Julie and Joe recently moved into their new family home in the Salmon Creek neighborhood of Vancouver, WA but found that they wanted a little more flexibility out of the 1976 five-bedroom and three-bath home.

“The very key thing was functionality,” said Julie. “There was one small closet in the master and the very small laundry room was in between the living room and the kitchen. I wanted to knock the washer and dryer space out and turn it into a butler’s pantry and put the washer and dryer upstairs.”

Salmon Creek Renovation Cover Photo

Kitchen Before

The kitchen needed a face lift to change its facade from the 1970s.

Kitchen After

We ended up with a classic look with black-and-white floors and subway tiles for the backsplash.

Kitchen After 2

Command Center

This space used to be a closet and an area that contained the hot water heater.

Command Center 2

Living Room Before

Living Room After

Living Room After 2

Office Before

Office After

Entry After

Bedroom After

So they brought in our Fazzolari Renovations team to spruce up the kitchen and remodel that washer-dryer space so it could be more of a “command center” for Julie.

In order to maximize the space we opened up the old laundry room by relocating to the upstairs both the washer and dryer AND the hot water heater that was installed behind them in the old “closet” to the hallway closet upstairs by the bedrooms.  We then added built-in cabinets, a small sink, ice maker, and a desk area to transform the room to a prep and pantry area for the kitchen and a space where Julie could set up her computer and work.

Our team also gave the old kitchen a face lift by painting the existing cabinets (yep – those are the same cabinets as in the before photos), updating the hardware, installing black-and-white floors, new countertops and subway tile. Then throughout the downstairs of the home we added some built-ins and, for aesthetics, custom moldings in the entryway.

“We wanted to bring the home out of the ‘70s,” said Julie. “But the idea was not to put it into 2009-2010. We’ve probably pushed it back to the ‘20s now.”

With only a couple of days before Julie and Joe wanted to move in, they decided to change some paint colors, add six recessed light fixtures in the kitchen and move some heating vents in the kids bedrooms.  Our team was able to get these last-minute changes done hours before Julie and Joe moved into the home.

That’s one of the values to using a general contractor. When we have to, we can leverage a relationship with our subs to make some of these things happen at the last minute.