Zimmerman Architects Denville NJ
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Archive for Interior Renovations – Page 2

Bringing Your Home into the Future

Posted by Faith and Hope on
 November 29, 2023

Building With Hope and Faith

Bringing Your Home into the Future

As we hope and plan to stay in our homes for the long term, we know that our houses should fill our needs 10 and 20 years from now, not just next month. It’s smart to consider features that we’ll appreciate in the coming decades. Your home is your sanctuary, your party hosting domain, and the place you can continue to explore new hobbies, learn new things, and really enjoy your retirement years the way you want to. Let’s look at possibilities that might take your house comfortably into the future.

Easy Access

Consider relocating your master suite to the main floor.

While the homes of the past featured the master suite at the top level, there’s no rule that says your bedroom has to stay up there. It’s becoming popular to relocate your master suite to the main floor. Your guest bedrooms can be upstairs, so when your adult children come to visit, they can “make the hike” to their bedroom.

Bigger Garages For Different Reasons

Consider redesigning your garage to fit your current vehicles

No one envisioned SUV’s back in the 60’s and 70’s. If your house was built prior to the age when everyone in the house had their own car and then some, you’re likely stuck with a 1 car garage, or even a too-narrow 2 car garage. We have redesigned garages that fit your vehicles and your new lifestyle without making it an eyesore from the street.

Beyond Repurposing Bedrooms

An unused bedroom can become a craft room, yoga studio, dressing room, library or art studio of your dreams

While your empty nest may no longer host your teens, and you have your eyes set on transforming their bedrooms into other uses, you may want even more room! The craft room, yoga studio, dressing room (see above), library and art studio of your dreams can be yours even if you believe you don’t have enough rooms available right now. An addition doesn’t have to be massive – just designed correctly to look stunning and give you the space you want.

Kitchens Get Larger and More Functional

It seems that every year, kitchen design trends encourage larger kitchens! We want you to have all the space you want and need. Your kitchen can be open to adjacent spaces so you can interact with family and friends without being “stuck” in the kitchen, feeling isolated while you’re cooking.

With the popularity of home cooking (have you seen all the cooking competitions on TV??) people are not only wanting more room to spread out to roll out pie dough and shape homemade pasta, but also store all these gleaming newfangled kitchen counter appliances.

Let’s create a kitchen for you that has the space, the storage, the counter height, the mobility features that you’ll love for years to come.

Building Spaces Where They Make Sense

Folks are bringing their washer and dryer into spaces adjacent to their expanded kitchens for more efficiency, creating a mudroom by the back door that leads to the laundry room that leads to the kitchen. It’s beautiful and it’s super-efficient, helping you and your family to flow through your day and love your space, too.

Do you have a backyard with a lovely deck, swimming pool, garden and patio – but no bathroom anywhere near the back door? Let’s fix that and give even more enjoyment to the back yard life, while eliminating the extra work created when the back yard gets tracked through the house.

Here’s the deal – your home was designed years ago, in a different time, when people simply lived differently. Back then, they couldn’t envision what life would be like now. So why leave your home in the past? Let’s explore how you want to enjoy your home next month, 10 years from now, and beyond.

Your surroundings can totally affect your life,
your spirit, your emotional well being!


Do you have transformational dreams for your house and

simply can’t “see it happening?”
Click below to get started.

I would love to talk!

If a friend forwarded this to you, this does not mean that we have added you to our list. However, if you would like to receive our updates, click below.

Yes, send me your design tips.

Categories : Interior Renovations, Renovations, Residential Design, Working with Zimmerman Architects

The Renovation Transformation: A Guided Tour of the Interior

Posted by Faith and Hope on
 August 28, 2023

Building With Hope and Faith

The Renovation Transformation

Interior-renovation-living-room

We enjoy taking on a variety of home renovation projects of all sizes. We shared the first part of this design story last month, where we gave you a tour of the exterior of this renovation transformation. This time, we’ll give you a guided tour of the beautiful new interior. We hope you love this as much as we (and the homeowners) do and can visualize your own home achieving a design upgrade.

Opening the First Floor Expanded The View

This traditional Cape Cod style house used to consist of small walled off spaces and doorways. During design discussions, our homeowners came prepared with a wish list, and at the top of the list was an open floor plan, a larger kitchen, an expanded basement, and a new great room.

What Is a Great Room?

Great Rooms are not a new concept, dating back to medieval castles. Today, great rooms are combinations of several different rooms in a home. It can typically include a living room area, dining area, and kitchen or bar area. It is an open and inviting space for family and guests to enjoy entertaining and relaxing.

Open kitchen with view of loft

The house now has a new addition, which you cannot see from the front. In this new space, we created the Great Room they had always wanted. We redesigned the kitchen for a larger footprint and removed the walls.

To open things up further, the kitchen flows right into their new great room, which has a vaulted ceiling and a lovely view of the swimming pool in the backyard. The whole area is bathed in light from all the windows and skylights, and the now-open floor plan.

The original dining room
The Dining Room - Before
The dining room - after
The Dining Room - After
The original kitchen layout
The Kitchen - Before
The kitchen after transformation
The Kitchen - After

Unexpected and Bonus Design

Opening stairs to connect dining room and great room

Our homeowners wanted to open up the dining room area, but there was a staircase right in the middle, surrounded by walls. It completely interrupted their vision of an open floor plan. This dining area connected to the great room and the kitchen.

While the homeowners couldn’t see how it could be accomplished without relocating the stairs, we designed the stairs to be in an open space. Their dream came true: when you open the front door you have an uninterrupted view straight through to the back windows.

New balcony overlook

While designing the great room, we added a surprise we knew they would love – a balcony on the 2nd floor that overlooked the great room. They were overjoyed at getting this bonus they had not imagined. There’s a high window in the great room. When you’re on the 2nd floor balcony you can see the back yard through the large window.

Getting Better Use of Their Spaces

The original living room
The Living Room - Before
The Living Room After
The Living Room - After

— The former living room is now a reading room with glass French doors. An open floor plan has many advantages, but now it was important to establish a quiet and private area that can be closed off with doors. This was the perfect spot and size for a cozy library.

— Another part of their wish list was to make their existing first floor bedroom into a master suite with walk in closet and private bathroom.

— In the basement area under the new addition, our design included a yoga studio. If you’re going to make this your forever home, it’s important to include the features that will make the space enjoyable and functional for many years to come for your personal goals, taste and preferences. In the yoga studio, the full-sized windows have a view to the backyard, making it a lovely and peaceful place for fitness and meditation.

A yoga studio in the basement

Before the renovation there was one entry into the basement which was down the interior stairs. We added an additional entry directly from outside and also connected the old and new basements.

It all added up to taking a traditional Cape Cod house from modest to sensational.

Our Clients Are Just Like You

Our homeowners had been living there a long time. They loved their style of home, their neighborhood, and the property. This was their forever home, with no thoughts of moving. They knew what they didn’t like, and they knew what they wanted. How it would or could happen, was the unknown factor. “We don’t think you can do that with this house” is a phrase we’ve heard many times over many projects.

One thing they knew for sure: the time was now. As they put it, “if not now, when??”

Your surroundings can totally affect your life,
your spirit, your emotional well being!


Do you have transformational dreams for your house and

simply can’t “see it happening?”
Click below to get started.

I would love to talk!

If a friend forwarded this to you, this does not mean that we have added you to our list. However, if you would like to receive our updates, click below.

Yes, send me your design tips.

Categories : Interior Renovations, Kitchen Renovation, Renovations, Residential Design

Thinking Ahead – Should I Stay or Should I Move?

Posted by Faith and Hope on
 July 3, 2023

Building With Hope and Faith

Thinking Ahead – Should I Stay or Should I Move?

Our specialty is helping homeowners fall in love with their home. People at or nearing retirement age are often faced with the quandary of staying in their family home or downsizing to a small home or condominium. In the past few years, it’s been a popular trend to “downsize” – but a trend is not a rule, so the option of where you live is always completely up to you!

Deciding whether to move to a new home or to renovate your current house is a significant decision. One huge factor is your own financial situation, so you’ll want to consult with your financial advisor to help you understand your options.

Other than the financial, here are some things to consider.

Lifestyle and Recreation

If you’re planning on retiring soon and have made it a priority to be in a living situation where you’re close to the golf course, pool or tennis court, then you should look at a place to live where these recreational choices are convenient.

You’ll want to be careful of the freedom you’re giving up, however. Condo and townhome living means adhering to the rules of the Home Owners Association, so you’ll want to be crystal clear about those rules before you make the leap.

Mobility and Safety

Some retirees move to single-level living because stairs may become hard to manage, or having your laundry in the basement is becoming tricky. We want you to stay safe but that doesn’t mean leaving a home and neighborhood you love. We have created designs to move your laundry room to where you want it, and to accommodate elevators and other mobility installations. Renovation of a house you love may be a wiser choice than moving to a new area just because of stairs.

Zimmerman Architects can assist you in designing a beautiful and safe shower

Left:  a shower designed with beauty and safety in mind.

Right: an elevator right in your home.

Neighborhood and Relationships

One important contributor to a long and healthy life is cultivating personal bonds and relationships. If you have strong community connections or proximity to family and friends, moving will cause an emotional disruption. Some retirees and seniors moved because they thought they should have a smaller or easier place to live, yet regretted the friendships they left behind after their move. 

Modern Appearance and Convenience

Simmerman Architects can design a kitchen with a modern appearance and convenience

Your old home has an outdated kitchen, tiny bathrooms and never enough electrical outlets and lighting. We get it! This is why we love planning new rooms and modern convenience features with our homeowners. We can arrange the floor plans so they actually work for you, and you can have the modern and spacious rooms you’ve always admired – right in your own home.

BETTER Should Be Defined by YOU

A deck for relaxing can add to your retirement way of life

Everyone has an opinion, and people often say that moving to a smaller place will be easier – better. But is it? For some, sure, but not for everyone. If moving to a smaller place means giving up your sewing room, your den with a piano, your sunroom where you like to sip your coffee, your deck for having a glass of wine with friends, then how is that better? You deserve the space you want, the rooms you want, to live life how you want.

Ultimately, the decision to move or renovate depends on your unique circumstances and preferences. It may be that moving is the right thing to do, but do your homework first. We welcome a phone call so that you can tell us about your situation and your preferences.


Your surroundings can totally affect your life,
your spirit, your emotional well being!

Do you have transformational dreams for your house and
simply can’t “see it happening?”
Click below to get started.

I would love to talk!

If a friend forwarded this to you, this does not mean that we have added you to our list.
However, if you would like to receive our updates, click below.

Yes, send me your design tips.
Categories : Interior Renovations, Renovations, Residential Design, Rightsizing for Retirement, Working with Zimmerman Architects

Plan Your Best New House – Right Inside Your Own Home

Posted by Faith and Hope on
 June 16, 2023
Building with Hope and Faith

Plan Your Best New House – Right Inside Your Own Home

Renovate your current home into your forever homeOften you hear about empty-nesters and retirees downsizing and moving away to start the next chapter of their lives. They declutter and donate rooms full of belongings, and say goodbye to neighbors as they venture into another town, county, or state. This is their choice, their dream, and you wish them the best.

But –you love your neighborhood, your community, your town. Do you need to downsize to retire? Why on earth would you move?

Zimmerman Architects can make your current home work better for you

Not sure about staying in your current house forever? After all, there are aspects of your house that just aren’t working.

  • Maybe you’ve always hated the layout of the kitchen because you can’t see the people in the dining room and living room when you’re trapped behind the kitchen wall.
  • Perhaps the location of your bedroom has always driven you crazy because it faces the street and the school bus roaring through in the early morning wakes you up.
  • It could be that you’ve been hoping to invite family members to move in with you but there’s definitely not sufficient room in this house.

Yes, you can move and find a new house or townhouse that has the right layout and all the space you’ve been dreaming of – but you can’t take your neighborhood with you!

Stay in the Comfort of Your Current Community

maintain your current lifestyle and neighborhood

Leaving the familiarity and friendships and warmth of your neighbors and community is not something you’d even want to consider. You love your favorite shops and restaurants. The neighbors watch out for each other. You revel in the small-town atmosphere of your street while your downtown is a stone’s throw from your home.

Or perhaps the privacy and safety of your property and the beauty of the landscaping around you would be heart-breaking to leave behind. There’s so much peaceful nature around you – moving to a new townhome development, no matter how elegant, could never feel the same.

Deciding on Your Next Move Can Be Easier Than You Thought

Retirement does not require moving! And neither does changing your home!

Why lose out on all the friendships you’ve made over the years in your neighborhood? If you love your community and want to have more space so you can get even more involved, consider making the appropriate changes to your home that you’ve been dreaming about.

Taking a closer look at your big picture and detailed goals, you’ll get a clear list of what you want and how to get it.

  • A roomy and private den to invite all the members of your book club to meet, relax and chat with refreshments.
  • A large kitchen for you and your fellow volunteers to make food for your local food pantry or charity.
  • A spacious home gym with enough floor space to invite your friends for yoga.

These are wonderful goals and we can make them happen by designing your “new house” right where your current one is now.

Additions and renovations, indoors and outdoors, we’ve helped many homeowners transform and fall in love with their house, knowing that they can love their house for many years to come.

Retirement does not require you to clean out, pick up and move! If you have dreams of loving your living space, yet don’t want to leave your community, give us a call and we can discuss all the possibilities.

Zimmerman Architects get to know you and individual needs.

It all starts with a phone call – even if you are years away from starting, it’s never too soon to have a conversation.


If a friend forwarded this to you, this does not mean that we have added you to our list.
However, if you would like to receive our updates, click below.

Yes, send me your design tips.


Your surroundings can totally affect your life,
your spirit, your emotional well being!


Do you have transformational dreams for your house and

simply can’t “see it happening?”
Click below to get started.

I would love to talk!

 

Categories : Interior Renovations, Renovations, Rightsizing for Retirement
Tags : downsizing, forever home, right-sizing

Converting Your Empty Nest to a Professional Work From Home Space

Posted by Faith and Hope on
 April 17, 2023
Building with Hope and Faith

Converting Your Empty Nest to a
Professional Work From Home Space

Whether you start out with a midsize or a large home, when family members move out, it suddenly feels palatial. What do you do with the newly emptied rooms? It’s a natural time to turn to thoughts of renovations and making your longed-for dreams materialize. But just because someone’s bedroom is now empty, doesn’t mean you’re confined to reusing that exact volume of space as defined by its current walls.

Were you running a business or working from home in a finished basement? Most basement spaces provide a limited amount of sunlight, and noise from the house activity above is less than optimal. Plus, you often share that space with the family’s storage areas, laundry room, and even a party area. Not an ideal working environment on many fronts.

If you’ve arrived at a stage in your family life with newly vacated bedrooms, this is your opportunity to design the beautiful, spacious and functional workspace you need and deserve.

Home Office exterior View

Convert Your Empty Nest into Professional Work From Home Space

The space formerly used as bedrooms for family members who no longer live with you can now be transformed into a full-sized, comfortable work area. Who says a home office just needs enough space for a desk and a bookshelf? Let’s get to work designing your new office with everything you need and what you really want.

A complete office can be created right inside your home. For anyone who can work remotely, this is heaven! Imagine showing your client into your new office, with mini-kitchen area, bathroom, and comfortable conference room. Yes, let’s make that happen.

A Comfortable and Professional Office Has More Than a Desk

A coffee bar in your home office

Perhaps existing space and rooms can be reconfigured to add a ½ bathroom adjacent to your office with entry from the hallway and/or from the office. Next to your work area, walk into your private conference room for a meeting with your team or your clients. Offer your guests refreshments or have lunch right from your mini-kitchen with sink, microwave, fridge and coffee bar.

A Dedicated Home Office Space with Separate Entry for Privacy

Private entrance to your home office adds privacy for your clients

To accommodate easy access to your work area for your guests, we’ll want to situate your new office so that it has access to an exit. This gives convenient entry to your office without your guests walking through your private living area. Whether we create a new separate entrance or reutilize your current back or side door, a dedicated entryway is optimal to make everyone more comfortable. This is the perfect time to add that new porch or deck to add beauty, usable space, and convenience to the entrances to your home.

Adding Natural Light to Your Professional Home Office Space

Added light increases the efficiency and comfort of your home office

Any work space where you’ll be spending several hours at a time needs abundant natural light. We will design a plan to add or enlarge windows (perhaps even skylights) to brighten the room, let nature in, and help circulate fresh air. Nature’s greenery has been shown to improve mood and productivity, so sufficient natural light and views of your yard and trees can help make your work environment peaceful and pleasant.

Of course, sufficient room lighting continues through the use of recessed lighting and even a beautiful pendant light over your conference table and in your refreshment area.

A Professional Work From Home Space Can Be Yours

If you have trouble imagining this happening in your current design, that’s where we come in. We have already designed stunning workspaces for our clients who love “coming to work” every day with zero commute. It all starts with a Design Consultation, so if a professional home office is on your wish list, let’s get it going!


If a friend forwarded this to you, this does not mean that we have added you to our list.
However, if you would like to receive our updates, click below.

Yes, send me your design tips.


Your surroundings can totally affect your life,
your spirit, your emotional well being!


Do you have transformational dreams for your house and

simply can’t “see it happening?”
Click below to get started.

I would love to talk!

 

Categories : Interior Renovations, Renovations, Residential Design, Work From Home, Working with Zimmerman Architects

Making Your Home Fit Before You Move In

Posted by Faith and Hope on
 April 5, 2023
Building with Hope and Faith

Making Your Home Fit Before You Move In

The log cabin before updateThe Log Cabin “Before”

When is the best time for a home renovation? It can happen any time, but for this homeowner, she got to work implementing her vision even before moving in. She bought a charming and lovable “log cabin” just perfect for her and her cat. But while she admired many of the design elements like the log walls, its proximity to a lake, and the glorious lake views, there was plenty of room for improvement. This homeowner knew right away that it needed to be transformed so that it would be ready to welcome her at move-in day. Her goal was to entertain guests in a common area with an open kitchen. She also had to change the fact that the outside wall was only 6 feet, 2 inches high and the door was just 6 feet tall. Everyone had to duck coming into the house.

The Log Cabin AfterThe Log Cabin “After”

The Kitchen Transformation

A tiny room fitting only 1 person at a time, the kitchen was not only uncomfortable but also closed off from the rest of the house. With not even enough room to fit a regular refrigerator, the walls surrounding you made you feel isolated. In the renovation, we turned that space into a mudroom entry. The kitchen was moved into a large open space. With an open kitchen no longer trapped inside surrounding walls, you now have an uninterrupted view of the lake while sitting at the kitchen island. Now that’s relaxing! And even though we removed some walls, the remaining log walls retained the log cabin charm the homeowner fell in love with.
The Open Kitchen

The Bedroom

Looking in to the bedroom
Inside the bedroom

Facing the lake, the bedroom has a window with a lovely view, and a door that opens to a deck. To fix the low, flat ceiling, we removed the ceiling joists so that now you can see the underside of the roof. There had been an attic above the ceiling, but it was not needed, so we removed the attic. The result is an increase in volume without increasing the floor space. Along with this new ceiling came new lighting to brighten the larger space.

A view of the left side of the log cabin before
A view of the left side of the log cabin before.
Same view of the log cabin after.
Same view of the log cabin after.

Making the Living Area Taller

The original wrap around porch had a low roof over it and a door to enter the home that was too low for some folks. The porch roof was removed and it was raised 18 inches to match the height of the cabin and to accommodate a regular height door. Raising the roof in that area was barely noticeable from the outside but made a huge difference on the inside.

Lake View Before
Lake View Before
Lake View After
Lake View After

The Deck

There was room to relax on the deck, but no stairs that lead to the ground level. The owner had the option to create those stairs during this project. She also knew it was minor construction that could be scheduled in the future, which is what she decided to do. In many projects, you don’t have to feel pressured to do everything at once, and with our guidance, she was able to make the most comfortable choice for her timeline and her budget.

Rear of the Cabin Before
Rear of the Cabin Before
Rear of Cabin After
Rear of Cabin After

What’s In Your Future?

When you buy a house, there are features you just fall in love with right away – but typically there are issues you want to fix. Rather than move in and deal with challenges for months or years, why not schedule a design consult with us to understand what’s possible before move-in day?

It all starts with a phone call – even if you are years away from starting, it’s never too soon to have a conversation.


Your surroundings can totally affect your life,
your spirit, your emotional well being!


Do you have transformational dreams for your house and

simply can’t “see it happening?”
Click below to get started.

I would love to talk!

If a friend forwarded this to you, this does not mean that we have added you to our list. However, if you would like to receive our updates, click below.

Yes, send me your design tips.

Categories : Interior Renovations, Kitchen Renovation, Renovations

Rightsizing for the Next Chapter of Your Life

Posted by Faith and Hope on
 February 14, 2023
Building with Hope and Faith

Rightsizing for the Next Chapter of Your Life

As you approach your mid-fifties and early sixties, you suddenly notice retirement-related junk mail appearing in your mailbox. Among the invitations to a steakhouse lunch to hear about investments; selecting Medicare options; adding walk-in bathtubs and choosing hearing aids, there are invitations to tour the 55+ townhomes and condos near us. It seems as though society has planned out how the next chapter in our lives will go, without even asking us what we want!

Realtors look forward to selling your family home and helping you “downsize” into a little condo. But this doesn’t mean it has to be your path. Is it true that your family home is now “too big” for you in your 50’s and beyond?

welcoming open concept kitchen for family gatherings

Welcome the Family Over For the Holidays

This might be the time of our lives when we can host holiday dinners for our adult children and our grandchildren in our home. Without the stress of a job, you now have more time to enjoy planning recipes, baking and cooking; but is your dining room large enough to accommodate 2, 3 or 4 families? If the family holiday dining experience includes a plastic portable table set up at the end of the real dining table, complete with folding chairs spilling into the living room, it’s time to think about designing an entertainment space with the proper dimensions to fit everyone comfortably.

And when out of town relatives and friends come over for the holidays, will they have to drive to the local hotel, or can you show them to their guest bedroom(s)?

How Do You Prefer To Keep Fit?

As you age you want to be as fit as possible, keeping your muscles and bones strong. But driving to the gym every day is a hassle. No one wants to go out in the rain or freezing temps. Yes, those adult living communities have a “fitness room”. It is most often a small room with 2 cardio machines and a weight rack. Unless your unit is close to the clubhouse, you will often have to drive there, so how does this save you time?

Do you have a large enough space in your home for a comfortable and lovely gym? A new dedicated fitness room in your home can accommodate larger equipment such as an elliptical and a treadmill or exercise bike, along with free weights and a TV, plus a floor space to stretch and do yoga.

Imagine a room with mirrors on the walls to check your form, well lit to see all the settings on your machines, and windows bringing in every ounce of sunlight. A home gym can look far more pleasing and welcoming than the public gym down the road, or the tiny workout room in the condo clubhouse, with the added benefits of convenience, privacy and cleanliness.

room for work and playNeeding More Room to Work and Play

Whenever you decide to retire, you’ll be spending less time going to the office, but having a home office for your computer will always be essential. Is there enough room in your house for a home office and a room for your new crafts and hobbies? Do you have a space for gift wrapping and to store the holiday presents? Whether you’re learning new musical instruments, quilting, or working on multiple puzzles, you’ll want enough room to spread out your tools and materials and papers, and perhaps add a TV and music device.

We Are Here to Help With Your Transformation

None of these living spaces require you to build a mansion, but all are meant to give you a happy, lovely, and comfortable home to enjoy the next chapter of your life. If you can’t see how to make it happen, schedule a design consultation with us. We have helped many clients in their fifties and beyond turn the family home into their dream forever home.


If a friend forwarded this to you, this does not mean that we have added you to our list.
However, if you would like to receive our updates, click below.

Yes, send me your design tips.


Your surroundings can totally affect your life,
your spirit, your emotional well being!


Do you have transformational dreams for your house and

simply can’t “see it happening?”
Click below to get started.

I would love to talk!

 

Categories : Interior Renovations, Residential Design, Rightsizing for Retirement, Working with Zimmerman Architects

“Moving” Within Your Home

Posted by Faith and Hope on
 December 8, 2022

Building with Hope and Faith

“Moving” Within Your Home

The master bedroom - before

Can you imagine waking up to the sounds of people chatting outside your bedroom window at 6am? How would you feel when you realized this unwelcome sound becomes a daily ritual?

For our homeowner clients, they thought that buying a house beautifully situated by a hiking trail was a rare and beautiful find! But when the hiking trail opened for the season and hikers congregated at 6am at the entrance, which was just a few feet from the couple’s bedroom window, it was literally a rude awakening!

The master bath - before

Another glaring issue was the odd layout of their large master bathroom. While the room was expansive enough to walk through (or even bike through!), the toilet was tucked away inside what felt like a small closet, and the shower was stuck in a dark, small space.

During our design process, we listened to all their challenges, their ideas, their goals. For this couple, this house was to be their forever home, so they wanted to be sure it was custom designed for their use and their personality and would age with them.

Bedroom Transformation

New bedroom

Our newly designed layout switched the location of the bathroom with the bedroom, so now their master bedroom windows faced the peace and quiet of their private backyard. High windows were added over the bed and new French doors led to the yard, with the goal to welcome more light.

The bathroom didn’t need to be as large as it used to be, so we grabbed some of that space to enlarge the master bedroom walk-in closet. While it had been large to begin with, after the renovation, it’s now glamorously huge. Even the new master closet has accessibility features: there are 2 tiers of rods, where the upper rod pulls down for easy access.

Expanded master bedroom walk-in closet

Bathroom Makeover

The bathroom is now at the front of the house, with the bow window retained from when it was the bedroom. Each window has its own top-down shade, so they could adjust for light and privacy.

Master bathroom relocated to front of house

The toilet is in a private alcove behind a small wall which no longer gives you the feeling of being ensconced in a tiny closet. Turning the corner at the end of the sink, you can step into the shower, which does not have a door or curtains. Instead, a glass partial wall separates the shower from the sink vanity, letting the light through to the shower.

Accommodations for the Future

Our clients asked for the house to accommodate any future aging needs, so we designed a walk-in shower with no threshold – this means that a wheelchair could roll in comfortably, should one be needed in the future.

The shower drain was cleverly devised to meld into the design of the wood-mimicking tile floor.

walk-in shower
updated vanity in new bath
Zero-threshold shower

Ready for Future Needs

looking toward bedroom

Throughout the house, there are spacious hallways for using a walker or wheelchair.

Entry to master suite

There is now a new large closet built specifically to accommodate a future elevator, should they need one.

This new closet was carved out the master suite space, with a door facing the front entry foyer. If an elevator should be installed one day, the owners can drive into the garage, walk into their finished basement, and take the elevator to the main level and enter the master suite.

Embracing Custom Design

Not content with the cookie-cutter layouts and designs you’d find in the magazines, this couple knew they wanted the house to reflect their personal preferences. The bathroom features a custom-painted floor that appears as though you’re walking on water, complete with look of water “pooling” around the corner. As you can see in the image of the bathroom windows, the floor underneath the bow window appears to show the reflection of light, until you realize that “reflection” is painted on!

Custom-painted floor
Custom painted floor

What’s In Your Future?

When you own your home, you get to decide if this is a short-term living space, or your forever home. When you decide to age in place, there are many ways to ensure that you’ll be safe and happy for years to come. If you don’t feel confident about the features or layout of your house today, we welcome a phone call to learn about your needs.

It all starts with a phone call – even if you are years away from starting, it’s never too soon to have a conversation.


Your surroundings can totally affect your life,
your spirit, your emotional well being!


Do you have transformational dreams for your house and

simply can’t “see it happening?”
Click below to get started.

I would love to talk!

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Categories : Interior Renovations, Renovations, Residential Design, Working with Zimmerman Architects

Have You Given Up?

Posted by Faith and Hope on
 August 19, 2021
  · No Comments
Building with Hope and Faith

Have You Given Up?

Do you shy away from having friends over for dinner?
Do you let others host the holiday get-togethers?

If you’re less than excited and proud to welcome guests – and especially to play host to overnight guests – and can’t imagine ever seeing a solution – then we have an important message for you.

Don’t worry, we’ve heard it before, and better yet, we’ve turned that situation right around. Listen as we share our client stories, where they have gone from “giving up” to “gleeful” because they are finally house proud.

If being the holiday host for the family has been a dream of yours, listen up!

Watch
Our Latest Episode

 

Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube Channel,Subscribe to Zimmerman Architect's YouTube Channel
so that you don’t miss one of our upcoming Project Prep Episodes!

 

If a friend forwarded this to you, this does not mean that we have added you to our list.
However, if you would like to receive our updates, click below.

Yes, send me your design tips.


Your surroundings can totally affect your life,
your spirit, your emotional well being!


Do you have transformational dreams for your house and

simply can’t “see it happening?”
Click below to get started.

I would love to talk!

Categories : Interior Renovations, Residential Design, Universal Design, Videos, Working with Zimmerman Architects

Starting From Scratch to Build a Forever Home

Posted by Faith and Hope on
 February 25, 2021
  · No Comments
Building with Hope and Faith

Starting From Scratch to Build a Forever Home

living room and sunroom from loft
Recently a couple approached us to build their forever home – a beautiful and comfortable house they could grow old in. They are empty-nesters who wanted to create a family gathering place to accommodate the whole family. They wanted to remain in their town, near the neighborhood they loved, so they found a house that was in total disrepair and purchased it with the intent to tear it down and start from scratch – a custom-made home built to meet their goals and dreams. Before they tore down the house, we examined the structure and assessed the entire lot. After determining we should not keep the original foundation, we went to work on finding out what they envisioned. The first step is always to have detailed communications with the clients to determine ultimate goals and detailed requests If you remember a previous email of ours, you already had a sneak peek at their large home office, designed so the owner was able to conduct business without leaving the comfort of home. You can see it here. It’s the kind of office we all dream of having, including a roof deck and a wet bar.

Let’s Take A Tour

As a house they were to age in, they wanted the master suite on the first floor. It includes a roomy walk-in closet and a master bath with a large roll-in (zero threshold) shower. view of loft from bedrooms       The house has a very open floor plan with a second floor loft overlooking the first floor (see above and below). Within the open floor plan, we created distinct areas. There are entertaining areas with the kitchen flowing into the living room and then into the eating areas. When you’re in the living room, the center of the house, you can look up and see the loft which has a high ceiling. The ceiling of the living room is high and then soars up to the ceiling of the loft. The dining room has a flat ceiling because there’s a second floor over it, but it opens to the living room which has a high ceiling. The kitchen is under the loft but open to the living room. The work area has an island with seating and the other side is the living room which is open with a view of the loft. A sun room is brightened by a cathedral ceiling with skylight. A welcoming layout, the spaces open to each other. dormer over living room As we move up to the second floor loft, we designed it to overlook the living room and have a sitting area space. Down the hall there are 2 more bedrooms and a full bath for when their families come stay with them. The second floor has no boxy rooms. All the ceilings are sloped and have interesting angles. Even the guest bedroom is not just a rectangular room. The loft area is on 2 sides of the living room with railings to overlook it. One side of the loft is the sitting room and the other side is the hallway that leads to the bedrooms. living room with dining room beyon and loft above        looking down at living room from loft The lovely finished basement is sizable and features high ceilings, a full bath, and a large tv area. It includes a room that is a guest bedroom / craft room. While located in the basement, it is a legal bedroom with a full egress window with a window well. guest bedroom / craft room This design was very complex and required a really good builder to pull it off. The construction could have gone wrong easily but was handled expertly and smoothly collaboratively with a great team: the owner, the builder (Eaglesite Management), the architect (us!) and the interior designer (Eve Kinne). Stay tuned for next time, when we walk you through the exterior home features!

Whether it’s a completely new house, or a small renovation, you can bring your dreams to us so we can work with you to turn your vision into reality.

Make sure you subscribe to our YouTube Channel,Subscribe to Zimmerman Architect's YouTube Channel so that you don’t miss one of our upcoming Project Prep Episodes!

If a friend forwarded this to you, this does not mean that we have added you to our list. However, if you would like to receive our updates, click below.

Yes, send me your design tips.

Your surroundings can totally affect your life, your spirit, your emotional well being!

Do you have transformational dreams for your house and simply can’t “see it happening?” Click below to get started.

I would love to talk!

Categories : Interior Renovations, New Construction, Residential Design, Working with Zimmerman Architects
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