Found: Golf Ball

I know how much you all love a wonderful renovation before-and-after story, and I really cannot wait to hear what you all think about this one. So let’s get the ball rolling.

I’ve known our customer, Denny, for twenty-some years. He’s a snowbird, originally from Michigan. He bought a lovely villa, built in 1988, nestled along the 15th hole of Kingsway Country Club golf course. Denny’s little slice of heaven, located in an idyllic setting, did not come as a surprise to me considering how much he loves golf.

It wasn’t long after he purchased the place there was a loud noise. Crack! The sound was terrible – like something crashed against a window.

Unfortunately, the culprit was a golf ball! It smashed a window on Denny’s new home. But the errant golf ball didn’t come as a shock to the new homeowner, especially because he’s a golfer and he knows how the game works. You hit a ball in the air, and sometimes it doesn’t go where you want it to. Even the world’s best golfers sometimes have trouble hitting the ball down the fairway. Hitting a window isn’t the first thing a golfer thinks of when playing golf. In fact, it’s the last thing a golfer might want to consider when he/she are teeing off. As golfers try to focus on getting that perfect drive, the possibility of slicing their shot and breaking the window of that nice and expensive house right off the fairway, just isn’t in their thought process. But unfortunately, like it did for this golfer, things don’t always go as planned on the golf course.

Besides replacing the shattered window, the villa needed a “facelift” for Denny to feel happy, and live comfortably for years to come. Our new client wanted a more open floor plan and he knew there was a way to do it. While the main space was pretty open to begin with, the kitchen was closed off. Denny felt the kitchen needed to be part of the living and dining rooms so the space wouldn’t feel isolated and compartmentalized. The previous kitchen had a spacious U-shaped configuration. It provided plenty of prep space. But…ugh…the wallpaper coming undone, the unfashionable ceiling tiles, and dated cabinets.

Turn on any home-design TV show and you’ll repeatedly hear the words “open concept.” Tearing down walls to create open floor plans for the living room, dining room, and kitchen is what open-concept design is all about. Denny has watched enough of these design shows to know that he wouldn’t have to take down an entire wall to get a more open feeling. He challenged himself and decided to do as much of the “facelift” or remodeling without a contractor. You see, not only does he love golf, but he has a real passion for design, also.

Denny didn’t want to copy or apply something he’s had in the past. So, with that in mind, he asked me to design his new, unique kitchen. If two walls weren’t load-bearing, Denny and I both knew they should come down. We knew that when the right walls came down the room would feel like it doubled its size. I presented him with two kitchen options; each one had a different island. The previous kitchen was confining. There wasn’t any good lighting, and the new homeowner needed more storage. Opening up the kitchen was the game changer, and in my designs I kept the sink in the same location, but moved the refrigerator, range, and microwave to the far end of the kitchen.

Speaking of refrigerator, I wanted to camouflage this large stainless steel appliance a bit. I wanted to make it more appealing to the eye and more in harmony with the rest of the kitchen. So, I flanked a tall pantry with roll out trays on each side of the refrigerator. A pantry is like having a mini grocery store right at home. One of my favorite ways to add storage is a tall cabinet with adjustable rollouts that match the new cabinetry. Denny won’t have to guess what’s behind the first row of supplies — simply roll out one of the shelves to see.

Denny ended up choosing the second design. Then he used his creativity when it came to cabinetry. I always advise clients to select colors they absolutely love instead of following trends. After all, trends come and go. So with that advice in mind, for the perimeter of the kitchen, Denny selected Aspect cabinets made of American Poplar wood with Castlegate stain. The island is also made of American Poplar wood with White Rock stain. The ceiling-height Shaker cabinets make the kitchen look taller. The handsome brushed nickel tubular pull hardware is from Richelieu Hardware.

Next up was the flooring. I suggested he use intriguing, eye catching porcelain tiles that have reproduced the hand-scraped wood floor look and feel. The tiles are stain-resistant and repel moisture for easy maintenance. On the other hand, natural wood is prone to scratches, dents, warps, and will need to be refinished over time. Using porcelain tiles removes the need and worry to maintain real wood. Basically, Denny would have the best of both worlds with a reduced maintenance floor that looks like wood. Now he can relax, and let his two cats run free. Denny purchased the floor tiles from Color Tile CarpetsPlus, located in Port Charlotte.

After a search for countertop perfection at Stone Art Creations Denny found a couple of really gorgeous slabs of “Araras Gold” granite that is quarried out of Brazil. This stone features a golden-brown background with crystal blue veins and black minerals throughout the stone.

Last up was the tile backsplash. When renovating, many homeowners choose to install features like a backsplash in the kitchen. Choosing the perfect tile for the job, however, can be tough. That’s what Denny discovered. He kept bringing home samples after samples of various tiles until he finally found a winner: bamboo glass. Denny found it at Pucci Tile & Marble. The 2” x 12” earth taupe color tiles are from Tesoro Decorative Collection.

There’s something extremely satisfying about a great before-and-after and that’s especially true when I’ve seen everything my friend has done. Taking a chopped-up floor plan and turning it into one open and expansive great room, really paid off. Originally, the kitchen was divided by walls. Now with the two walls gone, it modernized the home.

Wonderful things happen when talented people join together in a creative process. Just Counters & other stuff’s skilled carpenter Ben Hanson did an exceptional job when he installed all of the cabinets and trim mouldings.