Riverside Bungalow Opened-Up

This wonderful Riverside family asked LivCo to explore options for better connecting the first floor spaces which had the stair to the basement and second floor, smack dab in the middle of the the house. The stair itself limited any conventional options for a more usable kitchen with a connection to the under-used family room.

Through a series of detailed design exercises, we determined the best location for the stair was towards the front of the home near the front door. This allowed the rear of the home to be completely opened up to an open and social kitchen, and directly connected to the activities of the family room. In-turn the rear sliding door was replaced to have easy access to the existing back deck, and expansive backyard.

Moving the stair is no easy task, but LivCo was up to it. In addition to finding a first floor location for the stair, we needed to connect it to the bedrooms of the second floor as well as the recreation room of the basement. In addition, we had to conform to the existing roof for headroom, and looked for areas to get maximum closet & mudroom storage.

The result was an opened and expanded back of the home, a new stair as a focal point with increased storage, the second floor bedrooms were flipped to maximize floor space and bedroom sizes, and the kitchen became a showpiece and center of the home.

The material pallet was kept comfortable, subdued, rich and classy – blending modern ideas and colors with the classic details and tile accents within the existing home.