Although our Mid Century Mesa Makeover is complete, we love sharing the remodel journey. We wanted this process to have a home on our website for those who may have missed our Instagram stories along the way. This client came to us with mood boards full of images that perfectly represented his design aesthetic. The goal was to make the home feel brighter while incorporating Mid Century elements for a cleaner look. The house was outdated and dark but we saw the potential. Keep reading to see the steps taken to achieve this full transformation!
Let's start with the hero of the home; the kitchen. This was the kitchen before we got our hands on it. Considering the cultural shift toward open concepts, anyone who entered the house would have said the dividing wall needed to go. The kitchen was small with limited storage and an awful drop ceiling with fluorescent lighting. The other side was useless space in the living area, not to mention it was the first wall you'd see when entering the front door. Eliminating the wall would not only give us more space to work with for the kitchen layout, but it would give the vaulted ceiling a well-deserved "moment."
The kitchen design board included soft green flat panel cabinetry, small rectangular backsplash tile, a long oak shelf beneath the hood, white quartz countertops, and black hardware and plumbing. The original design included a really fun custom tile design on the back of the island. We chose the colors and the company put together a layout with our dimensions. Unfortunately, the shipping costs turned out to be the same as the materials so we had to pivot and find an alternative.
The cabinets went in around the same time the ceiling was paneled and both were satisfying even before they were complete! Although we could have kept the beams a natural wood, we felt it would have been a bit busy and decided to paint it all white.
We opted for a clean box hood so it wouldn't take away from the cabinetry or the vaulted ceiling. There is a large window behind the sink so we felt it was best to only use upper cabinetry on the range wall. It can be hard to use an upper cabinet in the corner, especially because it doesn't wrap around, so we went with open shelving instead. We loved the contrast of the oak against the green and added a long shelf below the uppers. Although it would never hold anything heavy given it's only 5" deep, it still needed a steel bracket for support so it wouldn't bow over time. The bracket was installed before the backsplash, and then the hollow shelf was put into place.
Without uppers on the sink wall, we were able to make the window larger. With the back patio behind, it was the perfect opportunity to utilize a slider window that rested on the countertop. The countertop was extended to the exterior for outdoor seating!
To the left of the kitchen cabinetry is a passthrough to a hallway that branches off to a bedroom on each side with a bathroom between. One bedroom was intended for guests while the other was to be used as an office. To provide that wing of the house some privacy, we added a sliding door with black framing and reeded glass. This way it still felt like a decorative element in the living area even when the hallway wasn't closed off.
It was important to our client that the guest bathroom feel fresh and modern but he also wanted it to be fun. He loved the idea of blue basket weave tile, so that's exactly what we did! We paired it with an oversized penny tile floor to break up the hard lines.
He also loved the idea of floating vanities which unfortunately means less storage. The room he was using for his office had an unnecessarily large closet so we shortened it to a more practical length and added some storage behind the guest bathroom door. Due to the storage placement, we were hesitant about a door being right behind another door. So as an alternative, we designed a recessed built-in with cubbies for guest towels, shelving for toiletries and decor, and a cabinet at the bottom to store a hamper.
He also loved the idea of floating vanities which unfortunately means less storage. The room he was using for his office had an unnecessarily large closet so we shortened it to a more practical length and added some storage behind the guest bathroom door. Due to the storage placement, we were hesitant about a door being right behind another door. So as an alternative, we designed a recessed built-in with cubbies for guest towels, shelving for toiletries and decor, and a cabinet at
the bottom to store a hamper.
Off the kitchen on the other side of the house is an eat-in kitchen area with an arched passthrough to a hallway leading to the laundry room one way and the primary bedroom the other way. In that hallway was a closet that wasn't really functioning the way it needed to. The slider doors weren't ideal, nor were they anything special. We saw this as the perfect opportunity to tie in the oak from the kitchen shelf. Instead of a slider, there would be two separate sides of the closet, each with its own doors. One side would act as a utility closet and the other as additional pantry space.
The primary bedroom was a square room lacking any architectural significance. We sourced a few inspiration images of half-wall headboards (scroll up to the design board prints). The wall was built out about 6" and faced with oak slat panels. To balance the wall, we added two small sconces that would go on either side of the bed.
The primary bathroom was another space that saw a drastic transformation. The existing vanity was nearly 11 feet long, abnormally low, and had an opening in the vanity for wheelchair accessibility. Above the vanity was another soffit housing that awful fluorescent lighting. Off the vanity area was a space with a toilet and a drop-in shower.
Our client wanted his bathroom to feel spa-like so we kept this space light and neutral using oak, natural stone-look flooring, textured white wall tile, brass plumbing, grey countertops, and concrete pendants.
With the only window in the bathroom next to the toilet with a lot of unutilized space, we knocked down the wall that divided the two areas. Shortening the vanity meant the toilet could be moved beside it. This also opened up the area to the left of the shower for a free-standing tub. To add privacy while allowing natural light to filter through, we repeated the concept of reeded glass from the slider door in the living room on a partition to the right of the toilet.
Although this bathroom was intended to feel spa-like, we felt it was important it still feel cohesive with the rest of the home. To achieve this, we designed a modern floating vanity with custom curved pulls and concrete pendants for a more modern aesthetic.
Be sure to check out the gallery page (linked here) to see the final result of this project!
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