Which professional do I want for this?

[ubiquecartas]

We own a center-entrance colonial in New England. The downstairs is quite large, but its many rooms are laid out in a way that is not optimal for our large family. For example, the garage opens directly into our family room, which is a rectangular-shaped room with a vaulted ceiling. Half that room has become a dumping ground for coats and shoes and backpacks, leaving a much smaller family room space. I'd love to split the room in half but I worry that it would make the ceiling look goofy. The kitchen is at the center of the house but feels cramped. We have a very large formal living room that we are under-utilizing because its placement near the stairs (kids sleeping upstairs during the day), a large step down room behind the kitchen that would make for an excellent family room if not for the fact that you can't get to it except by shimmying around the kitchen table, etc, etc.

I would love to eventually expand the kitchen (but to which room?), create a mudroom somehow, repurpose the previous owner's in-law suite, etc but I don't have an eye for knowing how to do this.

We are not planning on any major renovations in the near future, but I would love to have someone spend an afternoon with me at the house as a consultant, asking questions and proposing solutions for how to eventually rework the layout. Even though it's not in the budget to redo the kitchen now, for example, I would like to have an idea of what's possible and what a professional would suggest so I don't do some smaller project that would eventually make a renovation more difficult or expensive.

Somebody has got to offer some sort of service like this, right? What professional do I want?

[Rickcin]

Originally Posted by ubiquecartas

We own a center-entrance colonial in New England. The downstairs is quite large, but its many rooms are laid out in a way that is not optimal for our large family. For example, the garage opens directly into our family room, which is a rectangular-shaped room with a vaulted ceiling. Half that room has become a dumping ground for coats and shoes and backpacks, leaving a much smaller family room space. I'd love to split the room in half but I worry that it would make the ceiling look goofy. The kitchen is at the center of the house but feels cramped. We have a very large formal living room that we are under-utilizing because its placement near the stairs (kids sleeping upstairs during the day), a large step down room behind the kitchen that would make for an excellent family room if not for the fact that you can't get to it except by shimmying around the kitchen table, etc, etc.

I would love to eventually expand the kitchen (but to which room?), create a mudroom somehow, repurpose the previous owner's in-law suite, etc but I don't have an eye for knowing how to do this.

We are not planning on any major renovations in the near future, but I would love to have someone spend an afternoon with me at the house as a consultant, asking questions and proposing solutions for how to eventually rework the layout. Even though it's not in the budget to redo the kitchen now, for example, I would like to have an idea of what's possible and what a professional would suggest so I don't do some smaller project that would eventually make a renovation more difficult or expensive.

Somebody has got to offer some sort of service like this, right? What professional do I want?

You are looking for an architect, one who specializes in residential alterations and there are good ones out there you just need to do your research to find one in your area. The architect could also segment the work so it can be accomplished in a number of phases according to your budgetary and time constraints.

[Coldjensens]

Architect or space planner

[jerseyj]

^^ Agree, Architect to do a master plan and phase it out as budget allows.

[harry chickpea]

Architect or SOME interior designers. The key is to find what training they have had. Pratt in Brooklyn used to have the same core curriculum for architects, interior designers, and some of the related arts. Other schools may have had the same. Those who are interested in the general area of studies sort themselves out. (To get into that subject deeper is just a side issue.) Look for someone with a good eye that has had two years or more training at any of the colleges or universities that produce architects, OR an apprentice, a post grad looking for a project, or look for a referral from the editors of one of the main magazines, like Arch Digest, Southern Living, Etc..

The key in anything like this is for you to make a list of EVERYTHING you can think of that you might want, then to prioritize those in a list. Present the list first along with some up-front cash, then give the consultant some time and room to work. Please don't suck up ideas and then dismiss the person who came up with them without any pay. If you find one that really can work with you, set a contract and be happy.

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

I'd think hard about who to hire. Unfortunately, many architects are men and/or are people who don't have the same needs from a real-life home as you. Think of all of the apartments or homes you've lived in that made no sense whatsoever, where the dishwasher was in a weird spot or there wasn't enough counter space or there wasn't enough cabinet space for pots and pans, or nowhere to put your spices, etc.

Who designed those spaces? Hmmmmm, some expensive architect, who didn't have a clue what's really needed by someone who cooks and cleans up after meals and needs somewhere to stash spices and pots and pans, etc., etc.

I redesigned one old small Victorian home myself and the contractors I hired loved it so much they asked for permission to show it to potential clients.

My house was originally a square, with four rooms equally divided. And, there was a doorway in the middle of each room, so you could run around in a circle from room to room.

First, I had them close off all of the doors in the middle of the walls. I had them move one wall over, so the living room would be bigger, with a smaller bedroom on the other side of that wall. And we created a small hallway so there was an entrance to the smaller bedroom and the bathroom. There had already been an add-on bedroom at the front of the house, but it had an entrance off the front entryway, which transferred cold air into that bedroom, so we closed off that entrance to the bedroom, and added a door into it from the living room.

I had them tear down the old brick flue at the top of the center of all of the rooms, and we used the old bricks to build a lovely old hearth for a wood heater in the living room. We put a wall of counter on the wall that used to have a door in the middle of it in the kitchen, put the sink in the middle of it, and put a stove space in it, put the fridge on an adjacent wall.

I think you're smart to start out by thinking about what you want.

Before you hire someone, I suggest you take a deep breath and do some more work on that. Sit with what you know you want for sure. Be sure about everything you need. And then, get a diagram of your current floor plan and start playing around with options yourselves. Imagine moving walls and closing doorways and putting them somewhere else. A lot of that kind of remodel is not expensive.

And if you do hire someone, I'd maybe start out with a woman who cooks and has kids. Maybe one who is also a decorator and designer. But, it's imperative that this person understands what it's really like to come home with kids with coats and muddy boots, and who understands first-hand the traffic flow needs as far as getting from the front door to the kitchen, or from the car to getting groceries to the fridge, etc. Real life.

[silibran]

Architect.

[jenny53]

You require the help of an architect. Along with that, I would recommend you to have an interior designer who will help you plan your house's interiors for better utilization of every space.