When Sarah and Alain Charlier decided to renovate their dated kitchen and dining room, it didn’t take long for the project to extend to the living room…and then the hallway…and then the first-floor bedrooms.
“I’ve always wanted flooring that flowed throughout the house, and when we decided to do that, I thought, ‘Okay, well then we have to do the molding too,’” Sarah says. “And then, well, we can’t not carry it on into the bedrooms if it’s everywhere else.”
Rather than do the project in bits and pieces over a long period of time, the Charliers decided to take care of the whole thing at once—transforming their entire first floor from top (goodbye, popcorn ceilings!) to bottom (hello, luxury vinyl). The result is a serene, welcoming living space with clean lines and harmonious details carrying through each room.
Joy-sparking details
Sarah worked with a burgeoning local interior designer, Andrea Salisbury, who helped her hone in on how she wanted her new space to feel.
“She kept coming back to airy and bright, classic and timeless,” Andrea says.
Andrea helped guide the thoughtful design decisions, coordinating with the team of local experts the Charliers trusted with their renovation: House Crafters, Modern Kitchens of Buffalo and Flooring Solutions of WNY.
She selected a color palette that would age well and flow throughout, and picked out unique details that would make the new design feel like personalized rather than cookie-cutter. New interior doors, oversize trim and, of course, all new flooring created a refreshed blank slate that Sarah built upon with interior accents, like pops of gold. Distinctive light fixtures over the kitchen island and dining room table ground the functional spaces with personality.
A kitchen made for gathering
The showpiece of the first-floor revamp is undoubtedly the kitchen. The “after” is such a statement that it’s hard to picture the “before:” half the size and with one wall of counter space, shut off from the dining room by a partial wall and cluttered by brick fireplace. Now, the two rooms are contiguous, resulting in a bright, open 22-by-12-foot space.
The daughter of a chef, Sarah loves to cook, and her new kitchen is set up for someone who savors the space. There’s ample storage, and the drawers and cabinets are laid out intuitively, with everything she needs at her fingertips, exactly where she needs it.
Her father recently passed away, and she tears up thinking of how much he would appreciate her new space to cook and create for her family.
“This was always such a dream for me,” she says. “I would have loved for him to see this.”
Another functional feature Sarah coveted, but wasn’t sure would work, was a kitchen island. After opening the space up, the last thing she wanted to do was create a cramped feeling that left people shuffling to squeeze by. However, House Crafters recommended one based on her love of entertaining and to add even more counter space; the mockups reassured her it would work with their layout.
She trusted the expert guidance and is so glad she did—it’s a welcoming, beautiful workhorse of a space. But Sarah treasures one function above all else.
“My favorite thing about it is one I didn’t expect at all—my boys, 6 and 13, they come in and just sit with me as I cook,” Sarah says. “They ask about what I’m doing, and we talk about our days. I’ll be making dinner, and my 13-year-old will ask me, ‘Hey, how do you do that?’ That’s something I remember doing with my dad, and it’s just so special.
“Having this space to be as a family has brought so much love,” she says. “It’s a beautiful thing.”