Spring Inspiration — A Bright & Fun-Filled Home Renovation

Spring is finally in the air, and we’re happy to see daffodils and crocuses popping up across the greater Philadelphia area where we serve.

This is typically the time of year when our annual project schedule starts to fill, so if you’re considering a larger design-build project to be completed in 2025, the time to reach out and start this conversation with us is now!

Need some inspiration? The project shown here is a whole-home “refresh” we did for a client who inherited her family home.

Our friend and associate, designer Hannah Dee, called us in to renovate this 1960s split-level ranch in Northeast Philadelphia’s Pennypack neighborhood. While the house had been well maintained over the years, it needed some 21st century updates and a great whole house design to pull it all together. To get started, we sat down with the homeowner to learn how she wanted to use each space. We observe how the spaces flow together, and make adjustments to improve them both functionally and aesthetically.

Having lived in the house for decades, this family had built many memories and collected pieces of cherished mid-century furniture and artwork. While some items were donated to museums, others were scheduled to return to the house when it was done. So a big part of our task was to create spaces for the cherished items to be used and enjoyed.

Some highlights:

We knew the client wanted a cheerful room that would double as a laundry and pet space for her four large dogs. Tamara designed a high folding table with storage below for the pet items while rearranging the appliances and sink to better fit the space. Hannah selected bright colors, patterned fabric, and a painted floor inspired by the works of Cézanne.
In the colorful kitchen, we opened the wall to the dining room to create a bigger footprint, created a counter, and added a special area to locate beloved furniture pieces in the sunny window area.
We added site-built cabinets at the stairs to the laundry to display special collectibles. More site-built storage for books was created in the sun-drenched living room.
We replaced the heater, rewired and added wiring for new lighting and modern outlets, reframed showers and closets, opened up walls, added new bedroom and closet doors throughout, installed colorful tile in all the wet areas, and prepped and painted the whole house.

This project is a great reminder that while home renovation is serious business, it can also be great fun. Let’s plan your next project together. Reach out today to learn more.