The Master Builders Association of King and Snohomish Counties honored 19 of its members at its annual Remodeling Excellence Awards (REX) banquet held Saturday, June 20th at the Lynnwood Convention center in Snohomish County.

A judging panel, consisting of local and national remodelers, media experts, architects and interior designers received a total of 64 entries for 21 categories.  The submitted projects ranged from bathrooms less than $40,000 to whole-house, dream remodels more than $600,000.  A new category of universal design was added this year, recognizing the design of products and environments to be usable by all people, to the greatest extent possible, without the need for adaptation or specialized design.

Below is the project that won this prestigious Award for Major Remodel/Rebuild Less than $500,000.

AFTER


The owners of this little Cape Cod home (www.ctabuilds.com/notsobigattitude.html) in the older, more modest part of Medina, were in desperate need of more space, and space that was more functional! They loved the manageability of the smallish scale of their home; our goal was to create a design that would make the house more comfortable and supportive of their active lives, yet keep the house true to its’ small scale / live-simple lifestyle by conscious intention.

Our design subtly enlarged the front of the home with a new bedroom and entry addition with porch; this addition proposal posed the greatest challenge of the project.  The City of Medina has experienced a proliferation of very large homes replacing the original small 50’s and 60’s homes on these small lots.  Our client had no intention of “super-sizing” their house, yet ironically needed a variance to exceed the standard lot coverage by a very small percentage. We worked to present our case of a modest addition to a modest home, and were elated to be granted this tough variance!

The entry sequence features a mudroom /“drop-it-all-here!” room



and adjoining laundry room, shared with a relocated garage entry. The new entry foyer



and support spaces work hard to be utilitarian with natural slate floors and carefully considered cabinetry, yet feature cottage-style flair allowing for openness and continuity from the moment you enter the home.

Adjacent to the selectively remodeled Living Room, a new Dining area was created





via demolition of a former bedroom. The young daughter was delighted with her new bathroom.



and bedroom addition in the front of the house



– with its window seat looking onto a new front courtyard landscape. With these interior alterations, corridors and small dark spaces were entirely eliminated; and circulation enhanced through the addition of half-walls, traditionally detailed columns, coffers and art nooks. The final design although modest in scope, packed a huge punch through careful consideration of each move, fastidious attention to storage needs, high quality craftsmanship, and a restrained materials palette.

Although an addition was part of this work, the charming cottage feel of the home has only been improved upon!

BEFORE


The owners are very proud of their Not-So-Big attitude, and how they achieved such a transformation with their Not-So-Big budget!

Please view the official press release by clicking here.