Author: Abigail Stone, California Home Design
“Before starting the design process, I ask a lot of questions,” says interior design Goli Karimi of Home Front Build, “How we move around inside our homes now is very different than how people did 60-100 years ago, when most of the homes we remodel now, were built.” By rearranging existing spaces Karimi is able to improve the way her clients live.
“They came to us after seeing one of our projects on an episode of “This Old House” television series,” says Karimi, “Our company is known for maintaining and celebrating the historic architectural integrity of the houses we work on.” The 1900 square foot home in the Beverlywood section of Los Angeles had suffered through a series of ill-planned additions. Each addition had been done to satisfy a pressing need — an additional bedroom, a second bath — but none of the renovations ever acknowledged how that changed the overall flow of the space or worked in harmony. The existing three-bedroom, two-bath layout was confusing.
The main design goal was to re-conceive the home without adding more square footage and to make the house function more cohesively. With that in mind, Karimi suggested several alternative layouts. While theoretically the new configuration only adds a powder room, the reimagined floor plan make better use of the space.
“The only room that remained the same is the living room,” says Karimi. All of the home’s central walls were removed, and the kitchen was relocated to the center of the house. “Now as you enter, you’re drawn into the family room and the kitchen.” A newly vaulted space, detailed with wood beams and lit with a pair of dormers above banks of windows, coaxes in light from the backyard.
Karimi acknowledges that even with 3-D sketches and renderings, it can be hard for clients to full understand the impact of the changes until they are standing in the space. “They were elated when the vaulted space was framed and could not believe it was the same house they had been living in,” says Karimi. “I had an opportunity to visit the house recently and could see how comfortably the spaces flow into each other. The house is not only beautiful, but also practical and functional.”
