Many Baby Boomers can relate to Janie Wilson and Paul Smith. They recently remodeled their house with specific goals in mind. First and foremost, they wanted a house they could comfortably live in for the rest of their lives.
"Our next move is to the nursing home or the mortuary!" Janie says. "I am in my 50s, and Paul is in his 60s. We aren't moving again unless we have to."
When Janie and Paul got married, they both owned a home. They knew they were either going to have to buy a new home that met their needs or remodel one of theirs. Paul owned a two-story house, and Janie owned a 1975 rambler with a basement.
"There were a lot of things wrong with the rambler, but Paul said we could get everything we wanted out of it; that it would be just like new," she says. "I didn't believe we could do it better than new construction, but, he was right. He was absolutely right."
Janie's Rambler is an L-shaped house with a patio inside the "crook" of the L. "The garage (the short part of the L) is attached, but there was no direct access to the house. You had to walk across a stretch of ice and go up some steps to get into the garage," she says. "One of the goals of the remodel was to eliminate having to go outside to get to the garage. We didn't want to have to walk across the snow and ice in the winter, especially as we get older."
To fix that problem, they created a mudroom that goes from the garage to the great room. The mudroom doubles as a new laundry room. The laundry room moved from the basement to accomplish another goal: main-floor living.
"We wanted everything to be on one level," Janie says. "When we have walkers and wheelchairs, we want this house to still work for us."
They didn't make everything completely handicap accessible; however, the halls and doors were widened, and the master bathroom was designed with accessibility in mind. "It doesn't have handicap grab bars, yet. We can add those later, but the shower does have a bench," she says.
In order to create more space for the master suite, they bumped out a small addition to the north. "The master suite is gorgeous," Janie says. "It is much larger now and has a master bath with a bubbling soaking tub, plus the shower and two vanities. The bathroom we had before was tiny and a Pepto-Bismol pink color. So, this is amazing to have so much space."
The whole master suite now has plenty of room. "Even the master closet is huge," Janie says. "There is so much storage now, we haven't even been able to fill it up yet."
"We ended up bumping it out in every direction — the master suite to the north, a bay window in the dining room to the south, the great room to the east and an expanded front porch to the west," says Janie. "It is a large rambler on a corner lot, so we had a lot of latitude to work with. We ended up adding about 650 square feet to the whole house."
With the expansion of the great room to the east, they were able to capitalized on some of their great mountain views that were previously blocked by the garage. The large windows in the great room now showcase an eastern view that was only visible from outside on the patio before. "I guess in the 70s, they didn't really care about designing for the view," Janie says. "It is amazing, the view we have now from our couch."
In addition to the additions, they opened up the traditional 1970s floor plan (separate kitchen, living room and formal dining room) into the Great Room concept (gathering, dining, and kitchen in one space). They vaulted the ceilings and arched the doorways to create a nice cathedral-like room and a chef's kitchen. "The great room/kitchen is where we live," she says. "It is comfortable. It has a gas fireplace, so it makes for a nice place to cook, eat, watch TV, anything."
The new great room has changed their everyday life as well as their ability to entertain. "What we had before was what I called a 'bumping butts' kitchen," Janie says. "Every time more than one person was trying to use the kitchen, you would be bumping butts. Now, everyone can hang out in the kitchen like they did before, but now we have room for them. "
Janie and Paul said they had three waves of family through the holiday and also a holiday work party. "The company party was about 40 people, and it was comfortable," Paul says.
All the holiday company was easy with the new space. Even overnight guests like it better. They already had another family room downstairs, as well as two bedrooms, a three-quarter bathroom and a large craft room and laundry room. All of the space was already there. The only thing they did in the basement was dig out the window wells to add light and proper egress.
"The egress windows brought in so much light that it doesn't even feel like a basement anymore," Janie says. "Plus, now it is safer for my family when they come to visit."
Overall Janie and Paul couldn't be happier with their new retirement home. "We wouldn't change a thing," Janie says. "It really did exceed our expectations." "The stars were really aligned for this one."
This Friday, Janie and Paul are hosting an open house. If you are interested in seeing this beautiful home for yourself, please contact Renovation Design Group at 801-533-5331 for more details.
Architects Ann Robinson and Annie V. Schwemmer are the founders of Renovation Design Group, www.renovationdesigngroup.com, a local design firm specializing in home remodels.