Dated dwellings may be move-in ready. That doesn’t mean homeowners actually want to move in before making some major changes.
When Bert and Joy Burns bought a second home at Lake Lanier in late 2014, the three-bedroom, wood-clad cabin was boring on the inside and in need of an overall remodel. The six-month renovation resulted in a “modern farmhouse” design with Bohemian accents, inspired by a Pinterest board Burns had created for her future vacation getaway.
Sometimes home redos are necessitated by potential hazards in the home. Asbestos presented a problem in a high-rise Atlanta condo. When it was removed, the hideous popcorn ceilings were taken out.
“What was exposed was just the concrete ceiling. It added a really cool design element to the space,” said Jennifer Reed, a certified master kitchen and bath designer and remodeling consultant for MOSAIC Group [Architects and Remodelers].
In both the lake home and Atlanta condo, the kitchens were among the spaces with major changes. Here’s how the designers updated them.
New look for lake home kitchen
Before: The kitchen cabinets, walls and ceiling were all the same pickled wood color, which has a peachy brown hue. Antique bronze exposed hinges and knobs on the cabinets made the kitchen feel dated, said designer Beth Johnson of B Interiors in Alpharetta. The countertops were laminate. There was only one light source — track lighting hanging from the vaulted ceiling, about 16 feet above the countertops. The space lacked a dining table.
After: To break up the monotony, Johnson painted the interior walls Sherwin-Williams' Alabaster, which provided a neutral backdrop for art and furnishings, such as blue leather counter stools from Grandin Road. She darkened the stain of the wood beams. Hidden hinges on the kitchen cabinets were installed and painted Sherwin-Williams' Dorian Gray in a satin finish. Working with Bob Rider of Rider Homes, they reconfigured the kitchen island to function as command central for family activities, dining and entertaining. They extended the sides by about a foot to accommodate more seating and added quartz countertops — HanStone's Swan Cotton by Hanwha Surfaces — from Toro Granite in Chamblee. To brighten the room, they added under-cabinet lighting, large pendants and the gooseneck light fixture over the sink, all from Progressive Lighting.
Opening up a condo
Before: Once the popcorn ceilings were removed, the two-bedroom, two-bath condo still seemed like a chopped-up space, with too many walls. Reed also faced the challenge of trying to merge the homeowners' traditional and contemporary design tastes. "The challenge at the beginning of this process was to meld the two in a space that was very open," Reed said. The kitchen also was behind a wall, so the space was not friendly for entertaining.
After: They removed some of the other walls and added in a cable rail stairwell. They could not remove the wall in the kitchen area, but repositioned the kitchen. Now it's in front of the wall, and a new island with a cooktop was added. That way, the homeowners can face their guests and enjoy the views from their 12th floor unit while preparing meals and entertaining. Reed moved the laundry room back to the original kitchen's location. "The view was completely not considered in the original layout of this condo. We built a laundry room in the space behind the kitchen and moved the kitchen to the forefront," she said. "We put the cooktop in a place that would give them an optimal view."
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