Our team at Dover was honored by NARI with a 2018 Contractor of the Year (CotY) Award: Second Place, Interior Renovation ($100,001-$250,000), for a garage-space-turned-living-space home transformation. For the next few weeks, designer and guest blogger Amy Tilow will take you on a behind-the-scenes tour of this award-winning project. Enjoy the fabulous design and the beautiful finishes!
BLOG #2 of 3 IN A SERIES:
COtY Award Entry: Residential Interior: $100,001 – $250,000
Turning unused garage space into a fabulous gourmet kitchen & laundry room
The homeowner has an eclectic design style; many of her favorite items were collected during her travels, while others had belonged to her mother, whom she recently lost. Her vision was to update the home she loved, while incorporating her individual style and personality—and including some of her mother’s fixtures and textiles. With that in mind, Dover set off to not only remodel, but reimagine, this tired space and bring it back to life.
BEFORE 
AFTER
Eliminating an unused garage bay, we created “indoor” space for the remodel. In doing so, we encountered several challenges: While trenching concrete for plumbing, we found the garage floor did not have proper footers; this caused a collapse of the surrounding concrete. Footers were installed and a new pad was poured before walls were built. Since we were enclosing the old garage area, the steel I-beam was now running through the new laundry room. We resolved that by building a soffit box out of material that matched the cabinets and tied into the crown molding to create a seamless look.
DURING 
We also had to address the issue of two different subfloors in the new kitchen area – concrete and plywood. The use of floor leveler allowed for a smooth transition between the two and the hand-scraped hickory flooring was installed.
BEFORE 
Two different subfloors in the kitchen needed to be addressed to create a smooth & level floor.
AFTER
For the kitchen, we installed custom raised panel cabinets and decorative island columns in ivory-cream. Granite counters in Crema Valentino were complemented by a glass backsplash set in a horizontal pattern (CTI Debut Dune Blend, Stacked Mosaic). Large, coach-style lanterns in brushed gold add to the sophistication.
The old kitchen island was small and non-functional. The new nine-foot island anchors the new space and provides ample prep space and loads of storage—and it looks gorgeous!
The kitchen’s old bar area was tired and dated. The new bar space includes a built-in wine rack, wine cooler, wet bar and coffee station, complete with lighted display cabinetry for added dimension.
BEFORE 
AFTER 
There are so many more details to share in this transformation remodel! In our last blog in the series, I’ll include the final details and photos, including what was done to create the updated laundry and powder rooms.
Amy Tilow
