80 PUNCHMAGAZINE.COM and low profiles don’t make for cookie-cutter looks. For one Los Altos family, every time they opened the front door, they faced a huge, white block fireplace. Once Cathie removed the unused behemoth, the living room, dining room and kitchen flowed together into one open space. But a massive island with a cooktop dominated the kitchen. It was so big, the owners couldn’t reach its center to clean up cooking spills and oil splatters. Moving the cooktop to the wall and altering the island created an airier, more usable area, says Cathie. And adjusting the kitchen and powder room’s footprints allowed the creation of a true walk-in pantry, tucked behind a “secret” cabinet door. Cathie says CHI’s clients tend to need more storage space in mudrooms, bathrooms and playrooms. Her solution? “Adequate built-ins,” she says. “Built-ins are functional, but also are an opportunity to add unique design details with the style of cabinetry, color or choice of wood.” For a San Carlos couple, their hillside home’s unfinished basement, accessed through a separate outside entry, didn’t feel like part of the house and had turned into a giant catch-all. After calling in CHI, the basement gained a new entrance, lots of storage, a mudroom and a new guest suite. They increased communal space by adding a family room with a projector screen and a wet bar, all connecting to the back patio for easy indoor-outdoor access. “They were thinking about kids hanging out downstairs, watching TV, grabbing soda and snacks from the fridge, then going outside to play,” Cathie says. “They love having the extra space now.” She notes that a life transition—having children or accommodating aging parents—often tips the scales for a remodel or a rebuild. In Palo Alto, Cathie’s de- {home & design} This midcentury home in San Carlos underwent a significant upgrade with a white oak bifold door opening onto an outdoor patio, as well as a wood-slat oak railing that connects the new finished basement to the existing main floor. CHI chose a lighter hue of blue (Benjamin Moore Templeton Gray) on the basement level, which has less natural light, and opted for a deeper blue on the main floor.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy MTcxMjMwNg==