The design challenge with the Living Room was the size of the room and working with the existing historic features. Toning down the floors and choosing a color that would highlight and compliment the beautiful green tile on the fireplace was the strategy. Since this was a flip, staging played an integral part in featuring the fireplace as well as showing potential buyers how they could live in such a large space. To do this I created two seating areas, one formal conversation area near the fireplace and another casual area focused on an entertainment center.
University City is home to some of the most beautiful neighborhoods and homes of St. Louis. Rooms like this dining room are the perfect example of why. We made an effort to keep all of the period details but update it to our modern lifestyle by opening it up to the newly remodeled kitchen. This room could easily seat 12 people for a dinner party and open the patio doors for a nice breeze in the summer months. What do ya think? Would you like to have your next dinner party here?
The biggest "loli" or transformation in this home was the kitchen. A 90's renovation gave us the extra space we needed to work with but it wasn't used wisely. The existing plan was closed off, dated and felt disjointed from the rest of the home. Step #1: Take down the wall between the dining room and kitchen. This gave direct lines of sight as soon as you walked into the home. Step #2: Determine a new layout. What's the one thing everyone wants in kitchens these days? An island! The new layout was planned with the main objective being to maximize the island. A long run of cabinets was placed on the exterior wall but a wall jog and existing window made the kitchen feel off balanced. The existing wall was furred out and a new window added to balance the space and hood centered between them. With the wall down and a run of cabinets along the back wall, plenty of space was left for an island. To replace some of the storage lost when the wall was removed, pantry cabinets were added on either side of the refrigerator across from the island. Step #3: Finishes and fixtures. The goal was to keep with the historic feel of the home but with a modern twist. Dark wood that is found throughout the home was brought in but accented with light and bright cabinets and tile. (I'll do a blog post on all of my material selections throughout the house)
The Powder Room, although small, might be my favorite room in the house. When "flipping" a house rather than renovating for yourself sometimes you need to get creative and figure out ways to save a few bucks and where to splurge. When ordering the butcher block for the Kitchen island I made sure to get an extra large piece so I could use the leftover for the powder room counter-top. I also had left over penny round tile from another flip we did and had that applied to the back wall. Those savings allowed me to splurge a bit on the brass faucet and round mirror. In my opinion, totally worth it and all the selections made a BIG impact.
The Master Bedroom was beautiful before we did anything to it. It hurts my heart to remove beautiful features like this bookcase but it really didn't make sense in a bedroom and restricted circulation around the bed. Don't fret though. We carefully dis-assembled it and look forward to putting it into another project. Another thing I'm not crazy about is painting original woodwork that is in good shape. Half of the bedrooms were already painted and the others were not. To achieve a more unified look, we decided to paint. It really does brighten up the space.
The most glaring feature this stately home was lacking was a Master Bathroom. The only bath on the second floor was this large bowling alley like space. We decided to divide it in half and take over some of the space in the guest bedroom to add this luxurious bathroom. I always like to have a focal point when designing a bathroom and this one was the floor and the tub. Centering the tub below the window and adjacent from the vanity frames it nicely and allows the mirrors to reflect the natural light throughout the space. The shower and water closet are in their own "room" to allow for two people to use the small space without feeling cramped.
Another feature high end buyers are looking for is easy access to laundry facilities and large walk in closets. Transforming the 4th bedroom on the second level into a laundry room and large walk in closet will surely see a good return on investment.
The remainder of the hall bath left ample room for a tub/shower combo and generous sized vanity. Check out those lights!!!!
Although not as glamorous as some of the other room transformations, this room is where we got the most bang for our buck. Converting this attic space was a no brainer and helps justify a higher asking price with the added square footage.
Last but not least, this 3rd floor bath shows how far a little paint and a new vanity can go.