Help! Fix My House!
Let’s be honest. Life changes as you grow and often that means outgrowing your home. In order for your home to continue supporting you and inspiring the life you intend to live; some changes need to be made.
Sometimes it’s hard to envision how the home you’ve been living in could possibly meet your current or future needs and desires. When the only thing your home is inspiring you to do is get a bulldozer and level it, we’re here with fresh eyes to help create many more options for you.
In Design Dilemma Series #3: Help! Fix My House! I tackle issues clients have had when faced with the realization “something’s got to give”!

Design Dilemmas
Perhaps you’re dealing with one of the following dilemmas and needing to find a solution…
- You downright hate your house. Nothing seems to work. You feel frustration every day just coming home to it. You can’t stand the way it looks, yet you LOVE the property it’s on.
- Your home is NOT taking advantage of the views or other natural opportunities offered by the land.
- You’ve been in your home so long, or it’s been passed down through the generations, that your home feels deeply sentimental to you. You couldn’t possibly leave it, though some upgrades are necessary for you to feel like you’re not living in grandpa’s house.
- You recognize that you’re aging or perhaps you’ve had an injury that finally revealed to you that your home could be far more accessible than it currently is.
- Note: See our article Accessible & Universal Design: Why Now VS Later? (link) to improve the ease of your homelife.
- Your family is growing. Your mother-in-law is moving in, and you have no idea how you’re going to accommodate her.
- Note: Stay tuned for our next blog about downsizing or what we like to call ‘right sizing’, when your home is currently not the right size for you.
In this blog I highlight 3 renovation project that had these exact challenges.
Fix My House #1: Family Fusion






Lodge:Before
Background: This nostalgic home was built in the 70’s and owned by a family that used it as a hunting lodge for weekend getaways.
The current homeowner, who grew up spending her summers at the lodge, eventually moved in to raise her own children. The home and surrounding environmental features had lots of sentimental value.
The property also had a uniquely grandfathered-in boathouse that needed an update.




Boathouse: Before
Inspiration or lack-thereof: The homeowners were greatly inspired by their family and needed space where the kids could grow, and a place on the property where the grandmother could age in place.
They also felt ready to design the home to represent them in their current life with an improved curb appeal, a much larger functional kitchen, and an open concept throughout.
Challenges to the fix: The biggest challenges were our restrictions on the septic and boathouse. With no room for expansion of the septic, the number of preexisting bedrooms had to be maintained.
The regulations on the boathouse required the current size to be maintained and forbid a teardown and rebuild.

Pippin Solution: Our response was a complete transformation of the lodge into a spacious and light filled family home.
The entry was transformed from the 1970’s hunting lodge into the vision the homeowner imagined coming home to.


The upstairs level was transformed into an open concept dining room, great room, and massive kitchen with excellent views of the lake.


The basement level was designed with a lake drop zone entry into a second great room with attached kitchenette and bar. On this level the son has privacy with his own room with walk-in closet and private bath.




An addition included a new master suite upstairs and the girl’s suite below. Because additional bedrooms were not able to be added due to septic restrictions the two young girls shared one massive room with their own desk areas and a large private bath, each with their own vanity.




Since the boathouse was to be grandma’s new living quarters, the interior received a complete overhaul with an open concept kitchen, dining, and living area. The porch was spruced up with an enclosed soffit panel overhang above and new floorboards below.

Final Product:
The family’s tears of sadness over the end of days of their beloved lodge were quickly replaced by tears of joy for their transformed lake home that would comfortably fit them all for years to come.
Fix My House #2: Post & Beam Revitalized






Before
Background: This home was originally a split-level post and beam home intended to be a guest house, just down the road from the homeowner’s primary residence.
The curb appeal suffered and to enter the home required descending down a steep ditch from the driveway.
There was little to no storage, all bathrooms were in desperate need of an update, nothing was functional, and the home was depressingly dark.
Inspiration or lack-thereof: The homeowners were inspired by their desire to entertain and accommodate numerous guests for extended periods of time, however they felt less than inspired by the complete lack of HVAC system rendering the home nearly unlivable many months out of the year.
Both homeowners had hip issues and walked with canes. They were inspired by the idea of improved access into the home.
They also felt very inspired by the surrounding beauty and wanted to capitalize on the great view of the lake.

Challenges to the fix: Preserving the mature trees around the homesite to maintain the natural beauty that also provided much needed shade required careful design.
The original post and beam build of the home limited our available spacing for doors and windows.
An exceptionally large brick chimney in the middle of the house on both levels provided an unmovable obstacle around which to create an open feel and maximized views.

Pippin Solution: We transformed the split-level home into an accessible home! A bridge from the driveway to the new entrance main door allowed ease of entry without having to navigate steps.

All non-load bearing walls around the massive fireplace were opened and all windows and doors were replaced.

The tiny kitchen was opened and expanded into a massive focal point of the main floor.

Exposed ductwork was installed throughout the home to allow for an HVAC system making the home far more livable.


The screened in porch on the lakeside of the home was transformed into a master suite with large windows and beautiful views surrounded by the large mature oaks.

The barely finished basement was turned into 3 bedrooms to accommodate guests overnight.

Final Product:
The homeowners fell in LOVE with the completed home! They decided to move in and sell their original primary residence.
Fix My House #3: Makeover Magic






Before
Background: This remodel was for multi-time repeat clients at the same lake home. After 20 years of hating their home but loving the property, they decided to make the changes needed for happy home living.
Phase one of the renovation involved transforming 2 bedrooms into a mini-master suite with a large walk-in closet and private bath for their daughter.
Phase two was a renovation of the lakeside outdoor living space.

Inspiration or lack-thereof: The homeowners were so inspired by the addition of their large screened-in porch and the drastically improved look of the lakeside completed in phase two of the renovation that they called us back for a major overhaul of the rest of the home.
The wife also felt inspired by her desire to care for her elderly mother. Accessible space was needed for her.
The homeowners felt particularly un-inspired by the basement garage and small kitchen.
Challenges to the fix:
Blending the face lift of phase 3 with what had already been built in phase 2 required careful and meticulous design.


Pippin Solution: We transformed the hideous 80’s contemporary home into a beautiful New England style with a dramatic makeover of the front exterior that blended perfectly with the recently improved lakeside.

A large fully accessible apartment above the garage was designed to accommodate the elderly mother. The apartment had its own private entry that opened to a small foyer with an elevator.


A huge addition allowed for the relocation of the basement garage to a new first floor level 3-car garage. The basement was transformed into a rec room by ripping out all the duct work and reworking it around the perimeter of the space to allow for higher ceilings.

The kitchen was transformed into a large and functional space, open to the great room, and with spectacular views of the lake.

Final Product: After 20 years of living in this home the homeowners can finally say they LOVE their home!

Embrace Change
In 2011, the oldest man in the world at age 114 offered his secrets for longevity in life. His first suggestion was to “embrace change, even when the change slaps you in the face. Every change is good”.
Embracing change involves allowing yourself to grow, recognizing that the person who you were yesterday is not the person you are today, nor will your today be the same as your tomorrow.
As you evolve through life your interests change, your experiences deepen, and your needs shift. Your home supports all elements of your life which means that your home must also be capable of ‘embracing change’ with you.
I intend you find the solutions to fixing the home that supports your inspired life!
Inspired by you,