For designers, working with family can go one of two ways: It can either bring you closer together, or exacerbate existing tensions. Luckily, for Portland, Oregon–based Jason Stamp and Lara White, partners at Workaday Design, a renovation project for Jason’s brother Taylor and his wife, Averi, had the former effect. “There were definitely challenges,” says Stamp of the process, which involved renovating a home for the couple and their two kids in Colorado Springs. “But we are not only family, we are also great friends. It made it easier to be frank and have those harder conversations.”

Taylor and Averi had been planning to move out of their 1925 craftsman for a long time. “We had talked with them over the years about renovating a new place, and when they finally found the right house, they asked us to help them overhaul it,” says Stamp about the low-slung, 1960s rambler that Taylor and Averi ultimately landed on. So began the family’s journey to transform the dark, compartmentalized residence into an open and daylit dream home.

Before: Exterior

One of the couple’s main goals for the renovation was to capture views of nearby Pike’s Peak, the most prominent mountain on the horizon. “Taylor and Averi had been obsessing over getting this view for as long as they’ve lived together in Colorado Springs,” recalls White. “When they bought this new house, there were no views, so opening it up became a major focal point of the renovation.”

After: Exterior

By far, the biggest move in the renovation was lifting up the roof and creating a new gable over the entrance. The designers introduced exposed glulam beams that run through the interior to support the new roofline. “We redid the whole roof structure in the center of the house,” says Stamp. “Leaving the beams exposed on the inside brought in the warmth and texture of the wood.”

The new roofline also helped Taylor and Averi achieve their goal of bringing in more natural light and freeing up the plan. “We also wanted to create an open, free-flowing layout that embraced an indoor/outdoor feel,” explains Averi.

Before: Entrance

After: Entrance

The interior was in good shape, but the finishes were dated, and the compartmentalized floor plan made the house feel smaller than it was, especially in the living areas. “The space was very chopped up,” says Stamp. “In general, the bedroom layouts were good so we didn’t touch those, but the kitchen was separate from the living and dining room.”

Before: Kitchen and Dining Room

After: Kitchen

Averi and Taylor knew they wanted a large, open-plan common space where the kitchen, dining, and living areas flowed together. “They wanted a space where everyone could come and hang out,” says White. “Both sets of their parents live in town, as well as Jason and Taylor’s older brother and his family, so there was a big goal to have a spot where everyone could gather together inside.”

Removing interior walls and raising the roofline allowed the designers to achieve an open plan while building Taylor and Averi’s dream kitchen. Besides rearranging the layout and introducing all-new fixtures, Stamp and White added an “appliance garage” to store all of their kitchen devices. “It’s something we do on lots of our projects,” explains White. “It’s a way to get everything off the counters, and it makes for a much more seamless work environment.”

Before: Living Room

After: Living Room

One pain point in the couple’s previous residence was the entrance, which opened directly to the kitchen with no space to drop coats and shoes. To avoid that pitfall, the designers created a mud/laundry room off the garage and relocated an existing powder room to a new addition that also contains a bedroom and family room. “The family room is where the kids can get rowdy in their own space, but we can still keep an eye on them from the comfort of the kitchen and living room,” says Averi.

Before: Bathrooms

After: Bathrooms

On the opposite end of the house is a wing with the primary suite, a guest room, and two kids’ rooms. Avery and Taylor were happy with the layout of the rooms, but they wanted to update the bathrooms—for the primary suite, the designers selected marble finishes for an elevated feel, and in the kids’ bathroom they opted for more playful finishes. “We embraced the idea of some rooms having their own personality, like the playful kids bathroom and tranquil primary bathroom,” explains Taylor.

While Taylor and Averi couldn’t get their dream bathtub in their primary bath due to the constrained footprint, the designers were able to build out the guest bathroom with a spa-like feel. “We wanted to make it a special room that’s a little more moody and dark, with a retreat feel,” explains Stamp. It’s a place where you can light a candle, take a bath, and escape.”

Now, the family is enjoying the house just as they intended, with friends and family gathering and spending time together inside and out. “We can easily interact as a family and enjoy beautiful views and the bright Colorado sunshine,” says Taylor. Averi agrees. “It’s an especially pleasant surprise that being in the house feels like we are on a very nice, permanent vacation.”

For Stamp and White, the family collaboration made for an exciting design challenge. “Averi likes things a little more traditional and glam, while Taylor is a little more midcentury modern,” explains White. “We were always looking for ways to bring in some softness and make things not so severely modern. It was about finding a way to meet in the middle.”

More Before & After stories:

A Design Duo Give Themselves Free Rein to Experiment With Their Portland Bungalow

A Once-Dingy Colonial House Is Now One Family’s Bright, Bold Forever Home

A Falling-Down Farmhouse Gets a Second Chance, Against All Odds

Project Credits:

Design: Workaday Design / @workadaydesign

Structural Engineer: RMG Engineers

Cabinetry Design: Jason Stamp of Workaday Design