April and Tom Maher have for the last five years been considering their options for upgrading and expanding the living space of their blond brick bungalow in Park Ridge. In the meantime, they built a 2 1/2-car garage, which also serves as a workshop for Tom, poured a new concrete driveway and porch and fixed some problems with their sewer.
Still, except for Tom beginning a wall of built-in bookcases in what was formerly the master bedroom, they’ve done very little inside the house. To help them conceptualize their ideas, they decided it was time to consult a professional.
We brought in the Chicago architectural team of Stuart Cohen and Julie Hacker to help provide some structure to the Mahers’ needs.
The Mahers started off right, as April put it, by buying “the worst house in the best neighborhood . . . It was a handyman special.”
Following a trend
The older, tree-lined street just east of a forest preserve along the Des Plaines River is seeing its share of renovations, add-ons and teardowns, so they’re comfortable investing some money on their house, she says.
In the current layout, the living room and dining room flank the front entry, and a center hall leads back through the kitchen, past the Mahers’ son’s bedroom, a bathroom and into the master bedroom and guest room.
Problems arise in the kitchen, where the refrigerator is too big for its nook and the oven range is not adjacent to a countertop.
After noticing a side pantry along the hall wall, which abuts a closet in the living room, Cohen suggested taking over space from both closets to create a new alcove for a refrigerator and a double wall oven.
“For a small kitchen, the counter space is actually decent,” he said. “The real problem is where the appliances are relative to one another.”
But, added Hacker, to get a vastly improved space with enough room for a true eating area, the Mahers might want to consider building out the south wall and to create more space around the back door, through which visitors could enter the kitchen or descend the stairs to the full basement below.
The architects advised the Mahers to make sure they have an up-to-date plat of survey, with which to check local zoning ordinances regarding setback and floor-to-area requirements. Space is somewhat limited on the small lot.
Heading back down the hall, the Mahers pointed out that they have moved into the smaller bedroom in order to create an office/guest room/TV room in the master bedroom. Tom has begun installing bookcases he’s designed along one of the walls.
Hacker and Cohen pointed out that the Mahers may want to reconfigure the placement of the built-ins to coordinate them with desks and, thereby, avoid taking up the longest wall in the room on which to place furniture, such as a possible sofa-bed.
In addition, Cohen added, they could build storage and the TV into the closet, perhaps retaining a small part of the space as a closet. An important goal is to keep the entry from becoming an awkward space, squeezed between a closet and bookcases.
Looking up
“Maybe what we’re talking about is needing another room,” April interjected.
Would they be interested in going up, adding maybe a new master suite on a second floor? Yes, the Mahers agreed. “Most people who have houses like us . . . are going up,” April noted.
Finally, the Mahers led the architects to their basement.
“One of the reasons we bought the house was because of the downstairs,” April said. “The ceilings are high.”
“It’s always a lot easier to utilize the space that you already have than to add additional space,” Cohen said. “You could build this out for a fraction of what it would cost to add the comparable space going up.”
Cohen noted the lighting is good with the four well windows in the rear. They could maximize additional light available through the back door by installing a glass door and opening up the side wall into the kitchen addition. This change would also serve to integrate a basement rec room into the house. Cohen suggested the Mahers finish half the space and close off the front half on the other side of the stairway for storage.
The new basement would have a new finished stairway as well as an additional bathroom, placed directly underneath the main floor bath.
The lower level
The Mahers noted that they had often discussed taking advantage of the downstairs space but had been concerned about feeling underground. Opening the entry and creating a view into the kitchen obviated that fear.
“Everybody really does want a finished basement,” Hacker added. “So that is just a big plus.”
Then, they could redesign the upstairs bookcases and install them downstairs instead.
The other project the Mahers had on their plate, rebuilding the roof over the front porch, could be worked into a new wrap-around porch to fit in with the build-out for the bigger kitchen, Hacker suggested.
All this work could be done for about $50,000, Cohen estimated. And with Tom doing the drywall and bookcases himself, the Mahers agreed they will probably go ahead with the whole project.
