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As a homeowner in 2021, how could you benefit from more space? 

After the last year and a half, Boston homeowners have come to know their domestic spaces in ways never previously imagined.  Entirely new vistas of familiarity have been achieved…and nearly all homeowners crave more home space—both inside and out.

Children have attended school via Zoom, performed art class in the kitchen, exercised in the yard and sprinted through the home.  Home offices became a thing—and then became even more of a thing, evolving further into separate home offices for each adult in the house so work could be done and professions pursued.

Familial sanity and happiness in these times hold tremendous value—and in many cases home design and allocation of space greatly factor into this.

Many Boston homeowners are now seeking new and larger homes in which to design their ideal living space.  Still others are approaching their existing homes with a full design overhaul envisioned.

A primary common theme is:  as a homeowner—how do I create more space?

This is our advice based on nearly 20 years of experience in the Greater Boston Area designing and remodeling high-end and sustainable homes.

Three ways to create more space with proper home design in 2021

1. Home Additions

This is the simplest answer.  In these times many homeowners are pivoting to a home addition to add space for new home offices, create ample play space for children, introduce additional master suites and bedrooms for multi-generational living or all of the above.

As an example–in this project we completed a two-story addition for this Somerville-based family, including four bedrooms, two bathrooms, a master suite, and a few other meaningful improvements like pull-out under-stair storage, and a wrap-around bench in the entryway! This stunning remodel not only increased the square footage and livable space within the home, but it also increased the property value overall.

Browse this project:

www.nedesignbuild.com/portfolio/somerville-addition/

2. Attic and Basement Redesign/Remodels:

Attics and basements are home spaces that are often not well utilized except to accumulate home storage.  We have helped families design and remodel unfinished attic and basement spaces into beautifully finished, heated and air-conditioned living spaces that are equally aesthetic, practical and uplift the entire home.

Case in point, this stunning Boston basement remodel incorporates living space, storage, an exercise area, and children’s play area. The rear entry to the home is re-imagined with a beautiful staircase and mud-room area to transition between the main living floor and basement area.

Browse this project:

www.nedesignbuild.com/portfolio/basement-remodel/

3. Open Floor Plans:

Older New England homes tend to have an exceptionally segmented layout which can be part of their charm but also is not an ideal use of space.  We’ve worked with homeowners to redesign and open existing aspects of their homes to create additional space with beautiful natural light, aesthetics, and practical flow lines.

This is a beautiful project in Brookline in which we opened up the entire first floor of the family home to an open floor plan.  This project took four distinctly separate spaces and created an open, flowing, light-filled, and modern first floor layout for this growing family. A separate hallway, entry, living room, dining room, kitchen, and 3-season porch were all completely reconfigured, fully updated, and beautifully redesigned to incorporate seamless transitions between these individual spaces. A full bath was also incorporated into this project on the first floor with striking geometric tile and clean lines.

Browse this project:

www.nedesignbuild.com/portfolio/brookline-first-floor-remodel/

As a further example, this Jamaica Plain couple purchased an outdated townhouse that was claustrophobic and dark. NEDC transformed the space by opening up the interior space and its flowlines, refinishing and updating the space, and gutting the kitchen. Beautiful original brick was brought back to its natural exposed condition, and the solarium footprint opened up to bring light into the living and kitchen areas.  The result—a warm, uplifting, and naturally open space the family can enjoy.

Browse this project:

www.nedesignbuild.com/portfolio/jp-kitchen-solarium-remodel/

Boston Architectural Design + Master Builders:

Our Architectural Design-Build process places emphasis on intelligent sustainable design, carefully-planned construction, and a transparent cost communication system with our clients.

While every project we complete is entirely unique, sharing typical project costs with our clients as a guide is key in helping them to identify the best project for their home and lifestyle. Cost, as it relates to value, is pivotal in the client decision-making process and thus we seek to assist in this from the very beginning. Sustainability is a key value of ours and we seek to design and advise towards this end. Our projects typically involve sustainable design and the remodeling of multiple rooms and/or additions.

Our clients’ homes and tastes are generally on the high-end and luxury range of the market. We are best set up to deliver projects that include multiple rooms, are trade-specialist intensive, and where highly detailed design with thorough planning is of paramount importance. While this report is far from an exhaustive list of the types of projects that we can deliver, it does represent some of the most common projects that we complete. It is shared here as a general guide and rule of thumb based on our nearly two decades of experience designing and crafting high-end and luxury sustainable family homes in Boston.

Download our free design inspiration and costing guide here!

www.nedesignbuild.com/boston-remodeling-cost-guide/

Feel free to reach out with your thoughts, questions and creative visions.  We’d love to help!

Love,

David Supple

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Meghan Block
Meghan was born and raised on the South Shore and attended college in Boston. After college, she married her high school sweetheart and followed him to Charleston, SC, and Groton, CT, where he served as a submarine officer in the United States Navy. Military life was an adventure, and after six crazy years of service (and two babies later!), the pair decided to move *home* to the South Shore in 2016 and put down some roots. Meghan is the proud owner of Boston Moms and work-at-home mom to William, Benjamin, and Caroline, born in 2013, 2015 and 2019. She loves meeting new people, encouraging moms, celebrating motherhood, and supporting small businesses.