Photo courtesy of J.S. Brown
An extraneous bedroom converted to a sitting area transformed an Upper Arlington condominium from an ordinary residence to a destination for visitors –with plenty of conversation pieces.
J.S. Brown & Co. undertook a complete remodel of the condo’s interior. The project took most of 2019, though most of it was done by mid-year.
“We touched every single room in some fashion or another,” says J.S. Brown Vice President of Sales Monica Lewis, who designed the remodel project along with Interior Designer Meredith Young.
The homeowners are empty-nesters. They were looking to downsize, but loved the location so much that they decided to adjust it to meet their needs, Lewis says– which means everything needed to be brought up to date and made suitable for company as well as daily living.
“It was basically taking this condo and turning it into their retirement home that they could live in,” Lewis says.
Todd Yarrington
Taking into account the many, many, many singular changes – including new flooring and higher ceilings in some areas– the biggest overall change, Lewis says, is a total shift in flow. And that shift starts with the bedroom-to-sitting-room conversion.
“It just feels much bigger and more open,” she says. “Because they are empty-nesters, they don’t need two extra bedrooms.”
J.S. Brown – which had completed three renovations for the homeowners at their previous residence –opened up an entire section of wall to facilitate the new sitting room. Visitors can migrate there from the kitchen, dining area or living area to the new room, which would have been far more isolated had it remained a bedroom.
Said living room, which was highlighted by a brick fireplace area, was previously the only gathering space of any significance in the house. Now, though, visitors can travel through a double doorway with bookcases on either side to the sitting room.
The room already had a pleasant view of the patio and beyond. J.S. Brown added modified molding on the ceiling for a more comfortable look, as well as an adjacent powder room.
The previously existing living room is highlighted by decorative ceiling beams. The most noticeable change, though, might be to the fireplace. The homeowners are big fans of the limestone theme throughout Upper Arlington, so J.S. Brown found some cultured stone to cover the fireplace, then added a mantle and a gas log insert to make it more convenient.
“The fireplace was brick originally, and it matches the brick on the outside of the house,” says Lewis. “They like it on the outside of the house, but inside, they felt it was too dark.”
The space connecting the living and sitting rooms – previously a closet for the former bedroom – has been outfitted with new bookcases.
Photo courtesy of J.S. Brown
The kitchen has been completely rearranged as well. J.S. Brown removed a doorway that was immediately to the left of the house’s entrance – the homeowners didn’t like the idea of people walking in and instantly having a view of dirty dishes in the sink – and reoriented the space, turning an L-shaped kitchen with an extra wall to a galley kitchen. The cabinets got taller to take advantage of new ceiling height, and went from oak to white to brighten up the room, with new appliances, pendant chandeliers and a quartz countertop along for the ride.
The removal of the original doorway to the kitchen meant big changes for the foyer as well. The homeowners wanted more space to display artwork, family photos and other decorative items, and there’s now more wall space without the doorway there.
In the first-floor master suite, the bathroom was expanded to add a more comfortable shower and brightened up considerably. The sinks and vanity have more space, storage was added below the vanity and in wall cabinets, and a toilet nook offers additional storage. J.S. Brown used porcelain and quartz exclusively for the shower, giving it an impressive look but keeping maintenance needs low.
The bedroom saw some changes as well, including new paint, a new door to the bathroom space, more built-ins and extra closet storage thanks to some previously unused space under the stairs.
The most noticeable work was done on the first floor, but the second floor saw some significant changes of its own, included an overhauled bathroom, new railings for the loft – overlooking the living room on one side and separating the space from the foyer and stairs on the other – and more convenient attic access via a bookcase that swings open. The second-floor bathroom as converted from a tub/shower combo to shower only, with all new fixtures, materials and cabinets.
And every part of the house saw improvements to the trim. The homeowners weren’t impressed by the existing 2 ¼ inch Colonial casings, so J.S. Brown added a backband to build the casings up, rather than go through the arduous process of recasing everything.
“It was a less expensive (set of) molding details, but it gave them the same results in the end to add that extra layer all the way around,” says Lewis.
In 2020, the house won a Contractor of the Year award from the local chapter of the National Association of the Remodeling Industry for Entire House $250,000-$500,000.
Photo courtesy of J.S. Brown
Garth Bishop is a contributing editor. Feedback welcome at feedback@cityscenemediagroup.com.
