ATailored and warmA white oak ceiling, arched glazed cabinets either side of a plaster fireplace, steel windows to the garden and colour used with intent.
BStone and timberA full-height fieldstone chimney seen through from both sides, a vaulted cedar ceiling and walls of glass to the deck.
01Open the main floorTake out what is not carrying, and carry what is in the ceiling rather than below it.
02Move the kitchenTo the back, to the light, to where the family actually is. Expensive and often the right call.
03Relocate the stairThe largest single move in a renovation and the one that transforms a plan.
04Add a primary suiteBy addition or by reconfiguring three small rooms into one good one.
05Raise the ceilingsWhere the floor above allows it. Nothing else changes a room so much for so little finish.
06Vault a ceilingInto the roof structure, with the framing engineered for it.
07Rebuild the envelopeAir-sealing, insulation and windows together. Comfort is a system, not a product.
08Replace every serviceWiring, plumbing and ductwork renewed while the walls are open. They open exactly once.
09Zoned HVACUpstairs and downstairs on separate zones. Ends the thermostat argument permanently.
10One continuous floorThe same board through every room on a level. The cheapest way to make a plan feel larger.
11A consistent trim languageOne casing, one base, one door style through the whole house. Quietly does more than any feature.
12Solid-core doorsHeavier, quieter, and the first thing anybody notices without knowing why.
13Coffered or beamed ceilingsIn the rooms that carry the house. Structure and decoration in one move.
14Wide cased openingsInstead of doors between living spaces. Connection without losing the room definition.
15Windows enlargedBigger openings on the good elevation, engineered headers, better glass.
16Mudroom and laundry rethoughtWhere the family actually enters, not where the plan happened to put it.
17Closets built outFitted rather than a rail and a shelf. Doubles usable storage in the same footprint.
18One paint paletteThree or four colours for the whole house. Rooms stop competing with each other.
19Whole-house lighting planDrawn once, circuited properly, dimmed everywhere. Cheapest luxury in a renovation.
20Selective demolition firstOpen it up before the drawings are finished, so surprises land while the plan can absorb them.
