before & after: a home makeover that’s smart about space

studio mcgee works magic on a ranch-style home makeover.

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Our clients live in a 70s ranch style home that had been through one really rough update by the previous owners. The main living and kitchen areas were dysfunctional and in desperate need of an overhaul.

For this family with 4 kids and not a lot of square footage, developing a new space plan was our first priority – and we still needed to add an office, piano, laundry and mud room to the already tight space!

I was a little nervous about putting a piano on the big fireplace wall,
but it turned out to be one of my favorite features in the space.

One of my favorite things to do in houses with a lot of white is to surprise people and go really dark in a couple of rooms. We wallpapered the entry here with charcoal metallic grasscloth and the contrast is stunning!

Our client wanted white, bright, and a blend of traditional and modern. The brass accents are everything in this kitchen!

Originally, you opened the door directly into the living room. We divided it into multiple spaces without losing the open feeling. Most people think that designers only want to open things up, but some separation can actually make things feel richer! The ceilings are a few inches shy of 8 feet, but you would never know thanks to the white walls and light floors!

We shifted the entire kitchen over into the old dining room to make space for a built-in desk and hidden laundry.