Artists Addition

A Custom Home Addition near the heart of Charlottesville, Virginia

The Problem

These clients moved into a compact 1950's tract home that was perhaps a little too compact. After living in their home for a while they decided the location, just minutes away from Downtown Charlottesville, was perfect - they just needed more space.

The basement stairs were not code-compliant, as we quickly discovered, and the kitchen was crammed into the back corner of the house. The back deck, which was falling apart, was supporting load-bearing columns without proper support of its own.

The Solution

The clients wanted something a little more individualized than a standard run-of-the-mill addition. Being video game enthusiasts and graphic designers, they are frequent customers of Lone Light Coffee, another of our projects on Charlottesville's Downtown Mall. They loved the aesthetic of Lone Light and wanted to replicate the same theme in the Interior Design their home.

At first we collaborated with the clients to transform their house into a contemporary Victorian-style cottage, but eventually we had to simplify the design and dial it back. However, the budgetary savings from the exteriors eventually got put back into the interiors, and the result was an Interior Design that was truly and uniquely theirs.

The Process

Working hand-in-hand with the clients and the Contractor from the very beginning of the project, we were able to keep the final design budget-friendly and adjust the design when necessary.

Since this was a historic home, the clients decided to expand the scope of the project and renovate the existing portion to match the aesthetic of the new addition. We captured the beauty of some of the existing elements, like the historic window and door trim, and let it drive the rest of the Interior Design choices, right down to the paint colors.

The result was a new home tailored uniquely to their lifestyle and their aesthetics. The kitchen tripled in size, and a bright, spacious new living room doubled their home's square footage.

The Outcome