The Brentwood Project

Week 1 Clients of mine have been living in a 2800 square foot 4 bedroom, 4 bath home in a beautiful area of Los Angeles for the past 9 years. They are both in the Entertainment business, lead very active lives and just love to entertain.  They have two very busy boys ages 9 and 6 and currently their house just doesn’t function well enough for them – as it no longer meeting their needs. The home built in 1949 (updated and renovated 25 years ago) is dark, dated and in need of upgrading as the wear and tear is really beginning to show.  Doors and drawers are falling off the hinges, kitchen appliances and bath fixtures are no longer reliable and the entire family is in dire need of increasing the function of every room to keep up with their changing needs of this growing family. Here is a list of just a few of the problems they are dealing with: What No Longer Works.
  • My client Mrs. R is an avid cook and loves to entertain. The existing kitchen is slightly cramped and somewhat inefficient – as it can only accommodate dinner for four – wedged into a cramped corner.  Not to mention the antiquated appliances only work when they want to.
  • There is no formal foyer or entrance to speak of. Currently the front door opens within feet of the stairs leading up to the second floor.
  • A main floor bedroom, now used as an office for Mrs. R, needs to accommodate four different workstations for four different people.
  • A dingy and uncomfortable den where Mr. R works in the evenings is cluttered with uncomfortable seating, inefficient audio/video storage and poor lighting.
  • At the moment, the family room at the rear of the home is functioning as a play room rather than the intended function – so it needs to be completely re-designed and the neighboring full bath reduced in size so that we can borrow some of that extra space in order to improve the plan and layout of the family room.
  • The kids’ bedrooms are very tight.  The bulky furniture needs to be replaced with built-ins by borrowing some of the existing sloped ceiling/roof space within the rooms themselves.
  • Sharing one sink and an antiquated bath/shower for these brothers can be challenging at times.
  • The Master Bedroom has many charming elements that need to be restored and updated. The cathedral ceiling/beams and fireplace just to name a few.
  • The master bath and walk-in closet are poorly planned, oriented incorrectly with wasted space at every turn and need to be re-planned entirely.
It’s my job to look, listen and learn from my clients.  We need to identify the past successes and current failures and build upon those in order to design and create the dream home of their future.  Over the next several months I’ll share the trials and tribulations of this home renovation project with you – the good, the bad and the ugly! I encourage you leave questions or comments below this post, and fill out the form on the right hand side of this page to receive your free copy of my special report: “15 Money Saving Strategies When Planning Your Home Renovation” Article by Lori Gilder, Architectural Interior Designer, Los Angeles, Ca. © 2010 Lori Gilder. Interior Makeovers Inc.