Before & After: Porch (looking in) at the KHS Harvard Shaker-house renovation/addition

This "Before & After" pairing illustrates the fundamental change we made that enabled most of the other improvements in this renovation/addition project. The existing arched opening in the "Before" image (at bottom) separated a lower-level screened porch from an upper-level screened porch. The patio doors in the "After" photo (at top) now infill the arched opening. We removed the wall with the door and the perpendicular wall with the window seen in the "Before" image.  These changes allowed us to capture the space beyond the arched opening for the interior to create an expanded semi-open dining/kitchen area. To make the interior expansion seamless, we raised the floor of the area that had been the upper-level porch, so it aligns with the main living level, and made sure there would be no soffits in the planes of the walls we removed. We also raised the floor of the lower-level porch to reduce the number of steps required to circulate from the newly expanded interior to the remaining screen porch. Stay tuned for more to come.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Before & After: Kitchen (and bathroom entry) at the KHS Shaker-house renovation/addition

This is more of a "Before, Demo & After". To orient you, the window on the right in the three horizontal images above is the same window in every shot. The door seen in the middle "demo" image used to lead from the stair landing back down into a full bath. We reconfigured that bathroom to be accessed instead from the new door you see in the "after" image at the top. We removed the stud wall that you can see to the left in the "demo" image to create a more open kitchen/dining area which made room for the island with a breakfast bar top and bar seating that you see in the vertical image to the left. New soapstone counters and Shaker-style cabinets in addition to a new color palette help refresh the look. More to come.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Before & After: Open Dining/Kitchen at the KHS Shaker-house renovation/addition

To create a more open and expansive dining and kitchen area that's better connected to the rear yard, we removed the walls shown to the left and straight ahead in the "Before" photo (bottom). New patio doors, straight ahead and to the right in the "After" photo, fill the arched openings that had led from the former upper-level screen porch to the lower-level screen porch and the exterior (respectively). Daylight from four formerly failing casement windows, to the right in the "Before" photo, is now captured through three new casement windows in the same overall opening, to the right in the "After" photo. A custom built-in banquette, and custom table (from Ares Iron) comfortably allow for more diners than the small table in the "Before" photo. Reclaimed chestnut flooring and a new color palette round out the improvements. More "Before & After" photo pairings to come.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

Before & After: Exterior at the KHS Harvard Shaker-house renovation/addition

It's always fun once a renovation/addition project is completed to begin to pair off "Before" and "After" images. Here's the first of a few Before & After compilations that I'll be posting to House Enthusiast. You might recall seeing a couple images from this project as it progressed here on the KHS Facebook Page and here on House Enthusiast.

The primary exterior change you'll notice is that the arched opening seen in the "Before" image (at the bottom) used to be infilled with screen panels and led from an upper-level screen porch. That same opening now contains a new patio door system and leads from interior space that we captured (at the main floor level) in order to expand the kitchen/dining area.

What had been the lower-level screen porch, under the rear shed roof, has had the floor lifted and the foundation reconstructed to support new porch posts that have been painted house color.

Also not obvious is that four malfunctioning casement windows seen in the "Before" photo to the left of the arched screen opening have been replaced with three new casement windows that fill the same overall opening.

The exterior interventions were meant to be subtle, while affording significant improvements on the interior, which you will begin to see in the next round of KHS Harvard Shaker-house renovation/addition Before & After photos. Stay tuned.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast

KHS "House Talk" column in Vineyard Gazette "The Vine", May 2017

Make the most of outdoor living in the spaces in between. Look for my new "House Talk" column about outdoor rooms in The Vine, a publication from the Vineyard Gazette Media Group, on newsstands now.

by Katie Hutchison for House Enthusiast