Cooperstown

From closed off to comfortable, the stairwell is now a special moment in the home. "It's easy to forget but you do spend a lot of time going up and down [stairs] and it should be a pleasant experience," says the architect.

Sitting jauntily on its block, this renovated residence in Seattle’s Mount Baker neighborhood retained the original home’s footprint. The architect (and daughter of the homeowner) opened up the living spaces inside and overhauled the exterior and landscaping to give it a more contemporary presence. Cambium Landscape created the outdoor spaces which perfectly balance hardscape with greenery.

Alicia Freska paid to redo the space with fresh cabinetry, appliances, and flooring, while her landlord shored up the structure.

When space is at a minimum, well-designed furniture with a tiny footprint is key.

The kitchen features a graphite-colored resin countertop and millwork painted with Turbulent Sea by Dunn-Edwards. Vegan leather counter stools sit on new cork flooring.

Hess combined a John Boos butcher-block table with a piece carved by local wood sculptor Vince Skelly to create a sculptural kitchen island. "As soon as [Skelly] brought that in there, [Charlie and Todd's] little daughter hopped up on it and owned it. So, that's where she hangs out in the kitchen," says Hess.

The design team specified durable, easy-to-maintain, nontoxic, recyclable, natural, and regenerative materials. The kitchen island is engineered quartz and the cabinets are from a local cabinetmaker.

Studio Becker Xu streamlined the kitchen by building all of the appliances into the millwork. The budget-friendly countertops are a Formica solid surface.

Homeowners Heather Thompson, a literary specialist in Lake Oswego School District, and Sam Gaty, executive director at a nonprofit that supports documentary filmmakers, loved almost everything about their spacious, light-filled 1965 ranch house in Portland, Oregon’s West Haven neighborhood. But the one pain point was the kitchen, a cramped, dark space with a bad layout.

Sugarhouse reworked the living room storage and reoriented the room to better occupy the available space. An Ellison Studio sofa, recovered in Dedar Patchwork Fabric, fits the whole family for movie nights. The coffee table is from Etsy and the rug is Nordic Knots. The overhead light is a vintage Poul Henningsen via 1st Dibs.

The kitchen cabinets are painted Narragansett Green by Benjamin Moore, with a backsplash of Mineral Tiles. The stools are from Norm Architects by Audo, and the island lights by Original BTC.

The extendable dining table is custom designed by Sugarhouse and fabricated by Elwood Design Co. The chairs are vintage Egon Eiermann purchased from Morentz Gallery, and the over table lights are Bert Frank.

The double-height wall of windows in the living room looks out on the property and was a big draw on their first walk-through.

The House for Booklovers and Cats by BFDO Architects