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Dentist Lindsey Vogl Robinson had a particular vision inwards listen when it came to her family’sec forever home: She imagined an enclosed breezeway connecting an attached garage together with a cozy screened-inward porch (besides every bit a front end porch) with plenty of seating. But when Lindsey learned that she too her hubby, Brad, who also industrial plant inwards the dental field equally an oral and maxillofacial surgeon, were expecting babe issue five, Maggie (right away one twelvemonth quondam), they were forced to update their plans. “We had drawn upwards these light-headed piddling sketches too kept compiling a layout nosotros idea was correct for our family,” she says, which initially included 4 children’second bedrooms. While the news “threw them a curveball,” they were excited to create a habitation focused on fun, flexible design and outdoor living. But inward club to go everything they needed for their growing crew (their other footling ones are ages ix, 7, five, as well as 3), they would postulate to build from the earth up.
The Robinsons, who alive 10 minutes exterior Grand Rapids inwards Ada, Michigan, institute a half-dozen-land plot surrounded past forest in addition to expansive fields even so all the same within the same school district equally their previous dwelling house. “With five kids, nosotros effort to pass as much fourth dimension outside equally possible,” says Lindsey. “We wanted a holding where we could allow them function out the door in addition to not have to worry.”
Lindsey looked to Liz Hoekzema, designer at Kalamazoo-based KLH Custom Homes, to take her family’second ideas to life. Initially, Lindsey wanted to have four bedrooms upstairs with ii shared bathrooms too the chief sleeping accommodation situated on the ground flooring, only that would mean two kids would accept to share. An additional basement sleeping accommodation was a elementary fix that promised everyone privacy (her youngest scored the cloak-and-dagger infinite).
While Lindsey admits she tends to lean more than neutral inwards style (mean: crisp white sofas as well as Shaker-style cabinetry), she was excited for Hoekzema to assist push the envelope on her blueprint choices. “If it wasn’t for her, I would have gone more than traditional,” she says. The exterior is timeless, with twin peaks framing the porch, clapboard siding, as well as a breezeway that “floods the back entryway amongst lite during the sun-starved winter months,” yet its moody dark facade (inwards Sherwin-Williams’s Caviar) is the bear on of “turning a classic on its head.”
As for the interior, the kids who were onetime enough to accept opinions made them known, filtered past Mom too Dad’sec want for cohesion, of form. The eldest of the group, nine-twelvemonth-quondam Amelia, requested that her space take “flamingos amongst a Palm Beach vibe to it,” Lindsey says. The girls’ bath features tonal pink tile inward an elongated pattern with a pocket-size-cut row at the superlative for a checkered event that “makes yous wait twice,” subtle marbled wallpaper, too oversize towel hooks. The boys’ bath is another place where tile as well as pattern are a focal signal. “Sarah, one of our designers on staff, was playing around alongside mapping the layout, and nosotros instantly loved the opportunity to become an extra niggling checker nod piece maintaining our overall option rows of stripes and solids,” says Hoekzema.
When it came to selecting storage, Hoekzema didn’t but rely on typical big-box retailers: The puddle home’sec casual dark lockers were purchased from a restaurant furnish store. Another price-effective hack Hoekzema suggested was stacking pencil liner tile underneath the pulverisation room sink to mimic the look of high-end marble fluting.
Allover colour makes another appearance inward the Robinsons’ pantry, which was designed for catch-in addition to-become snacking likewise every bit concealing dried goods. “I mean only having things all neatly in i home allows for easier in addition to improve choices,” says Lindsey. “I’one thousand a huge fan of organization and believe that when nutrient is stored in addition to presented well, it helps foster an excitement to function it well.” The superdark walk-inward solely heightens the brightness of the nearby kitchen, which includes an expansive island that tin near seat everyone inwards the family unit in addition to a reflective dark tile backsplash—another edgy Hoekzema choice.
“I wanted to brand certain nosotros had things inward our dwelling nosotros’d similar inwards ten years,” says Lindsey. “Like amongst the dark pantry, I was nervous at beginning almost the dark backsplash, as it was difficult to detect images alongside dark backsplashes online.” In the cease, imagining how all the materials would look together wasn’t her biggest hurdle: The holding lies i,000 feet off a gravel road surrounded past wetlands. “We had to clear a path from the road to the edifice site and get connected to utilities, which took hundreds of calls together with emails,” says Hoekzema. Despite those early obstacles, the domicile is a reminder that your get-go design power non always be the best one.
