Moving Forward

Making a traditional home more contemporary in Princeton, NJ

 

 

The owners of this 1950's family abode came to us with hopes of modernizing and lightening up their traditional-style home.  Through close collaboration with the clients, we developed the proposal seen here which includes fresh Hardie siding and a new entryway foyer, as seen in the renderings and plan drawing below.

 

 

 

 



 

 

Plan drawing of the new entryway addition

Switching out the existing window scheme for one with larger windows, many of them casement, creates a more modern aesthetic allowing for unobstructed views from the homes interior. 

Before 

 

During

 

 See how natural light floods the bedroom through the newly installed windows, still wet with spackle touch up.

 

During

 

During 

In addition to bringing light to the home's existing spaces, the owners wanted to add on new, bright living spaces to the home.  One instance of this is our conversion of an existing garage to a living area, complete with large sliding glass doors in keeping with a contemporary aesthetic.

During: Garage converted to living space 

During: Interior of converted garage 

Also under construction is the new entryway addition to the home.  In the photos below, you can see the room develop from the ground up.

 

First, the footing had to be dug and poured.

 

With the concrete dry, it was time to start laying the block.

Our team's close attention to detail, even in the parts of the home that won't be visible when construction is complete, are what ensure our work's high quality and endurance for years to come.

With the foundations finished, the framing went up quickly and you can finally see the room taking shape.  Stay tuned to see the final project with construction complete!

A New Kitchen

 A Pennington kitchen gets an upgrade

 

 

We were excited when the owners of this home came to us requesting a kitchen renovation.  Despite the dated cabinets and finishes, and lack of adequate  built-in preparation and eating spaces, the diversity of the existing materials and ample space gave this room a lot of potential.  We wanted to maintain the integrity of the space by preserving the traditional aesthetic created by the rich exposed beams, exposed brick, and hardwood floors, while still giving the kitchen an updated look.

 

Kitchen Renovation Complete

 

Before

 

To achieve this, we kept the existing floors, brick, and ceiling beams in place but replaced the cabinets, counters, and backsplash, also adding a large island with bar style seating.

 

 

Kitchen Renovation Complete

 

 

Before

 

Replacing the heavy, natural wood cabinets with white and glass ones helped to brighten and open up the space, while adding an island gave the clients the counter space and built-in eating area that had been previously lacking. 

 

Kitchen Renovation Complete

 

 

Kitchen Renovation Complete

 

 

We made a particular effort to increase the functionality of the space, not only in terms of eating space but also increased storage and optimized layout.   For example, we included a new wall cabinet for the microwave that opened up counter space next to the cooktop for use.  Built-in cabinets replaced the existing furniture to create cohesion, while the diversity of materials maintained a visual complexity in the space.  This effect is enhanced by our use of black cabinetry in the separate stove area, which also serves to visually integrate the client's existing black appliances.  The selection of a swirling Cambria Braemar quartz countertop was made to bring together both these black and white aspects of the kitchen.   With construction complete, the clients are now enjoying their new attractive and functional kitchen.

 

 

Kitchen Renovation Complete

 

Kitchen Renovation Complete

Before

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fun in the Workplace

An office renovation

 

 



For this project, the new owners of a small commercial office wanted to gut and remodel the existing building to better fit their taste.  Our designs for the reception area included a new paneled reception desk with granite tops,  and replacement of the carpet throughout the first floor with Cortec flooring. In addition we upgraded the existing 5/16" ceiling grid to a 9/16" grid with Ultima tiling, and added new white crown molding versus the old natural wood detail for the floating coffered ceiling.  This created the more continuous and sleek ceiling organization that you see below.  Furthermore, we replaced the doors and dated wall coverings to create a cleaner aesthetic.

After

Before

 

 After

 

Before

 

After

Before

 

 

 

We also renovated two bathrooms for the office, installing crisp white vanities with Carrera marble tops and brushed chrome fixtures to complete the look.  Cheery yellow paint replaced the patterned wallpaper and contemporary tile was installed, resulting in the bright and attractive restrooms seen below.  Check out the before and after shots to see what a difference a renovation can make!

After

 

After 

After 

After

 

 

After

 

 

 

Before

 

 

Inside and Out

Renovations both inside and outside a Pennington home

 

The owners of this home came to us with ideas for several home improvements.  The first of these was to replace an existing deck with a home addition that consisted of a screen porch area to be used for both entertaining and dining.  The design for the room included a unique pitched ceiling with exposed beams; the ceiling is painted white to emphasize the lightness of the room created by the panoramic screen window system that looks out on the forest framing the back yard.  In addition, we installed new Marvin French doors and windows that connect the existing home to the new porch, allowing for natural light to illuminate the existing interior spaces.

Porch Interior Completed

 

 

 

The exterior of the addition was completed with new Hardie siding and white trim, and the siding on the  remainder of the home was replaced with new Hardie shake siding to match.  With the upgraded siding complete, the new facade integrates the porch addition seamlessly.

 

 

Exterior of Addition and New Siding Completed

 

 

 

Exterior of Home Before Project Commencement

Some of the other home improvement projects that we completed for this home were the renovations of a powder room and hall bathroom.  The dated tile schemes in both rooms were replaced with more contemporary black and white materials, with rich wood accents in the vanity and mirrors.  Besides replacing the tub, shower, and vanity in the hall bathroom, a new 10" Velux sun tunnel tubular skylight was added through the ceiling, flooding the space with natural lighting.  See in the pictures of the hall bathroom below, which were taken without any of the electrical lighting on, how brightly lit the new space is!

New Hall Bathroom Vanity and Basketweave Tile

 

New Hall Bathroom Vanity Mirror and Top

 

 

New Hall Bathroom Tub and Backsplash 

 

 New Parlor Room Pedestal Sink and Mirror

 

 

 

 

 

    

Hall Bathroom Vanity Before                    Hall Bathroom Tub Before

 

 Parlor Room Before