So what's one to do with just 1,188 square feet? While your first thought might be that a house that size is just way too small, you'd be surprised at how much you can work into the design with just the right floor plan. I'm a firm believer in using every available square inch in these old houses (or any age house really) and that's just what we did with the Banda Bungalow.
To start let's take a look at the original lay-out. Spartanburg County provides downloadable sketches of houses drawn (relatively) to scale so here's where I typically begin to make sure the dimensions are right. It's just the exterior of the house but with a few quick measurements I can sketch out the floor plan that we're starting with. There are exactly zero parts about this that are glamorous or even impressive and truth be told this is a cleaned up version of what I started with. But since it gets the job done and I thought it might be helpful to some of you, I wanted to share my process with you.
After meeting with my client several times, here are the items we knew needed modifications:
The middle hallway area that housed the washer and dryer closet and led to the only bathroom in the house was wasted space.
The kitchen needed to be redesigned to create a galley kitchen and my client wanted as large of an opening as possible between the kitchen and the dining room.
The back enclosed porch was a possible option for relocating the washer/dryer.
The back bedroom had an awkward corner closet and a larger closet that could possibly be used in a better way.
After much back-and-forth, my client made the smart decision to go ahead and add a second full bathroom within the same square footage.
So from there I got to work on the new Redesigned Floor Plan to figure out the new lay-out. When I am simply redesigning a floor plan (and don't need 3-D renderings) I often times use a more simple design software program that only shows the dimensions of the spaces. However when I also need to incorporate 3-D renderings like I did here for the kitchen and bathrooms, I use Sketchup which shows greater details. So quick disclaimer....these a relatively simple plans but they certainly get the job done and help keep the costs in check as opposed to having to get architectural drawings. They are drawn to scale and a great visual representation for me and my clients. And here's what we were able to come up with after many edits to the redesigned floor plan. Hint: Skip to the bottom of the page if you'd like to see a short video walking you through the new floor plan.
Today we'll be walking through the changes to the 'entertaining' side of the house and will cover bedrooms and bathrooms next week to wrap up. Okay, here we go!
Living Room
The floor plan of the living room remained the same but the overall space got a much needed facelift. We removed the cabinets to the right of the fireplace and removed both the mantel and the plaster to expose the brick fireplace. Keep your eye on that dangling chandelier....it'll show up in the Dining Room where it's meant to be.
My client was really hoping to have exposed brick wherever possible even if it wasn't 100% perfect. Luckily it was in pretty good shape overall and looks great with her vintage style.
A bright coat of white paint on the walls and trim provides a great backdrop for her cool pieces.
TIP: I always get asked what shade of white I use and 95% of the time my answer is simply the on-the-shelf bright white you can find at any home improvement or paint store. I use it on both the walls and the trim and have always found that to be the easiest option.
Since the exterior doors were not original to the house we were also able to change those out with antique doors my client found. The front door is a french door painted black and the side porch door has a large upper window, both allowing plenty of sunlight throughout the day.
Dining Room
The dining room also did not change in terms of it's original floor plan however, we did make two modifications to adjoining spaces. The first came in the way of enlarging the opening from the dining room to the kitchen. Right from the beginning we knew the kitchen needed to be redesigned completely. It had a peninsula that just didn't fit well in that small of a space and my client wanted a larger cased opening between the kitchen and dining room. So, we moved the doorway down a little and enlarged it so that we had more wall space for the kitchen.
We painted the walls this beautiful shade of Sherwin Williams Blue Peacock which looks gorgeous with the original floors that were refinished and stained Honey.
I was especially excited to be able to salvage this antique chandelier that was previously hanging on by a thread, literally, in the living room. I was able to clean everything off, touch up with brass colored spray paint, and added a gold ribbon to cover the cords. I seriously love how it turned out and love that my client loves it even more.
The second modification was to the left corner of the dining room facing the guest bathroom wall. Because of the way we redesigned the bathrooms and bedrooms, we needed a new entryway into the back bedroom. We had two closets in that room so were able to remove the larger one and create a small hallway with the new doorway into the bedroom. By just removing that small wall it instantly made the room look bigger and seems like it's always been that way.
Kitchen
The last space in the 'entertaining' side of the house is the kitchen which was completely gutted and redesigned. There were so many things wrong with this space including a dilapidated ceiling, paneled walls, and a dated and dysfunctional kitchen lay-out.
Now that our doorway leading to the dining was moved down slightly, we were able to set up a proper galley kitchen with the stove and refrigerator on one side and the sink on the opposite wall in front of the window. We were also able to bring the exposed brick element into this space like we did in the living room by removing the plaster.
Here's a quick glance of one of the E-Design Room Plan used to help my client visualize how the finished space would look.
We once again went with the Sherwin Williams Blue Peacock for the cabinets, white quartz countertops, white subway tile with black grout, brass fixtures and open wood shelving. My client has what I like to call a cool vintage eclectic style and this kitchen certainly compliments her style.
Laundry Room
And last but not least, just off the kitchen is the new location for the laundry room. Formerly a back porch that had already been enclosed, we had just enough room, down to the inch, to fit in a washer and dryer in this space. We added insulation and drywall, painted everything, and then painted the floors a fun navy and white striped pattern.
So in case you had trouble following along with the changes, I've put together a short video to walk you through the redesigned floor plan and am excited to share with you next week the transformation of the bedrooms and bathrooms.
Oh and don't forget....
In case you missed last week's post: Banda Bungalow Exterior Transformation
To see all of the reveal pictures head over to our Portfolio.
Interested in having me redesign your home's floor plan? Head over to our Design Services to see how I can help.
Next week we'll have all of our fixture sources posted through a new 'Shop Our Projects' page and are excited to share this information with you.
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Look forward to talking next week for the final reveal of the Banda Bungalow!