Modern Mediterranean: Much Ado About Floorplans
When some people are house shopping, sometimes a room painted a questionable color will immediately throw them off. Even if the house has good bones, the room painted lemon yellow is a dealbreaker. I’m the opposite, I look at a space and look beyond what’s in front of me to envision the potential. A coat of paint, a wall ripped out, a whole new facade - the possibilities are endless in the right space.
When we first saw our house, it would have been easy to get distracted with the questionable tile, the dark stairs, and the painted fruit. But then we would have missed the lovely arched hallways, the beamed ceilings, the charming courtyard, and expansive garden. Luckily, we saw what could be and snapped it up. And now comes the fun part - turning the potential into reality. Floorplans may not be the most exciting part of the renovation, but I’ve been having fun making them!
A Caveat
“It is very likely that he comes back to us and says “it’s so cute that you guys want to do all this, but what you’re asking for is 10x your budget” and then rips out our hearts and stomps on our dreams (but maybe without so much drama).”
This plan is constantly evolving. I’ve already changed it three times since I started writing this post. It’s also our plan before we present it to our contractor for a bid. It is very likely that he comes back to us and says “it’s so cute that you guys want to do all this, but what you’re asking for is 10x your budget” and then rips out our hearts and stomps on our dreams (but maybe without so much drama). We will probably have to go straight back to the drawing board to figure out a much more toned down version. Such is life when you have Dom Perignon taste on a La Marca budget. Granted, in any other part of the country our renovation budget would be the price of a brand new McMansion with like 10 bedrooms, but in San Francisco, as with many things, your renovation dollars don’t go as far as you think.
“Such is life when you have Dom Perignon taste on a La Marca budget.”
And now, after much babbling, I present to you the floorplans. The spacing might be a bit different on the before and afters, because the befores were taken from our real estate listing, while we did the afters much more to scale (or so we hope).
The Upstairs
The upstairs renovation is less dramatic than the downstairs in that mostly everything is staying where it is. The biggest overhaul is the kitchen and courtyard. We’re opening up the courtyard by converting some of the walls to floor to ceiling bi-fold doors, and converting some of the doors to arches. This enhances the open space feel, while allowing us to retain the dividers and walls. It’ll also bring lots of gorgeous natural light into the kitchen and back of the house. The kitchen will be completely gutted and be more linear, with a large island for food prep and entertaining. We’re sprinkling skylights liberally through the house because we love natural light, and with neighbors on both sides it’s the only way to add it. We’d like to convert a closet to a bathroom, then seal off our bathroom so it feels more like a master suite.
Before
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After
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Before
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After
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The Downstairs
The downstairs renovation is a complete gut job. The old owners originally planned for it to be an apartment of sorts, so it has a full kitchen. It was fully disconnected from the upstairs and cheaply updated. It needs a lot of love, but at 800sq ft, it has a lot of potential.
The main goal is to maximize indoor-outdoor living, and ensure we’re making the most efficient use of the space. We’re shrinking the family room slightly to have a nice bedroom that opens to the yard. Large bi-fold doors in both rooms will bring in more natural light and connect with the outside patio.
The stairs are getting a complete makeover, a skylight above them will hopefully bring light downward, while a curved silhouette will add character and connect the upstairs with the downstairs. We’re moving the utilities to the garage and updating them, then reclaiming that space and converting it to an office. The washer-dryer will move out of the garage and to a new room at the base of the stairs.
Tada! What did you think? Any suggestions? Questions?
Coming up next, we talk to our contractor, have many discussions about character, and I’ve got plans for every room!