Open, Bright, and User-Friendly When our clients came to us, they wanted to make their Villanova home more open, bright and user-friendly. Although they had lived in the house for 14 years, they had made few interior improvements. Their vision was to have their kitchen open into a family room. The wife loves to cook and entertain but hated being isolated from her family and guests while she was in the kitchen. Our clients had thought they wanted an addition to the kitchen that would provide family living space and a study. Before the remodel, the kitchen was isolated from the family living area by the doorway in the back of the photo and an adjoining powder room. As you can see from the original floor plan the kitchen was separated from the family room by a hallway, and the powder room was set in between the two rooms. The addition would essentially duplicate the purpose of an already existing room which seemed an impractical and inefficient use of space and funds. Our design for the project involved adding a foyer and a study to the home's existing footprint. The powder room and coat closet were removed from the center of the house into the foyer addition, allowing us to open the kitchen and family into one space. Natural cherry cabinets with granite countertops give the new kitchen a warm, inviting feeling. The Italian tile backsplash and custom range hood lend a special touch. The improved floor plan, slightly recessed refrigerator, and center island exude spaciousness, while workspace is increased and made more efficient. Highlights: · New oak flooring was laid throughout the foyer, kitchen and family room. The floors in the living room and dining room as well as the stairway were refinished to match. · 42" natural cherry cabinets with 2 inch crown moulding were installed in the kitchen. We recessed the pantry cabinet to conserve floor space. Cabinets are by Century Kitchens. · Angled cabinets add eye appeal and make for a more open view into the main room from the garage entry. · Appliances include: double Jenn-Aire ovens with one convection option, Thermador 5 burner continuous grate gas cooktop, GE Spacemaker ll microwave. All new appliances were done in black to enhance the tile and granite colors. · We reused the refrigerator and recessed it 3 inches into the wall to give a more built-in look. · Granite countertops were installed throughout. · Both Kohler white cast iron sinks were undermounted. The main sink is 10 inches deep. · The main sink was moved away from its traditional window placement. We determined that more time was actually spent in food preparation than in washing dishes. The sill of the window was placed at counter height to allow for a more open view. · The Moen One-touch faucet (main sink) and the Moen Legend faucet were installed without deckplates for a sleeker appearance. These two faucets have matching levers. · We dropped the base cabinet next to the ovens to a 30 inch height for baking. The second sink was placed in easy access to this area. · Italian tile backsplash and tiled custom range hood with natural cherry trim · Gas logs were installed in the existing family room fireplace. · Pease atrium doors open onto the deck. · The cedar deck was built in two levels. The steps connecting the two levels run the full width of the lower section. · Adding the foyer made the front entrance much more comfortable and gracious. Being able to see through the Atrium doors at the back of the house makes the house seem much more spacious than its square footage would indicate. · The foyer addition was sided with used brick to match the existing brickwork on the front of the house. · The front yard was landscaped to enhance the new entry. This project was completed in approximately four months. Claude and Alain were delightful to work with throughout. They were enthusiastic about the process and thrilled with the result. According to the couple, "Our house looks better than we had imagined. You and your employees were always courteous, professional, accommodating, punctual, quiet and very pleasant." Stay tuned. When the Phareses plan to remodel their second floor, the HUB Design/Build will be on the job.

HUB Design/Build 610.688.7475 | Fax: 610.688.7544 Lynne@HUBdesignbuild.com