Louise Burton Design & Draft

Tale Of Two Kitchens II: Beautiful Kitchen on a Budget

Louise Burton — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 20:26:16 +0000

Solution II: Buy a Showroom kitchen from a ‘going-out-of-business’ home store. When a local home improvement store went out of business, these savvy owners purchased a beautiful kitchen off the showroom floor for a fraction of the original price, hoping that it would fit their existing kitchen. By treating the cabinets like puzzle pieces, it did indeed fit — even the island! With the addition of a dining area and mudroom, the kitchen was transformed into a spacious living and eating area.
		View Before Pictures View After Pictures

Builders/contractors: Tom Shern with Home Services, 715-497-9662

Louise Burton — Thu, 16 Feb 2012 20:43:55 +0000

Solution I: Go to Ikea! This kitchen was cute but dated. The owner wanted to update the existing kitchen without blowing her budget. Her solution was to buy cabinets from Ikea. Ikea cabinets are well made and look lovely, but in contrast to custom or semi-custom cabinets, there are a limited number of styles and sizes of cabinets. Creating this kitchen required using the options we had to the best advantage, and keeping all appliances in their original locations. The result? A lovely kitchen at an affordable price!
		View Before Pictures View After Pictures

Louise Burton — Sun, 24 Jul 2011 17:12:42 +0000

This ranch house still looks like all of its neighbors on the front. But inside and in back, what a transformation! The existing galley kitchen was cramped, and you had to walk past the furnace to reach the back door. The owner wanted a larger kitchen with plenty of light, a spacious living room, another bathroom and – last but not least – a hot tub room! We were able to accomplish all of this with a simple rectangular addition to the back of the house. The owner chose beautiful tile, granite and marble for finishes to give this home a rich custom look.
		View Before Pictures View After Pictures

Builder/contractor: Howard Bennis, Bennis Construction, 952-240-5375 Cabinets: Medallion, from Johnson Lumber, Siren, Wisconsin, 715-349-3400. www.Johnsonlumbercompany.com

Louise Burton — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:46:46 +0000

The owners of this home wanted another garage stall, as well as an enlarged entry to include both a powder room and mudroom. The existing entry had an awkward closet that restricted flow from the front door. How to add on so that it blends in seamlessly with the existing design? Paying attention to the rooflines was crucial, as well as taking cues from the existing house. The result: additions that ‘disappeared’ into the front façade of this home, so that it looks like this was the original design. . . but now it boasts a beautiful new entry, mudroom and powder room.
		View Before Pictures View After Pictures

Builders/contractor: Rick Brama, Genesis Construction, 952-233-0125

Louise Burton — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:11:24 +0000

The owners of this home wanted another garage stall, as well as an enlarged entry to include both a powder room and mudroom. The existing entry had an awkward closet that restricted flow from the front door. How to add on so that it blends in seamlessly with the existing design? Paying attention to the rooflines was crucial, as well as taking cues from the existing house. The result: additions that ‘disappeared’ into the front façade of this home, so that it looks like this was the original design. . . but now it boasts a beautiful new entry, mudroom and powder room.
		View Before Pictures View After Pictures

Builder/contractor: Rick Brama, Genesis Construction, 952-233-0125

Louise Burton — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 04:22:10 +0000

The main level of this home is lovely. But the basement, though finished, was uninviting. The family room fireplace was dated, as was the bathroom. The one bedroom had an awkwardly placed closet, and the unfinished space where the second bedroom would go had none. There was a maze of exposed pipes everywhere. Taking space from the stairwell and the oversized hallway and gutting the old bathroom, we were able to successfully create two spacious bedrooms with generous closets. Drywall ceilings concealed most of the pipes, and the rest were painted white to blend in. The owner finished these rooms beautifully, so that this space is now as inviting as the upstairs.
		View Before Pictures View After Pictures

Builders/contractors: Gregg Schneider with Timber Creek Construction, 612-466-2780 Lyndy Nordeen with Lyndon Nordeen Services 612-715-0614

Louise Burton — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 23:19:10 +0000

The townhouse had an unfinished walkout basement with views of a wetland. The challenge was to get a second bedroom and bathroom, a family room and an office in the space without moving the existing plumbing rough-in, windows or sliding glass door.
		View After Pictures

The result is a spacious and fully usable lower level, doubling the living space without changing the exterior.

Louise Burton — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 23:10:18 +0000

This cute suburban house was too small for entertaining. The original idea was for a large addition to the back. But what was really needed was just a larger dining area and a larger back entry. The design was transformed into two smaller additions, which changed the original rectangle into a more interesting configuration. With new siding, this looks like an entirely different house!
		View Before Pictures View After Pictures

Designed while at Eclipse Architectural Group.

Louise Burton — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 23:00:13 +0000

No question about it: the kitchen and dining space in this house was too small! The owners also wanted a main level laundry, a bedroom for an aging parent, and a master suite. The addition is a seamless enhancement to this house: beautiful, spacious kitchen open to a sitting area and dining table. And we got the bedroom and laundry room in, too! The master suite was created by converting one bedroom into a closet and bath.
		View Before Pictures View After Pictures

This was designed while at Eclipse Architectural Group.

Louise Burton — Sat, 02 Jul 2011 22:36:40 +0000

This house was tiny, with two bedrooms and all the living spaces crowded into one small one-level space. The porch was sagging and dated. The solution began with gutting all the interior walls in the existing house and removing the roof. A new, steeper roof and dormers meant that two bedrooms and a bath could be tucked upstairs.
		Downstairs, an open floor plan plus one bedroom and bath created light and airy spaces despite the small house footprint. A deck off the kitchen’s french door increased the outdoor spaces. View Before Pictures View After Pictures

With a new front porch, you can hardly recognize the original house! Contractors Interior: Tom Shern 715-497-9662 Front Porch: Dave Hjelvik 612-670-7862 davidhjelvikremodeling@gmail.com Interior Millwork: Bud Karls 715-648-5570 Painting: Jeff Watson 612-990-4441 jeffwatsonpainting@yahoo.com