A Seattle Remodel Channels Palm Springs

You often hear about a house being really well constructed, and that was definitely the case with this remodeled 1908 Craftsman. However, “well constructed” and “nicely laid out” are two completely different things. “The entire way it had been set up prevented you from getting any link to the view over Ballard, a really adorable neighborhood in Seattle,” says designer and architect Charlene Wilson, of Portal Design, “or any link whatsoever to the backyard.”

Wilson states that Lots of the inspiration for the house came from the lifestyle in Palm Springs, California. The homeowners have a holiday house there, and Wilson spent some time with them in the desert and went to occasions during the city’s yearly Modernism Week.

One of the things that they enjoy about Palm Springs is the capacity to live inside and outside, not something you can do in Seattle. “The sense of being able to stream from inside to outside was one of the chief drivers in renovating this house,” states Wilson.

at a Glance
Who lives here: 2 engineers
Location: Seattle
Size: 2,100 square feet on two floors, and a 180-square-foot attic; 3 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths
That is interesting: The Ballard neighborhood of Seattle was full of tiny homes, because the region is very sloped and the lots are rather narrow.

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The house includes a reverse floor plan, with the bedrooms and baths on the first floor and an open kitchen, living room and dining space, and a half bath, on the second degree.

For your second floor, Wilson purposefully remained with fundamental finishes that could be timeless — walnut flooring, white kitchen cabinets along with a marble kitchen island. “But we also wanted to introduce some whimsy to the plan,” she says. “We implemented wallpaper over the credenza from the sofa, but to a small area so that it is easily changed later on.”

The aquamarine-blue touches reminded Wilson and her clients of Palm Springs. “It had been one of those things we saw on a lot of house tours, and it just stuck,” says Wilson, “combined with the usage of timber on ceilings.”

Gray couch: EQ3; round glass table: classic, Eileen Gray; cushions: Waverly Small Talk Accent; carpeting: Andalusia, West Elm; dining table: handmade by Amish furniture makers in Ontario, Canada; Shell Chairs: Eames; yellow seats: classic, Area 51; white couch: classic; acrylic tables: Gus Timber; hanging light fixture: black Tom Dixon Beat Light Broad; credenza: custom design by Charlene Wilson, fabricated by 7 Hills Design; background: Flavor Paper Scrubs on Gold Pony Skin Foil; wall sconces over credenza, (on background): SuperOrdinate Antler Sconce, Design Within Reach

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The look of the front elevation was influenced by the website’s sloping nature. “We created a pop-out over the garage that’s clad in metal and balances that facet of the house,” states Wilson. She also added quite a few new windows to allow as much light as you possibly can.

The green part of the facade is Hardie board panels, and the gray is Hardie board siding. The existing porch has been torn down and replaced with one with a ceiling made of cedar car decking — a component that’s also used inside the house on some of the ceiling on the second floor — along with a stainless steel door.

“Since the lot is so intense,” Wilson says, “we had to create quite a few transitions to get from the driveway upward, from the sidewalk up, and have that link to have the ability to go across the side of the house to the backyard.”

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The stairs are in the same place as they were in the first house, but inside their previous incarnation they have been completely submerged. “What we decided to do in an effort to not completely demolish the house, and do too many structural alterations, was to utilize a steel frame after the walls have been eliminated,” states Wilson. “By doing that we were able to keep the members much smaller.”

She adds, “We also really liked the modern aesthetic of the painted steel with timber offsets.” The stair treads are parallel strand lumber, and the railing, using stainless steel wires, was custom made by Portal Design and fabricated by its own builder.

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The kitchen island is topped with marble and clad in gray lacquer over medium-density fiberboard (MDF). The timber toe kick is walnut, to match the ground. The art is from Shag from Palm Springs.

Bar stools: CB2; pendants: Tech Lighting Pele Pendants; refrigerator: Architect Series, KitchenAid

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The walnut wrap around the left side of the refrigerator frames from the white cabinets. “The idea was to create a furniture type of appearance, where there’s a border of walnut revealing, and offsetting that with the white lacquer,” states Wilson.

The little cupboard over the sink is tied to the cupboard to its left and then jumps up to create an enclosure to the stove hood. “The exhaust tube that comes out of the stove hood is unsightly, but on account of the roof slope we weren’t able to highlight it how you normally would using a stainless steel hood,” states Wilson.

She adds, “So that box was produced to hide the hood, along with the squarish cupboard to the right is its counterbalance. It was just one of those things born of necessity.” The stairs to the right lead up to the attic office.

Range: 30-inch gas, Wolf; countertops: Caesarstone

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The plan of the master bedroom again reflects Wilson’s effort to keep things that were going to be permanent as impartial as possible. “There’s a lot of light in the house, and about the headboard wall we wanted a great neutral to dark color,” states Wilson. “We decided that hot gray partly because it’s a simple color to decorate with as a backdrop. You can throw anything against it, and it’s going to look fantastic.”

Since the master bathroom is buried a bit in the center of the house, Wilson used a frosted glass panel from the shower allowing more daylight to creep into the bathroom.

Bed: Min Bed with Plexi Headboard, Design Within Reach; linens: Ironwork, West Elm; lamp, table at left: classic; lamp on shelf: Tube Top, Design Within Reach; art: Creamsicles print, Crate & Barrel; wall paint: Chelsea Gray HC-168, Benjamin Moore

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For the primary toilet, Wilson decided to possess the backsplash go from the top of the counter to the ceiling to accent the alcove. This also plays to the verticality of the mirror, which includes inside lights on either side.

The blue part of the vanity is lacquered MDF, although the timber elements here and about the bathtub surround are walnut.

Backsplash: Seattle Tile Company; countertop: Caesarstone; sink: Vero, Duravit; faucet: Metris, Hansgrohe; bathtub: Paiova, Duravit; rain showerhead: Arzo, Delta; floors: Fiel Obsidian Black (12 by 24), Seattle Tile Company

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A deck opens off the main living area and cantilevers over a little addition Wilson added to enlarge the master bedroom. The awning is frosted acrylic and was custom made.

Outdoor fireplace: Modfire

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