Houzz Tour: A Radical Reconstruction Raises an Austin Home
http://www.decor-ideas.org 08/27/2013 22:20 Decor Ideas
It’s a fact of life: Growing families require growing spaces. Architect J.C. Schmeil knows this firsthand. A decade ago he added 700 square feet to his 1935 bungalow in Austin, Texas, when his second son was born. When his two boys recently started edging toward the teenager mark, he decided it was time to expand again.
The extra square footage came in a second-story addition for the boys, with two bedrooms and a cool secret music room behind a bookcase. Schmeil added more perceived space, too. He doubled the kitchen by gobbling up the dining room and added a dramatic vaulted ceiling to the existing front entrance, which had gone from being a compact living room to a cluttered home office and is now a new dining room — the latter of which for a very practical reason. “Typically, dining rooms are kept neater than other rooms,” Schmeil says. “Now it’s a nice, calming space to walk into.”
Houzz at a Glance
Who lives here: J.C. Schmeil; wife Ashley, an environmental consultant; and sons Corbin and Becket
Location: Austin, Texas
Size: 2,150 square feet; 4 bedrooms, 3 bathrooms
Schmeil had tried various uses for this entryway. He hit the sweet spot with this clean, modern dining room. "Its better than walking into a space with stuff all over the place," he says.
The highlight is a floor-to-ceiling bookshelf with multiple windows that bring in leafy views.
Table, chairs, rug: Crate & Barrel
The roof was basically peeled off so the addition could be built. “It wasn’t really a remodel but a radical reconstruction of the house,” Schmeil says.
After removing "cheap wood paneling," he says, he discovered longleaf pine planks, which he used for the floors in the second-floor addition.
Because of something called the “mansion ordinance” in Austin, residents can build a house only as large as 40 percent of their lot’s square footage, or 2,300 square feet, whichever is larger. If Schmeil had built space over the dining room, he would have gone over the square footage allotment. So he created drama with a vaulted ceiling and a unique wall treatment instead.
For the wall treatment, he collaborated with Roger and Paul Wintle of Texas Trim, who did all the custom cabinet work. They landed on a cool approach using 16- by 32-inch modules of maple plywood “pickled” through a whitewashing process. A ⅛-inch reveal leaves faint black lines to emphasize the pattern, which mimics that of the travertine tiles on the front porch.
Paint: Evening Sky, Benjamin Moore
A new guest room — dubbed the Gransuite in honor of the frequently visiting grandmother for whom the space was built — is just off the dining area. Schmeil removed original gray shag carpeting throughout the house to expose white oak flooring in near-pristine condition.
Paint: Covington Blue, Benjamin Moore
The guest bathroom features slate tile on the floor cut in a 6- by-12-inch running-bond pattern.
Bathtub: Kohler; tile: Ann Sacks; toilet: Aquia, Toto; sink: Ikea
Schmeil combined the old kitchen and dining room to double the size of the kitchen. Whitewashed maple panels on the stair rail echo those in the dining room.
Cabinets: Texas Trim; countertops: HanStone; cabinet paint: Healing Aloe; wall paint: Beach Glass, both by Benjamin Moore
The couple's preference for blues and greens drove the color scheme, which creates a soothing vibe. Windows under the cabinets bring in northern light and views of bamboo.
Backsplash: Lush Surf, ModWalls; butcher block counter: Ikea
An office space just off the kitchen affords views of heritage oak trees; Schmeil's wife, Ashley, an environmental consultant, made sure they were left unharmed during the renovation.
Wall paint: Covington Blue, Benjamin Moore
A separate laundry room connects to the home office.
Wall color: Fresh Grass, Benjamin Moore
More whitewashed maple makes up a new media cabinet in the family room, which was part of a renovation in 2002 that added this space and a new main bedroom suite.
Wall paint: Beach Glass, Benjamin Moore; coffee table: Mockingbird Domestics; dog artwork: Walter Salas-Humara, Yard Dog Art
High-placed windows in the main bedroom offer privacy and views of a neighbor's trees; Schmeil says they're “borrowed landscapes: You get to enjoy the views but don’t have to maintain it.”
His mother-in-law, an interior decorator, added the Heriz rug, 1800s cabinet and Louis Vuitton steamer trunk.
The Schmeils stayed in the house for most of the renovation. The kids slept in the family room and the couple in their bedroom. They started calling their bathroom the “bitchen,” because they prepped food and washed dishes in the sink while their kitchen was being built.
The second floor is a completely new addition. A cutout at the top of the stairs leading to the addition looks down on the dining room.
Wall paint: Woodlawn Blue, Benjamin Moore; chair: Tops Office Furniture
The second-floor layout is basically two bedrooms separated by back-to-back closets. The kids share one bedroom. The other is a playroom.
The bedroom floor is longleaf pine that transitions into white oak.
Corbin sits in one of his favorite spots. The angled window follows the roofline of the lower gable. Dormers pop up to give the bedrooms enough headroom.
Wall paint: Woodlawn Blue, Benjamin Moore
Becket's favorite spot is this reading niche.
Niche paint: Fresh Grass, Benjamin Moore
A fold-out sofa in the playroom creates space for overnight guests.
Wall paint: Woodlawn Blue, Benjamin Moore
Before undertaking the remodel, Schmeil promised his sons they could have a hidden room behind a bookcase, which he calls a "Scooby Doo bookcase." He delivered with this cool music space; Becket plays guitar and drums there, and Corbin plays saxophone.
A glass-tile floor in the boys' shared bathroom makes the space much easier to clean.
Wall paint: Bunny Grey, Benjamin Moore; tile: Slate Blue (floor) and Quail Gray (shower), both from Hakatai
BEFORE: Schmeil felt the small porch and gable lacked curb appeal.
AFTER: He gave the exterior a new paint color and extended the porch to create more seating space. Travertine tile recycled from LBJ Library at the University of Texas at Austin covers the porch, which was rebuilt and reframed with double rafters and Douglas fir columns.
Paint: Ocean Floor, Benjamin Moore
BEFORE
AFTER: The second-floor addition extended the home's living space by more than 600 square feet.
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