Frelo – Before & After

Before

After

The Beginning

Some homes are ideal candidates for tear-down or whole house renovations. This home had a significant amount of maintenance due, in addition to primary spaces in need of updating (kitchen and bathrooms).

The Big Idea

Originally, the homeowners planned only to remodel the kitchen and bathroom and replace the furnace and roof.

One of my initial design concepts explored the possibility of opening the kitchen to the family room (by removing a large fireplace and re-orienting the kitchen work areas toward the view).  This completely changed the feel of the house, and the owners’ feelings about the house.

Inspired to transform this house into their dream live/work environment, the project became a “near” tear-down (one wall and the slab-on-grade remained). An entirely new, modern, energy-efficient home now stands in its place.

Home Sweet Home-Office

One of the criteria for combining home with work was to create an acoustically separate area where the sounds of home-life would not distract from work. The door to this space is fitted with an acoustic door bottom and perimter gasket by Pemko.  The office walls are double-framed with offset studs in a “floating” installation.

Acoustic home office door

Winter Cheer (and eco-mindfulness)

Emphasis was placed on high quality systems, including radiant hydronic heat, commercial grade metal roofing, and rainscreen cladding. The southern exposure boasts large windows, both to capture all the mood-lifting sun possible during the rainy Seattle winter and to allow passive heating of the hydronic tubing in the floor.