PROJECT FEATURE | CEDAR
In the case of this Berkeley craftsman home, it was seeing an old flame in a new light.
Our clients had lived there as a family of four for 15 years with their 2 girls, their dog and cats. It was a full house. Once the girls went off to college, the clients were faced with the decision to either sell the house and move or keep it and refresh completely to accommodate their new empty nest stage of life. They decided to stay and brought us on board to revive their lived-in (and loved) home to be a place where they could start their next phase of life together and stay for many more years to come.
The craftsman architecture of the home was honored and it’s small footprint embraced by intentionally creating more usable, multi-functioning spaces. Even losing a few square feet with added closets and storage pieces felt like a gain in space with the increased functionality provided. We incorporated a few of the owner’s old furniture pieces and a lot of their art into the new design creating a joyous environment to gather, and a home where some of their long-loved furniture and art is part of it’s new look.
The value isn’t simply financial when it comes to older homes with long-standing residents. It’s easy to be guided by social media and caught up in trends so we didn’t pay attention to the “shoulds” but focused on the clients lifestyle, interests and the house’s original bones. We kept going back to the phrase “the new heirloom” which can feel counterintuitive, but what we mean is going back to creating a home that will be cherished for generations and seeing something old and familiar in a new light.