There’s drafty, and then there’s relocating the living room couch because no one can sit by the window in the fall and winter. That’s exactly what Eric and Kristin Courtemanche did in their 1990 home in Seattle’s Denny Blaine neighborhood, where they live with their three children. “We had to move away from all that glass because it was so cold,” recalls Eric. The couple bought the house off-market in 2015 because they loved the neighborhood, but as the years passed they discovered many of its problems.

The windows were at the end of their life. There was water intrusion. “There was not just moss, but full-on vegetation growing out of the exterior siding,” says Kristin. The deck was sagging, and the lower level was so damp that it could only be used for storage, which was a waste of space. Plus, this being a ’90s build, “There was a lot of glass brick,” says Eric. “Signature nineties, but also, not doing anything to keep the envelope insulated.”

Before: Front Exterior

After: Front Exterior

The couple, who call themselves “original fans” of Dwell—“We remember the ‘Fruit Bowl Manifesto,’” says Kristin—had seen the work of local firm SHED Architecture & Design, and reached out to them about a remodel and an energy efficiency tune-up. Their question throughout the process was, “‘How can we be green?’” says Eric. The answer involved a whole-house deep energy retrofit, says SHED project architect Robert Arlt.

“That was one of their goals from the very beginning,” adds design principal Thomas Schaer. “A lot of people allow that to slip away as they identify their dream tile, or when the budget numbers come in, but they did not falter. They were very targeted in their approach to get the biggest bang for the buck.”

Before: Entry

After: Entry

Using WUFI, a modeling software for Passive House construction, the firm presented the couple with a plan, wherein the owners were able to see the effects of their choices—from the appliances, to the windows and exterior insulation. “That allowed us to test a few different options and then compare with the budget,” says Arlt.

In the end, Eric and Kristin opted to incorporate several strategies to reduce their energy demand, although they didn’t go for full Passive House certification in order to stay within budget. They converted the house to all-electric and energy-efficient appliances, added continuous exterior insulation with rainscreen cladding for reduced thermal bridging, and set up a whole-house ventilation and air filtration system. Lastly, they chose to install a photovoltaic array, rather than upgrading to triple-pane windows, as the solar panels are slated to offset 87% of their energy use.

The design team compares the new layers of exterior insulation to a winter coat, or a blanket enclosing the house. “When you put that blanket around everything, it’s a really meaningful difference,” says Schaer.

Before: Living Room

After: Living Room

Before: Fireplace

After: Fireplace

The team also made some updates to bring the house out of the ’90s. “In general, we want to do as little as possible to get a good result when we’re remodeling a house,” says Schaer. To that end, they emphasized the home’s strengths, like the entry bridge and the curved wall of a powder bathroom just across from the front door, and they removed clutter, like the choppy, mismatched square windows, and the interior walls that hampered the floor plan.

They started by salvaging space from a den/office to enlarge the kitchen, since Eric and Kristin are big bakers and entertainers. Then SHED took down walls to open the kitchen to the rest of the plan, leaving only a structural post, and added a large sliding glass door to connect the living room to a rebuilt deck. Now, the two doors lead outside, creating an easy, circular flow between the deck (which is the couple’s only flat outdoor space) and the main living spaces.

Before: Dining Room

After: Dining Room

Before: Kitchen

After: Kitchen

Built-in Ash casework, like the half-wall that bridges the living and dining room, the mudroom area in the basement, and an upstairs reading nook, pulls the house together across its three floors. It also fulfills the clients' brief for a "Nordic palette," which Eric describes as "blonde wood, grey concrete, and black as an accent."

Before: Primary Suite

After: Primary Suite

These days, it’s easy to keep every room of the house at a balmy 68 degrees. “It’s boring, but I think the temperature management makes such a huge difference,” says Kristin. “We spent so much of our energy previously trying to manipulate things so that we were comfortable, whether it was taking clothes on and off, or trying to put heavy drapery over the single-pane windows.”

Even so, their current favorite spot isn’t even inside: It’s the deck, where family members tends to gather, or just sit solo with a book. When Kristin’s family calls, they ask, “‘What’d you do this weekend? Did you get any deck time in?’” she says. “That whole area, from the kitchen and dining room, extending out to the deck, is the family hub now.”

Before: Primary Suite

After: Primary Suite

After: Hall Reading Nook

After: Basement

Before: Rear Exterior

After: Rear Exterior

More Before & After stories:

It Took $1.6M and Less Than a Year to Reboot This ’70s Ojai Ranch House

$24K and a Ton of Broken Tile Refresh a Flat in an Oscar Niemeyer Landmark

It Started as a Remodel. Now Their Rebuilt Home “Feels Like a Terrarium”

Project Credits:

Architect: SHED Architecture & Design / @shedarchitecture

Builder: Thomas Jacobson Construction

Structural Engineer: Swenson Say Fagét

Cabinetry Design/Installation: Custom Craft, LLC

Solar: Solterra Solar

Energy Modeling: Atvaga Building Modeling

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