The new homeowners of this property saw the huge potential available in a space above the garage that was unfinished.
The space had minor electric and plywood floors, but with help from Great Northern Builders, the space transformed to a new art studio.
There are some technical things to keep in mind if you’re finishing a space above a garage, it is not as straight forward as other interior spaces.
The finished product is exactly what the homeowners wanted.
This kitchen resides within a beautiful early 1900s home, and this project was a really great blend of blending old with new.
The homeowners wanted to keep existing materials that could be modified in place rather than removed and replaced with new where it made sense.
We freshened up the chair rail, wainscoting, older window sashes and refinished the maple flooring.
In the new department, the kitchen has modern appliances, under cabinet lighting, new cabinets with modern features (such as soft close!), mini split for heating and cooling, and a completely different layout.
Many homes built during this time period include large windows which let in a lot of natural light.
They can also be inclusive of multiple doorways which lead to other areas of the home (including a ‘service staircase’).
In this particular 200 square foot kitchen, there were 4 windows and 6 doorway thresholds! All of these doors and windows can present a challenge when trying to conceptualize a new layout that will flow because there is not a lot of empty wall space for cabinetry.
The GNB design team was able to work with the homeowners to create a layout that is functional within the bounds of the existing wall space available. The GNB construction team was able to freshen older materials and install the new materials selected by the homeowners.
Great Northern Builders is excited to introduce our new Operations Coordinator Allison Perreault. Allison joined the GNB team in early 2023.
In Allison’s role as Operations Coordinator, she is essential in supporting all active projects, as well as those in design. Allison often accompanies clients on visits to showrooms to assist with product selections.
Allison loves her role as Operations Coordinator because it allows her to be involved in a variety of areas of the company – no two days are ever the same! From working directly with clients, to tracking project bills and budgets, to selecting office decor, she loves the different aspects of the company and projects she’s able to be a part of.
Allison is drawn to this industry as she has a deep appreciation for history and restoration, as well as loving to solve problems, so a design build company that does a large amount of renovation projects is a perfect fit. She loves blending the old with the new – keeping parts of history while also incorporating modern conveniences to solve a variety of problems.
Whether Allison is working or keeping up with her two boys, she is always on the go. Several nights a week you can find her reading to her younger son at a karate dojo while her older son does his classes, and other nights she’s home enjoying quality time with her family. On the weekends, she enjoys family days going to visit local friends or taking the kids to a playground.
This project takes place within a 2500 square foot split level style home that was built in 1989. The floor plan of this home has three distinct living levels. The first floor ‘play area’ is approximately 500 square feet, the three bedrooms reside on the third level with just over 500 square feet, which leaves just over 900 square feet for the main living area. The homeowners have a young family and recently purchased the home knowing that the kitchen would need an update.
The family loved the layout and unique levels of their new home, but the 900 square foot main living area was broken up by walls that boxed the 200 square foot kitchen in and compartmentalized the space away from the large and open living and dining areas. The walls of the kitchen created a barrier that made it difficult to keep the children in sight during meal creation, so the scope of work of this project included removing walls and building in structural supports to provide a fully open layout.
Aside from the structural work, the kitchen itself was in need of new cabinetry, countertops, appliances, and backsplash that are more suited to the new homeowners’ taste.
The fixture and finish selections transform the room into the type of contemporary space that many would put in the category of dream kitchen, but the project also created efficiency into the 900 square feet of space for this busy family. Originally the kitchen included a door to the deck with another set of sliding doors less than 4 feet away. Removing this superfluous door provided more real estate for counter space and cabinetry.
The homeowner selected a marble backsplash in “Calacatta Gold” which was installed in an eye-catching, and certainly of-the-moment, herringbone pattern. The original cabinets were replaced with maple shaker style cabinets from Aspect Cabinets and finished with black bronze pulls. The cabinets are finished with a modern two-toned look with the perimeter cabinets finished in white and the island cabinets finished in black. Polished quartz countertops in “Tenor” (which is a smoky gray color with white veining) finish the space.
The large centrally located island serves as the focal point for the newly wide open floor plan, but the space is tied together with consistent flooring, finishes, and paint colors. The hardwood floors in the original living space were sanded and refinished and new hardwood flooring to match was installed in the new kitchen. A new suite of stainless steel appliances were installed including a drawer style microwave in the island and a Thermador gas range with an accompanying hood vent. The black bronze cabinet hardware is matched in the kitchen faucet and overhead light fixtures. The exposed bulbs of the matte black overhead light fixtures have an industrial quality to them, but it’s the simple, clean, and streamlined quality that make them the perfect fit for this new space.
Great Northern Builders Project Developer Melanie Merz will be out of the office this Thursday May 25th.
Melanie will participate in the annual Women Build Day to help raise money, raise awareness, and BUILD, for the Habitat For Humanity of Greater Portland. The Women Build Day is a unique opportunity to spend a day, hands on, helping to build a Habitat home.
The project that Melanie will volunteer for is currently under construction and it is the future home of a single mom with 4 children.
The goal is to raise $25,000 to build affordable housing and fund affordable home repairs for low-income families in Greater Portland and they are nearly 70% of the way there!
To learn more or to contribute to the Women Build Day, visit the Habitat for Humanity page at this link.
Hello and Happy spring!
As I write this letter, we are three years out from the onset of the COVID 19 pandemic. Each day that passes is a day with more research into the causes and how to manage the virus, and in our specific industry – we continue to see positive trends.
High interest rates are affecting homebuyers, but demand for both new construction and remodeling remains strong in the US and for GNB. Lead times on products such as cabinets, windows and doors continue to trend down, making starting projects promptly easier.
Here at GNB, the Boghs’ recently completed a full gut and remodel of our family home. This video demonstrates how an interior jobsite can change over a one month period:
This 6 month process involved us moving out of the house and was a healthy reminder of the homeowner experience during the remodeling process. Items such as job site cleanliness, clear and updated project schedules, and quality workmanship, are at the center of what we do, and thus are integrated into our Core Values.
Our team took the time to develop our Core Values as a part of our 20th anniversary year, in 2022. Our Core Values Are:
Now happily settled into our totally re-designed and remodeled home, we are taking the opportunity to further hone our processes and systems to continue to improve the client experience.
This 200 square foot addition will serve as a beautiful and relaxing lounge for the primary suite.
These homeowners love to host their adult children and their families, but sometimes a house full of guests can get a little busy.
These homeowners knew a bump out addition from their primary suite would become a beautiful morning refuge when the house is full of guests.
Sitting on a full foundation, the addition off of the primary suite is a sitting lounge complete with gas fireplace with floor to ceiling stone surround and built in bookshelves.
It was important to the homeowner that the exterior façade of the new addition closely match the exterior of the existing home.
This peaceful new room includes an exterior door that leads to a private deck with their hot tub.
This quick bathroom update improved the functionality and longevity of the space.
The homeowners swapped out the tub/shower combo for a modern Swanstone shower with low threshold entry.
Because we brought the room down to the studs, we were able to add blocking behind the shower walls to ensure the new teak shower bench and grab bars are very securely installed and safe for use.
The bathroom fixtures and vanity were also updated as a part of this project. The original flooring was replaced by Armstrong Alterna in ‘Forest Fog’ which is a groutable waterproof vinyl tile.
We made efficient use of the corner space by installing custom storage shelving.
Homes provide us with a place of comfort, but what happens when our home isn’t quite the right fit for our unique circumstances any longer?
At 5pm at the South Berwick Public Library on Wednesday, February 8th homeowners can take a quiz to find out if they should invest or start fresh and then learn more about what to expect in each scenario.
If you’re feeling like your home isn’t quite the right fit anymore – what can you do? Should you invest…or start fresh?
People change, it is possible for our homes to change with us, but sometimes altering our existing home is just not feasible.
Oftentimes there are two scenarios that homeowners struggle with:
There are three common ways to invest in remodeling and renovating to reach a solution for each scenario.
If you feel that investing in a remodel project would help you fall back in love with your home, Len Bogh and Melanie Merz of Great Northern Builders will present information specific to each of these project types and discuss return on investment guidance.
If investing in a remodeling project is not feasible for your existing home and you’d rather start fresh, Tanya Cattabriga of The Birches Group at Keller Williams Coastal and Lakes & Mountains Realty will present the most up to date market information and share the best first steps to take if it’s time to list your home.
These returning customers had a few projects they needed help with to build more comfort into their living spaces.
The first area to address was the upstairs full bathroom. The existing shower was nooked into a corner alcove, but was really not using the available height space efficiently. Updating this alcove to extend the ceiling and install recessed lighting transformed the experience of using this shower from dark and slouchy, to bright and airy.
The second area to address was the outdoor living space, or the lack of it. The couple had a backyard patio created with granite remnants that were salvaged from the Boston Public Library. But the space between the patio and the entrance to the home needed something to connect them more cohesively.
Working with Len Bogh, the homeowners decided that a covered, screened-in, porch would make the perfect connection between the kitchen and the outdoor patio. The porch would also provide an extension of the kitchen and dining entertaining area. The porch includes mahogany decking, a metal roof to match the existing roof as well as a doggy door to allow easy access for the two dogs of the home.
