Hillside Residence: Final Reveal

Kitchen Remodel

The Hillside Residence has been a fun project but also one that’s filled my cup. I’ve mentioned throughout the “Before” and the “Progress” posts how our clients are absolutely amazing and so wonderful to work with. This project was done in phases so you may have already seen some finished rooms before this post, but here we get to officially reveal every space!

Finish Panel Fridge
The Kitchen

The heart of the home. And even though you’ll see how many amazing entertaining spaces the Hillside project has, the kitchen will always be the most loved on. We kept the kitchen layout similar to the existing layout. However, we rearranged some appliances and straightened out the island so it was no longer intruding on the living room and dining room spaces.

The finishes were completely changed throughout! We paired a darker wood island with lighter perimeter cabinets, combining both finishes on the custom hood. We then pulled in a backsplash full of character with uneven edges, dimpling throughout, and a beautiful variation in color. Adding a white countertop with large yet subtle veining throughout kept things light and clean. We finished the space off with a new wood planked ceiling and refinished the hardwood flooring with a natural topcoat.

The pantry

The pantry is one of my favorite features of the home! The clients wanted a large walk-in pantry off of the dining room. However, we didn’t want a plain door along this focal wall. So a custom built-in was designed with a hidden door to conceal the pantry when not in use. The pantry is stocked with small appliances, a full-size freezer, and tons of storage space throughout!

Hidden Pantry
Walk-in Pantry
Primary Suite

This is one of those spaces that if you never walked through or saw the “before” photos, you’d be surprised what was originally here! For this space, we did a lot of reconfiguring to the floor plan to get an incredible luxury suite! We took over an unused bedroom, and then rearranged the existing bathroom and closet spaces. The return? A nice flow from the primary suite to a bathroom and closet of our clients (and my!) dreams! These spaces feature a washer and dryer in the closet, a large built-in for linens, a steam shower, and a freestanding tub with a gorgeous view!

Primary bathroom
Soaking tub
Large walk-in closet

Their steam shower transformation needs a moment to itself. It went from a bit of a cave-like vibe to sleek and sexy! One big custom piece in this shower is the curved bench. I’ve gone into a little detail in the progress post on how the process of getting it went. So today I’ll just say, can every steam shower project please include a curved bench!?

Entertainment Addition

The biggest and probably most talked about transformation to the Hillside residence is their entertainment center. To make this space happen, our clients took over their existing large garage. Later they did an addition to the home of an even larger garage with a storage room and loft. But let’s talk about their entertainment center! We started off with a professionally installed golf simulator and a custom bar top. The bar features a large piece of glass with a shadow box below to display their golf collectibles and memorabilia.

Behind the bar is a game area and large bar/kitchenette. And the main attraction leads us into the most professional in-home theater I have ever laid my eyes on! Our client is incredibly tech-savvy and did so much research and work to determine what kind of equipment he wanted in this space. From speakers, insulation, lights, and getting the sound to bounce at just the right spots of the room, this theatre is impeccable! On one of our final walk-throughs of the house, we got a little preview of the video and sound quality. I have to say, whether lounging on the cozy sofa or supported by the ergonomic recliners, it gives you quite the movie experience!

The Hillside residence will always be a favorite of ours and one we think back on often! A home like this that has all the comforts and luxury is one you can settle down in for a long time!

Be sure to check out the before and progress posts of this job, you’ll be surprised by what you see!

Hillside Residence: Progress

I usually recommend that everyone starts with the “before” project post, but with the Hillside Residence, it’s a must! Seeing the transformation from the start is like one of those tv remodel show moments where at the end of the episode they’ll show you a side-by-side comparison and it blows you away!

PHASE ONE

Because our clients were still living in the residence while the entirety of the construction was happening, we tackled this project in stages. Stage one consisted of the Primary Suite, Guest Bathroom, Guest Bedroom, and the paint and flooring in that section of the home.

Like with any renovation we started with demo. After tearing the entirety of the primary suite and guest bathroom down to almost the bones, we got started on the new layout. The biggest changes to this stage of the project were definitely the bathrooms. We weren’t just changing the finishes in these spaces, but we took out and moved walls to create more appealing and functional spaces!

The Primary SuitE

For the Primary Suite, we reconfigured the entry to the bathroom to create a more open layout. We moved the steam shower and soaking tub to one side of the bathroom. This provided more floor space, in addition to taking over an adjacent bedroom, for a beautiful, spacious walk-in closet. We also were able to add a linen closet built-in at the entrance of the bathroom.

The steam shower was an important part of the primary suite. One of the luxurious we added was the fully tiled, custom curved bench. It took some research to find something that was readily available. Once it was installed you can tell that the steam shower would never have been finished without it! This shower is fully equipped with music, chromotherapy, steam, body sprays, and more!

The finishes we paired together are mixtures of grey, white, and black. The darker wood stained cabinets add a lot of depth and warmth to the bathroom and closet. I love seeing some dark wood tones come back into design and paired in new, updated ways!

Guest Bathroom

In the “Before” blog post you can see how this bathroom used to be separated into two rooms. Half had a double vanity and the other with the shower and toilet. Taking out the wall and reducing to a single sink opened up the room. Since the clients didn’t need the bathroom to be as big as it was before, this change allowed them space where it mattered. A gorgeous double-door entry was added to their primary suite instead of the original small hallway. We weren’t going to skimp on the design of the bathroom though! We installed a stunning marble hex floor tile that combines both the grey and brown tones from the vanity. You may also notice that the ceiling in this room was also able to be raised by a few feet!

Second Phase

One of the big changes throughout the home was refinishing the flooring and making it a significant amount lighter. In the main areas of the home, an original knotty cedar ceiling was used. But with all of the changes to the lighting layout, we decided it would be easier to replace the ceiling rather than repairing it. With the new ceiling, we decided to stay away from the rustic knots and mimic the new floor. Those two changes alone modernized and lightened the home immensely! The core of the home isn’t something we wanted to change and there were elements we wanted to preserve. One detail we didn’t touch was the stone fireplace. It is the heart of the home, keeping texture and warmth in this space.

The Kitchen

We reconfigured the kitchen layout by moving some appliances and the island for a better flow. The light creamy perimeter cabinets paired perfectly with the darker stained island. This stain is used in the bathroom and closet in phase one as well. The other element that is the perfect touch in the kitchen and pantry is the backsplash. The uneven edges of the zellige tile and the variation of grey is SO good!!

When doing this phase, we reconfigured the existing pantry and laundry room to make one large pantry. If you want to see a quick tour of the pantry’s coolest feature, check it out over on Instagram. Since the home has laundry in other areas, this one wasn’t needed. We were able to utilize the space for the pantry and add a walk-in cleaning and storage closet. We refreshed the powder room flooring, vanity, and countertop to pull from the rest of the home’s design.

The Hillside project’s main home has now been complete! Check out the final reveal over at this post!

Hillside Residence: “Before”

Before Kitchen Renovation
Before Kitchen Renovation

Our Hillside Residence Project is a traditional home that sits on 50 acres of land. The home is surrounded by open fields that end at a beautiful tree line and sits on a hillside. Our clients have been living in this home for 20 years, which they had also originally built. This home has a beautiful structure and 20 years ago was exactly what the clients wanted and needed. However, the home is no longer functional for our client’s needs and the finishes and designs have become outdated!

This renovation project consists of taking over a bedroom to expand the Primary Suite (similar to what we did at our Pittsburg Residence!) and reconfiguring the whole suite, remodeling a guest bathroom, and adjusting the main spaces of the home to provide a larger pantry and a storage and cleaning closet while also updating the kitchen and powder room. The main spaces will continue to be an open concept, but with new finishes reflecting a traditional yet natural aesthetic.

THE PRIMARY SUITE FACE LIFT

The primary suite was feeling plain and dated. There were also some significant tile issues due to the steam shower. The closet was too small, and for these empty nesters, it made sense to take over an adjacent bedroom and let their suite become the new priority! There were certain parts about the bathroom layout that we felt could be adjusted to create a better flow of traffic and have a more pleasing use of square footage. Our clients also asked for one additional change to the primary suite, which was to expand the entrance to the suite. To do so, we are breaking down another wall that backs to the adjacent guest bathroom. Since that bathroom is able to be decreased in size, this adjustment will easily allow us to add a double door to the primary suite, creating a beautiful grand entrance of our clients’ dreams!

GUEST BATHROOM RECONSTRUCTION

This bathroom space is very linear with two separate rooms. One is used for a double vanity and the other for the shower and toilet. This layout easily allows multiple people to use different areas of the bathroom at the same time. However, it’s now feeling way too large and closed off from what our clients currently need! As previously mentioned, the wall by the entry door will be moved. The bathroom will be smaller and reduce the vanity to a single sink. We will also remove the wall separating the vanity from the toilet area so the space feels larger.

THE KITCHEN update

They kitchen currently has two islands, with one that sits at a bar height. Even though this main space is fully open, the high-top island creates a separation. It cuts off the kitchen from the dining room and living area. Our plan is to remove both islands, then bring in a single larger island at counter height. This adjustment will reduce the pinch points around the dining room and living room. In the past, arranging furniture has always been difficult due to the kitchen island! In the new kitchen layout, we reconfigured the perimeter cabinets and appliance locations, allowing for more cabinets and a better flow to the space.

White Cabinet Kitchen with island

Besides a change to the flooring and all finishes, the other major change to the space will be the ceiling. Right now, you see wood planks with a lot of knots and a golden orange finish. Since we have so many changes to the light placement, we would need to adjust the ceiling detail as well. The clients love the wood, but not the knots, so the plan will be to freshen up the whole ceiling with new wood planks. This will also allow us to move lights according to the new layout without issues.

Wood paneled ceiling
PROJECT SCHEDULE

We came to a decision with our clients to approach this project in phases, especially with the increased lead times. We didn’t want to start everything at once and then have clients with a home that isn’t livable with continued delays. The primary suite and guest bathroom was completed last year, and the main spaces of the home just recently wrapped up! You can see some of the progress at this post!

The final reveal of this project can be found here.

If you have a project on your mind, be sure to get in touch! You can contact me or book online here.