We had a video call Wednesday with our interior designer, Kassandra. Since our last update over two months ago (sorry!), we’ve made a lot of progress and are almost ready to begin applying for construction permits. Here are some of the highlights:
Porch, staircase, and railing
To access the backyard or downstairs guest suite, we currently need to go out the front door, walk down a crumbling stone staircase, and walk uphill on some grass (often wet). Alternatively, you can walk an even longer downhill path entirely on grass. Neither path has any significant protection from rain, which is inevitable here and occasionally heavy.
Kassandra experimented with multiple staircase designs, including a spiral staircase in multiple locations and a diagonal staircase in the middle of the home. You can see both in the image above, but we’ve decided on the diago=
nal staircase. Dave, who exercises downstairs and often sits on our hill overlooking the ocean, is especially excited. We also think it’ll be great for anyone staying in the downstairs guest suite.
Although seemingly hardly worthy of note but something we’re both very excited about is the updated railing. Our current railing consists of slats of wood that block about 30% of the view. The new railing will consist of thin metal wires that block very little of the view but still prevent pets, nephews, and nieces from falling.
Living room
The living room is a wide space—too wide to create a focus on the fireplace and TV. Kassandra suggested several layouts, but we both immediately loved the one shown: two couches back-to-back. One faces the wall-mounted TV (shown) and one faces the fireplace.
Not only is this a good use of the space, it matches how we like to spend our evenings. Amanda likes to relax by watching TV. Dave likes to relax near Amanda but doing almost anything but watching TV, and finds a TV in his field of view distracting. Back-to-back couches will allow us to enjoy the living room together, even if we’re doing separate things.
The current fireplace is a wood burner but it’s in a state of disrepair. We don’t think it’s worth fixing: neither of us ever feels cold enough in Hawaii to want a heat source and piles of wood in Hawaii attract bugs, including scary centipedes and millipedes. Instead, we’re going to update its interior face to make it look good but will decommission its functions. Amanda imagines burning candles in it on special occasions.
Entry, kitchen, and dining room
The current main entrance to the home is in the hallway between the living room and bedrooms. It’s an odd spot, cramped and unnatural feeling. There’s an alternative entrance in a more natural spot but it’s a sliding glass door that doesn’t currently slide easily. Kassandra suggested turning the sliding door into the main entrance, such as with a double french door. We never would of thought of that but jumped on board immediately.
The old front door will become a window, including one with a pane near ground level so the pets can look out onto the driveway (as they do now).
After coming through the new front door, you’ll be in the dining area. We haven’t chosen any specific furniture for this area but we expect a medium-sized table and chairs.
North of the dining room will be the kitchen. We’re keeping the same general layout (sink, refrigerator, most cabinets and drawers) but will remove the peninsular section of counter and drawers and replace it with an island in the middle.
Laundry, bathroom, and garage
Beyond the kitchen will be our laundry room with stacked washer and dryer, a half bathroom, and garage. The garage will be for Dave’s bicycles, the pet area (feeding and waste), and storage.
Dave’s office
The current upstairs guestroom will become Dave’s office. He’s already moved his temporary desk and computer in there to test it, but it will be much nicer after the improvements.
The existing interior door into the room will become a wall, allowing the master bedroom and bathroom to be expanded. He’ll get a new door on the wall in the middle of the hallway, which he thinks will improve the already good airflow.
The front of the office will remain a sliding door onto the deck, giving Dave easy access and an ocean view. A couch will be added—Dave does his best thinking during naps—and Kassandra has proposed some shelving that exactly meets Dave’s preferred industrial aesthetic.
Master bedroom and bathroom
The existing master bedroom is huge, with floor-to-ceiling ocean-facing windows on one side (and part of the other side). It’s bright and hot during the day. Its bathroom is immediately behind those windows, so if you forget to draw the blinds, you’re giving a show to the surfers below.
Early on, we decided that we wouldn’t make good use of all that space. We want it dark for sleeping and private for bathrooming. We had some initial ideas about how to partition the space but they weren’t quite right (more precisely, Dave had ideas that would’ve been ugly and Amanda kept telling him to wait to see what Kassandra said). During an in-person visit, Kassandra quickly iterated over various ideas until we found a solution both Amanda and Dave liked.
Then Kassandra worked on it even more and found an even better way to use the space. You’ll walk down the hallway to a single door into the bedroom. Straight in will be just the bed and maybe a dresser or vanity.
To the left will be the entrance to a spacious bathroom with hub (for Amanda), shower, and separate his/hers sinks. Past the sinks will be a walk-in clothes closet.
Dave was especially surprised by this layout. Sleeping and disposing of waste are, to him, things that you’re forced to do instead of what’s exciting (like typing at a computer for 10 hours). When it came to the design of the master suite, he was content to see Amanda happy. But this design wowed him, and now he can’t wait to experience it.
Amanda’s office and upstairs guest studio
The extra space from the current master bedroom with its oceanfront vista will become Amanda’s office, with a sleeper sofa that can be used by guests. A new wall will split it from the master bedroom and a new door will be added to allow access to it from the porch. It will continue to contain full bathroom amenities and will be decorated to Amanda’s desires.
Kassandra’s sample decorations for this room have done a great job of capturing what Amanda wants, so we have high expectations.
Downstairs guest suite
The downstairs guest suite will become much more accessible with the addition of the staircase from the porch. The bathroom will be updated and the bedroom will receive a closet to hide the ugly back wall. Dave currently uses this room for riding his bike rollers (similar to a stationary bike), and there will still be room for that even after the guest bed is installed.
Conclusion
This post’s focus on the details of the redesign obscures our excitement about the changes. Today the house feels weird. We could continue living in it and find ways to fill the space, but it would never quite suit our tastes. The renovation plans are for our house, a home that has the things that we want in the places we want them
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