The homeowners fell in love with and purchased their Bellevue mid-century rambler in 2011. They loved the natural light and the overall feel of the home. The kitchen had been updated about ten years prior by the previous homeowners. After living in the home for a decade, they started to feel like they were outgrowing the home as their two young children began needing more space of their own. They were starting to feel the lack of storage and cramped kitchen. The outdated finishes were starting to give, and they were concerned about the aging roof, the inefficient original windows and the lack of insulation.
My design firm, along with Ashis Bhakta of Elite Construction Contractors, was tasked to do a complete remodel of the home and come up with a solution to add on to the home to create a dedicated home office as well as upgrade the tiny primary suite. They loved that their home was only one level and wanted to keep that if possible. While other similarly sized homes in their neighborhood are being torn down in favor of large homes due to the sought after location in Bellevue, Washington, they wanted to keep their home more modestly scaled and maintain the character and charm of the original home.
Due to their proximity to Lake Washington, we also added an outdoor shower to allow easy clean up when returning from Lake activities. All new black windows, new siding, metal roof and a new deck fully transformed the home exterior.
Our team proposed bumping out the front entry and living room 5’ feet to capture the lot coverage already taken up by the large roof overhangs. We suggested relocating the kitchen and dining room to the front of the house to better capture the yard view and beautiful sunsets off Lake Washington with several new west-facing windows and a slider door. Due to their roof needing to be fully replaced anyway, we proposed removing the entire roof system and installing a new truss system. This allowed for vaulted ceilings throughout the home to make it feel more spacious and bring more daylight in.
BEFORE + AFTER COMPARISON
BEFORE PHOTOS
BEFORE: The home had 5′ overhangs that hid the entry and a carport 
BEFORE: The carport extended a large concrete patio into the backyard that limited the grassy area. 
BEFORE: LIVING ROOM (NOW KITCHEN) 
BEFORE: The hall bath was shared by guests and the kids. 
BEFORE: The kitchen was in the middle of the living space and functionally felt a little cramped. 
BEFORE: The previous kitchen flowed into the traffic of the hallway 
BEFORE: The only office space was a small desk off the dining room 
BEFORE: The dining room and french doors were near the hallway 
BEFORE: The primary bedroom only had one small reach in closet 
BEFORE: The Primary Bath fixtures were starting to fall apart and the shower was very small. 
BEFORE: PRIMARY BEDROOM 
BEFORE: CRAWL ACCESS
With the homeowners onboard and seeing the potential of the new configuration, we were able to make the home more logically laid out for functionality and storage. The laundry was relocated from the front entry to a more central location off the hallway near the bedrooms. A fully custom floor to ceiling massive barn door hides the new laundry niche and high storage above. All new black on black windows and painted black doors throughout give the home a very modern feel. Carpet was removed from the bedrooms and a new wide white oak plank hardwood floor keeps the home feeling warm and inviting.
The new home office off the back of the house captures beautiful morning light with two large windows that face the back yard. The office also doubles as a guest bedroom for guests and a workout room.
The kids’ bathroom was upgraded with additional storage that was repurposed from the previous dining room workspace. We utilized a penny tile mosaic sheet and cut it down to create a fun pattern in the shower as well as the vanity backsplash.
A new luxurious guest powder room and coat closet was added to the entry in the space freed up by moving the laundry room. A concrete vessel sink with a floating quartz countertop and wall mount faucet pair nicely with the bold floral/fern wallpaper. The accent tile mirror detail with pendant lights creates a lovely vignette that can be seen off the entry. Due to the compact size of the room, we chose a wall mount faucet fixture and soap dispenser to maximize the floor space. The powder bathroom accessories were sourced from Anthropologie.
Moving the kitchen meant that the space off the patio could now be a more functional hang out space/family room that opens to the outside with a new concrete pad and inviting cedar soffit. The new patio outdoor space has a fun accent tile and cozy lighting around the new backside garage door. We converted the carport into a double-sided garage with a loft that can be fully opened on both sides for easy entertaining.
The kitchen is also now perfect for large gatherings with a massive island with waterfall edges and even features a large awning window at the sink that fully opens to the deck in the summer months. European style cabinet boxes with a matte laminate door style in Grigio give the room a very rich, elevated tone that contrasts nicely with the polished quartz countertops. The GE Café appliances in matte black with bronze hardware coordinate perfectly with the gray of the cabinets and the brass tones of the Delta Champagne Bronze faucets and accent lighting. Matte black hex cabinet knobs from CB2 add a fun element to the kitchen and blend beautifully with the matte black island pendants. A stunning Pental Quartz countertop with a pure white background and dark grey vein is a show stopping feature on the island. We opted for a solid white quartz on the perimeter to save money and keep the island more of a statement piece. We splurged on the kitchen backsplash tile from Anthology Tile which has a very subtle textured pattern that appears neutral from far away but adds a very nice detail up close.
Photos by Sumaira Amber Photography.
Aside from the kitchen backsplash and primary shower accent tile, the rest of the tile was sourced from Floor & Décor to stay on track with budget. We utilized the same 6×36 gray tile on the back of the island, the kids bath floor and the primary bath floor but installed it in different patterns in each space. The back of the kitchen island features straight set tile, the kids’ bath floor has one-third offset and the primary floor has a herringbone pattern.
A cozy freestanding matte black mid-century style gas fireplace was added to the great room sitting area as well as a custom built in that creates visual separation between the entry, great room seating and family room seating areas.
Photos by Sumaira Amber Photography
The built in features a slat walled bench to provide separation from the entry while still allowing light through. The bench backs up to an attractive matte black bar built in with an antique mirrored backsplash tile to create a stylish space for entertaining that also reflects natural light from the window. Behind the bar is a media built in with a bookcase for practical storage in the family room. The homeowners wanted to salvage some of the cedar siding from the original house, so we created a textured wood feature wall behind the TV.
The previous and clunky crawl space access off the old laundry room was relocated to the new garage with a nice metal grate and concrete stairs instead of a rickety ladder for easy access to their storage below. A new charging station was incorporated into the garage for their Teslas.
Garage and shower photos by Olivia Horine Design. Vanity photos by Sumaira Amber Photography.
We revised the floor plan to add 16’ off the back of the house to create a new home office and a luxurious extended primary suite. The new primary suite feels more like a retreat and is complete with his and hers walk in closets (bonus attic storage space above hers), a private linen closet, a large walk-in shower and a separate water closet with a new bidet toilet. The walk-in closets each have a fun wallpaper and custom closet system by Closets by Design that reflects their style. A textured large format hex tile from Emser tile creates a beautiful accent on the tall back wall of the primary shower. We carried the hex pattern into the shower pan and even the wall sconces have a honeycomb pattern. The homeowner’s favorite color is teal, so a teal accent tile was incorporated into the large wall to wall shower niche. The floating walnut cabinetry brings in the mid-century vibes and pairs nicely with the brass fixtures. Custom framed black mirrors take advantage of the tall, vaulted ceiling and tie in with the black cabinet hardware.
Photos by Sumaira Amber Photography.
While the bedroom itself stayed relatively the same size, the 16′ addition added a ton of storage and a spacious en suite.
Professional photos by Sumaira Amber Photography.
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Absolutely gorgeous, functional and a Rambler everyone wants !!! Location is perfect, school close and access to the freeway awesome. Everything a growing family wants and a couple that can live there forever when the children leave for college or wherever!