KIRKLAND, Washington 鈥� They didn鈥檛 want a bigger house. Or a different house. Or a new neighbourhood, or new neighbours.
But the time had come for a change 鈥� and suddenly, quite a few things needed changing.
Trace and Reid鈥檚 home was built in the late 1990s. It had been remodeled once and, somewhere along the line, cultivated a random collection of esthetics.
Outside, for example, tropical yellow paint, stucco siding and swaying palm trees screamed 鈥淢editerranean.鈥�
Inside, Trace says, there was 鈥渄ark cherry wood everywhere,鈥� along with an inexplicably angled hallway and a 鈥渕onstrosity of travertine and marble鈥� masquerading as a fireplace.
Most sadly of all, crammed into a corner, oddly shaped and dark, the little-bitty kitchen sighed 鈥淜nights of the Round Table.鈥�
That kitchen 鈥� that was the catalyst.
鈥淭he yard was wackadoodle and we lived with that ugly paint colour for a long time,鈥� Trace says.
鈥淏ut the kitchen was so small. We like to entertain and cook and we wanted an island so bad. We were lighting our stove with matches for years, like camping. We got tired of that.鈥�
Interior designer Hilary Young had just the wake-up call they needed 鈥� a contemporary renovation that ended up making over, and taking over, the entire first floor.
鈥淭hey thought they鈥檇 leave the kitchen where it was, with its single, small window, and open it up to the living area a bit,鈥� Young says.
鈥淢ore than most clients, they actually needed a big kitchen, and the original space literally was 100 square feet.
鈥淲e proposed moving the kitchen to what was the dining room, and moving the dining table to what was previously the kitchen.
鈥淚t increased the size of the kitchen by about double.鈥�
鈥淎nd then we ended up rearranging the 鈥榖ack of the house鈥� to incorporate a den, office, powder room, laundry and mudroom.鈥�
Trace calls the kitchen-switcheroo decision 鈥渁n aha moment.鈥� And now, it鈥檚 ahh all around: an entire level of cohesive colours, natural flow and clear connections to a single theme, and to the whole outdoors.
鈥淲e opened up walls to the exterior, replacing them with windows and glass doors to capture light from sunrise to sunset,鈥� Young says. 鈥淚t was really dark. Now it feels twice as big.鈥�
In the transformed, transported kitchen, there鈥檚 now space for wall ovens, a larger refrigerator and a separate range.
In the newly bright dining area, formerly the claustrophobic kitchen, Young 鈥渃reated architecture with cabinets by making a wall of storage that doesn鈥檛 feel like storage,鈥� she says. (Even better: There鈥檚 a bar hiding behind the doors of the built-in cabinetry. 鈥淩eid got into craft cocktails after the remodel,鈥� Trace says.)
Trace and Reid, who have two boys (Tate, 10, and 11-year-old Corbin), already had lovely furniture (the bar stools are the only new pieces); a vision (鈥淲e love modern but not cold. Warm woods, not too much white,鈥� Trace says); and colourful, meaningful artwork.
鈥淚 took cues from that,鈥� Young says. 鈥淚 felt the finishes needed to be subtle background colours and richness, with artwork the primary.鈥�
One particular piece, by Reid鈥檚 childhood friend John Grade, anchors the newly straightened hallway, now lined with wood. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a nice statement from the front door,鈥� Young says.
But not all of Reid鈥檚 special possessions made the cut for the fabulously contemporary new first floor.
鈥淩eid and I both have very strong opinions,鈥� Trace says. 鈥淩eid is a big record collector, and has lots of records and a turntable. There are these speakers he loved 鈥� a man thing 鈥� and wanted to display [in the living room]. They鈥檙e now in a perfect space upstairs, in the bedroom. He can go out on the deck and listen to Miles Davis. Hilary really was a perfect mediator.鈥�
Says Young: 鈥淲e got rid of the speakers.鈥�
