Master Suite Remodel

American Fork, UT
Fall 2008

This remodel definitely makes my list of favorites. As you can see from the existing drawing, there was a doorway from the master bedroom into a bathroom which was the only bath on the main floor and was shared by all family members and guests.

When the home owner originally contacted us, she wanted to add a master bath onto the back of her house, and she had already paid to have plans for the project drawn up. But as we began to put a budget together for the addition we realized that the home-owner would have to make some major sacrifices in the quality of the finish materials in order to stay within her budget. As we discussed this dilemma we could tell that she had some very specific desires for her new master bath, and that she wasn't excited about vinyl flooring instead of tile, and Formica instead of marble counter tops, so we began exploring other options.

The most obvious possibility was to convert the adjoining bedroom into a bathroom, and a upon putting together a new budget, we realized that this would allow us to accomplish all her goals.

Moving forward with this new objective, the homeowner went back to her architect to have the new plans drawn up, but only received a poorly planed bathroom that lacked creative design. I could tell that she was not excited about the new plan, but was feeling that this was her only option if she was ever going to get her own bathroom.

Without telling her, I went back to my office and drew up a new plan for her bathroom. I utilized the location of the existing arched window, and was able to place the shower, toilet and tub in locations that were appealing, and that would minimize construction costs. The result was the plan you see above, and the excitement came back into the home owner's eyes.

Using some pictures and ideas from magazines the homeowner and I designed the cabinets, vanity and make-up desk.

We added a pull-out laundry basket below the linen cupboard...

and, built in this cubbie for hair dryer and curling irons, complete with the power outlet inside. As a safety feature we put a timer on the power outlet, so that she never has to wonder if she turned off the curling iron.

The homeowner wanted to have a tile wains coat around the bath with a hand-made glass border running through it. This took some coordination with the marble company who built the shower, because we ran the border through the shower as well.

The jetted tub has a marble deck that matches the counter tops, with a custom wood surround which includes a removable panel to access the tub motor.

The marble company we used had never made a counter top with a bump-out on it, but they did an excellent job.

The master bedroom turned out very well, but the day I photographed, the home-owner asked that I not take pictures of it because she wasn't done decorating.
As you can see on the plan, this is a built-in book case next to the entrance to the bathroom. Since there wasn't a good way to add a walk-in closet without making the bedroom very small , we used a whole wall for a closet and put three french doors across the front allowing the homeowner to open up the entire closet. Inside we installed an organizing system which included enough drawers and cubbies that she didn't have to have a dresser in her room (sorry about not having a photo).

As we drew near to completion we realized that we would be coming in under budget. Upon hearing this the home owner scraped together some additional money, and we added oak hardwood floors in the living room.
The fireplace that you can see on the back wall was built in the 70's and as part of the modern design of the era, the rock went from the right edge you can see in the photo, and ran along the wall all the way to the left corner of the room. This left the room feeling lop-sided and dated. As I was preparing the room for the floor installation, I realized that I could probably remove the rock and have a mason fix it for not much money. At this suggestion the homeowner was very excited, and it helped in updating the room.

In a thank you note from the home owner she wrote the following:

"We can't thank you enough for the outstanding work you have done on our home. Having heard many scary stories about contractors, we feel so blessed that ours was one that we can say nothing but good about! Thank you for being honest, ethical, knowledgeable, and patient, and for being so great to work with. It meant a lot to have someone who we could trust in our home. We especially appreciate your great attention to detail and the fact that you treated our home as if it were your own... We are all thrilled with our remodeled home!...thank you again for everything."