Inner City
Extension and Renovation
Kathy has been a long-time client of mine for over 20 years. She called me in for advice on renovating her beautiful 100-year-old house to bring it up to date with modern living and with her needs. Using a combination of my Pre-Purchase Design Inspection, Plan Check and Budget Check, we were able to carefully plan for this lovely home to embrace Kathy, her family, and her lifestyle.
Here’s what Kathy had to say about the renovation:
“I loved this home immediately, but it needed some changes. Chris had worked on plans and designs of homes I owned previously and I really wanted his advice on this one.
He came up with three main areas to renovate in the home: a redesign of the main living areas to make the space more usable and flexible, he connected the carport to the verandah, and extended the side of the house to create a home office and a walk-in pantry and laundry.
Chris was sensitive to the original features of the home and was able to design the carport to match the facade to perfection. It became more practical as we are now able to enter the house under cover and stay out of the weather…
In the kitchen Chris reoriented the island bench to make the kitchen function better. He has a great sense of style and design and gave us spot on advice about the style of cabinetry that would suit the fireplace area. It’s so beautiful. He even gave me measurements for the size of dining table I should buy so that it would fit perfectly between the bench and the couch in the living room. The layout and the furniture now fit so perfectly, it’s hard to believe it is the same cramped awkward space it was before.
In the bathroom Chris helped us size and orient the bath and get the right sized shower base and vanity to make the whole bathroom functional and beautiful. He got down to the millimeter with how much use we could get out of the space.
Even in the details of the style of doors and windows and which way they would all open to be the most convenient for walking through the home and what would lead to the best airflow. Chris thought of it all.
Chris has such a design flair, he’s intuitive about what will work and what won’t. He’s a great listener and really takes the time to find out what you need from a house. He’s honest in what he thinks of your ideas, and considerate of the things you love about a home.
He didn’t come up with grandiose plans that didn’t fit the budget. He was sensitive in managing our needs within the budget that we had, and his clever ideas made our spaces so usable.
I would never use anybody but Chris. Ring this man – he’s amazingly good at what he does. He works with what you have and is so creative. He’s very good at finding out what people want. I’ve referred many people to him over the years.”
