Lightness of Being Although the Jernigans liked the Asian style exterior, they wanted to tone that down on the interior and so had all the wallpaper — as well as doors painted with Asian designs —removed. Cheryl and the interior designer like the principles of feng shui and wanted to align decorating, colors, and placement of furnishings and design elements with the homeowners’ lifestyle.
To that end, Fox designed a granite countertop that slightly curves into the living area, helping unite the rooms. The kitchen floor is bamboo laid at a 60-degree angle, adding depth. Where the bamboo meets the living room carpet, the edge is curved, echoing the curve of the countertop. The curve design is a principle of feng shui, Cheryl says. Steed installed kitchen counters at 38 inches high instead of the standard 36 inches because the homeowners are both tall. The kitchen is warm, with varied textures and a pleasant mix of wood — custom cabinets are cherry, and throughout the house Steed installed new fir five-panel doors stained cherry — stainless steel (handles, appliances), and glass (windowed cut-outs appear on several cabinets).
The Jernigans wanted to bring in as much light as possible. Interestingly, when the kitchen floor was removed, they found drawn on the concrete the Japanese character for “light.” It seemed an auspicious beginning. A subcontractor removed the shoji screens from windows not fronting public areas; they painted the remaining screens and attached fresh rice paper.
Steed removed the walls between the living room and the front entry and between the living room and the kitchen. To do this in the long, open space, he first had to install a 14-foot Microllam I-beam on one side of the living room and another Microllam I-beam across the front entry to shore up the roof, which had sagged under the weight of the concrete tiles. Fortunately, the front portion of the home was on a slab so the crew was free to position the jacks and posts wherever necessary.
Steed also installed 30, 4-inch low-voltage recessed lights that can be directed toward the couple’s extensive art collection, as well as 37 recessed can lights. The house was now open and filled with light.
The other major change involved removing the hot tub area — an earlier addition next to the master bedroom. It became the new master bath with a soaking tub, a walk-in shower, and a water closet. Steed Remodeling removed the exterior walls and rebuilt them using the same bricks; they poured a concrete slab for the new bath. Old skylights, were removed and new ones installed. The honed limestone floor tiles are heated, including those in the shower floor. Custom cherry cabinetry in the master bath matches that used throughout the rest of the house, and the limestone counter is, like the granite kitchen counter, 2 inches above standard height. In the old master bath, Steed created a walk-in closet and a laundry area.
Lessons Learned As challenging as this project was, Steed says that he would not hesitate to do another project with an involved architect, albeit in a different way.
“On this job,” Steed says, “I spent a lot of additional time and energy to make things happen.” In one instance, he spent several days dealing with a water issue — a $1,000 water bill — that arose simply because the city had misread the meter. But the architect had assumed the water problem was Steed Remodeling’s fault.
Steed also ended up taking some responsibility for aspects of the job that were not under his company’s contract but under its umbrella for the entire job — items that were contracted separately by the Jernigans such as extensive landscaping; carpet and audiovisual installations; shoji screen painting and restoration; and an artist painting a wall in a small bathroom. “This all took several months and had people around, in, and out of the house. I tried to avoid pointing fingers, pushing blame, or ruffling feathers, so that the process would not be eroded.”
Steed says that if he were to work again with an architect in this way, the first thing he would do is learn more about the architect from the homeowner. He would also take his pay out of job costs not overhead, plugging in about 5% in additional costs to afford production the time to deal with outside management. “This way,” he says, “I could happily respond to the cries of, ‘What is this?’ or ‘Help!’ with a smile.”
Having been through this experience, Steed feels that he is better able to communicate to the client that his company needs to maintain control, regardless of who is the architect. “I would have the client buy into our longevity and expertise in residential design and construction.”