ALEXANDRIA AWARD-WINNING INTERIOR RENOVATION

These Alexandria homeowners wanted to update their recently purchased home with more light-filled and connected living spaces for their growing family. A gourmet kitchen that complemented the size of the home and property was a top priority. Updating the finishes throughout the home was also a necessity.

Design challenges included an existing utility space that occupied a large portion of the kitchen footprint, making the kitchen cramped and narrow. In addition, the foyer was dark, confined and uninviting.

To create a more usable kitchen footprint, we relocated the utilities. A new high efficiency furnace was placed in a newly insulated and conditioned crawl space. A new hot water heater was located in the finished attic, and the electrical panel was also relocated. The refrigerator, freezer and pantry are now under the area that necessitated a drop bulkhead, masking the dropped structural headers and creating a sleek built-in area for the appliances.

The kitchen, with a much-improved layout, now opens to a large family room. Two new four-panel exterior doors connect the family room with a beautiful yard. In addition, white beadboard on the family room ceiling creates more visual continuity with the adjacent white kitchen.  

An open stair and exposed rail transform a once dark foyer into a grand entry. A small space was taken from a large second floor bedroom, and the entire second floor structure was supported with a series of flush beams to allow the stair to be opened. New glass doors to the den, relocated at an angle from the main stair, provide the foyer with more natural light and a wider, more inviting path to the kitchen. 

In the master suite, the relocated bedroom and bathroom entry doors improve the room’s layout and offer more bathroom privacy and space for a walk-in closet. A family mudroom now boasts built-ins and wainscoting to keep the family organized in style.

The finished interiors earned a 2014 NARI Contractor of the Year Award for home renovations $250-500K.