This former garage turned Family Room presented me with a common series of issues. The bank of windows, original to the addition, were not energy efficient and even with baseboard radiators, the room was always cold. The wood fireplace, while pleasing to look at, did nothing to warm the room on cold days. The door along the fireplace wall is the access to the new garage and is used regularly by the homeowners while the deep 10” beams visually lowered the 8’ ceiling. The ceiling fan had to go and there was not sufficient light within the room to be used for reading, conversation and an occasional movie.

Solution 1
The ceiling presented the most thought-provoking discussions between the client, builder and myself. Plumbing pipes needed to be moved, structural beams removed and additional engineering plans designed to strengthen the 2nd floor joists. Once completed, we now had a clean ceiling to work with, where we could add recessed lighting to compliment the room’s functions.

Solution 2
In order to unify the fireplace wall with bookcases and a new space for the TV, I designed a full wall unit with TV cabinet on the right while keeping the radiator for warmth, a new larger fireplace surround with gas insert, updating the hearth with new marble and finally a hidden bookcase door and fixed bookcase on the left. Pulling the room together, I designed a chair rail and applied molding and added a deep crown to finish off the space.

Now the room is ready for color, new fabrics, area rugs, seating and window treatments. Be sure to check back to see how the room continues to evolve!