Bay Road Home, Atherton, CA - Under Construction

Rendering of Bay Road Home - by l'oro designs

Even after designing homes for nearly a decade, the most gratifying part of my architecture practice is seeing the client's dreams interpreted in my mind and computer, then become a physical reality.  Even with the advancement of technology and getting to spin around a house in the 3D model, the moment you see the poured foundation and the walls go up is thrilling.  Each phase of construction has it's unique excitement.  But when the roof is up and the windows are in is when you begin to feel the spatial impact of each room, transitions, adjacencies, alignments.  The pieces of the puzzle fit tightly together, beginning to generate the sense of the finished product.  

The Bay Road Home is in Atherton, CA.  The client's desire was to create a house which works for a family and also provides easy entertaining spaces that flow from one room to the next.  In addition, these spaces filter out to the backyard patios, taking advantage of the indoor/outdoor living.  When you want to make a home work for small kids, teenagers, guests and entertaining, finding the balance between function and sophistication can be challenging.  Meeting these goals can only be accomplished with strong client vision, forging a team collaboration, assembling the separate details to compose a single design.

Snapshots of 'before', 'demo' & 'framing'...

Baby B's Nursery - the 'after' shots

This transformed nursery was previously an open office with a half-wall at the stairs to the master bedroom.  By filling in the wall to enclose the nursery, space was obtained to provide a full-sized closet and create the necessary privacy from the rest of the house.  This sun-filled, bright nursery is now home to Baby B!

View towards existing window with new crown molding, baseboard and picture rail to recall the repeated details around the house.

View towards secondary door of nursery, which opens up to the office.  The door casing and details match the rest of the house, which helps preserve the integrity of the look and feel of the house as a whole and acts as a backdrop for other elements, which then allows each room to have it's own identity.

Beautiful Baby B propped up amongst his beloved teddy and coordinated pillows.

Filling in the half-wall to enclose the room was key to allow for borrowed space to create a closet for the room.

Inside the closet is a perfectly organized haven - in part due to my client's careful placement of items and also thanks to the wonderful world of Elfa.

Photos by Muffy Kibbey Photography

Nursery - Under Construction

My utterly creative client wanted to alter this small open office into a nursery in time for the arrival of their son.  Simple solutions of just filling in a half-wall and borrowing space to create a closet - this space went from a casual den to a functioning baby's room.  

Before - Goal was to optimize space and turn this bright, small office into a nursery

Before - Only a half-wall separated the soon to be nursery from the stair-hall to the Master Suite -- not ideal for sleeping baby

Before - Maximizing the square footage and plans to add a small closet in the corner

Construction - Picture rail trim to match the existing stair hall

Under construction - New closet and full wall

Under construction - View towards main window of nursery - crown molding and trim to match existing details of house

Under construction - check out l'oro designs' sign in the window!

Stay tuned for the 'after' photos up soon...