for the custom Fireclay x Block Shop tile, and delivery held them up. Then a difficult-to-size cabinet panel for the dishwasher made trouble. Not to mention that once the bathroom vanity was made, it still had to be transported to the site. “Because we didn’t work with a full-build team, we didn’t have that person who is doing all the subcontracting and knowing what comes next in the process,” Aaron shares openly. “It was a lot of us just figuring things out as they needed to be figured out on a daily basis.”

Eschewing premade for custom cabinets was a big financial commitment, but it ended up saving them a huge headache when their measurements were oh-so-slightly off. “We were able to just smush it a little bit with a cabinet and make the fridge fit,” Aaron says.   

If It’s a Forever Kitchen, Consider Going Custom

Before the renovation, the kitchen’s horseshoe shape and dark wood paneling were both pain points for the couple, who love to host. “It was this very funny social experiment every time we had people over,” Anna says. “They’d walk in the house, get to the top of the stairs, and then have nowhere to go.” They knew they wanted to have a clear pass-through between the front door and back door. Now, instead of getting trapped by an L-shape, anyone can walk straight in and gather with the pair around the island, a focal point in the house. They can both be in front of the range at the same time, and beyond a new Bosch oven elevating their cooking, Aaron points out the little thrills. “I have a dishwasher for the first time in my life, which is amazing.”

The Dentons found that they appreciated their choice to go custom—in both the kitchen and bathroom—not only for the flexibility to make tweaks, but because they had exacting ideas of how they wanted everything to fit. In the design process, they mapped it out inch by inch, including where and how they would stash countertop appliances out of sight (on a pullout drawer behind closed doors) to detailed spice jar storage. “I appreciate that custom work every day,” Aaron says. “It became one of those moments where it’s like, let’s do this one time and get exactly what we want and then have it forever.”

Cats Need Privacy in the Bathroom, Too

“I personally feel like the bathroom is the most transformed,” Anna says, acknowledging how cramped and bland it was before. “It’s very weird to say the bathroom is a favorite room in the house, but it is the most beautiful.” First, by reclaiming an empty closet next to it, they doubled the size of the space.

By ripping out the tub and going with a walk-in shower clad in more custom Fireclay x Block Shop tile, they created extra depth, too. The frosted window, which looks out onto the screened-in porch, let’s in light but doesn’t require curtains as before, and a built-in cubby keeps products out of the corners and off the floors. Lastly, their cabinetmaker installed custom white oak cabinets that included an important addition: one sized exactly for their cats to have a little privacy in the loo, too. 

Add a Front Door You Actually Want to Enter Through

The back door had been the de facto front door for the Dentons ever since they moved in—and not because it was more convenient. The exterior and entryway came with a broken door, and dark wood paneling didn’t make them feel excited to walk in or out every day. After adding a layer of drywall, installing a new railing, laying down custom tile on the floor, and hanging a George Nelson Bubble lamp, things were starting to look sunnier.

Artwork by Dennis Foster and a brand-new door sealed the deal, and a fresh walkway and landscaping make it feel completely different. “I feel like we’ve made the front of our house a welcoming space again,” Anna says. 

Let Light in Every Which Way 

Prerenovation, wood paneling was prominent throughout the house, and while sometimes it can be a nice vintage touch, it wasn’t what the pair needed or wanted at this stage of their life. “We took that down and replaced it with drywall, which just made the space so much brighter and feel so much bigger,” Anna says. That new front door? It’s full-length frosted glass, and the new back door is transparent, too. Those changes, paired with the kitchen’s colossal picture window, also new, lets natural light pour in from multiple sources. 

Ask for What You Want

“We knew nothing going into this project—about renovating, about owning a home,” Anna says. “So when we started the process, so many things came about because we asked for what we wanted or asked questions of the experts to help us get there.” Case in point: the matte finish and taupe color of their Fireclay x Block Shop tile. “It comes in a glossy mint green, and that’s what we were going to go with,” Anna recalls. But then they happened to be on the phone with a Fireclay rep and inquired about a matte finish, which then led to the more muted brown hue they ended up with. Similarly, the budget that they had given Heathfield at the start began to feel limiting, so they decided to splurge on various pieces they hadn’t considered necessary, like a Smeg refrigerator, Schoolhouse lighting, and Boos kitchen countertops.

Each experience like this—whether that was specific cabinet placement, hand-selected vintage furniture, or spot-on pendant height—has made the end product so much more meaningful. “I know exactly where it came from and why it looks the way it is,” says Aaron. “It’s purposeful in a way that I’m not going to forget.” Those five years of renting gave them a head start on it all.

The post These First-Time Owners Traded Dark Paneling for a Breezy Central Kitchen in Their ’60s Split-Level appeared first on domino.

Even before Martina Casonato bought her 120-year-old house in north London, she was fantasizing about what her pantry would look like. “My goal was to re-create an old Italian grandma’s kitchen,” she says with a laugh. Having grown up near Venice, Martina knows a thing or two about “nonna chic” style. And she has a serious passion for cooking (while she’s a graphic designer by trade, she has a newsletter on the side called The Venetian Pantry that’s dedicated to all things food and interiors). 

It’s perhaps unsurprising that she landed on an architect with Italian heritage. “I know that you’re always supposed to interview at least three contractors, but we had such an immediate connection,” says Martina of George Bradley, director of Bradley Van Der Straeten. The feeling was mutual for Bradley, whose mother is from Rome and, like Martina’s husband, Joe, also has roots in Yorkshire. “I liked the synergy that they were buying their first home in London, as my parents once did,” says Bradley.

The couple got the keys in 2019 and were clear in their vision for converting the attic level into a primary suite and extending the kitchen. Martina knew she would go with terrazzo flooring in the kitchen (which hails from the Venice region) because it hides every crumb and speck. “It’s funny because it’s now the trendy thing to have, but in Italy, it’s almost considered old-fashioned,” she says. There are reminders of her native country throughout the house, but employed in subtle and thoughtful ways. Here’s how she pulled it off. 

Prioritize a Pantry Over a Double-Door Fridge

“Give me a walk-in pantry any day of the week over a walk in-wardrobe,” says Martina, laughing. While renovators usually hanker after a generous fridge-freezer, she was all for lo-fi storage: “There’s something so comforting and wholesome about long-life food that’s always there when you need it,” she explains.

The couple flipped the island to run perpendicular to the kitchen cabinets (all of which were custom-made by a millworker) and then dedicated a central spot to her dream pantry. “As I prep food, I look out to the garden and have all my supplies behind me. And I can interact with my guests rather than stare at a wall,” says Martina. 

Embrace the Surprises You Uncover

The dining area is technically attached to the next-door neighbor’s extended outer wall, and it was never an option to cover up those bricks “because they’ve got such a gorgeous patina,” says Martina. The same thinking applied to the exposed brickwork in what the couple refer to as “the Venetian corner.” As the construction crew removed the old units, a patch of pinky green layered plaster revealed itself. “I fell in love with it immediately because it reminds me of the crumbly buildings that you see in Venice,” says Martina. The contractors were shocked, but Bradley got it: “That derelict look gives such a rich character, particularly [reminiscent of] southern Italian towns and villages. For Martina, there is something very comforting and nostalgic about having that look in part of her home.”

Turn a Problem Into a Statement 

It was Bradley’s idea to curve the edge of the en suite wall in the newly created attic bedroom. “Loft spaces can often feel very boxy, so this softens it and creates a sense of flow,” he explains. But the builder vetoed the planned pocket door, foreseeing the micro movement from the tiles in the shower behind it would cause problems down the line. Cue Martina’s suggestion for a set of arched double doors, inspired by a hotel stay in Paris with a similar feature: “I remembered the feeling of opening the doors each morning; it felt so indulgent and luxurious.” Adding a bench in the shower was the cherry on top. “Other than the pantry, that is my biggest joy—sitting there in the morning with hot steam in my face,” she says.

Pack in the Storage

The window seat in the couple’s bedroom is a classic example of a dream-versus-reality moment. Her original vision was a glass box, “like a closed balcony filled with plants,” but she soon learned that would likely be vetoed by the local permitting board (not to mention, it would cost a fortune). Bradley’s solution was to make it a wood-lined seat with hidden storage. “The sill is intentionally low, so from the bed you have a beautiful view of the garden,” he says. It’s now one of Martina’s favorite details. 

The couple’s double desk, though, was their own creation. They designed it to be deep enough to accommodate their monitors and with drawers wide enough to stash their A0-size proofs for work (Joe is also a graphic designer). Because they wanted it to look like it’s floating, the millworker had to expose the joists in the wall and attach brackets to them.

Narrow Down Your Paint Palette

There was no doubt that the paint palette would skew neutral: “Whites and beiges [are] more timeless, and we wanted the house to feel like a place of calm and quiet,” says Martina. But settling on the right shades felt daunting. They began by applying Bauwerk’s limewash in the color Stone to the kitchen and primary bedroom. The extra touch of texture makes the “new” spaces feel like they’ve always been there. For the older rooms, they used Strong White by Farrow & Ball, and for the woodwork throughout, Skimming Stone. “By limiting the number of colors, you create a seamless feel around the house,” explains Martina. Like Italian cuisine, less is always more. 

The post This Foodie Graphic Designer’s Reno Goal Was to Re-create an Italian Grandma’s Kitchen appeared first on domino.

There’s no denying that cornices, fireplaces, and wall moldings all add charm and a sense of history to a home. But in contemporary properties lacking original features, a renovation provides an opportunity to create them from scratch. So that’s exactly what Celine Erlam, director of interior design practice Indie & Co., and her associates, Lea Berkhman and Sophie Walker, set about doing when they were asked to remodel this South London home for a couple welcoming their first child. 

Built in the 1970s in a simple, modernist style, the house hadn’t been touched for decades. Plain and uninspiring, and with an abundance of awkward storage (the cupboard in the main bedroom couldn’t be fully accessed), it was calling out for an injection of character. The owners love the mid-century aesthetic and brought several key pieces with them, such as the principal bedroom’s bedside tables and chest of drawers, “so we kept the lines very clean and streamlined, and nodded to the era throughout,” says Berkhman. Here, the trio explains how they added spirited touches to turn an unloved space into a playful family home. 

Embrace a Retro Color Theme

The warm palette of oranges, buttery yellows, and mossy greens chosen by Erlam and her team nods to the property’s construction date. Even the most neutral shade (in the hallway) is a pastel version of a classic white. “It’s 1970 reimagined for modern times,” explains Berkhman, who knew right from the start that she wanted to use Light Bronze Green by Little Greene in the kitchen. However, the clients, who were easygoing about most decisions, pushed back, as the room faces north and they wanted to ensure it remained as luminous as possible. “Instead of putting it on the walls, we used it on the top cabinets, so I still got it in there,” she says, laughing.

Have Fun With Millwork

With a little imagination, the designers and their open-minded millworker gave the no-frills stairwell a characterful boost with some MDF. Wavy handles elevate the otherwise unremarkable storage cupboard, but Erlam knows out-there decisions often come down to timing. “We’d worked with the clients for a while [at this point], so they trusted our vision and were ready to take the leap,” she says. The asymmetrical radiator cover was born out of budget: “We often do treatments on radiators when there isn’t scope to replace them,” she explains. It was Walker who came up with the wavy line to echo the new arch leading to the living room, which not only disguises it but provides a surface on which to place something decorative. 

Drop the Preconceptions of Parquet Flooring

Upon peeling back the ugly carpets, the designers and owners held their breath, hoping that swaths of original wood floors would be revealed. Disappointingly, it wasn’t the case (all they found was subflooring), but an old-school, finger-block parquet style felt like a must-have for the house, so they redid everything.

“It fits with the era perfectly while creating interest and character,” says Erlam. Deemed dated by some, the scale was just right: “The rooms aren’t big, so going for something larger would have felt odd,” she justifies. 

Create Some Drama in the Bathroom

Because the bathroom was devoid of natural light, the team decided to get playful with color and form. Moving the tub to where the toilet used to live provided the opportunity to enclose it with another arch. “It’s quite theatrical, and with the curtain, it’s like a stage. Yet when you’re showering, you feel cocooned,” says Berkhman of her idea.

The yellow tile was inspired by a picture of a hotel in Marseille, France, depicting retro mustard-striped sun loungers. But there was no question of using it everywhere. “It would have been too much, so we found something more neutral for the walls,” explains Berkhman of the peachy vertical tile that serves as a complement. 

Repeat to Cheat

It’s an all-too-familiar-sounding COVID-era story: During the renovation, the price of materials rose dramatically (the cost of the parquet increased 52 percent between the quote and installation), so the designers made a few clever cutbacks. For starters, they saved the remainder of the terrazzo slab from the kitchen worktops and used it in the bathroom. “There wasn’t much in the way of extra templating or installation costs, because the tradespeople were already coming for the kitchen,” explains Walker. The kitchen cabinets were a hack themselves: A local millworker created walnut fronts with unique notch handles to work with IKEA frames—though you’d never know from looking at them.

The post Why a “Dated” Flooring Choice Was Just What This London Home Reno Needed appeared first on domino.

Barry Bordelon and Jordan Slocum, the designer couple better known as the Brownstone Boys, usually have a heat gun and metal putty knife at the ready on the first day of a brownstone renovation. But their latest Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn, remodel didn’t call for the exhaustive varnish stripping technique they’ve come to perfect over the years. This three-story space, owned by young couple Taylor and Moore, had wood bones in pretty solid condition. “We were even able to save the original floors, which is one of the coolest features,” says Bordelon, who also served as the pair’s real-estate agent at the beginning of the process.

Moore and Taylor struck gold once more when they realized they’d be able to save money by living on the ground floor while the construction took place (a perk given they were expecting their first child, Harry, at the time). So after giving the garden-level kitchen and bathroom a light touch-up, Slocum and Bordelon got to work on the top two floors. Ahead, the designers reveal the new (and sort-of-new) updates. 

Some Things New

First up: add a kitchen on the main parlor level where there previously wasn’t one. Slocum and Bordelon started with a product they swear by (Semihandmade’s paintable DIY Shaker cabinets) in their favorite neutral hue (Shaded White by Farrow & Ball). “We’ve used it several times—it’s this creamy shade of white that also has some gray tones,” explains Bordelon. The vent hood is another signature Brownstone Boys move: It’s just a simple drywall box with a 2-inch radius corner bead that’s painted the same color as the walls. They kept the silhouette going in the adjacent dining area in the form of custom open shelves built by Brooklyn Builders Collective.

“The tricky thing about designing a brownstone is that they are long and narrow,” notes Slocum. “You always need additional storage.” So the designers also snuck in hidden cabinets underneath the island that are only 15 inches deep but just big enough for holding rarely used appliances. For something totally fresh, they sourced the pendant lights hanging above from Taylor’s ceramist mother. The rust shades pair perfectly with the Paonazzo stone counters, which sport subtle flecks of brown-gray. 

When it came to the primary bathroom, the designers drew on the clients’ past experiences rather than their own. “Moore is originally from California; Taylor is from Australia; and they spent a lot of time in North Carolina together, so there’s coastal things happening in that space,” notes Slocum. While the pinkish terracotta Roman Clay backdrop behind the tub was a bespoke touch, the slatted white vanity is an off-the-shelf piece (it’s from Signature Hardware).

Some Things Borrowed

In true restorer fashion, the designers had to do some outsourcing for elements that were likely a part of the house when it was built in the 1800s but had since been removed at some point. The big missing piece? Fireplace mantels. Just when Bordelon and Slocum had proposed the idea of buying marble surrounds new, they got an Instagram DM from someone in New Jersey who was doing a remodel and had just what they were looking for. “We’ve become kind of known for always wanting marble fireplaces,” says Slocum. “It was just at the right time.”

Some Things Old

While the home’s original staircase was in good enough condition to keep, the designers gave it a glow-up by painting it Tricorn Black by Sherwin-Williams and covering the steps with a one-of-a-kind runner. Taylor collected a bunch of Moroccan rugs, which they eventually had sewn together to make a long stretch of carpet. 

A skylight on the top floor was another existing detail worth salvaging—with a few strategic tweaks. Previously it was a 2-by-2-foot interior shaft with windows flanking it on multiple sides (back in the day, it would have provided natural ventilation for the bathroom). Nixing those extra panes made it possible to build a shower stall there instead. “We were able to reclaim that space, and then the skylight that was at the top of the shaft just looked onto the shower,” shares Bordelon. Taking full advantage of the sun-drenched corner, they opted for a moody, two-tone look using Zia Tile’s 4-by-4-inch zellige tiles in Tidepool and Aegean—a perfect marriage.

The post How These Pro Renovators Avoided Stripping Any Wood During This Brownstone Remodel appeared first on domino.

“It looked like a placeholder,” designer Meta Coleman remembers. Home to a pair of time-worn armchairs and a couple of overflowing stand-alone bookcases, the long, narrow nook off the second-floor landing of her clients’ Salt Lake City house could be put to much better use. Not only did a pair of west-facing windows offer some of the property’s most scenic views, but “the family are all avid readers and there never seems to be enough cozy spots for that,” says Coleman. 

With the parents and their four kids on board, Coleman went to work maximizing the area to act as everything from a morning mother-daughter hair station to a reading zone and book storage. “The space was small and awkward, but nothing cozy, deep seating couldn’t fix,” she recalls. Cue a wall-to-wall built-in bench—but rather than stick with a predictable rectangular silhouette, Coleman opted for wide, curved edges and geometric reeding finished in a soothing seafoam green. That’s not to say she sacrificed versatility; read on to see how she found the balance.

Hide Function in Plain Sight

“Every square inch of the bench is storage,” she says, pointing out that the left and right sections lift up and a trio of drawers hold everything from puzzles to games to hairbrushes. “For such a small space, there’s a lot of utility to it.” In fact, one of the designer’s favorite hardworking details is hardly noticeable: “I really like the [inset] charging stations on either side that can also house a Kindle or iPad for reading or a little evening movie watching.”

The More Cushions, the Better

To lure in the readers, she topped the bench with three sink-in down cushions in blue and white pinstripes piped in a contrasting red and white pattern. Throw pillows aren’t the sole back support—Coleman wrapped the backboard in Schumacher fabric for another layer of plushness, and the scenic flora and fauna motif tells a story in and of itself.

Even a Tiny Customization Is Worth It

Not only does the wraparound bookshelf above hold dozens of beloved titles, but their reading collection pops thanks to raised red accents on the edges of the millwork. “It’s the little details that bring it to life,” she says. “I can’t just leave it plain.” As for the lipstick shade, “I think red is an understated color. If there’s a cool color, I like to bring in a complementary warm one.”

Soften All the Geometric Lines

Next, Coleman swapped clunky shutters for a white linen roman shade to lighten things up. “Now the window treatment acts as more of a frame around the beautiful view of the mountain range,” she explains. When the warm, filtered light fades come evening, a row of custom ceramic tulip sconces brought to life by Betsy Croft Pottery provides light. “I love to bring the outdoors into any space,” she says, noting how their organic shapes add movement to the alcove. Plus no matter which direction someone sits or lays, their task at hand will be illuminated.

The spot most of the kids would pass by unphased is now the most popular seat in the house. “I’m a firm believer,” says Coleman. “If you build it, they will come.” 

The post There’s No Better Use for an Awkward Stair Landing Than This Do-It-All Reading Nook appeared first on domino.

Sixteen feet is a lot when you’re talking about ceiling height, but when that’s the width of your house, things can start to feel cramped. For one Seattle-based family of four living in such tight quarters, the fact that their home was so narrow wasn’t the issue—it was how it was being utilized. Rather than tack on a big fancy addition, they called on Best Practice Architecture to optimize the century-old interiors and make the most of each square foot. “We collectively felt that demolition [would] rob the family and neighborhood of its unique and irreplaceable charm,” says Kip Katich, the firm’s senior principal.

So they instead stuck with the home’s slim bones, configuring a smarter and savvier layout that made way for a soaking tub, playroom, laundry area, and more. Though it’s not all about function: The studio embraced the clients’ Hawaiian and Japanese backgrounds, drenching the home in sunlight, picturesque views, and a warm palette of chestnut and cream. “We knew we could preserve the house’s integrity while breathing in new life for, hopefully, the next 100 years,” says Katich. Here are the most innovative ideas from this space-defying reno. 

Pack Eyesores Into a Pretty Package 

The home was previously divided up into a series of successive smaller rooms, resulting in a closed-off living area with minimal storage. “Compact spaces are hard, and narrow ones are even harder because there is a need for more circulation to move from one space to another,” explains Katich. The family was craving an open concept, so Best Practice knocked down a few walls. To minimize visual clutter, they nestled a coat closet, shoe cabinet, and shelving into an entry “box” at the front door (it also conceals the HVAC unit). A similar structure at the center of the kitchen and living area, partially clad in two-tone oak slats, consolidates the fridge, pantry, and powder room. 

Steal Some Space If You Want to Soak

The only expansion of the home came in the form of a 30-square-foot micro addition to accommodate a Japanese soaking tub, called an ofuro. “It was the one indulgence they afforded, for that is an essential part of the family’s culture,” says Katich.

The team took a counterintuitive approach, shaving off the width of the kitchen to make room for the bath at the rear of the house. It acts as a threshold between the interior and the deck, with a folding window wall opening up to vistas of the cherry and maple trees outside. The tub is now the perfect bonding spot, whether you want to “dip your toes [in] on a warm day” or “enjoy a hot, relaxing soak with abundant natural light,” Katich notes.

Work From…Your Backyard

Because there wasn’t room for a dedicated office with the ofuro and kitchen configuration, the next logical place to put it was in the backyard. However, the homeowners didn’t want it to take over their precious outdoor space or impose on their neighbors. So Best Practice integrated the WFH spot into the landscape, tucking it under the trees and digging into the ground, resulting in a sunken room. 

The space is complete with a vegetated roof that can grow plants and “adds a delightful fuzzy hat to the work shed,” says Katich. The family contributed their own special touch, too: A Japanese copper rain-chain in the gutter splashes water onto a mini rock garden outside.

Treat Guests to Your Basement

The basement offered an opportunity to create an expansive hangout spot. Best Practice started by encasing the exposed piping and electrical wiring into a designated cavity to allow for a smooth, ubiquitous ceiling height. “That eliminated those telltale signs of it being a basement,” explains Katich. 

For a breath of fresh air, the stairs were refinished in a warm white oak, with a clever storage area hidden underneath. The wall at the back was also replaced with a south-facing glass slider to flood the room with natural light—and provide direct access to the backyard. Most days, the basement acts as a play area for the kids, but depending on the occasion, it shape-shifts: A custom Murphy bed transforms it into a spacious guest room when visitors arrive, and an enclosed laundry room means they don’t have to wake up to the sight of a washer and dryer.

The post By Stealing a Sliver of Space From the Kitchen, This Narrow Home Got an Indoor-Outdoor Tub appeared first on domino.

When Brynne Flowers was hired to help with a couple’s stately Tudor in Salt Lake City’s Yalecrest neighborhood, the top-to-bottom restoration had already wrapped up. The owner of design studio John Martine came on board for a different reason: to imagine the interiors of a brand-new modern addition.

Her clients—a stylist and real-estate investor with three children ages 11, 8, and 6—had spent years returning the original structure to its former glory. “The wife actually grew up two houses down,” says Flowers. “They were living in Los Angeles when this home came up for sale. It was not in great condition, but she convinced her husband to buy it.” Ultimately, though, there were certain things the choppy 100-year-old floor plan simply could not provide—chiefly an open kitchen and indoor-outdoor space for hosting guests. “There was a tiny, closed-off room of a kitchen at the back of the house, and none of the rooms opened to the backyard,” Flowers recalls. Enter the two-story extension, a collaboration between Flowers and Lloyd Architects.

Its first floor now functions as a great room, combining an informal dining nook, sleek kitchen, and TV room, which connects to a pool. On the second floor, they added two bedrooms and a shared bath, the domain of the couple’s sons. Here, Flowers breaks down how it all came together.

Consider Foot Traffic Before Sourcing Floors

The green-, black-, and brown-flecked terrazzo, a jumping-off point for the whole design, was the clients’ idea. Once sealed properly, the material is practically indestructible (it’s water- and stain-resistant) aka perfect for indoor-outdoor living. “The kids are watching TV, then they’re jumping in the pool, then they’re on the trampoline,” says Flowers. Now the homeowners can open the floor-to-ceiling accordion windows without stressing out about guests—or, more likely, their kids—tracking mud inside. Bonus: Sealants can also make the surface less slippery, which is key when your floors are pool adjacent. 

No One Can Ever Have Enough Closed Storage

With three kids, the clients wanted to get control of the inevitable clutter. In the kitchen, Flowers took their request for closed cabinetry one step further with cupboards all the way to the ceiling (yes, that soffit above the white oak upper cabinets is actually more storage!), an integrated cooktop, and flush panel fridge. As for the matte black fronts? “We loved how the color makes the cabinetry recede,” Flowers explains. “It helps hide everything away.” 

Avoid a Kiddie Kids’ Bathroom

It bears repeating: Your children are going to grow up one day. And unlike the purple paint you let them pick for their bedroom walls, the tile in their bathroom is not a simple swap. In the boys’ bath on the second floor of the addition, Flowers created a playful but still sophisticated stripe using two different sizes of cement tiles. “This doesn’t necessarily have to be a kid’s bathroom,” she points out.

Capitalize on Cool Architecture

The architects lined most of the soaring addition’s perimeter with double-height windows to match. But there was a strip of wall next to the dining area that wasn’t encased in glass. Flowers and her clients seized the opportunity to turn the blank space into a two-story bookshelf complete with a library ladder. In other words, a stylist’s dream spot. “She is eclectic and has a lot of tchotchkes, which makes the shelf so much fun,” the designer says. Below, Flowers designed a hutch from the same white oak as the upper cabinets to store entertaining essentials that don’t have a home in the formal dining room.

Don’t Get Hung Up on Reinventing History

Instead of clinging to a classic Tudor sensibility, the couple wanted the new addition to feel, well, new. “Their approach was not to make the addition fit with the rest of the house, because they were like, ‘It’s never gonna fit with the rest of the house!’” Flowers explains. This gave the designer room to play with modern, rounded silhouettes for everything from the counter stools to the dining table and chairs.

The palette was another way to experiment. In the lounge area, it’s all about tones from nature. Florals were incorporated via a mix of patterns, from the stripy denim blue sofa to the speckled tan and navy wool rug. One trick the designer used to bring the home’s past and present together: choosing a unifying hue. The wife’s favorite color, green, was already sprinkled throughout the original house, so it felt just right in a space next to the lush backyard.

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“We’ve never been so on top of our laundry,” says Indianapolis-based interior designer Anissa Zajac. With three daughters—ages 17, 15, and 9—who play sports, nearly every day is laundry day in Zajac’s household. Adding fresh storage for multiple backups of detergent and updated machines that can handle large loads to her once-drab laundry room certainly changed things for the better, but one purchase really helped out. “The roller laundry bins…life changing,” says the House Seven Design founder.

Zajac is referring to the three canvas Crate & Barrel containers on wheels that line the space (she had her cabinetmaker measure the baskets before constructing the built-ins to make sure they’d fit snugly under the drawers). One is for whites, another for darks, the third for colors. “It has just made it so efficient,” says Zajac. “The kids bring their hampers downstairs every night, separate their clothes, and then when we see one has filled up, we know it’s time to do a load (it’s about the same size as the drum).”

Because the space is located just off the kitchen, no one ever accidentally leaves their wet clothes sitting in the washer for hours. When it’s in sight (or within hearing distance), it’s in mind. “Everybody raves about the second-floor laundry room, but I can’t reiterate how much easier it is if it’s near your kitchen where you spend the majority of your day,” says the designer. Here are five more updates to the space that have helped the family’s chores run a little more smoothly. 

Cabinets That Stay Fresh and Tidy

Zajac thought about every last item that she would store in her new laundry room cupboards before they were installed. She even went so far as to measure a paper towel roll to ensure it would be able to stand up right inside the shelves. “If [the cabinets] are not functional, they lose their luster,” she notes. Since she knew the space is prone to smelling stale and muggy, she added cutouts to the door fronts to allow for better airflow. 

Counters That Make Folding More Enjoyable

To achieve the rustic, English countryside cottage vibe she was after, the designer replaced the linoleum floors with herringbone brick tile from Floor and Decor. The key to achieving a truly timeless look? Opting for thick grout lines. Then her husband, who owns his own remodeling business, constructed the new countertops on each side of the room out of two 2-by-10 pine boards. “I don’t love marble or stone where I’m folding. Wood is just warmer,” shares Zajac. She keeps a stool handy in the room because it’s not only the place where she embraces her inner Marie Kondo, it’s also where she clips flowers and works on arrangements. 

Walls That Are Easy to Wipe Down

Zajac grew up in old homes in upstate New York, so she clad the laundry room walls in 4-inch-wide vertical shiplap as a nod to Northeast living. But the trim adds much more to the space than that: It’s easier to clean than painted drywall and, by carrying it onto the ceiling, it makes the room appear taller than it is. 

A Sink for Hobbies

Incorporating a small sink was more for Zajac’s flower arranging pastime than for cleaning clothes. “I use it mostly for filling up vases,” she notes. She surrounded the basin with durable black granite and added a niche underneath that can double as a spot for a storage basket or a sleeping nook for the family’s dog (these days, his bed is tucked under there). 

A Junk Drawer for Everyone

Not a fan of storing things under the kitchen sink, Zajac has dedicated the upper cabinets in this space to cleaning supplies, in addition to her vase collection and all things laundry related. The drawers above the game-changing hampers hold everyday necessities. One of them is a “very organized junk drawer,” filled with batteries, pens, paper clips, and hair ties. The middle slot houses miscellaneous outdoor toys (bubbles, water balloons), while the third is Zajac’s personal tool drawer. When every item has a place, things get done.

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Rashida Banks didn’t want to spend a second longer than necessary in her dim, cramped entryway. So much so, she had resorted to dropping her shoes and bag anywhere other than the 4-by-4-foot space. “My husband jokes that he can always tell where I am in the house based on where I’ve left my purse,” the Washington, D.C.–based content creator says. Consisting of only a small coat closet, the Bankses’ front foyer lacked any sort of functionality anyway (the couple primarily keep footwear and jackets in their bedroom wardrobe). But earlier this year, Rashida set out to change that.

Turning the heavily trafficked area into somewhere pleasant required not just more storage but a design that blended in with the rest of her thoughtfully curated home. Ahead, Rashida walks us through the project—including how she eked out room for the couple’s two furry friends. 

Box Yourself In

Who said kitchen cabinets can be only used in kitchens? To make the existing closet appear to be a built-in piece of furniture, Rashida slid a standard 30-inch-wide cupboard into the entryway alcove, an almost seamless fit with the 32-inch doorway (she filled in the gaps with extra molding). But to keep it from seeming out of place—read: not an extension of the actual kitchen—the couple opted for a butcher block shelf instead of tile or stone.

There’s still plenty of room to stow coats up top, and “the space we lost on the closet ends we gained in the center,” she explains. “Now we have storage in the lower half of the closet that we didn’t have before.” Scarves and other grab-and-go gear have a home either in the top two drawers or on the row of wall hooks.

Trick the Eye

Rashida let us in on a secret: The vintage-looking closet door isn’t glass. “It’s actually corrugated plastic roofing that we cut down to size,” she reveals. Originally meant for greenhouse construction, the material evokes ribbed glass for a fraction of the cost—at Home Depot, a sheet will run you about $20. By picking up the material from her local hardware store, she also avoided any lengthy lead times. A coat of Benjamin Moore’s Heather Gray paint on everything from the walls to the drawers completes the custom look.

Follow Your Routine

Redesigning the foyer was also a chance to halt the hassle of carting bags of dog kibble from the kitchen and back again. Surprisingly, the entrance had ended up being where Rashida fed their two pups, Jax and Chase. “That’s why it’s important to live in a space for a while before you make changes,” she notes.

Now the baseboard drawer hides two dog bowls, and the larger one above holds containers of food and treats. Despite the additions, the Bankses didn’t lose an inch of storage. “Everything went back into the closet that was already there, but now it’s actually a functional place,” says Rashida. “We have a junk drawer now!”

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When Naomi Gibson began designing this Cypress Park, Los Angeles, cottage, she fantasized that an artist from the nearby La Beast gallery would buy it and use it for after-parties. So she focused on turning it into a host’s dream home. “It’s unique in that it’s a flat lot that’s 100 percent utilized; there are so many different places to hang out,” she says. Ultimately, a young couple purchased the property just five days after Naomi and her husband, Josh, listed it. Together, they make up the team behind Gibson House, an interior design firm dedicated to renovating and selling houses—but they aren’t your typical flippers. They both have had long tenures in the world of fashion: Naomi was the director of design at For Love & Lemons; Josh owns a factory in downtown L.A. for apparel, screen printing, and embroidery.

“Having such an intense fashion experience gave me a good understanding of color balance and proportion,” shares Naomi. “It was a great background to segue to interiors. I fell in love with the process, switching from silk and velvet to wood and marble.” The circa-1916 Cypress Park home is the couple’s fourth project and one of the easier ones. Despite an outdated interior full of stained wood cabinets and linoleum floors, Naomi was able to keep the overall structure of the 1,136-square-foot house intact. Of course, with a home that’s more than 100 years old, there were some hiccups, such as having to re-level the whole place because of sagging foundation beams and replacing the framing and drywall in the kitchen after discovering water damage. “It’s not fun money to spend, but it’s important,” notes Naomi. 

To offset costs, she was picky about where they splurged and where they saved. Going with durable laminate flooring in all the rooms except the bathrooms, for example, made way for materials with bigger price tags, like leathered marble, which is achieved by sanding down the stone so that the veining has more height and the sheen is gone. “It’s nonnegotiable; it’s imperative to communicate romance in a space,” shares Naomi. When it came time to sell, she saved on staging costs by relying on secondhand items from antiques stores (and their neighbor’s estate sale); handcrafted pieces from Etsy; and even some finds from Target, Wayfair, and Amazon. (Psst: The 15-foot-tall potted trees that line the fence came from a mansion in Pasadena that Naomi found on Facebook Marketplace.) Ahead, the seasoned renovator reveals how they pulled off the transformation in just nine weeks. 

Frame the Range

Naomi found the large wood beams that now outline the red-hot kitchen range at her local lumber yard, but the 180-year-old planks initially came from an Amish barn in Ohio. The designers used the wood, along with Calacatta marble and plaster, to give the space an old-world Italian farmhouse vibe; to make it “feel like it’s always been there. Tuscan-style kitchens have huge wood-burning stoves in the kitchen, so I wanted to emulate that with the hood by making it massive,” she describes. They also added beams to the ceiling of the kitchen to tie the dark wood floors and countertops together. 

Make Flat Walls Sing

Continuing the Mediterranean feel, the couple swathed the walls in texture using a technique the Gibsons have used in all four of the homes they’ve redone. The limewash is applied with a wide paintbrush by hand in a cross-hatch pattern, lending depth to the 2D surface. “What I love is that it bounces light around a space. It sets the mood,” she says. Throughout the home, Naomi opted for colors found in nature (though the new owners would easily be able to paint over the limewash if they prefer traditional white). 

In one of the bedrooms, the designers used a green-gray hue to mimic the lush garden outside. “I’m obsessed with atriums; I hope to have one one day, and my husband has the greenest of thumbs,” she says. To finish off the space, the Gibsons DIYed some marble hexagon tables by painting them dark emerald. 

Tweak Only What’s Necessary

Some existing elements of the home were in decent enough shape to keep, including the “wobbly” cobblestone patio in the backyard. “I kept it even though it’s un-level and worn because it adds emotion and history,” says Naomi. Paving over everything would have been a shame, especially after they found kids’ handprints with dates next to them etched into the concrete. “I kept that, too,” she says. 

For the most part, the backyard just needed a little reimagination. Where there previously was a barbecue area, there is now a fireplace and built-in seating. “I enjoy working with design constraints and repurposing existing things,” she adds. She took a similar approach inside when rethinking the various nooks and crannies. The Gibsons turned an old cubby between the living room and the kitchen into a bar nook, while an old broom closet next to the fireplace became an open shelving area. 

Connect the Dots

In order to remedy the awkward flow between the home’s bedrooms, the designers added an archway between two of them (one of which they staged as an office) to allow a full-circle flow throughout the house. When privacy is a concern, the areas can be separated with a custom-made barn door. “Having double barn doors creates a sense of barrier between two spaces,” she says. “And the arch is soft and welcoming and has more flair. ”

Find Your Best Light

Knowing that her own husband complains about having even lighting when he shaves, Naomi wanted to make sure the light in the bathroom wouldn’t be too harsh for future residents. To achieve perfect eye-level lighting, she had a custom mirror made with soft dressing room–style lights around it. It was designed to match the bespoke marble vanity exactly and required meticulous measuring. In the end, a gallerist is not living in the home, but the new owners are certainly living in a work of art in and of itself. 

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