Homes designed for real-life.

The single biggest decision was leaning into the home's existing language instead of fighting it — we stripped back years of layered white paint over trim and doors to reveal the original dark wood beneath, uncovered a brick chimney, and leveled ceiling heights so the focus was on the quality of the materials. The end result was a space that felt light, airy and functional while also reading as historically cohesive.

Before any cabinets came down, we worked the layout three different ways on paper. The plan that won moved the fridge wall, found a real prep counter, and let the dining room read as one space with the kitchen.

Uneven flooring from layers of tiles and old laminate, a cramped layout starring a stove inside a closet that vented into the basement (!) and a refrigerator stranded against a wall it didn't belong on.

We developed several iterations of the main floor layout to balance potential homeowner needs, budget, and architectural practicality. We ultimately decided on a layout that gave the future homeowners a better flow, better sight lines and importantly more walls to live with. While I pushed initially for a full open concept, a construction issue that made it so we could not remove the majority of a wall separating the kitchen from the rest of the space made me realize that without it there would be no where for art or a TV. Ultimately the layout balances real-life needs with an improved flow.

Once the layout was settled, every wall, window, door, and built-in got measured and drawn — so the GC and the cabinet maker could quote, build, and sequence without guessing.

A dark cedar gambrel with a weathered deck and a popcorn-ceilinged interior holding twenty years of the previous owners' lives. Good bones. Hard to see them.

The brief was twelve words and a due date. Knowing the parents — and knowing their living room downstairs already pulls warm and earthy — the room could lean into a soft jungle without ever feeling theme-park.

The brief was straightforward — the couple, who recently became empty nesters, were looking to turn their kids bathroom into an upgraded experience so that they could finally host their friends in their home. Clean, modest, timeless.