James & Mary’s Dayton, MN Kitchen & Bath Remodeling Project
One of the most invigorating aspects of working with our clients is taking the time to learn more about them and their ultimate vision for their home. It was a few years ago when Mary and her James first invited us to their Dayton, MN home. Like many homeowners, they had a wish list with several items on it, but felt most comfortable completing the project in phases. Over the years, we’d completed window replacements and installed new gutters. Being pleased with the work our team had completed, they decided it was time to take a hard look at the interior of their 1970’s home. While there were many features they loved, there were several they wanted to change in her kitchen and bathroom. Most notably, were upgrades to give the home a more modern feel. High on the couple’s list was better lighting, opening up the space between the kitchen and dining room, and the creation of a more contemporary atmosphere.
Kitchen Challenges: Working on the kitchen excited us because there was so much potential to address the areas of concern. One of Mary’s biggest frustrations was how isolated the room felt from the rest of the home. Her hope was that we could find a better cabinet configuration that would allow her kitchen to better flow into the dining room. The cabinets were a dark wood and the hardware was centered, rather than corner aligned. The flooring and counters were worn and outdated. Ceiling panels and partial brick walls made the room feel dark and closed in.
Kitchen Solutions: One of the biggest reasons that the kitchen felt cramped was because the cabinetry configuration boxed the space in. We addressed this concern by adjusting the cabinet configuration to the room’s outer walls. Doing so eliminated the peninsula blocking off of the dining room. The oak cabinets the couple opted for were a dramatic change from the dark wood ones they replaced. In place of the tired laminate countertops, we installed quartz. In terms of lighting, the room’s previous false ceiling was creating a darker, more closed in space than necessary. To alleviate this issue, we removed it and added an abundance of recessed lighting. Light brown paint and a brown tile glass backsplash added a modern touch to the room. The utilization of a Kohler undermount sink with coordinating faucet added a contemporary feel to the room.
Bathroom Challenges: The bathroom was a space that hadn’t been refurbished in several decades and there was a lot of opportunity to make it a more serene room. Areas we needed to tackle in order for this to happen included the paint color, cabinetry, wall color, and flooring. 
Bathroom Solutions: The previous kitchen and bathroom had tied in well together because of similar cabinetry and flooring. This was a concept we wanted to continue with, just in a more avant-garde way. In the bathroom, oak cabinets were installed, just as they had been in the kitchen. With their children grown up and moved out, the couple’s priority had become more storage within the room. That’s why they opted to replace the double sink vanity with a single sink one. This allowed for enough space for a floor to ceiling cabinet which replaced open shelves. This design change made the room feel less cluttered. Because the tub was still in good shape, James and Mary opted to save money and keep it, but the surround was removed and replaced. After she saw the completed surround, Mary asked our team to add a tile ceiling in the shower area and was pleased with finished look it provided. To create a calmer room, the bold patterned flooring
was replaced with 12” x 18” tile installed in a brick pattern at a 45° angle. This approach both modernized and enlarged the space. The room took on a tranquil ambiance with the green sponge painted & wallpapered walls being replaced with a calming blue paint.
