Cozy family room in Bohemian-style Craftsman

Shooot'in

Michael Stadler - Stadler Studio

Please visit my website directly by copying and pasting this link directly into your browser: http://www.berensinteriors.com/ to learn more about this project and how we may work together! The Venetian plaster walls, carved stone fireplace and french accents complete the look of this sweet family room. Robert Naik Photography.

Jim Fairchild / Fairchild Creative, Inc.

Great room

Lori Hamilton Photography

The new owners of this house in Harvard, Massachusetts loved its location and authentic Shaker characteristics, but weren’t fans of its curious layout. A dated first-floor full bathroom could only be accessed by going up a few steps to a landing, opening the bathroom door and then going down the same number of steps to enter the room. The dark kitchen faced the driveway to the north, rather than the bucolic backyard fields to the south. The dining space felt more like an enlarged hall and could only comfortably seat four. Upstairs, a den/office had a woefully low ceiling; the master bedroom had limited storage, and a sad full bathroom featured a cramped shower. KHS proposed a number of changes to create an updated home where the owners could enjoy cooking, entertaining, and being connected to the outdoors from the first-floor living spaces, while also experiencing more inviting and more functional private spaces upstairs. On the first floor, the primary change was to capture space that had been part of an upper-level screen porch and convert it to interior space. To make the interior expansion seamless, we raised the floor of the area that had been the upper-level porch, so it aligns with the main living level, and made sure there would be no soffits in the planes of the walls we removed. We also raised the floor of the remaining lower-level porch to reduce the number of steps required to circulate from it to the newly expanded interior. New patio door systems now fill the arched openings that used to be infilled with screen. The exterior interventions (which also included some new casement windows in the dining area) were designed to be subtle, while affording significant improvements on the interior. Additionally, the first-floor bathroom was reconfigured, shifting one of its walls to widen the dining space, and moving the entrance to the bathroom from the stair landing to the kitchen instead. These changes (which involved significant structural interventions) resulted in a much more open space to accommodate a new kitchen with a view of the lush backyard and a new dining space defined by a new built-in banquette that comfortably seats six, and -- with the addition of a table extension -- up to eight people. Upstairs in the den/office, replacing the low, board ceiling with a raised, plaster, tray ceiling that springs from above the original board-finish walls – newly painted a light color -- created a much more inviting, bright, and expansive space. Re-configuring the master bath to accommodate a larger shower and adding built-in storage cabinets in the master bedroom improved comfort and function. A new whole-house color palette rounds out the improvements. Photos by Katie Hutchison

Interiors by Morris & Woodhouse Interiors LLC, Architecture by ARCHONSTRUCT LLC © Robert Granoff

We wanted to frame the windows to take advantage of the view from the 37th floor of the high rise condo building. We wanted a crisp & clean look, with a contemporary color palette of soft greys, creams and metallics.

PC: David Duncan Livingston

This open floor plan allows for a relaxed morning breakfast or casual dinner spilling into the inviting family room with builtin fireplace and entrainment unit. Rich woods and warm toned walls and fabrics create a soothing environment.

Mark Lohman

This specialty cabinet was designed by Phil Rudick, Architect of Urban kirchens + Baths of Austin, Tx to house media equipment and to provide general storage on full extension soft close drawer guides. No space was wasted. The cabinet doors have a traditional look but the finish and cabinet sculpting put it in the transitional camp. Doors are self and soft closing. The toe recesses are exaggerated giving this eight foot long piece of furniture a floating look. Photo by Urban Kitchens + Baths

The former home had a porch https://www.clawsonarchitects.com/blog-entry/2017/08/when-empathy-hits-home.html It was a huge decision to forgo the screened porch that held so many memories. However, the family determined that a larger room that mimicked the sun porch by recreating the bead board ceiling in the traditional robins egg blue that they had always loved. The original back glass door off the living room remained. The new large comfy couch under the 8 windows that surround the room have proven to be the place of choice to lounge. The original porch was a half the size. The family is thrilled with the ability to all hang out in the space in this sun filled room.

This bow window was treated with individual energy efficient Hunter Douglas cordless Architella cellular shades. Framing the window are stationary side panels with a shaped 'eyebrow' cornice topping the window.