World War II - era home gets a facelift

When Nadia Malik and Michael Pratt purchased their Upper Arlington home, they knew that it would need some work

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When Nadia Malik and Michael Pratt purchased their Upper Arlington home a year-and-a-half ago, they knew that it would need some work. Originally built in the 1940s, the previous owners had remodeled and expanded upon the home nearly ten years ago. Though despite its age, the home had an open design and contemporary feel to it.

“When we were looking at the house before we bought it, the basement had been finished I’m guessing maybe 30 years ago,” Pratt says. “It was finished, but portions of it were not, and it was really old. It was still pretty bad so we knew that at some point we were going to renovate it just to have a more attractive space.”

A particular note is the mudroom, which leads off the back of the house.

“We’ve got a nice patio back there and we spend a good amount of time there in the summer,” Pratt says. “That room was there before, but it was more just like a storage locker; there were a couple hooks on the wall and some cubbies, but it didn’t have any shoe storage or benches so we just kind of prettied it up.”

Traditionally, the empty space underneath staircases is utilized as storage space. That’s not the case in this home. Instead, Malik and Pratt created a wine cellar. 

“My wife and I both enjoy wine,” Pratt says. “When we started about talking about what we wanted to do with the space and started talking to The Cleary Company, they recommended that we start looking at pictures on Houzz. They set up a folder in there for us to save pictures and to comment on what we like about the pictures; so they could look at it all and figure out what our tastes were and what we wanted to do.”

In this process, Pratt noticed a picture of a wine cellar under the stairs and thought the concept was unique. The existing space was a basic storage closet and Malik and Pratt didn’t have a need for it, so they believed a wine cellar would be an interesting feature.

“We’ve got some good bottles in there,” Pratt says. “We had a party for Christmas and had a lot of friends over – there’s a bottle of Silver Oak in there and everyone was kind of eyeing that bottle.”

Nathan Collins is a managing editor. Feedback welcome at ncollins@cityscenemediagroup.com.

Storage cabinets:

White custom cabinets with cubbies and drawers were installed for children’s toys and seldom used household items. LV plank flooring by Kolay visually looks like porcelain tile but is softer and more flexible, making it a perfect choice for an older unlevel basement floor.

Wine cellar & hallway:

Often space underneath basement stairs goes unused, however the clients requested a wine cellar. Custom racking and glass doors were designed for the specific space. The refrigeration unit was installed in the adjacent crawl space. Access to the crawl space is hidden behind the mirrored barn door.

Family room:

Custom built-in cabinets flank a new gas fireplace. Façade is clad with Shadowstone Midnight Sky by Realstone Systems from Hamilton Parker. Wainscotting and wood trim on the egress window elevate the space, almost making you forget you’re in a basement.

Beverage center:

Whether you’re watching TV, playing games or working out, a cold drink is steps away in the KitchenAid undercounter fridge. Plus, the Cambria quartz countertop is durable and cleans up easily.

Powder room:

Metallic mirror beveled tiles by Original Style from Hamilton Parker add whimsical bling to this modest basement powder room.

Laundry room:

Elevating the basic basement laundry room from blah to wow! This functional-spacious room features custom white cabinetry, a deep farmhouse sink, Cambria quartz countertops and mosaic tiled backsplash from Daltile.

Mudroom:

Seating and storage galore! The mudroom keeps everything in its place and features custom cabinetry with a wide L-shaped bench, multi-sized cubbies and pullouts. This mudroom stores shoes for the family of four.

Nathan Collins is a managing editor. Feedback welcome at ncollins@cityscenemediagroup.com