Opening Act The Sloans wanted an open living area, so they asked Toker to remove the wall between the kitchen and the living room. The crew installed three floor-to-ceiling windows on the front of the house to replace the two small original windows. The design also included moving the window in the kitchen to center it on the wall and shifting the exterior door to create a breakfast nook. The new door has opaque glass to bring in light while preserving privacy.
The couple originally chose vinyl windows but later upgraded to stain-grade Douglas fir wood double-hung windows with true divided lights. Toker recommended a local window maker that charges 30% to 50% less than some larger, national manufacturers.
Alice chose a wood casement above the sink in the kitchen so she could easily open and close it with the crank. The single vinyl window is in the hall bath above the tub. Toker suggested vinyl to avoid the water damage he found in the original wood window. The owners also upgraded from paint-grade interior doors to stain-grade wood to match the windows. In the final stages, they also upgraded to stain-grade casing and trim.
One of Toker’s designs had a peninsula dividing the living room from the kitchen, but Alice felt that was too tight and asked for an island. The stove is in the island, and instead of using an over-head hood, which would have made the space feel closed-in, Toker suggested a range with a downdraft system.
The cabinetmaker who crafted the maple kitchen cabinets also created the built-in entertainment cabinet in the living room. The couple downloaded specifications for their new television from the manufacturer’s Web site, but the width and height of the TV were interchanged on the site. The cabinetmaker built according to the specs he was given. When Toker saw the odd tall opening in the unfinished piece in the shop, he knew something was wrong and immediately sent a digital picture to the Sloans. The cabinetmaker crafted a new center unit with the correct dimensions. Toker charged the Sloans a few hundred dollars for the net cost of the wasted materials. “Luckily, the error was identified before the more costly elements (door, finish, install) were done,” Toker says.
Fitting Products The design called for extending the back of the house by 14 feet and the side of the house by 5 feet to line up with the garage. The expansion required changing the roof pitch, which was originally centered on the house but was shifted to balance the new addition. Along the back wall, Toker suggested extending the extra bedroom by 2 feet to break up the large expanse of straight wall on the rear elevation.
The extra space in the master bedroom allowed for a spacious walk-in closet and a larger bathroom. To provide privacy in the bath, Toker installed a horizontal sliding window with opaque glass. It has muntins to echo the traditional windows in the rest of the house.
The Sloans chose dramatic marble tiles for the bath, but Toker suggested using different sizes and an accent color to create interest. The final design has hand-cut marble in a subway pattern on the wall, a stripe of blue glass accent tile capped with a marble ledge, smaller subway mosaic tile for the side of the tub, and larger squares on the floor. The team fit two sinks, a whirlpool tub, and a shower into the 10-foot-square master bath.
To keep it from feeling cramped, the Sloans chose pedestal sinks and a frameless glass shower enclosure. With the opening and closing of the heavy glass door, the shower side panels developed some “play,” so Toker returned and added brushed nickel braces for stability.
The Sloans found it difficult to choose all the products required for the project by the deadlines.
“Many clients ask for the full list, but I give it to them a little at a time, making clear what are ‘now’ items,” Toker says. As he did with the Sloans, Toker reminds customers about selections at their weekly meetings and asks to inspect the products.